Genealogy Chat

Hi Kim with inquests there is a 75 year period before public access but most of the record were destroyed when the NHS took overin 1948.I found this out looking for both of my grandads inquests.One was 1928 and the other in 1936.Try the local newspaper I was lucky and found a report from 1928

Wow what a response - thank you both once again for such detailed and interesting answers. Kim

Absolutely right - even now there are certain suspected causes of death, such as asbestosis and lung conditions contractd through mining occupations, which automatically go for PM. It is, as you say, to do with pensions and compensation. I would therefore suspect that this was the reason and the deceased was involved in a gas attack, or otherwise wounded somehow. Taking that into consideration, an enquiry with the army pensions office might be fruitful. Ian

Inquest could be because they were trying to establish whether it was likely to be as a result of the gas attack? Otherwise PM would just state facts (the lung damage) & not mention the war? Ian will know more about inquests than me - I look at from the pathologists point of view. I thought all a PM could do was show the cause of death & not attribute the 'reason' if you like, as that is only an opinion. Attributing it to the war might affect whether a pension was payable.

Thanks for the detailed repsonse Ian (sorry I was a little tardy responding, just done the school run). I have just received my oh's g granddad's death certificate and it's stated on there a certificate was received from the coroner and an inquest was held. It attributes death to 'Diffuse suppuration of left lung following pneumonia consequent upon war service'. Now this was WW I and to me it suggests (with it being the lungs) he was in some sort of gas attack. We know he was bedridden for some considerable years and to me it wouldn't have been an unexpected death which is why we cannot understand there being an inquest. Anyhow, you've pointed us in the right direction - many thanks.

A PM would take place as the result of a sudden death where no death certificate has been issued. Details of the PM would therefore be held in the notes of the inquest. Detailed notes probably wouldn't exist, all you are likely to find is the name of the pathologist and the cause of death, unless it is a murder case or one which the coroner has formed a jury. Your local records office may have copies of the inquest or coroners report. Failing that, your local coroners officer may be able to point you in the right direction as to where the old files are archived. Find him via your local police HQ website. Unless there were special circumstance, you will get very little information, For a coroners report, all you would get is the name of the person who carried out the identification, the name of the police officer who prepared the report, brief details of the circumstances and the verdict of the coroner. (Natural causes, etc). An inquest would be a little more and a full jury hearing would be quite detailed, but probably not containing all the details of the PM unless cause of death was an issue. Hope this helps Ian

Hello All, Does anyone know if any records are held for postmortems conducted in 1938 and if so, where would they be held? Kim