The cases overseen by justices such as Henry Norris reveal fascinating details of the then rural idyll of Hackney.

What these entries show us more clearly than anything else, is that for Norris, and probably also for most of his colleagues on the bench, there really was one law for the rich and another for the poor. The wording of some of the entries reveal a great deal about the prejudices and social values shared by the justices of the time.