Having looked at taxes last month, this month we will shift our attention to look at the other half of that famous expression… deaths!
Dorset History Centre holds parish burial registers for 300 different parishes around Dorset, but what if your ancestor met an unnatural death that had to be investigated? Whilst we hold recent coroners’ records for Dorset, a lot of the early records have been lost. After 1875, coroner’s records were only kept for 15 years before being destroyed at the discretion of the Coroner.
However, Coroner’s Inquisition papers can be found mixed in with other collections, such as the Poole Borough Archive. In 1568, Poole was created a County Corporate by the ‘Great Charter’ of Elizabeth I, henceforth styling itself ‘The Borough and County of the Town of Poole‘. Consequently, it became administratively separate from the County of Dorset and could therefore elect their own coroner.
The Coroner’s Court records from this collection date from 1589-1884. These records include not only inquests relating to individuals, but the election of Coroners and annual statistical returns.
The earliest inquest in the collection dates from 1589 and concerns Walter Meryet and William Drake of Poole, mariners, who were killed by gunshots fired from Brownsea Castle by Walter Partridge. It includes witness reports to the shootings and the verdict of which part is shown below:
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John Cook’s inquest held on 10th January 1825 gave the verdict was that he
‘departed this life by the Visitation of God in a natural way’
His death was caused by ‘dropsy of the heart’, an old term for the swelling of soft tissues due to the accumulation of excess water. Nowadays this person would be classed as having oedema due to congestive heart failure. However, a witness statement gives an insight into his life at the time of his death:
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Other diseases mentioned in the Inquests include Robert Willis whose inquest on 30th August 1805 recorded a verdict of death by ‘Visitation of God caused by dropsy of the brain’; Margaret Barnett’s inquest held on 20th March 1825, recorded her cause of death verdict as ‘stone and gravel’, probably Kidney Stones. Simon Jewitt died of ‘Inflammation of the bowels’ according to his inquest on 10th February 1825; whilst Abraham Ballam’s inquest on 13th Jun 1826, recorded his death due to ‘Visitation of God following a tumour or “quinzey” on the neck’, probably infection or inflammation of the tonsils.
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Amongst the Inquests are two children who died due to burns sustained in accidents. In the case of Richard Taylor, whose inquest was held on 6th March 1827, the testimony of a witness to the accident details how they ‘wrapped him up in the coat and extinguished the fire’ and that his wife then took the child, and she treated the burns ‘which she did with oil and treacle’.
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Inquests were also held when an unknown person was found dead. An Inquest was held on 31st March 1788 on an unknown male child whose death was deemed ‘murder at the hands of persons unknown’. Other “unknown persons” were often bodies recovered from the sea or harbour, as in the case of the inquest held on 2nd August 1802 of an unknown body identified only as ‘probably one of the boys lost when a vessel had sunk a few weeks earlier’.
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Of course, the records can also be used to look at bigger trends. For example, of the inquests held between 1589 and 1850, we can quickly identify that around half were due to the person having drowned, whether by falling off a ship, boats capsizing, falling into the quay or whilst swimming. Plenty were ‘intoxicated’ at the time. Of course, Poole’s geography might go some way to explaining this particularly high percentage!
Other major causes of death amongst the inquests range from “Visitation of God” (natural causes), “Falls on ships”, “being of Unsound Mind” (suicide), “Murder”, “Illness”, “being Old and Incapable” or just “General Accidents”.
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Inquests can also provide far more than just the details of the person whose death is being investigated. Naturally, the name of the Coroners are listed, as well as names of witnesses and jurors. Occupations can be included too, such as in the Inquest of Constance, wife of James Chippman of Studland, who was identified as a ‘ship’s captain’ in 1646; or the Inquest of Edward Eastman in 1829, who was a ‘travelling vendor of small ware’.
Ships names are often mentioned too. This happens not only if the death has occurred on-board but, occasionally, also if the entire ship was lost, such as in the case of William Jones and James Allen in 1813 when the ‘William and Mary’ sank during a gale!
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Please note, if you are looking for a Coroner’s report in the 20th Century, you are advised to contact the Coroner’s Office. Whilst the records are stored at Dorset History Centre, access to them can only be authorised by the Coroner’s Office.