Middlesex Quarter Sessions

The quarter sessions heard criminal cases and also had a role in the civil administration of the county.

Administrative functions of the quarter sessions lasted from the 16th century to 1889 and included taxation, licensing, prisons, asylums and bridges.

In order to accommodate the burdens of the populous metropolitan area, Middlesex sessions were unusual as they met eight times a year instead of the traditional four.

From the sixteenth century, the court had a role in the local government of Middlesex, which contained many of the metropolitan parishes of London.

[3] County functions of the court included maintenance of bridges, responsibility for gaols, the regulation of weights and measures, and supervision of the Poor Law.