Striking mugshots of women criminals from the late 1800s and early 1900s have emerged, including teenage prostitutes and females who stole to survive.
The fascinating lives of the women who hit hard times have been unravelled in a new book, investigating the stories behind the faces in the incredible images.
Among them are Elizabeth Dillons who began working as a prostitute at age 16 and was convicted more than forty times.
She racked up for charges for riotous behaviour, drunkenness and disorderly conduct, obscene language, vagrancy, wilful damage, prostitution, theft, and assault.
Other stunning photographs show teenager Maria Adams who was revealed as the youngest woman in convict prison, in the 1881 census.
Mary Hardyman's mugshot is also in the book. The mother was repeatedly convicted of theft - but it was often for a piece of beef or other meat to feed herself and her family.
The remarkable insight into the lives of female criminals is showcased in Lucy Williams and Barry Godfrey's new book, Criminal Women 1850-1920, published by Pen and Sword.
'Female offenders can be amongst the hardest characters of all to find. Not only were they, like male offenders, keen to escape the eye of the authorities, but by virtue of being women, their identities were more changeable and their lives were less consistently recorded,' they write.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
