Learning Zone - Register of Pardoned or Ticket of Leave Criminals on New Charges

Quick facts

Sometimes a convicted prisoner did not serve a full term. If, however, after being given an early release, a prisoner reoffended, they were recorded in the ‘Register of Pardoned or Ticket of Leave Criminals on New Charges’.

The name dates back to the period when a convict sent to Australia needed a ‘Ticket of leave’. You can find out more about this on the website of the National Library of Australia.

This is part of Scotland's Criminal Database. See the full coverage of this collection here.

Column Headings

Name
Date of Conviction of Crime to which Pardon or Ticket of Leave Applies
Court by which Convicted
Crime of which Pardon granted; or for which Accused under Sentence at Date of Ticket of Leave
Sentence
Date of Pardon*
Date of Ticket of Leave
Age
Number of known Previous Convictions
New Crime Charged
Short Summary of Case
Date of Committal on New Charge
How Charge Disposed of
Date of informing Home Secretary of result of Case

* N.B. The Date of Pardon column has not been used as originally planned. Rather we have a place in the ‘Date of Pardon’ column, this is believed to be the place the prisoner was when the pardon or ticket of leave was granted. We see ‘Peterhead’. ‘Wormwood Scrubs’ and ‘Perth’ etc. in this column.

Indexed Columns

Our index includes the name, date of new conviction, age, new crime location and the National Records of Scotland reference.

Further Research

These records are very useful as they can add more detail to our family history timeline. They can also answer puzzling questions. For example, if our ancestor was sentenced to 7 years penal servitude why is he home with his family in the census?

These records tell us which court heard the first trial and which heard the second, which are great clues to follow up on to find more records.