Quarter Sessions Records
Paul Blake looks at what records created by justices of the peace tell us about our ancestors’ lives
The main judicial and administrative bodies at county level from Tudor times until 1888 were known as quarter sessions. Their records, and those of the petty sessions, often survive from the 16th century. However, they are frequently overlooked by family historians, despite the fact that they can provide intriguing information that cannot be found elsewhere.
The origins of quarter sessions reach back to the early 14th century. In 1327 Edward III chose men to keep the peace in every county. These new ‘justices’ operated under Commission from the Crown, and provided their services without remuneration. They were usually wealthy landowners and, until recent times, had no legal training.
By 1368, the justices of the peace were given the power to hear criminal cases, and 20 years later they began sitting four times a year. The sessions were named after the quarter days on which the courts met in England and
Wales, and were eventually fixed as the Epiphany, Easter, Midsummer and Michaelmas quarter sessions.
As the years passed, the powers and jurisdiction of the justices of the peace gradually increased, and with them the nature of the cases that were heard in quarter sessions. By the time that they were abolished in 1971, quarter sessions courts were ruling on most of the indictable cases in
‘The justices of the peace were usually wealthy landowners’
England and Wales. When sitting with a jury, a quarter sessions court had a wide criminal jurisdiction and also had powers to hear civil and criminal cases on appeal from a magistrates’ court.
Types Of Case
Overall, the quarter sessions dealt with the less serious criminal cases on behalf of the Crown, involving such matters as poaching, vagrancy and assault. They were, nevertheless, able to impose sentences of death or transportation. In time, the quarter sessions also took over the criminal jurisdiction of the manorial courts.
In addition to their criminal responsibilities, these justices of the peace also had many civil duties, mainly administrative, but some civil disputes fell within their responsibilities. It was not until the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act and the 1888 Local Government Act that these duties were removed from the remit of the justices.
‘The quarter sessions could impose sentences of death or transportation’
At the parish level, the justices supervised the requirements imposed by the numerous Poor Laws. They also examined settlement claims from those who had requested poor relief from the parish but been refused; or from the parish itself, denying responsibility. They could issue bastardy orders against a putative father, deciding on his responsibility and awarding maintenance payments against him. They also approved the placing of pauper children as apprentices and arbitrated on disputes between master and apprentice, or vice versa.
Other duties included regular examination of the accounts and books of parish officers, and overseeing the taking of oaths and matters relating to the upkeep of highways and local defence. They were responsible for supervising the administration of national and local taxes such as the hearth, window, marriage and servants’ taxes. Additionally, the justices were responsible for licensing certain trades and occupations, such as badgers (itinerant traders), alehouse keepers, butchers and gamekeepers.
London Sessions
Unusually, Middlesex did not hold its sessions quarterly. Originally the court only met twice a year, but as London’s suburbs expanded and their population increased the number of cases soared – so much so that eventually the justices of the peace were holding eight or more sessions every year.
In addition, unlike the other counties in England and Wales, Middlesex, the City of London,