200-year-old prison list set to be sold

Feb 13 2009 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

AN insight into crime and punishment from almost 200 years ago has emerged from documents stored in a solicitor’s office.

Two Calendars of Prisoners held in the Castle Keep in Newcastle, dating from 1824 to 1827, have been acquired by Anthony Smithson, who runs the Keel Row bookshop in Preston Road, North Shields.

The broadsheet lists were produced by printer Edward Walker, who owned the Newcastle Courant newspaper and operated from Pilgrim Street in the town.

They were required reading for people who wanted to know who was locked up and for what, but also to ensure that nobody was imprisoned without cause.

Offences range from stealing geese and sheaves of oats to shootings, bigamy and highway robbery.