When Joseph Boots of Highworth rashly declared he would rather spend his days in prison than pay money owed to Miranda Archer, that's exactly where magistrates sent him. Boots appeared before the Swindon Petty Sessions in September 1854 accused of failing to comply with a maintenance order for the illegitimate child he had fathered. Meeting just four times a year, the 18th century saw the Quarter Session Courts overwhelmed with work. By the middle of the 19th century the Police Courts or Petty Sessions, the lowest tier in the English court system, were taking over the less serious crimes. With no jury to be sworn in, two or more magistrates heard the cases, which were then speedily dealt with. When a similar case to the Boots/Archer one was brought before the Petty Sessions in 1881 the courtroom was cleared of 'females and juveniles' before the evidence could be heard. John Maslin, a hay binder from Liddington, was ordered to pay Mary Carter 2s per week for si...