Child prisoner, 1870
This photo comes from an album showing prisoners in Oxford Gaol. The inclusion of photos in prison records at this early date is very rare.
The child is Julia Ann Crumpling, aged seven. She was sentenced to seven days’ hard labour on 28th June 1870 for stealing a baby carriage.
This type of punishment for a child convict was not all that unusual. Even though many people thought that sending a child to gaol did more harm than good, there were still over 1500 children in adult prisons in 1871. This was to change later in the century. After 1899, children had to be sent to separate places
Source-National Archives Kew
