quarter sessionsn.
/ˈkwɔːtə ˌsɛʃnz/, U.S. /ˈkwɔrdər ˌsɛʃ(ə)nz/ In full court of quarter sessions.
1. In England and Ireland: a court of limited criminal and civil jurisdiction and of appeal, held quarterly before justices of the peace in counties (in Ireland by county court judges), and before the recorder in boroughs; (also) a similar court held in some former British colonies. Also with plural agreement. Now historical.Quarter sessions were abolished in England on 1 January 1972 by the Courts Act, 1971, and their functions are now exercised by the Crown Courts created by that Act.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > judicial body, assembly, or court > [noun] > court of shire or part of shire > held periodically
sizea1300
shire-court1376
county?1387
assizec1405
view of frankpledge1495
county courtc1520
quarter sessions1538
1538 A. Fitzherbert Newe Bk. Justyces Peas f. 9v The Justicers ought to do theyr deuoyre, that these estatutes may be obserued in all poyntes and that in euery of theyr quarter sessions they ought to enquire of those that offende agaynste those ordinaunces.
1577 W. Harrison Hist. Descr. Islande Brit. ii. iv. f. 75/1, in R. Holinshed Chron. I They haue finally their quarter sessions, wherein they are assisted by the Justices and Gentlemen of the countrey.
1660 R. Coke Elements Power & Subjection 233 in Justice Vindicated Justices of Peace in their Quarter-sessions, have power to hear and determine the offences aforesaid.
1676 (title) Shewing the true manner and form of the proceedings at the Court of General Quarter-Sessions of the Peace.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 122. ¶4 There is not one in the Town where he lives that he has not sued at a Quarter-Sessions.
1752 H. Fielding Amelia I. i. iv. 17 A Fellow whipt for petty Larceny, to which he was condemned by the Court of Quarter Sessions.
1770 J. Howard State of Prisons in C. M. H. Clark Select Documents Austral. Hist. (1950) i. 20 At the quarter sessions, you see prisoners, covered..with rags; almost famished.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess Concl. 162 A quarter-sessions chairman, abler none.
1854 Amer. Law Reg. 2 654 A writ of error directed to the Court of Quarter Sessions of Allegheny county.
1861 Ld. Brougham Brit. Constit. (ed. 2) xix. 375 Much of the criminal business in England is transacted by the quarter-sessions.
1875 T. S. Pritchard Pract. Quarter Sessions iv. §4. 173 Prosecutions by information at the quarter sessions can only be instituted in cases where..an informer is allowed to take this course to recover the penalty.
1879 Law Rep.: Appeal Cases 4 40 The Court of Quarter Sessions stated upon the face of the order, by way of recital, that the facts were so and so.
1916 Act 6 & 7 Geo. V c. 50 §38 He thinks it expedient in the interest of justice to commit him for trial before a court of quarter sessions.
1926 R. H. Tawney Relig. & Rise Capitalism iv. 263 In the country, the records of Quarter Sessions paint a picture of confusion, in which the machinery of presentment by constables to justices has broken down.
1939 E. H. Buck & S. J. Buck Planting of Civilization in W. Pa. xiii. 314 The trial took place in the court of quarter sessions of Allegheny County in December, 1815.
1972 Daily Tel. 1 Jan. 2 The ancient legal structure of assizes and quarter sessions disappears today.
1997 Music & Lett. 78 3 Imposition was by means of conviction at Assizes, Gaol Delivery Sessions or Quarter Sessions.
2001 Amer. Jrnl. Legal Hist. 45 491 The grand jury expressed its approval of the idea of creating a Court of Quarter Sessions to try the less important cases which had just troubled them.
2005 Sunday Times (Perth, Austral.) (Nexis) 4 Dec. 1829: William Mackie is appointed chairman of the Court of Quarter Sessions, in effect WA's first judge.
2. In Scotland: a court of review and appeal held quarterly by justices of the peace on days appointed by statute. With singular and plural agreement. Now historical.Quarter sessions in Scotland were abolished on 16 May 1975 by the District Courts (Scotland) Act 1975, and replaced by District Courts.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > judicial body, assembly, or court > [noun] > court of appeal or review > types of
chequer-chamber1528
Court of (the) Delegates1554
exchequer-chamber1640
quarter sessions1661
Judicial Committee1833
1661 Sc. Acts Parl. (1681) c. xxxviii The Justices of Peace..shall appoint at the Quarter Sessions..the ordinary Hire and Wages of Labourers.
1679 in R. Wodrow Hist. Sufferings Church of Scotl. (1722) II. 17 With Power..to call the remanent Justices of Peace to the Quarter-sessions.
1773 J. Erskine Inst. Law Scotl. I. i. iv. 60 Constables..are appointed by them in their quarter-sessions.
1878 Times 9 Dec. 11/6 The Chairman of the Glasgow Quarter Sessions.
1898 Green's Encycl. Law Scot. VII. 268 A judgment in Quarter Sessions cannot be reviewed by a later Quarter Sessions.
1948 Times 25 Aug. 3/3 Lord Carmont at Edinburgh Quarter Sessions on Monday refused an application for an interim interdict.
1992 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 16 Sept. 16 In 1975... The burgh court was abolished along with quarter sessions, the police courts, and the Court of the Bailie of the River and Firth of Clyde.
Compounds
quarter sessions rose n. [after French rose des quatre saisons (1851 or earlier)] rare an autumn damask rose, Rosa × damascena var. semperflorens.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > rose and allied flowers > rose > types of rose flower or bush
summer rosea1456
French rose1538
damask rose?a1547
musk rose1559
province1562
winter rose1577
Austrian brier1590
rose of Provence1597
velvet rose1597
damasine-rose1607
Provence rose1614
blush-rose1629
maiden's blush1648
monthly rose tree1664
Provinsa1678
York and Lancaster rose1688
cinnamon rose1699
muscat rose1707
cabbage rose1727
China-rose1731
old-fashioned rose1773
moss rose1777
swamp rose1785
alba1797
Cherokee rose1804
Macartney rose1811
shepherd's rose1818
multiflora1820
prairie rose1822
Boursault1826
Banksian rose1827
maiden rose1827
moss1829
Noisette1829
seven sisters rose1830
Dundee rambler1834
Banksia rose1835
Chickasaw rose1835
Bourbon1836
climbing rose1836
green rose1837
hybrid China1837
Jaune Desprez1837
Lamarque1837
perpetual1837
pillar rose1837
rambler1837
wax rose1837
rugosa1840
China1844
Manetti1846
Banksian1847
remontant1847
gallica1848
hybrid perpetual1848
Persian Yellow1848
pole rose1848
monthly1849
tea rose1850
quarter sessions rose1851
Gloire de Dijon1854
Jacqueminot1857
Maréchal Niel1864
primrose1864
jack1867
La France1868
tea1869
Ramanas rose1876
Japanese rose1883
polyantha1883
old rose1885
American Beauty1887
hybrid tea1890
Japan rose1895
roselet1896
floribunda1898
Zéphirine Drouhin1901
Penzance briar1902
Dorothy Perkins1903
sweetheart1905
wichuraiana1907
mermaid1918
species rose1930
sweetheart rose1936
peace1944
shrub rose1948
1851 E. S. Wortley Trav. in U.S. II. v. 93 Their roses are all roses des quatre saisons (so well rendered by Lord —'s gardener ‘quarter-sessions roses’)!
1882 Times 4 July 5/5 There is the ‘quarter sessions’ rose for the lawyer.
1892 C. M. Yonge Old Woman's Outlook vi. 137 The Quatre Saisons rose might very fairly become the Quarter Sessions rose.
1937 E. Partridge Dict. Slang 676/1 Quarter-sessions rose. A ‘perpetual’ rose.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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