Live streaming from Scotland's Court of Session commences

The Court of Session in Scotland, the country's highest civil court, has commenced a new live streaming service of cases. At this stage, appeals to civil cases heard in the Inner House are being streamed only.

Civil cases could be heard from 1532 in the Court of Session, after it was established by James V, with cases presided over by the Lord Chancellor of Scotland. In 1810 the court was divided into two, with an Outer House (a court of first instance) and Inner House (a court both of first instance and appeal). In 1815 a Jury Court was also created to allow trial by jury for civil matters for the first time, though this was absorbed into the Court of Session in 1830.

The Court of Session oversees many civil actions, including issues such as debt recovery, divorce actions from 1830, sequestrations (bankruptcies), the appointment of guardians to oversee the estates of the sick or insane, and cases of defamation. It also has the most prominent series of registers of deeds, and could hear services of heirs cases.

If your ancestors were tried in the Court of Session, had cases prosecuted on their behalf, or acted as witnesses, the live stream can give you a flavour of the sort of experience they may have gone through. For more on the announcement of the streaming service, visit https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-66020408, whilst the stream itself is available at https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/the-courts/supreme-courts/about-the-court-of-session/court-of-session-livestream-hearings.    

You can find more about the role of the Court of Session, as well as other courts in Scotland, and their relevance for genealogical research, in my book Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records, details below!

                                            Entrance to the Law Courts, Parliament Square, (c) Kim Traynor, Creative Commons

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

People, Place and Power: The Grand Jury System in Ireland

I've just carried out three separate research jobs for a client which relied heavily on Irish land records, but the third in particular involved the use also of Grand Jury presentment and query books for County Louth, with many of the relevant query books available online from the Louth County Archives website at www.louthcoco.ie/en/services/archives/online-digital-archives/louth-grand-jury-query-books/. 

The books, produced from the late 18th century onwards, are a wonderful resource for the main arm of local administration in Ireland prior to 1899 (before they were replaced with County Councils, Rural Councils and District Councils), with published presentment books and query books from the late 18th century listing jurors, constables and sub-constables, as well as public works to be carried out in the county, and the costs involved. 

The Beyond 2022 project (https://beyond2022.ie) has now placed online a new book published by Trinity College Dublin entitled People, Place and Power: The Grand Jury System in Ireland, by Brian Gurrin, david Brown, Peter Crooks and Ciaran Wallace, which can be found at https://beyond2022.ie/the-grand-jury-system-in-ireland. The book is free to download.

The Grand Jury was in use in Ireland from Anglo-Norman times, although for many centuries it largely only had a judical function at assizes and quarter sessions. A lot of Grand Jury records have been destroyed, not least with many of them gathered into the Public Record Office, which was largely destroyed in the Irish Civil War in 1922. A lot of material has survived, however, in published form and at other repositories, and with some resources reproduced online (including for Donegal on FindmyPast).

Enjoy the book - and don't forget that my new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records will be coming out from Pen and Sword later this summer, and is already available for pre-order at Amazon on www.amazon.co.uk/Tracing-Irish-Ancestors-Through-Records/dp/1526780216 (NB: there may be a change to the cover!)! 

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

On the Wrong Side of the Law seminar

From the Guild of One Name Studies (https://one-name.org):

Five free & fascinating web presentations from speakers to comprise a virtual On the Wrong Side of the Law seminar of the Guild of One-Name Studies, available to all. The talks include ones on criminal ancestors, including transported criminals, and what you can find in the Police Gazette. The presentations become live at 10am on Saturday, 16 May, and will stay available for a week, so you can dip in and out of the talks. For Guild members, they'll be available on the Guild site in the members room thereafter.

Provisional programme:

• Getting to Know Your Criminal Ancestors – Aoife O’Connnor (Find My Past)
• Tramps’ Tales: Discovering the history of homelessness in Britain – Nick Crowson (University of Birmingham)
• Why You Need the Police Gazette (part 1) – Richard Heaton 3231
• Why You Need the Police Gazette (part 2) – Richard Heaton 3231
• Tracking Down Transported Criminals – Michelle Patient 5840 (genealogist)

For further details visit https://www.facebook.com/events/848039982362983/ and https://one-name.org/seminar_2020may_ruishton/

(With thanks to Wendy Archer)

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course starts June 8th - see www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. My next book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is out shortly, also available are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Irish prison and petty session court records indexes added to Ancestry

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has added third party indexes for the following two collections from the Republic of Ireland's National Archives:

Ireland, Prison Registers, 1790-1924
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/61943/
Source: Ireland Prison Registers, National Archives of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.

This collection includes records detailed in prison registers from across Ireland for the years 1790-1924. Originally serving largely as establishments for pre and post-trial detention as well as for the imprisonment of those who could not afford to pay their debts, gradual changes to the prison system in Ireland resulted in larger institutions, including four national convict prisons, 38 county prisons and 98 local jails. From 1850s, sentences of transportation were replaced with penal sentences and an emphasis was placed on reform.

Details for each individual recorded in this collection may include (where available):

Name
Residence
Place of birth
Occupation
Age
Offence
Sentence or discharge, or date and place of committal


Ireland, Petty Session Court Registers, 1818-1926
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/61938/
Source: Ireland Petty Session Court Registers: CSPS 1, National Archives of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.

This collection includes details of petty session cases held in courts across Ireland for the years 1818-1926. It includes details of over 23 million individuals involved in petty session hearings.

Petty sessions were the lowest tier in the court system and usually involved cases such as drunkenness or minor theft. They were presided over by magistrates and did not involve a jury.

Details for each individual recorded in this collection may include (where available):

Name
Role in the case
Date of the hearing
Location of the court
Occupation
Offence

Chris

You can pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 (out April). Also available, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.