CAMBRIDGESHIRE: QUARTER SESSIONS RECORDS

This catalogue covers most of the records of the Court of Quarter Sessions for the County of Cambridge, in this case meaning Cambridgeshire excluding the Isle of Ely and the Borough of Cambridge, which had their own courts. It is in fact composed of two catalogues:

(i) A catalogue classified on archival principles similar to that used for other major official collections in the office, using significant letters to denote the class of document, derived from the function which created it (e.g. Q/SO - sessions orders). A copy of the classification scheme follows this note.

(ii) The 'old (pre-1961) catalogue', in which records are classified more loosely, using a simple numerical system (e.g. QS1 - minute books, QS2 - order books). The whole catalogue is gradually being superseded by the classified catalogue. Where documents have been re-catalogued, former references have been crossed through and new ones written above them. The catalogue was formerly on slips, which have been photocopied to produce a catalogue in foolscap page form.

In each case the reference to a particular document is composed of two main elements - either the group of letters denoting the class of document given at each subheading or (in the 'old catalogue') the group number given originally at the top of each slip, and a serial number given underneath. The full reference is obtained by combining the two.

E.g. Q/RDc7 Graveley inclosure map, 1806

QS3/1 Register of oaths of allegiance, 1715-1732

Q/SO10-11 Sessions order books, 1796-1810

There were separate courts of Quarter Sessions for the Isle of Ely and for the Borough of Cambridge. Except for the minute books of the Isle of Ely, records of neither of these are as yet catalogued, but details are available on request.