Chapter 5

THE COURTS, PART 1: CRIMINAL

Many of our ancestors have been involved in crime, either as victim, perpetrator, suspect, juror or magistrate. Many courts have existed in the past which dealt with crime, and they have imposed different types of punishment. These courts have created a vast corpus of archives which can be examined by researchers. It is worth pointing out that, up to 1733, Latin was the language of legal record, and we will revisit this in Appendix 1. However, this rule was not always prevalent, and in any case the key parts of documents can usually be understood without one having to be able to translate their entirety.

Assizes

The assize courts were introduced in Henry II’s reign throughout England. They divided the country into six circuits, each of several adjoining counties: the northern, the Midlands, Oxford, Home, Western and Norfolk. There were also the palatine jurisdictions of Cheshire, Durham and Lancashire, which, although they were outside these circuits, operated in a similar manner. Middlesex, which included London, was also outside the six circuits and was under the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court, popularly known as the Old Bailey.

Assize judges toured each circuit twice a year to try criminals at the county town. They tried capital offences; not only murder, but many others, and there was no firm dividing line between those tried at the assizes and those tried at quarter sessions, since, for example, both courts could try theft and assault.

Assize records post-1559 are held at TNA in series ASSI. They include lists of judges, jurors and those accused. Indictment files lay out the charge against the prisoner, but list the latter as having a fictitious occupation and parish of origin (this will almost always be where the offence took place instead). Deposition files, giving witness statements, are a more reliable guide to details about a prisoner. To take an example from the Northern Assizes of summer 1749. Thomas Mawson, a black drummer in a regiment of dragoons, killed John Johnson, an officer’s servant. Mawson is described (fictitiously)as being ‘a yeoman’. Apparently, according to one witness, the latter ‘did make an assault … did strike and push the said John Johnson with his hands and knees in and upon the left side of the belly of him’. Mawson’s statement was that Johnson was a friend of his previously, but instigated the quarrel that led to his death. Dr Cotes was another witness and he deposed that Johnson was already in a poor state of health prior to the brawl. Mawson was acquitted.