How to look for records of... Criminal court cases: Old Bailey (Central Criminal Court)

1. Why use this guide?

Use this guide for advice on how to find the records of trials held at the Old Bailey, later known as the Central Criminal Court, as well as records of prisoners and convicts tried and held there.

This guide will help you to understand:

• The types of cases heard by the Court.
• The records created, what has survived, and the sorts of information contained in the records.
• How the records were organised and filed, and how that affects how you search for them today.

Note, records relating to trials which took place fewer than 100 years ago may be closed in whole or in part. To view such records you will need to make an FOI request.

2. The history and business of the Old Bailey

The Old Bailey is a criminal court sitting in central London. Since 1834 it is properly referred to as the Central Criminal Court, but its former name, derived from the building in which it sits, remains that by which it is more commonly known.

From 1834 to 1971 the Old Bailey was Assize Court for London, in 1972 the Old Bailey became one of the Crown Courts of England and Wales. This means that it hears criminal cases which must be tried by a judge sitting with a jury. These are the most serious offences, known previously as felonies and now referred to as indictable offences.

Before 1834, the Quarter Sessions for London and Middlesex and for the City of London, dealing with a broad range of less serious offences, were also held at the Old Bailey. Records for these are at the London Archives, see section 7 below for more details.

Though the Old Bailey has always been primarily concerned with London cases, it has come to play a wider role in the Criminal Justice System where there are fears that trying a case in the local area would make it difficult to secure a prompt or fair trial. The Central Criminal Court Act 1856 (19 & 20 Vict., C.16) provided for cases to be transferred for trial at the Old Bailey in these circumstances, meaning that some of the most notorious cases in criminal justice history have been, and continue to be, heard there.

Date	Jurisdiction
Before 1834	City of London and Middlesex – NOT London south of the Thames
1834 – 1963	London, Middlesex, parts of Essex, Kent and Surrey
From 1964	Greater London area

Note, for trials of crimes committed in London south of the Thames before 1834 see the records of assize courts for Surrey.

Although the High Court of Admiralty also sat at the Old Bailey, their records are kept separately, see our research guide for more information.

3. Records of trials heard before 1972

3.1 Printed and published materials – transcripts and proceedings

The easiest place to start your research, and the richest potential source of information on specific trials, will be found in printed proceedings and accounts. Old Bailey online and online newspaper accounts are a useful way to establish if a trial was held at the Old Bailey or in another court.

Source	Information Given	Date Range	How to Search
Old Bailey Online	Printed and published proceedings providing summaries of trials and what was said in court. , from reports of a few dozen words to detailed transcripts. They will usually include the names of the defendant, prosecutor, witnesses, the charges, verdict and sentence.	1674 – 1913	By defendant name or offence.
Newspaper reports, see:   Times Digital Archive British Newspaper Archive British Library Newspapers (Free to access in our reading rooms at Kew) Alternatively, visit the British Newspaper Library	Newspapers often reported proceedings in trials in great detail.	18th – 20th centuries	By defendant name, location, offence etc.
Chadwyck Healey microfiche collection of British Trials 1660-1900 Available in The National Archives reading rooms and in some major libraries.	Unofficial contemporary accounts of selected trials which were originally published as pamphlets and sold to the general public.	1660 – 1908	Use separate but accompanying indexes

Other, similar, sources of information include:

Document Type	Information Given	Document Series	Date Range	How to Search
Printed Old Bailey Session Papers	As per Old Bailey Online	PCOM 1	1801 – 1904	By date to identify the volume and then use volume index to find the case by defendant name.
Printed shorthand notes of proceedings	Will duplicate the information in the printed sessions papers	CRIM 10	1834 – 1912	By defendant name.
Transcripts of selected trials	Transcripts of trials for selected cases concerning murder, robbery, treason and sedition.	DPP 4 TS 36	1846 – 1958 1812 – 1963	By defendant name or offence.

3.2 Finding other trial records at The National Archives

A search for trial records held at The National Archives will require a visit to our reading rooms in Kew as none of the records are viewable online – though you can begin your search in our online catalogue.

Different stages or aspects of the trial process are recorded in different types of documents, each of which will typically have been archived separately and may be searched by different means. The key document types/series are set out below.

Document Type	Information Given	Series	Date Range	How to Search
Index to Indictments	Defendant name, charge, date of conviction, sentence, appeal outcome (if applicable).	CRIM 5	1833 – 1971	Browse by year.
Indictments	As above and but includes list of jurors and full details of charges.	CRIM 4	1834 – 1971	Using the indexes or browse by date in the catalogue.
Court Books	Defendant name, victim name (not always), plea, verdict, sentence, names of jurors.	CRIM 6	1834 – 1949	Browse by year.
Depositions	Written records of oral witness statements given under oath. Typically concerned with trials for murder, sedition, treason, riot and political conspiracy and other trials deemed to be of historical interest, but includes a 2% random sample of other trials.	CRIM 1 CRIM 2	1839 – 1971 1923 – 1966	By defendant name or offence. There are alphabetical indexes of depositions in cases sent up from coroners and police courts.
Treasury Solicitor files	Case papers of different types relating to cases in which the government law officers (Attorney General and Solicitor General) were involved	Various, including: TS 11 TS18 TS 22 TS 36	Various	By defendant name or offence.
Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) files	Case papers relating to cases in which the DPP was involved from 1879.	DPP 1 DPP 2	1889 – 1930 1931 – 1997	By defendant name or offence.

 

4. Records of trials heard after 1971

For cases heard after 1971 you may find it useful to consult our research guide on Crown Courts.

4.1 Working out where records will be held

Records are not transferred to the National Archives until at least twenty years after trial and transfer may happen significantly later than this. As a rule of thumb, they remain with the court for seven years and are then transferred to storage with HM Courts and Tribunal Service.

4.2 Finding trial records held at The National Archives

A search for trial records held at The National Archives will require a visit to our reading rooms in Kew as none of the records are viewable online – though you can begin your search in our online catalogue.

From 1972 there are two main record types relating to trials heard at the Old Bailey – case files and indictment files. All indictment files are selected for permanent preservation, but more detailed case files are only created for a small number of cases. To understand how these case files are selected see our Operational Selection Policy for Crown Courts.

Almost all indictment files, and many case files will be closed or have closed extracts.

Search for case files in our online catalogue in J 267 by defendant name or offence.

For selected cases (typically the most serious), the records provide:

• Committal proceedings in the Magistrates’ Court
• Court logs (recording brief case histories, such as dates of hearings)
• Police statements
• Copy indictment
• Prosecution evidence
• List of witnesses and their statements and depositions
• List of exhibits produced in court
• Photographs of the crime scene
• Sentence
• Appeal details and outcome

4.3 Identifying the indictment number

You will see that, to find an indictment file, you will need to know the indictment number as indictments are filed by number and not by name. There are three ways of obtaining/working out the indictment number:

1. Search by name for a corresponding case file – this will include the case number, which can then be used to work out the indictment number.

2. If you already have a case number then this tells you the year and number of the indictment as follows:

• The first two digits represent the year of indictment.
• The remaining digits tell you the indictment number.
• So, if the case number is 721717 then the indictment was made in 1972 and the indictment number is 1717.

3. If you do not already have a case number then you can contact HM Courts and Tribunal Service who can provide you with a case number in most cases.

Note, the indictment may have been made in an earlier year than that in which the case was heard, particularly in periods where the courts were especially busy or prone to delays.

4.4 Records of the Director of Public Prosecutions

In addition, you may also be able to find a Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) file, particularly for the most serious or high profile offences/trials.

Search by date, defendant name or offence in DPP 2 , for case files of the Director of Public Prosecutions, 1931-1997. Papers relating to the prosecution of the case – may include maps, plans and photographs.

Browse by date in DPP 9 for prosecution books of the Director of Public Prosecutions, 1905-1986. These records provide:

• Defendant name
• Police officer
• Prosecuting counsel
• Police court and name of the clerk who conducted the case
• Result of the case

A note on the dates of these records:

• From 1905-mid-1965 the dates given are those of the court sitting
• From 1965-1973 the date refers to the court sessions
• From 1974-1986 the date is the date of committal

6.1 Lists of prisoners awaiting trial and criminal registers, 1782-1892

The National Archives holds the following records:

HO 16, Lists of prisoners awaiting trial at the Old Bailey, 1815 – 1849	Defendant name, charge and outcome of trial. Browse by date
HO 77, Calendars and lists of prisoners at Newgate Gaol, 1782 – 1853	Printed lists of the prisoners held at Newgate for trial at the Old Bailey. From July 1822 includes results of the trials. Browse by date – or see digital images available on Findmypast (charges apply).
HO 26 & HO 27, Criminal registers, 1791 – 1892	Lists of defendants charged with indictable offences at Middlesex Sessions – gives verdict and sentence. Search by defendant name at Ancestry.co.uk (charges apply).