Cambridgeshire Quarter Sessions

Quarter Sessions was a court formed from Justices of the Peace, that dealt with criminal cases (sitting between Petty Sessions below and Assize Courts above) and a wide range of administrative matters, such as highways and bridges, poor law, licensing of inns, oversight of police and gaols. Originating in the 14^th Century their remit grew over time and the name came from the four quarter days on which they met.

Cambridgeshire Quarter Sessions had authority over the whole of the ancient county of Cambridgeshire (excluding the Borough of Cambridge). Quarters Sessions generally produced copious records, although the survival rate for Cambridgeshire is relatively poor and the earliest date to the 1660s and may be found in the Cambridgeshire Archives.

The administrative responsibilities of the Quarter Sessions were taken over by the new Cambridgeshire County Council created in 1889 by the Local Government Act.

The parish of Steeple Morden fell within the orbit of the Cambridgeshire Quarter Sessions.