Biddulph & District Genealogy & Historical Society /Biddulph Grange

The “Up To No Good” Document Gallery

The Up To No Good Gallery

The Archivist of the Society, Elaine Heathcote, recently bought some court documents relating to the types of summons that were issued to the people of Bradley Green, Brindley Ford and the surrounding area between 1870 and 1880. They cover a number of subjects but paperwork from the following cases

Transfer Notice of a Liquor License, Summons for being Drunk & Disorderly, Summons under Employer & Workman Act, Summons for being Drunk & Riotous, Application for a Liquor License, Summons by School Attendance Officer, Warning re: failure to send son to school, Summons by School Attendance Officer, Summons for Threatening Behaviour, Summons for Poaching, Summons for Damage and Injury, Summons for Threatening Behaviour and Summons in Bastardy

.... can be viewed by clicking here to open the Up To No Good Gallery.

Some Notes on Local Justice in the 1870’s

Most Victorians paid little attention to Parliament, because it was remote from their daily lives. Local government was more visible and the basic unit of local government was called the "parish," although it no longer necessarily had the same boundaries as a Church of England parish.

In the traditional system dating from medieval times, the parish was responsible for policing and mending roads. Each parish was also obliged to look after its own poor, which it did well or badly in a great variety of ways depending on local needs and resources.

Most functions of local government were carried out by justices of the peace appointed by the county’s Lord Lieutenant. (The other duties of the Lord Lieutenant, who was almost always a peer and the county’s largest landholder, were largely ceremonial.) Justices of the peace had to own land and belong to the Church of England. In the countryside, the local squire was almost certain to be a justice. Clergymen could also be appointed. The justice was an unpaid amateur; he did not need to have any training in law or administration. Serving as justice was a gentlemanly obligation - and a remaining vestige of the paternal authority that upper-class men exerted over the lower orders.

Justices of the peace supervised the paid parish officials who managed poor relief and fixed roads. They also served as magistrates: for petty criminal offenses, the local justice heard the case, passed judgment, and pronounced the sentence. In more serious matters, he ordered that the suspect be bound over for trial before a judge.

How to use a jAlbum file:

When you click the link above you will open a ‘jAlbum’ file which has a number of slides.

To play the slide show of documents click the right arrow key at the bottom right corner of the first picture.

Hover your mouse pointer at centre top of the document and a set of buttons will appear

- to go the next document click on the right arrow,

- to go to the previous document click on the left arrow,

- to return to the BDGHS web site click on the up arrow and then when the first slide re-

- appears click on the up arrow in the top left corner.

The Up To No Good Gallery: Court Papers

These web pages are hosted by 1and1, and the site was originally

created by the late Mr. David Moore

This Page created 01.01.2018 by DJO - See “Site News” for changes.