A crowdfunding appeal has been launched by Derbyshire Record Office in a bid to buy a Derby Police register of criminals from a century ago.
The ‘amazing’ book – saved from a skip 40 years ago – is due to go under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers’ Library Auction on October 19. So far more than £1,850 has been raised by the appeal with a target set at £2,000. However, organisers know they may need more.
The Derbyshire Record Office (DRO) crowding page states: “The auction estimate for the album is £2,000-£3,000 but it may go for much more. We are raising money from other sources to help us to buy it, but the more we raise through crowdfunding, the less we have to rely on securing other money in the short space of time we have to raise the money we need.
“We want to buy this amazing album (1890-1920) of photos of people in police custody so we can make it available for everyone to research. We hold one other similar portrait album for Chesterfield in the Derbyshire Constabulary archive. Before this Derby album came up for auction, we thought all the others had been destroyed, so it’s really exciting to know that this album survives. We want to bring this album back home to be reunited with the Derbyshire Constabulary archive.
“What makes this album particularly special are the portraits of Alice Wheeldon, daughter Winnie, and son-in-law Alfred Mason, who were convicted in 1917 of conspiring to murder the prime minister, David Lloyd George.
“Alice Wheeldon and her family were socialists who supported the women’s suffrage movement and conscientious objection in the First World War. Their conviction was considered by many at the time to be based on their political views rather than real evidence and Alice Wheeldon is now considered a Derby hero, commemorated by a blue plaque and a star in Derby’s ‘Walk of Fame’.”
If the DRO, based in Matlock, Derbyshire, secures the book it pledges to ensure it’s well looked after. It will also digitise it to aid research and copies will be held at Derby Local Studies and Family History Library, “so the people of Derby have easy access to it”.
The ledger, described by Hansons’ works on paper specialist Jim Spencer as a book of ‘serious importance’, has 500 pages and every one features crimes and mug shots – some resembling characters from TV’s Peaky Blinders.
The seller, a 53-year-old engineer from Staffordshire who lived in Derby for 47 years, said: “The book was rescued by my father, a police officer at the time, when he was working for Derby Borough Police more than 40 years ago.
“The station was clearing out some garages and store rooms at an old police station on St Mary’s Gate in Derby. My father rescued it from being thrown into the skip. He thought it was too interesting to end up in landfill. Unfortunately, my dad is no longer with us, so I can’t ask him for more details. He passed it to me 30 years ago. After decades in a cupboard, I’ve decided it’s time someone else had the opportunity to research this important historical record.
Jim Spencer said: “I was thrilled to hear about the crowdfunding appeal. It would certainly be a happy ending if the book went into public ownership and remained in Derbyshire to aid research. It’s an important primary source for historians.
“Nothing prepared me for that first look inside it. I was amazed how many individuals were featured in the book, and I was struck by the range of offences. I’m sure many people will say it reminds them of TV’s Peaky Blinders, and I guess some criminals do have the appearance of a baddie in a Laurel and Hardy film, but most seem pitifully trapped by their circumstances.
“The overwhelming feeling for me is quite tragic, with petty thefts being committed by desperate people living in poverty. There is a sense of societal division between the majority of criminals dressed in cloth caps, stealing food and clothing, and the occasional gentleman wearing a bowler hat charged with embezzlement.
“Some convictions seem shockingly petty, such as ‘stealing a tin of pine apple’, ‘stealing a bag of soot’, ‘stealing growing apples’, and some are bizarrely vague, like ‘incorrigible rogue’. This makes it all-the-more surprising to stumble upon a conviction for conspiracy to murder a prime minister.
“Alice Wheeldon is a famous name, and it’s quite surreal to see the original ‘mug shots’ of her and her family members. For me, this makes the book of serious importance. I’m grateful the vendor’s father rescued it.
“Of course, it’s hard to predict what the collectable, monetary value will be for something like this, but it feels important enough for me to guide at £2,000-3,000.”
The police ledger will be offered in Hansons Auctioneers’ October 19 Library Auction. To donate to the appeal, visit: Unique Derby police album – a Heritage crowdfunding project in Matlock by Derbyshire Record Office (crowdfunder.co.uk)
To find out more, email [email protected].
