Nature of Source
Prison authorities meticulously maintained registers of individuals who had been released from prison but were considered at high risk of re-offending. These records can include detailed information about the criminal.
A significant feature of these registers was the inclusion of photographs. It became standard practice for the police to photograph repeat offenders resulting in an extensive collection of pictures of criminal individuals.
A unique set of records, known as the Register of Habitual Drunkards, covers the period from 1903 to 1914. This set of records is held in series MEPO 6/77-88 at The National Archives.
Also see
Assize Records
Calendars of Prisoners
Criminal Petitions
Criminal Registers
General Eyre
License Registers/’tickets of leave’
Petty Sessions
Quarter Session Records
Prison/Hulk/Gaol Registers
Transported Convicts
Where Found
- Series MEPO 6, Habitual Criminals Registers and Miscellaneous Papers, 1834-1959
- Series PCOM 2/404, Alphabetical register of habitual criminals in England and Wales, 1869-1876
- Series HO 8, Convict Hulks, Convict Prisons and Criminal Lunatic Asylums: Quarterly Returns of Prisoners
- Series HO 23, Registers of Prisoners from national prisons lodged in County Prisons
- Series HO 24, Prison Registers and Statistical Returns
County Record Offices
Local archives hold local registers
Period Covered
1869 – 1876
Genealogical Value
- Name, alias, age, address and occupation of likely offender.
- Physical description with photos.
- Name of prison attended and date of discharge.
- Length of sentence and previous convictions.
Further References
- Bard, Robert. Tyburn: The Story of London’s Gallows: Amberley Publishing, 2012
- Bard, Robert. Death in London: Places of Execution, Then and Now: Historical Publications, 2007
- Bevan, Amanda. Tracing Your Ancestors in the National Archives: The National Archives, 2006
- Brandon, David & Brooke. Alan. London West End 1800-1850 Murders And Misdemeanours: Amberley Publishing, 2009
- Brandon, David & Brooke. Alan. Olde London Punishments: The History Press (30 April 2010)
- Cale, Michelle. Law and Society: An introduction to sources for criminal and legal history from 1800: PRO Publications, 1996
- Campbell, Charles. The Intolerable Hulks: British Shipboard Confinement 1776-1857 Fenestra Books, 2001
- Decharne, Max. Capital Crimes : Seven Centuries of London Life and Murder: Arrow Books, 2013
- Eatwell, Alison. Crime, Clemency and Consequence in Britain 1821-1839: A Slice of Criminal Life: Pen & Sword History, 2017
- Emsley, Clive. Crime and Society in England: 1750-1900: Routledge, 2010
- Emsley, Clive. Crime and Society in Twentieth Century England: Routledge, 2011
- Gilfillan, Ross. Crime and Punishment in Victorian London: A Street-Level View of the City’s Underworld: Pen & Sword Books, 2014
- Gray, Adrian. Crime and Criminals of Victorian England: The History Press, 2011
- Hall, Malcolm. Gloucestershire Murders and Misdemeanours 1820-1829: Amberley Publishing, 2008
- Hawkings, David. Criminal Ancestors: A Guide to Historical Criminal Records in England & Wales: The History Press, 2009
- Hawkings, David. Bound for Australia: A Guide to the Records of Transported Convicts and Early Settlers: The History Press, 2012
- Herber, Mark. Criminal London: A Pictorial History from Medieval Times to 1939: Phillimore & Co, 2002
- Higgs, Michelle. Prison Life in Victorian England: The History Press, 2007
- Hitchcock, Tim & Shoemaker, Bob. Tales from the Hanging Court: Hodder Arnold, 2006
- Howse, Geoffrey. A History of London’s Prisons: Wharncliffe True Crime, 2012
- Jack, Elizabeth. A Victorian Prisoners of Gloucester Gaol: A Rogues’ Gallery: The History Press, 2009
- Knapp, Andrew & Baldwin, William. The Newgate Calendar: London, 1828 (Available from: Google Books)
- Marson, Edward. Prison: Five Hundred Years of Life Behind Bars: The National Archives, 2009
- May, Trevor. Victorian and Edwardian Prisons: Shire, 2008
- Oates, Dr Jonathan. Tracing Villains and Their Victims: A Guide for Family Historians: Pen and Sword Books, 2017
- Paley, Ruth & Fowler, Simon. Family Skeletons: Exploring The Lives of our Disreputable Ancestors: The National Archives, 2005
- Reake, Janet. How to Trace Your Convict Ancestors: Their Lives, Times and Records: Hale & Iremonger, 1999
- Stevens, Mark. Broadmoor Revealed: Victorian Crime and the Lunatic Asylum: Pen and Sword Books, 2013
- Storey, Neil. The Victorian Criminal: Shire Publications, 2011
- Wade, Stephen. Tracing Your Criminal Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians: Pen & Sword Books, 2009
- Wade, Stephen. Tyranny and the Lash : Prisoners & Punishment in British History: Robert Hale Publishers, 2011
- Watson, Katherine. Poisoned Lives: English Poisoners and their Victims: Hambledon Continuum, 2006
- Woolf, Alex. Past In Pictures : A Photographic View of Crime and Punishment: Wayland Publishers, 2013
Websites
The National Archives Research Guide
How to look for records of prisoners and convicts. This guide will help you to search for records of prisoners serving sentences in England and Wales.
Our Criminal Ancestors
Our Criminal Ancestors is a public engagement project, led by the University of Hull in collaboration with Leeds Beckett University, that encourages and supports to explore the criminal past of their own families, communities, towns and regions. Source guides include researching prison ancestors and tracing transported criminals.
Society of Genealogists Guide
Finding Criminal Ancestors
London Lives
Researching Crime. London Lives allows users to link together the records of several different courts to trace individual criminal careers, or at least an individual’s repeated encounters with the law, over a number of years.
London Picture Archive
Search over 250,000 photographs, prints and drawings as well as over 1,000 maps of London from the collections at The London Archives and Guildhall Art Gallery. Search for people or places or browse subject areas such as ‘Law & Crime’.
Proceedings of the Old Bailey
Crime, Justice and Punishment: The Historical Background to the Proceedings of the Old Bailey including a glossary of judicial terms, explanations of types and categories of indictable offences, trial procedures, verdicts, punishments and other topics.
Guildhall Library
Tracing London criminals. The Library has many sources for tracing London Criminals, including an extensive collection of Old Bailey Sessions Papers. The history and the changing nature of the information found in these is described in some detail with notes on London criminal courts, transportation, indictments and guidance on further research.
The London Archives Research Guide
Law and Crime. Our records on law and crime cover obvious things like criminal cases and prison records, as well as topics which can reveal much about family history like the records of the Court of Orphans and Coroner Inquests.
Register of Qualified Genealogists
Researching Criminal Ancestors.
Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine
The 14 best websites for tracing prisoners in your family history, by Jonathan Scott.
Family Tree
Researching “Black Sheep” Ancestors with Criminal Records, by David A. Fryxell.
Family Tree
5 ways to find your criminal ancestors, by Emma Maxwell.
Family Tree Resources
Tracing Your Criminal Ancestors.
Findmypast Blog
How to find criminal ancestors in the newspaper archives, by Alex Cox.
Digital Panopticon
A Guide to Researching Family History. Learn about crime and criminal justice with research guides covering the historical background to crime and punishment and the courts.
The Victorian Web
Crime in Victorian England. Explore crime related essays covering Victorian England.
Capital Punishment U.K.
The resource site for the history of death penalty in Britain. History of the death penalty in Britain.
Victorians
Victorian Crime and Punishment.
National Records of Scotland
Research Guide: Crime and Criminals. The archives holds many records relating to crime and criminals. Information about crime and criminals can be found in the records of criminal courts, criminal investigations and prisons.
ScotlandsPeople Guide
Prison registers. Read how to search prison registers and understand their contents.
Bodleian Libraries
Broadside Ballads Online. The site features a digital collection of 30,000 English printed ballad-sheets from between the 16th and 20th centuries with links to other resources for the study of the English ballad tradition
National Library of Scotland
Digital Gallery: The Word On The Street: Online collection of nearly 1,800 Scottish broadsides between 1650 and 1910.
Harvard Law School Library
English Crime and Execution Broadsides. Explore This collection of nearly 600 broadsides highlighting crime and capital punishment, primarily in England, as seen through the popular press in the 18th and 19th century.
Online Databases
Ancestry
UK, Registers of Habitual Criminals and Police Gazettes, 1834-1934. This collection comprises registers and weekly newspapers with details of criminals, including habitual criminal registers, photographs and physical descriptions. The records are held in series MEPO 6 at The National Archives.
Ancestry
UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951. This collection comprises a variety of records including registers of prisoners and habitual criminals, photograph albums, minute books, visitors’ books, order books, journals, assizes and quarter sessions calendars and other records relating to various prisons in England and Wales, to Gibraltar prison and to some ship prisons. The records are held in series PCOM 2 at The National Archives
Findmypast
England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770-1935. Unlock the secrets of your family’s past with unparalleled access to over 5 million crime records spanning from 1770 to 1935 in England and Wales. Track their journey through the justice system, from trials to sentencing, gaining invaluable insights into their lives behind bars. The extensive collection of records from criminal cases, gaols, hulks, prisons, and criminal calendars is produced in association with The National Archives.
Highlights of the collection include:
- Metropolitan Police: criminal record office, habitual criminals’ registers and miscellaneous papers (MEPO 6).
These records include details of over 151,330 habitual criminals for the period 1881-1936. These are the registers of habitual criminals kept by the police. Also included is a list of 5,824 habitual drunkards from the period 1903 to 1914, which would have been circulated weekly to licensed persons and secretaries of clubs.
MyHeritage
Datasets include:
- England and Wales, Metropolitan Police Register of Habitual Criminals, 1881-1925. This collection contains prisoner records from various jails in England and Wales.
- England, Middlesex and Westminster Sessions of the Peace, 1836-1889. This collection contains lists of prisoners tried at Middlesex or Westminster Sessions of the Peace.
- Scotland, Court of Session Processes, Acts and Decrees, 1560-1930. This collection contains court cases from the Court of Session, the supreme civil court of Scotland.
- Scotland, Prison Registers, 1791-1965. This collection contains prisoner records from various prisons in Scotland.
