Ancestry in prison

UK, Licences of Parole for Female Convicts, 1853-1871, 1883-1887 is the latest database from Ancestry.co.uk containing original document images on 4,400 female UK prisoners between 1853 and 1887. There are also about 500 photographs for files from 1871 onward.


The records can be searched by:

• Year of the licence
• Name
• Estimated birth year
• Court and year of conviction

Contents vary but can include next of kin, religion, literacy, physical description, a medical history, marital status, number of children, age, occupation, crime, sentence, dates and places of confinement, reports on behavior while in prison, letters or notes from the convict.

Access information from Ancestry at http://bit.ly/hzfXIX and an article in The Guardian at http://bit.ly/hS1Q5P