Poor Cousin Sarah--three months hard labor for stealing a pair of 'trowsers'. From looking at the 1861 census, I think she might have been my great great Grandmother's Sister. Mary Jane Hignell was a maid at a Newport Inn. The address of Portland Street in Newport clinches it, because Henry Hignell and his daughters lived at Portland Street with Mary Hignell in 1861. I guess Sarah was in the hoosegow when the Wales census was taken in 1871, because only Henry and Mary Hignell lived there.
I'm thrilled--this is the first photograph I have seen of a Hignell ancestor/cousin. In a way, I'm having a guilt attack--I wonder if Sarah was working for her Aunt Mary when she stole the pants? It must have been a total shock for Mary Hignell when her Niece was arrested for stealing a pair of trousers. I don't imagine either her Father, Henry or Sister, Mary Jane, were too happy.
Is there any way I could find an account of her trial? I'd love to know how she stole the pants, and why. Wouldn't a young girl be more likely to steal a dress, skirt or blouse? Hope she wasn't following the world's oldest profession.
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