Ken Rowley—Crime on the Waterfront
I decided to look at crime on the waterfront during the late 1930’s as this would take in the depression and the lead up to the 2nd World War. Then one of our interviewees said that in the early 1960’s the area around Tadman Street had a reputation as a lawless place.
But I found my research options are somewhat restricted when I discovered that I could gain no access to police records due to the recent timeframe of the period under consideration. So I was effectively left with court reports of the Wakefield Express.
It does not seem to be a hot bed of crime, really a series of quite minor crimes so far. I have completed the early 1960’s and am now working on the period in the late 1930’s and hope to report on any discoveries in the near future.