Cache-Control: public, max-age=1024000 The Newgate Calendar

The Newgate Calendar

The Newgate Calendar, a series of stories about criminals from the 17th century and earlier through to 1840, is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in the criminal underworld of 18th Century Britain. There are actually several wildly different editions (see this Exclassics page for a detailed discussion). I have used a mixture of two editions, mostly conforming to the version on the Exclassics site.

Although the text is easily available, it is a disconcertingly large and dense block of text which is hard to wade through. To make things a little easier I have separated each entry into its own file and have provided a database search to help you to navigate them.

In 1735 Arthur Hayward published his Lives of the Most Remarkable Criminals, which is essentially a Newgate Calendar by another name. It mostly covers the decade from 1720 to 1730. I have divided it up as per the Calendar and have added it to the database. It also has its own index page.

Newgate Calendar Database

Database Search

You can search the Newgate Calendar database in much the same manner as you can do for Thieves' Cant. Search either the names, the 'tagline' or the body of the text. ('Names' in this context means the header lines - to search for all names use the body text search).

List of Entries

I shall be producing static lists of the different types of crime but for the moment here are the indexes by century:

Complete index of entries for the years before 1700

Complete index of entries for the years 1700-1800

Complete index of entries for the years 1801 onwards

Index of entries relating to the Stuart rebellions of 1715 and 1745

Complete index of Lives of the Most Remarkable Criminals 1720-1730

Editorial Notes

Preface to the Calendar

Concluding Note to the Calendar

Appendices

Description of Newgate

The Origin of the Gibbett in England

The Maiden, or Scottish Guillotine

The Newgate Bellman

The punishment of whipping in England, Russia, and France

Fleet Marriages

An account of the various modes of punishment for adultery, in distant nations

The Jail Fever

Torture

Swindling

An Exposée of the whole system of GAMBLING, as practised in the most notorious LONDON HELLS

Coining

Pretended Ghosts

Witchcraft

Voluntary punishment of Gentoo widows on the death of their husbands

Trial by ordeal of the Hindoos in the East

Chinese punishments

Turkish Punishments inflicted on knavish butchers and bakers

Benefit of the clergy