Old Bailey is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) criminal court in the world. Incredibly hundreds of years of transcripts are now available at:
http://www.oldbaileyonline.org
What follows is the beginning of the article as it appeared in the Globe And Mail
"A crime time machine
Transcripts of 210,000 trials held at Britain's famous Old Bailey court from 1674 to 1913 are now available online
LONDON — The transcript from Oscar Wilde's trial for gross indecency at London's Old Bailey court went online for the first time yesterday alongside a raft of murder, robbery and abduction cases.
Up for free examination are 110,000 pages of transcripts - including Wilde's trial and the notorious story of Dr. Crippen and the murder of his wife.
Lurid tales of murder and rape, stories of pickpocketing and robbery - every type of crime was paraded before the London court.
The Oldbaileyonline.org site was billed as the largest single source of searchable historical information about British lives that has been published. The transcripts cover every one of the 210,000 trials held at the Old Bailey from 1674 to 1913. ...."
For the complete article see:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080429.wa2archive29/EmailBNStory/Technology/
http://www.prep.com