In this new blog series written by volunteer, Katherine Bett, we will be telling the stories of various prisoners who were imprisoned in Reading Gaol a few years either side of Oscar Wilde.
One of our most striking records is a photograph album of mugshots from Reading Prison (P/RP1/5/2), taken at the turn of the century, a few years either side of Oscar Wilde’s imprisonment. Whilst not every prisoner was photographed, the details and expression of these men and women have inspired us to research how they came to be imprisoned in cells very near to the famous writer. This blog series will attempt to tell their stories.
We start with a man who had been jailed many times, under various names, but in this instance, Michael Ostrog was in Reading Prison for a very calculated crime that took the authorities a long time to track down. His characterful trial is widely reported by the national and regional press in the summer of 1894.
This particular crime starts in May 1889, when Michael Ostrog went to Mr Lingwood’s shop in Eton and asked for a mortarboard, claiming he was an assistant master at Eton College and had just arrived from abroad. He was allowed to leave without paying.
Later, on the 13th May, he went to Mr Betjemann’s jewellery shop in Eton and convinced Mr Rowell, who managed the shop, to bring out three gold watches on chains at a value of £50-£60. He claimed he was a representative of Prince Adolphus of Teck - not in fact a made-up person, but the great-grandson of George III, who was 20 at the time.
Mr Rowell was suspicious, so decided he should accompany Ostrog to Eton College, where Ostrog claimed he needed to take the watches. The two of them made their way to the school library, where students stood up and raised their hats to Ostrog, as his appearance in the mortarboard made them think he was a teacher there.
Ostrog then asked Rowell to take a seat for a few minutes and left the room. He then came back and asked to take the watches, which were tied up in a parcel, to his friends to help him choose a watch. Mr Rowell let him take them and unbeknownst to him, would not see Ostrog again until he was detained five years later.
Whilst Rowell was left sitting the library, he asked the schoolboys whether they had seen Ostrog before. They said they did not recognise him, but supposed he was a new teacher, which Rowell seems to have been satisfied with.
Meanwhile, Ostrog fled across the river to Windsor, where he hired a pony and trap. He was driven to Staines, where he pawned all three watches. He then continued to a hotel in Richmond, and disappeared.
He was finally detained for this crime on 6th June 1894, more than five years after the crime took place. Two pieces of evidence contributed against him: the stolen mortarboard was found wrapped in a newspaper on the floor of the carriage, and one of the watches was still at the pawnbroker. Furthermore, Rowell was able to identify him from a line-up meaning the police were confident they had their man.
An initial trial took place at the Slough Petty Sessions on 20th June 1894, but was then advanced to the Buckinghamshire Quarter Sessions, where he was tried before a jury on 2nd July 1894.
The newspapers report that Ostrog refused to answer to the name ‘Michael Ostrog’ at the trials and insisted that he was ‘Claud Clayton’ and had been in a French asylum at the time of the crime so could not have committed it. Various other aliases were also discovered including Count Ostrog, Dr. Barker, and Bertrand Ashley. He described himself as being a Professor of Bacteria, and a French Republican, and had been the inventor of “a life-belt, which he wished to introduce to the British Navy, for it would enable a man to swim round the world.”.
At the trial, police provided details that Ostrog, under his various aliases, had been arrested for other crimes, mainly robbery, in 1887, 1891, and 1893. Additionally, Rowell, the trap driver, and an Eton College butler all testified.
Ostrog tried to claim “insanity” to lessen his sentence. However, at the time of the trial, the 63-year-old had already been in Reading Prison for a fortnight, and the surgeon observing Ostrog declared that he was sane and was “only shamming”.
The jury found Ostrog guilty and he was sentenced to five years imprisonment, followed by seven years of police supervision.
Did he find the error of his ways? In 1900 Ostrog was convicted of larceny (theft of personal goods) so clearly not.
Aside from his penal records, Ostrog is very tricky to track down due to his many aliases. Before any kind of identification system was available, it’s impossible to know for certain whether records are about the same person or not. What is clear is that many serial offenders used multiple names before the police and courts at this time, probably for this very reason.
It is possible that Ostrog’s photograph was taken because of his repeat offending and multiple aliases. It was an expensive technology, especially if the prisoners were only interred for a matter of days or weeks. But a photograph could help link this man to previous crimes if he was charged again, and once more dreamt up another name.