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Roll of Dishonour – Criminalty

Some court appearances related to conduct which was criminal, whether intentionally or not. The prosecutions and penalties in these cases are indicative of the values of the time.

October 1864

Joseph Whiteley (No 27) was charged under the Vagrant Act with stealing a dress piece belonging to his widowed sister, Mary Hitchen. She was a live-in servant with another family. On 21st October Mary left the piece of fabric in box in her family home to be made into a dress. When she returned two days later and looked for the fabric it was missing.

The theft was reported to the police who discovered the fabric in the possession of the prisoner.

Joseph Whitley, who was described by the police as an idle and drunk vagabond, admitted the theft and was sent to Wakefield gaol for one month.

November 1864

Cornelius Carr was the eldest son of Mary Carr who lived at No 7. Carr was in the Dusty Miller public house in Barnsley, when another drinker took off his waistcoat and started a fight. Carr picked up the waistcoat, which was valued at 10s, and handed it to a female accomplice who immediately left the pub. Both were arrested shortly afterwards and subsequently sent to Wakefield jail for one month.

November 1876

One Saturday evening, towards the end of the month, Ellen Kelly (No 19) visited the Keel Inn. As she was leaving, just before 11.00 pm, the landlord, Samuel Hampshire, thought her behaviour was furtive. When he challenged her it was discovered that she had slipped a drinking glass and a brass sugar crusher into her coat pocket. Ellen offered to pay for the items but Hampshire refused the offer and called the police.

Two days later she appeared at Barnsley Magistrates Court where she was committed to gaol for ten days with hard labour.

There is no indication why Ellen attempted to steal these items. There is no suggestion that she was under the influence of alcohol at the time.

May 1879

Richard Barker, Thomas Pashley and Thomas Stanley were amongst a group of men accused of poaching. They were seen walking towards private land near Wombwell Woods with two lurchers and a terrier. According to the gamekeepers who saw the men, the dogs were set loose into a potato field where two began to chase a rabbit whilst the second lurcher went after a hare. According to defence witnesses the dogs were set loose in the wood, which was a public area. The magistrates believed the prosecution. Stanley and Pashley were fined 20s and costs as they had been in charge of the dogs. Barker was fined 5s and costs as his role had been much smaller.

March 1891

George McDonald was fined 2s 6d for allowing his dog to be out unmuzzled.

January 1903

Daniel McCarthey, Henry Booth, and Joseph and George Fallis were amongst a group of young men who were fined 2s 6d and costs for obstructing the pavement by standing on it. They denied that they had been standing outside some shops in High Street for anything like the twenty minutes that was stated by the police. They also denied that they had previously been warned about their conduct. According to the prosecution, by standing together in front of the shops, the group greatly inconvenienced other people who wanted to use the pavement.

July 1909

Albert Grist, John Fallis and Jeremiah McCarthy were summoned for obstructing a footpath at Worsborough Dale. They stood in front of the Masons Arms on Main Street for ten minutes, during which time nine women and two men had to leave the footpath to pass. Although the defendants denied the charge and stated that they were standing in Ticket Lane waiting for the pub to open, they were all fined 2s 6d and costs.

April 1936

Twenty year old Norman Stanley, a haulage worker, of 13 Jarratts, was charged with throwing missiles. On 15th March, a meeting of the British Union of Fascists, addressed by Sir Oswald Mosely had been held in Barnsley. After the meeting had ended, Stanley was one of a number of protesters who had gathered in the town centre. According to the police, at around 11.45pm he had thrown something at a bus, which was taking people who had the attended the meeting home. The missile, which was one of several thrown that night, had broken a bus window.

Stanley denied the charge and said that at the point when the bus windows were smashed, he was walking away from the crowd. He said that he had no knowledge of how two pieces of glass which were allegedly found in his pocket at the police station came to be there, stating that they had not been in his pocket when he was part of the crowd.

Stanley’s lawyer suggested that the case was one of mistaken identity but magistrates opted to believe the police evidence, which was given by the Chief Constable. Stanley was fined £2 for throwing missiles and, for committing a breach of the peace, he was bound over with two £5 sureties for six months. The alternative was a month in jail.

Later that month Barnsley Council decided that the public hall could not be hired again to a fascist party because of internal damage whilst the meeting was taking place.