Devon - Court Records

A large variety of Quarter Session Records are held by the Devon Record Office. A 1971 listing, Assizes and Quarter Sessions in Exeter, is available from them, and a more recent summary of their holdings is to be found in:

Chiswell, Ann. Coroner's Accounts for the County of Devon from Easter session 1815 to the following Michaelmas Session. In 25 Years with the Devon Family Historian, pp.4-8, Devon FHS, (2001).

Notebooks kept by Baldwin Fulford JP, of Dunsford, of his court cases have been trancribed by Fay Sampson Priestley. (The original documents are in private hands.)

Calendars of Prisoners, from the Devon Quarter Sessions Records, DRO Q32 and QS34, transcribed by Brian Brassett.

Calendars of Badgers Licenses, and of Convictions for Swearing, from the Devon Quarter Sessions Records, DRO Q14, transcribed by Brian Brassett.

Devon Cases from the Court Depositions of South West England 1500-1700 website - Case 6: The Rape of Earth Bickley, Case 8: Hue and Cry for a Stolen Shirt, Case 9: Missing Sheep and Case 11: Payment for Pasturing (full transcripts).

Indictable Offences (c.1745 - c.1782), from the Devon Quarter Sessions Records, DRO QS10/1, transcribed by Brian Brassett.

Maimed Soldiers, from the Devon Quarter Sessions Records, DRO QS128, transcribed by Bev Edmonds.

Transportation of Felons, from the Devon Quarter Sessions Records, DRO QS129, transcribed by Bev Edmonds.

The Devon and Exeter Oath Rolls 1723 - transcribed by the Friends of Devon's Archives. (Indexed transcription of "the names of over 25,000 Devonians, amounting to some one in five of the adult population of the time".)

The Right to Remain Silent - Quarter Sessions cataloguing project - the splendid official project blog, by Robert Bennett, Project Archivist.

Devon Freeholders, 1711-1799 - transcribed by Simon Dixon of the Friends of Devon's Archives. (Indexed "transcripts of one book for each decade until the end of the eighteenth century" of a series of Freeholders Books, some 25,000 names in all, "compiled for the purposes of identifying inhabitants of the county who were eligible to serve on juries".) The rest of the volumes for the period up to 1780 (some 45 volumes, containing over 130,000 names have now been transcribed - see the GENUKI Devon Freeholders pages.

Devon Section of the Elizabethan Star Chamber Project - listing of over 800 (as of Jan 2024) Devon-related documents "submitted or generated in the course of judicial proceedings, mostly in equity, heard before the Court of Star Chamber during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603)", titled with the names of the plaintiff and defendant, held in TNA STAC 5.

Inquests Taken into Suspicious or Unexplained Deaths, transcribed by Lindsey Withers:

• for 1824-1835, 1836-1844, 1845-1854, 1855-1864, 1865-1874, 1875-1884, 1885-1894, 1895-1904, 1905-1914, 1915-1916, 1917-1919, 1920-1921, 1922-1923, 1924-1925, 1926-1927, 1928-1929 and 1930-1931 from the North Devon Journal,
• for 1827-1830, 1831-1834, 1835-1836, 1839-1840, 1841-42, 1843-1844, 1845-46, 1847-1848, 1849-1850, 1851, 1886, 1887, 1889, Sep.-Dec. 1890, 1891, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, and 1921 from the Exeter and Plymouth Gazette,
• for 1827-1831, 1832-1833, 1834-1835, 1836-1837, 1838-1839, 1840, 1841, 1888, 1910, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919 and 1920 from the Western Times,
• for 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1930  from the Western Times together with the Exeter and Plymouth Gazette,
• for 1832-1854, from the Plymouth and Devonport Weekly Journal and General Advertiser for Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset, the Western Courier, West of England Conservative, Plymouth and Devonport Advertiser,
• for 1801-1826, 1840-1845, 1846-1855, 1856-1860, 1861-1865, 1866-1870, 1871-1875, 1876-1880, 1881-1885, 1889-1893 and 1894-1900 - articles from Trewman's Exeter Flying Post. (Unfortunately, the years 1886 to 1888 are missing from the British Newspaper Archive.)
• for 1846-1910, from the Torquay Times and South Devon Advertiser and Torquay Directory and South Devon Journal,
• for 1860-1861, 1862-1863, 1864-1865, 1866, 1875-1876, 1879, 1889, and 1900, from the Tiverton Gazette (Mid Devon Gazette),
• for 1862-1873, from the Sidmouth Journal and Directory,
• for 1869-1909, from the Dartmouth Chronicle and Brixham Advertiser and the Dartmouth and South Hams Chronicle,
• for 1874-1909, from the East and South Devon Advertiser,
• for 1875-1876, 1877-1878, 1885 and 1887, 1888, 1890-1891, 1892, 1893, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1914, 191, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920 , 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928 and 1929 from the Western Morning News,
• and for 1899-1912 from the Hartland and West Country Chronicle,

A selection of mainly 19th century (British) newspaper reports of Devon court cases (archived copy), published by the Centre for Comparative Law, History and Governance at Macquarie Law School, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.

Cornwall Gaol Records - Exeter Assizes 1884-1887, provided by John Clark.

Bennett, Robert. Devon Quarter Sessions, Family Tree Magazine, (March 2013) pp. 50-51.

Chanter, J F. Swainmote courts of Exmoor, and the Devonshire portion and purlieus of the forest. Trans. Devon. Assoc. 39 (1907), map, pp. 267-301. [Index]

Cockburn, J.S. Western Circuit Assize Orders, 1629-1648: A calendar, Royal Historical Society, Camden 4th Series, vol. 17, (1976)

Dixon, Simon. The 1723 Oaths of Allegiance Rolls, Family Tree Magazine, (Feb 2008) pp.32-34.

Fudge, W.K. The Value of Old Parchment Documents in Genealogical and Topographical Research, Topographical Quarterly, vol. 3, no. 3, (1935) pp.173-225. [Deeds]

Fudge, W.K. Palaeography, Genealogy and Topography, Topographical Quarterly, vol. 6, no. 4, (1938) pp.203-228. [Deeds]

Gibson, J.S.W. Quarter Sessions Records for Family Historians. FFHS (1995).

Hamilton, A.H.A. The Justices of the Peace for the County of Devon in the year 1592. Trans. Devon. Assoc. 8 (1876), pp. 517-525. [Index]

Hamilton, A.H.A. The Jurisdiction of The Lord Warden of The Stannaries in The Time of Sir Walter Raleigh. Trans. Devon. Assoc. 8 (1876), pp. 380-383. [Transcript]

Hamilton, A.H.A. The Justices of the Peace for the County of Devon and the Benevolences of 1614 and 1622 Trans. Devon. Assoc. 9 (1877), pp. 404-406. [Index]

Hamilton, A.H.A. Quarter Sessions from Queen Elizabeth to Queene Anne: Illustrations of local government and history, drawn from original records (chiefly of the county of Devon), 19th-century legal treatises ; no. 9664-9667. London, Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington (1878) 364 pp. [Index]

Hamilton, A.H.A. The Justices of the Peace for the County of Devon under Charles I and Oliver Cromwell. Trans. Devon. Assoc. 10 (1878), pp. 309-314. [Index]

Hawkings, David T. Coroners' Records at the Quarter Sessions, Family Tree Magazine, vol. 23, no. 6, (2007) p.11. [Provides full transcript of a Devon coroner's 1814-15 expense account listing the 37 enquiries attended - giving in each case the date, place, name of deceased, cause of death and name of informant.]

Howard, A.J. (transcr.). Assize roll: county of Devon 1332, Typescript (1970). [D&CRS Library, Exeter: P1332]

Howard, A.J. (transcr.). Assize roll: county of Devon, Typescript (1970). [D&CRS Library, Exeter: P1359]

Howard, A.J. (transcr.). Assize roll: county of Devon 1358/9, Typescript (1973). [D&CRS Library, Exeter: P1358]

Jewell, Sheila. Coroners Briefs, Devon Family Historian, vol. 99, (2001) pp.7-8. [List of coroners verdicts, giving name, date and cause of death, during the period 1784-6, from the Devon R.O. Quarter Sessions records.]

Kennett, Debbie Cruwys. Court Depositions of South West England 1500-1700, Devon Family Historian, vol. 184, (2022) pp.44-45.

Lega-Weekes, Ethel. Prisoners in Devon, temp. Ric. II. Devon Notes & Queries, vol. I, (January 1900 to January 1901), p. 181-2. [Transcript]

Moger, O.M. (transcr.). Quarter sessions, Devonshire: Civil War petitions from 1642-1685, Typescript (1983). [D&CRS Library: R QUA]

Rogers, George Blaxland. The Practice of the Sheriff's Court of the County of Devon, Exeter: Printed for the Author & Published by Upham & Trewman (1824) 149 pp. [Index]

Summerson, Henry. Crown Pleas of the Devon Eyre of 1238, Devon and Cornwall Record Society 28 (1985). [ISBN 0901853283] [Devon FHS Library 942.35034]

Tamblin, Stuart (transcr.). Criminal Register Indexes (PRO HO 27), Vol. 2: Devon & Cornwall (1805-16), Family History Indexes, 14 Copper Leaf Close, Moulton, Northampton (2000). [Diskette and microfiche]

Tamblin, Stuart (transcr.). Criminal Register Indexes (PRO HO 27), Vol. CDP1: Devon, Cornwall, Somerset & Dorset (1805-16), Family History Indexes, 14 Copper Leaf Close, Moulton, Northampton (2001). [CD]

Willcocks, Frederick. The Black Assizes in the West. Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. 16 (1884) pp. 595-604 [Index]

Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1844, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D011). [Foreword]

Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1845, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D012). [Foreword]

Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1846, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D013). [Foreword]

Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1847, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D014). [Foreword]

Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1848, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D015). [Foreword]

Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1849, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D016). [Foreword]

Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1850, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D017). [Foreword]

Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1851, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D018). [Foreword]

Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1852, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D019). [Foreword]

Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1853, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D020). [Foreword]

Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1854, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D021). [Foreword]

Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1855, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D022). [Foreword]

Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1856, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D023). [Foreword]

Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1857, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D024). [Foreword]

Devon Court Case Notes, (1851-52). [Devon FHS Library p345.01]

Register of Insolvent Debtors - 1824-1834, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D009). [Foreword]

Register of Insolvent Debtors - 1835-1847, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D010). [Foreword]

Register of Pedlars Indorsements - 1871-1875, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D029). [Foreword]

Register of Pedlars Indorsements - 1875-1881, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D030). [Foreword]

Register of Persons Admitted To Asylums - 1834-1853, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D035). [Foreword]