Assize Court Records: Difference between revisions

*'''Indictments--''' give the most genealogical information, but the user is cautioned about the false information given as fact. Indictments are set out the charge against the defendant, the depositions or witness statements, and the gaol or crown books, the latter listing the defendants, charges, verdict, and sentence. Ages are not given, and the alleged parish of residence is often given as the same as the place of the offence. Contemporary laws stipulated that each criminal be described as either a labourer or a yeoman. These were not their actual occupations. No details are given about family relationships, except in some cases where the victim was related to the accused.  Other records filed with indictments include judges’ commissions, calendars or lists of the prisoners to be tried, jury panels, coroners’ inquests, and presentments of a variety of lesser offenses including neglect of roads and bridges, keeping unlicensed alehouses, and recusancy. Recognizance bonds, filed by the prosecutor (usually the person harmed by the crime), identify specific residences and occupations of that person. They are usually found in the same bundle as the corresponding indictment.