Benjamin Whittaker b 1847 Aston, Birmingham

[Margaret in Burton]

I have the above on the 1851 and 1861 census with his parents Benjamin and Louise.
In 1871 he is an inmate in a Male Convict Prison in Gillingham, Kent. Same occupation as the 1861 census, gold beater. Crime unknown.

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/7619/KENRG10_912_915-0445?pid=6140485&backurl=https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3D1%26dbid%3D7619%26h%3D6140485%26ti d%3D%26pid%3D%26usePUB%3Dtrue%26_phsrc%3DUMX4538%2 6_phstart%3DsuccessSource&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=UMX4538&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.202336149.50407454.1583420426-1515497279.1441186095

I cannot find any sign of him after that.

Can anyone else please?

[Merry]

In 1891 he's in Scotland!

South St James Street, St Cuthbert, St Andrew, Edinburgh

Married, Gold beater, b 1847 in England

[Merry]

1881:

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/7572/WARRG11_3025_3028-0683/22587094?backurl=&ssrc=&backlabel=Return

[Merry]

Married Ruth Fellows in 1872, Aston?

They have a dau, Henrietta aged 8 in 1881. You could check her birth reg to see if it's mmn Fellows.

[Margaret in Burton]

Blimey Merry, you were fast off the mark, thanks.

[Katarzyna]

1891
South St James Street, St Cuthbert, St Andrew, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland
First name(s) Benjamin
Last name Whittaker
Relationship Lodger
Marital status Married
Sex Male
Age 44
Birth year 1847
Birth place England
Occupation Gold Beater

[Margaret in Burton]

Married Ruth Fellows in 1872, Aston?

They have a dau, Henrietta aged 8 in 1881. You could check her birth reg to see if it's mmn Fellows.

Yes it is, Thanks

[Merry]

Ruth and their daughter are in England in 1891:

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/6598/WARRG12_2419_2421-0013/10596460?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.u k%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fdbid%3d6598%26gsfn%3druth%26gsln%3 dwhittaker%26gsfn_x%3d1%26gsln_x%3d1%26cp%3d0%26ms bdy%3d1851%26msbdy_x%3d1%26msbdp%3d2%26qh%3d3d2831 03e34aeade5cf21fc37259d244%26hc%3d50%26new%3d1%26r ank%3d1%26uidh%3d672%26redir%3dfalse&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults&queryId=df31d2c4ed16e0024cb77e3204de727e

[Margaret in Burton]

Thanks Kat

[Margaret in Burton]

Can anyone find anything to see what his crime was?

[Merry]

Ruth is a widow in 1901, living with her (now married) daughter.

There's a possible death in Scotland for Ben:

WHITTAKER
BENJAMIN
52
1897
647/ 374
Hamilton


but I've not looked to see if there are any in England.

[Merry]

Marg, do you have FMP? There's a piece here (searched Benjamin Whittaker gold beater):

Leamington Spa Courier 07 December 1867

If you don't have access I'll type it out.

[Margaret in Burton]

I've found Ruth on 1891, 1901 and 1911. Benjamin is never with her.Looks like she went into domestic service. 1901 says shes a widow and 1911 says shes been married 30 years with one child, this has of course been struck through.

Looks like he deserted her. Need to find his death as well now.

[Margaret in Burton]

Marg, do you have FMP? There's a piece here (searched Benjamin Whittaker gold beater):

Leamington Spa Courier 07 December 1867

If you don't have access I'll type it out.

Yes I do Merry. I'll look. Thanks

[Merry]

Looks like he deserted her. Need to find his death as well now.

See post #11

[Margaret in Burton]

Marg, do you have FMP? There's a piece here (searched Benjamin Whittaker gold beater):

Leamington Spa Courier 07 December 1867

If you don't have access I'll type it out.

Got it, thanks

[Margaret in Burton]

See post #11

sorry I missed that. yes she's a widow in 1901 but not in 1911

[Merry]

Ah yes. Maybe she didn't know. The age of the Scottish one is a little out. Don't know if Hamilton district is around Edinburgh?

[Margaret in Burton]

Ah yes. Maybe she didn't know. The age of the Scottish one is a little out. Don't know if Hamilton district is around Edinburgh?

There isn't a death that fits in England

[kiterunner]

Ah yes. Maybe she didn't know. The age of the Scottish one is a little out. Don't know if Hamilton district is around Edinburgh?

Google says 42 miles between Hamilton and Edinburgh. Hamilton is near to Glasgow.

[Merry]

There's an image in this FMP database (1867), bt it won't open for me!

England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770-1935 Image

[kiterunner]

It says there are 17 images on that database for Benjamin Whittaker in 1867! I looked at one and it says Number 9841, age 20, offence: Felony, convicted Warwick Assizes 30 Nov 1867, sentence 5 PS (= 5 years penal servitude?), surgeon's report healthy, conduct good.

One of the images is his release on licence 30 Apr 1872:
https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=tna%2fccc%2fpcom3%2f317%2f00467&parentid=tna%2fccc%2f2b%2fpcom3%2f01471611

and it says his conviction was for robbery with violence.

If you browse forwards from there, there is lots more information.

[kiterunner]

Some of his prison offences (you will see if you browse through from that link I posted before):

1868 May 7: Talking at exercise and refusing to fall out
1869 Jan 11: Assaulting his fellow prisoner
Jan 14: Having bread on P Works
Feb 5: Using indecent language to an[othe]r prisoner
June 23: Losing his comb-brush
Jul 7: Assaulting another prisoner
Sep 11: Trafficking with bread
Sep 30: Assaulting an[othe]r prisoner
1870 Mar 12: Giving an improper reply
1871 Jan 27: Idleness when picking oakum
May 25: Talking, idleness and throwing bricks at an officer

[Phoenix]

Crime appears to have been knocking down a John Mason, garrotting him and stealing 2s in July 1867,

[Merry]

One of the images is his release on licence 30 Apr 1872

And then he and Ruth married in Q3 1872! My gran would say, Marry in haste, repent at leisure!

[Margaret in Burton]

Thank you everyone.

I’ll look at that info tomorrow, am off my laptop now and cooking a meal.

This is my son in law’s family. He asked if there were any skeletons in the cupboard. I think Benjamin probably was

[Merry]

He also got three months hard labout for stealing fowls, recorded in this paper:

Birmingham Daily Gazette 11 March 1867

[Margaret in Burton]

Thanks Merry

[Margaret in Burton]

Thank you everyone for all of your help on this, much appreciated