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The Statutes Project @statutes.bsky.social · 13h

An academic article on free legal databases has just been published by a university press.

Behind a paywall.

And the uni I work at doesn't have access.

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The Statutes Project @statutes.bsky.social · 4d

New Bibliography: Royal Proclamations

statutes.org.uk/site/collect...

#LegalHistory

Proclamations

The canonical bibliography of Royal proclamations is that of the Earl of Lindsey’s commission, the two volumes of ‘Tudor and Stuart Proclamations 1485-1714’: Volume 1: England and…

statutes.org.uk

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The Statutes Project @statutes.bsky.social · 4d

LOL:

"At a time when racial issues are so deeply troubling, Mr. Marmion and the CEO of Hein, William S. Hein, simply felt there was a moral and civic obligation to share this product with anyone, anywhere."

earlyamericanists.com/2016/12/27/p...

Guest Post: Candace Jackson Gray interviews Paul Finkelman

Candace Jackson Gray interviews Paul Finkelman, the John E. Murray Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

earlyamericanists.com

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The Statutes Project @statutes.bsky.social · 4d

Can anyone confirm that there is no free, individual access to Hein Online's "Slavery in America and the World" collection?

I had an individual account, which now doesn't work, and can't see any other way to access it without going through an instititution.

#LegalHistory

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Reposted by The Statutes Project

British History Online @bho.bsky.social · 8d

We're moving our Mastodon account.

As our previous provider is shutting down, we've moved to hcommons.social/@bho

Gi' us a follow!

British History Online (@[email protected])

1 Post, 239 Following, 1 Follower · BHO is a digital library of historic source material and the Victoria County Histories, based at the Institute of Historical Research

hcommons.social

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The Statutes Project @statutes.bsky.social · 10d

Correction: 4 paragraphs (out of 279) mention the OGL.

I think Ancestry are using this as a way of pressurizing NRS to sell access to them and them alone. I wonder how much public domain material Ancestry themselves are restricting access to.

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The Statutes Project @statutes.bsky.social · 10d

Thank you, this is very helpful.

Reposted by The Statutes Project

John Levin @anterotesis.bsky.social · 10d

More on the Ancestry vs National Records Scotland battle:

Ancestry and the NRS - when the corporate genealogy world turns ugly
by @chrismpaton.bsky.social

scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2025/09/ance...

#Archives

Ancestry and the NRS - when the corporate genealogy world turns ugly

From Scotland, a daily news blog about genealogy, family history and personal heritage.

scottishgenes.blogspot.com

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The Statutes Project @statutes.bsky.social · 10d

This is the Ancestry vs National Records of Scotland decision. There is one mention of the Open Govt License, but opening up the records isn't really discussed. Doesn't seem to have copyright implications, but I can't claim to understand all the details.

Paul F Scott @paulfscott.bsky.social · 10d

This seems to be it: caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukftt/grc/20...

Ancestry Ireland Unlimited Company v The Information Commissioner & Anor - Find Case Law - The National Archives

caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk

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The Statutes Project @statutes.bsky.social · 10d

Thank you!

The Statutes Project @statutes.bsky.social · 10d

I can't find the General Regulatory Chamber decision on this case (probably because I'm completely unfamiliar with such modern matters).

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

#Archives #Law #FreedomOfInformation #FOI

John Levin @anterotesis.bsky.social · 10d

The condition of state archives in the UK, part 2:

Commercial co. demands access to state records.
(But not, it seems, that the records are made freely available.)

"Ancestry in legal bid to access Scottish family records"

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

#History #Archives

Ancestry in legal bid to access Scottish family records

DNA testing site, Ancestry.com, has taken legal action to access millions of Scottish family records held by the National Records of Scotland (NRS).

www.bbc.co.uk

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Reposted by The Statutes Project

British History Online @bho.bsky.social · 17d

Does anyone know of a list of early modern and c18th English spellings of words?

i.e. a list of alternative spellings, such as 'publick' for publick, 'Wyllyam' for William, and so on?

Surely such a thing must have been compiled?

#History #LinguisticHistory 🗃️

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The Statutes Project @statutes.bsky.social · 23d

Another 'weird laws' article:

Wirral to scrap 90-year-old ban on carpet beating and ‘wanton singing’

Those ‘sounding a noisy trumpet’ or ‘inciting a dog to bark’ along part of the Merseyside coast will no longer risk arrest

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

#LegalHistory

Wirral to scrap 90-year-old ban on carpet beating and ‘wanton singing’

Those ‘sounding a noisy trumpet’ or ‘inciting a dog to bark’ along part of the Merseyside coast will no longer risk arrest

www.theguardian.com

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The Statutes Project @statutes.bsky.social · Aug 7

Updated: bibliograpy of statutes of the Irish Parliament to 1800.

The Virtual Treasury has made the two last volumes ofthe IRO Early Statutes series freely available online

statutes.org.uk/site/collect...

#History #LegalHistory #IrishHistory 🗃️

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Reposted by The Statutes Project

John Levin @anterotesis.bsky.social · Aug 7

New research reveals King George IV profited from slavery in Grenada

Experts say finding heightens pressure on the monarchy to confront its historical links to slavery

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

#History #EnslavedHistory 🗃️

New research reveals King George IV profited from slavery in Grenada

Experts say finding heightens pressure on the monarchy to confront its historical links to slavery

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by The Statutes Project

John Levin @anterotesis.bsky.social · Aug 4

New bibliographic resource:

Links to the Journals of the Houses of Commons and Lords of Ireland, to 1800.

Plus where to find the parliamentary debates, circa 1776 - 1797.

anterotesis.com/wordpress/hi...

#History #IrishHistory 🗃️

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The Statutes Project @statutes.bsky.social · Aug 3

Some good news:

Caribbean LGBTQ+ activists celebrate as court strikes down colonial-era laws

‘Stride in the right direction’ as Eastern Caribbean supreme court rules St Lucia’s laws on gay sex unconstitutional

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

#LegalHistory #LGBTHistory

Caribbean LGBTQ+ activists celebrate as court strikes down colonial-era laws

‘Stride in the right direction’ as Eastern Caribbean supreme court rules St Lucia’s laws on gay sex unconstitutional

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by The Statutes Project

Dr Francis Young @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social · Aug 2

The reason historians don’t now use the term ‘witch hunts’ as a generalised term for the prosecution of people for witchcraft is that it implies witchcraft was always prosecuted in a different way compared to other crimes - it wasn’t

The Conversation U.S. @us.theconversation.com · Aug 2

The witch hunts of 1400-1780 and today's misinformation crisis have striking parallels.

Both were fueled by new media technologies that allowed false information to spread rapidly and widely. buff.ly/6RFALyJ By Julie Walsh @wellesley.edu

From printing presses to Facebook feeds: What yesterday’s witch hunts have in common with today’s misinformation crisis

Who bears responsibility when false information leads to real harm?

buff.ly

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The Statutes Project @statutes.bsky.social · Aug 1

#OTD 1st August 1834, the act 3 & 4 William 4 c.73, 'for the Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Colonies' came into force, turning the enslaved into apprentices and compensating the slave-owners.

statutes.org.uk/site/the-sta...

#LegalHistory #EnslavedHistory

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The Statutes Project @statutes.bsky.social · Jul 31

This book looks very interesting, and is #OpenAccess:

Staging Witchcraft Before the Law
Skepticism, Performance as Proof, and Law as Magic in Early Modern Witch Trials

www.cambridge.org/core/element...

#LegalHistory #Witchcraft

Staging Witchcraft Before the Law

Cambridge Core - Religion: General Interest - Staging Witchcraft Before the Law

www.cambridge.org

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The Statutes Project @statutes.bsky.social · Jul 31

Text of the act:

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/9...

#History #LegalHistory

Reposted by The Statutes Project

Jacob Gifford Head @giffordhead.co.uk · Jul 29

I think it is hard to underestimate how important this website is for the Rule of Law in the UK. Before 2010, if you wanted to find out what statutes were actually in force you essentially needed a subscription to a very expensive commercial product like Halsbury's Statutes.

John Sheridan @johnlsheridan.bsky.social · Jul 29

Turns out legislation.gov.uk is 15 years old today. How the time flies @jenitennison.com!

Legislation.gov.uk

The official home of UK legislation, revised and as enacted 1267-present. This website is managed by The National Archives on behalf of HM Government. Publishing all UK legislation is a core part of t...

legislation.gov.uk

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Reposted by The Statutes Project

John Sheridan @johnlsheridan.bsky.social · Jul 29

Turns out legislation.gov.uk is 15 years old today. How the time flies @jenitennison.com!

Legislation.gov.uk

The official home of UK legislation, revised and as enacted 1267-present. This website is managed by The National Archives on behalf of HM Government. Publishing all UK legislation is a core part of t...

legislation.gov.uk

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The Statutes Project @statutes.bsky.social · Jul 24

Text of the printed act:

babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=ps...

#LegalHistory

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The Statutes Project @statutes.bsky.social · Jul 2

Text of the act:

statutes.org.uk/site/the-sta...

#History 🗃️

250 Years Ago News @250yearsagonews.bsky.social · Jul 1

July 1, 1775: Scotland's Colliers and Salters Act takes effect to end the "state of slavery or bondage" in which many of the country's miners and salt makers toil. The law is meant to gradually emancipate laborers, many of whom were arrested as vagabonds or beggars before being forced into work. 1/3

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