Admission Record for Joseph Pagett, Register of Norton Reformatory
In the first half of the 19th century statistical studies seemed to show that Britain was being engulfed by a growing population of hardened young criminals. They stalked the streets, ever alert to the ...
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Birmingham Daily Post Article
This report discusses an incident in Cannon Hill Park, in which Charles Cartwright's carriage was pelted with snowballs as he drove through the park on the morning of Sunday 10 January. The article expresses ...
Birmingham Parks Police
This photograph was taken for an album containing scenes in the parks during the Edwardian period. The Parks Police were a regular presence and were responsible for keeping order and challenging would-be ...
Birmingham Parks Police Badge
Birmingham’s parks were initially patrolled by the city police force. During the 1880s, the Parks Committee had to apply to the Worcestershire police force for additional officers to patrol Cannon Hill ...
Birmingham Prison Visiting Committee on the Juvenile Court, 1910
Data was collected on the types of offences committed by young people and reported in juvenile courts.
BSA Ladies' Bicycle
Tight controls on cycling were imposed by Birmingham’s Parks Committee from the earliest days of the activity. In the 1870s, before the invention of the ‘safety bicycle’ opened up cycling to women, children, ...
Daily routine in Norton Reformatory
The boys’ lives were strictly regulated. Activities were timetabled for each day between waking up at 6am and going to bed at 10pm. Cleanliness was required at all times. The boys were under constant ...
Discussion of Park Closure at Night
Parks in Birmingham were usually kept closed at night, but in 1954 the Parks Committee did consider leaving Calthorpe Park open. These pages from the Parks Committee minutes consider this proposal, which ...
Dormitory rules in Norton Reformatory
Drawing of a Middlemore Girl
As an Edgbastonian, John Middlemore was proudly celebrated in the pages of the Edgbastonia magazine:
‘A benevolent Edgbaston gentleman who has solved one of the difficult social problems of modern ...
Individual boy in uniform, Norton Reformatory
Drill was part of the regular routine for boys at Norton. The reformatory also had a cadet corp.
News Article on 'Suicide in Cannon Hill Park'
There are a surprisingly large number of references in the Birmingham Daily Post between 1857 and 1900 to suicide or attempted suicide in Calthorpe and Cannon Hill parks. This evidence gives an insight ...
Norton Reformatory admission register
Reproduction of Joseph Pagett, aged 14, a young offender from the admission register of Norton Reformatory.
Identification photographs such as this were made for the authorities to be able to identify ...
Norton Reformatory Punishment Book
On March 14 1886 four boys were caned for planning to run away. One of them had been previously caned for bullying. Of all of the institutions which children came into contact with the reformatories generally ...
Offences Committed in the Parks
During the 1920s and 1930s the Administration Sub-Committee of the Parks Committee submitted regular reports listing the offences for which people were prosecuted. Most of the offences were minor. They ...
Photographs of Norton Juvenile Offenders
The harsh discipline of the reformatory was reinforced through the use of stark uniforms. The uniform was intended to remove the child’s individual identity. Each new inmate in the reformatory was photographed. ...
Shoemaking, Norton Reformatory Annual Report
Children were educated and trained in various trades, including shoemaking, gardening, tailoring and farming.