Prison record sheet

Prison record sheet
    A page from a prison record ledger

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Prison record sheet A page from a prison record ledger
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

A page from a prison record ledger, 1873. The page contains a portrait and information about a convicted criminal, Bridget Turner. Turner, a thirty-one-year-old prostitute, was arrested in Newcastle in September 1873 and sentenced to one months hard labour for stealing a shawl.

A page from a prison record ledger, 1873.

The page contains a portrait and information about a convicted criminal, Bridget Turner. Turner, a thirty-one-year-old prostitute, was arrested in Newcastle in September 1873 and sentenced to one months hard labour for stealing a shawl.

The use of photography to record known criminals - the 'mug shot'- had been suggested as early as the 1840s. In 1871, the Prevention of Crime Act made it a legal requirement that all persons arrested for a crime must have their photographs taken.

Details

Category:
Photographs
Object Number:
1991-5046/3
Materials:
paper
type:
photograph
credit:
The National Media Museum, Bradford