Old court records

spurious

Is there a repository of old court records (for serious cases - murder etc.)?

The case I am interested in is from 1912. If such records exist would they be in the British National Archives?

Peregrinus

Unlikely to be in the British national archives, unless the case was a political one that was managed and conducted from London.

There's a sporting chance that any records would have been lost either in the burning of the Custom House in 1921 or (more likely) in the burning of the Public Records Office in 1922. Any that do survive will be in the National Archives.

Court records of a criminal trial will actually be pretty sketchy, and mostly procedural — there won't be much in them about the actual facts of the case. Newspaper reports of the trial will probably have much more detail of the evidence given and the argument made. If there was an appeal against conviction, there may be a record of the judgment of the appeal court, which might give more detail.

If you can get your hands on the police files covering the investigation of the murder, that will probably give you much more information than the court files would. But you face the same risk that the files did not survive the War of Independence/Civil War.

RetroEncabulator

Academic law libraries in universities with significant law schools will definitely have the judgements, which can be very detailed. You might be able to request external reader access, but usually only with a valid reason, at the discretion of the university and normally a fee applies

spurious

Thank you both.

Unfortunately it is not a political case. In brief, it is a case where a man killed his father (who was allegedly beating his mother) with one blow. Originally charged with murder, last newspaper report we can find says he was to be charged with manslaughter, but no sentence or report of a full trial.

Some evidence to show the same man ended up in Australia a couple of years later, but cannot find definitive proof that he was not sentenced to any time for the killing.

IsaacWunder

You should be able to easily find police and court records.

Ireland was administered by the British in 1912, and policing was split between the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) outside Dublin and the Dublin Metropolitan Police (in the city of Dublin and suburbs).

Royal Irish Constabulary records (including police reports and papers on criminal offences) are held by the National Archives in London.

Dublin Metropolitan Police records are held by University College Dublin Library.

You should be able to find details of arrest and charge in the police records.

As for court records, the National Archives of Ireland in Dublin hold all court records, including those pre-1922 (i.e. under the British administration).

Good luck with it!

spurious

Thank you. It looks like both sets of National Archives will be where I have to look.

cobham

I found prison records for Dublin online and it was 1913. I think it was just an Ancestry search on a name? I think the record gave the sentence, dates etc and we were lucky to find a newspaper account of court appearance

spurious

Thanks Cobham, I have a feeling it may not have ever gone to trial, judging by what few newspaper reports there are, there was a great deal of sympathy for the man who struck his father once as he was beating his mother.

There was a newspaper mention at one hearing of reducing the charge to manslaughter and then nothing, no more reports on the case. I just wonder if someone made the decision not to proceed with the case, would it be recorded somewhere?

cobham

Would there have been an inquest? noted on death cert?? I am not sure how those records are kept if any survive from that time.

icdg

OP this page may be of help:

https://www.nationalarchives.ie/legal-records/court-records-held-in-the-national-archives/

The short answer seems to be that pre-independence records of the superior courts and the Dublin local courts are gone due to the PRO destruction, but the records of the Petty Sessions (Magistrates’ Courts), County Courts/Quarter Sessions and Assizes outside Dublin survived.