felon

Very interesting series of pix. Got the link from the Guardian 1930s mugshots online They're almost all very short. None are described as unemployed.

Note the 'RIP London Blitz 1940'.

I think I may be related possibly to this man , my mother is a murray and her father was killed in the blitz there , she could recall the glass filling her cot . If so this would be the first photo of him i have ever seen

There are two Alexander Murrays with a possible connection on the 1911 census - a six year old who was born Gateshead and recorded at 8 Sarah Street, Gateshead. This was the household of his parents, Joseph, (aged 38 and a Pipe Coverer from Gateshead) and Mary, (aged 39 and from Gateshead). Joseph and Mary have been married for 18 years. As well as Alexander they have 6 other children. The other candidate is a 5 year old from South Shields. He was recorded at 43 Richmond Road, Tyne Docks, South Shields. His father, Alexander, is aged 40 and a Marine Engineer from South Shields. His mother, Annie is aged 40 - the pair have been married for 20 years.As well as the young Alexander, they have 5 other children. Both Alexanders seem to have had a fairly stable upbringing, so if it is one of them that is photographed here, then one wonders what happened. Switching to the RIP London Blitz 1940 note, the picture is even more unclear. There is no Alexander Murray recorded on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as dieing in 1940 anywhere near London - either as a civilian \ member of the emergency services or as a serviceman. Checking the General Registry Office lists of deaths for 1940 in England and Wales, again there is no obvious candidate. Of course there remains a number of possibilities - Alexander could have been a middle name or a name he was known by in the family or even just a false one he gave to the police and it may have suited him for that persona to be listed as dead in the Blitz. He could also have come from elsewhere and so doesn't appear on the 1911 census for England and Wales. Intriguing stuff :-)

Thanks for that research. Quite a few of these men are elusive to track down, but have a look at the story of William Jones www.flickr.com/photos/twm_news/7789731538/in/set-72157631... for someone with no fewer than three aliases

No safe is safe from the Dicks.

The side picture of this guy reminds me of some Chicago gangster of the 30's, one of Al Capone's associates perhaps.

I suspect that's what he's trying to look like. Wonder who he nicked the flash hat from? It certainly doesn't go with the "no tie, no collar" look.

It's likely that the hat was provided by the Police in order to have a mugshot with the hat for recognition purposes.

Aberdeen Journal Saturday 02nd April 1932 Evidence based entirely on the discovery of finger-prints and heel marks found on premises which had been entered, was given at Newcastle yesterday, when Charles Ormston (24) labourer, was sentenced to eighteen months' hard labour, charged with office-breaking and larceny.

CHARLES ORMSTON Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer Thursday 23rd December 1926 A NEWCASTLE CHASE In the early hours of yesterday morning there was an exciting chase through some of the main streets of Newcastle. The sequel was heard at the police court a few hours later, when Charles Ormston (18), was charged with having attempted to break into the Queen's Hall by kicking in the window of the base-ment. He was remanded in custody until Friday. Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer Thursday 14th April 1927 ALLEGED SHOPBREAKERS AT NEWCASTLE A scramble over roofs after alleged shopbreakers was described at Newcastle Police Court yesterday, when Charles Galloway Ormston (21) and Nicholas O'Neil (19) were charged with having broken into the premises of Messrs. Freeman, Hardy, and Willis with intent to steal. Constable J. Wool said that at 11.25 on Tuesday night he heard breaking glass, ans signalling with his flash lamp to another constable to follow, he climed onto the roof of a garage and made his way over the roofs of adjoining buildings. Eventually he saw a face at a fanlight and he and Constable Johnson entered the premises and found the accused men hiding in the rafters. When he was taken into custody Ormston said. “I wish I had had my pea-shooter. I would have done you in.” The accused were remanded in custody for a week. Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer Saturday 23rd April 1927 Charles Galloway Ormston (19), miner pleaded guilty too a charge of breaking and entering, and was sent to Borstal for two years. Nicholas O'Neil (19) a deformed man, was jointly charged with Ormston, and admitting the offence, was bound over. Ring any alarm bells 25 years later dim-witted Derek Bentley was hanged on the 28th January 1953 for the murder of policeman Sidney Miles on the roof of a warehouse in Croydon Surrey. Everyone know that Bentley was not the Killer, and the real killer whose name is not worth a mention, believed he was somekind of Gangster, and if it had happened in 1927 he may will have been hanged himself.