Murder Cases in the Old Bailey Proceedings and the Ordinary's Account.

The Old Bailey court met eight times a year, and served as London’s equivalent to the assize courts that heard cases involving more serious crimes. The Proceedings was published after each Old Bailey sessions and provided an account of the felony trials heard there, sold to a broad audience. By the 1720s, it was written up as if to be a direct transcription of the testimony, but the authors and printers actually omitted or summarised portions, favouring more sensational parts in order to sell papers. There was some oversight by the City, however, and the Proceedings’ use by legal as well as popular readers suggests that it was generally found to be reliable. Recent scholarship has determined that the defence testimony was particularly questionable, and tended to be recorded in the way that best justified the verdict. ² Regardless, the Proceedings conveys a sense of popular perceptions of military marriage. Where it does not appear to be key to the verdict, evidence presented about the material conditions and interpersonal dynamic of couples is probably fairly reliable.