Source Guides and Timelines

Read our source guides and follow the timelines of criminal justice journeys

Source guide for tracing your transported criminal ancestors

Transportation records

old blue police box

Find out more about the history of policing in Britain

Police

rusty prison bars

View our timeline of the history of prisons and imprisonment

Prisons

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Latest Updates on Twitter

ourcriminalpastOur Criminal Past@ourcriminalpast·
5h

Interested in the history of capital punishment? Leeds Historical Criminology event on 19th June at @leedsbeckett @becketthistory. CEO of @TheHowardLeague @francescrook @lizzieseal and Vivien Miller (Nottingham) are speaking. All are welcome, please RT: https://t.co/1HfY7CDeEl

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HistoryatNmptonDrew Gray@HistoryatNmpton·
16 May

‘It is really quite dreadful to see young children standing in the dock charged with drunkenness’. Two young girls are led astray https://t.co/EP9M5oyF6U

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TWArchivesTyne & Wear Archives@TWArchives·
23h

In 1936, over 200 men marched in protest against extreme poverty and unemployment in the North East of England. This march, from Jarrow to London, is known as The Jarrow March, or The Jarrow Crusade. #AuthenticAccounts #OralHistory #UOSH @BLSoundHeritage https://t.co/2awtJpVXAC

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helenrogers19cHelen Rogers@helenrogers19c·
16 May

Flash Histories Symposium 5th July – Creative Histories of Witchcraft

Looking forward to #FlashHistories - another in fab series of #creativehistories events organised by ⁦@willpooley⁩ https://t.co/1mmKCQzfCJ

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colpolicemuseumCoL Police Museum@colpolicemuseum·
15 May

We missed yesterday's theme of #MuseumWeek #SecretsMW These photos are from three years ago showing the space before the museum was built. Paging @DullMuseumSnaps

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squaremileplodSquareMilePlod@squaremileplod·
16 May

Always good to see police and crime related museums succeed - especially the good ones - so please take a read. https://t.co/90mHzz8vYU

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PlymLawSchoolPlymouth Law Group@PlymLawSchool·
18h

Prof judith rowbotham has attracted a large audience for her fascinating talk on Nancy Astor and Plymouth The woman is sure to get In in association with @DGuildhall @isperplym @plymhistoryfest

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Latest Blogs

Tracing gang members – the complicated case of Charles ‘Darby’ Sabini

May 14, 2019

With the Peaky Blinders set to return to our screens later this year, Prof Heather Shore takes a look at the complicated lives of one of the families that has featured in the series, the Sabinis.

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Figuring out the past: crime statistics as social history

March 4, 2019

What can crime statistics tell us about the past? PhD researcher, Ashley Borrett, examines the interwar crime rates for Hull to find out more.

cover of the Hull and East Riding source guide

WDYTYA? Our Criminal Ancestors in 50 Family History websites to watch in 2019

February 12, 2019

Our Criminal Ancestors features in Who Do You Think You Are? magazine’s 50 websites to watch in 2019.

Upcoming Events

Street Scene

Rethinking the Death Penalty: Mitigation, Abolition and After

June 19, 2019

2019 is the fiftieth anniversary of the permanent abolition of the death penalty for murder in Great Britain. To mark the occasion, this seminar will provide an opportunity to examine the past, present and future of the death penalty.