Law, crime and state papers

These collections created by Stephen Swailes provide introductions, abstracts and indexes of information found in late medieval and early modern records relating to Northamptonshire. They can be explored on the Notes on Medieval English Genealogy site and feature numerous links to images of original documents that are kept at The National Archives.

The following list includes subjects that range from a medieval house invasion to the establishment of the county's police force, murders, a divorce and modern shoplifting in Northampton:

About this section

  • For some items we list, copyright has expired and so they are in the public domain. It is important to comply with copyright restrictions where they do apply.
  • Resources that are housed on the FamilySearch site are indicated by the symbol (**). Before accessing such items it is necessary to create a free FamilySearch account.
  • Many of the books at Internet Archive that were first published less than 100 years ago are available only to ‘borrow’. This means they cannot be downloaded but may be viewed if you create a free Internet Archive account and nobody else is viewing the book at the same time.
  • If you find that an internet link no longer works or its destination has changed for the worse, the Wayback Machine may be able to help you find the material that used to be there.
  • Details of the Record Society’s own publications, many of which are available online free of charge, appear on our Publications page.
  • Links that go to a subscription website or to non-Record Society publications for which payment is required are indicated by the symbol (£).