Prisons on the 1911 census?

[Lina]

I'd like to try and figure out the RD/No. of the prisons nearest to Glasgow to try and narrow down census locations for someone I am searching for in the 1911 census. I found an article from December 10, 1910 saying the previous day he had been sentenced to six months for fraud. It doesn't say which prison he was sent to.

I've already checked and he's not with his wife and children on the 1911 census, his parents are abroad so he's not with them, and I've already tried everyone with his name within 2 years of his age. I've had luck finding people in institutions by narrowing down my search to certain RD/No. (ie Stobhill is 644/6 34), but I am not familiar with the prisons in the area, nor where someone sentenced in Glasgow would most likely be sent.

If anyone has any suggestions I'd appreciate it.

[AndrewP]

Hi Lina,



If you have plenty time and patience, the street index for Glasgow in the 1921 census is available online.

https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files//st ... LASGOW.pdf

Unfortunately as it is a scan of the paper document, there is no searching for a particular word. If you don't have the names of Glasgow prisons to look for, then it is a read of over 180 pages for you.

As an example, page 13 includes Barlinnie Prison, showing it to be in 644/19L (L denoting the landward part of the district; a similar B suffix would indicate 'burgh' rather than landward). I am unsure if the L or B are shown in the ScotlandsPeople index, or if this would show as 644/19.

See also page 52 for Duke Street Prison in census enumeration district 644/4.

Both of these prisons also show on page 84 under H.M. Prison.

All the best,

AndrewP

[Lina]

Thank you! Have been using the NRS street guide documents and they have been really helpful for the research I'm doing. Do you know of any other prisons that someone in Glasgow might be sent to? Would it be possible they'd be sent to Dundee or elsewhere in the country?

[AndrewP]

Hi Lina,

I see I directed you to the wrong year's census street index, the one for 1911 is at the following link.

https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files//re ... lasgow.pdf

In 1911:
Barlinnine Prison (also listed as H.M. General Prison) was in 622/2
H.M. Prison, Cathedral Square was in 644/4
[both also listed as Prison...]

Hopefully one of our readers who knows Glasgow better than me can answer your question about other prisons in the area; or if prisoners may have been sent further away for their sentence.

All the best,

AndrewP

[WilmaM]

I'm not too familiar with the prison systems, but I know that the prison can sometimes depend on the crime/length of sentence, as often they are very far from home for frequent family visits.
Such a short sentence, you'd think would be served close to home.

Perth Prison records on SP do go up to 1921, so you could check there. https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/adva ... -registers
Scottish Indexes also have court and prison records, but may not be as recent as you need. https://www.scottishindexes.com/default.aspx
Find My past doesn't have the 1911 census for Scotland , but they do have some other prison related records. In particular the Police Gazette gives details of 'Persons In Custody Who May Be Sought Elsewhere' and 'Apprehensions Sought' makes good reading, though maybe not relevant to your man.

Older census returns sometimes didn't give full names of inmates of prisons, hospitals and institutions, and just entered initials [by 1911 I hope that wasn't the case].

Glasgow prisons of the time just seem to be Barlinnie and Duke Street and Edinburgh had Saughton.
The rest of Scotland: Aberdeen, Ayr, Dumfries, Dundee, Greenock, Inverness, Perth, Peterhead.
More information on Prisons records can be found here: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/ ... -criminals

[Falkyrn]

Just as an addon to the advice already given, at that time Duke Street was a womens prison and Barlinnie a male prison (Duke Street was originally the main prison but when Barlinnie came into service Duke Street was repurposed as a female only unit).

The problem you may face is that regardless of the length of the sentence he may have been sent further afield, the location was determined entirely by the Prison Service and they managed it by space available rather than keeping prisoners local

[Lina]

Thank you, this is very helpful.