Victorian Crime & Punishment Courts, Police &...

Family History Skills and Strategies (Int.) Victorian Crime & Punishment

Family History Skills and Strategies (Intermediate) Distance

Learning Course

Victorian Crime & Punishment

Courts, Police & Prisons

Original Author: Liz Carter

Tutor: Antony Marr

June 2020


© Pharos Teaching & Tutoring Limited Page 1

Victorian Crime & Punishment

Lesson One

The 19th Century Legal System

Lesson One considers the evolving criminal law system in the 19th century; helps us to distinguish between different law courts and their jurisdictions, and provides guidance in locating the appropriate court for a known case. This will provide a firm footing for later lessons when we look in more detail at specific areas, the documents and some case studies. In this lesson we consider the following topics:

Crime in the 19th century

Early 19th century changes in criminal law

Changes in civil law

Children and the law

Basics on English & Welsh Law Courts & the Jury system.

Basics on The High Courts

Finding a court case At the end of the lesson you should be able to:

Demonstrate an understanding of the legal phrases and ‘jargon’ found in 19th century courts and criminal resources.

Identify the location and scope of different court records using online catalogues.

Consider the effects of changing criminal legislation on our Victorian ancestors including children.



1. Crime in the 19th Century – Background.

The title of this course is Victorian Crime and Punishment. Victoria came to the throne in 1837 and died in 1901, but we don’t restrict the course material just to the years 1837 – 1901 because it is necessary to go back a little further in time in order to make sense of the law and reforms that happened during the 19th century. A defining moment for the authorities had been the Gordon Riots in London in 1780. There was a growing fear of the rowdy mob and concern about crowd control at a time before there was any proper police force. Rioting was commonplace and was often the only way that the ordinary, working man could make his voice heard. For many, there was no parliamentary vote before the 1880s or, for some, 1918 or later. Famous episodes such as the Peterloo Massacre and the Tolpuddle Martyrs demonstrated the Government’s reaction to such civil unrest and then, as now, the knee-jerk reaction was to pass yet more laws to curb public behavior. For example, no gatherings of workmen or ‘unions’, no private printing presses, no carrying of weapons and an extended power of ‘stop and search’. Crime against property had risen sharply between 1770 and 1800 and greatly alarmed the authorities in the immediate aftermath of the Napoleonic War in 1815 as well. These property crimes continued to rise until the middle of the 19th century. A mass of law aimed at curbing these crimes resulted in some overly harsh punishments. Minor crimes such as stealing chickens valued at 1 shilling and 6 pence carried the death penalty; but nevertheless hungry people stole food because they had to. The number of prosecutions in quarter sessions and the assize rose from 4,600 to 31,300 between 1805 and 1842 – the court system was on the verge of collapse. At the start of the 19th century, so many crimes carried the death penalty that the courts would either undervalue the items stolen (to avoid falling into the ‘grand larceny’ bracket of offences) or the judge would commute the death sentence to transportation. A growing population, migration to towns and cities and periods of agricultural depression all played their part in increasing crime rates. Evidence of this can be found in statistics kept by the courts and from local reports.

It will be remembered that in the year ending Michaelmas 1848 there was a large

increase in the number of Prisoners over previous years. In his last Report, the

Chaplain gave it as his opinion that this increase was owing to the great want of

employment in the Agricultural Districts and that opinion has been confirmed by

subsequent observation. The number of commitments to the Gaol during the past year

has invariably been lower at those seasons when employment was most readily to be

obtained; and during the summer and harvest it was reduced to nearly its usual average

– it is now, however, rapidly increasing and the general statement made by the

Prisoners is, that they have been unable to find employment since the Harvest.

Chaplain’s Report – Huntingdon Gaol 1851 ref. HCP1/1/33 – Huntingdon Archive Office



Throughout the 19th century and into the 20th century, labouring families struggled to pay the rent, feed the family and keep a job. Lack of regular wages encouraged many to resort to petty crime simply to feed themselves. After 1834, apart from reliance on loans from friends and neighbours, parish out-relief was curtailed and that meant ending up in the new Union Workhouses, where the family unit would be broken up and the husband/father would suffer the stigma of having failed to support his family. Agricultural depression extended across the whole of Southern England and Wales, from the 1870s onwards, caused by outbreaks of foot & mouth and swine fever coupled with poor harvests and the subsequent closure of local markets. It meant life for rural families became increasingly hard. Many decided to quit the land, moving either to industrial areas (often aided by parish relief) or to emigrate, sometimes with assistance from local charities or the parish itself. Others turned to petty crime; if caught they served time in prison where they were fed and housed, often in better conditions than the local workhouse.

EXPLORE FURTHER:

For more information about riots in the early 19th century – open the links to read more http://www.victorianweb.org/history/riots/index.html

Before we start looking at changes to the 19th century legal system, we are going to consider some different crimes and find out just what the terms mean.

EXERCISE 1 We will be creating a Glossary of terms, phrases and words used in 19th-century court records. Visit the course forum and click on the Glossary thread. I have listed some common words and phrases used in the 19th century courts & legal system. Choose a word from the list, check to make sure it has not already been defined, look up the definition and post your answer in Exercise 1 Glossary thread together with the source. Feel free to comment on each other’s definitions and to add extra words relating to Victorian Crime & Punishment throughout the course.

http://www.victorianweb.org/history/riots/index.html



In the 19th century there were several options for punishment which no longer exist. For minor offences, punishment was designed to embarrass shock and physically hurt such as birching or the village stocks. These physical punishments were a hang-over from much earlier times.

Littleport, June 1860

For some years the stocks have been kept at Ely for the punishment of minor offences

committed in this Division of the Isle but the police constable here thought that the

punishment would have a better effect if administered in the place where the offence

was committed and having obtained permission, the stocks were brought over from

Ely and 3 young men placed in them for 6 hours each, for being drunk and disorderly.

They were moved to different parts of the parish in the course of the day.

Cambridgeshire Chronicle, June 1860.

Petty crime entailed a monetary fine or short prison sentence, up to 2 years, in the local county prison. More severe crimes could carry transportation or death as the penalty. It was not until 1853 that a long term of imprisonment with hard labour - Penal Servitude - was introduced to replace transportation. During the 1840s building of large Victorian prisons commenced, many still in use today, to house the growing number of convicts. We shall be looking at transportation, prisons & prisoners in the later lessons of this course.



2. Early 19th century changes to Criminal Law In the 1820s Robert Peel, then Home Secretary, started reform of the English judiciary system. By consolidating some 316 Acts of Parliament into four statutes, he was able to repeal many obsolete laws and tighten up loopholes. It sounds like sweeping reform but in reality was more of a light ‘spring-clean’ since Peel did not want to lose the support of the law courts. In 1823 judges were encouraged, when passing a sentence of death, to offer a reprieve of transportation instead of death. This means that although the recorded sentence is 'death', you will often find the records show a commutation of the sentence to imprisonment or transportation. One of the most common crimes was theft, termed larceny, and the punishment depended upon whether the goods stolen were valued at more than one shilling (5p), with grand larceny carrying the death penalty. A major reform in 1827 consisted of several acts which collectively reduced the number of crimes carrying capital punishment, introduced the term 'simple' larceny to replace petty larceny with a maximum sentence of 7 years transportation for such a crime and abolished an archaic custom known as ‘Benefit of Clergy’. Since local courts could not hear cases of grand larceny, to avoid the considerable expense of transferring the case to a higher court, many such cases were 'devalued' to give the stolen goods a value of under 1 shilling. The next Whig government under Earl Grey continued the reforms with amended coinage offences which abolished capital punishment for counterfeiting. Between 1832 and 1836 four more major changes were made to the legal system so that housebreaking, larceny, forgery, sheep stealing and robbery were no longer hanging offences but carried a mandatory transportation sentence. The total number of offences carrying the death sentence was reduced from 37 to 16 and the majority of these offences involved violence against the person. In 1848 the Summary Justice Act gave Petty Sessions (Magistrates) increased powers to try a wider range of criminal charges, thus relieving the pressure on Quarter Sessions.



3. Changes to Civil Law We are concentrating in this course on crime and punishment but we should not forget that the 19th century also saw major legal changes to other aspects of daily life. Here are just three of them which may have affected your own ancestors.

The 1839 Custody of Infants Act allowed a married mother to seek custody of her child(ren) up to the age of seven years with certain provisos. Cases in dispute will appear in the High Courts. This was raised to children under 16, in 1873.

The 1857 Matrimonial Causes Act changed the process of divorce, bringing in

a new civil court and allowing women to sue their husband on two counts (men had only to cite one cause). Divorce cases were heard by the Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes which in 1873 became part of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division of the Supreme Court of Judicature.

Forster’s Education Act of 1870 introduced elementary education for all

children. This became mandatory in 1876 (Sandon’s Act) so that failure to send your child to school or allowing truancy became a crime for which you could be fined or spend time in prison – check local newspapers for reports of cases.

If, finding yourself without work, you left the area to seek work and in your

absence your family was in need, then you could be arrested and brought to court for leaving your family ‘on the parish’ or ‘abandoning’ them.

These latter two offences were usually dealt with summarily by Petty Sessions and are often well reported in local newspapers. However it is worth remembering that it was very easy for ordinary people to fall foul of the law in Victorian Britain and not necessarily for any nefarious crime. There is one other area of the law which we need to touch upon – lunatics. Special measures were put in place in 1843 with the M'Naghten case.

EXERCISE 2 Do some research of your own to answer this question. What fundamental change did the M'Naghten Rules introduce into English courts and which institution (still in use today) was created in 1863 as a result of this case? Post your answers in the forum.



EXPLORE FURTHER : A précis of the parliamentary speech given by Robert Peel in 1827 is to be found at http://www.historyhome.co.uk/polspeech/consolid.htm Information about the judicial reforms of the 1820-40 period, can be found here Criminal Law Reform: England - Legislation, 1823 -1849 - Death, Offenses, Act, Larceny, Statutes, and Peel http://law.jrank.org/pages/866/Criminal-Law-Reform-England-Legislation-1823-1849.html#ixzz185WeFvsF http://www.victorianweb.org/history/legistl.html - interesting timeline for Victorian legislation.

http://www.historyhome.co.uk/polspeech/consolid.htm

http://law.jrank.org/pages/866/Criminal-Law-Reform-England-Legislation-1823-1849.html#ixzz185WeFvsF





http://www.victorianweb.org/history/legistl.html



4. Children and the Law

New laws relating to children and crime were introduced in the Victorian period. Up to the 1840s there was no special criminal court for children; they were tried alongside adults at every level of the judicial system. This means that children as young as 8 years old were tried for crimes ranging from petty theft to murder and could be sentenced to death - although by this time executions would not be carried out on those under the age of 16/17 and sentences would be commuted to imprisonment or transportation. In 1847 the Government introduced the Juvenile Offenders Act which allowed children under the age of 14 years, charged with simple larceny (theft) to be summarily tried by two Justices of the Peace rather than go to the higher courts. The Summary Jurisdiction Act of 1879 amended the 1847 Act to cover the majority of indictable offences and raised the age to 16 years. Although this reduced the number of cases heard by a jury in full court, it still meant that children would mix with adults in the prison system. In 1846 Lord Houghton endeavoured to introduce a Reformatory School system which Parliament rejected. Other philanthropic groups were keen to see a change to the way children were treated by the law and in 1852 the Kingswood Reformatory School opened in Bristol, followed shortly afterwards by one at Saltley. The Reformatory School Act of 1854 allowed courts to send convicted children under the age of 16 years to a certified Reformatory School for between 2 and 5 years. All offenders had first to spend 14 days in gaol after which they would be transferred to the School. Reformatory Schools were built across the country and inspected regularly to keep their certified status. The 1857 Industrial Schools Act introduced another form of correction for children aged 7 to 14 years who had been convicted of vagrancy (homelessness). The aim was to prevent such children from falling into criminal ways. In 1861 the Act was amended to include:

• Any child under the age of 14 years found begging or receiving alms • Any child under the age of 14 years found wandering, without any home or in

the company of known criminals • Any child under the age of 12 years convicted of a minor crime • Any child under the age of 14 years whose parents declare him to be beyond

their control By 1875 there were 54 certified Reformatory Schools and 82 Industrial Schools in England and Wales, Scotland had 12 Reformatories and 27 Industrial Schools. The boys' reformatory schools included naval training ships such as Akbar, moored on the Mersey near Liverpool whilst the industrial schools used the Formidable in the Bristol Channel.



Case Study On 30th September 1868 Lucy Jolly from the fenland town of Ramsey in Huntingdonshire, aged 10 years, was convicted of stealing a pair of boots. She received 2 weeks in the county gaol. She reappears in the courts two years later, aged 13 years, convicted of stealing 4 shillings. On this occasion she was sentenced to 1 month's hard labour in the local gaol and then 4 years at Toxteth Reformatory School, Liverpool. On her release from the county gaol on 4th June 1870 her photograph was taken (below) and her particulars entered on the Habitual Criminal Register so that she could be identified if she re-offended. It is from this record that we learn she was to be sent to the school.

Following her eventual release from the Reformatory, Lucy took lodgings with her widowed mother and younger brother in Liverpool but seems to have acquired an illegitimate son. Over the next 20 years she had a string of illegitimate children, mostly fathered by one man with whom she lived (but never married) only to put them into the union workhouse when she fell on hard times. Did such harsh treatment for young offenders really provide a satisfactory answer?

EXPLORE FURTHER The Childrens homes website has a wealth of information on Reformatory Schools http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/Rfy/ Plus Industrial Schools: http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/IS/ An interesting, serious article about juvenile crime in Victorian Britain from the British Library collection: http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/juvenile-crime-in-the-19th-century

http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/Rfy/

http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/IS/

http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/juvenile-crime-in-the-19th-century




5. Basics about English & Welsh Courts and the Jury System England and Wales has a very long-established legal system which has developed through many centuries. The tiered system of law courts may seem complicated but is, in reality, fairly straight-forward. The legal system in Scotland was and is different and is NOT dealt with in this course. Firstly, we need to keep in mind that there is a difference between criminal law and civil law. Petty Sessions and Justices of the Peace The equivalent to our modern-day magistrates first appear in the English legal system in the 12th century. Originally called the Keepers of the Peace, they were appointed to do just that. The term Justice replaced Keeper in the 14th century. From the 1700s these Justices sat as “Petty Sessions”. These were local courts, based on the geographical area of the “Hundred” usually with two Justices of the Peace (JPs) supervising and dealing with petty crimes, mostly relating to drunkenness or social misdemeanours, bastardy and licensing rather than serious criminal cases. The Justices were volunteer, amateur judges commissioned by the Crown, more for their local standing than legal knowledge. In 1828 the Court of the Quarter Session was empowered to create Petty Session districts to deal with more of the minor cases that would otherwise have been referred to the Quarter Sessions, thus easing their own workload. As the 19th century progressed, and the county police forces appeared, the police courts took over the work of the Petty Sessions. Records of Petty Sessions and Police Courts, where they have survived, should be at local archives, with a few slowly becoming available on-line. The proceedings are often reported in detail in the local newspapers.

EXPLORE FURTHER Newspaper records on-line can be searched using the term ‘Petty Sessions’ or 'Police Court' to find examples as well as searching by place name or surname. The subscription website Findmypast (£) provides access to the British Library's British Newspaper project offering a wide range of local and national newspapers. The British Newspaper Archive website (£) offers access to a wide range of local newspapers – definitely worth registering (you get 3 free pages!) http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ Local libraries may have access to The Times Digital Archive and other newspaper collections– check what your library service offers. Library membership may allow access to these records, even from home.

http://www.findmypast.co.uk/search/newspapers

http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/



Quarter Sessions A Statute of 1388 required that Justices of the Peace keep their sessions in every quarter of the year – these were held at Epiphany, Easter, Trinity (mid-Summer) and Michaelmas – hence the term Quarter Sessions. The High Sheriff for the County, or his Deputy, was to preside over the court and a leading Justice was appointed as a permanent official – the Keeper of the Rolls. Soon, the early role of the Quarter Sessions expanded, particularly with the new Poor Laws of the 17th century. By 1700 the Quarter Sessions were dealing with a wide range of activities in addition to delivering justice in criminal cases. The additional workload of the Quarter Sessions could be divided in to two broad areas:

a) Parliamentary work – registering of Enclosure Acts, Railway Plans, Electoral Rolls, Roman Catholics, Oaths of Allegiance, Aliens and Taxation records and licensing of some local activities e.g. gamekeepers and victuallers. b) Local Authority work – organising and funding the local militia, police force, gaol, county asylum and raising a county rate to pay for the same. Plus the building of roads, turnpikes, bridges and licensing of premises. For example right is an entry relating to a ‘footpath or highway’ between Overton Waterville and Water Longueville that needs to be made in ‘a substantial manner’ dated 1868. Inspection of footpaths 1868 ref PS4/3 Quarter Session Records- Huntingdon Archive Office

So great was the volume of work presented to the local Quarter Sessions that, by 1819, Justices were permitted to divide the work into two sittings which ran simultaneously to ease the burden. An Act of 1831 set the dates for the sitting of the Quarter Sessions so as not to interfere with the Assizes – the dates set were the first week after: 11th October, 28th December, 31st March and 4th June. The dates and locations for the Sessions were often published, especially in the British Almanac which covered the whole of England & Wales. In 1834 the creation of the new Poor Law system immediately brought about a reduction in their workload, in 1848 as previously mentioned more work was passed down to Petty Sessions, and in 1888 much of the non-criminal work passed to the new county councils. The Quarter Session Courts continued through to 1971 when their work was taken over by the newly formed Crown Court. The majority of the records for the Quarter Sessions are found in the appropriate local or county record office.



Who Was the Jury? The Quarter Sessions comprised a panel of local Justices of the Peace who considered the cases presented to them every quarter of the year and passed judgment after hearing the verdict of the jury. The jury of men (no women until 1921) was chosen from a list of registered jurors. Qualifications were first introduced in 1285 and revised in the 17th century to those who possessed property worth £10 per annum. From 1730 onwards it was widened to include those occupying a property worth more than £20 and the Jury Act of 1825 set the criteria as:

being male

aged between 21 and 60 years

owning property valued at £10 per annum or leasing land valued at £20 or being a householder in a property valued at more than £30.

Thus, being a landowner or leaseholder in the 19th century, not only gave you the parliamentary vote, it also made you liable for jury service. Juror’s Lists often survive at a local level along with the Poll Books, Voters Lists and Electoral Registers. A juror list will give the name of the man, his qualification to serve as a juror (usually land ownership), his abode and often his occupation.

Jurors List, March, Cambridgeshire 1900 ref PS/E/A – Cambridgeshire Archive Office

Above is an example from March, Cambridgeshire dated 1900 showing the names, abode, occupation and status for the voters.



The Assize The assizes ran from the 13th century through to 1971 when they were replaced by the Crown Courts. The assize comprised two or more judges who travelled a circuit hearing the more serious civil and criminal cases that locally appointed JPs would not be able to handle in the lower courts. Only the assize could hear cases of treason, riot, rebellion and murder and usually met twice yearly. In practice they also heard many smaller criminal cases; theft with violence, house breaking and so on. Many cases which ended in transportation were heard at the Assize. Assize records are held by The National Archives and are well reported in the 19th-century newspapers. The famous Old Bailey in London was the Assize Court for Middlesex, London and part of the Home Counties. We shall be looking in greater depth at the different types of record available and how to research the local court records in later lessons. Wales Until 1838, serious criminal offences in Wales were tried in Great Sessions - the equivalent of the Assize in England. The records of Great Sessions are held by the National Library of Wales for which a free, online database can be found at http://www.llgc.org.uk/sesiwn_fawr/index_s.htm This database excludes Monmouthshire which came under the jurisdiction of the Oxfordshire Assize Circuit. Lesser crimes were heard at the appropriate county court – the online catalogue for Archives Network Wales is helpful: https://archives.wales/ After 1838, the English Assize Court system was extended to Wales.

http://www.llgc.org.uk/sesiwn_fawr/index_s.htm

https://archives.wales/



6. Basics on The High Courts The term 'High Court' includes the civil courts of the Court of Chancery, King's Bench, Court of Common Pleas and the Exchequer of Pleas. The whole high court system was revised in 1873 (and amended several times up to 1889) when a new Supreme Court of Judicature was created, uniting the existing eight courts into one. At that point, the Supreme Court was itself divided into two main sections – The High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal. The new High Court took over the work of the courts of Chancery, Queen's/King's Bench, Common Pleas, Exchequer and Admiralty. Prior to 1873 you will need to consider which of these courts may have dealt with a case and then locate the records. This complex and changing hierarchy is not really in the scope of this course, but below are a few details on some of the relevant courts. King’s Bench At the top of the judicial ladder, was King’s Bench – the highest law court for England & Wales until it was absorbed into the High Court in 1875. (When the reigning monarch is a Queen it is called Queen's Bench). Cases in King’s Bench were divided between the Plea Side (civil business) and the Crown Side (criminal business). The Crown Side had several areas of jurisdiction – it was the ultimate court for all criminal cases in England & Wales; it supervised lesser courts and had its own local area – part of Middlesex which included Tower Hamlets and Westminster. Because of these different responsibilities, a wide variety of cases appear in the King’s Bench Crown Side records, not all of them deemed serious offences. Before 1900 many cases never came to trial but were settled out of court by agreement. Records of the King’s Bench exist from the 13th century up to 1873 and searching through these can be a time consuming business. Records for King’s Bench and the more recent Supreme Court from 1873 onwards are held at The National Archives.



Chancery Alongside King’s Bench, was the Court of Chancery. The three levels of court described above (Quarter Sessions, Assize & King’s Bench) all dealt with common law. Where judgment was needed on trusts and wills, property, apprenticeships and matters of family dispute, rather than criminal causes, then another system was required and this was found in the Courts of Equity. Courts of Equity, developing alongside courts of common law, were able to give ‘judgments according to conscience and justice’’ rather than merely referring to the law. The most important equity court was the Chancery but there were other courts –

The Court of the Exchequer which dealt with monies owed to the Crown and amalgamated with the Court of Chancery in 1841.

The Court of Requests (poor man’s court) and the Court of the Star Chamber which both disappeared in the mid-17th century.

You can search cases in the Court of Chancery for the period 1558-1860 by the names of the main people involved and these are searchable online through the TNA Discovery catalogue, although locating all the relevant documents is quite a complex task and can involve using other paper indexes. If you do find a Chancery case that may involve your family, make sure you investigate it, they can contain huge amounts of important genealogical information..

Chancery papers at The National Archives



Court of Common Pleas This was also known as the Court of Common Bench and up to the reforms of 1873 was the highest court for civil litigation between people where the Crown was not involved. The Lord Chief Justice sat in this court along with five other judges. Exchequer of Pleas This court dealt exclusively with fiscal problems for the Crown – collection of rents on Crown property, debts incurred and litigation resulting from the same. By the 1840s some of its work was transferred to the Court of Chancery. Appeals A separate Court of Appeal for criminal cases was not formed until 1907. Prior to that date there was no straight-forward system for appeal. The Crown Cases Reserved Court, established in 1848, was the first option and the House of Lords could be used as a Court of Appeal for extreme cases. Many people wrote direct to the Home Secretary, pleading or ‘petitioning’ for stay of execution or commutation of the death/transportation sentence. These appeals can be found in the series HO17 at The National Archives and are available online via the Findmypast website (£). More on this later.

EXERCISE 3 Using the TNA website and their excellent Research Guide “Criminal Trials in the Assize Courts” identify the TNA reference which would be used for a search of ‘Crown & Gaol books’ for the county of ONE of your ancestor's in the 1850s – how many volumes are listed? If you are unsure where your ancestors were living in the 19th century, check for Buckinghamshire, 1850. How many volumes are available? Post your answers in the forum.

EXPLORE FURTHER The National Archives has a research leaflet for every topic and Chancery is no exception! Here is the link to the appropriate page. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/chancery-equity-from-1558.htm

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/criminal-trials-assize-courts-1559-1971/

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/chancery-equity-from-1558.htm




7. Locating Court Records The National Archives (TNA) research guide on ‘Criminals and Convicts’ has very useful information on locating the appropriate records. This lists the different courts and where the majority of the records will be found and provides links to sites which contain online catalogues. TNA online catalogue Discovery has now incorporated the databases from both ‘Access to Archives’ and the National Register of Archives websites. This means that you can search Discovery to find information about local court records and their whereabouts. The subscription website Ancestry holds copies of Home Office Criminal Registers 1791-1892 – more on that in the next lesson. The subscription website Findmypast also holds a large database on criminal records which we will explore in the next lesson, if you can't wait, explore their online databases under the heading 'crime punishment & prisons’. A check of the online FamilySearch catalog can also be useful. Starting with the home page, you need to click on ‘search’ from the main menu and when the next page opens, click on ‘catalog’ on the top menu bar and then search by place name (rather than court records). Once the results are shown, you can scroll down the page and isolate court records. However, be aware that the term ‘court records’ will bring up a wide range of court records including ecclesiastical and manorial courts. For example, if I were to look for Norwich in Norfolk I would find Court Indexes (1) and Court Records (9). By clicking on the entry ‘Court Records’ and then “Norwich City Minute Books …” another page opens and you see the list of material available (see part of the screen below).

Here we see a list of films with full reference given that relate to Quarter Session minute books from 1511 through to 1846, plus Mayor’s court books from the 1400s onwards.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/criminal-trial-or-conviction.htm#Section2.2

http://www.ancestry.co.uk/

http://www.findmypast.co.uk/

https://familysearch.org/




Arrangements to view films through LDS Family History Centres are currently changing as records are moved to a digital. The camera symbol by each entry of the above Norwich court records shows they are available to view online, in this case from anywhere, but that doesn’t currently apply to all digitised records – for contractual reasons some can only be accessed on computers at an LDS Family History Centre (which now includes the Society of Genealogists). Of course, the original records should also be available at the appropriate county record office. Finally, you should not forget the value of your local reference library where you will find background information about the history of the legal system in England and Wales. There may even be copies of transcriptions from court hearings and it is at the larger local libraries that you might find local newspaper archives, mostly on microfilm, which carry reports of the local quarter and petty sessions plus, of course, the serious local crimes that will be heard at the higher courts. Most libraries also subscribe to The Times Digital Archive which you can search by surname, place name or date for details of any court hearings or appeals and also the 19th Century British Newspaper Collection held by the British Library (published by the Gale Group) – you may have to visit the library for these but you may have access online from home using your library card details. The National Library of Wales is working on digitising their collection of newspapers – here is the link to check on progress : http://newspapers.library.wales/

EXERCISE 4 Using the FamilySearch [familysearch.org] catalog search for, and locate Court records available for ‘Staffordshire’. Remember to use the place name, not the subject! a) How many volumes are listed for Quarter Session records in the 19th century b) How many of them have been digitised so far ? c) What other Court records are available for Staffordshire and in what format? Post your answers in the Family Search thread

http://newspapers.library.wales/



Summary The 19th century saw dramatic changes in the criminal legal system – not only was the death penalty applied to a smaller number of crimes, but punishments were overhauled with imprisonment replacing transportation. The types of crime committed changed reflecting a growing urban population throughout the 19th century. Agricultural depressions in the latter half of the century and hardships endured by the labouring poor of society in both rural and urban environments also played a part. You should have a growing awareness that records relating to Victorian crime and punishment include many people who were NOT criminals but who became involved in legal cases for other reasons. You have been introduced to a tiered system of justice starting with local courts – the Quarter and Petty Sessions - to the ‘roving commission’ of the Assize circuit up to King’s Bench, Court of Chancery and Court of Common Pleas at the top. We have noted where to look for the appropriate records and how to use the in-depth research guides provided by The National Archives website and, through the ‘explore further’ links found other informative websites with background material. Now you should be getting ready to investigate original records in more depth, meet some of the people involved and explore resources for your own research. End of Lesson One.



WEBSITES VISITED http://www.victorianweb.org/history/riots/index.html - Riots in early 19th-C England. http://www.historyhome.co.uk/polspeech/consolid.htm - extracts of Robert Peel’s speech on Criminal Law Reforms. http://law.jrank.org/pages/866/Criminal-Law-Reform-England-Legislation-1823-1849.html#ixzz185WeFvsF judicial reforms of the 1820-40 period. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/next_steps/adv_06_church_courts_03.shtml - BBC site on church courts http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ BritishNewspaper archive – featuring many local newspapers (£) http://search.findmypast.co.uk/search/british-newspapers Findmypast newspaper database http://www.llgc.org.uk/sesiwn_fawr/index_s.htm - online, free database for the Great Sessions of Wales 1730-1830. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/criminal-trials-assize-courts-1559-1971/ Assizes key research guide at TNA http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/kings-bench.htm - research leaflet from TNA on King’s Bench records http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/chancery-equity-from-1558.htm - research leaflet from TNA on Court of Chancery records http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/criminal-trial-or-conviction.htm#Section2.2 - research guide from TNA on Tracing Criminals in the 19th and 20th century – vital resource to tracking down Criminal Registers, Calendars of Prisoners and Prison records across the country. https://familysearch.org - Use the “Research by Location” map to search for records from a specific area. http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/juvenile-crime-in-the-19th-century interesting article about juvenile crime from the British Library http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/Rfy/ - information on Reformatory Schools http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/IS/ - information on Industrial Schools

http://www.victorianweb.org/history/riots/index.html

http://www.historyhome.co.uk/polspeech/consolid.htm



http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/next_steps/adv_06_church_courts_03.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/next_steps/adv_06_church_courts_03.shtml

http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/

http://search.findmypast.co.uk/search/british-newspapers

http://www.llgc.org.uk/sesiwn_fawr/index_s.htm



http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/kings-bench.htm







http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/Rfy/

http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/IS/

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