This week I finally found Catherine Mitchell's court records. After waiting for months to get access through the Scottish archives I finally found a copy in the hands of a distant cousin. This discovery was an unexpected bonus, but I will explain that a little later in this post.
What the court records reveal is not a surprise if you have read the summary of the charges and the verdict, but interesting just the same. Catherine Mitchell and her co-accused were charged with 'aggravated theft by housebreaking and also habit and repute, and previous conviction.'
In 1832, Catherine Mitchell and her friend Robina Lochie were both charged with theft and were sentenced by the Sheriff to two months in prison. This was their first offence. The main charge came the following year, probably only six months after their release from the Stirling Toll House (prison). Catherine Mitchell was 14 and was wandering the streets of Alloa with,Robina Lochie and Mary Martin. I think Mary Martin was the older than the other two and was already married. They met up with Christian Cock and Ann Stein, both similar in age to Catherine.
The five decided it would be a good lark to go into the garden of a private house and pick some berries. While they were there, they decided to break into the dairy room and get some milk and cheese. After breaking in, they found no milk or cheese, so took some beer and brandy bottles and some crockery instead.
I have not read through all the statements yet, and some will be hard to decipher, but it sounds like Ann Stein may have owned up to the crime and she is listed among the witnesses. Catherine, Robina, Christian and Ann were all immediately arrested, but Mary Martin had done a runner and was not found before the trial.
It may seem harsh today that three delinquent teenagers would be sent into exile on the other side of the world for a petty theft, but that was the law of the day and the girls would probably have been given a stern warning by the Sheriff at their previous transgression. Ann Stein seems to have escaped punishment - possibly because she cooperated with the Police and only played a minor part in the crime.
Postscript: A more likely explanation as to why Ann Stein was not tried with the other girls is that it was possibly her first offence - in which case she would have appeared in the Sherriff's Court.
Other facts to emerge from Catherine's statement are that her father was John Mitchell, labourer and that he was deceased. Her mother was Catherine McGregor and she was alive and living in the Alloa Parish. This confirms what we had already deducted from other records, although we did not know when John died. We now know that he died sometime between 1827 (when his last child was baptised) and 1832.
My other discovery this week was the location of William and Catherine Ward's furniture. Joan Taylor made mention of a sideboard, table and chest-of-drawers being in the care of Dorrie Willsher of Wamberal. I did some hunting in the family tree and worked out that 'Dorrie' was Dorris Agnes Beattie. Some more deduction and hunting on ancesttry.com and I made contact with my new-found cousin! She is the granddaughter of Dorrie, who unfortunately passed away some years ago, but her house, with the old furniture, is still in the family.
I am sure we will be able to get some photos of the furniture at some point.
This week I also loaded by first draft of the William Ward and Catherine Mitchell chapter of the family history onto my website. It still has a way to go before it is complete, but if anyone has suggestions, corrections or comments, just let me know. See link below - Note: It is a MS-Word document, and some of the formatting is a bit off when previewed on the web.
Anyone want a job (unpaid) as proof-reader?
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