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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

"I heard the mewing of a cat, I thought there might be a cat in the room... I got out of bed, I looked round the room as well as I could, it was dark... I considered myself in a very respectable house, therefore I had no fear, and got into bed again" www.oldbaileyonline.org/record/t1811...

oldbaileyonline.org

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey

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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

"my daughter came to my room with a candle in her hand, and said there was some body had broke into the kitchen. I was just got into bed. I said it was the cat, she said she was sure she heard the drawers move as they opened, and somebody stir the fire." www.oldbaileyonline.org/record/t1751...

oldbaileyonline.org

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey

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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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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

2. A petition to the Middlesex Sessions from [Sarah?] Robertson, who was "Deaf and 18 years of age" and was struggling to make her parish to pay her poor relief allowance. www.londonlives.org/record/LMSMP...

londonlives.org

London Lives

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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

A bit more for Deaf Awareness Week, from londonlives.org this time. 1. a pair of pauper/bastardy examinations of Catherine Nathan in 1789. She was "deaf and dumb" and her mother Hannah Samuel acted as her interpreter. www.londonlives.org/record/GLBAE... www.londonlives.org/record/GLBAE...

londonlives.org

London Lives

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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.

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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

There are more examples in C. Stone, ‘Dumb O Jemmy and Others: Deaf People, Interpreters, and the London Courts in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries’, Sign Language Studies 8, 3 (2008). But that isn't open access; you might be able to get it with a Jstor free a/c www.jstor.org/stable/26190...

jstor.org

Dumb O Jemmy and Others on JSTOR

CHRISTOPHER STONE, BENCIE WOLL, Dumb O Jemmy and Others, Sign Language Studies, Vol. 8, No. 3 (Spring 2008), pp. 226-240

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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

In 1883 there is the first recorded use of the deafblind manual alphabet within the legal system in the UK. The victim/prosecutor was a Deafblind woman, Susannah Webling, and her interpreter was a nurse. www.oldbaileyonline.org/record/t1883...

oldbaileyonline.org

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey

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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

A few years after this, an argument in court about the use of an interpreter created more detailed material about communication and comprehension: www.oldbaileyonline.org/record/o1786...

oldbaileyonline.org

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey

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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Even though there was no legal requirement until the 20th century, we have an early mention of a sworn interpreter in the 1771 trial of James Saytuss: www.oldbaileyonline.org/record/t1771...

oldbaileyonline.org

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey

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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 · 23/01/2026

It seems to be a bit of an on and off problem. It's probably bots. I hope we don't have to introduce one of those Are You A Human tests, I hate those.

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Old Bailey Online @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

Update: they are working again. It's unclear how stable the search will be (and the developer is on leave until 5 Jan), so please be patient if there are more problems.

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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

If you're working on trials before 1820 and don't need a complex search, it still seems to be working on London Lives (you can restrict searches to the proceedings).

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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 · 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

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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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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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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