Friday, November 19, 2004

The National Archives in the UK presents Gallery of Victorian Prisoners Online - Two volumes of photographs and case details of prisoners inWandsworth Prison dating from 1872 to 1873 are now online. Each case gives the prisoner's physical description, as well as a photograph, their date and place of birth, the crime they committed, their sentence, the place of conviction and often their place of residenc. This is all fabulous, but, like many UK archives, access to the images promised and other information beyond the catalogue is actually available only on a pay-as-you-go basis. A family historian tracking one or two kinfolk through the prison system might find it a good deal, but for researchers hoping to survey a series of records, it can get very costly. See for yourself at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/stories/47.htm