Explore more than 160,000 records of prisoners at the bar and their victims with new record release from TheGenealogist

More than 100,000 records of prisoners and their victims held by The National Archives have this week been released by genealogy website TheGenealogist.

The Crim 9 records were created by the Central Criminal Court and document the After Trial Calendar of Prisoners. After Trial Calendars give family history researchers details of ancestors who were up before the Old Bailey, revealing the names of prisoners that had appeared before the court, the committing magistrates, offences the prisoner had been indicted for, the date of their trial and who they were tried before.

The records give the verdict of the jury, previous convictions and the sentence or order of the court. Other information in these records are the names of the victim and the level of education or ‘Degree of Instruction’ as well as false names that the criminals may have used to try and hide their tracks from the authorities.

You can use the After Trial Calendar of Prisoners records to

• Find ancestors accused of crimes ranging from stealing a matchbox to murder
• Discover people standing trial as forgers, baby farmers, German spies and more
• Uncover some of the aliases adopted by criminal ancestors
• See the occupation or trade of the offender
• Research records covering the period 1855-1915

Explore TheGenealogist.