VPRS 16619 Court of Petty Sessions Record Book

This series comprises a single register which records matters of a relatively minor nature handled by the Newstead Court of Petty Sessions.From an examination of the entries in this register three types of cases appear to dominate. These are:- civil actions for mostly small amounts of money- police prosecutions in cases resulting in non custodial punishments, and- committal hearings.Entries are in specially ruled and headed pages and record the date of action, the title of cause heard and a column titled "Depositions and Adjudication". This column usually recorded the result of the cause.Unlike the Court of Petty Sessions Cause List Registers which were used simultaneously, the presiding magistrate did not sign this register.This particular register was sparingly used after 1867 and contains only a very small number of entries in the period until September 1879.