The people's courts? Summary justice and social relations in the City of London, c.1760–1800

Abstract

Using the records of the Guildhall and Mansion House justice rooms, this article explores the summary justice process in the City of London in the second half of the eighteenth century. It suggests that there is much to learn about the way most Londoners experienced and used the law in this period. These courts were arguably more accessible to more people than the jury courts of Assize and Quarter Sessions that have remained the focus for most studies of the history of crime and criminality. This article will provide an introduction to the nature of these courts and to the sorts of offences and offenders that were brought to them