Woman got five year sentence for stealing umbrella....

Victorian bad girls: Police mugshots of 19th Century women criminals revealed (along with the harsh sentences the no-nonsense justice judges handed down)

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 12:39 PM on 25th February 2011

Thousands of criminal records detailing the harsh punishments handed our to female convicts in Victorian times will be published online for the first time today.

Family history website, Ancestry.co.uk is publishing more than 4,400 criminal records and 500 mugshots in its collection, which included one woman who received a five year sentence for stealing an umbrella.

They provide an astonishing insight into the way justice was done at the time, and indicted that gender and the offence committed was no barrier to the full force of the law.

Harsh: Elizabeth Murphy was sentenced to five years in prison and seven years police supervision for stealing an umbrella. The records have been released by Ancestry.co.uk

Criminal: The record of Mary Richards, who was jailed for five years in 1880 for stealing 130 oysters valued at eight shillings

Women and young girls featured in the records include Mary Richards, who was jailed for five years in 1880 at the age 59 for stealing 130 oysters valued at eight shillings.

Another tells of Dorcas Mary Snell, 45, who was sentenced to five years of imprisonment with hard labour in 1883 for the theft of a single piece of bacon, although she was paroled two years later.

Elizabeth Murphy, who stole the umbrella, received a five years of hard labour in 1884 and seven years of police supervision. She served three years of her sentence before receiving parole in 1887.

Locked up: The record of Dorcas Mary Snell details that she was convicted of larceny for taking a solitary rasher of bacon. She received five years

The records also detail the lengthy, unforgiving sentences given to women who procured abortions, including Mary Billingham who was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment and hard labour in 1875.

Age also didn't appear to matter to Victorian judges. The youngest girl in the records, named Ann McQuillan, is aged just 11, and among 115 girls under 18 who feature in the collection.  

By contrast, 76-year-old Ann Dalton who was convicted for stealing 'two sheets' in 1863 is the oldest convict in the records. She received five years, serving three of them.

Murderer: Elizabeth Ann Staunton, 29, was convicted of killing Harriet Staunton in 1877, but was spared the death sentence and paroled six years later

Meanwhile, the records detail a number of violent crimes which women were convicted of.

Mary Morrison, a 40-year-old servant, threw sulphuric acid over her estranged husband for not paying her weekly allowance, shouting 'take that - I'll make you worse than you are'. She received five years in 1883 but served only three.

Elizabeth Ann Staunton, 29, was convicted of the murder of Harriet Staunton in 1877. Elizabeth was spared the death penalty and instead sentenced to life. She was granted parole six years later.

Acid attack: Mary Morrison threw sulphuric acid over her estranged husband for not paying her weekly allowance

Unforgiving: Mary Billingham, who helped to procure abortions, was given 20 years by a judge in 1875

Ancestry.co.uk said the records, the originals of which are held by the National Archives, provide a picture of the 'harsh' British judicial system at the time.

Ancestry.co.uk international content director Dan Jones said: 'Crime is more often associated with men; however, these intriguing records shed light on some rather colourful female lawbreakers of their day and, given the petty nature of many of their crimes, also serves as a reminder of how harsh our judicial system was not so very long ago.'