I have 2 census 1851 and 1861. John MORRIS 68 widow, live's with his son John 38, wife Mary 36 and children Jane 11, Ann 8, Martha 6, Sarah 4 and Ellen 2. The address is Ightfield Heath, Shropshire, possibly Battlefield Rd.
John senior was born in Ford village and has other children, with is late wife Mary the other children William /Richard /Mary and Joseph.
Is there any of the present family left in the area?
Also the same John Morris senior was sent to jail for Loitering on 15 Oct. 1839 for 3 months. From the above, would any one know which prison would he be sent to.
Welcome any leads
with thanks.
Hello Mike Thank you for that info. I have a photocopy of the register but it is so faint it is hardly readable up in the corner is Salop and page 14 other things I can read is Record Index. Class: HO 27; Piece 59; I can make out the name John MORRIS 5th person down the list. Loitering must have been an every day thing as everyone onthe list was sent to prison for the same thing, terms from 1 week to 6 months. This John MORRIS is my GG Grandfather.
thanks again Shirley
Hello Shirley
Class HO 27 is a reference from The National Archives situated at Kew in London and refers to records of the Home Office (hence HO) and folio 59 refers to Home Office: Criminal Registers, England and Wales. [places beginning] S-Y [for the year] 1839. See
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_q=%22ho+27%2F59%22
If you have a subscription Ancestry then electronic images of these registers can be searched online at http://search.ancestry.co.uk/iexec/?htx=List&dbid=1590&offerid=0%3a7858%3a0
where you will find a very good quality colour image of the double page spread which tells you that John MORRIS [was] imp [imprisoned?] [his age was] 27 Do [Ditto County Sessions 18th October] [and the offence was] Larceny [Stealing] [Sentence] 3 months.
There is no further information. I would still guess that he would serve his sentence at Shrewsbury Prison being the local prison. It ceased to be a prison in March 2013. Just search for Shrewsbury Prison and you will find lots of information.
Mike
hello Mike again thank you again I will look at the local prison. you could say it has just closed it's doors. I have to rely on the local study's library, ours in Derby has been closed while relocateing then there was internet problems which delayed the opening further, I will try all your seach lines, with the help of the librarians, perhaps you could tell me the name of the local Shewsbury so I could email them to put an add in for help with the presant MORRIS family.
thank you again Shirley
Hello Shirley
I'm not sure whether it is possible to answer your specific question as to which prison John MORRIS might have been sent to but for a short sentence like 3 months I would guess that it would have been fairly close to the place of trial. Have you been able to establish the place of trial?
Some years ago members of the Shropshire FHS indexed the Shropshire Quarter Sessions Records for the period 1831 to 1920 and this index is available from the Society on CD-ROM. Go to Shop (top right on the blue bar) then select the first item (SFHS Publication Catalogue) from the drop down list and on the next page click on SFHS_Publications 131001 Rev 2 (For Website).pdf.
When you open the PDF file you need Page 30 where you will see the Quarter Sessions Index is the second item.
I have had a look at the index but there are numerous people named John MORRIS from all over the county so I can't establish which entry(ies) (if any) refer to your John but you may well see something which makes the correct person stand out. If you can find your John listed make a note of the details and then next time you are in Shrewsbury you can look at the original paper work in Shropshire Archives (a Readers Ticket will be required) to see what else it tells you about the case.
Mike