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The Old Bailey Proceedings, 1674–1913: text mining for evidence of court behavior

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journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 04:30 authored by Tim Hitchcock, William J Turkel
This article uses text and data mining methodologies to explore the distribution of text among the 197,000 trials published as part of the Old Bailey Proceedings, 1674-1913. By testing how the Proceedings report trials that resulted from different charges and pleas it argues that historians need to be wary of their use as evidence for eighteenth-century court behaviour. It also demonstrates that the Proceedings give a much fuller account of nineteenth-century trials, and provides evidence derived from the distribution of words between trials for the early and growing importance of “plea bargaining” in the nineteenth century, resulting in a significant transformation in the character of the criminal trial.

Funding

Datamining with Criminal Intent; AHRC

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Law and History Review

ISSN

0738-2480

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Issue

4

Volume

34

Page range

929-955

Department affiliated with

  • History Publications

Research groups affiliated with

  • Sussex Humanities Lab Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2017-01-03

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2017-01-03

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2016-12-29

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