RefNoQS
TitleSheffield Quarter Sessions
AdminHistoryUnder the Municipal Corporations Act, 1835 (5 & 6 Will IV cap. 76) powers to grant separate courts of quarter sessions for incorporated boroughs were reaffirmed.

Though Sheffield was incorporated as a borough in 1843 under the 1835 Act, calls for a separate court of quarter sessions were rejected (as indeed were those for separate petty sessions courts, which were not granted until 1848). In 1846 a Town Council motion for a separate quarter sessions was defeated. Later, in 1864, a special committee of the Council recommended that though desirable, steps to obtain a separate quarter sessions should not be made until more adequate cell accommodate was available. In 1869 the Council rejected the establishing of a Special Committee to look into the desirability of a separate quarter sessions and a similar idea was also rejected in 1873, though this decision was reversed the following year. This Special Committee was discharged in 1878 without having reported.

In 1880 the Finance Committee of the Town Council requested the Borough Accountant to report on the financial advantages of a separate court of quarter sessions. The report indicated that considerable savings would be made from a separate court. A petition for a separate court was made in July and the grant was made on the 24th September 1880 (for copy of the grant see CA 666/4).

Prior to 1880 jurisdiction over Sheffield was vested in the West Riding Quarter Sessions. The records of the West Riding Quarter Sessions are held at the West Yorkshire Archive Service, West Yorkshire Joint Services, Nepshaw Lane South, Morley, Leeds, LS27 7JQ.

The Courts of Quarter Sessions were replaced by the Courts Act, 1971 with the new Crown Court system.

Glossary:

Affidavit - a written declaration made under oath.

Deposition - a statement under oath, taken down in writing, used in place of the spoken testimony of the witness.

Estreats - to levy a fine.

Indictment - an accusation against the defendant (or theaccused) in a legal case.

Recognizance - a bond or obligation, binding a person to undertake an act.
DescriptionSessions Books, 1880 - 1895 (QS/1)

Minute books, 1918 - 1971 (QS/2)

Recorder's Notebooks, 1920 - 1971 (QS/3)

Calendars of prisoners, 1888 - 1971 (QS/4)

Indictments, 1880 - 1971 (QS/5)

Recognizances and Depositions 1889 - 1971 (QS/6) (see also QS/12)

Masonic Lodge returns, 1917 - 1967 (QS/7)

Appeals, 1885 - 1970 (QS/8)

Appeals Returns, 1894 - 1915 (QS/9)

Order of the Court, 1910 - 1971 (QS/10)

Legal Aid Awards, 1968 - 1970 (QS/11)

Recognizances, 1933 - 1938 (QS/12) (see also QS/6)

Rating Appeals, 1875 - 1936 (QS/13)

Probation Orders, 1913 - 1933 (QS/14)

Maintenance (Bastardy) Orders, 1924 (QS/15)

Road Closing Orders, 1953 - 1971 (QS/16)

Case Costs, 1927 - 1935 (QS/17)

Miscellaneous papers and correspondence, 1919 - 1949, 1961 (QS/18)

Oddments, 1885 - 1919 (QS/19)

Coroners Affidavits, 1881 - 1907 (QS/20)

(Acc. 2009/43)
Includes indictments, April/June/October 1913; Jan/April/July/October 1914 (October incomplete).

(Acc. 2011/141)
City of Sheffield Highway Proceedings (includes proceedings on highway matters signed by Justices of the Peace for Sheffield with accompanying depositions, notices, plans, etc.), Jan 1910 - Jul 1911.
Date1880 - 1971
Extent1,862 items
AccessStatusOpen
AccessConditionsAll records are open to public inspection unless otherwise stated. Information in court records may be subject to access restrictions under the Data Protection Act, or may be subject to exemptions from the Freedom of Information Act. For further information please refer to a member of staff.
LevelCollection
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