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Old Bailey Online

@oldbaileyonline.bsky.social
1.4K followers 156 following 37 posts

Historical crime online. www.oldbaileyonline.org

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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
On #InternationalCatDay, we found some tales of (not) cats in the night. "they heard a Noise in the Scullery and another Room, but thinking it to the Cat, they went to Bed" www.oldbaileyonline.org/record/t1720...
oldbaileyonline.org
The Proceedings of the Old Bailey
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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
TIL: a) it's #InternationalOwlDay 🦉 b) "drunk as an owl" used to be a Thing www.oldbaileyonline.org/record/t1749... Me neither.
oldbaileyonline.org
The Proceedings of the Old Bailey
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Dr Angela Muir @drangelamuir.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
I'm very pleased to say my new book, 'Rogues, Rakes and Robbers: a True Crime History of Georgian Britain' is available to pre-order through @calonbooks.bsky.social I hope people enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it! #georgianhistory #historyofcrime #history www.uwp.co.uk/book/rogues-...
uwp.co.uk
Rogues, Rakes and Robbers | UWP
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Dr Anna Clark @drannaclark.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
The power of laughter: Thomas Rowlandson, English caricaturist, satirised absurdities of Georgian England, born #OTD 1756. Doctor Convex & Lady Concave 1802; A Little Tighter 1791; A Little Bigger 1791: coloured etchings. Royal Collection Trust
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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
It's World Bicycle Day, celebrating the benefits of cycling. www.un.org/en/observanc... Our earliest mention of "bicycle" seems to be in 1875, when several people were prosecuted for defrauding James Wilcocks out of a bike worth £10. 🚲 www.oldbaileyonline.org/record/t1875...
oldbaileyonline.org
The Proceedings of the Old Bailey
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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
For #WorldBeeDay, a short but *sweet* case from 1782. When a diligent gardener discovered a bee hive was missing, he followed the honey trail to the thief's house. 🐝 www.oldbaileyonline.org/record/t1782...
oldbaileyonline.org
The Proceedings of the Old Bailey
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Jane Winters @jfwinters.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
‘Exploring Digital Cultural Heritage’ is now out in the wild! You can download an open-access copy (PDF) or read the free digital edition on Manifold uolpress.co.uk/book/explori.... Loved working on this with Eirini Goudarouli, @amsichani.bsky.social & the @uolpress.bsky.social team.
Book cover for Exploring Digital Cultural Heritage in purple, pink and yellow with University of London Press logo and Digital Cultural Heritage series strapline
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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
New *open access* article by Tim Hitchcock and Bob Shoemaker on the geography of Old Bailey crime prosecutions, 1720–1820. doi.org/10.1080/0307...
doi.org
The geography of Old Bailey crime prosecutions, 1720–1820: the impact of institutional change and proactive policing
This article examines the changing geographical distribution of crimes prosecuted at the Old Bailey (1720–1820) using the mapping facilities on the website Locating London’s Past. By assessing the ...
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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
It's Deaf Awareness Week rnid.org.uk/deaf-awarene... Deaf people appeared as defendants, victims, witnesses and interpreters in a number of OBO trials, providing evidence of the early evolution of modern sign language and the experiences and status of Deaf people in 18th- and 19th- c society.
rnid.org.uk
Deaf Awareness Week
Deaf Awareness Week is a chance to recognise the experiences of people who are deaf or have hearing loss, and reflect on the barriers they face every day.
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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Apparently it's National Honesty Day in the US today. Errrrrmmmm maybe I'll have to sit that one out. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honesty...
en.wikipedia.org
Honesty Day - Wikipedia
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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
It's #IndependentBookstoreDay (US) so here's a case of theft of history books in 1788, foiled by an extremely attentive shop assistant. www.oldbaileyonline.org/record/t1769...
oldbaileyonline.org
The Proceedings of the Old Bailey
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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
For #NationalTeaDay, here's our earliest case of tea theft (from a warehouse), in 1686 www.oldbaileyonline.org/record/t1686... ☕️ The earliest theft of a tea pot is from 1684. A silver tea pot, very fancy! www.oldbaileyonline.org/record/t1684... 🫖
oldbaileyonline.org
The Proceedings of the Old Bailey
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Sharon Howard @sharonhoward.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
I've used my London Lives datasets of 18th-century St Clement Danes pauper removal orders and settlement exams to make a new interactive map mindseye.sharonhoward.org/dashboards/cdr… #18thc
mindseye.sharonhoward.org
Migration and Exclusion in an 18th-century London Parish – In Her Mind’s Eye
An interactive map of St Clement Danes pauper removal orders, 1752-1793
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Sharon Howard @sharonhoward.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
My new fun interactive toy is a data explorer [big table! many filters!] for the #18thC London Lives Home Office Criminal Registers: mindseye.sharonhoward.org/dashboards/h...
mindseye.sharonhoward.org
HO Criminal Registers Data Explorer – In Her Mind’s Eye
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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
I think it's back up! Phew.
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Jill Evans @jillrevans.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
Need an antidote to all that sugar, spice and goodwill? How about a book concerning 203 people executed in public over 69 years? 'At the Tree: Executions in Gloucestershire, 1722-1790', available from Amazon, paperback £10.99, eBook £3.99, or message me if you'd like to buy pb direct from me.
Front cover of book, wording in black: At the Tree, Executions in Gloucestershire, 1722-1790, Jill Evans. Background picture largely beige, is old engraving of view towards Gloucester, buildings and hills in background, river in foreground with two men fishing, Over causeway to right, gallows just left of word 'Executions'.
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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
It's been brought to my attention that OBO searches are not working (and have been for a few days). I've contacted the developer but he's on leave till the 5th so I don't know when the problem will get fixed. Static content is working. Sorry about this!
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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
It's here!
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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
If you're seeing these right now... sorry. Developer is looking into it.
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Jill Evans @jillrevans.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
Remarkable photo taken inside the Old Bailey in 1907 - Mr Justice Ridley wearing the black cap as he sentences to death J.E. Wyatt for murder of Florence Wakeling. (Penny Illustrated Newspaper, 9 March 1907, via British Newspaper Archive)
Under headlines "Mr. Justice Ridley Dons the Fateful Black Cap" and "SENTENCED TO DEATH" in larger print, black/white photograph inside courtroom, showing Judge in long wig wearing black cap on top of his long wig, looking at papers. Clerks/court officials on either side of judge, other officials sitting at table below, more men on the left of photo with papers in front of them - possibly the jury.
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Sharon Howard @sharonhoward.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
I've also been busy exploring the @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social API, which changed a LOT when the site was relaunched 18 months ago and I've been meaning to write up some guidance for that. So here is a new little website. sharonhoward.github.io/obo/
sharonhoward.github.io
Old Bailey Online for Data Analysis – OldBaileyOnline ~ Data
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Sharon Howard @sharonhoward.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
Good news for @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social fans who are Zotero users... the OBO Zotero translator is working again. Except the multi functionality for search results (a bit much for my JS skills; maybe later), but I added bookmarking a session, and tidied it all up a bit.
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British History Online @bho.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
Didn't realize that the John Johnson Crime ephemera collection is free to access in the UK: johnjohnson.chadwyck.co.uk/geoLocSubscr... hat tip to @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social where I discovered this. #History #DigitalHistory 🗃️
johnjohnson.chadwyck.co.uk
Log In - ProQuest
Explore millions of resources from scholarly journals, books, newspapers, videos and more, on the ProQuest Platform.
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History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · 10/04/2025
OTD in 1848, some 150,000 Chartists met on Kennington Common to present their third petition to Parliament. Mark Crail on how tracing Chartists, a working-class movement for political and economic reform, became a point of connection between family and academic historians: www.historywo...
historyworkshop.org.uk
Family History in the Digital Age
In the second article of our feature on the radical potential of family history, family historian Mark Crail reflects on the power of collaboration in the history of working-class movements.
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Janice Liedl @jliedl.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
Last is the online adaptation of my beloved "Crime and Punishment in England, 1500-1900," which draws on the glories of the Old Bailey Online for the second half of study and projects. www.oldbaileyonline.org
oldbaileyonline.org
The Proceedings of the Old Bailey
A searchable online edition of the Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913.
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Tim Hitchcock @timhitchcock.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
Please excuse the self-promotion, but www.Oldbaileyonline.org was recently awarded the Mary L.Dudziak Digital History Prize by ASLH, and Bob Shoemaker and I just received the certificate. We were really honoured, but having no wall space to speak of, I thought it could usefully go here.
A formal certificate headed ASLH, with details of the Mary L. Dudziak Digital History Prize. It is signed in the bottom left, and dated October 25, 2024 in the right hand corner
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Anna Cusack @annacusack.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
On Saturday 7 December, I will be running a short afternoon session on the history of the Old Bailey for the WEA Petts Wood and Orpington Branch. If anyone down that way wishes to come along, you are very welcome. Details are below www.wea.org.uk/courses/huma...
wea.org.uk
History: History of the Old Bailey | WEA
History: History of the Old Bailey
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Caroline Derry @carolinederry.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Delighted that the workshop Law and History: Sources and Approaches is now available as an online resource. If you are a lawyer interested in history or a historian interested in law, this is for you. Enjoy watching! #LegalHistory
youtube.com
Legal history: sources and approaches - YouTube
A workshop for lawyers interested in history and historians interested in law. It includes sessions on Sources: (1) local archives; (2) national archives and...
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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 29/10/2024
💃 🕺
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Tim Hitchcock @timhitchcock.bsky.social · 02/10/2024
Really pleased to announce the launch of a thoroughly updated version of Locating London's Past: locatinglondon.org - new functionality, better mapping, cleaner data. @ihr.bsky.social @long18thsem.bsky.social @ihrhistorylab.bsky.social
The home page of the Locating London's Past website, including a map illustrating thefts 1674-1819, and a panel on the right with information about the site and links.
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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 31/08/2024
Nobody likes it when the server flakes out, but at least we give you cute bugs to look at till it comes back.
Screen shot of webpage with message: "Error: Request failed with status code 500". Above the message is a drawing of a bug. What the screen shot doesn't show is that the bug is animated and slowly revolves.
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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 24/08/2024
And modest. 😉
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Chelsea D Chamberlain @cdchambs.bsky.social · 23/08/2024
Putting together a list of digital archives for my research methods students to consult as they consider what topics to write their research papers on, but it's heavily US focused. Can fellow historians help me add some variety? 🗃️
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will pooley @willpooley.bsky.social · 07/02/2024
you know that I LOVE @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social so much that my students make fun of me about it
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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 06/08/2024
I have 'reviewed' the recently updated Old Bailey Online after 20 years in the public domain for the London Journal. Link works 50 times for those who would like to read what I had to say. Everybody knows about this iconic resource, but as it moves into its third decade new challenges will emerge.
tandfonline.com
The Old Bailey Online at 20
Published in The London Journal: A Review of Metropolitan Society Past and Present (Ahead of Print, 2024)
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Tim Hitchcock @timhitchcock.bsky.social · 13/12/2023
We also think the Old Bailey statistical search pages are much improved, with more visualisation options, and links below to all the trials that contribute to a particular graph or table. This is a multi-line chart of all subcategories of theft, by year. www.oldbaileyonline.org/search/stati...
A multi-line graph with a key listing types of theft on the right.
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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 13/12/2023
As part of the latest update, the OBO bibliography, which is maintained as a Zotero library, has been substantially updated. Browse on the site from here www.oldbaileyonline.org/about/biblio... or more searchably on Zotero www.zotero.org/groups/34674... (the latter might have a few newer items too)
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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 12/12/2023
Miaow. 😹
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Brodie Waddell @brodiewaddell.bsky.social · 12/12/2023
Usually I'm crabby about updates to beloved, oft-used online history resources, but the Old Bailey team seems to have made it genuinely better! The initial scatterplot visualisation when you search for anything is very snazzy and actually really helpful. www.oldbaileyonline.org/about/whats-...
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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 12/12/2023
What's proximity searching and why is it great that we've got it back? Thanks to the Internet Archive, you can find out here web.archive.org/web/20061029...
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John Levin @anterotesis.bsky.social · 12/12/2023
A startling scatter graph via the new version of the Old Bailey Online: there were a lot of coining offences in c19th London, and surprisingly few in the c18th: www.oldbaileyonline.org/search/keywo... #History #DigitalHistory #MonetaryCrime
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Dr Matt Lodder @mattlodder.com · 12/12/2023
We discovered the earliest ever professional tattooer in England in this database. ♥️
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Sharon Howard @sharonhoward.bsky.social · 12/12/2023
For Zoterophiles: the OBO translator is not working and will need significant rewriting. I'm looking at it but it'll take me a little while to get my head round it. (If you have the expertise I lack, do feel free to take it on...)
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Sharon Howard @sharonhoward.bsky.social · 12/12/2023
A note for #DigitalHumanities people. The API has also been totally overhauled; if you're using it for anything it'll be borked. New documentation here: www.oldbaileyonline.org/about/api
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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 12/12/2023
Oh yeah baby 💃🕺
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Dr Angela Buckley @drangelabuckley.bsky.social · 29/11/2023
Hello Bluesky! I’m new on here and looking forward to chatting (mostly!) about historical murder cases, Victorian detectives and the history of forensic science. Do let me know if you’re interested in these topics and I will follow you 🔎
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History Clippings @historyclippings.bsky.social · 18/11/2023
How do we know what eggs cost in the 18th century? People stole them, and Courts would list the prices of stolen goods. Here are some examples from @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social From these, we can see that 60 eggs are about 4 shillings.
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Prof. Elaine Chalus @profelainechalus.bsky.social · 06/11/2023
Unopened 18th-century love letters to French sailors read for first time Letters from loved ones of captured ship’s crew during seven years’ war lay forgotten for centuries 🗃 #skystorians #c18th
theguardian.com
Unopened 18th-century love letters to French sailors read for first time
Letters from loved ones of captured ship’s crew during seven years’ war lay forgotten for centuries
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Brodie Waddell @brodiewaddell.bsky.social · 18/10/2023
Up to £1000 for research and events via the Social History Society Joint BME Small Grants Scheme. Deadline Dec 1st socialhistory.org.uk/funding/bme-...
socialhistory.org.uk
Joint BME Small Grants
The Social History Society administers a Small Grants Fund to support research, events and activities undertaken by BME historians or focused on the histories of BME people The scheme was launched …
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History Clippings @historyclippings.bsky.social · 07/11/2023
In 1730 a guy was on trial for beating a man to death with a unicorn horn. Yup... a unicorn horn. It was probably a narwhal or walrus tusk. It's by far the weirdest trial I've ever seen in @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social #c18th Old Bailey Online www.oldbaileyonline....
Transcript of a 1730 trial details the murder weapon was a unicorn hornMeme of a unicorn with the captions "armed and dangerous"
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