Frank Gomer - Saltley Reformatory Inmate
| No. in Admissions Register: | 1286 |
| Age: | 13 (born 21 April 1888) |
| Whence received: | Cardiff Petty Sessions |
| Description: | |
| Complexion: | Fresh |
| Hair colour: | Sandy |
| Eyes colour: | Brown |
| Height: | 4 ft 8½ ins |
| Particular marks: | Three dots in a line [pictorial] right forearm; large dot [pictorial] on left thumb; scar on inside left forearm; 2 vacc. marks inside left elbow |
| State of health: | Good |
| Able-bodied? | Yes |
| Date of admission: | 22 November 1901 |
| Late residence: | 40 Planet Street, Cardiff |
| Parish he belongs to: | - |
| Customary work and mode of life: | Street boy |
| Whether illegitimate: | No |
| State of education: | |
| Reads: | Imperfectly, Standard 3 |
| Writes: | Imperfectly, Standard 3 |
| Offence: | 1) Stealing a tin of tobacco; 2) stealing 3 mouth organs |
| Circumstances which may have led to it: | Father dead, mother goes out charing |
| Date of sentence, by whom and court: | 14 November 1901; E Beavan and Henry White; Cardiff Petty Sessions |
| Where imprisoned: | Not |
| Sentence: | 3 years at Saltley |
| Previous committals: | |
| Number: | 2 |
| Length: | - |
| For what: | 1) Throwing stones; 2) Obstruction |
| Father's name: | Henry Gomer |
| Occupation: | - |
| Mother's name: | Sarah Gomer |
| Occupation: | Charwoman |
| Parents dead? | Father |
| Survivor married again? | No |
| Parents' treatment of child: | Good |
| Character of parents | Good |
| Parents' wages: | Not much |
| Amount parents agree to pay: | Not yet assessed, probably not |
| Parents address: | 40 Planet Street, Cardiff |
| Superintendent of police (to collect payments): | Chief Constable, Cardiff |
| Person making this return: | D Rees, Magistrates' Clerk |
| Notes: | |
| 14 November 1901 The crime that sent him to Saltley was reported in the Evening Express [Cardiff] Thursday 14 November 1901 p.3 col.7: Charles Williams, fourteen, Frank Gomer, fourteen, and David John, thirteen, were charged with stealing ½lb. of tobacco, value 2s. 6d., from Thomas Smith Pickard, 11, Moira-place, on November 12. - Evidence was given by a lad who saw Gomer take the tobacco, and put the tin under Williams's coat, and, while Williams walked out with the tobacco, Gomer stayed behind to ask for cigarettes. - Prisoners had all figured in court before, and Detective-sergeant Davey described them as three of a gang who went about all over the town pilfering, and numerous complaints had been received. It was the lads' practice to enter a shop and leave one of their number behind, usually a small boy, to ask questions whilst they ran away.-The Bench made an order for the lads' detention in a reformatory school for three years. | |
| 13 November 1904 Sentence expired, discharged from Saltley | |