Birmingham Coroners Reports 1870

[Neil Coldrick]

Hi all

I have just received a death certificate for my 4x great grandmother. The informant is listed as the coroner for Birmingham and that an inquest was held on the 1st October 1870.

Is there any way of obtaining the report of the inquest or any other information about the inquest?

Many thanks for any ideas.

Neil Coldrick

[hpjrt]

Hi Neil,

I had a similar situation in Gloucestershire wherein my great-grandfather and his 2nd wife died within 18 hours of one another, and listed on the death certificate of his 2nd wife there was the date of the inquest.

I was told that the actual Coroner's records, if they survived, weren't something to which one could gain access ... however, that newspapers often carried reports on inquests.

Fortunately for me, this happened in the very small town of Tewkesbury and my great-grandfather was somewhat "prominent" so that there were, in fact, 2 newspaper articles about the deaths and 1 article focused on the actual inquest. It was a very detailed account ... I now know some details of the 2nd wife's movements on the last day of her life.

I don't know if you'll be as fortunate ... Birmingham is a big place ... but I'd guess that your best bet for finding something would be through "local" newspapers on or shortly after the date of the inquest.

Good luck!

Mary

[Rossbret]

Hi all

I have just received a death certificate for my 4x great grandmother. The informant is listed as the coroner for Birmingham and that an inquest was held on the 1st October 1870.

Is there any way of obtaining the report of the inquest or any other information about the inquest?

Many thanks for any ideas.

Neil Coldrick
Hello Neil,
Birmingham Local Studies on Floor 6 of Birmingham Library do indeed hold the Newspaper coverage of Coroners Reports.

Birmingham Archives on Floor 7 of Birmingham Library hold the original Coroners reports that you can search ....... I am not sure of the dates they hold but you can email them at [email protected] ([email protected]) for further details.

All the best, Jan

[Shelagh]

Hi Mary

I am studying the Coutts family from Tewkesbury who were also related to the Howell and Bathurst families. I wondered who you were studying. Best wishes

Shelagh

[Shelagh]

Hi Neil,

I had a similar situation in Gloucestershire wherein my great-grandfather and his 2nd wife died within 18 hours of one another, and listed on the death certificate of his 2nd wife there was the date of the inquest.

I was told that the actual Coroner's records, if they survived, weren't something to which one could gain access ... however, that newspapers often carried reports on inquests.

Fortunately for me, this happened in the very small town of Tewkesbury and my great-grandfather was somewhat "prominent" so that there were, in fact, 2 newspaper articles about the deaths and 1 article focused on the actual inquest. It was a very detailed account ... I now know some details of the 2nd wife's movements on the last day of her life.

I don't know if you'll be as fortunate ... Birmingham is a big place ... but I'd guess that your best bet for finding something would be through "local" newspapers on or shortly after the date of the inquest.

Good luck!

Mary


Hi Mary,

I am also studying Tewkesbury families, I am looking at the Coutts family who were related to the Howell and Bathurst families. Who are you studying?

Best wishes

Shelagh

[hpjrt]

Hi Shelagh

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. I haven't had the time to check in a while.

In Tewkesbury, the main family I'm researching is the ANDERSON surname. I'm also researching the LEA surname in other areas of Gloucestershire. My father's family comes from Gloucestershire and Dad was born in Tewkesbury.

The ANDERSON side of the family ended up being the more "prominent" of the two ... the LEA family members were largely "ag. lab" types ... quite hale and hearty as most lived to a ripe old age.

The ANDERSON family [some of whom still reside in Tewkesbury] were "watermen" by and large ... and while some twigs were quite impoverished, my great-grandfather, Charles William, actually rose to some "prominence" in Tewkesbury. Both Charles William Anderson and his father were in the coal business ... and Charles William owned his own company [although it could have been his father's as well ... I just haven't been able to confirm that].

Unfortunately, my great-grandfather's second wife died on May 7th, 1925 and my great-grandfather himself died 18 hours later on the 8th of May. Between the two wives, Charles William had 9 children, between whom the estate was divided. This event was catastrophic for the family as several of the children were quite young ... and three of them were subsequently raised in an orphanage. The family never quite recovered from this tragedy ... and certainly the money my great-grandfather had acquired was considerably watered down in the division.

It was this tragedy that was covered in a coroner's inquest ... and because Charles William owned his own business, the newspaper covered it extensively.

Mary