Where can I find the employment record of a prison warder?

Staff records in the true sense for the Scottish prison service begin only in 1893. From then until 1946 staff registers were compiled and these are now held by the National Records of Scotland (HH87 – Prison service staff registers).

For the period prior to this the search for details of prison staff will be time-consuming and probably unrewarding. The ‘Prisons – Administrative Records’ series (HH12) in the National Records of Scotland should be examined for possible records. The most likely source among these records are the Governors’ Journals of individual prisons, which ought to record members of staff starting and leaving (or being dismissed), and absences due to illness or other causes. However, as the journals are a form of logbook, the search through these for details of individual staff members can be tedious.

For the period prior to 1839 the main source of information on burgh jails, tolbooths, lock-ups, etc., will be the minute books of the burgh or town council concerned. A search through these for information on the appointment of individual warders is likely to be even more tedious and unrewarding than the search through Governors’ Journals for prisons after 1839.

How do I find the trial records and other records of someone transported to Australia or New Zealand?

The National Records of Scotland (NRS) will, in most cases, hold records of the trial of a Scottish transportee, but you may be able to augment these with details of the voyage from records held by The National Archives in London, and newspaper reports of the trial. Prior to visiting the NRS, or hiring a record agent to carry out research there, it is best to assemble as much information as possible about the person you are researching (particularly when he or she arrived in Australia or New Zealand and which part of Scotland he or she came from) and to read the sections dealing with transportation and criminals in Tracing Your Scottish Ancestors 7^th edition (Birlinn, 2020). To locate and read through the court and prison records, described below, for one individual case, will require more than one day’s work in the historical search room at the NRS. Separate visits may be required to The National Archives in London.

If your ancestor was transported from Scotland in the period 1812 to 1867, you may be able to see the prosecution papers in the case, in the form of the precognitions in the Lord Advocate’s records (AD) in the NRS. Hardly any survive for the period before 1812. Those for the period 1812-1900 (AD14) are listed under the name of the accused in the NRS online catalogue: <https://webarchive.nrscotland.gov.uk/20240326181158/https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/catalogues-and-indexeswww.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/catalogues-and-indexes> [accessed 24 April 2024]. The records of the Advocate’s department also has a register of returns of pardoned or ticket of leave convicts committed on new charges (AD12/8). The High Court of Justiciary, the supreme criminal court in Scotland, passed sentences of transportation. For details of how to search through Justiciary Court records (JC) at the NRS, you should read the chapter on criminals in National Records of Scotland Tracing Your Scottish Ancestors 7^th edition (Birlinn, 2020) and/or look at the research guides for court and legal records on the website. <https://webarchive.nrscotland.gov.uk/20240326182510mp_/https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/research-guides/research-guides-a-z/court-and-legal-records> [accessed 24April 2024]. Personal details of the transportee should appear in the registers of the prison which served the court where the trial took place. Prison registers survive in the Home and Health Department records (HH) in the NRS. Most prison registers begin only from the 1840s. They include a register of convicts under sentence of transportation (HH21/5/16).

Ships carrying transported prisoners to Australia sailed from England, and Convict Transportation Registers survive among the Home Office records in The National Archives in London (HO 11). These cover the period from 1787 to 1871 and give the names of all the convicts who sailed on each ship along with the place and date of the conviction and the length of sentence. A microfilm copy is held by the NRS (RH4/160/7). The registers are arranged chronologically by the date of departure of each ship. The names of Scottish prisoners occur towards the end of each list. Two other classes of record in The National Archives in London contain information about transportees. A census of convicts 1788 – 1859 among the Home Office papers (HO10) lists convicts and their families in New South Wales and Tasmania. The census for 1828 is the most complete. A number of lists of convicts for the period 1801 – 1821 are among the New South Wales Original Correspondence (CO 201), and these are indexed.

Once you know which court the trial took place in, you should be able to find a report of the trial in a local newspaper for the period. To locate back copies of local newspapers for particular areas of Scotland consult:

British Newspaper Archive <https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/> [accessed 24 April 2024] (available free of charge in the National Library of Scotland or with a subscription elsewhere)

Ferguson, J. P. S. Directory of Scottish Newspapers (National Library of Scotland, 1984).

How do I find the trial record of someone transported to North America?

Scottish convicts sentenced to transportation before 1776 were sent to North America. A published list of these, based on Scottish sources such as the records of the Privy Council, High Court of Justiciary, Treasury, etc can be found in David Dobson, Directory of Scots Banished to the American Plantations 1650-1775 2^nd edition (Clearfield, 2010). For other published lists of Scottish settlers in North America see below.

Information about individual cases should appear in the records of the High Court of Justiciary, the supreme criminal court in Scotland, at the National Records of Scotland (NRS). To locate and read through the court records for one individual case, will require more than one day’s work at the NRS. Before you visit the NRS or hire a record agent to carry out research there, you should assemble as much information as possible about the person you are researching (particularly when they arrived in North America) and which part of Scotland they came from) and read the sections dealing with transportation and criminals in Tracing Your Scottish Ancestors 7^th edition (Birlinn, 2020).

Published lists of Scottish settlers in North America

Coldham, Peter W Complete Book of Emigrants, 1607-1660 (Genealogical Publishing Co, 1987).

Coldham, Peter W Complete Book of Emigrants in Bondage, 1614-1775 (Genealogical Publishing Co, 1988)

Dobson, David Directory of Scottish Settlers in North America, 1625-1825 (Genealogical Publishing Co, 1993)

Dobson, David Directory of Scots Banished to the American Plantations 1650-1775 2^nd edition (Clearfield, 2010)

Filby, P W & others, ed., Passenger and Immigration Lists Index (Gale Research Co, 1981 – present, 21 volumes, continuing) is an index of names in published passenger lists and other lists of arrivals in North America in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

Whyte, Donald Dictionary of Scottish Emigrants to the USA (Magna Carta Book Co, 1972)

Whyte, Donald Dictionary of Scottish Emigrants to the USA Vol 2 (Magna Carta Book Co, 1986)

What forms of hard labour were used in Scottish prisons?

In the course of the 19th century the addition of hard labour was increasingly used by judges for certain offences. The treadmill, the hand crank and picking oakum were all used in Scottish prisons. The treadmill was a large drum with projecting wooden treads on its outside and connected to something to provide resistance, which had to be turned by tramping on the treads. The hand crank consisted of a handle projecting from a large box, which had to be turned a prescribed number of times a day to overcome the resistance of gravel or sand in the box. Both were hard but totally unproductive work. A more productive form of hard labour was picking oakum, i.e. teasing out old tarred rope into strands, which were used for caulking ships. The treadmill and hand crank were abolished in Scottish prisons in 1898.

What was a Bridewell?

The term ‘Bridewell’ originated in London in the 16th century when a ‘house of correction’ was set up at St Bride’s Well to make vagrants and the unemployed work towards their keep in harsh conditions. In Scotland larger towns, such as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth and Aberdeen, began building ‘houses of correction’, which were sometimes called ‘Bridewells’ in the 17th century, but these could hold prisoners awaiting trial, and also, by the early 19th century, individuals sentenced to short periods of imprisonment.

What was the ‘General Prison’ and where can I find information about it?

The term ‘General Prison’ was first used in 1839 to refer to the new prison being built at Perth, whose primary purpose was to house the increasing numbers of prisoners being sentenced by courts all over Scotland to longer terms of imprisonment. It was built as a result of the Prison (Scotland) Act 1839, which placed the superintendence of all Scottish prisons in the hands of the General Board of Directors of Prisons in Scotland. County Boards were established to manage all 178 Scottish prisons, except the General Prison, which was administered directly by the General Board of Directors until the Prisons (Scotland) Act 1860. This entrusted the running of the General Prison to four managers – the Sheriff of Perth, the Inspector of Prisons in Scotland, the Crown Agent and a stipendiary manager. The General Prison at Perth housed convicts serving sentences exceeding 9 months and prisoners suffering mental ill-health. It was on the site of the former Prisoner of War depot, which had housed French soldiers captured in the Napoleonic Wars. In 1882, Barlinnie Prison, near Glasgow, opened and served partly as a General Prison. By 1904 most long sentences were served in Peterhead Prison (for men) and Duke Street Prison, Glasgow (for women).

For further details see:

Sievwright, William, Historical Sketch of the Old Depot or Prison for French Prisoners of War at Perth (Wright, 1894)

Sievwright, William, Historical Sketch of the General Prison for Scotland at Perth: with notes on Crime & Criminals (Wright, 1894

When did the last public execution of a woman take place in Scotland?

The last public execution of a woman in Scotland took place in Dumfries on 29 April 1862, of a ‘feeble-minded’ woman named Mary Timmey, who had battered a female neighbour to death. There were strenuous public efforts to save her from the gallows, as it was felt by many that she did not deserve to die. Nevertheless, the execution attracted a large crowd.