Abstract
The future of the Historical Sample of the Netherlands (HSN) will certainly include the enrichment of the foundational database with additional, new sources of information. In general, the HSN would highly benefit from current mass digitization projects involving citizen science. This essay proposes a pilot in linking 19th- and early 20th-century criminal records to HSN. In spite of the extensive state and parish registration documenting individual and family lives in close systematic detail, life course approaches to historical crime are less common. The large datasets necessary to conduct longitudinal life course research into deviant behaviour will facilitate both the analysis of criminality as an event and the scrutiny of the trajectories of individuals' lives leading up to their involvement in crime.
Highlights
In the autumn of 1883, 25-year-old Adriaan van Dommelen, a shoemaker from Sprang-Capelle, served a short prison sentence of three days in the nearby house of detention in Heusden.1 He and a few of his associates, shoemakers, were convicted of 'night rumour'
There is little chance that Adriaan's likeness was ever captured on camera, we do know from the prison records that he was 174 centimetres tall, that he wore a beard, had reddish hair and blue eyes, and that his complexion was 'healthy'
We find that he behaved well during detention. While this historical source allows us to shed some light on this historical 'troublemaker', it remains unclear whether this was a once in a lifetime misdemeanour or if Adriaan had been — or would become — a habitual offender. Was this his first offence with many to follow, perhaps even of the more serious kind, or did he refrain from committing any further crimes? Recent developments in mass digitisation of Dutch historical criminal court and prison records, and a life course criminology approach, may provide some answers
Summary
In the autumn of 1883, 25-year-old Adriaan van Dommelen, a shoemaker from Sprang-Capelle, served a short prison sentence of three days in the nearby house of detention in Heusden. He and a few of his associates, shoemakers, were convicted of 'night rumour' (nachtgerucht). In the autumn of 1883, 25-year-old Adriaan van Dommelen, a shoemaker from Sprang-Capelle, served a short prison sentence of three days in the nearby house of detention in Heusden.1 He and a few of his associates, shoemakers, were convicted of 'night rumour' (nachtgerucht). We can only guess as the prison register, in which we find Adriaan in October 1883, only includes the one-word accusation without further specifications His brief stint in prison does provide us with detailed information on his life. We find that he behaved well during detention While this historical source allows us to shed some light on this historical 'troublemaker', it remains unclear whether this was a once in a lifetime misdemeanour or if Adriaan had been — or would become — a habitual offender. Was this his first offence with many to follow, perhaps even of the more serious kind, or did he refrain from committing any further crimes? Recent developments in mass digitisation of Dutch historical criminal court and prison records, and a life course criminology approach, may provide some answers
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