Thomas Whitton era un peón y zapatero de Shoreditch, este de Londres. Tenía apenas 13 años en junio de 1836 cuando fue sentenciado en el Old Bailey por robar algodón impreso. Su sentencia fue ser enviado a la Tierra de Van Diemen (Tasmania).
When he reached the coast of Australia a year later, the London of brown hair and blue eyes had made some interesting tattoos on his long trip.In his right arm there was a tribute to a girl with the words "Love for your heart", and on her left, images of two men with a bottle and a glass, a siren, an anchor and the initials "r.R."
Whitton (who was finally released at 20 years). Por entonces, algunos comentaristas creían que las “personas de mala reputación" usaban tatuajes para marcarse “como salvajes" como una señal de que pertenecían a una pandilla criminal.But our database reveals that the tattoos of the convicts expressed a surprisingly wide range of positive feelings and, in fact, fashionable.And the convicts in no way were the only ones to have them.
These records allowed us to see - first time - that the history of tattoo was not restricted to sailors, soldiers and convicts, but was a growing and accepted phenomenon in Victorian England.The tattoos give an important glimpse to the lives of those who did not leave their own written records. Como una forma de “historia desde abajo", nos dieron un entendimiento fugaz pero intrigante de las identidades y emociones de la gente común en el pasado.
To study these issues, we carry out the largest tattoos analysis that has been done, examining 75,688 tattoo descriptions, in 58,002 convicts in Great Britain and Australia from 1793 to 1925.We use data search and processing techniques to extract information in the widest descriptive fields of criminal records, and link this information with extensive evidence about the characteristics and personal stories of our subjects.Since the meanings of tattoos were sometimes difficult to unravel, we use visualizations to identify patterns of use and juxtapositions of designs in particular.
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A brief story of tattoos
Tattooing has been done throughout human history.The evidence of ice preserved bodies indicates the existence of the practice as early as 4000 to.C.And even when it is impossible to draw a continuous story, there is evidence of tattoos in most cultures, sometimes as a form of forced stigma (in slaves and criminals in the Greek and Roman empires), but in many cases as a voluntary practiceused to express identity.
The first Christians made religious tattoos as a sample of devotion and to commemorate pilgrimages.Prohibited by Pope Adriano in 787, tattoos disappeared largely from the history recorded in the medieval West, although we know they were present in many other cultures, notably in Polynesia and Japan.
Traditional history says that the practice resurfaced in Europe after Captain Cook and his sailors found the tattooed inhabitants of Tahiti during his visit to Alugar in 1769.But more recent historians, including Jane Caplan and Matt Lodder, have discovered evidence of tattoos between soldiers, sailors and pawns in the century before Cook's trip.The records of convicts used in our study date from 1793 and, thus, document a practice that was already widespread.
A written record
Being a practice that, typically, the only record is the body itself, few systematic records survive before the arrival of photography.An exception of this are the written descriptions of tattoos (and even the occasional drawing) that are stored from institutionalized and forced people to submit to the record of information about their bodies as a means of identifying them.This applies especially to three groups: convict criminals, soldiers and sailors.Of these, convict records are the most bulky and systematic.
Such records were made first in large quantity for those who were transported to Australia since 1788 (since then Australia was an open prison) because the authorities needed some means to follow them the trail.
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Similar prison records in Great Britain began to be made since 1816, partly to be able to identify those who escaped.But the records were made even more systematic due to the growing concerns of recidivism in the 19th century.
Designs and subjects
Contrary to contemporary beliefs, the tattoos of the convicts included a wide range of subjects and designs and expressed some very positive emotions.
We find multiple records of images related to British and American identity, as well as designs focused on various issues such as astronomy, pleasure, religion and sex.Among the most popular, there were naval issues and expressions of love.But the most popular tattoo form were written and initial names, which were present in 56 percent of the descriptions.The points were also very popular and were found in 30 percent of the descriptions.
The distribution of the subjects became more regular over time, while some of the first popular themes - notably naval, jewelry and astronomy - decreased and there was an emergence of tattoos that portrayed religion, nature, national identity and death.
Until 1850, the evidence comes mainly from convicts transported to Australia, of which a quarter was tattooed.Even when we cannot say it safely, the majority may be made during the long trip.The fact that many tattooed on the skin the year of their sentence or transportation reflects the accepting the fact that having been taken half a world of distance, probably to never return to Britain, it was an event that changed their lives.
Naval Themes and Love
There was a vast diversity in naval issues, including mermaids, ships, sailors, flags and related astronomical symbols such as the sun, the moon and the stars.But the most popular design was anchor. Los marinos, como Thomas Prescott, transportado a Australia en 1819, tenían un “ancla sirena corazón flechado sol luna y estrellas" en su brazo derecho.The tattoos that expressed relationships with lovers, friends and family were also very popular (probably because the trip to Australia separated them by the force of their loved ones).These took more often in visible areas of the body, such as forearms and hands.
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When battery names were tattooed on the arm of a convict, all probability were the names of someone of the opposite sex.The initials "I.l." (“I love", yo amo) a menudo antecedían a otro par de iniciales. Por ejemplo, William Graham, de 21 años, fue encarcelado en la nueva penitenciaría nacional, Millbank, en 1826 por “hurto mayor", incluido el robo de un pañuelo y un “par de pantalones".He demonstrated the love for his family with their initials and those of “e.C." (probablemente su amante).He also had a heart with crossed arrows on his right arm.His left arm had his own initials along with “E.C." y un “pájaro en un arbusto".This design was represented in a rare drawing in the prison record.
As is often the case, we will never know precisely what William intended to express with these tattoos or who was e.C.But there was certainly love involved.
Five points and criminal identity
A fines del siglo XIX, los observadores sociales, criminólogos y la prensa estaban preocupados con la noción de que los tatuajes eran evidencia de una “personalidad criminal".Social researcher Henry Mayhew wrote in his 1862 book about London prisons:
"Most of the people of bad reputation," said prison guard, ‘have printed private marks: bare siren, men and women, and the most extraordinary things you have seen. Están marcados como salvajes, mientras que muchos de los ladrones regulares tienen cinco puntos entre su pulgar e índice, como una señal de que pertenecen a ‘los cuarenta ladrones’, como lo llaman".
However, there is little evidence to suggest that the tattoos of the time often expressed a criminal identity. Aun cuando hay una poca evidencia de los “cinco puntos" descritos por Mayhew, la información que hallamos nos permitió refutar este mito histórico.In 1828, a series of youth thieves in London raised anxiety for youth crime.Post Morning complained about:
“Una pandilla de por lo menos 40 delincuentes juveniles… conocidos como los ‘40 ladrones’, en todos los caminos metropolitanos, donde subsisten de su saqueo a los carruajes y pasajeros".
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Los “Cuarenta Ladrones" supuestamente se podían identificar por sus tatuajes: cinco puntos puestos entre el pulgar e índice: “Se reconocían mutuamente por cinco puntos azules en la mano, los cuales se hacían con pólvora", afirmó The London Standard el 3 de enero de 1829.
Five points was, in fact, a popular tattoo, but not mainly in the contexts described by Mayhew and the newspapers.Our information shows the presence of this tattoo in the 1820s, when it was found in 23 convicts.But even though the five points grew in popularity towards the 1870s, not only was he found in jailed masculine convicts, but also in those who were transported, especially women. Y aun cuando los convictos a menudo eran encarcelados antes de ser transportados, el uso extendido del tatuaje de cinco puntos (378 convictos entre 1820 y 1880) sugiere que cualquier “pandilla" no habría podido identificarse fácilmente solo con este tatuaje.
Labor jewelry
Being the simplest tattoo to create, the points were tremendously popular: more than 20,000 convicts had one or more points in their arms, hands and even faces.The left part of the body was dominant, suggesting that the points often made them oneself.But the placements (designs located along with the points in the same part of the body) show that the points, including five and seven points, rarely aligned with expressions of crime or challenge - like the skulls with cross -lukewarm - but oftenThey were used for purely decorative purposes, such as rings and bracelets.
These tattoos were a form of labor jewelry that was cheap and easy to apply. Por ejemplo, Sarah Phillips, transportada en 1838 por robar botas, tenía un “anillo de siete puntos" y “tres puntos" en sus dedos.Other seven -point tattoo placements included the sun, the moon and stars, which possibly means that the points were used to represent constellations, such as the accumulation of seven stars of the Pleiades.They could also represent love.Elizabeth Morgan registered trademarks in transportation records suggest that she had a five -point tattoo as an expression of love for one Joseph Bayles.
Pleasures and censorship
Instead of expressing a criminal identity, the convicts recorded their bodies more or less in the same way as today: commemorating their lovers and family, the age of majority and the pleasures of working life.About 5 percent of the convicts had pleasure related tattoos.For example, sixteen birth dates were commemorated with bottles tattoos.
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Alcohol, smoking, dance and cards were the themes of a range of tattoos.James Allen had a glass tattoo and a man smoking a pipe.Among the nine tattoos of Marion Telford was a man and a woman dancing on his right arm.Sports were also commemorated.
Cuando William Lindsay llegó a Australia en 1854, su cuerpo estaba decorado con un encuentro de box completo en su pecho, así como varias imágenes distintivas, incluidas “bergantín con velas extendidas", “ballena soltando un chorro", “sirena", “mujer en brazo derecho", “marino y bandera, serpiente y tres anillos".
El sexo también era un tema, pero los dependientes victorianos a menudo oscurecían el grado de obscenidad en los registros, como cuando parte del tatuaje de Robert Dudlow fue descrito como una “palabra indecente".But the images of naked men and women were commonly tattooed in visible parts of the body.
The convicts also expressed interest in nature.There were many animals, including birds, butterflies, horses, dogs, snakes and scorpions.The flowers were often accompanied by animals (especially birds) or surrounded the wrist or neck to simulate jewelry.Frederick Ash, sentenced in 1889 at Old Bailey for the violation of a 13 -year -old girl, was registered in the regular criminal record in 1893 having 25 designs in her body. Los diseños incluían un elefante, sirena, “niña en un burro", serpiente, león y un unicornio (al parecer como parte de un escudo de armas), camaleón, escorpión, otro león y un ciempiés arbóreo.
A fashion spreads
It is not clear about how the fashion of tattooing spread, but the evidence suggests that more and more men and women - not only welded, sailors and convicts - tattoos were made in the course of the 19th century.The birth dates of the convicts with and without tattoos in the regular criminal record shows a clear increase in the proportion of convicts with tattoos;Half of the documented convicts had tattoos by the end of the century.
The evidence of tattoos outside the convict registry is scarce, but there are tempting suggestions that a wide range of social origins was made tattoos.Together with the thousands of pawns and workers not qualified with tattoos in our records there were 60 dependents, 49 merchants, 22 agents and 20 engineers. El conocimiento del tatuaje se difundió por los “fenómenos" tatuados exhibidos en circos y ferias, y por marinos y oficiales que regresaban de viajes por el Pacífico.There was also increasing advertising related to tattoos towards the end of the century.
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The public knowledge of the tattoo in the 1870s was disseminated by the very publicized case of the plaintiff Tichborne, when an impostor (referred interchangeably as Thomas Castro or Arthur Orton) claimed to be Roger Tichborne, the heir lost to the dignity of Baronet of the Tichborne.His statement collapsed in 1872 when it was revealed that Roger possessed distinctive tattoos, while Castro/Orton - as our records confirm it - did not have one one.
And in the 1880s, a fashion was developed for tattoos in the social elite after several members of the nobility and royalty were known, both men and women, tattoos had been made, including Eduardo, prince of Wales and SonMajor of Queen Victoria, and Prince Alberto Víctor.
This fashion was facilitated by the appearance of professional tattoors who set up studies, and by the invention of an electric machine to tattoo in 1891, by an American, Samuel O’Reilly.By 1900, tattoos had permeated many parts of British society.
Buffalo Bill
Emblematic of the popularity of tattoos at the end of the century were the 392 convicts in the database (all men) that had a tattoo of the American itinerant artist Buffalo Bill.The first tour of his Wild Western show in Great Britain happened in 1887, when he acted for Queen Victoria.His London shows attracted 2.5 million customers and he returned for later tours in the next 15 years.It seems that the tattoors took advantage of their popularity when developing templates in their image and offering tattoo as part of the experience of going to the exhibition.
Tatuajes de un busto de Buffalo Bill se hallaron frecuentemente en convictos con tatuajes de mujeres, la cabeza y manos entrelazadas de una mujer, como en los tatuajes de Charles Wilson, que incluían “dos corazones (uno atravesado), manos entrelazadas y un ancla" en su antebrazo derecho y un busto de Buffalo Bill y la palabra MAGGIE en mayúsculas en un pergamino en su antebrazo izquierdo.
The frequent expressions of love associated with tattoos of Buffalo Bill suggest that men were often going to see the show with their lovers and tattoos were made to commemorate both the visit and their mutual love.The men who had a tattoo of Buffalo Bill included a blacksmith, a mailman, a shoemaker, a painter and glassmaker.
A sun hiding
The tattoos became more sophisticated around the early twentieth century. William Henry Greenway, un “criminal habitual" que fue enjuiciado en 1907, trabajaba como fotógrafo londinense.He commemorated his trade with a chamber tattoo on his forearm. En 1910, se describió que William Parfitt tenía un tatuaje de una hélice en su brazo, al igual que uno de los últimos convictos en nuestra base de datos, John Miller, quien fue encarcelado por “allanamiento de morada" en 1924. Combinando tanto diseños tradicionales como invenciones modernas para conmemorar la pérdida de su hermano, Miller tenía una hélice junto con “un sol ocultándose, barco hundiéndose, tumba de un marino, lápida, en memoria del hermano querido RT y un corazón atravesado".
The tattoos between convicts was an expressive activity, rarely connected specifically with their crimes and punishments.In their images of vice and pleasure, some convicts have showed an alternate morality, but for most tattoos simply reflected their personal identities and affinities, their loves and interests.As tattoos became more popular and efficient, they became more inventive and creative, reflecting broader cultural trends and fashions.
But at the beginning of the 20th century, as a result of their criminal associations and the growing concerns for hygiene, tattoos lost some of their popularity and became a marginal activity, although still significant (especially between sailors and soldiers in times of war).And then, as of the 1950s, according to the sociologist Michael Rees, tattooing began to recover its popularity, first among marginal groups that included gang members, motorcyclists, punk and rockers as symbols of both alliance to the group and challenge to challengeconventional society.
It was just with the recent tattoo rebirth, as of the 1970s, which began to become a common thing, permeating the culture of consumption through the media and the exhibition of tattooed celebrities.Finally, he was recognized as an art form.Today, one in five British apparently has a tattoo.
And our research shows that the reasons for becoming a tattoo have not changed much since Whitton exposed their skin to the ink for the first time when he was traveling to Tasmania over 180 years ago.
Robert Shoemaker is a British history professor of the 18th century at the University of Sheffield, the United Kingdom.Zoe Alker is a numerary professor of history of the nineteenth century and digital humanities at the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom.
The opinions expressed in this article are owned by the authors.
This article was first published in The Conversation and is published here with a Creative Commons license.Read the original article.
