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Advice on best Birmingham newpapers for reporting of court convictions

L

Ls48029

knowlegable brummie
I am working on the life of an ancestor who lived mainly in the South West of England and had quite a chequered past, I have found several newspaper accounts of court convictions and appearances. However she moved to Birmingham around 1901 and lived there fore three decades and I haven't found a scrap of evidence for her in any of the Birmingham newspapers available through the ancestry.co.uk newspaper service - good or bad. Which newspapers are the best source for court convictions in the first three decades of the 20th century does anyone know? And what is the best resource to access them? I am not local to Birmingham, advice on online resources would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you! I
 
I don’t think there is a best source. Obviously the Birmingham Post would be better than the Sports Argus. Many on the site have access, so it would be helpful to give a name.
 
Personally I use the newspaper archive, rather than the Ancestry service. Looking at gthe papers available on Ancestry the arrangement seems a little peculiar -they list 3 different entries for the birmingham post for example. I am not clear how their coverage compares to the newspaper archive's. I would agree with Pedro that there is no particular best source paper for these reports. I would add that the coverage from Birmingham papers (in the newspaper archive,) in the period 1920s is not very good compared to other periods
 
my apologies to you both, it has taken me an unreasonable amount of time to come back to thank you!
I have continued to scour various resources but am still yet to find either of them, not even an obituary! Pedrocut you kindly asked for their names, in case you or anyone happens to have a few minutes for me I am looking for two individuals in particular between 1901-1939 and the two individuals are:
1. Emma Wiggins who later married Frank to become Emma Shayler, she intermittently went by Emily it would seem which is confusing because she had a daughter of the same name (daughter Emily was born Wiggins but may have used Shayler at various points.) Mother Emma was born around 1858.
2. Frank Shayler, who she moved to Birmingham with
3. Frank's brother had the benefit of a highly unusual name- other than the fact that he called his son the same thing!! His name was Shadrack Shayler and although he is not my main focus, the relative unusualness of his name woudl make any article on him clearly identifiable.
 
By obituaries do you mean death registrations because not many people would have had an obituary in the papers.

And I assume Emma is Emma Griffin, first husband Alfred Wiggins. If so she was probably born a little earlier (1854ish) as they married in 1873.

Or it's possibly her age on her marriage was a little fib (just like her father's name could be).
 
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Emma Louisa griffin baptised Stowe Gloucester in 1858 mother Jane, no father.
In 1871 working as a servant in stratford upon avon age 14

1861 in Donnington gloucester.
John Griffin age 51
Sarah age 50
Jane age 29 daughter
Emma age 3 daughter
Sarah age 3 months daughter.
my guess is that the last 2 are grandchildren and Emma used her grandfathers name as her father on her marriage.
There is no registration in that area in 1858.
There was no legal requirement to register a child in the 1850s although most did. and Emma could marry at 15 in the 50s.
Emma Shayler died in 1931 birthdate given as 1858.
 
I suspect Emma was registered as Louisa, Mar qtr 1858 Chipping Norton.

Her mother, Jane, married a John Hawker or John Hawker Fort, registered Stratford 1862.
 
The Police Gazette, London focussed, but may be worth searching. Available through the British Newspaper Archive (BNA). Viv.

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Thank you all so much!
I’ve been able to piece together a lot of her earlier life - despite the fibs and red herrings! I just can’t contextualise a lot about her later life. I have been able to get the 01,11 and 21 census data but I thought anything from local newspapers might tell me more about her ‘story’ during that period. She sounds to have been quite a character!
 
Hope so!!!Was trying not to assume absence of evidence as evidence of absence, but this is a tempting conclusion to reach…
 
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Mentioned by Ls48029 Aug 18 2022 that the name Shadrack as a Christian/First Name is correct that it is unusual, but there is a well known ' A Narrative of a Light Company's Service' written by Shadrack Byfield a British infantryman in the 41st. Regiment during the 1812 war in Canada. A very interesting account, which truly a movie could have been made of.
 
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