NRS-3406 | Registry of Flash Men

The volume contains notes on persons of interest to police because of suspicious behaviour, previous or outstanding convictions, associations with known criminals or low life, who have escaped from custody, have a criminal history or were wanted to answer charges. Notes include some or all of the following - their aliases, appearance, ‘modus operandi’, known associates, places of residence, occupation, their character or temperament, sightings of them, details of previous convictions, incidents in which they were known or suspected of being involved, their circumstances, and information collected about them including quotations or comments from those who knew them and newspaper clippings. Entries sometimes refer to the circumstances of coming to the colony (whether free settlers or convicts) A small percentage of entries summarise a particular crime and the sentence given. These were either reports of the magistrate, were not written up until the case was heard or for some other reason it was considered expedient to record the information in this series. The wording of most entries suggests that the cases were not finalised, the suspects were not apprehended and that the subjects were simply being watched. This in combination with cases in which no prosecution was being made suggests that the majority of the volume was for the use of police.The entries are arranged presumably in chronological order of entry, although they are rarely precisely dated. The surname is often underlined or written in large clearer lettering to assist with scanning the book. Given names appear often to be unknown or are not always given. Occasionally the characters are only known by their aliases. When the names of known associates are mentioned in an entry marginal notes are made as an identification aid. Some entries were later annotated regarding the apprehension or conviction of the person. There is some internal reference to related entries. Entries appear to have been composed by both police officers and magistrates. A large proportion of the volume is in the hand of W.A. Miles Superintendent (later Commissioner) of Police, but others clearly contributed. The volume contains several lists of associated criminals including the ‘Flash Mob’ ( a gang of eight who committed robberies and assaults) ; the Norfolk Islanders (those who had previously been imprisoned at the Norfolk Island Penal Establishment) and ‘Sydney Bullies, Brothel Keepers and thieves’. References suggest that a second volume (cited as Vol 2 D1) existed but has not survived. There are also several cross references to the volume DVI which may be a later volume of this series or a related series.There is a remnant of a label on the spine with the identification ' D1 Vol. 1'The volume is manually paginated.