1930s Mugshots of Newcastle Criminals in Color

In this article, you will have the opportunity to see a collection of historical mugshots from 1930s Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. Originally found in a junk shop, the mugshots were donated to Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums and now a small selection has been manually colorized using the identifying information in the police descriptions attached to each photo. Using the newspaper archives we have also been able to find news stories on the crimes that may have led to the men having their mugshots taken.

Mugshot of Thomas Orange

Thomas Orange was born in 1907 and worked as a laborer but was arrested in the 1930s for larceny, more commonly known as theft/burglary. According to the police descriptions, he would break into shops and warehouses by forcing locks or using duplicated keys in order to steal from the buildings. While it is difficult to find the exact charges of the men featured in the historical mugshots of this article, a news story can be found in the January 2nd, 1934 edition of the Newcastle-based newspaper, The Evening Chronicle, that features a man named Thomas Orange aged 27, which is likely to be the same person featured in this police mugshot. The story states that Orange was sentenced to 3 months in prison for breaking into a vehicle and stealing 46 fountain pens, a case, and other items to the value of £46 18s 6d, equivalent to about £3,000 ($3,700) in 2023. During questioning, he reportedly also jumped from the upstairs window of his home to escape. For this Thomas Orange received another charge that earned him an extra month in prison.

Mugshot of James Hargreaves Jones

This 1930s mugshot features James Hargreaves Jones who was born in 1896 and was an iron molder by trade. It seems as though Jones had fallen on hard times as according to the police description he would beg in residential areas and break into unoccupied houses. Further to this, according to the March 10th, 1933 edition of The Evening Chronicle, James Hargreaves Jones was an inmate of “High Teams Poor Law Institution, Gateshead” which was a workhouse. A workhouse was an institution that provided accommodation and work for people who were unable to support themselves financially. In the news article, it states that Jones was sentenced to 6 months in prison for having stolen an overcoat, a cigarette case, and shoes, all valued at £4 16s (equivalent to around £310/$395 in 2023). He was caught leaving a house with the items as the homeowner returned.

Mugshot of John Gallagher

John Gallagher was born in 1901 and worked as a laborer. Like the other men in the historical mugshots featured in this article, Gallagher’s crimes included larceny in which he was known for stealing items after breaking into pubs and cars. It is noted in the police description and can be seen in the photograph that he is missing his left eye. In the description, the “s” in “eyes” has been covered so that it reads “eye”. News stories about a burglary by John Gallagher can be found in the December 19th and 22nd, 1931 editions of the Newcastle newspaper North Mail and Newcastle Chronicle, and the January 9th, 1932 issue of The Evening Chronicle. Gallagher was 1 of 3 men charged with breaking into the house of an elderly woman and stealing a gold watch, jewellery, and money, all to the value of £27 10s (adjusted for inflation about £1,600/$2,000 in 2023). For this crime, Gallagher was sentenced to 12 months of hard labor.

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