The Precedings of Old Bailey #
May 7th, 2008 | In Worth Distraction
The records of the central criminal court of London from 1674 to 1913 are now online. It’s not exactly the most user-friendly interface, but you can find some interesting tidbits. The Economist’s story has some interesting bits, like this:
Henry Williams, who in 1886 was sentenced to four months’ hard labour for “attempting an abominable crime with a mare”.
Another interesting — and sometimes ghastly — thing to do is see what crimes merited what punishment. Some truly gruesome punishments are on display, like John Morgan who was drawn and quatered in 1679 for “having received Orders from the See of Rome.”