Our Criminal Ancestors

Our Criminal Ancestors encourages people to explore the criminal past of their own families, communities, towns and regions.  The project not only focuses on those who committed crimes but includes the accused, victims, witnesses, prisoners, police, prison officers, solicitors and magistrates and others who worked in the criminal justice system.  The website aims to provide a useful starting point for anyone looking to explore their criminal ancestry, providing handy tips, advice and insights on the history of crime, policing and punishment as well as case studies and blogs to help in your research.
Our criminal ancestors were often ordinary people - most were minor offenders whose contact with the criminal justice system was a brief moment in their lives, and only a small minority were what we might term today ‘serious offenders’.  The project hopes to share a greater understanding of the sometimes difficult situations and context for understanding how or why individuals, and sometimes groups of people, encountering the criminal justice system.
The website looks for stories and events from between roughly 1700 and 1939 (lots of records are subject to closure of between 75-100 years).  The Our Criminal Ancestors project is led by principal investigator Dr Helen Johnston of the University of Hull and co-investigator Dr Heather Shore of Leeds Beckett University and launched its website in April.  The website organisers are also encouraging members of the public to get involved by sharing stories of their criminal ancestors via Historypin.