Petersfield’s old court house, which is now part of Petersfield Museum, opened to hear cases back in January 1893.

Thanks to a new book that has been published by the museum – Policing Petersfield 1840–2016 – which charts the history of policing in Petersfield, we are able to know more than ever before about the history and variety of cases that were heard in the court house.

Some of these late 19th century cases would look familiar in today’s world, but others would seem extreme and a handful just outright bizarre.

For the first five years of the court house’s life, an average of 80 cases were heard there annually – and of these, 63 per cent related to itinerants, with many cases of begging and sleeping out being brought before the court.

On Monday, April 27, 1896, PC Frank Bertram brought a case against William Smith.

He stated: “This morning at about 2.30 I was on duty at Mapledurham Cross Road when I visited a straw rick in a field belonging to Mr Grey.

“I found the prisoner asleep under the rick.

“He had no money excepting 2.5d and as he did not give a good account of himself I brought him to Petersfield Police Station.”

He was sentenced to seven days of hard labour, which seemed to be the going rate for this type of petty crime.

Hard labour in those days consisted of breaking stones, namely flints in this area, until they were small enough to go through a grid.

This type of hard labour was generally carried out in a gaol.

It ceased to be used as a punishment at the end of the 19th century.

Most other cases heard were for poaching, assaults, desertion, drunkenness, petty larceny and cases of defrauding the railway company.

There were occasional bastardy cases and, if the prosecution were successful, the maintenance awarded to the mother was anything between 1/6d and 3s a week until the child reached 14 years of age.

But many of these cases were dismissed by the magistrates, who perceived the desperate women as attempting to obtain maintenance under false pretences.

On Friday, August 26, 1898, Supt John King brought charges against individuals which included three cases of being asleep while in charge of a horse and cart, two cases of being in breach of a swine fever order and one case of using abusive language.

Children were also brought before the magistrates’ court during this period.

The Hampshire Constabulary Calendar of Persons Convicted of Crime 1893-97 records that in Petersfield an 11-year-old boy was fined 10s and given six strokes of the birch for arson.

A 13-year-old boy was given ten strokes of the birch and one day’s imprisonment for petty theft.

The birch was administered by a police officer and the child would be strapped to a frame – known as the punishment pony – while the officer would remove his uniform tunic so that it would not be stained by the child’s blood.

This cruel corporal punishment was stopped with the introduction of the Children Act in 1908.

There were many more fascinating cases heard in the courtroom until its closure on March 31, 1995.

You can find out more about these cases and more in the book Policing Petersfield 1840–2016 by Diana Syms, available from the museum’s temporary project office in 13 Dragon Street.