Coroner's Records

[JimP]

Do these exist for Norfolk, and where might I find them?

My great-great-grandfather, William Thomas Pratt of Weston Longville, died on Christmas Day, 1874, by "pyaemia from the inhalation of poisonous matter", according to his death certificate. He was 45 years old.

Needless to say, that has piqued my curiosity, and I would like to find out more about the circumstances of his death (accident, suicide, or murder?). I assume that, as it was not a natural death, a coroner's inquest would have been held (although the informant listed was his widow, and the death was registered 3 days later, so possibly not).

 

[peter]

If there had been an inquest the informant would be the coroner.

(I suspect you haven't looked up pyaemia - if you knew what it meant the death would not look nearly so suspicious!)

 

[Britjan]

If you don't find a coroner's record it's worth seeing if there was an account in a local newspaper. Not so easy going back to the 1870's but I did find a death notice at Find My Past Norfolk News 02 January 1875 . In the case of my great uncle who died in Keighley Yorkshire in the early 1900's the coroner's report was missing. I couldn't find an account of the inquest in an online newspaper search either but the local archives had a better search option and found a complete account of the inquest attached to his funeral notice.

 

[Lankylady]

Venturing onto the forum for the first time, I checked out pyaemia online. Here's what I found.
pyaemia
/pʌɪˈiːmɪə/
noun
noun: pyaemia; noun: pyemia
blood poisoning (septicaemia) caused by the spread in the bloodstream of pus-forming bacteria released from an abscess.

 

[Heather]

Welcome to the forum Lankylady.