Pastyme With Good Companye

Post details: Genealogy Meets Criminology!

05/09/08

10:43:04 am, by

, 156 words

Categories: Murder & Mayhem, History In The News, British History

Genealogy Meets Criminology!

Well not exactly, but would you want to know if your great, great grandfather or grandmother was a murderer? Family skeletons have been toppling out of closets since the searchable details of more than 200 years of Old Bailey trails went online last month. So how does it feel to idly type a name into a search box and be presented with more than you bargained for? Some people have uncovered such info, and some are not truly overly concerned by it, others have had much different reactions.

Here is a snippet from the BBC:

"When I typed the surname in, I thought I might find offences like petty theft, breach of the peace, being drunk and disorderly, that sort of thing."

"First I saw the name 'Alexander', and I thought 'fantastic'. But then I read the next word, 'killing'. I was so shocked I nearly fell off my stool."

Full BBC article can be accessed here.

Permalink 2 comments

Comments:

Comment from: Robin Bellamy [Visitor]

· http://blog.robinbellamy.com

Here's the link to the index
http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/

I do this sort of searching every week in my ghost research--Ive sort of become a "ghost profiler" looking for any reason a person might WANT to haunt, and old newspapers and court reports are a daily hangout for me these days.

Great find!

Permalink 05/09/08 @ 11:32

Comment from: Admin [Member]

· http://www.doubledeckerbuses.org/pastyme/

Robin -> Thank you for that link!

Permalink 05/09/08 @ 12:19

Welcome to the blog of amateur historians Matthew James Didier and Sue Darroch. Partners in life and in crime, we endeavor to entertain you with snippets from our combined historical research. Past time with good company indeed, as we shall introduce you to Kings and Knaves, Queens and Mistresses, Cons and Heroes, from our collective past......from events well known to those perhaps all but forgotten, we will do our best to bring you interesting historical factoids from around the globe. It is our belief that through understanding our past we will all gain a better perspective on our future.