Tuesday 31 January 2012

Disrespectful and addicted to drink


The man pictured above is Richard Jackson, born in Burslem around 1843 and admitted to Aylesbury Gaol on the 30th October 1873 to serve a sentence of 21 days for stealing beans.  Richard was 30 years old and gave his trade as a boot closer.  Five years prior service in the 104th Regiment of Foot is also noted.

Richard's record from Aylesbury Gaol can be viewed here, in the Victorian Prisoners dataset maintained by Buckinghamshire County Council; another great (free) online resource.

I checked to see if Richard had a pension record in the WO 97 series published on findmypast.co.uk and he does.  He was discharged on the 14th October 1869 being found unfit for further service.  His conduct was recorded as "... bad, he is not in possession of any good conduct badges.  Has been guilty of disrespect to his superiors and has been addicted to drink."  Richard's name appeared six times in the regimental defaulters' book and he was imprisoned for seven days on two separate occasions.  Pthisis Pulmonalis (consumption, or TB) was the cause of Richard's discharge from the army and he certainly looks older than his 30 years in the photo.  Further notes on his 1869 discharge record, "Greatly emaciated and suffering from cough and the usual symptoms of phthisis. Disease has probably been aggravated by intemperance." A sad story and I have been unable to find him on the 1881 census.

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