Crime and criminals

Introduction The National Records of Scotland (NRS) holds many records relating to crime and criminals. Ironically, you are more likely to find information about someone who committed a crime than those who were respectable, law-abiding citizens. Information about crime and criminals may be found in records of the inquiries into the criminal cases, the records of criminal courts, and prison records.

The guide has been divided up into the following sections:

High Court of Justiciary

The NRS normally receives records from the High Court when they are more than 10 years old. High Court trial records less than 75 years old are restricted, and not open to public access without the permission of the Court.

The main record of a High Court trial is the bundle of case papers known as the 'process' or 'small papers', (also 'case papers' or 'sitting papers') (NRS ref. JC26). They usually include a copy of the indictment, which sets out the charges against the accused, depositions, confessions and other information on the accused and the crime, together with information about witnesses and jurors. You may also find statements by the accused and other papers produced as evidence, but case papers do not include transcripts of trials.

Finding records of individual trials depends on the date. All case papers from 1800 onwards are in the process of being fully catalogued, allowing them to be identified on our electronic catalogue by searching under the name of the accused. The period from 1840 has been completed and the period from 1801-1839 will be added to the electronic catalogue gradually. Case papers not catalogued in this way are stored according to the year and location of the trial, and it is necessary to search through them to find individual records. For some cases more than 100 years old it is possible to identify records by searching our electronic catalogue under the name of the victim of the crime.

Further trial records are found in the High Court's minute books, which provide summaries of proceedings in court. There are minute books for Edinburgh cases since 1576 (NRS ref. JC6-JC9), and for circuit cases since 1655 (NRS ref. JC10-JC14). Additionally, there are the books of adjournal, which contain copies of indictments with brief summaries of trial proceedings. There are books of adjournal for Edinburgh cases since 1576 (NRS ref. JC2-JC5), and for circuit cases since 1890 (NRS ref. JC15). There is also a small series of selected trial transcripts from 1888 onwards (NRS ref. JC36), details of which will shortly be added to our electronic catalogue.

Some trials have been printed in 'Pitcairn's Criminal Trials in Scotland, 1498-1624' (Bannatyne Club, 1829-31), 'Selected Justiciary Cases, 1624-1650' (Stair Society, 1953, 1972 and 1974) and 'The Records of the Proceedings of the Justiciary Court, Edinburgh, 1661-1678' (Scottish History Society, 1905). Some of the more sensational trials are covered in William Roughhead's series of 'Notable Scottish Trials'.

Finding aids

Lord Advocate's Department (AD)

The precognitions relate to serious crimes tried at the High Court in the 19th and 20th centuries, though few survive before 1812. They can be identified by searching on our electronic catalogue under the name of the accused. Precognitions less than 75 years old are closed to public access.

If a precognition is available there will usually be a record of a trial at the High Court too, although cases do not always come to a trial. Similarly as records do not always survive, beware the temptation of concluding that there was no trial if you cannot find a precognition.

Privy Council (PC)

Sheriff courts

The electronic catalogue lists the records we hold for each sheriff court, although criminal trials are not indexed and it is necessary to search through records to find individual cases. From the 19th century onwards most of the courts kept criminal records separately from civil case records, but in the earlier period you will often find these records mixed together.

There are different types of sheriff court trials. More serious cases are heard before a sheriff and jury, and are known as 'solemn' trials; depending on the court, records can be called a number of different things, including:

• criminal court books
• criminal records
• criminal registers
• jury trials
• libels
• indictments

Less serious cases are heard before the sheriff alone, and are called summary trials. Records of these are normally called 'criminal and quasi-criminal roll books' or 'records of summary trials'. For most of the 20th century there were also separate trials for juveniles.

Recent sheriff court records
If you are looking for information about your own conviction bear in mind that the NRS only receives trial records from sheriff courts once they are more than 25 years old. Before this date they are found at the court where the trial took place. However, in the modern period the main record of summary cases is destroyed after 10 years, when the conviction is considered 'spent', and there may only be a brief record in a criminal and quasi-criminal roll book or in summary court sheets. Contact details for all of the sheriff courts can be found on the Scottish Courts website.

If you require evidence of your conviction you can contact Disclosure Scotland, who will produce a 'basic disclosure' showing all unspent convictions on payment of a fee. If you need to show both spent and unspent convictions you should contact your local police force and make a 'subject access' request for this information under the Data Protection Act 1998. You can find contact details for all of the Scottish forces on the Scottish Police Forces website.

Admiralty Court

Burgh courts

Justices of the Peace courts

Franchise courts

• regality courts
• barony courts
• stewartry courts
• bailiery courts

With the exception of the barony courts, they were abolished in 1747, after which the barony courts quickly declined. The records are mainly in a separate series (NRS ref. RH11), which are available at General Register House, some of which have been digitised and are available on Virtual Volumes in the NRS search rooms. Others may be found scattered among private collections, and in sheriff court (NRS ref. SC) and burgh (NRS ref. B) records. Selections of franchise court records have been published by the Stair Society and the Scottish History Society.

Transportation

A small series of transportation papers (NRS ref. JC41) can be found in High Court records for the period 1653-1853. The early period mainly consists of certificates of transportation for convicts to America in the 1770s; the latter papers date from 1837-1853, and consist of lists of convicts and extract sentences of transportation.

The criminal trials for individuals sentenced to transportation can be found in the papers of the High Court of Justiciary. Information on these records can be found in the section on the High Court of Justiciary above.

Witchcraft

Covenanters

Jacobites

• 'A List of Persons concerned in the Rebellion' (Scottish History Society, 1890);
• D Dobson, 'Directory of Scots Banished to the American Plantations' (Genealogical Publishing Company, 1983);
• 'The Prisoners of the '45', edited by B G Seton and J G Arnot (Scottish History Society, 1928-1929); and
• T B Howell, 'A Complete Collection of State Trials' (London, 1816) vols. XV and XVIII.

Criminals and prisoners

There are warding and liberation books from the Edinburgh Tolbooth for the period 1657-1816 (NRS ref. HH11); selected entries have been published in the 'Book of the Old Edinburgh Club', edited by J Fairley (vols. 4- 6, 8, 9, 11 and 12).

Administrative records for Scottish prisons (NRS ref. HH12) occasionally contain references to individual prisoners, and there are also a small number of prisoner files (NRS ref. HH15), details of which are found on the electronic catalogue.

Other prison registers are found in sheriff court records:

Please note that staff in the NRS will not make speculative searches through prison records for an individual, even for a given census year.

The National Records of Scotland
Crown Copyright 2012