This is a brief guide to help you with your research into records of crime and punishment. The National Archives holds extensive records relating to criminal courts and trials, but searching for specific documents or subjects can be difficult as these are not usually searchable in Discovery, our cataloguea search tool with descriptions of tens of millions of documents from the UK central government, law courts, and other national bodies. This guide is for people interested in the historical subject of crime and punishment as opposed to those interested in finding a specific person.
-
What records can I see online?
-
Parliamentary Papers (1801-2006)
Search House of Commons Parliamentary Papers (institutional subscription required). These are an important source of information about crime and punishment, covering issues such as the efficacy of transportation and the diet of convicts.
-
-
What records can I find at The National Archives at Kew?
-
Court records
Search our cataloguea search tool with descriptions of tens of millions of documents from the UK central government, law courts, and other national bodies by type of crime and date range across some of the court records: the Central Criminal Court (CRIM), the Court of King's Bench (KB ), itinerant justices (JUST), and the Assizes (ASSI). Only a small proportion of records are catalogued by the type of crime committed.
-
Metropolitan Police records
Search our cataloguea search tool with descriptions of tens of millions of documents from the UK central government, law courts, and other national bodies by type of crime and date range in MEPO for some policy and case files relating to specific crimes.
-
Records of the Prison Commission and Home Office Prison Department (1770-1978)
Browse PCOM in our cataloguea search tool with descriptions of tens of millions of documents from the UK central government, law courts, and other national bodies for records concerning the management and staffing of prisons, and the treatment of prisoners.
-
To access these records you will either need to visit us, pay for 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).
-
-
What records can I find in other archives and organisations?
-
The Parliamentary Archives
Contact the Parliamentary Archives for records of the House of Lords, which is the court of appeal for criminal cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The archive holds extensive records relating to the creation and implementation of the law, and the papers of numerous Members of Parliament and political figures.
-
Records held locally
Search the Access to Archives (A2A) and National Register of Archives (NRA) databases to find records held in local archives, such as papers of law firms and societies, or of individual lawyers, politicians or campaigners.
-
-
What other resources will help me find information?
-
Websites
Visit our online exhibition on the history of Crime and Punishment.
-
Criminals and convicts
Prisoners
Police