Saltley Reformatory

Henry B. Day - Saltley Reformatory Inmate

No. in Admissions Register:	946
Age:	12
Whence received:	H M Prison Stafford
Description:
Complexion:	Pale
Hair colour:	Brown
Eyes colour:	Hazel
Height:	4 ft 3 ins
Particular marks:	None
State of health:	Good
Able-bodied?	Yes
Date of admission:	7 May 1890
Late residence:	8 Parker Street, Hanley
Parish he belongs to:	Stoke on Trent
Customary work and mode of life:	None
Whether illegitimate:	No
State of education:
Reads:	Imperfectly, Standard 2
Writes:	Imperfectly, Standard 2
Offence:	Stealing a shawl
Circumstances which may have led to it:	Disreputable parents and bad associations
Date of sentence, by whom and court:	8 April 1890; J Warner and T Bickley; Hanley Petty Sessions
Where imprisoned:	H M Prison Stafford
Sentence:	1 month in prison, 4 years at Saltley
Previous committals:
Number:	5
Length:	1) (27 July 1887 Hanley) 6 strokes; 2) (22 October 1887 Hanley) fined 1s; 3) (13 February 1890 Burslem) 12 strokes; 4) (27 February 1890 Hanley) fined 5s 6d and costs; 28 February 1890 Hanley) 12 strokes
For what:	1) Stealing ducks; 2) stealing coal; 3) stealing money from a till; 4) being in a building house for unlawful purposes; 5) stealing a table cloth
Father's name:	John Samuel Day
Occupation:	Labourer
Mother's name:	Margaret Day
Occupation:
Parents dead?	Neither
Survivor married again?	-
Parents' treatment of child:	Appear utterly to have neglected him, and in addition to have set him a terrible example
Character of parents	Father idle and drunken, has been convicted of a felony. Mother drunken
Parents' wages:	"Father earns 30s per week when he likes to stick to his work"
Amount parents agree to pay:
Parents address:	8 Parker Street, Hanley
Superintendent of police (to collect payments):	-
Person making this return:	-

Notes:

10 June 1890 In a report in the Reformatory Committee Log Nook, the Superintendent of the Reformatory, Harry Fish, laments the failure of police authorities to give a complete criminal history of the boys who are sent to Saltley. It states: The majority of boys reported as not having been previously convicted, are found after admission to have been long known to the police as thieves, and in many cases have several times been charged with crime... As an illustration of this failing in the system, I draw your attention to the application for admission of H B Day

26 January 1894 The Register of Boys on Licence records that Day was licensed to go out and work for Mr J Goldman 45 York Street, Hanley

6 May 1894 Sentence expired whilst on licence, discharged from Saltley

21 July 1894 He was soon in trouble after leaving Saltley, as reported in the Newcastle Guardian and Silverdale, Chesterton and Audley Chronicle Saturday 21 July 1894 p.5 col.5: WAREHOUSE-BREAKING IN HANLEY. William Henry Day, 18, and Henry Bonson Day, 16, labourer, were indicted for breaking and entering the shop of Benjamin Smart, on or about the 24th May, and stealing therein two pairs of clogs, two pairs of shoes, and one Jacket, the property of Mr. Smart; John Day, 43, miner, the father of the other prisoners, was charged with receiving the goods knowing them to have been stolen. - Mr. D. H. Coghill prosecuted. - The youngest prisoner pleaded guilty, the others not guilty. -The prosecutor is a marine store dealer in Stafford-street. His premises were locked up on the evening of the 24th, and the following morning the door was found to be unfastened. The things inside were strewn about, and the goods, which formed the subject of the present charge were missed. On the 28th Detective Higgins went to the house where the prisoners lived in Loftus-street, and here found the stolen jacket. John Day. who was in bed at the time, denied that it had been stolen, and added that his boys had had it for some time. The boots Higgins subsequently found on William Henry Day's feet, and the clogs P.C. Tunnicliff found in an ashpit behind prisoner's house. - Henry Bonson Day was put in the box, and in reply to the Recorder he said he entered the premises alone "at eight o clock on the Queen's birthday." He got in by unlocking the door with a key he had stolen three days before from Mr. Frost's warehouse in Foundry-street. He admitted that he told Detective Higgins that his brother went with him, but this he said he did because Higgins told him "he should send him for seven years penal servitude." The Recorder: And why if Higgins told you he would send you to penal servitude, did you say your brother was with you if he was not there? Witness: Because I did not want to go to prison without him. - The Recorder: And so you thought you would take your brother with you? The prisoner: Yes. (Laughter.) Detective Higgins and P.C. Tunnicliffe, questioned by the Recorder, said there was no truth whatever in the statement that the former had threatened he would "send any of them for seven years." - In summing up the Recorder advised the jury that they must receive the evidence given by Henry Bonson Day with a certain amount of caution. - The jury found both prisoners guilty of receiving the goods, knowing them to have been stolen. There were two other charges against all the prisoners - one relating to warehouse-breaking and the other to house-breaking, Henry Bonson Day pleaded guilty to these also, and as regards the other prisoners, who pleaded not guilty, the charges were not proceeded with. Asked whether he knew anything of John Day, Detective Higgins said he was a hard-working man, who tried to do his best. No doubt he had got a wife who pulled the other way. - The Recorder said he had taken into consideration the good character given him by the police, and sentenced him to three months' imprisonment with hard labour. Henry Bonson Day had only come out of the Saltley Reformatory last January, and the Recorder addressing him said if he sent him to prison it would have to be for a very long term. There was one other course open to him. He had there a letter from the master of the reformatory, stating that he was willing to take the prisoner back again, and to send him away to Canada. - Asked if he would consent to this course, the father said he would rather not. He would rather his son was given another chance in England. - The Recorder said that he had determined not to give him another chance here, and he . reminded the prisoner, John Day, that if his son was sent to prison it must be for a long term. - Henry Bonson Day said he should never do any good in Hanley, and expressed a strong wish to be sent to Canada. Ultimately, at the Recorder's suggestion, he was put down until after luncheon in order that the father might have time to consider. - The third prisoner, Wm. Henry Day had served a term in an industrial school, and the Recorder said he regretted he had not a similar offer in his case. He would give him another chance, however, by binding him over to come up for judgment when called upon. The Court then adjourned for luncheon. - THE FATHER's SENTENCE REDUCED. On resuming after luncheon, John Day, in answer to the Iearned Recorder, said he would consent to his son going to Canada. - The Recorder said he had taken a very sensible course. Under these circumstances he would be bound over in his own recognisance to come up for judgment if called upon. The police would see that he went to the Reformatory School, and the master of the school had been kind enough to say that he would see him on board a vessel at Liverpool. If he did nothing wrong before he left Fngland, he would not be called upon to answer again the charges which had been brought against him. - The father here appealed to the Recorder to reduce his own sentence on the grounds that he had a wife and four children. After consideration, the Recorder said he would reduce it. and considerably reduce it. But he hoped that neither the prisoner nor anyone else would think that he looked up his offence as anything else than a very serious one. If he had thought he had been living on his boy's robberies he would have dealt much more severely with him. The police had given him a good character, and he had acted very sensibly that day in consenting to allow Henry Bonson to go abroad. Under all the circumstances he would reduce the sentence to one of one month with hard labour. - The prisoner thanked the Recorder and left the dock.

9 October 1894 The Reformatory Committee Log Book report records receipt of a letter from Day, South Durham, Quebec, Canada

Samuel Hulme - Saltley Reformatory Inmate

No. in Admissions Register:	1202
Age:	13 years 5 months (born 27 December 1885)
Whence received:	Leek Police Court
Description:
Complexion:	Fresh
Hair colour:	Light brown
Eyes colour:	Bluish grey
Height:	4 ft 7⅝ ins
Particular marks:	2 large scars right arm
State of health:	Good
Able-bodied?	Yes
Date of admission:	22 June 1899
Late residence:	Biddulph Moor, near Congleton
Parish he belongs to:	-
Customary work and mode of life:	-
Whether illegitimate:	Yes - parents afterwards married
State of education:
Reads:	Not at all
Writes:	Not at all
Offence:	Stealing a lady's Geneva watch and other articles
Circumstances which may have led to it:	Conduct very bad. On several occasions found sleeping out
Date of sentence, by whom and court:	19 June 1899; A Nicholson and J Bell; Leek, Staffordshire
Where imprisoned:	-
Sentence:	5 years at Saltley
Previous committals:
Number:	1 (June 1898)
Length:	6 strokes with birch
For what:	Stealing a horse
Father's name:	Henry Machin
Occupation:	Collier
Mother's name:	Elizabeth Ann Machin
Occupation:	-
Parents dead?	-
Survivor married again?	-
Parents' treatment of child:	-
Character of parents	Neither good
Parents' wages:	-
Amount parents agree to pay:	-
Parents address:	Biddulph Moor, near Congleton
Superintendent of police (to collect payments):	-
Person making this return:	A Nicholson

Notes:

6 July 1899 A previous offence was very briefly reported in the Uttoxeter Advertiser and Ashbourne Times Wednesday 6 July 1898 p.7 col.3: Samuel Hulme (12) stealing a horse, the property of Samuel Cotterill, at Biddulph, on May 5th, six strokes with a birch rod.

24 June 1899 The crime that sent him to Saltley was briefly reported in the Staffordshire Advertiser Saturday 24 June 1899 p.7 col.5: SENT TO A REFORMATORY. - Samuel Hulme, aged thirteen, of Biddulph Moor, was charged with stealing a silver watch, several pipes, and a pigeon, value £1 1s., the property of George Goodwin, gardener, of Biddulph Moor. The stolen articles were found in the possession of the prisoner. He was sent to a reformatory for five years.

3 April 1903 The Register of Boys on Licence records that Hulme was licensed to go out and work for Mr Hines, Nechells Place, Birmingham

1 October 1903 The Register of Boys on Licence records that Hulme was re-licensed to go out and work for the Manager, Black Bull Pit, Biddulph

22 April 1902 The Reformatory Committee Log Book report records that Hulme had proven unsatisfactory and returned to Saltley

18 June 1904 Sentence expired whilst out on licence, discharged from Saltley

No. in Admissions Register:	41
Date of admission:	20 October 1853
Weekly payments:	-
Age:	16
Education:	Good
Previous employment:	Errand boy
Crimes, how often and in what prison:	Coventry, 1
Training in reformatory:	Shoemaking
When left reformatory:	26 July 1856
Parentage and family:	Both living
Residence:	Coventry
Trade of father:	Ribb ?
With whom the boy is placed:	-
Address:	Coventry
Trade:	Shoemaker

Notes:

9 September 1853 There is a very brief report of his crime in the Coventry Standard Friday 9 September 1853: John Dolby, an errand boy to Mr R Cox, ironmonger, was committed for trial on charge of stealing a knife and tobacco box from his master.

Samuel Mountford - Saltley Reformatory Inmate

No. in Admissions Register:	519
Age:	15
Whence received:	Stafford Prison
Description:
Complexion:	-
Hair colour:	-
Eyes colour:	-
Visage:	-
Particular marks:	-
State of health:	-
Able-bodied?	-
Date of admission and term:	8 August 1874 5 years
Late residence:	Bucknall
Parish he belongs to:	Stoke on Trent
Customary work and mode of life:	Miner
Whether illegitimate:	Not
State of education:
Reads:	Imperfectly
Writes:	Imperfectly
Offence:	Intent to commit a felony
Circumstances which may have led to it:	Neglect of parents
Date of sentence, by who and court:	28 July 1874, Hanley Petty Sessions, H Cartlidge and E F Bodley
Where imprisoned:	Stafford
Sentence:	10 days prison (hard labour), 5 years at Saltley
Previous committals:
Number:	One
Length:	21 days
For what:	Stealing boots
Father's name:	Elijah Mountford
Occupation:	Engine tester
Mother's name:	Julia Mountford
Occupation:	-
Parents dead?	No
Survivor married again?	-
Parents' treatment of child:	Encouraged in theft by mother
Character of parents	Character of both bad. Health good
Parents' wages:	30s per week
Amount parents agree to pay:	-
Parents address:	near Red Lion, Bucknall, Stoke on Trent
Superintendent of police (to collect payments):	-
Person making this return:	-

Notes:

Brother to Alexander, boy 561.

28 July 1874 There is a report of his crime in the Staffordshire Sentinel Tuesday 28 July 1874 p.3 col.4: A BAD LAD.-James Mountford first name given thus], aged fifteen, was charged with having been on the premises of Joseph Cooke, John-street, with intent to commit a felony. The previous night, during the absence of the people the house, prisoner got in, but he was caught busily engaged rifling the drawers in thorough burglar fashion. It was stated that the youth had been imprisoned for theft, and was a very bad lad. Prisoner blubbered famously,. but Mr. Bodley said that sort of "put on" would not now do, -The magistrates decided to commit prisoner to gaol for ten days, and directed that he should afterwards be sent to a reformatory for five years.

11 February 1876 Absconded from work at farm

23 May 1876 His father was summoned for harbouring while absconded, as reported in the Staffordshire Sentinel Tuesday 23 May 1876 p.3 col.3: REFORMATORY RUNAWAY. Elijah Mountford, engineman, Bucknall, was charged with knowingly harbouriug his son, Sarnuel Mountford, who had absconded from the Saltley Reformatory on the 11th of February last. P.C. Eaton said that, he went, in company with a man named Arnold, to the defendant's house, for the purpose of arresting the boy, on the 14th inst. Witness went to one door, and Arnold to the other. The boy escaped by one door, and when Arnold attempted to catch the boy, defendant knocked him (Arnold) down. Defendant said that he was not aware that Arnold was assisting P.C. Eaton, and that his son had only been in the house for a very short time. His son had not slept at his house since he was sent to the Reformatory. The case adjourned to enable defendant to prove this.

29 May 1876 In the follow-up, his father was found guilty, reported again in the Staffordshire Sentinel Monday 29 May 1876 p.3 col.2: REFRACTORY PARENT. -Elijah Mountford, engine tenter, Bucknall, was fined 40s. and 19s. costs for harbouring his son Samuel, who had absconded from a reformatory in which he had been confined. The case was adjourned from last week, on defendant's promise that he would produce the boy. He now said that was unable to find him. Mr. Greenwood informed defendant that he had rendered himself liable a penalty of £20.

3 June 1876 Brought back by Fenton Police

Thomas Welch - Saltley Reformatory Inmate

No. in Admissions Register:	264
Date of admission:	29 October 1863
Whence received:	Birmingham
By whom brought:	-
On what terms:	-
Friends interested in him:	-
Description:
Height:	-
Figure:	-
Complexion:	Fresh
Hair colour:	Brown
Eyes colour:	Grey
Perfect vision?	Yes
State of health:	Good
Able-bodied?	Yes
Sound intellect?	Yes
Use of all limbs?	Yes
Had cow or small pox?	Not protected but punctured by cowpox
Particular marks:	Large scar front right shoulder
Cutaneous disorder?	Yes
Scrofulous or consumptive?	No
Subject to fits?	No
Age last birthday:	12
Illegitimate?	-
Birthday:	-
Birth place:	-
Has resided:	5 court Bow Street, Birmingham
Parish he belongs to:	Birmingham
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:	Stealing £4
Circumstances which may have led to it:	Not known
Date of sentence:	16 October 1863
Where convicted:	Moor Street, before T C S Kynnersley
Who prosecuted:	-
Where imprisoned:	-
Sentence:	14 days prison, 5 years at Saltley
Previous committals and convictions:	None
Father's name:	James Welch
Occupation:	Labourer
Residence:	5 court Bow Street, Birmingham
Mother's name:	Ellen Welch
Occupation:	Mop maker
Residence:	-
Father's character:	-
Mother's character:	-
Parents dead?	Neither
Survivor married again?	-
Parents' treatment of child:	Good
Character of parents	-
Parents' wages:	15s per week
Amount parents agree to pay:	Not exceeding 1s per week
Superintendent of police (to collect payments):	G Glossop
Relatives to communicate with:	-
Person making this return:	T C S Kynnersley
Estimate of character on admission:	-
Character on discharge:	-
When and how left the Reformatory:	-

Notes:

17 October 1863 There is a report of his crime in the Birmingham Journal Saturday 17 October 1863 p.7 col.7: JUVENILE THIEVES.-Three lads, aged respectively twelve, ten, and thirteen years, named Thomas Welch, blacksmith, residing in Bow Street, Richard Merriday, a sweep, living in Windmill Street, and Alfred Thomlinson, schoolboy, residing in Exeter Row, were charged with having stolen four sovereigns from the shop of William Bradbury, ironmonger, 213, High Street, Deritend. It appeared from the evidence that at about one o'clock on the previous day the prosecutor saw the prisoner Welch loitering about his shop door. He left the shop, and on returning a few minutes afterwards missed the money from the till in the shop. He immediately gave information of what had occurred to the police, and in the evening of the same day Detective-sergeant Seal apprehended the three lads, who were in company with each other at the Theatre Royal, New Street. They told him that Welch went into the shop and stole the money while the other two prisoners remained outside in the street. Having got possession of the money, they bought sweetmeats, plum pudding, and other eatables, during the afternoon, and in the evening Welch paid for the three of them to go to see the 'Ticket-of-Leave Man" performed at the Theatre. On taking them to the station Seal found In the possession of the prisoner Welch a watch and a sum money, and in the pocket of Merriday the sum of £1 12s. 8d, which the latter stated Welch had given to him to take charge of. Nothing was found upon Thomlinson. Welch, who bad been previously convicted, was ordered to be imprisoned for fourteen days, and at the expiration of that term to be sent to a Reformatory School for five years. The other two were discharged with a caution.

17 January 1866 Absconded

29 January 1867 Licensed

28 October 1868 Discharged

September 1869 In Birmingham. Doing well