Inquests

[Susan]

Do records of inquests held in the 1850s still exist?

The deaths of two of my great great great grandfathers were registered by the coroner, presumably after an inquest.



Thomas #1 died in 1857 in Standish, Lancashire, and the informant on his death certificate was the Preston coroner. The death certificate gives his occupation as farmer’s tenter and the cause of death as “accidentally killed by falling down a coal pit”. In Lancashire, a tenter was a person who looked after machinery.
He appeared in the database of the now closed website Coal Mining History Resource Centre (cmhrc) - died at Standish Lower Ground colliery owned by John Taylor & son; note states “fell down shaft”; occupation fireman.
Research shows that in the 1850s a fireman was not the man who oversaw the setting of explosives as in later years. He was a man who went into the mine to test for firedamp, usually wearing heavy protective clothing and using a light on the end of a long pole.
There is inconsistency between the death certificate and the cmhrc report about my 3 x great grandfather’s occupation. The 1841 and '51 censuses give his occupation as labourer, as do the baptism records of his children, which could mean either tenter or fireman. However, the death certificate of his widow states that he was a "labourer at a coal mine"
Was he a fireman or a farmer’s tenter? And would the inquest record shed some light on this?



Thomas #2 died in 1858 in Amblecote, Staffordshire, and the informant on his death certificate was the Wolverhampton coroner. The certificate states that Thomas was a glass blower who died of natural causes.
I assume that there was something odd about his death as coroners don’t usually register the death of someone who died of natural causes, especially when registration was over three months after death.
Would an inquest give details of why the death was investigated?




If records do exist for these dates and places, I would be grateful if someone could suggest where I need to go to find them.

 

[AdrienneQ]

You could try the local (to the death) newspapers to see if there is a report

 

[Britjan]

You could try the local (to the death) newspapers to see if there is a report

I had amazing luck with details of my great uncle's accidental death in the early 1900's from a newspaper report when I was told the coroner's report could not be found. Not only did it explain the exact circumstances but it went on to describe my great grandparents arriving for the funeral. A local librarian in Yorkshire found it for me on microfilm as it wasn't transcribed.
If you have a FMP subscription you could check their scans for a relevant newspaper in the approximate time period. The search function doesn't always pick up every article on a page but it doesn't take long to browse through a few issues.

 

[Bob Spiers]

my great uncle's accidental death in the early 1900's from a newspaper report when I was told the coroner's report could not be found

Yes I can vouch for newspaper reports and I found both the normal reporting and later the report of the Inquest of my great x 3 Grandfather's death (one of 5 killed) in the Worcester Grain Distillery Accident in 1856. Although my research pre-dated FMP's Newspaper archive collection (and took some while to locate) both reports can still be found within FMP's newspaper archives. The more information you have regarding setting filters for: County, Town, Year, Month and (best of all) Date(s), the easier to locate what you seek. It is certainly worth giving it a try.

 

[Liberty]

If the story was interesting it certainly made the papers. A very distant cousin of mine was found dead in her bedroom (n the md 19th century) and the story sparked enough interest that it was syndicated al over the place She was 'enceinte' [i.e. pregnant] was a young unmarried girl and ha been friendly with a local farmer. The inquest was adjourned to try to make contact with the man, who had nothing to add (ha!) and the final finding was hat she had taken poison accidentally (double ha!)

 

[Susan]

Thank you for your suggestions. I do have a subscription at FMP and have been searching there, so far with no luck.

Part of the problem is that Thomas #2's surname was Merchant so despite entering this in the 'last name' box, the search finds all Thomases in 1858 who were merchants.

As for Thomas #1, surprisingly 'falling down a coal mine' was not an uncommon cause of death in the 1800s, so it may not have been newsworthy. The burial records of several churches on the Lancashire OPC website give the cause of death and in coal mining areas there are such deaths listed, including those of young women who were employed mainly in coal sorting on the surface. Health and safety being non-existent 150 years ago, I can only assume that mine shafts were not fenced off!


I will continue in my searches on FMP!

 

[peter]

Do records of inquests held in the 1850s still exist?

Very unlikely. It is up to the coroner how long records are kept and you'd be unlikely to find records from the 1950s, let alone the 1850s.

Newspapers reports are, in any case, likely to be a better source - most records of court proceedings are brief.

You might find it easier to find relevant articles at the British Newspaper Archive. The search there is more powerful, and whilst you won't be able to view the articles without a subscription you'll get sufficient information to be able to locate them at Findmypast.

 

[Susan]

Thank you Peter, I'll go there straight away.

 

[Susan]

That didn't take long.

I've found the report of the death of my gr gr gr grandfather Thomas Disley at Standish.


He died on 25 August 1857 and the article appears in the Preston Chronicle on 29 Aug.
In the section headed Wigan it says
"At half past three on Tuesday morning last, a collier named Thomas Disley ascended the Tunnel Bye pit in Standish.... On leaving the brow of the pit he struck his foot against a rail which caused him to tumble and he fell down the shaft...." It goes on to describe his injuries and says where the inquest was held and that a verdict of "accidentally killed" was returned by the jury.

"Tuesday last" was the 25th - I've looked at the 1857 calendar. And it confirms that Thomas was a collier not a farmer's tenter.


Thank you so much Peter, FMP didn't find it but the British Newspaper Archive did. Then as you suggested I looked for the relevant paper and page on FMP. It is now downloaded and will soon be printed.



Now to look for Thomas Merchant.....

 

[Margery]

all Thomases in 1858 who were merchants

My husband's ancestors were named VANT so a search of Trove brings up anyone who was a serVANT!

 

[Bryman]

My husband's ancestors were named VANT so a search of Trove brings up anyone who was a serVANT!

Perhaps you might have more success with a search argument of " Vant ", with a space before and after the name.

 

[Rhian]

I have similar problems with my Burn family, not only are all the Burns added but there are a lot of places with burn in them in the area where they lived. The FMP searches of pdf documents finds them all and I have not found an effective search method with FMP with their pdf collections.

 

[Susan]

I still haven't found Thomas Merchant's death. I wonder if it is because he died of natural causes so there was never an inquest despite his death being registered by the coroner.


However, I have found accounts of two more deaths that FMP's search didn't find.

The six year old son of my great great great grandparents fell into a canal and drowned in 1853.

My grandfather died in 1944, one of only a few members of the Home Guard who died on duty. I've always known the story of how he died but I did not know until yesterday evening that a verdict of misadventure was recorded.
The article shows that mistakes occurred even in 1944 newspapers - his job was reported as brass cutter instead of glass cutter, and the street where he lived was spelled incorrectly, a street I know well as my grandmother lived in the same house until she moved to a nursing home in the 1980s.

 

[peter]

I still haven't found Thomas Merchant's death. I wonder if it is because he died of natural causes so there was never an inquest despite his death being registered by the coroner.

I'm sure you're right - the coroner will look closely at any unexpected death, but if a post mortem shows that death was from natural causes there's no reason to hold an inquest.

 

[Heather]

I assume that there was something odd about his death as coroners don’t usually register the death of someone who died of natural causes, especially when registration was over three months after death.

Susan, is there a possibility that he died and that the body was not discovered for several weeks?

 

[peter]

Susan, is there a possibility that he died and that the body was not discovered for several weeks?

In this case the date of death shown on the certificate would be the date the body was found - at least, that's the way it works nowadays.

 

[peter]

This page explains what happens when a death is referred to the coroner.

 

[Susan]

I would imagine that some of those didn't apply back in 1858, for example 'person who died was not visited by a medical practitioner during their final illness' as it cost money to see a doctor back then. But in other circumstances, such as the 'cause of death is unknown', I imagine they would have applied.

The date of death on Thomas Merchant's death certificate was 15 March and he was buried 21 March. The death was registered on 22 June. (Burial date from FreeReg2). But if that date was actually the date the body was found, he could have died earlier.

Thomas Disley died on 25 August and his body recovered immediately after the accident, the inquest was held on 27 August and he was buried on 28 August. But his death was only registered by the coroner 3 months later on 20 November. (Burial date from Lancashire OPC)


It would appear that in the 1850s not all coroners registered deaths immediately after the inquest or establishing the cause of death was natural. Perhaps they registered deaths in batches on certain dates? That might account for how the coroner got Thomas Disley's occupation wrong. The newspaper report does mean he got the date of death correct, though - in the newspaper dated 29 August 1857 the article referred to the accident on Tuesday last and inquest on Thursday last. The 1857 calendar confirms that Tuesday last was the 25th, the same as the death certificate.

 

[peter]

I

I would imagine that some of those didn't apply back in 1858, for example 'person who died was not visited by a medical practitioner during their final illness' as it cost money to see a doctor back then.

I don't see why it would have been any different - the coroner would still have decided in most cases that the cause of death was clear, so a post mortem would not have been required.

In any case, no matter how poor the family were, surely they'd still call out the doctor if a family member was in danger of dying? Or take them to a hospital, even if it was only the workhouse infirmary?

 

[Susan]

Point taken.

Another great great great grandfather (yet another Thomas) died in 1855 and the cause of death on his certificate was "Apoplexy 3 hours. Certified" which presumably means he did see a doctor even though as a plumber and glazier he would not have been well off. His death was registered by his widow.