Criminal records of 67,000 Victorian villains

From the donkey thief to the drunk who wouldn't leave the pub: Criminal records of 67,000 Victorian villains published online for the first time

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

PUBLISHED: 00:22 EDT, 14 June 2012 | UPDATED: 06:49 EDT, 14 June 2012

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You certainly wouldn't want to meet any of this lot up a dark 19th-century alley.

Records of more than 67,000 Victorian criminals, detailing crimes ranging from petty theft and drunkenness to arson and murder, have been published online for the first time today.

The fascinating collection, released by Family history website Ancestry.co.uk also tells the stories of local peacemakers of the time, including jury candidates and members of the local militia.

And two of the archives - The Dorset, England Prison Admission and Discharge Registers 1782-1901 and Dorset, England, Calendar of Prisoners 1854-1904 - also include mug shots of 19th-century convicts. 

The records include the criminal's name, place, and date of conviction, sentence, physical description and details of previous crimes.

William Parsons, 48, shown posing for a mugshot in March 1891, was put behind bars for 20 years for arson 

Frank Treviss, 51, was given eight months' hard labor and two years' police supervision for stealing 'nine bushels of wheaten dust' in 1884

Elizabeth Dowell, who looks older than her 34 years, was landed with six months in jail for perjury in 1890.

 

Baby-faced soldier George Pill, 18, shown dressed in uniform, stole a donkey, leather halter and steel chain worth £4 altogether in 1894 and was given six weeks' hard labor 

 

George Gotobed's punishment for stealing two 'tame fowls' in 1890. He had previous convictions for stealing a rabbit and a duck, as well as drunkenness and 'using profane language

Among those listed is Samuel Baker, aged 73, who was sentenced to nine months' hard labor after breaking into a house to steal two brushes, some vests, and a pair of stockings in 1893.

Then there is Charles Wood, an unemployed local drunk who was sentenced to one month in prison for 'refusing to quit the beer-house' in 1872.

Another crook is 18-year-old George Pill, who stole a donkey, leather halter, and steel chain from a neighbor in 1894, resulting in a punishment of six weeks' hard labor.

The records also give details of laborer James Seal, who was sentenced to be hanged after being found guilty of murder in 1858.


Ancestry.co.uk content manager Miriam Silverman said: 'The fact that these records feature photographs as well as physical descriptions means anyone with an ancestor in the collection will find out a great deal about them.

Others can uncover compelling information about forgotten members of society who were down on their luck.

Records: A register from 1894 lists crimes ranging from petty theft and drunkenness to arson and murder. The fascinating archive has been released by family history website Ancestry.co.uk

Sarah Rose Edith Westwood (left), who used three known aliases, was jailed for five years for crimes including unlawfully obtaining by a false pretense a bottle of sherry, six imperial bottles of stout and a pound of biscuits in 1870.

 Clerk John Gliddon (right) was given nine months' hard labor for defrauding George John Rendall to the tune of 2s 6d in Lyme Regis on December 13, 1883

Records such as these that pre-date civil registration also allow researchers to delve deeper into our past than other historical records allow, unlocking the opportunity to find out more about some of Britain's lesser-known characters - including these roguish criminals.'

The Victorian era saw a sharp rise in the crime rate with offenses going up from roughly 5,000 per year in 1800 to around 20,000 per year in 1840.


To combat this a modern-style police force was introduced in 1856 which completely revolutionized the way in which people were caught, arrested and charged. Prior to that most places had only an unpaid parish constable to keep order.


Criminals convicted of serious crimes during Victorian times were often sentenced to transportation -meaning they would be sent to the colonies, primarily Australia, where they would serve out their prison sentences at minimal cost to the state.

Over the years about 160,000 people, including men, women, and children, sometimes as young as nine years old, were sent to Australia.

Conditions on board ship were appalling with many convicts dying on the long journey which took between four and six months. However, things did start to improve as the 19th century progressed.


On arrival, the prisoners would normally be segregated with the most hardened criminals being sent to special prisons or areas. Others would be employed as servants to the settlers or put to work.

Discipline was harsh with offenses often being punished with 50 lashes from the cat o'nine tails or by serving time on the chain gangs making new roads.

Upon serving their sentences some convicts would go on to make lives for themselves in Australia becoming tradesmen or trying their luck at gold prospecting.


A few who worked hard saved enough money were able to return to Britain.

Faces from the past: The images of William Bennett and George Bull both date back to June 25, 1894, almost 118 years ago to the day

Crooked ancestors: 

Edward Bomana laborer, was convicted for stealing ten shillings in 1894 and given one month's hard labor. He had previously been fined the same amount for 'stealing bells'. 

Edward Hart (right) stole a donkey worth £3 in 1894, for which he got six weeks' hard labor

Shooting in Mormon Church

Leaves One Man Dead and Another Injured

In a disturbing story out of Fallon, Nevada, a member of the Mormon Church shot and killed another member during a service on Sunday afternoon.

JULY 22, 2018 BY HEMANT MEHTA

48-year-old John Kelley O’Connor (above) waited until the sacrament service was over before he entered the main part of the church, found 61-year-old Bert Miller, and sprayed bullets into his body. For years, Miller had been “assigned by ward leaders to serve [O’Connor] and watch over him.”

Another bullet hit the leg of a churchgoer, but his injuries don’t appear to be life-threatening.

Pandemonium broke out,” ward member Steve White said. “People were screaming and hitting the ground.”

…

Fallon Police Chief Kevin Gehman said it is too soon to determine a motive, but it appeared O’Connor was targeting the deceased victim, not The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or his congregation in general.

That last bit is worth remembering. While it doesn’t really make anything better, this wasn’t an anti-Mormon hate crime. It was, on the surface, targeted murder. As far as we can tell, O’Connor was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, though his attendance at ward meetings had been sporadic over the past year.

It’s tragic no matter what we learn in the coming days. Your heart has to go out to the victim, his family, and everyone who had to witness that horrific event.

O’Connor apparently walked home after killing his target, but the police came for him and he immediately surrendered.

“I don’t know why you’d ever want to shoot Bert Miller. He’s the nicest guy in the world,” said Rich Hutchings, a ward member. “It’s absolutely shocking.”

Rodney Alcala | The Dating Game Killer | Serial Killer Documentary 2017

The Horrifying Story Of Rodney Alcala, The Serial Killer Who Won ‘The Dating Game’ During His Murder Spree
By Erin Kelly



The "Dating Game Killer" killed at least four before his appearance — and would kill again soon after.

For most people, September 13, 1978 was an ordinary Wednesday. But for Cheryl Bradshaw, the bachelorette on the TV matchmaking show The Dating Game, that day was momentous. From a lineup of “eligible bachelors,” she chose handsome bachelor number one, Rodney Alcala:

But at that very moment, he was keeping a deadly secret: he was an unrepentant serial killer.

Bradshaw, if not for a healthy jolt of women’s intuition, would almost certainly be remembered today as one of Alcala’s victims. Instead, after the show ended, she conversed with Alcala backstage. He offered her a date she’d never forget, but Bradshaw got the feeling that her handsome potential suitor was a little off.

“I started to feel ill,” Bradshaw told the Sydney Telegraph in 2012. “He was acting really creepy. I turned down his offer. I didn’t want to see him again.”

Another one of the episode’s bachelors, actor Jed Mills, recalled to LA Weekly that “Rodney was kind of quiet. I remember him because I told my brother about this one guy who was kind of good-looking but kind of creepy. He was always looking down and not making eye contact.”

Had the popular dating show performed background checks on their bachelors, they would have discovered that this “kind of good-looking but kind of creepy” guy had already spent three years in prison for raping and beating an eight-year-old girl (he’d done the same to a 13-year-old too), which landed him on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List.

But sometimes a background check can’t even uncover the whole story. In Rodney Alcala’s case, the whole story consisted of at least four prior murders that he hadn’t been definitively linked to yet.

As you can probably imagine, Cheryl Bradshaw’s rejection likely only fueled Alcala’s fire. In total, before and after his television appearance, the sadistic “Dating Game Killer” claimed that he killed between 50 and 100 people.

Rodney Alcala. 1980.

Rodney Alcala was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1943. His father moved the family to Mexico when Alcala was eight years old, only to abandoned them there three years later. His mother then moved Alcala and his sister to suburban Los Angeles.

At age 17, Alcala entered the Army as a clerk, but after a nervous breakdown, he was medically discharged due to mental health issues. Then, the intelligent young man with an IQ of 135 went on to attend UCLA. But he wouldn’t stay on the straight and narrow for long.

Wanted poster 1930's featuring Frank "Porky" Dillon front and center

Serial Killers - Edward J. Leonski

 

Edward J. Leonski, 24, was a serial killer who became known as the Brownout Strangler. Leonski was a US soldier serving in Melbourne, Australia when he committed the murders of Miss Ivy Violet McLeod, 32, Mrs. Pauline Buchan Thompson, 41, and Miss Gladys Lillian Hoskings, 41. During the hunt for the murderer, Leonski was picked out of a line-up by witnesses and at a court-martial on July 17, 1942 he confessed to the crimes. He was executed by hanging on November 9, 1942.

Edward Joseph Leonski (December 12, 1917 – November 9, 1942) was an American soldier and serial killer responsible for the strangling murders of three women in Melbourne, Australia. Leonski was known as the "Brownout Strangler", given Melbourne's wartime status of keeping low lighting (not as stringent as a wartime blackout). His self-confessed motive for the killings was a twisted fascination with female voices, especially when they were singing, and his claim that he killed the women to "get at their voices." Leonski is the first and only citizen of another country to be tried and sentenced to death in Australia under the law of his own country.

Early life

Born to Russian-born parents John Leonski, labourer, and his wife Amelia, née Harkavitz, in New Jersey, Leonski grew up in an abusive, alcoholic family. One of his brothers was committed to a mental institution. According to a psychologist who interviewed Leonski during his trial, his mother had been overprotective and controlling. Leonski had been bullied by other neighborhood kids and called a mama's boy. Accordingly, the psychologist ruled that Leonski's crimes were born of his resentment and hatred of his mother and thus constituted "symbolic matricide." 

Leonski worked for a time as a delivery boy. He was called up for the U.S. Army in February 1941 and arrived in Melbourne, Australia, on February 2, 1942, after the United States had entered World War II.

Murders

On May 3, 1942, Ivy Violet McLeod, 40, was found dead in Albert Park, Melbourne. She had been beaten and strangled, and because she was found to be in possession of her purse it was evident that robbery was not the motive. Six days later 31-year-old Pauline Thompson was strangled after a night out. She was last seen in the company of a young man who was described as having an American accent.

WANTED SEX OFFENDER - Edward A. Butler

WANTED SEX OFFENDER

EDWARD BUTLER

• NAME: Edward A. Butler 
• AGE: 58 
• PHYSICALS: white male, 5’11”, 165 lbs., gray hair, hazel eyes 
• WANTED BY: Pierce County Sheriff’s Department 

WANTED FOR: Failure to Register as a Level II Sex Offender (convicted of two counts of Sexual Abuse of a Minor in the 2nd degree in 2009, two counts of Indecent Exposure in the 1st degree in 2005); also wanted for Domestic Violence Assault in the 4th degree and Violation of a Domestic Violence No Contact Protection Order

Cold Case Missing - Diane Agat

Diane Agat


It was in a convenience store in Odessa, Florida, that 40-year-old Diane Agat was last seen in 1988. Three days later, her mother received a call from a woman who sounded like Diane, crying, "Help, help, let me out." She tried to call the number back, but got no response. Days later, one of Diane's fingertips was found in the same convenience store. Two weeks later, her folded clothes were found. The rest of her belongings were eventually found in a bag labelled "Diane."