This is a brief guide to help you with your research. The National Archives holds many records of criminal trials, although these rarely include detailed information such as transcripts of evidence. The records are scattered and there is no central name index to criminal trials, so unless you know when and where your ancestor was tried it can be very difficult to trace trial records.
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What do I need to know before I start?
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Try to find out:
- the name of the accused, including variant spellings
- when and where the trial took place
- what kind of court tried the offence
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What records can I see online?
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Criminal registers for England and Wales (1791-1892)
Search criminal registers for England and Wales (HO 26 and HO 27), 1791 to 1892, on Ancestry.co.uk (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.).
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Old Bailey trial records (1674-1913)
Search for records of Old Bailey trials from 1674 to 1913 at Old Bailey Proceedings Online.
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What records can I find at The National Archives at Kew?
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Criminals calendars (1868-1971)
Search the Catalogue by year range in HO 140 to find records which give the place and date of trials. The records are arranged by year and then alphabetically by county. These records are usually opened to the public after 75 years.
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Trial records of the Supreme Court of Judicature and Central Criminal Court (1834- )
Search the Catalogue by name for criminal trial records in J and CRIM. A few sections of these records, but by no means all, have been catalogued by name. Type in the last name (surname) in the first box, and the word 'charge' in the second box. This will eliminate non-criminal records.
The department J includes Crown Court records from 1972 onwards. -
Criminal appeal case files (1945- )
Search the Catalogue by last name in J 82 for case files of criminal appeals.
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Records of the Justices of Assize (1554-1971)
Browse the Catalogue (ASSI) for records of the Justices of Assize. First look up the county in the research guide English criminal trials 1559-1971 - key to assize records to find out which assizes records to investigate further.
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To access these records you will either need to visit us, commission research (£there will be a charge) or, where you can identify a specific record referencea unique set of letters and numbers identifying a document in The National Archives, order a copy (£there will be a charge).
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What records can I find in other archives and organisations?
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London Metropolitan Archives (before 1834)
Search for records of the Old Bailey and the Central Criminal Court before 1834 at London Metropolitan Archives.
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Websites
Search The Times Archive to view articles (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.) about some of the more newsworthy trials from 1785-1985.
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Records held locally
Search for trial records of quarter sessions, petty sessions and magistrates' courts in local archives. Find out where records are held by searching Access to Archives (A2A) and the National Register of Archives (NRA).
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What other resources will help me find information?
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Websites
Search the index to records of trials at the Court of Great Sessions in Wales from 1730 to 1830.
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Prisoners
Bankrupts and debtors
Civil litigants