The Police Courts in Metropolitan Culture and Society, 1758-1860 "Many-Coloured Scenes of Life"14 Again, the paucity of magistrates' court records from this period makes it impossible to determine, with any degree of accuracy, the social composition of Bow Street complainants. Judging this from the character of published reports is, for reasons already described, quite problematic. The accessibility of the Essex Quarter Sessions to Fielding's "lower orders" in assault cases, on the other hand, is certainly apparent. From 1760 to 1799, tradesmen and artisans comprised 36-46% of all assault prosecutors there, and laborers comprised 24-30%. Peter King, Crime and Law in England, 1750-1840: Remaking Justice from the Margins (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 239. 15 Much of John Fielding's reforms, it should be noted, concerned pretrial proceedings such as preliminary hearings. 16 This awareness was similarly crucial among Justices of the Peace in the same period.