Margaret McDonald or Ross - A Resident of the Gallowgate

Margaret McDonald or Ross was sentenced to eight years' penal servitude for theft on the 14th July 1869. Margaret committed her crimes in Perth and it was there, at the High Court, that she was tried. The Perthshire Advertiser of 16th September reported as follows:

Margaret, alias Elizabeth, McDonald or Ross, was charged with several acts of theft, the articles stolen being clothing and jewellery from houses in and around Perth between July and August of the present year. Two previous convictions for theft were libelled against the accused. Ross pleaded guilty and Lord Cowan sentenced her to eight years' penal servitude.

From the 1871 census we know that Margaret served her sentence in Ayr prison, and in common with several other criminals featured in this blog, she was originally born in Ireland. Her occupation is given as a "sewer", and she is noted as married. However, her trial papers, held at the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh under the reference JC26/1869/58, state that she was in fact a widow, her husband, William Ross, a carter from Perth, having died prior to 1869. Another detail on the trial papers reads that she "cannot write at present".

What drew Margaret to Aberdeen on her release in May 1876 is not known, although it may well be that she had contacts in the city, quite possibly fellow Irish emigrants. Between May and August of that year she reported to the police on four occasions (see image below) giving her address on the first occasion as 9 Porthill Close, which was situated just off the Gallowgate, and on the other occasions she was living at 107 Gallowgate.