V P R E F A C E . THE Register of Habitual Criminals was established in compliance witli the " Habitual Criminals Act, 1869," ( Section 6), afterwords replaced by the " Prevention of Crimes Act, 1871," which ( section 6, paragraph 1), provides that iiegisters of all perrons convicted of " crime in the United Kingdom shall be kept in Mich form aud containing such particulars as may from time to time be prescribed, iu " Great Britain by one of tier Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State." Ir was also provided by this Act, that the governor of every prison sh mid render returns of the persons convicted of crime and coming within his custody. From the 11th December, 1869 to 31st March, 18/ 6, the number of returns made in each year were as follows:— 1869 and 1870 .. 31,764 1871 HBjir. § ;<•. . 27,990 1872 : ^ : '..: p. .. .. 28,698 1873 rr fe 29,186 1874 28,526 1875 26,407 1876 three montha ( to 31 at Marehj .. .. ,. ., ., ,, 7,080 These figures make it easy to understand that the register wis soon swampel by its completeness, and consideration shewed that it contained a vast number of names of persons whom it was quite unnecessary to place on a CVntial Register. The Register which lias been kept since 1877, has therefore been framed by including only those persons whose reputation as habitual criminals may be taken as established, by their being staled to come under the definition given iu Sections 7 and 8 of the " Prevention of Crimes Act, 1871," viz. : who. have been " convicted on indictment of a crime, and ^ a. previous conviction is proved against them." To these have been added the names of convicts discharged from sentences of penal servitude. Obviously it will not therefore be found to contain names of persons wiio have undergone only one sentence, except those of convicts discharged from penal servitude. Though a selected list so formed may possibly omit some names of criminals which it would be desirable to have on such a register, it is, no doubt, practically, far more useful than a list which is encumbered with the names of all persons convicted, whether habitual criminals or not, and a large number of whom may never appear as criminals ngaiD, or who do n t remove from localities to which they belong, and where they are well known. A further improvement was at the same time adopted, viz : the printing of the register and issuing it to all local authorities, who thus have at their command, in a most convenient form, the information, which till 1877 was to be found only at the Habitual Criminals' Registry. By its means they may establish a prima facie identification of any person suspected to be an habitual criminal, and wili thus be able to procure at once, direct fiom the locality or the prison where such suspected person is known, any further information, evidence, means of identification, photographs & c., of which they may be in want, without the loss of time caused by reference to London. i It follows from what has been already ." aid, that if a person appears in the printed list as having been once previously convicted, such previous conviction will not be found recorded in any previous volume, unless the sentence then passed was one of penal servitude. If therefore particulars of such convictions are required, application should be made to th Habitual Criminals' Registry, or to the prison from which the pers m was liberated. ( See column 13). The number of persons comprised in the volume issued to 31st March, 1376, was 12,164, but as many of the criminals hud aliases, and as every alias was entered, as well as the original name, the number of inuiiris on that register was 22,155. In the annual volumes which have since been published, the number of original uames, selected as already explained, has been as follows :— To 31st December, 1876, ( 9 months) 2,912 1877 3,739 1878 3,934 1879 3; 802 ,, „ 1880 4,045 „ „ 1881 „'. 4,078 „ ,, 1882 1 4,364 „ „ 1883 4,802 1884 5,210 „ „ 1885 4,854 „ „ 1886 4,710 „ 1887 4,449 1888 4,538 1889 4,437 „ 1890 4,178 „ 1891 ' 3,889 ,, ,, 1892 3,851 ,, ,, 1893 ( prosent Volume) 3,781 The register is useful for two purposes, viz. : to give information of the previous career of a person whose identity with some person previously convicted is known; and to provide means for identifying a person in custody, whose identity with one formerly convicted has still to be established. To assist in this latter object, iu cases in which no clue is afforded by the prisoner being recognised by a warder or other person, or in any other way, a Register of Distinctive Marks on particular habitual criminals, has been compiled, which may help to effect the desired object. This Register of Distinctive Marks is printed and issued yearly, with the successive volumes of the register itself; and for convenience of reference a volume was issued in 1884 comprising the contents of the volumes for the previous 8f years ; and another has since been issued, for the further period of 5 years to 31st December, 1889. For the correctness of the information given in the returns, the authorities at the various prisons from which they were received • are of course, responsible. The necessity of strict accuracy aud fulness in the descriptions is rigidly insisted on iu the instructions issued to the governors of prisons ; but it is not possible altogether to prevent discrepancies in the descriptions given by different persons of the same individual at different times.