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This site was created to publish many of the hidden court records of the superior courts of New South Wales. At present it concentrates on the Supreme Court's decisions between 1788 and 1841. We also include a number of cases concerning Aborigines from later years. The site is presently under construction, and we will be adding new cases. At present it contains well over one thousand cases and two million words. NEWS (past news items) December 2007: In anticipation of the 200th anniversary of the military coup against Governor Bligh on 26 January 1808, we have gathered together the most important cases concerning that dramatic event. Known as the Rum Rebellion, this coup was essentially a legal event. The cases precipitated the crisis, particularly R. v. Macarthur, 1808. The courts then heard repeated arguments about the legality of the post-coup trials. We have now completed transcribing all but a few of the cases between 1788 and 1824. We have now begun final editing and proofreading for the book, which should be finished by the middle of 2008. When we proofread the cases for the book, we will transfer the proofread transcripts to this website. At present, we are quite unsure about some of the transcribed words online, usually marked here in yellow highlighter. August 2007: We are making good progress through the criminal cases between 1788 and 1824, many of which are now online. Among them is the startling R. v. Kirby and Thompson, 1820, the earliest case we have discovered in which a European was executed for killing an Aborigine. See also the important decision in R. v. Powell, 1799, in which the result was very different despite very similar circumstances. July 2007: We are nearing the end of the selection and transcription of civil cases between 1788 and 1824. Most are online now, with only some tidying and final proofreading to be completed. We are now turning our attention to criminal cases, beginning again in 1788. Some are already online, including the first criminal case in Australia, R. v. Barsby, 1788. We have now completed a careful proofreading of that case, but need some help. At page [8] of the Barsby transcript online, there is a reference to Richard Clark, Serjeant of the Marines. The handwriting is unclear at that point. We cannot find a person called Serjeant Clark in 1788. (A photo of the page is online.) If any reader has a suggestion as to the correct name, please let us know. Also there are references in the case record to the prisoner being struck with a cane or case. The word looks more like case than cane in the manuscript, though case makes more sense in context. Suggestions would be very welcome here too. (We have now changed the text: the references are to cane and to Richard Clinch. Thanks to Jan Daly for helping us with these words.) Some of the very early criminal cases we have put online are not yet finally proofread. We will replace the text after we finish proofreading. In the meantime, we wanted these important cases to be made available as early as possible. This applies particularly to decisions before 1800. The criminal cases will take us most of the rest of 2007 to complete. February 2007: We are making good progress with the addition of cases before 1824. The Case Index is the easiest way to find the early cases. New cases online include R. v. Sutter, 1808, in which the defendant rejects the legality of the rebel courts after the Rum rebellion of 1808; and the great case of Boston v. Laycock, 1795, in which soldiers were held to the same rule of law as the rest of the community. We have also placed online digital images of the first civil court records in Australia, Cable v. Sinclair, 1788. January 2007: We have now commenced a new project, which will lead to the creation of Australia's earliest set of law reports, going back to 1788. This new project has the combined financial support of the Francis Forbes Society for Australian Legal History and Macquarie University. We anticipate that the law reports will be published towards the end of 2008. In the meantime, we will publish selected cases here, from 1788 onwards. The first fruit of that project is now online: we have just published the oldest case in Australian legal history, Cable v. Sinclair, 1788. We have also published Australia's earliest civil legal claim by an Aboriginal person, and a rare Australian case of wife sale. January 2007: Most of the documents about relations with Aboriginal people that were collected by Justice Burton are now online. We have linked these documents to the most important cases, the three Myall Creek trials, R. v. Lowe, 1827 and R. v. Murrell, 1836. September 2006: We are working on the 1842 cases which should be online in October. We are also working on a file of documents which is located in the State Records Office of NSW, called "Miscellaneous Correspondence relating to Aborigines". These are the documents collected by Burton J, the trial judge in the second Myall Creek trial and the judge who wrote the lead judgment in R. v. Murrell, 1836. There are over 800 pages of handwritten notes and correspondence, which we intend to put online. June 2006: In preparation for the publication of Outsiders: Tales from the Supreme Court of NSW, 1824-1836, a page has been attached to this website. The book is designed for general readers, but some readers may wish more detail. The page contains extended notes for the book. FINDING CASES Subject index Case index INTRODUCTION TO THE COLLECTION SPECIAL FEATURES, such as music, judges' letters, poetry The mere ravings of a drunken lunatic, or the first work of literature to be written in Australia? The 1792-1794 diaries of Richard Atkins, Judge Advocate of New South Wales. ABORIGINAL CASES before 1824 and after 1841 (including an important 1842 case from Western Australia) DOCUMENTS CONCERNING ABORIGINES, NSW 1797-1840. Collected by Justice Burton. PORT PHILLIP DISTRICT CASES. R v Bonjon, 1841; R v Bolden, 1841; Ailsa v Wilson, 1843; Atkins v Manton, 1843. PRIVY COUNCIL decisions concerning Australia, pre-1850 TASMANIAN decisions from the parallel site to this one Other Legal History online sources An earlier version of this home page is also online if you prefer it. |
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