Timeline
1814? – Estimated year of birth.
1835 – 30th June – Thomas Lane, at the Bristol City Sessions, was found Not Guilty of assaulting a police officer.
1844 – 16th July – Thomas Lane, at the Bristol City Sessions, was found Not Guilty as No Bill was brought forward by the prosecutor, for larceny from the person.
1845 – 6th January – Thomas Lane, at the Bristol City Sessions, was found Guilty of stealing iron and was sentenced to 4 months imprisonment.
1847 – 9th April – Thomas Lane, at the Bristol City Sessions, was found Guilty of stealing bread and meat, the property of John Hooker, and was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment.
1853 – 26th October – Thomas Lane, at the Michaelmas Session in Bristol, was found Guilty of stealing a cheese, the property of Richard Chase, and was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment.
1854 – 15th July – Thomas Lane, at the Michaelmas Session in Bristol, was found Guilty of stealing a glass, the property of Thomas Davey, and was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment.
1856 – 7th January – Thomas Lane committed in Bristol.
1856 – 8th January – Thomas Lane, a single labourer aged 41, is convicted of Larceny at the Epiphany Sessions in Bristol and sentenced to 4 years penal servitude.
1856 – 2nd February – Transferred to Millbank Prison and given the prison number 2269. His behaviour here was Good. His prison trade was that of a tailor.
1856 – 14th April – Transferred to Pentonville Prison, his prisoner number is 6575. His behaviour here was Good. He is noted as being thin, his progress in school as good and his prison trade is that of a weaver.
1857 – 27th March–Transferred to Chatham Prison, his prisoner number is 867. His behaviour here was Very Good. His prison trade was as a labourer.
1859 – 6th May – Received at Woking Convict Invalid Prison. Prisoner Number 64.
He is described as having a fair complexion with dark brown hair and grey eyes and his height is 6’0 and his body thin.In addition, his notes state he has large dark brown whiskers, a cut on his left shoulder and wrist, his face is slightly pockmarked and that he cannot bend two fingers of his right hand. His next of kin is his father,Alex Lane, living at 4 Caroline buildings, St Philips, Bristol.
1859 – 6thMay – Released from Woking Convict Invalid Prison.
1861 – Census – Thomas Lane, a 46-year-old labourer, is living with his father Alexander, a 92-year-old widower, and two lodgers; Mary Salmon, 58-year-oldlaundress, and Ann Teck, a 61-year-old hawker, at 4 Caroline place, St Philips, Bristol.
1861 – 24th April – Committed in Bristol and taken to ‘Her Majesty’s common Gaol Bristol’. His temper is described as very good, his intelligence as moderate, that he has good feelings and denies the charge, and that his religious information is scanty. His conduct in this prison has been Good.
1861 – 3rd July – Thomas is transferred from Bristol Gaol to Millbank Prison and given the prison number 3615. His behaviour here was Good. He is noted as being well behaved, that he had previously been held at Newgale Gaol in Wales, despite no other records making mention of it, that he progressed little in schooling and his prison trade was that of a tailor.
1862 – 16thApril – Transferred to Chatham Prison, his prisoner number is 4742. His behaviour is described as Exemplary. He makes tolerable progress in schooling and his prison trade is that of a labourer.
1863 – 8th June – Transferred to Gibraltar, his prisoner number is 4330. His behaviour is described as Exemplary. He makes fair progress in schooling and his prison trade is that of a labourer.
1866 – 10th February – Thomas leaves Gibraltar on a ship called the Siccian.
1866 – 17th February –Transferred to Millbank Prison, his prisoner number is 1598.
1866 – 27th February –Thomas Lane is released on licence, licence number 17926, to Bristol.He is described as having afresh face, brown hair, grey eyes and is 6’0 tall. His nose is described as ordinary, his face as being oval, his body rather slight, and as having a scar cut on his left shoulder and left wrist.
1881 – Census – Thomas Lane, a 68-year-old general labourer, is an inmate at Bristol City Workhouse in Stapleton.