Caring for our Criminal Past: Conservation of the Register of Prisoners Released from HM General Prison, Perth, 1880-1884.
I n early December 2023, Aberdeen City & Aberdeenshire Archives was awarded £2,638 by the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust to undertake restoration work on a remarkable and unique volume containing nearly a thousand photographs of prisoners incarcerated at HM General Prison , Perth. T h e register , which is part of the Aberdeen City Police collection , contains nearly a thousand mugshot s with accompanying details of prisoners released from Scotland’s General Prison at Perth between 7 April 1882 and 18 January 1884. Constructed in 1839, the General Prison at Perth housed long-term convicts serving sentences exceeding nine months and those categorised as “lunatic” prisoners. The book contains photographs of the head and upper body of seated prisoners, and is accompanied by descriptions of the indivi dual , their crime and where they intended to reside following their release. Although the National Records of Scotland holds a similar register for Greenock
