Historic criminal trails go online at Old Bailey Proceedings website

Search documents from almost 200,000 cases

The details of every trial held at London's Central Criminal Court between 1674 and 1913, including those of writer Oscar Wilde, are now available to read online.

The Old Bailey Proceedings website is a joint project by the Universities of Sheffield and Hertfordshire and the Open University.

The website contains the details of nearly 200,000 trials, including those for pick-pocketing, terrorism, murder and stealing a ship to use in the slave trade. Readers can also access files of some of the most sensational cases in British history, including that of Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen, who killed his wife, and the trials of Oscar Wilde.

The documents also demonstrate the changes in public attitudes towards crime and punishment. One case concerns a 13-year-old boy who was sentenced to death in 1835 for burgling the house of his former teacher.

Professor Tim Hitchcock, a co-director of the project, said: "Besides the desperate drama of crimes punished, the proceedings give us a new and remarkable access to the everyday.

“History is full of information about kings and queens and wars, but there isn't much that tells us about the everyday life of ordinary people.

“Until now this treasure trove of social, legal and family history has been available only to a few dedicated historians, who were prepared to spend months peering at microfilms.”