Catalogue description Assizes: Northern and North-Eastern Circuits: Criminal Depositions and Case Papers

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Details of ASSI 45
Reference: ASSI 45
Title: Assizes: Northern and North-Eastern Circuits: Criminal Depositions and Case Papers
Description:

Northern Circuit, criminal depositions and indictments.

The depositions and case papers in this series are the records of the Northern Circuit prior to 1876, and the North-Eastern Circuit from 1876. The series includes depositions taken following the Northern Rising of 1663. During the late nineteenth century and from 1924 to 1952 the depositions relate mainly to murder and other more serious crimes but thereafter they cover a wider range of offences.

Note: The naming of a defendant within this catalogue does not imply guilt.
Date: 1613-1971
Arrangement:

  • ASSI 45/1/1 - ASSI 45/40/2 (1613-1800): The papers are arranged largely by year and then in alphabetical order by the surname of the accused. In many boxes, a few papers are filed out of alphabetical order at the end of the sequence. For ASSI 45/1/1 - ASSI 45/19/1, former used in a previous but not dissimiliar arrangement of the series are also given.
  • ASSI 45/41 - ASSI 45/62 (1801-1829): Following the original administrative order, the papers are in bundles by county and session. These are not catalogued by the names of individuals. To find a particular case, check the crown minute books in series ASSI 41 first.
  • ASSI 45/63 - ASSI 45/83 (1830-1890): The bundles of documents are for the most part artificial constructs, grouped by range of years. These are not catalogued by the names of individuals.
  • ASSI 45/84/1A - ASSI 45/1138 (1906; 1924-1971): Each file relates to an individual case. The files are arranged by year and catalogued by the surname of the accused and the type of offence.

Related material:

For information on the outcome of the cases, see Crown and Civil Minute Books in: ASSI 41
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Legal status: Public Record(s)
Language: English
Creator:

Justices of Assize, North-Eastern Circuit, 1876-1971

Justices of Assize, Northern Circuit, 1541-1876
Physical description: 1138 bundles, files and papers
Access conditions: Subject to 30 year closure unless otherwise stated
Selection and destruction information: Although this series includes some of the earliest extant paper for any common law court, the rate of survival before the 1640s is poor. Between 1640 and 1829 many more papers have survived. From 1830-1890 the survival rate is poorer. With the exception of one piece of 1906, depositions from 1891 to 1923 have not survived. From 1924 onwards, selected depositions have been preserved permanently.
Publication note:

Various depositions, dated between 1640 and 1690, and now in ASSI 45/1/2 – ASSI 45/15/4, were published in Depositions from the castle of York, relating to offences committed in the Northern counties in the seventeenth century, ed James Raine (Surtees Society, XL, 1861).
Unpublished finding aids:

An index to ASSI 45/1/1 – ASSI 45/40/2 by the types of offences is available in the reading rooms at The National Archives. This information is not currently available in the online catalogue.

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