William Wilson, arrested for stealing fish

Name: William Wilson
Arrested for: Larceny
Arrested at: North Shields Police Station
Arrested on: 7 February 1905
Tyne and Wear Archives ref: DX1388-1-63-William Wilson

The Shields Daily Gazette for 8 February 1905 reports:

“Yesterday, at North Shields, Wm. Wilson (16), labourer, Hudson Street, was charged with stealing a basket of haddocks, value 3s, the property of William Purdy, on the 7th inst. Ike Houghton, skipper of the steam trawler Wild Rose, said that at 8.45 yesterday morning he was standing on the quay watching the men landing the fish from the trawler, when he saw the prisoner take a basket of haddocks which had come out of the ship, carry it across the quay and place it behind another basket. Witness told him to take it back into its place and he did so, and witness the informed the police. PC Spindler proved the arrest. Prisoner pleaded guilty and had nothing to say. He was fined 10s and 10s costs, or fourteen days”.

These images are a selection from an album of photographs of prisoners brought before the North Shields Police Court between 1902 and 1916 in the collection of Tyne & Wear Archives (TWA ref DX1388/1).

This set contains mugshots of boys and girls under the age of 21. This reflects the fact that until 1970 that was the legal age of majority in the UK.

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