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   ;)  Salford: Before the Bench 1877 - Part Two
by Tony Flynn
The bizarre dealings of the local magistrates court come to light in this new SalfordOnline series looking at crime and punishment in Salford over 130 years ago. Passed into our hands are some unique historic materials: the Salford Magistrates Book of Prisoners Offences. We have a good cross section of people Before the Bench and quite a variety of offences, vagrancy, army desertion, drunkeness, theft, "making water", and striking somebody on the head with a clog, which makes a pleasant change from a poker! We were pleasantly surprised to receive quite a few nice comments about our original story (see link below) and many readers noted that they would like to see more court cases, and so for your delectation, here are a few more... William Black aged 24 was arrested by PC Chappell and charged with being drunk in charge of a horse on Bury New Road, Broughton. He was fined £1. Ada Hill aged 30 was arrested by Inspector Hargreaves and charged with to be found wandering in the street, being of unsound mind. She was sent to Prestwich Mental Hospital. Robert Foster aged 27 was arrested by PC White and charged with deserting from the 6th Royal Lancashire Militia by absenting himself from training in Salford. He was sent back to his Regiment. Alice Learey aged 29 was arrested by Sgt Quick and charged with stealing 12lbs of bacon of the value of 9 shillings from the shop of Eliza Harvey, Tatton Street, Salford. She was remanded in custody for a week. Michael Crewe aged 22, and James Wood aged 57, were arrested by PC Dixon and charged with being drunk and disorderly in Chapel Street, Salford. Both men were fined 7/6d. Mary Riley aged 30 was arrested by PC Bates and charged with being a vagrant and sleeping on a doorstep in Stanley Street, Salford. She was sented to one month's imprisonment. Amy Hallsworth aged 40 and James Rostron aged 34 were arrested by PC Braddock and charged with being drunk and disorderly in Orchard Street, Salford. Both were fined 7/6d. Fredrick Proctor aged 28 was arrested by PC Dwyer and charged with assaulting his wife Kate by striking her on the head with a poker whilst being drunk. He was remanded in custody until the Quarter Sessions. James Hardman aged 24 was arrested by PC Brown and charged with stealing 2/6d off a table at The Albion Inn beerhouse, Essex Street, the property of James Roscoe. He was sentenced to 14 days imprisonment. John Shore aged 32 was arrested by PC Hewitt and charged with stealing about 50 yards of black silk velvet from the works of Messrs Worrall, Orsall Lane to the value of £7.10.0. He was remanded in custody until the Quarter Sessions. John Traynor aged 21 was arrested by PC Milne and charged with gambling by playing at Pitch and Toss in Back Cooke Street, Salford. He was fined 5 shillings. William Bentham aged 21 was arrested by PC Harrison and charged with cruelty to animals by inciting two dogs to fight in Cross Lane, Salford. He was fined 7/6d. Ann Mather aged 23 was arrested by PC Bates and charged with assaulting Hugh Lang by striking him on the head with a clog. The case was discharged. Thomas Cavannagh aged 25 was arrested by PC Jones and charged with indecently exposing his person by making water on the footpath in Regent Road and using obscene language to PC Jones. He was fined £1. We think these notes will be of interest to people searching for their previous generations in Salford. So the question is: was your ancestor a wrong'un?
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