Amongst the records of Reading Prison deposited at
Berkshire Record Office (BRO) are four photograph
albums of prisoner "mug shots" for the
period 1883-1915.1 They were transferred
to BRO from the Public Record Office (PRO) with other
records of Reading Gaol in 1977.
Such albums by no means exist for every prison and
their creation and survival do not appear to have
been general. The idea of recording prisoners
photographically seems to have arisen from the
Habitual Criminals Act of 1869, which stated that a
register of all people convicted of a crime in
England should be kept by the Metropolitan
Commissioner of Police, together with evidence of
their identity. This was interpreted in some areas as
meaning a photographic likeness.2 It
certainly seems to have been the case at Reading, and
Thomas Wood, a local photographer, was employed to
take a portrait and profile photograph of prisoners.3
When it proved difficult to take the pictures in the
open air, a small studio was erected in the exercise
yard. This venture only lasted six months, after
which it was discontinued for financial reasons, and
the studio turned into an execution chamber.4
The early photographs have not survived; those at
Berkshire Record Office represent a revival of the
practice.
It is interesting to see how the photographs
change over time. The earliest pictures show the
inmates from head to lap. Many are dressed in their
ordinary clothes, others in prison uniforms, complete
with arrows. This not only identified the clothing as
being of government origin, but also meant that
escapees stood out from the crowd.5 Many
uniformed prisoners also wear circular badges bearing
numbers indicating the wing, floor and number of
their cell (see fig.1). There were three wings for
criminal inmates, A, B, and C. These are indicated on
plans held at Berkshire Record Office which show the
prison as it was rebuilt in 1841-44.6 The
plans also show that each wing originally had three
landings on which there was a series of numbered
cells. Thus, CIII.3 identified a prisoner belonging
to cell 3 on landing 3 of C wing. This was Oscar
Wilde's cell number, and the pseudonym he used when
The Ballad of Reading Gaol was first published.7
Figure 1
In the photographs taken between 1887 and 1895,
most prisoners have their hands in front of them,
palm inwards and fingers spread, presumably to show
if any fingers are missing, since the photographs
were acting as a means to identify prisoners, and as
a supplement to prison registers (see fig. 1). The
style is very similar to that used to photograph
prisoners in Pentonville Prison at about the same
period.8
In 1889 the photographer begins to use a mirror so
that the profile, as well as the front view, is
included in a single shot. In 1896 the technique
changes completely; the photographer takes two facial
shots, one face on, one in profile, we no longer see
the prisoner's torso, and prison uniform is more
rarely seen.
Albums two and three are well indexed by surname,
volume one incompletely so, while the index to volume
four is lacking. Where the volumes are indexed,
however, it is a straightforward process to find
named individuals within them. The index normally
states a register number, which appears to be a
running serial number that starts again at one each 1
April; the prisoner's surname and first names,
including aliases; the page of the album on which the
photograph appears; and the reference number relating
to the inmate in a nominal register of prisoners (a
volume and page number, e.g. 7/43). The photographs
themselves are labelled with the name of the
prisoner, the register number and a date.
The subjects of many of the photographs can be
found in the nine surviving nominal registers of
prisoners in Reading Gaol deposited at Berkshire
Record Office.9 They cover the period 1889-1915,
but with significant gaps, and are not indexed.
Registers recording male and female prisoners
together cover the period 1889-1894, although that
for 1892-1894 is currently not in a fit physical
state to be consulted. There is then a gap (which
includes the period of Oscar Wilde's incarceration)
until a register of women only for the period 1905-1915
and four registers of men only covering 1908-1915.
The final register is of Aliens and Irish, and dates
from 1916-1918 when Reading Prison was used as a
place of internment during the First World War. There
are no photographs of these "enemy aliens".
Because not all the nominal registers have
survived, the BRO references do not correspond to the
original register volume numbers to which the
photograph indexes refer. The first surviving nominal
register, for example is volume seven. However, the
date on the photograph should lead the researcher to
the correct volume.
The nominal registers include the prisoner's name,
the time and place of hearings of their case, their
offence, sentence, education, height, hair colour,
trade or occupation, religion, birthplace, number of
previous convictions, discharge date and comments.
The photographs and registers therefore complement
each other, the former showing the person in black
and white, the latter adding the hair colour and
height and details of their past. However, not every
name in the nominal registers has a photograph.
Certainly, no-one convicted at a Petty Sessions court
appears, but nor do all those tried at Assizes or
Quarter Sessions. It seems unlikely that Oscar
Wilde's photograph was taken as his name is not in
the index to the appropriate album. Several prisoners
appear more than once.
A few examples will serve to show how the albums
and nominal registers may be used together to build
up a picture of individual prisoners. Further
information can also be gained from calendars of
prisoners and from the records of the court at which
the prisoners were tried. This may have been the
Berkshire county or borough Quarter Sessions, the
records of which are held at BRO, but is just as
likely to have been the Assizes, the records of which
are held at the Public Record Office, or Quarter
Sessions of counties and boroughs beyond Berkshire.
Figure 2 shows a page from the fourth album as it
appeared before conservation.10 The first
photograph on the third row is labelled G Rotzoll, is
dated 17.1.13 and has the reference number 2871. This
reference appears in the nominal register covering
1913 which tells us that the prisoner's name was
George Rotzoll alias Willy Strauss, and that he had
been transferred to Reading from Portsmouth Prison.11
He was a waiter, born in Germany, who stated his
religion to be Church of England. He was 23 years
old, five feet and one inch tall with brown hair. He
was convicted at the Berkshire Assizes on 11 January
1913 on two counts of larceny, for which he received
two concurrent sentences of three months, and one
count of false pretences for which he was sentenced
to one month hard labour.12 It was also
recommended that he be expelled from the country
despite the fact that he has no previous convictions.
It was noted that the appropriate form had been sent
to the Secretary of State and his photograph was
stamped with the words "expulsion order".
Figure 2
Next to George Rotzoll is the photograph of M
Finch, also dated 17.1.13, with the reference number
5o6. She does not appear in the same register as
Rotzoll because she is a woman, for which there is a
separate volume.13 Her entry in this
register records that her full name was Mary Finch
and that she was a 36 year old laundress from Chester.
She was five feet and one inch tall with light brown
hair. She was committed for trial on 6 January 1913
at Beaconsfield, convicted at the Buckinghamshire
Assizes on 11 January of larceny in a dwelling house
of goods of value above £5, and sentenced to six
months hard labour. She had 15 previous convictions.
The entry also records the nominal register reference
to her most recent conviction so that her criminal
career can be traced further back if the relevant
register survives. She was transferred to Holloway
Prison on 24 January 1913.
The third photograph on the row above Rotzoll and
Finch is labelled J Saunders, is dated 3.1.13 and
bears the reference number 2907. The relevant nominal
register records John Bellingham Saunders, aged 16
and two months, a labourer born in Aldershot.14
He was committed for trial at Wokingham on 28
November 1912 and convicted at the Berkshire Quarter
Sessions on 3o December for stealing a purse and ring.
He received a sentence of 18 months at borstal, where
he was transferred on 21 January 1913.15 A
note records that his escort took Saunders'
photograph and finger prints with him.
Because he was convicted at the county Sessions,
we can trace Master Saunders in the records of the
court, which are held at Berkshire Record Office. The
relevant calendar of prisoners elaborates a little on
the nominal register.16 It tells us that
he was an errand boy and was convicted on two
indictments, the first for stealing an antique purse
and ring, the property of Thomas Martin, and the
second for stealing seven shillings from Catherine
Eliott Lockhart. Both offences took place in
Wokingham and he pleaded guilty to both. He received
two sentences of 18 months but to run concurrently. A
record of Saunders' conviction also appears in the
relevant Quarter Sessions order book but does not add
any additional information.17
Until recently, the albums had not been fit to
consult because the sewing was loose and the binding,
which was half suede leather, was very badly damaged.
Most of the photographs, as well as the album paper,
were also dirty, and many of the pages were torn. The
Record Office's conservation staff have recently
finished their work of cleaning and conserving the
photographs. It was not possible to restore any of
the binding, so the photographs are now in melinex (inert
plastic) sleeves which have been bound in post
binders with new covers, held together by screws
rather than sewn. They are now available for
consultation and are sure to bring to life the black
sheep, and the unfortunates, of many a family.
Captions
fig. 1. BRO P/RP1/5/2
fig. 2 BRO P/RP'/5/4
I am grateful to Roberta Ciocci for the information
concerning conservation of the photographs.
References
1 BRO P/RP1/5/1-4
2 Hawkings, D. T., Criminal Ancestors: A Guide to
Historical Criminal Records in England and Wales (Alan
Sutton, Stroud, 1992), pp. 214-215
3 Southerton, P., Reading Gaol by Reading Town (Berkshire
Books, 1993), p.40
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.,p 54
6 BRO D/EX 485/2/2-4
7 Southerton P. 32
8 See illustration in Hawkings p. 232
9 BRO P/RP1/1/1-9
10 BRO P/RP1/5/4
11 BRO P/RP1/1/8
12 Abbreviated to "h.l." in the register
13 BRO P/RP1/1/4
14 BRO P/RP1/1/8
15 The borstal system for the detention of offenders
between the ages of 16 and 21 was introduced in 1908.
It was named after the former convict prison at
Borstal, Kent, where the system was pioneered. See
Southerton PP.5-6
16 BRO Q/SMC5
17 BRO Q/S039 (indexed)
