Comprises the following series:
QS5/1/ GENERAL COMMITTEE MINUTE BOOKS 1766-1904
This section contains minute books of committees established to administer certain specific undertakings. The contents of each book is generally very mixed. Minute books pertaining entirely to a single area of responsibility (eg police, prisons, mental health, highways) have been placed in the relevant sections below.
QS5/1A/ FINANCE AND GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE(S) 1875-1970
QS5/1A/ FINANCE AND GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE 1875-1880
QS5/1A/ FINANCE COMMITTEE 1880-1888
QS5/1A/ GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE 1889-1970
QS5/1A/ CHAIRMANSHIP COMMITTEE 1941-1960 For minutes, 1963-1970, see QS5/1A/24 above.
QS5/1B/ PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE 1878
QS5/1C/ STAFF COMMITTEE 1965-1970
QS5/2A/ COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP BOOKS 1855-1919
QS5/2B/ LIST OF COUNTY OFFICERS 1874-1921
QS5/3A/ LIST OF HIGH CONSTABLES 1799-1844
QS5/3B/ LISTS OF CONSTABLES 1842-1867
QS5/3B/ LIST OF SPECIAL CONSTABLES 1848
Special Constables were appointed in 1848 to counter the perceived threat to public order from Chartist agitation.
QS5/3C/ COUNTY CONSTABULARY AND METROPOLITAN POLICE 1850-1888
A police force for those parts of Surrey which fell outside the Metropolitan Police District was established at the end of 1850 under the County Police Act of 1839 (2 & 3 Vic, cap.93) and its amending Act of 1840 (3 & 4 Vic, cap.88). For records of the Surrey Constabulary from its foundation see CC98/-.
QS5/3C/ METROPOLITAN POLICE 1846-1868
QS5/4/ RECORDS RELATING TO THE COUNTY GAOLS AND SESSIONS HOUSE 1536-1890
The county gaol was chiefly used to accommodate prisoners awaiting trial or execution (or transportation from the eighteenth century) and for debtors; the original purpose of the houses of correction was the punishment of vagrants and the idle and disorderly poor by subjecting them to a short spell of hard labour, but these too came to be pressed into service to hold those awaiting trial or punishment. Prison with hard labour as a punishment for convicted felons, as an alternative to transportation, became widespread after legislation of 1776 (16 Geo.III, cap.43) and 1779 (19 Geo.III, cap.74). Both county gaol and houses of correction were used for this purpose. During the 16th and 17th centuries the county gaol and house of correction in Borough High Street, Southwark, was known as the White Lion Gaol after the inn on the site. The gaol was run privately until acquired by the County in 1654 (see QS5/4/4/-below for deeds). In the late 17th century, because of the appalling state of repair of the gaol, Surrey prisoners were housed in the Marshalsea prison by a private agreement with the gaoler. A new county gaol and house of correction were opened on the site in 1724; in 1772 the Southwark house of correction was moved to Hangman's Acre, St George's Field. In 1791 work commenced on a new Sessions House and County gaol for 400 prisoners in Horsemonger Lane, Newington. The design, by George Gwilt, permitted the solitary confinement of prisoners and the imposition of hard labour, thus allowing the county to implement more effectively the recent legislation permitting the imposition of penal sentences as punishment, as an alternative to transportation. The building was complete by 1798, and was altered shortly afterwards following a decision to incorporate the house of correction in 1800. In the eighteenth century there were two other houses of correction in the County. That at Guildford was erected at the junction of High Street and Quarry Street between 1610 and 1660, rebuilt on the same site in 1767, and then rebuilt on a site between Quarry Street and South Hill in 1820-21; the Kingston house of correction was opened in 1761. In 1818, a further house of correction was erected in Brixton. In 1852, all three gaols were closed when the newly-built Wandsworth house of correction for 708 prisoners was opened. By this date the county gaol was generally only being used to hold prisoners on remand or awaiting execution. In 1865 the distinction between gaols and houses of correction was abolished, and in 1877, under the Prisons Act, the Wandsworth and Newington gaols were transferred to central government control. The Newington site was not needed and was conveyed back to the County authorities who disposed of it. For further information on the development of prisons within the county see JM Beattie, Crime and the Courts in England, 1660-1800 (Oxford 1986). For an account of the Southwark and Newington buildings see The Survey of London, vol XXV. For a full account of the Guildford House of Correction see J K Green, Sidelights on Guildford History II (1953).
QS5/4/1/ NEW COUNTY GAOL AND SESSIONS HOUSE MINUTE AND ACCOUNT BOOKS 1791-1824
QS5/4/2/ PRISON DISCIPLINE COMMITTEE AND PRISON ACCOMMODATION COMMITTEE 1854-1858
After the building of a new House of Correction at Wandsworth, which opened in 1852, the County gaol was only used for prisoners awaiting trial, on remand, or awaiting transportation. It operated the 'classified associated system' under which prisoners were divided into 10 separate classes (for example persons under remand for felony, persons for trial for felony, town boys charged with felony, country boys charged with felony, persons charged with misdemeanours) and were permitted to associate with others within their class during the day. The Prison Discipline Committee was set up 'for considering the very serious evils arising from the association of prisoners under the system at the present adopted at the County Gaol, and which has been brought under the notice of the visitors by the chaplain'. The Committee recommended a new gaol be constructed on the 'separate' system whereby prisoners were kept in individual cells during the day. On grounds of expense it was decided to adapt the existing gaol. For papers and plans relating to the alterations see QS5/4/5/3-4 and QS5/4/6/26-57 The Prison Accomodation Committee, established in 1857, considered the severe overcrowding in the newly built Wandsworth house of correction, 'now the only prison in this County appropriated to the imprisonment of convicts' and 'constructed with special reference to the separate system of prison discipline'. It recommended that male juvenile offenders be transferred to the Redhill Reformatory and that a new wing for male prisoners be erected.
QS5/4/3/ 1877 PRISONS ACT COMMITTEE 1877-1878
By the 1877 Prisons Act (40 & 41 Vic, cap 21) prisons became the responsibility of the state. Wandsworth gaol was transferred but the County gaol was not required and was reconveyed to the County to be disposed of. For papers relating to the disposal of the Gaol see QS5/4/5/7-11.
QS5/4/4/ THE WHITE LION COUNTY GAOL, SOUTHWARK, AND SOUTHWARK HOUSE OF CORRECTION: TITLE DEEDS 1536-1774
There are 28 deeds showing the descent of the White Lion in St George's, Southwark, formerly an inn before it was taken over as the county gaol, from the reign of Henry VIII. A single deed (-/21, but listed at the end of the sequence relates to Hangman's Acre where the Southwark House of Correction was built.
QS5/4/4/ White Lion County Gaol 1536-1774
QS5/4/4/ Hangman's Acre, St George's Fields (site of the Southwark House of Correction 1710
QS5/4/5/ PAPERS RELATING TO THE ACQUISITION, DEVELOPMENT AND DISPOSAL OF THE COUNTY GAOLS AND SESSIONS HOUSE 1790-1890
Papers and plans in this section relating to building work in the County Gaol and Houses of Correction should be considered as supplemental to those in QS5/4/6/1-185 below, which having been already listed and numbered as a block have been left as a discrete group.
QS5/4/5/ Newington County Gaol and Sessions House: papers relating to acquisition and development of site 1790-1890
QS5/4/5/ Surrey Lodge, North Street, Lambeth 1815-1848
Under an Act of 1815 the Surrey justices were authorized to provide a record office and residence for the Clerk of the Peace. A property in North Street, Lambeth, was acquired which served until 1871 when the Surrey County Offices Act authorized the sale of the North Street premises and the alteration of the Newington Sessions House to incorporate a record office (see QS5/1/6-7 above).
QS5/4/5/ Papers relating to acquisition and development of other prison sites 1818-1879
QS5/4/6/ PLANS OF COUNTY GAOLS AND SESSIONS HOUSE 1817-1885
The name given in each of the following descriptions is that of the architect or surveyor. There is no item reference QS5/4/6/25.
QS5/4/6/ County Gaol, Horsemonger Lane, Newington: additions and alterations 1824-1850
QS5/4/6/ Adaption of County Gaol to 'Separate System' 1855-1858
For minutes and papers of the committee which recommended the adoption of a system of separate confinement see QS5/4/2/-above; see also QS5/4/5/3-4.
QS5/4/6/ County Gaol: New Laundry 1857
QS5/4/6/ Surrey Sessions House, Horsemonger Lane, Newington: alterations to the Sessions House 1866-1869
For further papers and plans, 1869-70, see QS5/4/5/6.
QS5/4/6/ Surrey Sessions House and site of former County Gaol, Horsemonger Lane, Newington: new wall and entrance gates 1881-1885
QS5/4/6/ Brixton House of Correction: plans of new House of Correction 1817-1818
QS5/4/6/ Design for Gaol at Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk c.1819
The Committee on the subject of the Houses of Correction reported to the justices at the Epiphany Session, 1819, that Mr Orridge, Governor of the House of Correction at Bury St Edmunds had assisted at one of their meetings 'and given us many suggestions and valuable hints'. QS2/1/40p.665]
QS5/4/6/ Brixton House of Correction: machinery for prison discipline 1821
QS5/4/6/ Brixton House of Correction: proposed addition 1837
QS5/4/6/ Brixton House of Correction: proposed addition 1842-1844
QS5/4/6/ Guildford House of Correction: plans for new buildings 1819-1824
For papers relating to the purchase of the site see QS5/4/5/23-24.
QS5/4/6/ Guildford House of Correction: machinery for prison discipline 1821
QS5/4/6/ Wandsworth House of Correction: new prison 1849-1850
For further papers see QS5/4/5/29-30.
QS5/4/6/ Wandsworth Gaol: extension of female department 1856
The following specifications, plans and note of approval were found in the bundle 'Alterations 1811-66'. Mr Hill's plans for extension of the female department at Wandsworth were approved at Epiphany Session 1856 QS2/1/69 p488.
QS5/4/7/ ADMINISTRATION OF COUNTY GAOLS 1798-1878
QS5/4/7/ Rules for Gaols 1799-1867
QS5/4/7/ Administration of County Gaol 1798-1878
QS5/4/7/ Administration of Wandsworth House of Correction 1851-1874
QS5/4A/ REFORMATORIES AND INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS 1865-1884
By the Reformatory Schools Act of 1854 (17 & 18 Vic, cap.86) existing or newly established reformatories could apply to be certified by the Home Secretary. Persons under the age of 16 and convicted of an offence for which the punishment was a prison term of at least 14 days could, once the prison term had been served, be sent to a certified reformatory for 2 to 5 years if the magistrates saw fit. By an Act of 1857 (20 & 21 Vic, cap.55) justices were empowered to make grants to such reformatories and also to contract with any certified reformatory for the reception of offenders from their County. The legislation was consolidated and amended by the Reformatory Schools Act of 1866 (29 & 30 Vic, cap.117). A similar system of state certification of industrial schools, which provided industrial training to young offenders, was established by the Industrial Schools Act 1857 (20 & 21 Vic, cap.48). The Act empowered magistrates to send vagrant children to such certified schools. This power was extended by the Act of 1861 (24 & 25 Vic, cap.113) to children under 14 brought before a magistrate for begging, vagrancy, destitution, frequenting the company of thieves, or for being refractory and out of the control of their parents, and to children under 12 charged with a punishable offence but for whom training in a industrial school was a more appropriate sentence. By the Industrial Schools Act of 1866 (29 & 30 Vic, cap.118) justices of the peace, as the prison authority for the County, might make grants to such schools and contracts for the reception of children of the County. The visiting justices of the House of Correction at Wandsworth were appointed to consider matters relating to Reformatory Schools, first reporting in Jan 1859. Their responsibility was extended to Industrial Schools in 1867. The County entered into agreements with a number of institutions within and outside Surrey. It ran no institution directly until 1884 when it took a lease of the Surrey Industrial School at Byfleet, established in Wandsworth by John Leyland (d.1882) in 1867, and moving to Byfleet in 1871. The County's relationship with Leyland's school was close as, according to a letter on behalf of Leyland's executors (see minutes of 18 Dec 1882 in QS5/4A/1 below), 'the County Magistrates were mainly instrumental in inducing Mr Leyland to found the School', and a contract with Leyland for the reception of boys was agreed in 1867. In 1885, it was decided to purchase land at Mayford, Woking, for the construction of a new County industrial school, which opened in 1887, the lease of the Byfleet school being given up.
QS5/4A/ COMMITTEE MINUTES 1878-1883
QS5/4A/ AGREEMENTS AND LEASES 1865-1884
QS5/4A/ THE SURREY SOCIETY FOR THE EMPLOYMENT AND REFORMATION OF DISCHARGED PRISONERS 1866-1883
The Surrey Society for the Employment and Reformation of Discharged Prisoners was established in 1824 and revived in 1839. It aided penitent discharged prisoners by providing money for their fare home, to assist them in emigrating, or to purchase or redeem tools and stock, and also by sending them to reformatories or to sea. In 1865 it was receiving a grant from the County under 25 & 26 Vic, cap.44 and in 1881-2 from the Treasury under the 1877 Prisons Act. The 1865 annual report suggests that the Society established the Surrey Reformatory School for Girls in Wandsworth in 1862 as an adjunct of its work but this institution is not mentioned in the later reports.
QS5/5/ PRIVATE ASYLUMS 1774-1933
Under an Act for regulating Madhouses, 1774 (14 Geo.III, cap.49), Justices of the Peace were empowered to grant annual licences at Quarter Sessions to keepers of private houses for the reception of lunatics. Such licensed houses were also to be inspected by two visiting justices and a physician, the reports of the visitors to be entered in registers maintained at the house and by the clerk to the visitors. Within the Cities of London and Westminster and a seven mile radius of the same and within the County of Middlesex, the Royal College of Physicians was to appoint five commissioners to issue licences and carry out inspections. This legislation was repealed in 1828 and replaced by a succession of Acts (9 Geo.IV, cap.41 of 1828, 2&3 Will.IV, cap.107 of 1832, and 8&9 Vic., cap.100 of 1845) which retained the system of licences and visitors but established a central authority (titled the Commissioners in Lunacy under the 1845 Act) and ordered that no person should be admitted to a licensed house without an order of the committing person and a medical certificate. Notices of orders, certificates, removals and deaths were to be sent to the Clerk of the Peace as clerk to the visitors and also to the Commissioners. By the 1845 Act the visitors were to visit a licensed house at least 4 times a year and the Commissioners in Lunacy were also to visit twice a year. The Lunacy Act 1890 (53 Vic., cap.5) essentially continued the system outlined above but began the phasing out of private asylums by ordaining that, although licences might be renewed, no licences for new private asylums were to be issued. Licensed houses noted in Surrey include: Great Fosters, Egham, first noted 1774, last noted 1865/6. Lea Pale House, Stoke next Guildford, first noted 1774, last noted 1879. Frimley Lodge, Frimley, first noted 1799. Weston House, Chertsey, first noted 1815. Church Street, Epsom, first noted 1846, last noted 1933. Timberham House, Charlwood, first noted 1856, last noted 1861. Canbury House, Kingston, first noted 1879, last noted 1895. Woodcote End, Epsom, first noted 1880, last noted 1882. Croshams, Sutton, first noted 1881, last noted 1889. Sutherland House, Surbiton, first noted 1884, last noted 1897. Chalk Pit House, Sutton, first noted 1889, last noted 1908. Abele Grove, Epsom, first noted 1908, last noted 1914.
QS5/5/ ACTS OF PARLIAMENT 1832-1842
These were originally found inserted in QS5/5/10.
QS5/5/ REGISTERS OF REPORTS OF VISITORS TO PRIVATE ASYLUMS 1774-1933
These volumes contain the reports of the visitors appointed to inspect private asylums. The reports comment on conditions within the asylum, the use of restraint (from 1845), the condition of inmates and any admissions, departures or deaths since the last report. Until c.1845 the names of all patients are recorded in the reports but thereafter the names of individuals are only occasionally given. However from c.1851 the receipt of notices of the admission, discharge or death of named persons is appended to reports. For each new admission the committing relative and the certifying doctor are often recorded in the early volumes. The orders of the court of Quarter Sessions granting licences to keep private asylums and appointing the visitors of such houses are also sometimes recorded in the early volumes (which orders are also entered in the order books, QS2/1/-).
QS5/5/ ENTRY BOOK OF PATIENTS 1832-1851
2&3 Will. IV, cap.107 required keepers of licensed houses to send copies of reception orders and medical certificates with an accompanying notice to the clerk of the visitors who was to maintain a register of admissions, the form of which duplicated that which was to maintained in each house. The requirement for the clerk to keep such a register was not repeated in the Act of 1845 but the volume below was maintained until 1851.
QS5/5/ PRIVATE ASYLUM PAPERS 1829-1887
These papers (approx 1000 pieces) include notices of admissions, deaths and discharges; copies of the minutes of the visitors; copies of the reports of the Commissioners in Lunacy; correspondence with licensees and the Commissioners; applications for alterations; accounts of the Clerk of the Peace. For 1828/9-1831/2 are held annual reports on each house, prepared by the Clerk of the Peace to be sent to the Home Secretary and the Commissioners under 9 Geo.IV, cap.41; these include full lists of all patients with details of committal, and discharge or death if appropriate.
QS5/6/ COUNTY ASYLUMS 1838-1889
Under an Act of 1828 'to amend the laws for the erection and regulation of county lunatic asylums, and more effectually to provide for the care and maintenance of pauper and criminal lunatics' (9 Geo.IV, cap.40), justices at Quarter Sessions were empowered to construct county lunatic asylums to house those persons for whom private provision could not be made, funding the construction by mortgaging the county rates. A committee of visitors was to be appointed to manage such an asylum. By 8&9 Vic., cap.126 of 1845 it was made compulsory for all counties to provide an asylum but by that date Surrey had opened its first asylum at Springfield, Wandsworth, in 1841. A second asylum was built at Brookwood, Woking, opening in 1867, and a third at Cane Hill, Coulsdon, opening in 1883.
QS5/6/1/ SPRINGFIELD ASYLUM, WANDSWORTH 1838-1889
Built by Edward Lapidge and opened 1841. Extended many times thereafter, including major extensions which opened in 1847 and 1853. A proposed extension on the site to provide for male patients was rejected by the Secretary of State in 1860 whereupon it was decided to build a second County asylum elsewhere. Transferred to London County Council in 1889. For case books and indexes relating to Springfield Hospital, 1849-1938, see 6367/1/1-16.
QS5/6/1/ Construction 1838-1842
QS5/6/1/ Annual Reports: Manuscript 1848-1860
These bundles comprise manuscript reports and accounts relating to Surrey Lunatic Asylum which went to make up the annual reports presented to Quarter Sessions by the committee of visitors. The bundles may include: annual report of committee of visitors; list of committee of visitors; copy reports and correspondence with the Commissioners in Lunacy and other bodies; reports of medical officers and chaplain; receipts and payments account; farm account, garden account; benevolent fund account, bazaar account; manufacturing account; list of sums for which orders have been made for payment upon the County Treasurer; returns of restraints, mechanical and by seclusion; list of establishment; dietary; numbers of patients employed and attending chapel; work done by female patients; contract prices of principal articles of consumption; admission lists and statistics (no names given but details of age, occupation, religion, parish, illness, fate etc); discharges and deaths. Many of these papers appeared as appendices in the printed annual reports of the committee of visitors.
QS5/6/1/ Annual Reports: Printed 1846-1889
Octavo. Save where otherwise noted, these reports are in coloured paper covers, and were printed by D Batten, Clapham Common. Each report is preceded by a list of the magistrates, and annexes a number of tables which provide statistical information relating to the patients. No names are given but otherwise much detailed information is provided, abstracted in various forms, relating to patients' backgrounds and disorders. The reports were presented in Apr and cover the previous year to 31 Dec, unless otherwise stated. Other reports to 1889 will be found in QS2/1A/-.
QS5/6/1/ Printed reports: special reports 1847-1860
QS5/6/1/ Attendance Book 1842-1889
QS5/6/1/ Rules 1850
QS5/6/1/ Correspondence and Papers relating to Site 1837-1889
QS5/6/1/ Plans 1859-1860
QS5/6/2/ BROOKWOOD ASYLUM, WOKING 1868-1887
Built by C H Howell, County Surveyor, and opened 1867. Transferred to Surrey County Council in 1889. For records of Brookwood Asylum from its foundation see 3043.
QS5/6/2/ Annual Reports, printed 1868 Other annual reports of the Committee of Visitors to 1889 will be found in QS2/1A/-.
QS5/6/2/ Records relating to staff 1883-1887
QS5/6/3/ CANE HILL ASYLUM, COULSDON 1885
Built by C H Howell, County Architect, and opened 1883. Transferred to London County Council in 1889, with provision to receive patients from Croydon Borough. Records of the hospital are held by London Metropolitan Archives and Croydon Borough Archives.
QS5/6A/ INSTITUTIONS FOR MENTAL DEFECTIVES 1914-1960
Under the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913 (3&4 Geo.V, cap.28) 'to make further and better provision for the care of feeble-minded and other mentally defective persons', institutions certified by the newly established Board of Control might receive those deemed idiots, imbeciles or, if under 21, suffering from a lesser degree of mental deficiency, on application of their parents or guardians supported by medical certificates. Other mental defectives might be admitted under a reception order of the judicial authority. As an alternative to being placed in an institution a mental defective might be placed under guardianship. The visitors of licensed houses appointed under the Lunacy Act of 1890 were also to act as visitors of mental defectives in institutions or under guardianship. Such visitors were to examine each defective at periodic intervals (one year from the reception order; thereafter, if the order was continued a further year, at the end of that year; thereafter at five yearly intervals) and were to report to the Board of Control whether the defective was 'still a proper person to be detained in his own interest in an institution or under guardianship'. Those persons originally placed in an institution or under guardianship when they were under 21 were also to be examined on reaching that age to determine whether they should continue to be detained. Institutions noted in the minutes include: Godstone Poor Law Institution, Bletchingley; Clerk's Croft, Bletchingley; St Mary's Hospital, Carshalton; St Lawrence's Hospital, Caterham (Caterham Metropolitan Asylum); Chertsey Poor Law Institution, Ottershaw (later Murray House); Botleys Park Hospital, Chertsey; St Teresa's, Dockenfield; Dorking Poor Law Institution; Royal Hostel, Elstead; The Manor Hospital, Epsom; Mount Olivet Monastery, Frensham; Farmfield State Institution and Farmfield Institution, Charlwood; Kingston Poor Law Institution; Eagle House, London Road, Mitcham; Royal Earlswood Hospital, Redhill; Reigate Poor Law Institution; Ellen Terry Home, Reigate; Spelthorne St Mary Home, Thorpe; St Peter's Home, Maybury, Woking. Under the Mental Health Act 1959 visitors were superseded by Mental Health Review Tribunals from Nov 1960.
QS5/6A/ MINUTE BOOKS OF VISITORS OF INSTITUTIONS FOR MENTAL DEFECTIVES 1914-1960
The minute books list those individuals under guardianship or held in certified institutions whose cases are to be reviewed and record the visitors' recommendations to the Board of Control.
QS5/6A/ RE-CERTIFICATION REGISTERS 1914-1934
These registers list patients being seen by the Visitors of Institutions for Mental Defectives. They record name, date of birth, date of reaching 21, date of admission, mental condition, date seen by visitor, dates of recertification, death or discharge.
QS5/7/ RECORDS RELATING TO COUNTY BRIDGES AND OTHER COUNTY PROPERTY 1743-1887
QS5/7/ INSURANCE POLICIES 1802-1887
QS5/8/ HIGHWAY PROCEEDINGS AND DIVERSIONS 1784-1971
By an Act of 1773 (13 Geo.III, cap.78) two or more justices acting in Special Sessions might order the diversion or stopping up of a public highway, bridleway or footpath and dispose of the land formerly occupied by the road provided they had certified that the new road was completed and in good repair. A copy of this certificate was to be lodged with the Clerk of the Peace and any appeal against an order was to be determined by Quarter Sessions. The procedure was slightly amended by an Act of 1815 (55 Geo.III, cap.68), to ensure such decisions were properly publicised; the same Act also decreed that the order should be enrolled among the records of Quarter Sessions. This procedure was essentially continued by the Highways Act of 1835 (5&6 Will. IV, cap.50) which ordered that the proofs underlying the decision, the consent of the landowner through which the new road was to pass, and a plan were also to be enrolled. Under the same Act any new road built at private expense could not become a perpetual public liability without a certificate of completion and a vestry resolution a year after completion that the road was of sufficient utility to justify its maintenance at public expense. Papers relating to highway proceedings were numbered through from 1 to 1370 (1784-1971) and a list prepared, classifying proceedings by parish. It appears that this numbering was first done in c.1950, subsequent proceedings being added to the sequence until 1971. A further copy of this list (but excluding nos. 1351-70) is available in the searchroom. The list also refers to proceedings for which no papers are held but which are enrolled in the order books. Papers relating to some early proceedings are still to be found among the Session bundles (QS2/6/-) rather than in this separate sequence. Orders and certificates are also to be found enrolled in the Order Books (QS2/1/-) and from c.1850 in the order books relating to appeals and highway proceedings (QS2/3/-). It appears that when the Surrey proceedings were numbered proceedings relating to Inner London parishes were already being stored and numbered separately and the searchroom list includes an additional list of proceedings relating to Inner London parishes, bearing the original number sequence 1-69, which were deposited at a later date (numbers 70-79 in this sequence which post-date 1889 have been transferred to the London Metropolitan Archives). A further deposit of papers relating to highway proceedings, 1837-1882, transferred from the London Metropolitan Archives in 1990, and chiefly relating to that part of inner London which was formerly in Surrey, is held as 3747/-.
QS5/8/ HIGHWAY PROCEEDINGS: MAIN SERIES 1784-1971
QS5/8/ ADDITIONAL HIGHWAY DIVERSION PAPERS 1879-1964
These papers are not listed in QS5/8/IN1 above; the numbers given in brackets are those which are written on the papers but appear to bear no relation to any numbers used in the main sequence of highway proceedings.
QS5/8/ PAPERS RELATING TO LEGAL CASE RELATING TO A HIGHWAY DIVERSION 1907-1908
QS5/8A/ HIGHWAY REPAIR ADJUDICATIONS 1805-1826
In 1794 it was laid down by 34 Geo.III, cap.64 that where a highway formed the boundary between two parishes the responsibility for the repair of such a highway might be apportioned between the parishes by two justices whose order with an accompanying plan to show the division of responsibility was to be deposited with the Clerk of the Peace.
QS5/8B/ CREATION OF HIGHWAY DISTRICTS AND PROCEEDINGS RELATING TO HIGHWAY BOARDS 1862-1888
The Highways Act of 1835 (5&6 Will.IV, cap.50) empowered the justices in Quarter Sessions to unite parishes, on application, into highway districts with a district surveyor to oversee repairs, and parish surveyors to levy rates. Single large parishes might under the Act elect a highway board to superintend the upkeep of roads and the levying and collection of highway rates. Very few districts were formed in England and Wales under this Act, and none in Surrey, but a Highway Board was established for Farnham. 25&26 Vic., cap.61 (1862) enabled Quarter Sessions, following the application of five justices, to make compulsory orders for the formation of highway districts under highway boards, the boards to comprise the waywardens elected by each parish within the district and the resident justices. Appeals against decisions by boards were to be determined by Quarters Sessions. The first Highway District to be formed in Surrey was that of Kingston in mid-1863; those parts of the County not exempted under the Act because they came under the provisions of earlier general legislation such as the Local Board of Health Act (affecting Croydon and Epsom) or local Acts (such as Petersham and Richmond) were formed into districts in 1864, despite general opposition. Chertsey Highway District was dissolved in 1870, responsibility for highways reverting to the constituent parishes. In the same year a new Highway District of Mortlake was formed out of Kingston. In 1879 Dorking parish was incorporated into Dorking Highway District, and that part of Farnham parish under the jurisdiction of the Board of Health was incorporated into Farnham Highway District. Correspondence and papers relating to alterations in the boundaries of highway authorities, 1880-1886, will be found in QS5/8B/2/box 1-8 below.
QS5/8B/2/ HIGHWAYS COMMITTEE AND PROCEEDINGS UNDER HIGHWAYS AND LOCOMOTIVES (AMENDMENT) ACT 1878, 1878-1889
The Highways and Locomotives (Amendment) Act 1878 (41&42 Vic, cap.77) stated that any road disturnpiked since 1870 was to be deemed a main road and half the expense of maintaining such roads was to be contributed out of the county rate. Highway authorities might also apply to the county authorities that other major roads should be declared main roads. The Act also strengthened the powers of the county authorities to enforce repairs and empowered them to make byelaws to regulate traffic on main roads and also to license steam locomotives using the roads. Rural sanitary authorities created under the Public Health Act 1875 might, on application to the county authorities, take on the powers of a highway board. To implement the Act Surrey Quarter Sessions set up a committee, called the Highways Committee from 1879, which also came to deal with County and main road bridges.
QS5/9/ INQUISITIONS INTO COMPENSATION PAYABLE FOR LANDS ETC NEEDED FOR PUBLIC UNDERTAKINGS 1769-1893
Under individual acts for public undertakings, and later under the Land Clauses Consolidation Act of 1845 (8&9 Vic, cap.18), provision was made for disputes over compensation payable to owners of lands required for public undertakings to be determined by the verdict of a jury. (The Land Clauses Consolidation Act restricted this procedure to lands valued at more than £50 (s.23) and laid down an alternative arbitration procedure (ss.23-37) for which the party claiming compensation could opt.) Disputes might be heard either before the Sheriff or before the justices assembled in Quarter Sessions, dependent upon the form of the act. After 1845 the former procedure was prescribed and the verdict signed by the Sheriff and kept by the Clerk of the Peace among the records of the Court of Quarter Sessions (8 & 9 Vic., cap.18 s50). The series of records maintained by the Clerk of the Peace for Surrey, listed here, consists mainly of inquisitions, in which the land is described and amount of compensation awarded set out. Inquisitions are generally described as taking place before either the sheriff, Quarter Sessions or trustees of the undertaking. In the case of disputes heard before the sheriff, the inquisition is signed by the sheriff and jurors, and confirmed by the trustees of the undertaking; alternatively the sheriff might issue a memorandum of the inquisition, under his signature alone. Records of disputes heard at Quarter Sessions also either take the form of an inquisition, signed by the Clerk of the Peace and jurors, or a memorandum of the inquisition and award, signed only by the Clerk. Disputes heard before Quarter Sessions are also recorded in the Quarter Sessions Order Book. Disputes before the trustees generally take the form of an inquisition signed by the jurors, with beneath a confirmation by the trustees. Deed polls of compensation (recording the payment of moneys awarded) and precepts, or warrants, to the Sheriff to empanel a jury are also occasionally present. Precepts, which are issued over the names of some or all of the directors or trustees of the company, are generally recited in full in the inquisition. The series has a contemporary numerical reference which is incomplete. The original numeration has not therefore been retained. The latter part of the index is arranged by date of receipt or entry, rather than by date of inquisition, which accounts for seeming anomalies in the ordering of the inquisitions. This arrangement has been retained. Compensation was generally the purchase price of the land acquired by the undertaking. Occasionally, however, it was awarded in respect of damage to property not acquired, and has been noted as such in the list. In the majority of cases, the award is made to the owner of the property. A note has been made where this is not the case (eg QS5/9/25). For deposited plans and books of reference relating to many of these undertakings see QS6/8/-below.
QS5/9/ BLACKFRIARS BRIDGE ROAD 1769-1774
Act for making a road from the south end of Blackfriars Bridge to the present Turnpike Road, 9 Geo III. The road ran across St George's fields to the Dog and Duck and Newington Butts.
QS5/9/ BASINGSTOKE CANAL 1790
QS5/9/ GRAND SURREY CANAL 1806-1807
Act for making and maintaining a navigable canal from the River Thames from Wilkinson's Gun Wharf, Rotherhithe, to Mitcham, 41 Geo III.
QS5/9/ WATERLOO BRIDGE 1816
Act for building a bridge over the River Thames from the Savoy, Middlesex, to the opposite bank and for making a new road in lieu of part of Narrow Walk, 49 Geo III.
QS5/9/ COMMERCIAL DOCKS COMPANY 1817
Act for maintaining and improving the docks and warehouses called the Commercial Docks, 50 Geo III.
QS5/9/ WATERLOO BRIDGE 1817-1818
Act for building a bridge over the River Thames from the precinct of the Savoy ..... to the opposite shore, 49 Geo III.
QS5/9/ SURREY AND SUSSEX ROADS COMPANY 1819
Act for making a new road from Kennington Lane to Camberwell Green, 25 Geo III.
QS5/9/ SURREY NEW ROADS COMPANY 1819-1823
Act for the repair of roads in the parishes of Lambeth, Newington, St George, Southwark, Bermondsey and Christchurch, Southwark.
QS5/9/ GRAND SURREY CANAL 1824
See -/6-7 above.
QS5/9/ SURREY AND SUSSEX ROADS 1824
See -/12-14 above.
QS5/9/ THE THAMES TUNNEL 1825
An Act for making and maintaining a Tunnel under the River Thames, 5 Geo IV.
QS5/9/ SOUTHERN BRIDGE COMPANY 1826
Act for building bridge over the River Thames from the parishes of St James Garlick Hithe and St Martin Vintry in the City of London to the parish of St Saviour, Surrey, 41 Geo III.
QS5/9/ WEST MIDDLESEX WATER WORKS COMPANY 1833
Act for supplying with water the inhabitants of Kensington, Hammersmith, Brentford, Battersea, Putney, Richmond and several other parishes and places in the counties of Middlesex and Surrey, 40 Geo III.
QS5/9/ LONDON AND GREENWICH RAILWAY COMPANY 1834
Act for making a railway from London to Greenwich, 3 Will IV.
QS5/9/ COMMISSIONERS FOR PAVING AND IMPROVING UPPER GROUND STREET 1834
Act for paving, cleansing, lighting, watching, widening, regulating & improving a certain street called Upper Ground Street in the parish of Christchurch, 31 Geo III.
QS5/9/ KINGSTON BRIDGE 1835
Act for rebuilding of Kingston Bridge and for improving and making suitable approaches thereto, 6 Geo IV.
QS5/9/ LONDON AND GREENWICH RAILWAY COMPANY 1836
See -/32 above.
QS5/9/ CROYDON RAILWAY COMPANY 1836
Act for making a railway from Croydon to join the London and Greenwich Railway near London, 5 Will IV.
QS5/9/ SOUTHAMPTON RAILWAY COMPANY 1836
Act for making a railway from London to Southampton, 5 Will IV.
QS5/9/ LONDON AND GREENWICH RAILWAY COMPANY 1833-1838
See -/32 and -/37 above.
QS5/9/ OTHER INQUISITIONS 1817-1893
These further inquisitions have yet to be listed in full. There are no inquisitions for the years 1840-1844.
QS5/9A/ PROCEEDINGS UNDER THE 1774 BUILDING ACT 1801-1845
Under an Act of 14 Geo.III cap 78 (The Building Act) 'for the better regulation of buildings and party walls and more effectually preventing mischiefs by fire', detailed prescriptions were laid down to make buildings more fireproof by ensuring walls were built of the correct materials and were of a prescribed thickness, and that chimneys, doors and windows were correctly built. Particular attention was paid to party walls between buildings. Buildings were divided by function, size and location and value into seven grades, or 'rates' for the purpose of administering the Act, which applied to the Cities of London and Westminster and 'other parishes, places and precincts in the weekly bills of mortality' and the Middlesex parishes of St Marylebone and Paddington, St Pancras and St Luke, Chelsea. The Surrey parishes covered by the Act were Bermondsey, Rotherhithe, Southwark, Lambeth and Newington. Persons unhappy at the state of the party walls of their neighbours' houses could, having given sufficient notice, have the walls inspected by surveyors who would send a copy of their certificate to the justices. The Act also established District surveyors, to be nominated by Quarters Sessions in that part of Surrey affected by the Act, whose function was to inspect all newly erected buildings and certify, through a sworn affidavit before a justice, that they were in conformity with the Act. The affidavits were to be deposited with the Clerk of the Peace. In Surrey surveyors were appointed for the Districts of Bermondsey and Rotherhithe; Newington and Lambeth; St Saviour's, St George's and Christ Church, Southwark; and St John's, St Olave's and St Thomas', Southwark. In Apr 1833 it was decided to divide the Lambeth and Newington District into two: one covering Newington and North Lambeth, the other South Lambeth (see QS5/9A/plan 1 below). In Jan 1824 a Committee was appointed to examine the working of the Act within Surrey (see QS2/1/46). In its report of Apr 1824 it highlighted several areas of concern and accused the district surveyors of neglecting their duties in enforcing the Act. It was decided that a bill should be prepared jointly with the Middlesex justices to amend and strengthen the Act, which bill was submitted to the Home Secretary in 1826. The proposed amendments will be found in QS5/9A/vol 1 below. However, although the committee was ordered to be continued every session until Jan 1829, at which time a response from the Home Secretary was still awaited, this initiative appears to have failed.
QS5/9B/ DESERTED PREMISES PROCEEDINGS 1789-1867
By 11 Geo.II, cap.19 (1738), if premises leased at a rent which was at least three-quarters of the value of the property were deserted by the tenant to avoid paying arrears of rent and provided those arrears amounted to one year's rent, the landlord might request that two justices visit the premises, affix a notice of the date of a second visit, and if on that second visit, the tenant did not return to pay the arrears, restore possession to the landlord, making void the lease. Such proceedings had to be examinable by the Justices of Assize who might order restitution; this presumably explains why records of proceedings were lodged with the Clerk of the Peace. By 57 Geo.III, cap.52 (1817) the above procedure might be applied if half a month's rent was in arrears.
QS5/10/ LICENSING OF PREMISES SELLING INTOXICATING LIQUOR 1785-1935
Responsibility for licensing alehouses was placed upon justices of the peace by an Act of 1552 (5&6 Edw.IV, cap.25) under which two justices were to take recognizances for good behaviour from alehouse keepers. The recognizances were to be certified at the next Quarter Sessions. Licences might be granted at Quarter Sessions, Petty Sessions or by two justices acting together. The granting of some licences at Quarter Sessions is recorded in the early order books (ref QS2/1/-) and the session rolls include some indictments of persons selling ale without a licence. However, it does not appear that the systematic certifying of recognizances took place and after 1700 very few licences were issued at Quarter Sessions. An Act of 1753 (26 Geo.II, cap.31) required the Clerk of the Peace to keep a register of recognizances. Licences were only to be granted on or within 20 days of 1 September for one year at a general meeting of the justices for the division (known as brewster sessions). Registers have survived from 1785. By 9 Geo.IV, cap.61 (1828) general licensing meetings were to be held each March by the justices in each Surrey division. Each licensee also needed to obtain an excise licence to sell beer and a further licence to sell wine and spirits. However the sale of beer was deregulated in 1830, removing the need to obtain a justices' licence (although an excise licence was still required). No records of general licensing meetings are held by Surrey History Service but registers of licences to sell wines and spirits granted in the eastern half hundred of Brixton and the town and borough of Southwark, 1834-1841, are held by the London Metropolitan Archives. Recognizances for good behaviour were no longer demanded and thus registration of such recognizances by the Clerk of the Peace ceases after 1828. By the Wine and Beerhouse Act of 1869 (32&33 Vic., cap.27) the justices' responsibility for licensing all houses selling intoxicating liquor was restored, to be exercised at general licensing sessions. A Licensing and Special Sessions book for Kingston, 1868-1930, is held as 2819/1/1 and the London Metropolitan Archives holds a register of licences granted under this Act in the eastern half hundred of Brixton, 1870. No other records created under this legislation are known to survive. The 1872 Licensing Act (35&36 Vic., cap.94) established County and Borough Licensing Committees (see QS5/10/6-19 below) to confirm new licences issued at the general licensing sessions and regulated the terms on which licences could be granted and revoked. Renewals of licences did not need confirmation. Registers of licences were to be kept in each petty sessional division and several of these are held among the records of the divisions. The 1904 Licensing Act (4 Edw.VII, cap.23), among other measures, ordered that in most cases the power to refuse the renewal of an existing licence should be vested in Quarter Sessions which could also determine compensation. Returns were to made to the Secretary of State of new licences granted and licences extinguished (see QS5/10/20-21).
QS5/10/ REGISTERS OF LICENSED VICTUALLERS 1785-1827
These volumes enumerate several hundred names of victuallers in alphabetical order, in their respective parishes, each year. In and after 1822 the sign of the house is also given. There is no register numbered 1.
QS5/10/ COUNTY LICENSING COMMITTEE BOOKS 1873-1935
See QS5/10/9 for committee standing orders.
QS5/11/ MUSIC AND DANCING LICENSING 1882-1889
In 1752, 'because the multitude of places of entertainment for the lower sort of people is [a] great cause of thefts and robberies, as they are thereby tempted to spend their small substance in riotous pleasures, and in consequence are put on unlawful methods of supplying their wants, and renewing their pleasures', an Act was passed (25 Geo II, cap.36) 'for the better preventing thefts and robberies and for regulating places of public entertainment and punishing persons keeping disorderly houses'. Under the Act all places kept for public dancing, music or other entertainment within twenty miles of London were to be licensed in Quarter Sessions and a licensed place was to publicly display the fact. The granting of licences is recorded in the order books (QS2/1/-). In April 1888, as a fire prevention measure, it was ordered that all persons applying for a licence for a place of public entertainment within the area defined by the Act should deposit plans with the Clerk of the Peace.. However by this date the Metropolitan Board of Works was responsible for ensuring that the necessary fire prevention measures were observed in larger places of public entertainment (over 500 square feet in area) within the Board's area of jurisdiction. The date given below is not necessarily that of the application for a licence. Plans which had been drawn up earlier for a different purpose were frequently submitted. The plans are ordered alphabetically by parish.
QS5/11A/ SLAUGHTER HOUSE LICENSING 1802-1844
In order to check the theft of horses and cattle an Act passed in 1786 (26 Geo III cap.71) required all houses kept for the slaughtering of animals to be licensed at Quarter Sessions. The applicant was required to submit a certificate signed by the minister and churchwardens or overseers of his parish that he was a fit person to carry on such a business. It was the responsibility of the licensee to keep a record of all animals brought to him for slaughtering, which record might be inspected by inspectors appointed by parish vestries. Slaughter house licences are also recorded in the order books (ref QS2/1/-).
QS5/12/ RACE COURSE LICENSING 1879-1881
The Licensing of Race Courses Act, 1879 (42&43 Vic.cap18) was aimed at curbing the 'frequency of horse-races in the immediate vicinity of the metropolis' as causing 'annoyance and injury to persons resident near to the places where such races are held'. From 1880 any landowner or occupier wishing to stage horse racing within ten miles of Charing Cross, Westminster, had to apply to Quarter Sessions for a licence which was valid for twelve months. Licences are recorded in the order books (ref QS2/1/-).
QS5/13/ WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 1880-1887
By an Act for the more effectual prevention of the use of defective weights, and of false and unequal balances 1795 (35 Geo.III cap.102) Quarter Sessions were empowered to appoint persons to examine weights and balances employed by tradesmen and bring persons using false weights before a justice who might impose a fine. The county justices were also to purchase a set of proper weights, according to the Standard in the Exchequer, which were to be lodged in a place where they might be used by the public. By 55 Geo.III, cap.43 of 1815 these provisions were extended to units of measure. By the Weights and Measure Act of 1824 (5 Geo.IV, cap.74) definitive national standards for yards, pounds, gallons and bushels were prescribed. Copies of these were to be purchased by the Counties. The Weights and Measures Act of 1835 (5&6 Will.IV, cap.63) required the justices in Quarter Sessions to divide the county into districts under inspectors who were to have custody of sets of weights and measures, against which all weights and measures used in the county were to be verified. Inspectors might also, if authorized by a justice, enter shops to check the weights and measures. Offences against the Act were to be judged by two or more justices; appeal against a conviction might be made to Quarter Sessions. These provisions were essentially reiterated in the Weights and Measures Act 1878 (41&42 Vic, cap.49).
QS5/14/ CONTROL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES IN ANIMALS 1866-1888
By an Act 'to prevent ..... the spreading of contagious or infectious disorders among sheep, cattle and other animals', 1850 (11-12 Vic, cap.107) the Privy Council was empowered to issue orders and regulations to control the movement and disposal of infected animals. The Act was initially to be effective until Sep 1850 but was subsequently continued. By an order of the Privy Council of 23 Nov 1865, amended on 16 Dec 1865, local authorities were to issue notices controlling the movement of infected animals and as a result the Quarter Sessions General Cattle Plague Committee was formed. The Cattle Diseases Prevention Act of 1866 (29 Vic, cap.2), which was again to be temporary, caused the formation of a new committee to oversee the quarantining of infected districts, the slaughter of diseased cattle, for which compensation might be paid, and the execution of any Privy Council orders made under the Act. Divisional committees, comprising the justices in each petty sessional division, were also formed under the Act to appoint inspectors to investigate suspected outbreaks of disease and to determine the compensation to be paid. The Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act of 1869 (32 & 33 Vic, cap.70) consolidated and made permanent the existing legislation and a new executive committee was formed to implement this Act. The Act was superseded by The Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act 1878 (41 & 42 Vic, cap.74), which among other provisions ordered the appointment of qualified veterinary inspectors by local authorities.
QS5/15/ PAPERS OF CLERK OF THE PEACE 1824-1953
This section contains correspondence, copy returns to central government departments and other papers of the Clerk of the Peace in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. No earlier papers are known to have survived.
QS5/15/ OUT LETTER BOOKS 1846-1889
These are addressed from the Office of the Clerk of the Peace in North Street, Lambeth, and afterwards at the Sessions House, Newington. The first volume, covering 5 years, contains copies of 1161 letters.
QS5/15/ LOOSE CORRESPONDENCE AND PAPERS 1854-1948
QS5/15/ TABLES OF FEES 1807-1842
QS5/15/ PAPERS RELATING TO RECORDS AFTER 1882-1975
QS5/15/ PRESS CUTTINGS 1848-1895
QS5/15/ REFERENCE MAPS 1824-1884
QS5/15/ MISCELLANEOUS 1833-1875
QS5/16/ COUNTY RATES AND GENERAL FINANCE AND PAPERS OF COUNTY TREASURER 1708-1889
The Poor Relief Act of 1601 (43 Eliz.I, cap.2) authorized the justices in Quarter Sessions to levy annual rates for the relief of poor prisoners in the King's Bench and Marshalsea prisons and inmates of local hospitals and almshouses. By another Act of 1601 (43 Eliz.I, cap.3) rates could be levied for pensions to maimed soldiers and mariners. The justices were to appoint treasurers. By Acts of 7 Jas.I, cap.4 (1609) and 1 Anne, cap.12 (1702) sums paid for the repair of houses of correction and the repair of county bridges were to be paid to the treasurer. By Act of 12 Geo.II, cap.29 of 1738/9 the various rates were consolidated and the justices were thereafter able to make a general rate by assessment on every parish, to be collected from parish overseers by the high constable and by the boards of guardians after 1836. For minutes and reports of the Finance and General Purposes Committee from 1858 see QS5/1A/-.
QS5/16/ COUNTY RATES ACCOUNTS 1708-1728
Paper covered booklets recording accounts submitted by treasurers with responsibility for raising and disbursing rates for the relief of prisoners in the County gaols, The Queen's / King's Bench prison and the Marshalsea prison; the relief of maimed soldiers and sailors (names of pensioners often listed); hospitals; the repair of bridges; and for reimbursing constable's expenses in conveying vagrants who were the subject of a removal order. For most of the period covered by these books 3 accounts were generally presented each year: those of the treasurers of the East and Middle Division and of the West Division for the rate for the relief of prisoners and service men and the maintenance of hospitals; and of the treasurer of the rate for the passing of vagrants. In the description below the purpose of the rate(s) and the date on which the order was made to raise the rate are given. The date in the last column is that of the examination of the account by the justices.
QS5/16/ COUNTY RATE COMMITTEE 1867-1889
QS5/16/ REPORT OF COUNTY RATE COMMITTEE 1871-1874
QS5/16/ RATING OF METROPOLITAN PARISHES 1870-1886
QS5/16/ ANNUAL ACCOUNTS 1883
QS5/16/ MORTGAGES OF RATES 1878-1887
Under the Lunatic Asylums Act, 1853, and the Local Loans Act, 1875 capital could be acquired for county projects by raising loans secured on the county rates, which were charged with annual repayments.
QS5/16/ PERIODICAL PAYMENTS 1873-1893
An earlier list of periodical payments will be found in QS5/2/1.
QS5/16/ CORRESPONDENCE 1862
QS5/17/ CORONER 1852-1889
QS5/17/ CORONER'S DISTRICTS 1878
Coroners were elected by the freeholders of the county until 1888 when the Local Government Act provided for their appointment by the County Council.
QS5/17/ ACCOUNTS 1883-1888
Under the Act of 26 Geo.II, cap.29 (1752) coroners were paid 20s for every inquisition held and 9d for every mile travelled to view the body, by order of the justices in Quarter Sessions from the county rates. Earlier coroners' accounts, in the form of lists of inquests held with expenses, will be found among the session papers, QS2/6/-.
QS5/17/ VOUCHERS 1852-1889
Each voucher comprises a printed form, drawn up according to 1 Vic., cap.68 (repealed 50 & 51 Vic., cap.71 by which accounts were to be returned to local authorities), headed with the name of the deceased and the date and place of the inquest and with sections for disbursements made by the coroner to the constable, those caring for the body, the jury, the surgeon and the witnesses (all of whom sign their names as a receipt) and for hiring the inquest room. The vouchers of each of the county coroners are tied in quarterly bundles.