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                  Where can I find information for a school project on the history of prisons?

                  You can find useful information in books, museums and websites.

                  Books

                  Cameron, Joy, Prisons and Punishment in Scotland (Canongate, 1983)

                  Markus, T. A. ‘Buildings for the Bad, the Sad and the Mad in Urban Scotland, 1780-1830’ in Order and Space in Society: Architectural Form and its Context in the Scottish Enlightenment ed. by T. A. Markus, (Mainstream, 1982)

                  Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, Tolbooths and Town-Houses: Civic Architecture in Scotland to 1833 (HMSO, 1996)

                  Museums

                  There are two museums which offer detailed experience of prison conditions: Inveraray Jail (in Argyll) and Stirling Old Town Jail. Both are open to individual (paying) members of the public, and to group visits. The contact details for each are:

                  Inveraray Jail, Church Square, Inveraray, Argyll, PA32 8TX <https://www.inverarayjail.co.uk/> [accessed 24 April 2024]

                  Stirling Old Town Jail, St John Street, Stirling, FK8 1EB <https://oldtownjail.co.uk/> [accessed 24 April 2024]

                  In addition, it may be possible to visit the cells in the tolbooths of former burghs Tolbooths and Town-Houses cited above will provide details of tolbooths in your area which have been preserved. You will need to contact the local council to arrange access, where this is possible.

                  Where can I find information about someone imprisoned in Scotland?

                  There are several answers to this question depending on when, where and why the person was imprisoned. Consider the following question and link to the appropriate FAQ:

                  Was the prisoner:

                  • (a) convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment or penal servitude after the year 1800?
                  • (b) awaiting charge, trial or sentencing before the year 1800?
                  • (c) awaiting charge, trial or sentencing after the year 1800?
                  • (d) a prisoner of war

                  If : (a) then there is a good chance that the prisoner’s details should be recorded in a prison register held by the National Records of Scotland. Go to the FAQ on ‘How do I trace the record of a prisoner in prison registers?’

                  (b) then, the individual was probably incarcerated in a burgh tolbooth or jail. Go to the FAQ on ‘How do I trace the record of a prisoner in warding and liberation books of a burgh tolbooth or jail?’

                  (c) then, the prisoner may have been held on remand in a prison, a burgh tolbooth or jail, or a police cell or lock-up. Look at the FAQs on prison registers, warding and liberation books and ‘How do I trace the record of a prisoner in a police cell or lock-up?’

                  (d) then go to the FAQ on ‘Where can I find information about prisoner of war prisons and camps in Scotland?’

                  How do I trace the record of a prisoner in prison registers?

                  From 1839 onwards prison administration was increasingly brought under central government control, and most registers of prisoners kept by Scottish prisons after 1800 are now held by the National Records of Scotland. Most are among Home and Health Department records (HH21 and HH12), but some are among Sheriff Court records (SC). These mainly cover the period from the early 1800s onwards, and consist of registers maintained by at least 49 prisons, generally containing name, date of admission, committing magistrate and court, age, height, where born, nationality, occupation, religion, health, offence, particulars of trial, sentence if convicted, and date liberated or removed. Some prison registers have been digitised and more details can be found in the ScotlandsPeople Guide to prison registers <https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/guides/prison-registers> [accessed 24 April 2024]

                  Using prison registers

                  In the late 19th century, many prisons adopted a registration system, whereby prisoners received a two-part number based on the year of admission and a running number – for example, the 498th prisoner admitted to a prison in 1908 would have the number 498/08, and his or her details would be recorded under that number in the register. The registers may be indexed internally, indexed in separate volumes, or not indexed at all, depending on the prison. Look at the appropriate catalogue for the prison registers concerned (HH21, HH12 and/or SC). In the case of the HH21 and HH12 catalogues, the arrangement is rather haphazard. Registers for a prison may appear in more than one place in the catalogue. Prisons in larger towns and cities which had more than one prison are problematical. In some cases, registers ascribed to one prison (e.g. Aberdeen East) may be from another (e.g. Aberdeen West). Where a town or city had more than one prison, the registers for all the relevant prisons should be searched. Another problem is that some of the indexes to registers are described as registers. In general, be prepared for a lengthy search.

                  How do I trace the record of a prisoner in warding and liberation books of a burgh tolbooth or jail?

                  Records relating to burgh prisons and tolbooths consist mainly of warding and liberation books, which record the incarceration and release of individual prisoners with few other details. These are rarely indexed, except where they have been indexed by staff or volunteers in the appropriate record office or published and indexed by an antiquarian society. Warding and liberation books for burgh tolbooths and prisons tend to be with the burgh records, normally held by the appropriate local authority archive service. In the case of several Fife burghs, the records are held by St Andrews University. Another exception is the case of Edinburgh Tolbooth, whose warding and liberation books, 1657-1816, are held by the National Records of Scotland (HH11).

                  The search may be time-consuming depending on the number of prisoners handled by each tolbooth or jail, and records prior to 1750 can be difficult to read because of the nature of the handwriting for that period.

                  How do I trace the record of a prisoner in a police cell or lock up?

                  The records of police stations sometimes include detention books, bail books or registers of persons held in police cells. If your enquiry concerns a police cell or lock-up, the first task is to find out which police force would have operated at the time and place in question, and where (if at all) the station records survive. For further details go to the Knowledge Base entry on Police Records Locations.

                  Where can I find information about Prisoner of War prisons and camps in Scotland?

                  The accommodation of significant numbers of prisoners of war first became an issue in the second half of the 18th century, especially during the Napoleonic Wars. Edinburgh Castle held French prisoners at times between 1756 and 1814, and French prisoners of war were employed in a variety of places, including the lead mines at Strontian in Argyll in the late 18th century. From 1796 prisoners of war, irrespective of service or nationality, were the responsibility of the Admiralty’s Sick and Hurt Board (later called the Transport Board). Most French prisoners of war were housed in England, especially in Dartmoor Prison, which was built between 1806 and 1809. By 1814 there were two prisoner of war camps in Scotland: at Penicuik and Perth. The site of the latter, including some of the buildings originally erected for the Napoleonic prisoners, were incorporated into the General Prison, built in Perth from 1839 onwards. For further details see William Sievwright, Historical Sketch of the Old Depot or Prison for French Prisoners of War at Perth (Wright, 1894).

                  During the First World War (1914-18) the War Office and the Foreign Office both had POW departments, but the former was attached to the Home Office, which ran internment camps, of which there were about 25 in Scotland. During the Second World War (1939-45) the War Office was responsible for all POWs, including those in over 20 camps and prisons in Scotland.

                  For records relating to Scottish POW camps and prisons, go to the website of The National Archives in London. <https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/> [accessed 24 April 2024]. Look for the research guide on Prisoners of War in British Hands and this will help you use the catalogue for this topic.

                  Where can I find information about Scottish Prisoners of War abroad?

                  If your research concerns a Scottish POW abroad since the 18th century go to website of The National Archives in London. <https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/> [accessed 24 April 2024] Look for the research guides for prisoners of war.

                  Where can I find architectural drawings of a particular prison or prisons in general?

                  Apart from publications on Scottish prisons, which reproduce plans of prison buildings, there are three places to try for these: Historic Environment Scotland, the National Records of Scotland, and local archives and libraries.

                  Published works

                  The following published works reproduce plans of prisons:

                  Cameron, Joy Prisons and Punishment in Scotland (Canongate, 1983)

                  Markus, T. A. ‘Buildings for the Bad, the Sad and the Mad in Urban Scotland, 1780-1830’ in Order and Space in Society: architectural form and its context in the Scottish Enlightenment ed. by T. A, Markus, (Mainstream, 1982)

                  Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, Tolbooths and Town-Houses: Civic Architecture in Scotland to 1833 (HMSO, 1996)

                  The (printed) First Report of the Board of Directors of Prisons in Scotland (1840) has an appendix with architectural drawings of Perth Prison.

                  Historic Environment Scotland (HES)

                  Use the Canmore website <https://canmore.org.uk/> [accessed 24 April 2024] to look for the drawings of the prison, and then follow the instructions for contacting HES. If your research is on prison buildings in general, remember to search using the terms ‘prison’, ‘jail’, ‘gaol’, ‘Bridewell’ and ‘tolbooth’.

                  National Records of Scotland

                  The National Records of Scotland (NRS) hold several hundred architectural drawings of prisons in the Register House Plans (RHP) series, mostly extracted from the records of the Scottish Home and Health Department. Over 300 of them can be found by using the search term ‘prison’ and the reference RHP, but, once again, if your research is on prison buildings in general, remember to search using the terms ‘jail’, ‘gaol’, ‘Bridewell’ and ‘tolbooth’ as well.

                  Local authority archives

                  Local authority archives occasionally hold architectural drawings of prisons and similar buildings. If you are researching a particular prison you need to find out the appropriate local archives service(s) for that area. You should not expect to find drawings of prisons in Dean of Guild plans collections, because many central government buildings (including prisons) were exempt from building regulations.

                  Where should I look for photographs of prisoners?

                  This FAQ refers to titles of acts which includes terminology which is now obsolete.

                  Criminal registers or collections of photographs of prisoners survive in police records in Scottish archives and among the records of prisons in the National Records of Scotland. They include:

                  • Albums of criminal register entries compiled by a police force. In most cases, where there is a photograph, it is part of a much larger entry, running to several pages.
                  • Albums of photographs. With the minimum amount of information about the criminal, compiled by a police force, possibly using the photographs supplied by prison authorities as part of the criminal register entries, or, more likely, from photographs taken by the police force itself of each prisoner at the time of arrest.
                  • Printed notifications under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1903. Details of a person convicted of three or more offences mentioned in the first schedule of the Inebriates Act 1898 were circulated to licensed premises and secretaries of clubs and police forces in counties, etc.

                  Examples of the above are held by several archives. Perth & Kinross Council Archive holds photographic and conviction records for Perthshire, Perthshire & Kinross-shire and Perth & Kinross constabularies for the periods 1875-1906 and 1915-55. Glasgow City Archives hold four registers among the records of Strathclyde Police: two for Glasgow, covering 1910-33 (SR22/63/11-12) do not contain photographs. Two for Dunbartonshire, covering 1903-14 (SR22/77/8-9) do contain photographs. The National Records of Scotland hold several albums, including one for Greenock prison, 1872-88. (HH12/56/7). Aberdeen City Archives hold two criminal registers compiled by Aberdeen City Police: the first covers prisoners liberated from Perth Prison, 1882-84, and the second is a ‘register of returned convicts’, 1869-1938, containing notes on the whereabouts of released convicts, and including photographs of prisoners between 1869 and 1897. Among the records of Dunbarton County Constabulary (held by Glasgow City Archives) are three ‘notifications of inebriates’ under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1903 supplied to the Colquhoun Arms Hotel, Rhu (SR22/77/23).

                  Where should I look for information about suffragettes in prison?

                  Whether you are researching a particular suffragette or the imprisonment of suffragettes in general you should first read all or some of the following:

                  Purvis, June, ‘The Prison Experience of the Suffragettes in Edwardian Britain’, Women’s History Review, 4 (1) (1995), pp. 103-33

                  Leneman, Leah A Guid cause: the women’s suffrage movement in Scotland (Mercat Press, 1991)

                  King, Elspeth, The Hidden History of Glasgow’s Women: The Thenew Factor (Mainstream, 1993)

                  If you are researching an individual suffragette prisoner go to the FAQ Where can I find information about someone imprisoned in Scotland? but see also a register of suffragettes received into prison in Scotland, 1909-14, among the Home and Health Department records of the National Records of Scotland (HH12/22).

                  If you are researching the treatment of suffragette prisoners in general, there are criminal case files among the Home and Health Department records in the National Records of Scotland (HH16/36-47). It may also be worth looking through the catalogues to the Criminal Justice and Procedure files, 1888-1995 (HH60).