Proceedings of the NSW Bench of Magistrates, 1788-1821

Museums of History NSW has just published the proceedings of the Bench of Magistrates on its website. Previously, they had only been available as an often unreadable copy on Ancestry, which was buried away under an obscure heading and difficult to find. As it so often the case with Ancestry, they also failed to provide a proper reference.

It is still necessary to decipher 18th century handwriting, but the images are much clearer and the pages easy to turn. Eleven volumes from 9 February 1788 to 13 January 1821 can be found at NRS-3397 Proceedings of the Judge Advocate’s Bench.

Evidence given in the magistrates court is a rich source of social history, and well worth the time spent reading if one wants to gain an understanding of how the early colony worked.

We eagerly await a similar treatment with the other court records, and the indents and musters.