Reviewer, editor, pagecreator
5,100
edits
m
added info for online records
(change image) |
Naisbittrl (talk | contribs) m (added info for online records) |
||
| Line 43: | Line 43: | ||
*'''Appeal Registers'''--Convictions could be appealed and some registers of these are available at the National Archives. [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/criminal-courts-from-1972.htm#19477 The archives provides this additional information on appeals]. Copies of indictments removed to the Court of King's Bench by writs of certiorari and returns are in N.A. Reference: [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=KB+9&accessmethod=6 '''KB9''']. The National Archives provides a research guide on these specific records entitled '''[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/kings-bench.htm King's Bench (Crown Side) 1675-1875]'''. | *'''Appeal Registers'''--Convictions could be appealed and some registers of these are available at the National Archives. [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/criminal-courts-from-1972.htm#19477 The archives provides this additional information on appeals]. Copies of indictments removed to the Court of King's Bench by writs of certiorari and returns are in N.A. Reference: [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=KB+9&accessmethod=6 '''KB9''']. The National Archives provides a research guide on these specific records entitled '''[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/kings-bench.htm King's Bench (Crown Side) 1675-1875]'''. | ||
=== Availability | === Availability === Records of surviving assize circuits are held at [[England The National Archives|The National Archives]]. London Sessions and Middlesex Sessions records are kept at the [[London Metropolitan Archives|London Metropolitan Archives]]. *Online records are available at [http://search.ancestryinstitution.com/Places/UK/England/Default.aspx?category=36 www.ancestry.com ($)] > [http://search.ancestryinstitution.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1590 England & Wales Criminal Registers, 1791-1892] (Quarter Sessions & Assize Courts). The absence of continuity and the decentralization of the itinerant court reflected in the compilation and custody of its records. As early as 1325, it was necessary to order that the rolls of the circuit judges be submitted to the Exchequer. Ten years later, it was law to surrender the records of each Michaelmas Term. Strict observance of these laws is doubtful. In the fifteenth century, it appeared that circuit records were handed from one presiding judge of the circuit to the next judge. However, gaol delivery records are numerous in the fourteenth and some of the fifteenth century. But in 1470, the records cease. It appears that the circuit rolls remained in the custody of the clerks of assize, and their survival became hazardous. Many clerks seemed to have adopted a radical solution: circuit records should be retained no longer than was required for current business. Most of the Midland Circuit records have virtually been exterminated. Almost all of the Elizabethan assize records for all circuits have been destroyed by accident and clerical weeding, except for the Home Circuit. There are not enough extant records between 1600‑1650 to give a clear idea of the working of assizes. Even after that date, when indictment files and related documents begin in series, all classes are broken or riddled with gaps. A list of the assize records, arranged by circuit, available in the Public Record Office (now [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ The National Archives]) is printed in their "Information leaflet number 26" (see below), and in a section of ''Tracing Your Ancestors in the Public Record Office ''(see below). You can also find research guides to assize records on [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/researchguidesindex.asp The National Archives] website. | ||
Records of surviving assize circuits are held at [[England The National Archives|The National Archives]]. London Sessions and Middlesex Sessions records are kept at the [[London Metropolitan Archives|London Metropolitan Archives]]. | |||
The absence of continuity and the decentralization of the itinerant court reflected in the compilation and custody of its records. As early as 1325, it was necessary to order that the rolls of the circuit judges be submitted to the Exchequer. Ten years later, it was law to surrender the records of each Michaelmas Term. Strict observance of these laws is doubtful. In the fifteenth century, it appeared that circuit records were handed from one presiding judge of the circuit to the next judge. However, gaol delivery records are numerous in the fourteenth and some of the fifteenth century. But in 1470, the records cease. It appears that the circuit rolls remained in the custody of the clerks of assize, and their survival became hazardous. Many clerks seemed to have adopted a radical solution: circuit records should be retained no longer than was required for current business. Most of the Midland Circuit records have virtually been exterminated. Almost all of the Elizabethan assize records for all circuits have been destroyed by accident and clerical weeding, except for the Home Circuit. There are not enough extant records between 1600‑1650 to give a clear idea of the working of assizes. Even after that date, when indictment files and related documents begin in series, all classes are broken or riddled with gaps. | |||
A list of the assize records, arranged by circuit, available in the Public Record Office (now [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ The National Archives]) is printed in their "Information leaflet number 26" (see below), and in a section of ''Tracing Your Ancestors in the Public Record Office ''(see below). You can also find research guides to assize records on [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/researchguidesindex.asp The National Archives] website. | |||
=== Definitions === | === Definitions === | ||