Courtesy of Ace, I, Kath the Cake Eater, have learned that the good fellows at the Old Bailey have put the proceedings online (and they're searchable, too!). Now, we're not talking about the current proceedings. We're talking about the ones from 1674 to 1913.

Delicious stuff. For instance, take the case of one Thomas Whitehead:

The first was one Thomas Whitehead, who being in Newgate, was by order of the former Sessions of the 3d. of June, to remain there upon suspicion of Fellony, whence he once made an escape, and was retaken, and then by the assistance of some Friends he had procured an Order for his Inlargement, and was to have gone forth as the next day, but he being as it seems impatient to be kept so long from his old Profession, the Trade of Stealing, and finding himself by reason of such an Order, not so strictly lookt after by the Keepers as otherwise he would have been; he took an opportunity once more to get away out of Custody, but to little purpose, for falling to his Practise as soon as ever he was got forth, the very Night he was taken for having committed Burghlary, by breaking open an house, and Stealing goods to the value (as the Jury found it) of 4. pounds , the evidence was plain against him, and he had little to say for himself, so that he was Convicted , and (being notoriously Incorrigible) had Sentence of Death pass'd upon him.

Sentence was pass'd upon him on July 17, 1674.

Too bad he couldn't have waited until morning. But then again, I think we all know that thieves who have very little patience are generally the ones that get caught. Not that much has changed in three hundred some odd years.

Go and check it out. It's entirely searchable, so, if you're of English descent, you can check and see if you have some miscreants in ye olde family tree.

Posted by: Kathy at 10:14 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 Ace had a piece about that database today. Search for "Thomas Newton" if you want to see something, uhm, "interesting".

Posted by: Russ from Winterset at June 11, 2008 10:33 PM (BhHL1)

2 DUDE---go reread the first sentence!

Posted by: Kathy at June 12, 2008 09:05 AM (vawhH)

3 Sorry about that. The stuff about Mr. Newton was in a separate thread, so I wasn't sure if you had read it or not. Of course, that doesn't mean I didn't read your first sentence also, which was rude of me.

Posted by: Russ from Winterset at June 12, 2008 02:09 PM (dyz/7)

4 No hassles, dearie.

Posted by: Kathy at June 12, 2008 03:57 PM (vawhH)

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