Crime, Prisons and Punishment in England and Wales, 1770-1935
This series consists of more than 1.9 million images from The National Archives related to individuals who passed through the justice system in England and Wales between 1770 and 1935. Revealing information on trials, sentences and prison life can be found within.
The courtyard of Holloway Prison. © Mary Evans Picture Library / Maurice Ambler Collection
Key facts
1770-1935
Date range
More than
1,900,000
Images
More than
6,000,000
Transcribed entries
Source
About this series
This series brings together records from criminal cases, gaols, hulks, prisons, and criminal calendars. Explore the world of courts and prisons and discover those who were convicted of committing a criminal offence and what their sentence was. You can also find physical descriptions and photographs, whether the offenders were executed or transported, and official correspondence about their case, as well as petitions sent by the accused individuals and their family and friends to have sentences reduced. This extraordinarily rich collection of records covers the justice system from the days of the Bloody Code –where most property crimes carried a death sentence– to the justice system we know today. The collection holds records from 22 series from The National Archives, including:
- Admiralty: registers of convicts in prison hulks (Series ADM 6)
- Central Criminal Court: after-trial calendars of prisoners (Series CRIM 9)
- Home Office: convicts, miscellanea (Series HO 7)
- Home Office: convict hulks, convict prisons and criminal lunatic asylums, quarterly returns of prisoners (Series HO 8)
- Home Office: correspondence and warrants (Series HO 13)
- Home Office: criminal petitions, part 1 (Series HO 17)
- Home Office: criminal petitions, part 2 (Series HO 18)
- Home Office: register of criminal petitions (Series HO 19)
- Home Office: registers of Prisoners from National Prisons lodged in County Prisons 1847-1866 (Series HO 23)
- Home Office: prison registers and statistical returns 1838-1875 (Series HO 24)
- Home Office: criminal registers, Middlesex (Series HO 26)
- Home Office: criminal registers, England and Wales (Series HO 27)
- Home Office: judges’ reports on criminals 1784-1830 (Series HO 47)
- Home Office: Newgate Prison calendar 1782-1853 (Series HO 77)
- Home Office: miscellaneous criminal books 1798-1831 (Series HO 130)
- Home Office: calendar of prisoners (Series HO 140)
- Home Office and Prison Commission: prison records (Series PCOM 2)
- Home Office and Prison Commission: male licences 1853-1887 (Series PCOM 3)
- Home Office and Prison Commission: female licences (Series PCOM 4)
- Home Office: old captions and transfer papers (Series PCOM 5)
- Metropolitan Police: criminal record office, habitual criminals' registers and miscellaneous papers (Series MEPO 6)
- Treasury: departmental accounts, convict hulks (Series T 38)
A full list of archive references included can be downloaded below.
This series brings together records from criminal cases, gaols, hulks, prisons, and criminal calendars. Explore the world of courts and prisons and discover those who were convicted of committing a criminal offence and what their sentence was. You can also find physical descriptions and photographs, whether the offenders were executed or transported, and official correspondence about their case, as well as petitions sent by the accused individuals and their family and friends to have sentences reduced. This extraordinarily rich collection of records covers the justice system from the days of the Bloody Code –where most property crimes carried a death sentence– to the justice system we know today. The collection holds records from 22 series from The National Archives, including:
- Admiralty: registers of convicts in prison hulks (Series ADM 6)
- Central Criminal Court: after-trial calendars of prisoners (Series CRIM 9)
- Home Office: convicts, miscellanea (Series HO 7)
- Home Office: convict hulks, convict prisons and criminal lunatic asylums, quarterly returns of prisoners (Series HO 8)
- Home Office: correspondence and warrants (Series HO 13)
- Home Office: criminal petitions, part 1 (Series HO 17)
- Home Office: criminal petitions, part 2 (Series HO 18)
- Home Office: register of criminal petitions (Series HO 19)
- Home Office: registers of Prisoners from National Prisons lodged in County Prisons 1847-1866 (Series HO 23)
- Home Office: prison registers and statistical returns 1838-1875 (Series HO 24)
- Home Office: criminal registers, Middlesex (Series HO 26)
- Home Office: criminal registers, England and Wales (Series HO 27)
- Home Office: judges’ reports on criminals 1784-1830 (Series HO 47)
- Home Office: Newgate Prison calendar 1782-1853 (Series HO 77)
- Home Office: miscellaneous criminal books 1798-1831 (Series HO 130)
- Home Office: calendar of prisoners (Series HO 140)
- Home Office and Prison Commission: prison records (Series PCOM 2)
- Home Office and Prison Commission: male licences 1853-1887 (Series PCOM 3)
- Home Office and Prison Commission: female licences (Series PCOM 4)
- Home Office: old captions and transfer papers (Series PCOM 5)
- Metropolitan Police: criminal record office, habitual criminals' registers and miscellaneous papers (Series MEPO 6)
- Treasury: departmental accounts, convict hulks (Series T 38)
A full list of archive references included can be downloaded below.
Physical description of convicts from the ‘Description Book of convicts in the hulk Ganymede’ from 1814-1831 (The National Archives, ADM 6/422)
Calendar of prisoners from 1886 (The National Archives, CRIM 9/32)
Petition from the prisoner Timothy Moriarty (The National Archives, HO 17/37/87)
Licence of liberation for Margaret Bannigan (The National Archives, PCOM 4/1/10)
