Who Do You Think You Are? Encyclopedia of Genealogy (73 page)

The General Eyre was responsible for administering justice for the more serious crimes between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries in all counties of England apart from Durham and Chester. These records are now in The National Archives, mainly in the Eyre series in JUST 1–4. The nature of the records themselves is very formal and they are heavily abbreviated by the clerks who produced them. Hence, using these original records may be somewhat problematic. However, some sections of the records have been translated and published by the Pipe Roll Society and local history societies. A list of exactly what has been translated can be found in David Crook's
Records of the General Eyre
(Public Record Office Handbook No. 20, 1982). This publication offers a comprehensive overview of the records of the General
Eyre and their level of survival for each county. Additional guidance can also be obtained from referring to the appropriate research guide on The National Archives website.

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Additional details can be found by referring to prison and convict records
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The majority of criminal trials were held in assize courts for England and Wales. As mentioned, these courts were the successor courts of the General Eyre and were responsible for trying capital cases or cases involving transportation. The majority of surviving records are held in The National Archives, although some records may still be with local record offices. The records that make the archives originate from the documents kept by the Clerks of the Assize at the time of the trials although many have not survived to the present day. The archives are organized on the original circuit system by which the judges would visit the counties, and then by the type of record. The nature of records for the assizes differed over time and the survival rate depends on which time period it was, but generally the main types of records are:

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Crown and Gaol Books:
These were also known as minute books. They would list the prisoners and their alleged crimes for which they were to be tried. They may also contain notes of the subsequent verdicts of the trials.

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Indictments:
These are possibly the most useful documents as they list the exact nature and details of the charge, the name of the accused (including his or her plea) and victim, the date of the offence and any other relevant detail. They may also contain later notes detailing the trial verdict. Unfortunately, very few indictments survive until the mid-seventeenth century apart from for the Home circuit.

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Depositions:
These were the pre-trial statements taken from witnesses of the alleged crime and were written in English. They may form a separate series of records or be included with the indictments. After 1830 the depositions were only kept for the most serious offences (murder, riot), although the survival rate improves again from the mid-twentieth century.

The majority of the surviving records are in The National Archives in the ASSI series. In order to make a search feasible it is necessary to know approximately when the trial took place and in which county. It is then possible to refer to the key for the records to pinpoint the correct reference, which is also given in the appropriate research guide of The National Archives.

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City of London/Middlesex

The City of London had a unique judicial system combining the quarter session and assize system and this system incorporated Middlesex after 1540. It was under the administration of the Lord Mayor, aldermen and recorder meeting at the Old Bailey, with certain sessions being held at the London Guildhall. These sessions were replaced in 1834 by the formation of the Central Criminal Court whose jurisdiction covered the same area, together with certain parts of Essex, Kent and Surrey (which came under the greater London area). The Central Criminal Court continued to sit in the Old Bailey.

The records for the Old Bailey prior to 1834 are now held at the London Metropolitan Archives. Additionally, a great deal of material has now been placed online at www.oldbaileyonline.org. The website offers online access to all proceedings from 1674 to 1834. It is possible to search this website free of charge and by individual surname. There are also plans to digitize later proceedings, from 1834, when the Old Bailey became the Central Criminal Court, to 1913. This project will add a further 100,000 cases onto the database and is due to be launched in 2008. Otherwise, the records of the Central Criminal Court can be accessed in person by visiting The National Archives. They are held in series CRIM for the following sets of documents (all subject to 75- or 100-year closure rules):

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After trial calendars in CRIM 9 (1855 to 1949) and HO 140 (1868 to 1968).

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Depositions are in CRIM 1 (1839 to 1971) and J 267 from 1972 onwards.

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Indictments are in CRIM 4 (1834 to 1871), indexed by CRIM 5 and J 268 (1972 to 1974), indexed by J 368.

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Court books are in CRIM 6 (1834 to 1949).

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Bristol

Bristol also had an ancient right to hear criminal cases, until the right was abolished in 1832 and Bristol became incorporated into the assize system. Records for Bristol prior to 1832 are with the Bristol Record Office. The assize records can be found in the appropriate assize section at The National Archives.

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Wales

The Great Session of Wales also had autonomous jurisdiction from 1542 to 1830; thereafter Wales was also incorporated into the assize system. The National Library of Wales will hold the surviving documentation of the Great Session of Wales and The National Archives has the relevant records for the assizes.

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The Palatinates

The palatinates of Cheshire, Durham and Lancaster also had their autonomous criminal courts until their incorporation into the assize systems in 1830, 1876 and 1877 respectively. These records of the palatinate period are not held locally but with The National Archives in series CHES (Cheshire) DURH (Durham) and PL (Palatinate of Lancaster); the later records are with the assize records.

The Court of the King's Bench, established in the twelfth century, became the court of appeal for criminal matters and could overturn judgments made in the assizes or any other courts. The surviving records are held at The National Archives. The court was abolished in 1875 and replaced by the Supreme Court of Judicature. The main sets of records worthy of consultation are as follows:

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Indictments: KB 10–12 from the mid-seventeenth century onwards.

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Depositions and affidavits: KB 1 and 2.

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Controlment rolls: KB 29 (detailing the progress of a case).

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Court orders: KB 21.

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Exhibits: KB 6, for the nineteenth century only.

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Final judgments: KB 28, although most cases did not reach that stage. There is a card index for this series for 1844 to 1859.

After tracing your ancestor in the appropriate trial records, you may also find additional details of such individuals by referring to prison and convict records. Indeed on occasion, as they can give details of trial, it may be more effective to search these documents first as they can point you in the right direction. Although prisons were built from the thirteenth century onwards, imprisonment was only used by central government as a wide-scale form of punishment from the nineteenth century onwards. Prior to that local counties would run and maintain prisons, usually as temporary means of holding those awaiting trial. Indeed most individuals convicted of a crime would be either fined or whipped (for less serious offences), executed, or from 1700 onwards transported to North America (the term ‘convict' referred specifically to those sentenced to transportation or hard labour imprisonment and ‘prisoner' to individuals simply imprisoned). Transportation to North America ceased after the American War of Independence and convicts would be imprisoned in ‘hulks' (old ships used to house prisoners with the
eventual expectation that they too would be transported). The use of the hulks constituted the first large-scale involvement of central government in using prisons as punishment.

As both local government and central government used prisons during different time periods, surviving records will be found in either local archives or The National Archives.

Initially, as we have said, local counties used gaols as places of temporary imprisonment for those awaiting trial. However, after the passing of Elizabethan poor laws, ‘houses of correction' (or brideswells) were established to house criminals, vagrants and those unwilling to work. Sheriffs would provide lists of those housed in local gaols and houses of correction to the JPs and these surviving lists may be found with the quarter session records at county record offices. These records may also include reports on the conditions of gaols and journals of gaolers, as an Act in 1823 made JPs responsible for maintaining prisons.

The main body of records held in The National Archives are those created from the late eighteenth century onwards. The main sets of records worth consulting include:

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Criminal Registers in HO 26 and HO 27. HO 26 covers those convicted in Middlesex from 1791 to 1849. Thereafter Middlesex is included in HO 27, the series for all the other counties of England and Wales, from 1805 to 1892. Both registers provide details of where the crime was committed, where the individual was tried, age and sentence (including date of execution).

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Criminal Registers in HO 140. These are post-trial calendars for all those convicted in England and Wales in assize and quarter sessions from 1868 to 1971 (with closure rules).

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Prison registers and calendars. Many counties kept these from the late eighteenth century onwards to record the prisoner's name, crime, trial date, verdict and date of custody (in calendars published after the trial). The Home Office only become responsible for the administration of prisons in 1877 and, therefore, early documents may still be with the local archive. Nevertheless, The National Archives has a good representative number before 1877 in a variety of series, such as PCOM 2 (1774 to 1951, including photographs of Victorian prisoners in some sub-series), HO 23 (1847 to 1866 for a number of counties), HO 24 (London prisons from 1838 to 1875) and HO 16 (1815 to 1849, for those awaiting trial at the Old Bailey).

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Quarterly returns of prisoners on hulks and prisons in HO 8 (1848 to 1876). These are arranged by name of ship or prison but include details of trial, physical description, employment and marital status. Photographs may also be included.

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The central Habitual Criminal Registry was established after the passing of the Habitual Criminals Act in 1869. The Act was passed in response to concerns that criminals were no longer being transported to Australia and would, therefore, have to be released back into the community at some stage. Local prisons were asked to compile lists of ‘habitual criminals' (anyone who had committed offences specified in the above Act) along with physical description, residence, age and other identifiable details, together with photographs, and send these to the central Registry where a national list was compiled. An incomplete set of these registers can be found in PCOM 2 and MEPO 6/1–52.

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The increase in costs by having to imprison criminals and not transport them led to the development of a parole system, known as
‘tickets of leave'. It was introduced in 1853 and allowed convicts displaying good behaviour to be released into the community early by a licensing system. These licences were issued from 1853 to 1887 and can be found in PCOM 3 for male convicts and PCOM 4 for female convicts, indexed by PCOM 6.

Jeremy Irons already knew a fair amount about his family history, as various members of his family – including his cousin – had already done a great deal of research. The Irish side of his family traces back to Cork at the start of the eighteenth century via his grandfather, Henry Sharpe. One character, though, that stood out from another part of the family was his 2 x great-grandfather Thomas Irons, who was alleged to have been involved with the Chartist movement of the 1830s and 1840s, which sought political reform and an extension to the franchise. Jeremy investigated the biographical details of Thomas's life in more detail, finding his marriage certificate in 1840 that revealed he was a policeman – though a search of his police records at The National Archives revealed that he had actually been thrown out of the force in 1834 for being drunk and deserting his post.

Of particular interest was Thomas's involvement with the Chartists following the massive rally on Kennington Common of 10 April 1848. Jeremy's research into the history of the period in his local library showed that on this occasion a large petition of over 1 million signatures was handed to Parliament, but nothing came of the proposals. As a result, elements of the Chartist leadership adopted more radical tactics, including various attempts to start insurrections in London.

Two such plots were exposed on 16 August 1848, known as the Orange Tree and Powell Plots. The newspaper reports of the day showed that one of the men arrested at the Angel pub in Webber Street was – Thomas Irons. The conspirators were found with weapons, and the leaders tried, found guilty and transported to Australia. Although Thomas was tried and convicted too – Jeremy located the court papers in The National Archives – he was sentenced to 18 months in Newgate prison instead. Once again, Jeremy was able to use newspaper reports to find out what happened to his family during his incarceration; and it would appear that they were supported by donations from Chartist sympathizers.