Description

Admin History:

In 1440 Hull was separated from Yorkshire as an independent county with its own sheriff. From 1447-1835 the county of Hull included the parishes of Hessle, Kirk Ella and North Ferriby. The county burgesses were empowered to elect twelve aldermen to assist the mayor and to serve as magistrates. They held formal meetings that incorporated within them quarter sessions and petty sessions. The minutes of these early meetings can be found in a set of unindexed bench books (C BRB 1-10) until 1741 when the volume of documents being lodged with the magistrates increased and separate bundles of documents had to be introduced (C CQB). The Quarter Sessions continued as criminal courts until 1971 when the County Court judicial system was implemented.

The Quarter Sessions courts of England and Wales were created following a statute of 1388. Quarter Session Courts were county courts held by the magistrates (also known as Justices of the Peace) four times a year (quarterly) at Epiphany (Jan-Mar), Easter (Apr-Jun), Midsummer (Jul-Sep) and Michaelmas (Oct-Dec). The court had a broad and changing range of responsibilities, which touched on many aspects of people’s lives. They dealt with criminal matters from petty theft to rape. Quarter sessions courts also dealt with administrative matters such as licensing. Many Poor Law cases found their way into the Quarter sessions Courts. More serious crimes were referred on to the assize courts where professional judges could handle them, rather than the Justices of the Peace. Assizes were held in Hull at irregular intervals until 1794. Thereafter prisoners committed to the assizes by Hull courts were tried at York. The records of the courts of assizes are held by the National Archives.

Description:

These records contain calendars of prisoners; accounts of fines; accounts for payments; attorney's bills of cost; presentments by the grand jury; coroner's inquests (1837-1899); petty session convictions; recognisances; information and examinations; certificates of conviction and sentence; court orders; return of prisoners committed or bailed; jurors lists; lists of pauper lunatics (1829-1881 with gaps); summary of evidence; oaths; certificate of deposit; visitors of asylums; court agendas; appointment of auditors; lists of persons not answering to recognizances; bastardy schedules; police crime statistics; correspondence; notices delivered by printers; annual accounts; turnpike trust accounts; returns of members of Freemasons’ Lodges (1799-1880 with gaps); inquisitions and verdicts; asylums licences; pauper removal appeals; registration of places of worship (1757-1845); relief of insolvent debtors (1742-1824) and Colonial Service Agreements or contracts relating to the transportation of felons to the colonies.(1747-1774).

The card index in the search room can also be used to find direct references to names of the accused and witnesses in the case of criminal matters and the names of the deceased and witnesses involved in coroners inquests (1837-1899 only).