The Proceedings of the Old Bailey 1674 to 1913

The Old Bailey was the central criminal court for England and Wales, located in central London. This court heard the most serious criminal cases for London and much of the rest of the country. The Proceedings of the Old Bailey website contains a great collection of detailed records from some 200,000 criminal cases spanning roughly 240 years. This collection has been slowly increasing over time. It is a great website to check if you want to know if you had any really interesting characters in your family tree - only the most hardened criminals ended up at the Old Bailey. Access is free.