Margaret Anderson - A Theft at a Spirit Shop on King Street

Unfortunately the identity of the photographer who took the images that have so far featured in this blog, and which appear in the 'Register of Returned Convicts for Aberdeen, 1869-1939', has proved annoyingly elusive. It may well have been the case that for these earlier mugshots a local photographer was employed by the police when pictures were required. The Habitual Offenders Act of 1869, along with its associated statutes, had first mandated the photographing of criminals. I will, no doubt, return to the fascinating background and implications of this piece of legislation in future blogs.  

It is certainly the case that many of these earlier images, including this one of Margaret Anderson, are reminiscent of the formal, posed portraits that were increasingly popular with the middle and upper-class clients of studio photographers of the time. Indeed, the images that appear within the Register of Returned Convicts are remarkable precisely because they are of a sector of society that would not normally have appeared before the camera. 

Margaret Anderson was sentenced to eight years' penal servitude on the 18th September 1867. In the words of the Edinburgh Daily Review of the following day she, "Pleaded guilty to theft, on the 17th April, in a spirit shop in King Street, from the person of William Thomson, of a purse with three pounds and some silver money. She had been twice convicted of theft before the Sheriff Court, three times before the Police Court, and once before the Circuit Court, all of theft".

The 1871 census finds Margaret incarcerated at HM General Prison, Perth, giving her marital status as single and her occupation as that of a "domestic servant". Her place of birth is given as Auchterless, near Turriff.

Her picture was taken on her discharge in January 1873. The additional details provided about her (see below) show that she was just over 5 feet 2 inches tall and that she had a fair complexion and fair hair. Her address subsequent to her release is given as 17 Gardener's Lane, which was situated in one of the long, narrow lanes linking East North Street with Justice Street.

Map Reproduced by permission of the National Library of Scotland

Plan of the City of Aberdeen Corrected to 1871

Keith & Gibb, 1871

https://maps.nls.uk/index.html