Berkshire Genealogy Resource Index

Some notes by Jean Debney in response to a question about 'copies of the court transcripts of a convict charged and transported from Berkshire Assizes in 1833' raised on the BerksFHS Discussion Group in April 2002.

The English Assize Court records are held in:

The Public Record Office, Ruskin Avenue, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 9DU
Tel: 0208-876-3444 Enquiries 0208-392-5200.

Information leaflets on many of the records in the care of the PRO can be downloaded from their web-site at www.pro.gov.uk/

Some useful ones are:

Legal Records Information leaflets nos.

12. English Assizes, 1656-1971: key to classes for civil trials
13. Criminal trials at the Assizes
14. English Assizes: keys to records of criminal trials
17. Transportation to Australia 1787-1868

Having decided which records are likely to be most useful and - if you can't get to the PRO yourself - is to engage a researcher to do the work for you.  It may be possible to find one via the PRO - but it may be expensive.

'Family Roots' by Stella COLWELL (Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1991) is a useful guide to using legal records of which she has a wide experience. It should be possible to order a copy via the inter-libary loan service.

Another useful guide is 'Tracing your ancestors in the Public Record Office' edited by Amanda BEVAN (PRO 5th edn 1999).  This can be purchased from the Berkshire FHS Bookshop or from the PRO.

updated 6th May 2002
rev 9th August 2003