Criminal records from 1770 go online

More than 2.5m British criminal records dating back to 1770 are being published online for the first time, including details of Victorian serial killers and habitual drunks banned from pubs.

Family history website findmypast.co.uk, in association with Britain’s national archives, is launching the records, offering people the chance to trace any villains in their family. The records, from 1770 to 1934, include mugshots, court documents, appeal letters, and prison ship registers.

Included in the collection is Victorian serial killer Amelia Dyer — who operated her own business minding illegitimate children for a fee — who is believed to have murdered 400 babies between 1880 and 1896 by strangling them and dumping their bodies in the River Thames.

Debra Chatfield, a family historian at findmypast.co.uk, said: “We have painstakingly published online entire registers that feature incredible descriptions of criminals’ appearances, demeanour and identifying marks.”

Paul Carter of thenational archives said: “These records span several government series and show the evolution of the criminal justice system in the 19th century as the country dealt with the impact of industrialisation, urbanisation and population growth.

“They record the intimate details of hundreds of thousands of people, beginning with judges’ recommendations for or against pardons, to petitions through which criminals and their families could offer mitigating circumstances and grounds for mercy, and later, licences containing everything from previous convictions to the state of a prisoner’s health.

“As well as the Georgian highway robber, the Victorian murderer, and the Edwardian thief, the courts often dealt with the rural poacher, the unemployed petty food thief or the early trade unionist or Chartist. The records are a fascinating source.”