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                  Prison Records – Modern prison records

                  This entry in the Knowledge Base limits the use of obsolete terminology to the titles of some records.

                  Most records produced by Scottish prisons from the mid-19th century (and some earlier records) are held by the National Records of Scotland.

                  The main types of record created by prisons are:

                  • Governors’ journals
                  • Minutes and inspection books of Visiting Committees
                  • Registers of prisoners

                  A larger quantity and a more diverse range of records survive for larger prisons, such as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Peterhead and Perth. These include letter books, circular letters/order books, registers of punishments, journals and other records kept by medical officers and chaplains, and the records of borstals and other special units. However, for smaller prisons little survives except for Governors’ journals and registers of prisoners.

                  Governors’ journals

                  These are, in effect, logbooks kept by the governor of each prison, or in some cases by an equivalent, such as a ‘keeper’ or assistant governor. By the late 19th century, they typically record incidents occurring in the prison; staff appointments, dismissals and suspensions; visitors to prisoners; prisoners allowed to write letters; punishments awarded to prisoners and so on.

                  Minutes and inspection books of Visiting Committees

                  From 1878 onwards, under the Prisons (Scotland) Act 1877, a visiting committee, consisting initially of commissioners of supply and justices of the peace (in counties) and magistrates (in burghs) was appointed yearly for each prison. The minutes and reports of inspections for some of these committees survive among the records of individual prisons in the National Records of Scotland (in HH12).

                  Registers of prisoners

                  The main series of prison registers is in the National Records of Scotland, among Home and Health Department records (HH21), but there are some others among Sheriff Court records. Records relating to living individuals are restricted in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018.  Some registers of prisoners have been digitised and are available on the ScotlandsPeople website along with a detailed guide to using these registers. <https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/guides/prison-registers> [accessed 26 April 2024]

                  Prison registers (HH21)

                  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.

                  Sheriff Court Records (SC)

                  Some prison registers have survived in sheriff court records, namely:

                  Angus, 1805-1827 (SC47/55/2)

                  Ayr, 1860-1863 (SC6/57/1)

                  Fort William, 1893-1936 (SC28/32/1)

                  Jedburgh, 1839-1893 (SC62/72/1)

                  Kirkcudbright, 1791-1811 (SC16/28/2)

                  Selkirk, 1828-1840 (SC36/63/3)

                  Stirling, 1822-1829 (SC67/47/5-6)

                  Other records relating to individual prisoners

                  Among HH12 (Prisons, Administrative Records) in the National Records of Scotland there is a register of Suffragettes received into prison in Scotland, 1909-1914 (HH12/22), and from Greenock Prison a register of prisoners with personal descriptions and photographs (HH12/56/7). Among HH15 (Prisoners’ Records) are 34 files on individual prisoners in the period 1889-1947. Criminal Lunatics files are in HH18 (1853-1964) and HH17 – for Perth Prison (1856-1946). Criminal Case files (HH16), 1874-1990, are files created by the Prisons Department. A selection (641 files) has been kept, including: Fife Hunger Marchers, 1934 (HH16/2), suffragettes (HH16/36-47), Glasgow dynamiters, 1888-1905 (HH16/51-56), Oscar Slater, 1909-29 – (HH16/109-112), John MacLean, 1915-1923 (HH16/122-137). For the State Inebriate Reformatory only 3 inmates’ files survive for the period 1901-1917(HH19). Orders for the free pardon, liberation, release on licence, transfer and reception of prisoners survive for the period 1937-1948 in Criminal Orders (HH44) and Scottish Office Miscellaneous Orders (HH47) for the period 1948-1967.

                  Records which contain information about individuals are subject to closures or redaction under the Data Protection Act 2018.