Publications
Order by the Court of Sussex Quarter Sessions, held January 13 and 14, 1684-5, to the Sheriff to Apprehend William Penn, of Warminghurst, Gent, Founder of Pennsylvania, by R. Garraway Rice, F.S.A., published 1915 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 57, notes & queries, pp.221-222) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2142] & The Keep [LIB/500275] & S.A.S. library View Online
A Descriptive Report on the Quarter Sessions, Other Official and Ecclesiastical Records in the Custody of the County Councils of West and East Sussex, with a Guide to the Development and Historical Interest of Archives, compiled by The Clerk of West Sussex and the Clerk of East Sussex County Councils, published 1954 (East Sussex & West Sussex County Councils) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 5579]
Review by K. M. E. Murray in Sussex Notes and Queries, November 1955:The publication of this report marks the progress that has been made in the West and East Sussex County Record Offices since the appointment of County Archivists in 1946 and 1950 respectively. The greater part of the records now indexed and made accessible to students are those of the Court of Quarter Sessions (judicial and administrative!), the Lieutenancy, the Coroners and the County Councils. Reference to the return made by the Clerk of the Peace in 1800, when the records were kept in his private residence "pretty well preserved" and "pretty much kept separately" without "any person specially entrusted with the care of the said Records" (p. vii) and to the list of documents missing and "destroyed as useless" (p. 5), reminds one of the need there was for an official archivist. A great advantage in having properly staffed and organised County Record Offices is seen in the fact that they have already become repositories for archives from other sources. This volume includes the contents of the Diocesan Record Office established as an annexe to the County Record Office at Chichester by an agreement with the Bishop of Chichester in 1949, for the preservation of parish registers and other records, and in 1951 for the Episcopal and Chapter records from the Cathedral and the Diocesan Registry. Up to date over forty parishes have deposited their records at Chichester, while the Episcopal records number about a thousand books and 50,000 papers. A future volume in this series will, it is hoped, deal with the Estate and Family Archives, many of which are now in the care of the County Archivist.
The present volume was largely the work of the late Mr. Campbell Cooke and is a fitting memorial of his excellent work in starting the County Record Offices on the right lines. The division of the County between two administrative authorities in 1889 introduces complications in the treatment of the archives and it was a wise decision to publish a combined report to cover both County Record Offices. This report is more than a list of the classes of documents and a guide to the offices in which they are to be found: it includes also a brief historical introduction to each class, which explains the origin of the records and indicates the kind of information which may be found in them. It forms thus an indispensable handbook for anyone embarking upon research in this county. There is a useful index and some cross referencing between the different classes. One small point for correction in a future edition - Brighton, by a typographical error, appears on p. 5 as a Cinque Port.
The present volume was largely the work of the late Mr. Campbell Cooke and is a fitting memorial of his excellent work in starting the County Record Offices on the right lines. The division of the County between two administrative authorities in 1889 introduces complications in the treatment of the archives and it was a wise decision to publish a combined report to cover both County Record Offices. This report is more than a list of the classes of documents and a guide to the offices in which they are to be found: it includes also a brief historical introduction to each class, which explains the origin of the records and indicates the kind of information which may be found in them. It forms thus an indispensable handbook for anyone embarking upon research in this county. There is a useful index and some cross referencing between the different classes. One small point for correction in a future edition - Brighton, by a typographical error, appears on p. 5 as a Cinque Port.
Quarter Sessions Order Book, 1642-1649, by Brian C. Redwood, published 1954 (vol. 54, Sussex Record Society) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2270] & The Keep [LIB/500431][Lib/504464]
Review by E. R. B [E. R. Burder] in Sussex Notes and Queries, November 1955:This volume has been produced in conjunction with the County Council Record Committees of East and West Sussex, and but for his untimely death would have been edited by Mr. B. Campbell Cooke, the former County Archivist. As it is, Mr. B. C. Redwood is to be congratulated for his careful editing of most interesting material, and for a well prepared introduction. We also welcome the collaboration between our Sister Society and the Local Authority.
The Order Book contains much information with regard to the criminal business of the Court; and, in addition, there are many entries relating to its administrative work, such as the Poor Law, rates for charitable purposes, and for the repair of highways, bridges and clappers (" a raised footpath, often of wood, alongside portions of road liable to flooding " - this fine onomatopoeic word is not recorded in Parish's Sussex Dialect - Lewes 1875.) The Order Book is not, therefore, merely of interest to the legal historian, but also contains much of value to the genealogist, the topographer and the general reader. The late use of Wogham in 1648/9 for Offham in Hamsey is worth noting.
It is to be hoped that further material from the Order Book will be published. There is, for example, a note of a footway going from Withyham to Frant across Robins Croft, with a reference to the proceedings at Easter Sittings, 1652. Robins Croft is not noted in S.P.N., and the full proceedings in 1652 might throw light on a footway which may well long since have been lost.
The Order Book contains much information with regard to the criminal business of the Court; and, in addition, there are many entries relating to its administrative work, such as the Poor Law, rates for charitable purposes, and for the repair of highways, bridges and clappers (" a raised footpath, often of wood, alongside portions of road liable to flooding " - this fine onomatopoeic word is not recorded in Parish's Sussex Dialect - Lewes 1875.) The Order Book is not, therefore, merely of interest to the legal historian, but also contains much of value to the genealogist, the topographer and the general reader. The late use of Wogham in 1648/9 for Offham in Hamsey is worth noting.
It is to be hoped that further material from the Order Book will be published. There is, for example, a note of a footway going from Withyham to Frant across Robins Croft, with a reference to the proceedings at Easter Sittings, 1652. Robins Croft is not noted in S.P.N., and the full proceedings in 1652 might throw light on a footway which may well long since have been lost.
Descriptive Report on Quarter Sessions, Other Official and Ecclesiastical Records in the Custody of County Councils of East and West Sussex, by Francis W. Steer, published December 1954 (224 pp., Lewes: East Sussex County Council, ISBN-10: 0900348119 & ISBN-13: 9780900348112) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 3322][Lib 5609]
Quarter Sessions and the Justices of the Peace in West Sussex, by David J. Butler, published 1972 (pamphlet) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 5658] & West Sussex Libraries
A Catalogue of Sussex Quarter Sessions Settlement Orders and Cases, Part 1 1661-1700, edited by M. J. Burchall, published 1977 (pamphlet, Sussex Family History Group) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 6352] & West Sussex Libraries
A Catalogue of Sussex Quarter Sessions Settlement Orders and Cases, Part 2 1701-1729, by Michael J Burchall, published 1978 (pamphlet, Sussex Family History Group) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9753] & West Sussex Libraries
Quarter Sessions in Elizabethan Sussex, by M. J. Leppard, published 1980 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 118, historical note, pp.388-389) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7805] & The Keep [LIB/500305] & S.A.S. library
A Catalogue of Sussex Quarter Sessions Settlement Orders and Cases, Part 3 1730-1749, edited by M. J. Burchall, published 1982 (pamphlet, Sussex Family History Group) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9751] & West Sussex Libraries
Extracts from Quarter Sessions Records, by Hylda Rawlings, published September 1984 in Sussex Genealogist and Family Historian (vol. 6 no. 2, article, pp.75-78) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [MP 6277] & The Keep [LIB/501192] & CD SXGS from S.F.H.G.
Extracts from Quarter Sessions Records, by Hylda Rawlings, published December 1984 in Sussex Genealogist and Family Historian (vol. 6 no. 3, article, pp.117-118) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [MP 6277] & The Keep [LIB/501192] & CD SXGS from S.F.H.G.
Extracts from Quarter Sessions Records, by Hylda Rawlings, published March 1985 in Sussex Genealogist and Family Historian (vol. 6 no. 4, article, pp.151-154) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [MP 6277] & The Keep [LIB/501192] & CD SXGS from S.F.H.G.
Extracts from Quarter Sessions Records, by Hylda Rawlings, published June 1985 in Sussex Genealogist and Family Historian (vol. 7 no. 1, article, pp.35-38) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [MP 6277] & The Keep [LIB/501193] & CD SXGS from S.F.H.G.
The Court of Quarter Sessions and Larcency in Sussex, 1775-1820, by S.R. Wilson, published 1986 in Criminal Justice History (vol. 7, article, pp.73-94)
Quarter Sessions in Early Tudor Sussex, by M. J. Leppard, published 1987 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 125, historical note, p.255) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9994] & The Keep [LIB/500304] & S.A.S. library
East Sussex Sentences of Transportation at Quarter Sessions 1790 - 1854, edited by Roger Davey, published 1988 (v + 37 pp., Friends of the East Sussex Record Office) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/503670] & East Sussex Libraries
East Sussex Quarter Sessions, 1810-1854, published 2001 (PBN Publications) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14379]
Petition to West Sussex Quarter Sessions 1620-1720, by George Hothersall, published Autumn 2002 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 70, article, p.20) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/70] & The Keep [LIB/500494]
Sussex Quarter Sessions: Settlement Cases 1750-69, by Michael J Burchall, published 2005 (pamphlet, Sussex Family History Group) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15521] & West Sussex Libraries
Sussex Wetern Division Quarter Session records relating to the military during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, by N. D. Rutherford, published 2015 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 83, article, p.5) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/83] & The Keep [LIB/508996]
Sussex Western Division Quarter Session records regarding the implementation of legislation for the relief of insolvent debtors, by N. D. Rutherford, published 2016 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 84, article, p.5) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/84] & The Keep [LIB/509448]
1810-1854 East Sussex Quarter Sessions, published (no date) by PBN Publications (Ref: PBN76, CD-ROM)
Abstract:Indexed transcript including criminals' and victims' names, place and date of trial.
1810-1854 East Sussex Quarter Sessions, published (no date) by PBN Publications (Ref: PBN76, CD-ROM)