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Criminal Court Records Index

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Bench of Magistrates Index
Court of Civil Jurisdiction Index

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This is a valuable resource relating to the New South Wales colonial justice system and will be of benefit to those of you researching criminals, convicts and crimes committed for the period 1788-1833.

A note about the index

This index includes criminal cases from the Court of Criminal Jurisdiction and the Supreme Court of Criminal Jurisdiction covering the years 1788-1833. It is a valuable resource relating to the New South Wales colonial justice system and will be of benefit to those of you researching criminals, convicts and crimes committed during the early years of the Colony.

The index shows date, name(s) of perpetrators, offence (including names of victims), information about the record and remarks. 

It was compiled from two interim guides available in our reading room:

  • Court of Criminal Jurisdiction, 1788-1824, and
  • Supreme Court: Criminal Jurisdiction, 1824-1833

Civil cases are not included.

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  • Quarter Sessions Guide

    The Quarter Sessions court was an intermediate court with greater powers than the local court or bench but not as great as the Supreme Court. It could hear all crimes and misdemeanours where the crime was not punishable by death.  It met three times a year at various locations throughout NSW. It was composed of two or more magistrates, presided over by an elected Chairman who served the entire colony/state.

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  • Court of Criminal Jurisdiction Guide

    The Letters Patent (or Charter of Justice) provided that the Court should be a Court of Record presided over by the Judge Advocate of the Colony, together with six naval or military officers appointed by the Governor, with the authority to try all criminal causes which were offences under the law of England. A majority vote of the Court was sufficient for conviction except in capital cases, where unless five members of the Court held the accused guilty, the matter was reserved for Royal decision.

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  • Supreme Court Guide

    As a result of the criticisms of the existing judicial arrangements in NSW by Commissioner Bigge, the existing Court of Criminal Jurisdiction and the Supreme Court of Civil Jurisdiction were abolished. The Supreme Court was established under the Third Charter of Justice (1823), operating with a number of jurisdictions from 1824. The Supreme Court heard all matters that were punishable by death until the abolition of the death penalty in 1955.

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