The Statutes Project
@statutes.bsky.social
Opening up Historic British Law and Legislation and digitally deforming it
1605: 3 James 1 c.1: An act for a publick thanksgiving to Almighty God every year on the fifth day of November.
statutes.org.uk/site/the-sta...
#LegalHistory
statutes.org.uk/site/the-sta...
#LegalHistory
November 5, 2025 at 8:22 AM
1605: 3 James 1 c.1: An act for a publick thanksgiving to Almighty God every year on the fifth day of November.
statutes.org.uk/site/the-sta...
#LegalHistory
statutes.org.uk/site/the-sta...
#LegalHistory
A very interesting piece, including this from @gwenseabourne.bsky.social
"you can always tell the historians from the lawyers at a conference, because the lawyers start a paper with the argument, while the historians always start with a story"
#History #LegalHistory 🗃️
"you can always tell the historians from the lawyers at a conference, because the lawyers start a paper with the argument, while the historians always start with a story"
#History #LegalHistory 🗃️
“If the point is that we need to restore these human stories, why frame them within law's stories first?”
Some thoughts on history, law, storytelling and Mrs Burns
williamgpooley.wordpress.com/2025/11/04/h...
🗃️
Some thoughts on history, law, storytelling and Mrs Burns
williamgpooley.wordpress.com/2025/11/04/h...
🗃️
Her Story
Valerie Margaret Small was born in 1941. In her teens, her domineering father was sick and bedridden, and she was expected to look for work. She trained as a tailor and then, aged 19, took driving …
williamgpooley.wordpress.com
November 4, 2025 at 11:12 AM
A very interesting piece, including this from @gwenseabourne.bsky.social
"you can always tell the historians from the lawyers at a conference, because the lawyers start a paper with the argument, while the historians always start with a story"
#History #LegalHistory 🗃️
"you can always tell the historians from the lawyers at a conference, because the lawyers start a paper with the argument, while the historians always start with a story"
#History #LegalHistory 🗃️
Reposted by The Statutes Project
“If the point is that we need to restore these human stories, why frame them within law's stories first?”
Some thoughts on history, law, storytelling and Mrs Burns
williamgpooley.wordpress.com/2025/11/04/h...
🗃️
Some thoughts on history, law, storytelling and Mrs Burns
williamgpooley.wordpress.com/2025/11/04/h...
🗃️
Her Story
Valerie Margaret Small was born in 1941. In her teens, her domineering father was sick and bedridden, and she was expected to look for work. She trained as a tailor and then, aged 19, took driving …
williamgpooley.wordpress.com
November 4, 2025 at 6:27 AM
“If the point is that we need to restore these human stories, why frame them within law's stories first?”
Some thoughts on history, law, storytelling and Mrs Burns
williamgpooley.wordpress.com/2025/11/04/h...
🗃️
Some thoughts on history, law, storytelling and Mrs Burns
williamgpooley.wordpress.com/2025/11/04/h...
🗃️
Reposted by The Statutes Project
'AI shows great potential to help deliver swifter, fairer, and more accessible justice for all - reducing court backlogs, increasing prison capacity and improving rehabilitation outcomes as well as victim services.'
Jesus fucking christ will this dangerous nonsense never end?
Jesus fucking christ will this dangerous nonsense never end?
AI action plan for justice
www.gov.uk
October 26, 2025 at 12:22 PM
'AI shows great potential to help deliver swifter, fairer, and more accessible justice for all - reducing court backlogs, increasing prison capacity and improving rehabilitation outcomes as well as victim services.'
Jesus fucking christ will this dangerous nonsense never end?
Jesus fucking christ will this dangerous nonsense never end?
Reposted by The Statutes Project
Some new open access #LegalHistory: inc. some thoughts from me on medieval 'petty treason'. www.qub.ac.uk/schools/Scho...
Celebrating "Law and Constitutional Change" New Conference Volume | School of Law | Queen's University Belfast
A new conference volume, Law and Constitutional Change, co-edited by Professor David Capper, Dr Conor McCormick and Professor Norma Dawson, has been published open access by Cambridge University Press...
www.qub.ac.uk
October 24, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Some new open access #LegalHistory: inc. some thoughts from me on medieval 'petty treason'. www.qub.ac.uk/schools/Scho...
Reposted by The Statutes Project
Researching a legal moment that was supposed to change everything - whether it did or not? The call for papers for 'Moments of Rupture' is open until 23 October!
Free, online conference in November, hosted by the Open Universities legal histories research cluster.
#LegalHistory #cfp
Free, online conference in November, hosted by the Open Universities legal histories research cluster.
#LegalHistory #cfp
The Open University
Moments of Rupture Online 20-21 November 2025Some legal and social changes are so profound that they create what seem to be moments of rupture: breaks between the ‘before’ and ‘after’. These moments c...
law-school.open.ac.uk
October 14, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Researching a legal moment that was supposed to change everything - whether it did or not? The call for papers for 'Moments of Rupture' is open until 23 October!
Free, online conference in November, hosted by the Open Universities legal histories research cluster.
#LegalHistory #cfp
Free, online conference in November, hosted by the Open Universities legal histories research cluster.
#LegalHistory #cfp
Statutes.org.uk is currently having server problems, and has been up and down like the proverbial yoyo for the last few hours.
Apologies for the interruption; I'm trying to find out what is going on.
Apologies for the interruption; I'm trying to find out what is going on.
October 17, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Statutes.org.uk is currently having server problems, and has been up and down like the proverbial yoyo for the last few hours.
Apologies for the interruption; I'm trying to find out what is going on.
Apologies for the interruption; I'm trying to find out what is going on.
Short thread answering a query about the dating of 5 Elizabeth 1 c.16, An Act Against Conjurations, Inchantments and #Witchcraft.
(Text of act: statutes.org.uk/site/the-sta... )
#LegalHistory
(Text of act: statutes.org.uk/site/the-sta... )
#LegalHistory
Welcome to the wacky world of regnal codes and statute dating!
My source for the text, which gives the year as 1563, can now be found at:
www.scribd.com/document/347...
Statutes of the Realm dates the parliamentary session as 1562-3:
babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=ps...
1/?
My source for the text, which gives the year as 1563, can now be found at:
www.scribd.com/document/347...
Statutes of the Realm dates the parliamentary session as 1562-3:
babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=ps...
1/?
SMRT 131 Witchcraft and The Act of 1604 PDF | PDF | Witchcraft | Magic (Paranormal)
Scribd is the world's largest social reading and publishing site.
www.scribd.com
October 14, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Short thread answering a query about the dating of 5 Elizabeth 1 c.16, An Act Against Conjurations, Inchantments and #Witchcraft.
(Text of act: statutes.org.uk/site/the-sta... )
#LegalHistory
(Text of act: statutes.org.uk/site/the-sta... )
#LegalHistory
An academic article on free legal databases has just been published by a university press.
Behind a paywall.
And the uni I work at doesn't have access.
Behind a paywall.
And the uni I work at doesn't have access.
October 9, 2025 at 11:57 AM
An academic article on free legal databases has just been published by a university press.
Behind a paywall.
And the uni I work at doesn't have access.
Behind a paywall.
And the uni I work at doesn't have access.
Can anyone confirm that there is no free, individual access to Hein Online's "Slavery in America and the World" collection?
I had an individual account, which now doesn't work, and can't see any other way to access it without going through an instititution.
#LegalHistory
I had an individual account, which now doesn't work, and can't see any other way to access it without going through an instititution.
#LegalHistory
October 5, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Can anyone confirm that there is no free, individual access to Hein Online's "Slavery in America and the World" collection?
I had an individual account, which now doesn't work, and can't see any other way to access it without going through an instititution.
#LegalHistory
I had an individual account, which now doesn't work, and can't see any other way to access it without going through an instititution.
#LegalHistory
Reposted by The Statutes Project
We're moving our Mastodon account.
As our previous provider is shutting down, we've moved to hcommons.social/@bho
Gi' us a follow!
As our previous provider is shutting down, we've moved to hcommons.social/@bho
Gi' us a follow!
British History Online (@bho@hcommons.social)
1 Post, 239 Following, 1 Follower · BHO is a digital library of historic source material and the Victoria County Histories, based at the Institute of Historical Research
hcommons.social
October 1, 2025 at 10:06 AM
We're moving our Mastodon account.
As our previous provider is shutting down, we've moved to hcommons.social/@bho
Gi' us a follow!
As our previous provider is shutting down, we've moved to hcommons.social/@bho
Gi' us a follow!
Reposted by The Statutes Project
More on the Ancestry vs National Records Scotland battle:
Ancestry and the NRS - when the corporate genealogy world turns ugly
by @chrismpaton.bsky.social
scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2025/09/ance...
#Archives
Ancestry and the NRS - when the corporate genealogy world turns ugly
by @chrismpaton.bsky.social
scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2025/09/ance...
#Archives
Ancestry and the NRS - when the corporate genealogy world turns ugly
From Scotland, a daily news blog about genealogy, family history and personal heritage.
scottishgenes.blogspot.com
September 29, 2025 at 1:16 PM
More on the Ancestry vs National Records Scotland battle:
Ancestry and the NRS - when the corporate genealogy world turns ugly
by @chrismpaton.bsky.social
scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2025/09/ance...
#Archives
Ancestry and the NRS - when the corporate genealogy world turns ugly
by @chrismpaton.bsky.social
scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2025/09/ance...
#Archives
This is the Ancestry vs National Records of Scotland decision. There is one mention of the Open Govt License, but opening up the records isn't really discussed. Doesn't seem to have copyright implications, but I can't claim to understand all the details.
September 29, 2025 at 11:10 AM
This is the Ancestry vs National Records of Scotland decision. There is one mention of the Open Govt License, but opening up the records isn't really discussed. Doesn't seem to have copyright implications, but I can't claim to understand all the details.
I can't find the General Regulatory Chamber decision on this case (probably because I'm completely unfamiliar with such modern matters).
Can anyone point me in the right direction?
#Archives #Law #FreedomOfInformation #FOI
Can anyone point me in the right direction?
#Archives #Law #FreedomOfInformation #FOI
The condition of state archives in the UK, part 2:
Commercial co. demands access to state records.
(But not, it seems, that the records are made freely available.)
"Ancestry in legal bid to access Scottish family records"
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
#History #Archives
Commercial co. demands access to state records.
(But not, it seems, that the records are made freely available.)
"Ancestry in legal bid to access Scottish family records"
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
#History #Archives
Ancestry in legal bid to access Scottish family records
DNA testing site, Ancestry.com, has taken legal action to access millions of Scottish family records held by the National Records of Scotland (NRS).
www.bbc.co.uk
September 29, 2025 at 9:02 AM
I can't find the General Regulatory Chamber decision on this case (probably because I'm completely unfamiliar with such modern matters).
Can anyone point me in the right direction?
#Archives #Law #FreedomOfInformation #FOI
Can anyone point me in the right direction?
#Archives #Law #FreedomOfInformation #FOI
Reposted by The Statutes Project
Does anyone know of a list of early modern and c18th English spellings of words?
i.e. a list of alternative spellings, such as 'publick' for publick, 'Wyllyam' for William, and so on?
Surely such a thing must have been compiled?
#History #LinguisticHistory 🗃️
i.e. a list of alternative spellings, such as 'publick' for publick, 'Wyllyam' for William, and so on?
Surely such a thing must have been compiled?
#History #LinguisticHistory 🗃️
September 22, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Does anyone know of a list of early modern and c18th English spellings of words?
i.e. a list of alternative spellings, such as 'publick' for publick, 'Wyllyam' for William, and so on?
Surely such a thing must have been compiled?
#History #LinguisticHistory 🗃️
i.e. a list of alternative spellings, such as 'publick' for publick, 'Wyllyam' for William, and so on?
Surely such a thing must have been compiled?
#History #LinguisticHistory 🗃️
Another 'weird laws' article:
Wirral to scrap 90-year-old ban on carpet beating and ‘wanton singing’
Those ‘sounding a noisy trumpet’ or ‘inciting a dog to bark’ along part of the Merseyside coast will no longer risk arrest
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
#LegalHistory
Wirral to scrap 90-year-old ban on carpet beating and ‘wanton singing’
Those ‘sounding a noisy trumpet’ or ‘inciting a dog to bark’ along part of the Merseyside coast will no longer risk arrest
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
#LegalHistory
Wirral to scrap 90-year-old ban on carpet beating and ‘wanton singing’
Those ‘sounding a noisy trumpet’ or ‘inciting a dog to bark’ along part of the Merseyside coast will no longer risk arrest
www.theguardian.com
September 16, 2025 at 8:36 AM
Another 'weird laws' article:
Wirral to scrap 90-year-old ban on carpet beating and ‘wanton singing’
Those ‘sounding a noisy trumpet’ or ‘inciting a dog to bark’ along part of the Merseyside coast will no longer risk arrest
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
#LegalHistory
Wirral to scrap 90-year-old ban on carpet beating and ‘wanton singing’
Those ‘sounding a noisy trumpet’ or ‘inciting a dog to bark’ along part of the Merseyside coast will no longer risk arrest
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
#LegalHistory
Updated: bibliograpy of statutes of the Irish Parliament to 1800.
The Virtual Treasury has made the two last volumes ofthe IRO Early Statutes series freely available online
statutes.org.uk/site/collect...
#History #LegalHistory #IrishHistory 🗃️
The Virtual Treasury has made the two last volumes ofthe IRO Early Statutes series freely available online
statutes.org.uk/site/collect...
#History #LegalHistory #IrishHistory 🗃️
August 7, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Updated: bibliograpy of statutes of the Irish Parliament to 1800.
The Virtual Treasury has made the two last volumes ofthe IRO Early Statutes series freely available online
statutes.org.uk/site/collect...
#History #LegalHistory #IrishHistory 🗃️
The Virtual Treasury has made the two last volumes ofthe IRO Early Statutes series freely available online
statutes.org.uk/site/collect...
#History #LegalHistory #IrishHistory 🗃️
Reposted by The Statutes Project
New research reveals King George IV profited from slavery in Grenada
Experts say finding heightens pressure on the monarchy to confront its historical links to slavery
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
#History #EnslavedHistory 🗃️
Experts say finding heightens pressure on the monarchy to confront its historical links to slavery
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
#History #EnslavedHistory 🗃️
New research reveals King George IV profited from slavery in Grenada
Experts say finding heightens pressure on the monarchy to confront its historical links to slavery
www.theguardian.com
August 7, 2025 at 8:51 PM
New research reveals King George IV profited from slavery in Grenada
Experts say finding heightens pressure on the monarchy to confront its historical links to slavery
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
#History #EnslavedHistory 🗃️
Experts say finding heightens pressure on the monarchy to confront its historical links to slavery
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
#History #EnslavedHistory 🗃️
Reposted by The Statutes Project
New bibliographic resource:
Links to the Journals of the Houses of Commons and Lords of Ireland, to 1800.
Plus where to find the parliamentary debates, circa 1776 - 1797.
anterotesis.com/wordpress/hi...
#History #IrishHistory 🗃️
Links to the Journals of the Houses of Commons and Lords of Ireland, to 1800.
Plus where to find the parliamentary debates, circa 1776 - 1797.
anterotesis.com/wordpress/hi...
#History #IrishHistory 🗃️
August 4, 2025 at 11:20 AM
New bibliographic resource:
Links to the Journals of the Houses of Commons and Lords of Ireland, to 1800.
Plus where to find the parliamentary debates, circa 1776 - 1797.
anterotesis.com/wordpress/hi...
#History #IrishHistory 🗃️
Links to the Journals of the Houses of Commons and Lords of Ireland, to 1800.
Plus where to find the parliamentary debates, circa 1776 - 1797.
anterotesis.com/wordpress/hi...
#History #IrishHistory 🗃️
Some good news:
Caribbean LGBTQ+ activists celebrate as court strikes down colonial-era laws
‘Stride in the right direction’ as Eastern Caribbean supreme court rules St Lucia’s laws on gay sex unconstitutional
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
#LegalHistory #LGBTHistory
Caribbean LGBTQ+ activists celebrate as court strikes down colonial-era laws
‘Stride in the right direction’ as Eastern Caribbean supreme court rules St Lucia’s laws on gay sex unconstitutional
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
#LegalHistory #LGBTHistory
Caribbean LGBTQ+ activists celebrate as court strikes down colonial-era laws
‘Stride in the right direction’ as Eastern Caribbean supreme court rules St Lucia’s laws on gay sex unconstitutional
www.theguardian.com
August 3, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Some good news:
Caribbean LGBTQ+ activists celebrate as court strikes down colonial-era laws
‘Stride in the right direction’ as Eastern Caribbean supreme court rules St Lucia’s laws on gay sex unconstitutional
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
#LegalHistory #LGBTHistory
Caribbean LGBTQ+ activists celebrate as court strikes down colonial-era laws
‘Stride in the right direction’ as Eastern Caribbean supreme court rules St Lucia’s laws on gay sex unconstitutional
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
#LegalHistory #LGBTHistory
Reposted by The Statutes Project
The reason historians don’t now use the term ‘witch hunts’ as a generalised term for the prosecution of people for witchcraft is that it implies witchcraft was always prosecuted in a different way compared to other crimes - it wasn’t
The witch hunts of 1400-1780 and today's misinformation crisis have striking parallels.
Both were fueled by new media technologies that allowed false information to spread rapidly and widely. buff.ly/6RFALyJ By Julie Walsh @wellesley.edu
Both were fueled by new media technologies that allowed false information to spread rapidly and widely. buff.ly/6RFALyJ By Julie Walsh @wellesley.edu
From printing presses to Facebook feeds: What yesterday’s witch hunts have in common with today’s misinformation crisis
Who bears responsibility when false information leads to real harm?
buff.ly
August 2, 2025 at 10:48 AM
The reason historians don’t now use the term ‘witch hunts’ as a generalised term for the prosecution of people for witchcraft is that it implies witchcraft was always prosecuted in a different way compared to other crimes - it wasn’t
#OTD 1st August 1834, the act 3 & 4 William 4 c.73, 'for the Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Colonies' came into force, turning the enslaved into apprentices and compensating the slave-owners.
statutes.org.uk/site/the-sta...
#LegalHistory #EnslavedHistory
statutes.org.uk/site/the-sta...
#LegalHistory #EnslavedHistory
August 1, 2025 at 1:28 PM
#OTD 1st August 1834, the act 3 & 4 William 4 c.73, 'for the Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Colonies' came into force, turning the enslaved into apprentices and compensating the slave-owners.
statutes.org.uk/site/the-sta...
#LegalHistory #EnslavedHistory
statutes.org.uk/site/the-sta...
#LegalHistory #EnslavedHistory
This book looks very interesting, and is #OpenAccess:
Staging Witchcraft Before the Law
Skepticism, Performance as Proof, and Law as Magic in Early Modern Witch Trials
www.cambridge.org/core/element...
#LegalHistory #Witchcraft
Staging Witchcraft Before the Law
Skepticism, Performance as Proof, and Law as Magic in Early Modern Witch Trials
www.cambridge.org/core/element...
#LegalHistory #Witchcraft
Staging Witchcraft Before the Law
Cambridge Core - Religion: General Interest - Staging Witchcraft Before the Law
www.cambridge.org
July 31, 2025 at 4:51 PM
This book looks very interesting, and is #OpenAccess:
Staging Witchcraft Before the Law
Skepticism, Performance as Proof, and Law as Magic in Early Modern Witch Trials
www.cambridge.org/core/element...
#LegalHistory #Witchcraft
Staging Witchcraft Before the Law
Skepticism, Performance as Proof, and Law as Magic in Early Modern Witch Trials
www.cambridge.org/core/element...
#LegalHistory #Witchcraft
July 31, 2025 at 10:08 AM