National Records of Scotland

Preserving the past, Recording the present, Informing the future

Courts of Law

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Courts of Law

We hold the records of the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, sheriff courts and commissary courts. Some of these contain records relating to crime and criminals and some to civil legal processes, including the registration of wills and testaments.

Photograph of the suffragette Fanny Parker, alias Janet Arthur, being escorted from Ayr Sheriff Court by a police officer. Miss Parker, a niece of Lord Kitchener, faced trial for attempting to burn Robert Burn's cottage in Alloway, 1914 (Crown Copyright, National Records of Scotland, HH16/43/58)

Photograph of the suffragette Fanny Parker, alias Janet Arthur, being escorted from Ayr Sheriff Court by a police officer. Miss Parker, a niece of Lord Kitchener, faced trial for attempting to burn Robert Burn's cottage in Alloway, 1914 (Crown Copyright, National Records of Scotland, HH16/43/58).

Image Gallery Reference: AAA00178

Image of a page from the index to the prison register of Barlinnie Prison, Glasgow, with photographs of male criminal prisoners, September-October 1882 (Crown Copyright, National Records of Scotland, HH21/70/97/1)

Page from index to the prison register of Barlinnie Prison, Glasgow, with photographs of male criminal prisoners, September-October 1882 (Crown Copyright, National Records of Scotland, HH21/70/97/1)

Image Gallery Reference: AAA00219

Photograph of Peter - alias John Porter, a prisoner in Barlinnie Prison, Glasgow, 23 Mar 1883 (Crown Copyright, National Records of Scotland, HH21/70/97/11/D)

Photograph of Peter - alias John Porter, a prisoner in Barlinnie Prison, Glasgow, 23 March 1883 (Crown Copyright, National Records of Scotland, HH21/70/97/11/D)

Image Gallery Reference: AAA00249

Photograph and description of Oscar Slater from his prisoner record. Oscar Slater, a German Jew, was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Marion Gilchrist in Glasgow in 1909 after a miscarriage of justice. After a public campaign he was released, 1909-1927 (Crown Copyright, National Records of Scotland, HH15/20/11)

Description of Oscar Slater from his prisoner record, 1909-1927. Slater was convicted of a murder in Glasgow in 1909 and sentenced to death. He was released after a public campaign showed that a miscarriage of justice had taken place (Crown Copyright, National Records of Scotland, HH15/20/11)

Image Gallery Reference: AAA00474

Image of a published list of Jacobite rebels, A list of nobelmen,gentlemen and others who were judged guilty of High Treason during the 1745 Jacobite rebellion, gathered in preparation for the forfeiting of their land and estates by the Crown, 1747-1763 (Crown Copyright, National Records of Scotland, E/706/2/5)

A list of noblemen, gentlemen and others who were judged guilty of High Treason during the 1745 Jacobite rebellion, gathered in preparation for the forfeiting of their land and estates by the Crown, 1747-1763 (Crown Copyright, National Records of Scotland, E/706/2/5)

Image Gallery Reference: AAA00942

Image of French passport issued to Thomas Muir, political radical, 1793 (Crown Copyright, National Records of Scotland, JC26/276/14)

French passport issued to Thomas Muir, political writer and radical,1793 (Crown Copyright, National Records of Scotland, JC26/276/14)

Image Gallery Reference: AAA01163

Image of a Greeenock Prison particulars of a female Prisoner and her photograph, 17 February 1872 (Crown Copyright, National Records of Scotland, HH12/56/7)

Particulars of female prisoner 17 February 1872 (Crown Copyright, National Records of Scotland, HH12/56/7)

Image Gallery Reference: AAA02874

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