Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Jane Wotherspoon or McIntyre - "An Accomplished Female Scamp"



Jane Wotherspoon or McIntyre was tried for forgery and fraud at the High Court in Edinburgh on the 31st May 1869. The seriousness of her list of crimes meant that the case was reported far-and-wide, with the Sheffield Independent calling her "an accomplished female scamp". The report goes on to say,

"Jane Wotherspoon or McIntyre was sentenced to seven years' penal servitude for theft of a cheque book; forgery of a cheque, which she uttered; for receiving money on false pretences when travelling as the daughter of one minister and the niece of another; and also with theft of jewellery and wearing apparel from a widow in Kirkcaldy, who, deceived by her representations as to being on a collecting tour for receiving subscriptions for the Palestine Exploring Fund, had taken her in and fed her".

The scant details in the Register of Returned Convicts for Aberdeen state that after her discharge from jail at the age of 26 in February 1874, she lived for a brief period alongside the harbour at 52 Regent Quay.


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