Quarter Session
Order Books
on Microfilm
at the Hive
Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology
Service
2012
1
Contents
Introduction
Page 3-5
Index
Page 6-8
2
Quarter Sessions Introduction
The History of Quarter Sessions
Quarter Sessions were county courts created by an Act in
1361. The Act stated that Justices of the Peace should
meet to conduct local business four times a year i.e.
Easter (April), Midsummer (July), Michaelmas (October)
and Epiphany (January). Each session aimed to carry out
its proceedings within one day and dealt with cases that
did not carry the death sentence. They were presided over
by Justices of the Peace, who were appointed by
Commissioners of the Peace from the King and were
usually wealthy landowners. These sessions continued
until they were replaced by Crown Courts in January
1972. The gravest of offences went to the Assize Courts,
which were categorised into circuits. Worcestershire came
under the Oxford Circuit and all of the surviving papers are
held in the National Archives.
Information provided by Quarter Sessions Records
The type of cases heard in the Quarter Sessions Courts
often overlapped with Consistory (Bishops’ and
Archdeacons’) Courts e.g. regulating of recusants (i.e.
absentees from church) and witchcraft. As well as the
traditional crimes of theft and assault, offences such as
cleansing of ditches, lopping of trees by the roadside,
obstruction of highways and footpaths, increasingly came
under the QS jurisdiction, due to the gradual decay of the
manor courts.
The Quarter Sessions Courts also dealt with many
administrative duties, which from 1889 became the
responsibility of the newly created County Councils e.g.
licensing of alehouses, supervising the administration of
3
taxes such as maintenance of highways and bridges, poor
law disputes, weights and measures, etc.
Quarter Sessions contain information, which is useful if
you are carrying out family and local history or researching
subjects such as public houses, transport, religion, social
and administrative history. Researchers might find Petty
Sessions, Criminal Register Indexes and Lists of
Bankrupts records useful. Details of these can be found in
the table at the back of the folder. Additionally, Tuition
Bonds and Acts of Guardianship, for children whose
parents had died, can also be useful. Tuition Bonds were
given by persons appointed as guardians of minors, by the
judge of the court. The acts of guardianship are the
attested proceedings of the court. These are available on
microfilm for the years 1685-1814.
Quarter Session Order Books
These are formal records of the Quarter Sessions Court,
containing the Justice's orders although the emphasis is
on the administrative, economic and civil matters of the
Court, rather than criminal cases. They include entries
relating to the support of illegitimate children,
apprenticeships,
settlements
and
removals,
misdemeanours, highways, poor rates; and licences etc.
How to use the Handlist
To find the entry on the microfilm please look at the
volumes of indexes for the Quarter Sessions Order Books
from 1693-1833. These contain the dates of the sessions
with indexes of personal names, place names, subjects
and dates of sessions. Each item has a page number.
Go to the page number in the appropriate volume on the
microfilm to find the entry.
4
The microfilms are labelled on the back of the box. This
will give the volume number and the dates covered within
the volume.
5
Index to Microfilms
Film No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Volume
1
2
3 part
3 part
4
5 part
5 part
6
7 part
7 part
8
9 part
9 part
10
11 part
11 part
12
13 part
13 part
14
15 part
15 part
16
17 part
17 part
18
19 part
19 part
20
21 part
21 part
22
23 part
23 part
24
25
26 part
26 part
Dates Covered
1693-1712
1715-1731
1732-1742
1742-1756
1757-1772
1773-1780
1779-1790
1791-1795
1795-1798
1796-1802
1802-1807
1807-1814
1814
1815-1821
1821-1825
1825-1829
1829-1833
1833-1836
1836-1837
1837-1841
1841-1844
1844
1844-1847
1848-1850
1850
1850-1852
1852-1854
1854-1855
1855-1857
1857-1858
1858-1859
1859-1862
1862-1863
1863-1864
1864-1866
1866-1868
1869-1872
1871-1872
6
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
27 part
27 part
28
29
30 part
30 part
31
32 part
32 part
33
34 part
34 part
35 part
35 part
36
37 part
37 part
38
38 part
39
40
41
1872
1872-1875
1875-1877
1878-1880
1880-1883
1883
1883-1886
1887-1889
1889-1891
1891-1897
1897-1900
1900-1902
1903-1904
1904-1907
1907-1913
1913-1914
1914-1924
1924-1932
1932-1933
1934-1945
1946-1951
1952-1955
7
Other related records which might be of use
These films and fiche are to be found in the Miscellaneous Private
Family and Other Collections film cabinet in the Finding Aids area.
Title
Pershore
Petty Sessions
Tuition Bonds and
Acts of Guardianship
Criminal Register
Indexes for
Herefordshire &
Worcestershire
List of Bankrupts:
National
Directory of
Bankrupts: National
Dates Covered
Film/Fiche No.
19 Nov 1894 5th Sep1899
1685-1814
Film 1
Drawer 5
Films 1-2
Drawer 5
Fiche 1-3
Drawer 8
1805-1816
1774-1786
1820-1843
8
Fiche 1 & 2
Drawer 8
8 fiche
Drawer 8