Court Records

Old Bailey Court Records

London’s Central Criminal Court was known as Old Bailey. This was an important court from which to document the Irish who settled in London.

Records of Old Bailey

The records have been indexed in a searchable database, with digitized images, from 1674-1913. These are known as the Old Bailey Proceedings. Also on the database are the Ordinary of Newgate’s Accounts from 1673-1772. The database provides accesses to 197,000 trials along with biographical information on the 2,500 executions of men and women at Tyburn. The Old Bailey Proceedings databases are free of charge.

Additional Old Bailey Research Helps

Due to their historical nature, the website has a Glossary which can help you understand the older English as well as the legal terms. There are also guides to help you sort through what constituted crime and punishment as seen in the records. If this wasn’t enough, then check out the section on “Gender in the Proceedings.”

Searching the Old Bailey Database by Category

Aside from the general name search, there is a category search. You can search by offence. From different types of theft to different types of sexual crimes; this section alone provides a rare window into the world of the people on trial. It also can help us understand what a “religious offence” was all about. One interesting offence category is labeled “Miscellaneous” with attached sub-categories to it. Here we get a glimpse into the lives of people charged with infanticide, illegal abortion, piracy and return from transportation. An offence category under “Violent Theft” includes “Highway Robbery.” That was not just an expression in the world these people lived in.

As far as thought provoking databases, this one is hard to beat. Even if your ancestors never went to London make sure you explore this resource. Their world was very foreign to us; yet at the same time, these Proceedings teach us how little things have changed. People are still people and we just have new ways of doing what they did back then.

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What was the Legal Age?

18 Nov By Dwight Leave a Comment

In family history when we are studying a record, often we have questions, and wonder where we can find the answers. One problem area in United States research is court records. There’s such a variety of courts, and cases, that we are usually left scratching our heads.

As a professional genealogist, one area I’m always asking questions is: “What was the legal age to perform a particular legal action?” For me the quick fix is always Table 7-2 “Ages of Legal Action” in the chapter “Court Records” in The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy (Third Edition, 2006): 275-6 , edited by Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking. No serious researcher should be without this standard textbook for American genealogy.

Knowing what the “Ages of Legal Action” are is important in your Irish immigrant research. The reason being is that first and last names are so common. Sometimes to know you have the correct Patrick Sullivan or Mary Kelly is to know how old they would have been to perform a legal action.

I have adapted their Table 7-2 of legal actions for this blog. The list below is not a substitute for either the table or the entire chapter of this work.

Inherit: from birth or before birth

Be enumerated in a census: from birth, all names mentioned as of 1850

Attend school: age 5, with some schools accepting younger children

Witness documents: males 14, females 12 (some exceptions)

Testify in court: males 14, females 12

Choose a guardian: males 14, females 12 (for exceptions see The Source)

Serve as an apprentice: males 14, females 12

Show land to processioners: males 14, females 12, males only in the South.

Punished for a crime: males 14, females 12 (some exceptions)

Sign contracts: males 14, females 12

Act as an executor: males 14, females 12 (for exceptions see The Source)

Bequeath personal property by a will: males 14, females 12 (for exceptions see The Source)

Marry: males 14, females 12 (for exceptions see The Source)

Be taxed: males 16

Muster into militia: males 16

Take possession of land holdings: age 16

Practice trade: age 18

Release of guardian: males 21, females 18

Own land: age 21 (some states allowed females at age 18)

Devise land by will: age 21

Be taxed: full responsibility at age 21 unless exempt.

Plead or sue in court: age 21

Be naturalized: age 21

Fill public office: age 21

Serve on jury: age 21

Vote: age 21 (various requirements over the years)

Why Would You Use Irish Dog Licenses?

23 Aug By Dwight Leave a Comment

Irish research doesn’t get more bizarre than using dog licenses to solve a genealogical problem. Yet, they can work.

Dog licenses are part of the Petty Session Court records. For the Republic of Ireland, these are at the National Archives of Ireland: www.nationalarchives.ie and on microfilm at the Family History Library: www.familysearch.org For Northern Ireland, they are at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland: www.proni.gov.uk They are labeled as dog licenses, and if someone failed to register their dog, then the court case would appear in the main Petty Session Court records. They date from the 1850s and 1860s.

Think of this source as a “census substitute.” If your ancestors lived in areas where dogs were used for work, such as in sheep herding, then you have a yearly census of these dog owners. When parish registers are sketchy or non-existent, and civil registration not much better, then these can fill in gaps. Areas such as County Donegal where dogs were needed for the wool industry, provides a perfect example.

Licenses includes: date, owner’s name, residence of the owner, number of dogs for each license, fee paid, dog’s sex, dog’s color, dog’s breed and remarks. If you are tracking movements or death of the owner; licenses can fill in gaps in the immigration and civil records. If tracking a common name, these licenses are a good way to sort through which person is yours.

A list of the courts in the Republic of Ireland can be found on www.findmypast.ie who are scanning and indexing the Petty Session Court registers. At this writing the database is not complete.

This is indeed a fascinating source. If you think of it in terms of a “census substitute” to document an individual year by year then it can indeed be a valued substitute.

Two Little Known Penal Colonies Where Irish Were Sent

7 Jul By Dwight Leave a Comment

Court records at the National Library of Ireland: www.nli.ie detail prisoners who were transported to the penal colonies at Bermuda, Gibraltar and Tasmania (Van Dieman’s Land). Classified as Ms. 3016, this amazing set of transportation records covers 1849-1850. They show the Irish court a person was convicted in, the addresses of friends and relatives, religion and the prisoner’s age. While transportation to Australia is well known, the other penal colonies, including Bermuda and Gibraltar remain relatively unknown.

In Bermuda, the convicts were used for labor in the dockyard and aboard ships anchored in the bay off Boaz Island. Convict labor was also used to build the dockyard and Royal Naval Dockyard on Ireland Island. Conditions were harsh and many prisoners died of yellow fever. This lead to prison revolts and the execution of many of those involved.

The “convict establishment” was closed in 1865. The men were taken to England or carried to Australia on “tickets of leave.” Records documenting the lives of these convicts are in the Assignment Lists and Quarterly Returns of the Hulk Establishments (Series HO11) at the National Archives, Kew: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk The HO series have been indexed on a searchable database on the State Library of Queensland as “Convict Transportation Register Database”: www.slq.qld.gov.au/info/fh/convicts

The British used prisoners to work on the docks in Gibraltar. They began sending convicts to labor on fortifications in 1842. These prisoners lived on ships in the harbor and were not allowed to associate with the local population. When one escaped the town bells would ring until he was recaptured. They were shipped back to Great Britain and Ireland after their terms expired.

The history of Irish convicts is both fascinating and heart wrenching at the same time. The reasons people were transported can be both sobering and mindboggling.

Irish Petty Court Session Records

4 Jul By Dwight Leave a Comment

A fascinating resource is the Petty Court Session records. These are on microfilm at the Family History Library (FHL): www.familysearch.org and now online and indexed as “Petty Session Order Books, 1851-1910”: www.findmypast.ie The originals are at the National Archives of Ireland: www.nationalarchives.ie for the Republic of Ireland only. This archive of records covers some 5.2 million cases. The goal of Findmypast is to also digitize the court records for Northern Ireland.

I know it is difficult to find social history for a given townland, which leaves gaps in trying to write about the lives of your ancestors. The Petty Sessions Court records tell the townland the parties were residing, the accusation, and the sentencing. This means you can piece together a very intimate history of your townland by exploring the court cases involving the residents. Remember, townlands are small, and everybody knew everything. Your ancestors would have known about a court case involving the neighbors! Whether it’s theft, violence, or any other seedy activity, the Petty Sessions Court can give you details found no place else.

An area was served by a court seated in a town. A list of the towns can be found on the Findmypast website. You can use the “County” field in the search which brings up everybody with the name you are looking for. At that point, it will give you the details andyou can purchase the entry or look at the FHL microfilm. The index will give you the names of witnesses, defendants and complainant.

In conclusion, these records are worth your time, not only when looking for a particular person or case, but also when trying to reconstruct the social history of a townland and its people. These are a truly amazing if not seedy source!

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