A collection of haunting Victorian mug shots have gone on display for the first time.
The striking black-and-white images include a boy of 14 who was jailed for stealing two pigeons and a man banged up for nicking tins of condensed milk.
The photos, which feature in an exhibition at Lincoln Castle, provide a fascinating insight into crime and punishment during the 1870s.
They were found in a document recording the misdeeds of crooks who were held at the castle’s Victorian prison more than 150 years ago.
Also among them were Norwegian sailors, George Dahl, 24, and Harry Olsen, 22, who sailed to Hull from Oslo in June 1876.
They were jailed for thee months with hard labour at Lindsey County Prison, now HMP Lincoln, for burgling a home six weeks later.
James Pringle, aged 21, from Grimsby, was sentenced to one month in prison for stealing six tins of condensed milk
George Dahl (left) and Harry Olsen were caught stealing a silver watch from a house in Barrow upon Humber, six weeks after sailing into Hull from Oslo. They were jailed for thee months with hard labour at Lindsey County Prison, now HMP Lincoln
The men broke into the house of Frederick Argill in Barrow upon Humber, stealing a silver watch and clothes, after falling into a ‘quite destitute’ state.
Their details were recorded in a document, known as a Register of Habitual Criminals, which allowed the police to monitor and detain reoffenders.
The youngest criminal convicted in the register was just 11 years old and their crimes received heavy sentences by today’s standards.
John Holmes, aged 14, from Barrow upon Humber, was accused of stealing two pigeons and sentenced to 21 days imprisonment.
James Pringle, 21, from Grimsby, was sentenced to one month’s imprisonment for stealing six tins of condensed milk.
Between 1848 and 1878 Lincoln Castle’s Victorian Prison was used as a short-term holding centre for male, female and child prisoners awaiting trial, or following sentencing, before they were transferred elsewhere to serve their punishment.
John Holmes, aged 14, was accused of stealing two pigeons and sentenced to 21 days in prison. Another rogue was Fanny Skinn, right
Mary Ann Carter was another prisoner jailed at Lincoln Castle Prison
Lincoln Castle prisoner William Jones. The prison operated for 30 years from 1848
Thomas Rose was another prisoner at Lincoln Castle. The prison was designed for the ‘separate system’, a regime devised to keep prisoners apart
Young rogue Herbert Foster. Children as young as eight were put behind bars at the prison
The mugshots have gone on display at Lincoln Castle’s Magna Carta vault
The prison was designed for what was known as the ‘separate system’, a regime that kept prisoners apart from the corrupting influence of their fellow inmates.
The Victorians believed this would help them to repent and reform.
Inmates as young as eight were held there from 1848 until 1878.
Lincoln’s prison did not just hold petty criminals though. Seven murderers were hanged at the castle and their bodies then buried behind the ‘Lucy Tower’.
The prison’s chapel is the only one of its kind remaining in the world. It features upright stalls that kept prisoners segregated as the chaplain preached to them. Â
The book and the photographs will be on display at the castle’s Magna Carta Vault until February.
Lincolnshire County Council’s Councillor Natalie Oliver said: ‘We are thrilled to be displaying this document for the first time, giving it pride of place alongside an original Magna Carta dating to 1215.Â
‘The register offers a fascinating insight into Lincolnshire’s Victorian past, helping us to learn more about the lives of those who served time in the Castle’s prison.’
