Victorian child crooks as young as SEVEN who were jailed

The miserable faces of Victorian child criminals jailed for petty crimes including stealing a pair of trousers and embezzling half a shilling have been revealed in a collection of police mugshots.

The candid photos, captured at Oxford Castle Prison in 1870, show groups of young boys and girls with dirty faces and decked out in battered clothes, as they begin their sentences.

The 150-year collection includes the crimes of Julie-Ann Crumpling who was jailed for seven days for stealing a pram.

The little girl has took the pram from Mr and Mrs Edmund Smith of Witney, Oxfordshire, who had left it outside while going into a shop.

Other images show brothers John and Thomas Williams – aged thirteen and fourteen respectively – who were arrested for six months for house looting.

William Clarke, 17, who was nicked for stealing a handkerchief and twelve-year-old Rose Halliday who was put behind bars for ten days for ‘false pretences’.

Also pictured is 12-year-old Martha Herbery, twelve, who was nicked for stealing half a shilling and six pence – the direct equivalent of about £1.50 in today’s money.

In the 1800s children were often locked up for offences that warrant a caution in the present day, with the authorities making no distinction between the youngsters and their adult counterparts.

It was not until the 1908 Children’s Act that changes were made to the way child offenders were punished.

Juvenile courts were introduced and children could no longer be placed in adult prisons or executed for capital crimes.

Left, Martha Herbert, 12, sentenced to 42 days hard labour at Oxford Castle prison for stealing half a shilling and six pence, February 23, 1871. Right, William Clarke, 17, sentenced to 21 days hard labour at Oxford Castle prison for stealing a hankerchief, October 26, 1870

Left, Julie-Ann Crumpling, 7, was jailed at Oxford Castle Prison for stealing a pram, and sentenced to seven days hard labour. She had pinched the buggy from Mr and Mrs Edmund Smith of Witney, Oxfordshire, who had left it outside while going into a shop. Right, James Freeman, 17, sentenced to 21 days hard labour at Oxford Castle prison for stealing bread with his friend, July 7, 1870

Left, Rosa Halliday, 12, sentenced to ten days hard labour at Oxford Castle prison for false pretences, February 9, 1871. Right, Thomas Carter, 17, sentenced to 21 days hard labour at Oxford Castle prison for stealing bread with his friend, July 7, 1870

Left, Sophia Noreutt, 14, sentenced to two days hard labour at Oxford Castle prison for stealing wood, May 4, 1872. Right, Robert Woodley, 18, sentenced to 21 days hard labour for stealing hay, 17th November, 1870

John Conor, 19, sentenced to six months hard labour at Oxford Castle prison for assault and robbery, December 18, 1865. Right, James Logan, 20, sentenced to one month hard labour at Oxford Castle prison for stealing a coat, October 12, 1870

Left, John Davis, 19, sentenced to one month hard labour at Oxford Castle prison for stealing trousers, June 16, 1870. Right, John Brooks, 17, sentenced to 42 days hard labour at Oxford Castle prison for embezzling 14 shillings and six pence, October 10, 1870

Left, John Williams, 13, sentenced to six months hard labour at Oxford Castle prison for house looting with his brother, April 30, 1870. Right, Thomas Williams, 14, sentenced to six months hard labour for the same crime

Left, Robert Hall, 13, was sentenced to 14 days hard labour in Oxford Castle prison for stealing a leather strap, June 17 1870. Right, Samuel Currey, 16, sentenced to 21 days hard labour at Oxford Castle prison along with his friend for stealing trousers, April 9, 1870

Left, George Sucknott, 18, sentenced to 21 days hard labour at Oxford Castle prison along with his friend for stealing trousers, April 9, 1870. Right, Henry Cox, 19, sentenced to two months hard labour at Oxford Castle Prison for stealing, March 10 1870

OXFORD CASTLE PRISON: THE NORMAN KEEP THAT LOCKED UP THE CITY’S CRIMINALS FOR CENTURIES

The Norman keep at Oxford castle was used for locking up prisoners from the 13th century.

It became a formal jail in the city 300 years later, after losing its military value, and stayed that way until its closure in 1996.

In the Victorian era conditions inside the jail were incredibly tough, with disease and lack of food a daily struggle for inmates.

Most of the criminals in the prison were locked up because they had stolen or fell into crime in an effort to make ends meet, but inmates were expected to pay for their own upkeep, with many people dying from starvation and cold.

However, even those who could afford to provide their own meals and clothing found the conditions incredibly tough.

The prison was often filled with vermin and sewage meaning that illness and in some cases death, were never far away.

The Victorians believed that prisons should be awful places that would deter people from committing crimes, with the punishment of hard labour dished out to crush inmates’ spirits.

Prisoners were kept in silence and made do long, boring work. These could include walking a treadwheel or picking oakum (separating strands of rope).

While hangings were common at Oxford castle, like most prisons at the time, towards the end of the century attitudes in Britain changed.

The amount of offences punishable by death reduced and the final execution at Oxford castle taking place in 1863.

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