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Coroner's Inquest 1885

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sally
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Sally

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I have just received a death certificate for someone who committed suicide by hanging in 1885. I would like to see the report of Coroner's Inquest, and obtain a copy if possible. I live in Canada so cannot do this in person - does anyone know if these records are accessible online? Would anyone be willing to look this up for me if not? I could offer to do look-ups on ancestry in return, or do some transcribing. Any help appreciated greatly.

Thank you.
 
Hi Sally, I had a similar thing a couple of years ago. The first thing is to find out where they died. Mine, for example was in Warwick. I then contacted Warwick records office and gave them as much detail as I could and they confirmed that they held original copies of inquests of some, not all, cases. I was able to go there and view and photograph the originals. I think when you contact the relevant office explain your location and ask if they can do a search for you.
Good luck, I know how exciting it is to see these documents!
 
Another option if you can't find the inquest report is to search the local newspapers for that era, I have found information twice this way.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I've contacted B'ham Archives and they've put me on to the county RO so am hoping they can help me by post. The newspaper is a good idea - I wasn't able to determine by Googling what newspaper might have been in print then?? He died in Aston 21 July 1886 and the inquest was 2 days later. Can anyone point me to any newspaper sources?

thanks!
 
Hi Sally

There may be a reference in one of the Bham 19th century online newspapers. If you don't have access, let me know his name and I will do a search for you:)

Suzanne
 
Thanks Suzanne! His name was Levi JONES. He died 21 July 1886 and the inquest was held 23 July 1886. He died in Aston.
 
Sorry Sally but I've tried searching under his name and other relevant search words but no luck:( I will keep looking and perhaps others on here who have access will have a look too:)

Suzanne
 
Thanks for trying Suzanne. I have acquired a free trial to Gale's British newspapers and have been looking through Birmingham Daily Post. I have discovered that the indexing is not great - I found an original report of his death but only by trawling through the actual issues. Am now after a report of the inquest. thanks again :-)
 
Is this one not kept in Archives, then? I obtained a copy of an 1876 one direct from there, costing about £2.50. They keep them all (those that were not destroyed) from around 1876.
 
Apparently not, according to the email I got from the Archives - those only contain inquests from the coroner of B'ham, this one was from the coroner for Warwickshire.
 
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