Saltley Reformatory

James Lyons - Saltley Reformatory Inmate

No. in Admissions Register:	278
Date of admission:	21 July 1864
Whence received:	Stafford
By whom brought:	-
On what terms:	-
Friends interested in him:	-
Description:
Height:	-
Figure:	-
Complexion:	Fair
Hair colour:	Brown
Eyes colour:	Dark
Perfect vision?	-
State of health:	Good
Able-bodied?	Yes
Sound intellect?	-
Use of all limbs?	-
Had cow or small pox?	-
Particular marks:	None
Cutaneous disorder?	-
Scrofulous or consumptive?	-
Subject to fits?	-
Age last birthday:	12
Illegitimate?	-
Birthday:	-
Birth place:	-
Has resided:	8 Caribee Street, Wolverhampton
Parish he belongs to:	Wolverhampton
Customary work and mode of life:	-
Schools attended:	-
By whom and where employed:	-
State of education:
Reads:	Not at all
Writes:	Not at all
Cyphers:	-
General ability:	-
Offence:	Larceny
Circumstances which may have led to it:	Bad company
Date of sentence:	7 July 1864
Where convicted:	Wolverhampton before C Perry and T S Shincliffe
Who prosecuted:	-
Where imprisoned:	-
Sentence:	14 days, 4 years at Saltley
Previous committals and convictions:	-
Father's name:	Terence Lyons
Occupation:	Farm labourer
Residence:	8 Caribee Street, Wolverhampton
Mother's name:	Bridget Lyons
Occupation:	Employed at a mariner store
Residence:	-
Father's character:	-
Mother's character:	-
Parents dead?	-
Survivor married again?	-
Parents' treatment of child:	Good
Character of parents	Honest, sober, and in good health. Poor circumstances
Parents' wages:	Father 10s per week, mother 4s 6d
Amount parents agree to pay:	-
Superintendent of police (to collect payments):	-
Relatives to communicate with:	-
Person making this return:	-
Estimate of character on admission:	-
Character on discharge:	-
When and how left the Reformatory:	-

Notes:

20 January 1864 There is a report of a previous offence in the Wolverhampton Chronicle and Staffordshire Advertiser Wednesday 20 January 1864 p.6 col.3: THE SHOEBLACKS AGAIN.-A lad, about eleven years of age, named James Lyons, another of the shoeblack fraternity, was brought before the Bench for obstructing the footpath in Queen-street, and the top of Horsley-fields. The offence was proved by police constable Tue, who added that defendant and his companions set him at defiance by moving from one footpath and congregating on another when witness ordered them to disperse, and even repeated the offence after the present summons had been issued. -Mr, Walton, (one of the sitting magistrates), said the nuisance these lads created by congregating together on the footpaths leading from Queen-street to the railway station, was really abominable, and their language and conduct towards each other was of such a character that no respectable female could pass by without having her feelings very much shocked. Only the other day he (Mr. Walton) had to interfere between two of them, one having given the other a very violent blow in the face.-The defendant was ordered to pay a penalty 2s.6d and costs, or seven days' imprisonment.

27 Apr 1864 There was another brush with the law reported in the Wolverhampton Chronicle and Staffordshire Advertiser Wednesday 27 April 1864 p.6 col.3: "FISHING" PIG IRON OUT OF THE CANAL-Three lads, named Thomas Haley, 16, John Birmingham, 13, and James Lyons. 12, were charged on suspicion of having stolen a bar of pig-iron. Police-constable Roberts stated that on the previous evening his attention was called to the three prisoners- Haley and Birmingham were carrying the bar of iron produced, and were endeavouring to sell it; the other prisoner, Lyons, was accompanying them. On asking the two former where they had got the iron from, they replied that they had been bathing in the canal near the Swan Garden Iron Works, and had "fished" it up from the bottom. Witness then took the three into custody, on the charge of having stolen the iron. Lyons was discharged with a caution; the other two were remanded until Wednesday, for the police to make inquiries as to the ownership of the iron.

13 July 1864 There is a report of the crime that sent him to Saltley in the Wolverhampton Chronicle and Staffordshire Advertiser Wednesday 13 July 1864 p.6 col.4: A YOUNG CRIMINAL.-A dirty-looking Irish lad, named James Lyons, about twelve years of age, resident of Stafford-street, and who has caused considerable trouble to the police, and likewise the inhabitants of that locality by his repeated peculations, was again placed in the dock, charged with having stolen two red herrings, which he had been seen to take from the stall of a shop, in Stafford- street belonging to William Meredith. The case was proved by a little girl, named Rosannah Allen. When taken into custody, the prisoner admitted to Inspector Thomas that he had taken one herring which he coolly added he had eaten. He now tried to make the Bench believe that the herrings were stolen and given to him by another lad. The Magistrates, however, refused to give credence to his story, and Mr. Perry alter reading over a list of the young culprit's previous offences sentenced him to fourteen days' imprisonment in Stafford gaol, and after that to be kept in the Saltley Reformatory for four years.

December 1869 At Wolverhampton. Good [character]

January 1871 In prison. Bad

Richard Tomkinson - Saltley Reformatory Inmate

No. in Admissions Register:	479
Age:	12
Whence received:	Stafford Gaol
Description:
Complexion:	Fresh
Hair colour:	Brown
Eyes colour:	Brown
Visage:	-
Particular marks:	-
State of health:	Good
Able-bodied?	Yes
Date of admission and term:	28 March 1873
Late residence:	Hanley
Parish he belongs to:	Hanley
Customary work and mode of life:	Potter
Whether illegitimate:	-
State of education:
Reads:	Imperfectly
Writes:	-
Offence:	Stealing earthenware
Circumstances which may have led to it:	-
Date of sentence, by who and court:	28 January 1873, Hanley Petty Sessions, F Bodley and W H Yates
Where imprisoned:	Stafford County Prison
Sentence:	2 months prison, 4 years at Saltley
Previous committals:
Number:	None
Length:	-
For what:	-
Father's name:	-
Occupation:	-
Mother's name:	Elizabeth Owen
Occupation:	Laundress
Parents dead?	Father
Survivor married again?	Yes, and stepfather dead
Parents' treatment of child:	Good
Character of parents	Suspicious. Health not very good
Parents' wages:	Uncertain
Amount parents agree to pay:	None
Parents address:	2 Abbey Street, Kelsall's Court, Hanley
Superintendent of police (to collect payments):	-
Person making this return:	-

Notes:

25 January 1873 The remand hearing involved the whole family (except the boy is not named) and was reported in the Staffordshire Advertiser Saturday 25 January 1873 p.7 col. 4: CHARGES OF ROBBERY AGAINST MOTHER AND DAUGHTER. - Elizabeth Owen, aged twelve years, of Abbey street, was charged with having, on Wednesday evening, stolen 28 lbs of sugar. Police-constable Hansford said he saw the prisoner and a boy on the shafts of a cart at the top of Old Hall-street. He went to see what they were doing, and they ran away. In the cart he found the parcel of sugar produced. He afterwards took the girl into custody, when she said that her mother had taken the sugar from a cart at the top of Well-street, and that she (prisoner) was with her. Prisoner was remanded.- Elizabeth Owen, mother of the above-named prisoner, was afterwards placed in the dock on a charge of having stolen several articles of earthenware, the property of Messrs. Gelson Brothers, manufacturers. Police-sergeant Vickers proved finding the ware at prisoner's house that (Thursday) morning. He asked her to account for it, and she made various statements, which led him to take her into custody. The ware was identified as belonging to the prosecutors, and prisoner was remanded.

1 February 1873 There is a report of the sentence in the Staffordshire Advertiser Saturday 1 February 1873 p.7 col. 2: CHARGE OF STEALING SUGAR.- Richard Tomkinson, a boy 12 years of age, was charged on remand with stealing 28 lbs of sugar, the property of Mr Salmon, wholesale grocer, and also with stealing several pieces of earthenware, the property of Messrs Gelson Brothers. Elizabeth Owen, the boy's mother, was charged with receiving the ware with guilty knowledge. The circumstances have already been reported. The Bench decided that the charge stealing the sugar had not been proved, but for stealing the ware they committed the boy to prison for two months, and ordered that at the end of that time he should be sent to a reformatory for four years. He was convicted of a till robbery at the beginning of January The woman Owen was remanded until Thursday, without bail. (She was brought again on that day. and was discharged after a caution as her future conduct) Mr Richardson complained that the boy Tomklnson had been kept all night in a cell without even so much as a rug to cover him. - Inspector Ogden said the cells were always kept warm, and sometimes prisoners complained they were too warm. There was a bed in the women's cell, and the boy would have been put in that cell had it not been occupied by his mother and sister. The Mayor said he did not suppose for a moment that the police had acted with inhumanity. but he thought the subject should have the attention of the Watch Committee. He would bring it under their notice. Inspector Ogden said he visited the boy in his cell, and the boy made no complaint whatever.

Charles Henry Day - Saltley Reformatory Inmate

No. in Admissions Register:	890
Age:	15
Whence received:	H M Prison Wakefield
Description:
Complexion:	Fresh
Hair colour:	Light
Eyes colour:	Blue
Height:	4 ft 10½ ins
Particular marks:	4 blue dots right arm
State of health:	Good
Able-bodied?	Yes
Date of admission:	22 August 1888
Late residence:	3 Mission Street, Flatts, Dewsbury
Parish he belongs to:	Dewsbury
Customary work and mode of life:	Cloth drawer
Whether illegitimate:	No
State of education:
Reads:	Imperfectly
Writes:	Imperfectly
Offence:	Stealing 9 purses, 8 brooches, etc
Circumstances which may have led to it:	Bad company
Date of sentence, by whom and court:	9 August 1888; J Day; Dewsbury Police Station
Where imprisoned:	H M Prison Wakefield
Sentence:	14 days in prison, 3 years at Saltley
Previous committals:
Number:	2
Length:	1) Fined 5s and costs; 2) fined 20s and costs
For what:	1) Wilful damage; 2) stealing 2 boxes of cigars, 2 keys, and 70 halfpenny stamps from an office
Father's name:	George Day
Occupation:	Cloth drawer
Mother's name:	Harriet Anne Day
Occupation:	-
Parents dead?	Neither
Survivor married again?	-
Parents' treatment of child:	Not known
Character of parents	Not known
Parents' wages:	Not known
Amount parents agree to pay:	Not known
Parents address:	3 Mission Street, Flatts, Dewsbury
Superintendent of police (to collect payments):	Charles C Scott, Chief Constable, Dewsbury
Person making this return:	Governor, H M Prison Wakefield

Notes:

9 December 1887 A previous offence was reported in the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer Friday 9 December 1887 p.5 col.7: DEWSBURY. - YOUNG BURGLARS. - At the Dewsbury Borough Court yesterday morning - before Messrs. W. Thackray, T. B. Fox, and M. Hinchcliffe - four lads, named Patrick Garrity, John Charles Kelly, Michael Garrity, and Charles Henry Day, were brought up on a charge of breaking into and entering the office of Messrs S. Bates & Sons, carpet manufacturers, Dewsbury, on the 3rd inst. The evidence showed that the defendants had stolen two boxes containing cigars and 70 halfpenny postage stamps. Patrick Garrity, who had been previously convicted, was sent to prison for 14 days, and at the expiration of that term to a reformatory for three years. Michael Garrity and John Charles Kelly were imprisoned until the rising of the court, and Day was fined 20s. and costs.

11 August 1888 The crime that sent him to Saltley was reported in the Batley News Saturday 11 August 1888 p.8 col.1: A WARNING TO BAD LADS. - Charles Kelley (11), Charles Henry Day (12), and Mark Robinson (11), all of Dewsbury, were charged with stealing 9 purses, 11 brooches, 2 balls, and a quantity of penny rings from the stall of Thomas Chadwick, Railway street, on the 5th inst. They pleaded guilty. - Mr. Chadwick stated that he was a general dealer, and resided in Battye- street. On Saturday night last he left his stall securely fastened, and from information received he found the stall had been broken open and the articles above mentioned stolen. He owned those produced to be his property. They were worth 10s. 6d. - Frances Sleeney, widow, who said that she came from Worsley, near Sheffield, stated that on the night in question she was going down Railway-street, when she heard a noise in Mr. Chadwick's stall, and on going to ascertain the cause, she noticed the three defendants inside. Witness caught Kelley, the other two got away. - Detective Kendall stated that the purses and rings produced were found in the possession of Kelley, whom he apprehended with the other two prisoners on the 5th inst., and charged them with breaking into a stall belonging to Thomas Chadwick on the 5th inst., when charged Kelley replied, "I took the purses and rings." Robinson replied that he had taken a purse, but had hid it in a wall. - Another charge was also preferred against them, of breaking into the stall of Thomas Wainwright, of Huddersfield, on the same date. They again pleaded guilty. - John Beevers said he was assistant to Thomas Wainwright, who kept a stall in Railway Street. About 11 o'clock on Saturday night he left the stall securely fastened, but on the following day, from information received, he found it had been broken open and two cricket balls and a watch guard were missing. He owned the articles produced to be his master's property. They were worth 1s. 1d. - Frances Sleeney (the previous witness) deposed that about eight o'clock on Sunday night she was passing the stall named in Railway street when she noticed the three prisoners inside. She asked them what they were doing there, they said they were minding the stall. They, however, tried to get away, but she got hold of one of them and gave information to the police. - Detective Kendall proved apprehending the three defendants as previously mentioned, and charging them the second time with stealing two balls and a watch- guard. Kelley replied, "I only took a ball." Day confessed to having taken one of the balls and hid it in a wall in Broad Street. It was afterwards found. Robinson replied that he had not taken anything from the stall. - There was also another charge against Kelley. but it was not gone into. When asked by the magistrates it they had anything to say in defence of the charges made against them, defendants said they had not. The parents of the three buys spoke of their previous good conduct and begged the magistrates to deal leniently with them. After a short consultation the magistrates sent Kelley (who had been several times previously convicted) to Wakefield for 14 days and afterwards five years to a reformatory. Day was also sent to Wakefield for 14 days and afterwards to a reformatory for three years. Robinson was to receive six strokes with a birch rod. After being admonished by the chairman the prisoners were led away crying most piteously.

5 February 1890 The Medical Officer reported: Influenza

13 August 1890 The Register of Boys on Licence records that Day was licensed to go out and work for Mr Uttley, Leeds

9 December 1890 The Reformatory Committee Log Book report records receipt of a letter from Day, Leeds

21 August 1891 Sentence expired, discharged from Saltley whilst out on licence

12 December 1893 The Log Book report records receipt of a letter from Day, Pontefract

30 May 1900 The Log Book report records receipt of a letter from Day, Field Force, Natal [the Boer War was underway at this time]

12 February 1901 The Log Book report records receipt of a letter from Day, South Africa

William Harvey aka Burton - Saltley Reformatory Inmate

No. in Admissions Register:	1146
Age:	14 (born 22 October 1882)
Whence received:	Coventry Petty Sessions
Description:
Complexion:	Fresh
Hair colour:	Light brown
Eyes colour:	Brown
Height:	5 ft 4½ ins
Particular marks:	Cut scar bridge of nose, scar left leg, and dot left forearm
State of health:	Good
Able-bodied?	Yes
Date of admission:	12 January 1897
Late residence:	1 court 3 house Much Park Street, Coventry
Parish he belongs to:	-
Customary work and mode of life:	-
Whether illegitimate:	No
State of education:
Reads:	-
Writes:	-
Offence:	Larceny of a pair of boots and also 2s 11d
Circumstances which may have led to it:	Police report - this boy has been associated with another and has similar way picking pockets and robbing tills and other larcenies for the past 3 or 4 months, and has been under notice of the police for some time
Date of sentence, by whom and court:	7 January 1897; A T Tomson and John Bill; Coventry Petty Sessions
Where imprisoned:	Not
Sentence:	Detained at Saltley until the age of 19
Previous committals:
Number:	1
Length:	-
For what:	Larceny from a till
Father's name:	William Thomas Harvey
Occupation:	Not known
Mother's name:	Emma Harvey
Occupation:	Cohabiting with a man named Burton
Parents dead?	-
Survivor married again?	-
Parents' treatment of child:	Not good
Character of parents	Father left Coventry 11 years ago and has not been heard of since. Mother reported to be of bad character
Parents' wages:	-
Amount parents agree to pay:	-
Parents address:	1 court 3 house Much Park Street, Coventry
Superintendent of police (to collect payments):	-
Person making this return:	James Shelley, Police Inspector

Notes:

5 December 1896 A previous offence was reported in the Coventry Evening Telegraph Saturday 5 December 1896 p.3 col.3: TILL ROBBERY BY YOUTHS. - William Anstey, jun., 3h. 2c., Brickkiln Lane, iron polisher; William Burton 3h. 1 ct., Much Park Street; and John Rose 34, Eagle Street, youths, were charged with stealing on December 4th from a till in a shop at No. 11, Bath Street, 2s. 11½d., the money of William Clarke, grocer. Mrs Clarke found Rose behind her counter the previous morning. He told her that he had been sent in to rob the till, handing over 2s. 11½d., which he said he had taken from the till. She sent for Police-sergeant Golby. Lizzie Woodfield, wife of George Woodfield, a printer, and living opposite Clarke's, saw Rose go into the shop whilst Burton stayed outside, and Anstey went round the corner. Anstey and Burton denied their guilt, and the father of Rose elected to have his son dealt with at once. He pleaded guilty. He said he could not do anything with him. The Bench remanded Rose to a workhouse prior to his being sent to an industrial school until sixteen years of age. Anstey and Burton were ordered to come up for judgment if called upon.

7 January 1897 A report of the crime that sent him to Saltley was printed in the Coventry Evening Telegraph Thursday 7 January 1897 p.3 col.4: THREE REFORMATORY CANDIDATES. Three boys stood in a row charged with stealing a pair of boots. The boys were William Burton, 1c. 3h. [1 court 3 house], Much Park Street; William Frederick Beasley, 84. East Street, and Edward Foster, 10c 3h., Gosford Street. Robert William Ferguson, assistant to Messrs. Cash and Company, Smithford Street, proved the loss of the boots from outside the shop. A smart errand boy, David Hitchins, working at Midland Clothing Company, opposite to Messrs. Cash's, saw the three prisoners round the boot shop. Foster took a pair, and the prisoners went off along Market Street. Witness went and informed Messrs. Cash's people. Information was given to the pawnbrokers in the city. and when Burton - Watered the shop of Mr. Hewitt, Well Street, the assistant there was ready for him. The assistant in question, Walter Scott, saw that the soles of the boots had been rubbed in the mud, and that it was a suspicious offer. So he detained the boots and Burton, also Beasley, who had come into the shop to see how Burton was getting on. Police-constable Ellis was sent for, and the two boys were taken into custody with the result, that Foster was soon traced. The Chief Constable was sorry to have to give all three prisoners a bad character, all having been previously before the Court. This was. only one of a series of robberies to which all three had conformed, including the taking of 30s from a woman's pocket. The Bench ordered each to be sent to a reformatory until nineteen years of age.

21 February 1901 The Register of Boys on Licence records that Harvey was licensed to go out and work for Mr Hines, baker, Nechells Place, Birmingham

21 October 1901 Sentence expired whilst out on licence, discharged from Saltley

No. in Admissions Register:	448
Age:	13
Whence received:	Birmingham Borough Prison
Description:
Complexion:	Fresh
Hair colour:	Brown
Eyes colour:	Grey
Visage:	-
Particular marks:	Birthmark left loin
State of health:	Good
Able-bodied?	Yes
Date of admission and term:	10 July 1871 5 years
Late residence:	Barford Street, Birmingham
Parish he belongs to:	Kidderminster
Customary work and mode of life:	Striker
Whether illegitimate:	No
State of education:
Reads:	Not at all
Writes:	Not at all
Offence:	Stealing a bottle of ginger beer
Circumstances which may have led to it:	Bad company
Date of sentence, by who and court:	20 June 1871, Birmingham Police Court, T C S Kynnersley
Where imprisoned:	Borough Prison, Birmingham
Sentence:	21 days prison (hard labour), 5 years at Saltley
Previous committals:
Number:	None
Length:	-
For what:	-
Father's name:	George [Coley]
Occupation:	Blacksmith
Mother's name:	Maria [Coley]
Occupation:	-
Parents dead?	Neither
Survivor married again?	-
Parents' treatment of child:	Good
Character of parents	Father drunken
Parents' wages:	Not known
Amount parents agree to pay:	No sum mentioned
Parents address:	Barford Street, Birmingham
Superintendent of police (to collect payments):	G Glossop
Person making this return:	D Meaden

Notes:

27 June 1923 Coley called to see the old place. Now in Birmingham, but had spent 40 years with ironworks in South Wales. Says there is a tremendous change in the conditions and treatment of the boys.