ABSTRACT
John Paget was a stipendiary magistrate, first appointed to the Thames police court in 1864, subsequently transferred to the Hammersmith and Wandsworth police courts. Stipendiary magistrates were paid professionals, drawn usually from the ranks of barristers. In the 1850s, Paget had been secretary to two Lord Chancellors, Truro and Cranworth. In all, the London police courts, like other magistrates courts, were where the populace met and experienced the law. The sympathetic treatment of the troubles of street and home they received in these courts went some way to winning working-class acceptance of the law. The duties of the court may be divided into those which are inquisitorial and those which are judicial.
