John Davis - Saltley Reformatory Inmate
Image by permission of the Library of Birmingham. MS 244/6/2.
| No. in Admissions Register: | 1064 |
| Age: | 15 (born 23 July 1878) |
| Whence received: | H M Prison Birmingham |
| Description: | |
| Complexion: | Fresh |
| Hair colour: | Dark brown |
| Eyes colour: | Brown |
| Height: | 4 ft 7 ins |
| Particular marks: | No marks |
| State of health: | Good |
| Able-bodied? | Yes |
| Date of admission: | 16 April 1894 |
| Late residence: | 44 Walton Street, Watery Lane, Tipton |
| Parish he belongs to: | Tipton |
| Customary work and mode of life: | Working in a chain yard |
| Whether illegitimate: | - |
| State of education: | |
| Reads: | Not at all |
| Writes: | Not at all |
| Offence: | Stealing provisions, cigars, and tobacco |
| Circumstances which may have led to it: | Parental neglect |
| Date of sentence, by whom and court: | 2 April 1894; T Underhill and R Williams; Tipton Petty Sessions |
| Where imprisoned: | H M Prison Birmingham |
| Sentence: | 14 days in prison, 3 years at Saltley |
| Previous committals: | |
| Number: | 1 |
| Length: | Fined 2s 6d or 7 days |
| For what: | Stealing coal |
| Father's name: | John Akins (step-father) |
| Occupation: | - |
| Mother's name: | Rebecca Akins |
| Occupation: | - |
| Parents dead? | Father |
| Survivor married again? | Yes |
| Parents' treatment of child: | Boy says not good |
| Character of parents | Good |
| Parents' wages: | 16s per week |
| Amount parents agree to pay: | - |
| Parents address: | - |
| Superintendent of police (to collect payments): | - |
| Person making this return: | W Winfield, H M Prison Birmingham |
| Notes: | |
| 7 April 1894 The crime was reported in the Staffordshire Advertiser Saturday 7 April 1894 p.7 col.6: TIPTON. - MONDAY. - (Before R. Williams and T. Underhill, Esqrs.) - BOY HOUSEBREAKERS. - John Davies 15 [surname spelled thus], alias Lunn, of Watery-lane, was charged with breaking into Tipton Green Post Office, and stealing articles valued at 5s. on the night of the 17th ult. Mr. Hinton, postmaster, locked the shop up on the 17th ult., but next morning found that an entrance had been effected by the side window, and the following articles stolen:- Two shillings worth of postage stamps, six twopenny pork pies, one box of chocolates, one packet of jelly, one packet of tobacco, and 4½d. in coppers. Police-constable Myatt arrested Davies on the 27th ult., when he admitted the theft, stating that he threw the stamps down a sewer, ate the pies, smoked the tobacco, threw away the jelly because it was "nasty," and spent the 4½d. Davies and a boy named John Smith, 13, Wood-street, Tipton, were also charged with breaking Into the Cow and Calf Inn, Tipton, and stealing 6lb of veal, 1lb of bacon, 1lb. of butter, 28 cigars, and some tobacco. The Bench sent Davies to prison for 14 days, to. be followed by three years in a reformatory, and ordered Smith to receive six strokes with the birch. | |
| 15 April 1897 Sentence expired, discharged from Saltley | |