I see that TheGenealogist.co.uk has released a whole batch of records that are great for finding any ancestors of yours who may have fallen foul of the law!
Its a set of 90,000 Criminal records, which cover indictable offences in England and Wales between 1782 and 1892, that they have added to their website for Diamond members and these records also uniquely cover prisoners ‘pardoned’, criminal charges and those classed as ‘criminal lunatics’.
Coming from The National Archives the records cover the following:
- HO27 – Criminal Registers, England and Wales
Registers of all persons in England and Wales charged with indictable offences showing the results of the trials, the sentences in case of conviction, and dates of execution of persons sentence to death. - HO13 – Criminal Entry Books
Lists of pardons. - HO20/13 – Prisons Correspondence and Papers
Including Bethlehem Hospital criminal lunatics and other asylums. - CRIM1 – Central Criminal Court Depositions
Statements on oath used in evidence in trials at the Old Bailey and pardons if granted.
As TheGenealogist says in its newsletter this month, “the 1800s in England and Wales was a place where it was not difficult to get into trouble and end up facing a severe punishment, perhaps even the death penalty. These new records may help shed light on a family relative who broke the Law and paid the consequences.”
Some of us love to unearth the odd black-sheep in the family. So take a look here and join their Diamond level membership to take advantage of this data:
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