Police Court & County Court records?

[Pinkerton]

I apologize if this has been asked before, but do the original police court records of the time still exist somewhere? Specifically the Worship Street and Thames police court records? What about the Middlesex Sessions and the County of London Sessions? Googling and checking the National Archives index online have gotten me nowhere.

The newspapers of the time only carried so many of the cases that were actually heard before the court. Any help is much appreciated!

[Chris]

I apologize if this has been asked before, but do the original police court records of the time still exist somewhere? Specifically the Worship Street and Thames police court records? What about the Middlesex Sessions and the County of London Sessions? Googling and checking the National Archives index online have gotten me nowhere.

I should think most surviving records for these will be at the London Metropolitan Archives. Their holdings can be searched here:

http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

[Pinkerton]

Thanks Chris. I came up with a listings for:

THAMES MAGISTRATES COURT
MIDDLESEX SESSIONS OF THE PEACE: COURT IN SESSION

Anyone know if these two courts are the same as the courts listed in the London newspapers of the day as the "Thames" police court and the "Middlesex Sessions" court? I don't quite have a handle on the British judicial system of the LVP. Thanks.

[Chris]

Thanks Chris. I came up with a listings for:

THAMES MAGISTRATES COURT
MIDDLESEX SESSIONS OF THE PEACE: COURT IN SESSION

Anyone know if these two courts are the same as the courts listed in the London newspapers of the day as the "Thames" police court and the "Middlesex Sessions" court? I don't quite have a handle on the British judicial system of the LVP. Thanks.

I should think so. Certainly "police court" and "magistrates' court" would be the same thing.

[Twycross]

Hi Pinkerton,

I'm not sure about the 'smaller' courts, but I've coincidentally been spending the last couple of days researching some cases that were heard at the Old Bailey, who have a full searchable database of all their cases from 1674 and 1913. From cross-referencing the date of the crime and the date that the trial was held at the Old Bailey, I've been able to track down the court appearances that happened in between, at which the defendant was remanded, from press reports of the time. One of these sessions, for example, was heard at Worship Street, so I'm having a hunt around to see what leads I can get in terms of tracking down further details. Hope that helps!