Roxburghshire Prison Indexes
If you find an entry or entries in one of our prison indexes for which you would like to see a full transcription, please e-mail us below. For a fee of £5.00 per entry, the transcriptions will be sent to you promptly via e-mail. The fee also includes a free copy of the transcription together with a free copy of the original register pages covering your entry mailed to you anywhere within the UK (we can also send by international airmail for the additional fee of £2.50).
Purchase Transcription
Hawick Prison Index 1844-1862 - A new updated version of this index is now available, which also contains details of the crime the prisoner was accused or convicted of. The index also contains the birthplace, residence, occupation and approximate birth year of prisoners, enabling you to identify individuals in the much more detailed original records held at the National Archives, for which we can provide full transcriptions/copies for a small fee. Printed copies of the Hawick Prison Index are available for personal use or for re-sale for £9.99, with our usual bulk discounts and postage rates for publications applying.
Purchase Hawick Prison Index
Jedburgh Prison Index, Volume 1 1843-1848 - This index is in the same format as the index above, and contains details of the crime the prisoner was accused or convicted of. Printed copies of the Jedburgh Prison Index, Volume 1 are available for personal use or for re-sale for £9.99, with our usual bulk discounts and postage rates for publications applying.
Purchase Jedburgh Prison Index
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What do the indexes contain?
The index contains the full name of the prisoner, their residence and occupation, as well as their approximate year of birth and birthplace, and the crime they were accused or convicted of. The year of imprisonment is also indexed, together with a reference number we have added which is unique to each entry. Some place name spellings have been standardised, but other spellings have been left as in the original register. An asterisk indicates an entry which is substantially incomplete due to damage to the original register.
Top of pageWhat information is included in the original record?
This information is included in the Hawick prison register, in many cases even more is included in the Jedburgh registers. Prior to about 1848 the register includes the following information: Date of admission; By whom committed; Name; Sex; Age; Birthplace; Residence; Where spent greater part of their life; Height (feet/inches); Hair colour; Eye colour; Distinguishing marks etc.; Precise offence (including article stolen etc.); Clean/dirty; Drunk/sober; Clothes good repair/ragged; Direct from arrest or from another prison, if so which one; Occupation; Previous imprisonments with entry numbers for such; Liberated without trial – when and by whose authority; Tried – when and by whom; Convicted or acquitted; Sentence; Liberated or removed after conviction – when, by whose authority, to what place; Number of days in prison; Conduct during confinement.
After about 1848 the register includes the following information: Date of admission; Previous imprisonments with entry numbers for such; Name; Age; Sex; Height (feet/inches); Birthplace; Residence; Where spent greater part of their life; Distinguishing marks etc. (includes hair and eye colour); Precise offence (including article stolen etc.); Occupation; Religion; Education on Admission – Cannot read/reads a little reads well and Cannot write/writes a little/writes well or Education superior to mere reading and writing; Whether education improved during confinement; Apparent state of health on admission; Untried prisoners – under examination by whom, committed till liberated in due course of law by whom; Liberated without trial – when and by whom; Tried – when and by whom; Convicted or acquitted; Sentence; Liberated or removed after conviction – when, by whom, to what place; Number of days in prison; Conduct during confinement – good, tolerable or bad.
Top of pagePrison Registers Indexing Project
We now have began the project of transcribing the prison registers of the Scottish Borders, and are happy to release the first indexes, those for Hawick Prison and Jedburgh Volume 1. These records, held at the National Archives of Scotland, have been up till now difficult to search due to the lack of indexes, but are packed with fascinating information about the thousands of individuals who were in prison, including their height, colour of hair and eyes, their offence and sentence, and much more. We are starting the project by releasing indexes for each prison, from which you can order from us an inexpensive transcription of the full entry if you locate someone. Later, we hope to transcribe the full entries and release these in printed form.
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