Prison records

Post by **Vanessa** » 27 Mar 2009 22:38

Aaron and Joseph Gresty were born in Wigan but moved to St Helens in the late 1880's. The 2 brothers were forever in court for stealing. In the 1901 census Aaron Gresty is in Preston Prison and a search of the A2A website showed a listing of "bill of costs for prosecution of Aaron Gresty for larceny." Before this their crimes (and their fathers) were reported in both the St Helens and Liverpool newspapers, but this time there is no sign of his crime.
I was wondering if it is possible to see his prison/criminal record, does anyone know if these still exist for Preston Prison and if access is allowed. I know some other counties have these records which includes a photograph of the prisoner, something like this would be a real bonus. Any advice would be appreciated

Vanessa

Post by **MaryA** » 28 Mar 2009 08:22

Hi and welcome to the forum

If there are any available I think they will be held in the Lancashire Record Office in Preston. http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/education/record_office/ A quick search for Prison Records brings up quite a list but mainly costs for conveying prisoners.

From the LANCASHIRE RECORD OFFICE
Select list of accessions in 1997

"PRISONS
Preston Prison: registers of inmates 1885-1931, 1948-54 [incomplete]; register of
officers 1948-74; calendars of prisoners 1887-1930 [incomplete] (JAPR acc 8123)
some items closed"

There is a contact link on that site, I'm sure they will be able to tell you exactly what would be available, maybe more importantly where and when.

Post by **Vanessa** » 28 Mar 2009 15:01

Thank you, I'll do that. Hopefully his records still exist, I've a feeling his brother ended up there in 1905 as well.

Vanessa