Sentencing seems to have been inconsistent as now, except the sum of money involved was different.  Edward got 12 months hard labour.  The vicar got 7 years.  I don't know whether either of them served the full sentence.  Edward was convicted in June 1875, and his next child was born in May 1877.  For Edward Stickley White I have local newspaper reports of the case at the time, plus the court records, and I have studied a prison ledger at Kew, so I can be sure of the facts in his case.  Vivyan Moyle is not my relative, so I have been less thorough, but I have seen several newspaper reports of his case too. I think the vicar was more scheming, as it involved false shares and such like, and he had a copy of a seal made to authenticate false documents.  Also the sum of money was much greater - £11,000, a vast fortune in 1873.  Edward also wrote a very penitent confession letter, which may have helped him.  In that letter he said he didn't know how much it was, but he thought £800 to £900.  But he was only prosecuted for £160.  I think possibly it started with a little pilfering, and then got worse and worse.  He may have had a gambling habit.  He certainly tried to win the money back by betting on the Derby, but his "hopes were blasted in a most decisive manner." He was missing for ten days, trying to win the money back.  His brother tracked him down, and brought him back (after dark, as he couldn't face returning to shame in daylight). The letter got there before he did, and his employers called him to a meeting at work .  He went, and after questioning they let him go home.  He was arrested the next day, and granted bail at the first hearing.  It seems very rapid after that.  Just a week later he was convicted, remanded in custody, given leave to appeal, and a fortnight later the appeal was rejected.  Meanwhile he had been declared bankrupt, and he had to face a meeting of his creditors before they carted him off to Dartmoor.  So he had a very rough month. My grandmother, his daughter, was a prim and proper lady, and this being her dad is completely off the wall.  But there always was something hush hush, which is partly why I got into family history.  I can't say I like having a convict great grandfather, but it does yield information. I have a copy of a letter he wrote, his words and his handwriting, after he recognised it was hopeless, and his brother had tracked him down.    When you get used to the shameful aspect, it's exciting.  Caroline ________________________________ From: Tomas Christie <tomas_christie@yahoo.co.uk> To: berkshire@rootsweb.com Sent: Wednesday, 30 September, 2009 14:00:58 Subject: Re: [BRK] WHITE, Edward Stickley, ex convict Caroline, Reading would have been a good place to be anonymous and was quite a flourishing place at this time, so those reasons might well have played a part. I suppose you have researched both cases thoroughly?  It seems strange that Edward S.White should have been sent to Dartmoor in 1875 and have been free in time to have a child in Reading in 1877.  Such a short period compared with the vicar who received seven years, but perhaps if I had read the original cases I might understand the difference. Did both serve their full sentences?  Reading was also home to the well-known Reading Jail / Gaol, though I don't suppose that has any bearing on the matter. Tomas Christie ________________________________ From: Caroline Bagshaw <carolinebagshaw@yahoo.co.uk> To: berkshire@rootsweb.com Sent: Wednesday, 30 September, 2009 13:36:22 Subject: Re: [BRK] WHITE, Edward Stickley, ex convict Maybe it's as simple as that.  He had to go somewhere where he wasn't known, and the bigger the place the more chance he had of being anonymous.  Maybe it was just a pin in the map. I wish I knew. Caroline ________________________________ From: CandROverson <overson12@btinternet.com> To: berkshire@rootsweb.com Sent: Wednesday, 30 September, 2009 12:16:31 Subject: Re: [BRK] WHITE, Edward Stickley, ex convict Hello Caroline We have often wondered why my husband's Great Grandfather moved his family from Kings Lynn in Norfolk to Reading some time in the 1880s. The OVERSONS had lived in Norfolk for many generations (many still do).  His Great Grandfather was a coal merchant in Reading and had been a "coal dealer" in Kings Lynn.  Perhaps Reading was an up and coming place in the late 1800s. Rhoda ----- Original Message ----- From: "Caroline Bagshaw" <carolinebagshaw@yahoo.co.uk> To: <BERKSHIRE@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 6:15 AM Subject: [BRK] WHITE, Edward Stickley, ex convict I'm back on a quest I started some time ago. My great grandfather, Edward Stickley WHITE lived in Reading for a large part of his life, though he was born in Smethwick in 1847, and went to work in Yorkshire as a company secretary in 1871. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to BERKSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message       ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to BERKSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message       ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to BERKSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message