Mugshots of Victorian criminals fetch £10,000 after being rescued from a skip
A police ledger featuring hundreds of mugshots from the Victorian era has sold for more than £10,000 after being rescued from a skip.
The haunting images include suffragette Alice Wheeldon who was wrongly convicted of plotting to kill former prime minister David Lloyd George in March 1917.
The rogue's gallery of criminals was discovered inside a police ledger dating between 1890 to 1920.
The document was rescued from a skip by a police officer working in Derby over 40 years ago and has just been sold at auction.
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The ledger has 500 pages of grainy mugshots and details of crimes ranging from theft, burglary, shoplifting and assault.
Lesser offences include stealing a comb, bad language and even being an “incorrigible rogue”.
The criminals include many from Derby but also men and women from all over the country – including Southampton, Hull, Birmingham, Leicester and Nottinghamshire.
The ledger's most notables pages relate to the Wheeldon family – who were charged and convicted with conspiracy to murder Lloyd George.
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Alice Wheeldon, her daughter Winnie and son-in-law Alfred Mason were all believed to have been wrongfully convicted of the plot in March 1917.
Alice was found guilty at the Old Bailey but the record showed she was discharged from HMP Aylesbury just months later at the request of Lloyd George himself.
However, the suffragette's time in prison had taken its toll on her health, with a later note recorded under her mugshot in bold red ink which stated: "Died 21.02.19".
Derbyshire Record Office (DRO) had hoped to secure it for public use and launched a Crowdfunder appeal but only raised £2,000.
The son of the policeman who found the book decided to sell it via Hansons Auctioneers for £10,500 instead.
The 53-year-old engineer from Staffordshire, who inherited the ledger from his late father and kept it in a cupboard for decades, said he was “flabbergasted” by the final price.
He said: “After decades in a cupboard I decided it was time someone else had the opportunity to research this important historical record.”
Hansons’ books expert Jim Spencer added: “It is an exceptional item. Nothing prepared me for that first look inside it.
“I was amazed how many individuals were featured in the book, and I was struck by the range of offences.”
