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Criminal Court Cases: City of London Sessions

Date updated: 2/07/2024

1. About this guide

This guide will help you find the records of criminal cases heard at the City of London Quarter Sessions. Quarter Sessions, like courts of Assize elsewhere in the country, dealt with more serious cases than those heard in magistrates courts.

See Criminal Court Cases: an overview for an introduction to our criminal court records.

2. The Court System

There were three different types of sessions in the City of London for criminal cases:

  • Sessions of the Peace for the City of London - Met eight times a year in Sessions House in the Old Bailey, adjoining Newgate Gaol, to hear and determine more serious misdemeanours (petty offences) and some felonies (serious offences).
  • Sessions of Oyer and Terminer for the City of London - Held on the same day as the Sessions of the Peace (or the immediate following days) to hear and determine more serious offences.
  • Sessions of Gaol Delivery for Newgate Prison for City of London - These trials were held at the Old Bailey a few days after the sessions of the peace and oyer and terminer to hear and determine the most serious cases. After 1834 the Old Bailey became the Central Criminal Court and records are held at The National Archives.

3. Online Sources

Before you delve into the original records, please gather as much information as possible from the following online resources. It is particularly important to get the date and place of the trial.

Old Bailey Proceedings Online: The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913

London Lives: Crime, Poverty and Social Policy in the Metropolis, 1690-1800

The Digital Panopticon: Tracing London Convicts in Britain and Australia, 1780-1925

The British Newspaper Archive (charges apply)

Newgate Calendar of Prisoners, 1785-1853 on Ancestry.co.uk (charges apply)

Criminal Registers 1791-1892 on Ancestry.co.uk (charges apply)

Australian Convict Collection on Ancestry.co.uk (charges apply)

Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770-1935 on Findmypast.co.uk (charges apply)

4. How to search the records held at London Metropolitan Archives

Once you know the date and place of the trial, you can then look at the following key records:

  • Sessions book indexes
  • Sessions files
  • Sessions papers
  • Sessions minute books

4.1. Sessions Book Indexes

Sessions book indexes (CLA/047/LJ/10) for the City of London cover all three sessions: Sessions of the Peace, Oyer and Terminer and Gaol Delivery.

There are six volumes covering December 1714 to January 1927. Each volume is arranged alphabetically and then in chronological order by date of session. If you find an entry, make a note of the number preceding the name (if there is one) as this will correspond with the number of the indictment on the sessions file.

4.2. Sessions Files

The Sessions files consist of official documents from each session including indictments and recognizances. Before 1752 the documents were written in Latin except for a brief period during the 1650s.

The documents were filed in the order that the cases were heard. In the top right-hand corner of each document will be a number which should correspond with the number from the index (see section 4.1.).

Indictments are the formal record of the charge and sentence, but they provide very little other detail. They show the name of the person, their profession, which for men, is often simply recorded as labourer, and the parish that they were from, although this is often not where they were born or where they were living, but the location of the parish where the crime was committed. Annotated on the document, usually near the top, is the original sentence passed by the court. In the early days of transportation, you may find that the initial sentence was death, which was later commuted to transportation. Unfortunately for those given a prison sentence, the location of where that sentence was served, is not recorded.

Title Date Range Series
Sessions Files: Gaol Delivery, Oyer and Terminer and Sessions of the Peace 1568 Jul, 1603 Jul - 1785 Jan CLA/047/LJ/01
Sessions Files: Gaol Delivery and Oyer and Terminer 1785 Feb - 1835 Dec CLA/047/LJ/02
Sessions Files: Sessions of the Peace 1785 Feb - 1927 CLA/047/LJ/03

4.3 Sessions Papers

Sessions papers are an assortment of documents relating to the general business of the court and can often contain the most detailed information on criminal cases. Documents can include bail pieces, affidavits, appeals and most importantly depositions. Unfortunately, the sessions papers for the City of London are largely incomplete.

Depositions are particularly useful as they often give the fullest account of the crime. They are usually in the form of a single document containing statements, potentially from the victim, witnesses, the arresting officer, as well as a brief statement from the defendant. 

In order to find relevant papers, please start by searching the LMA Collections Catalogue by the name of the defendant. If you are unable to find an entry, it may be because that particular year has not been fully indexed. In that case, you will need to order the bundle for the appropriate month(s) and year. It should be noted that documents relating to an individual case may be spread across the papers of a few sessions. 

Many sessions papers from 1690 to 1796 are available to view on the London Lives website. 

Title Date Range Series
Sessions Papers: Gaol Delivery and Sessions of the Peace 1648 Aug - 1833 Oct CLA/047/LJ/13
Sessions Papers: Sessions of the Peace 1787-1974 CLA/047/LJ/14

4.4. Sessions Minute Books

Sessions minute books can be useful if the sessions roll or calendar has not survived or is in too poor a condition to be produced. The sessions books contain a summary of the trials that took place for any given session. Whilst there won’t be any extra information contained about a case, they will still provide you with the basic indictment as well as the verdict of the court.

Title Date Range Series
Sessions Minute Books: Gaol Delivery, Oyer and Terminer and Sessions of the Peace 1612 Oct - 1785 Jan CLA/047/LJ/04
Sessions Minute Books: Gaol Delivery and Oyer and Terminer 1785 Feb - 1834 Dec CLA/047/LJ/05
Sessions Minute Books: Sessions of the Peace 1785 Feb - 1834 Apr CLA/047/LJ/06