File 5 - Notes by William Woodlock on Dublin Magistrates and Legal Matters

40 pp; Manuscript

Notes seemingly compiled by William Woodlock on matters pertaining to the reform of the Dublin Police and the Court Magistracy service. Some of the notes refer to more general legal matters and to extracts from historical state papers regarding procedures for the appointments of Irish judges and magistrates. Some of the notes take the form of letters. An extract from one of the letters reads ‘The Dublin Police District, besides the city of Dublin proper, comprises the large and daily increasing suburbs of Rathmines, Rathgar, Kingstown, Dalkey, Killiney, and the Pembroke Township. Rathmines and Rathgar in reality form a city of themselves: Kingstown, I need scarcely say is a seaport of some importance, and one of the most frequented gathering places, if not the most frequented watering place in Ireland’. The letters contain recitations and extracts from various Acts of Parliament relating to the administration of the magistracy and courts system in Dublin.