Law and Law Enforcement

The English Legal System

• History of the Judiciary

• History of Justices of the Peace (magistrates)

• Another History of Justices of the Peace

• The Bill of Rights, 1689

• Blacksstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, 1765-1769

• Common Law in Medieval England

• History of English Common Law by Matthew Hale 1739

• History of the Criminal Court Circuits

Courts

• A brief description of the 19th Century Criminal Justice System

• Courts of Quarter Sessions

• The Quarter Sessions

• Quarter Sessions Records- what they hold

• History of Assize Courts

• Manorial Courts

The Inns of Court

• A history of the Inns of Court

• Gray's Inn

• The Inner Temple Includes a database of admissions between 1547 and 1850

• The Middle Temple

• Lincoln's Inn

Trials and Court Hearings

• A history of Crime and Punishment

• The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, London 1674 to 1834 Also has old maps and other info about London history.

• Famous Trials~Worldwide

• A guide to searching Assize Court Records

• Early 18th Century Crime Reports Newspaper extracts

• A History of Crime and Punishment

• Important English trials 1649-1895

• Criminal Courts in the 19th Century

For Licensed Victuallers' Records see separate page -Court Sessions and Victuallers' Licences

For Poor Law Information see separate page - Poor_Law_and_Workhouse_Records Poor Law and Workhouse records

Regional Court Records

• London Assize of Nuisance Records 1301-1431

• London Possessory Assizes 1340-1451

• The London Eyre of 1244 -Royal Courts

• The London Eyre of 1276

• 18th Century Hackney Petty Sessions Records

• A History of Crime in Northumberland and Durham

• Convicts tried at Nottingham Borough Quarter Sessions Assizes Details of Prisoners who were subsequently deported to Australia

• Kent Quarter Sessions Indices Records between 1682 and 1804

• An index of over 8000 prisoners brought to trial at York Assizes between 1785 and 1851

• A database of persons tried at the Derbyshire Petty Sessions and Quarter Sessions 1770-1828.

• Devon Quarter Sesssion Records, Easter 1830

• Crime and Punishment in Buckinghamshire

• A History of Crime and Punishment in Dundee

• Prisoners sentenced to transportation from Lewes Assizes between c1790 and c1850

• A guide to Court and Prison Records in Manchester

• History of Crime and Detection with specific reference to Shropshire

• Calendar of Wigan Borough Court Leet Rolls from 1686

• The New Forest Verderers' Court

• Court of Great Sessions in Wales from 1730 until 1830.

• Crime and Puishment in Powys

• Caernarfonshire Quarter Sessions Records 1546-1795

• History of the Courts in the Isle of Man

• English Witch Trials

• The Trial of the Lowestoft Witches

• Essex Witch Trials

• The Dunmow Flitch Trials Includes a list of successful claimants from 1445

See also separate section on Convict Transportation

Gaols

• Aylesbury Prison in the 1870s Includes details of the prisoner's crime and sentence, and, in some instances, his photograph

• Bedford Gaol in 19th Century Includes a database of entries from gaol registers held by the Bedfordshire & Luton Archives - ongoing

• Chester Gaol, 1808-1816

• Derby Gaol 1756-1825 List of Executed Prisoners

• Inmates of Derby Gaol 1750-1868

• A history of Durham Gaol

• Some Prisoners in Gloucestershire Gaols, 1850 & 1851

• Database of Convicts held at Lancaster Castle

• A History of Newgate Prison including List of Inmates and Victims

• HMP Parkhurst Prisoners and Warders in the 19th Century

• Ruthin Gaol History and some lists of prisoners and Warders]

• Inmates of Dundee Jail in 1819

• Inveraray Prison~including prisoners who were deported

• Walton Gaol Inmates and Staff, 1881

• Warwick County Prison between 1800 and 1900 Inmates Database

• Warwickshire prisoners 1800-1900

• Life for Children in Prison in Victorian Britain

The Police

• Police Force Roll of Honor-Officers that lost their lives On duty

• Police reports-The Police Index

• The PARISH CONSTABLE, the Precursor of today's SPECIAL

• Police reports-The Police Index

London

• Friends of the Metropolitan Police Historical Collection

• City of London Police wikipedia

• Welcome to the online Metropolitan police orders database

• City of London Police

• Index of Metropolitan Police listed in the Police Orders of 1878

• History of the Metropolitan Police

Regional

• History of Wiltshire Police

• History of South Wales Police Headquarters

• A History of The Isle of Man Police

Murder

• Black Sheep indexsite currently unavailible

• Comprehensive list of Murders and Murderers-some info quite disturbing

• Murders in Liverpool

Executions-Executioners

• The English Hangmen from 1850 to 1964

• Capital Punishments Executed at Strangeways, Manchester

• List Of Executions - England 1606 Onward

• Capital Punishment in the 18th & 19th Centuries

• Capital Punishment in the Commonwealth

• The Abolition of Hanging in Britain

• Timeline of Capital Punishment in Britain

• The History of Judicial Hanging in Britain.

• The Guillotine Headquarters

• Executions in Derbyshire

• The Halifax Gibbet

Some Legal Definitions

Crown Court Crown Courts hear the most serious criminal cases, although all matters will have already had at least one hearing in the Magistrates' Court. The first Crown Courts were established in 1956 in Manchester and Liverpool, and by 1972 Crown Courts had completely replaced the old Assize Courts and also taken over the criminal funtions of the Quarter Session Courts.

Assize Court These heard the most serious criminal cases from the 13th Century until 1972 (1956 in Manchester and Liverpool) when they were replaced by Crown Courts. In 1834 the Central Criminal Court (the Old Bailey), was opened as the Assize Court for the metropolitan area of Greater London. Until about 1733, most Assize Court records are in Latin.

Quarter Sessions The Quarter Sessions were held 4 times a year by Justices of the Peace, once in each legal term i.e during Epiphany, Easter, Midsummer and Michaelmas. They dealt with criminal cases and some civil matters such as licensing, bastardy, bancruptcy, maintenance and Poor Law cases. For a more complete list see Quarter Sessions . They existed from 1361 until 1972, although by this time many of their functions had been taken over by Local Authorities

Petty Sessions These existed from the 16th Century and were presided over by Justices of the Peace. They dealt with criminal cases that were not sufficiently serious to warrant trial by jury and poor relief and licensing matters

District Bancruptcy Courts These existed outside London between 1842 and 1869 when their work was taken over by local county courts.

London Bankruptcy CourtThis existed until 1883 when its business was transferred to the High Court

Court of Common Pleas These came into existence in the 13th Century and heard common law civil actions such as debt cases. In 1873 they became part of the High Court, known as the Common Pleas Division and in 1880 became part of the Queen´s Bench Division.

County Court Created in 1846 to hear Civil claims. The claims involving the largest amounts of money are heard at The Royal Courts of Justice

Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ) This is in The Strand, London and came into existence in 1882 to accomodate the Supreme Court of Judicature which itself consisted of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal.

The High Court Court of England and Wales The High Court, part of the Royal Courts of Justice in The Strand, London consists of three Divisions dealing with civil disputes: the Queen’s Bench Division, the Chancery Division and the Family Division, ( which until 1970 was known as the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division)

Court Leet The Court Leet was presided over by the Lord of the Manor, and usually held twice a year. It elected constables, other officers to deal with issues relalting to highways and footpaths , poaching, stray animals drunkards, weights & measures, ale quality bread quality, market trading cattle and swine lookers, water supplies fire prevention and the poor. It also tried petty offences.

House of Lords This is the final Court of Appeal for both Criminal and Civil matters.

Bigamy If a marriage takes place legally in the United Kingdom and one or both parties is already legally married, the second marriage will be bigamous and is void. Bigamy became a criminal offence in 1861 and is currently triable either in the Magistrates' Court or the Crown Court.

Covenant a duty to do something in relation to land or a building, such as to keep it in good repair. A restrictive covenant is an obligation not to do something in relation to land or a building -eg an obligation not to run a business from the premises

Easement The entitlement to exercise a right over someone else's land - for example a right of way or a right to light.

Larceny The theft of property. Now called theft following the introduction of the Theft Act in 1968

Tipstaff In England and Wales, an officer of the civil courts whose purpose is to enforce warrants. In Northern Ireland, a court official who sits next to the judge and assists in opening and closing hearings, and assembling legal documents for the judge.

Plaintiff Someone who brings a civil action. Now called a Claimant -affadavits, subpeonas and writs for example have now also vanished to be replaced with lengthy descriptions, whilst previously, one word had been perfectly sufficient

Indictable offence A more serious Criminal offence, triable only by a Judge and Jury

Summary Offence A more minor criminal offence, heard only by magistrates.

Mens Rea "a guilty mind". To be found guilty of a crime, the prosecution must prove that there is both the Actus Reus - ie the criminal act was actually committed - and also the Mens Rea- ie that there was intention to behave dishonestly.

Miscellaneous

• Victorian Crime and Punishment Includes a prisoner database

• A history of Punishment from 1750-1900

• Juvenile Crime in the 19th Century

• The System of Criminal Prosecution in the 19th Century

• Crime on the Lines Crimes committed on British Railways

• UK Historic Serious Crime and Victim Index

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