Genealogy Chat

Hiya All, My great uncle served in the Marines during WW2 then two years later he shot himself in a public park. All of my family that rember this or tales about it have no idea as to why he'd do this. Last time I visited home I went to see his grave and now I want to find out as much as I can about it. I know an inquest was held because even though my father was a boy he can remember that his father went and didnt quite agree with all the facts that were presented. Does anybody know of how Id go about trying to get a copy of this inquest? Thanks Demelza

I hoped to find details of the inquest that was held when my great grandfather was was killed by accidental death in 1865. I wrote to tthe local Coroner, who was very helpful but told me only a few records from this time survived and that my great grandfather's inquest unfortunately wasn't amongst them. However, your inquest sounds as though it was more recent - so you could try writing to the local Coroner.

Linda, Thanks for that, i'll give it a try. Demelza

Hi Demelza I have just received a reply from the Coroner's office after my request for a copy of an inquest report of 1924. They told me that they didn't hold the record and that it will have been destroyed. Most records are apparently destroyed after 15 years unless they are of particular historical interest or are of a particularly complicated case. I would still contact them, it's worth a try. However, I contacted the local Records Office, giving them as much details of the death as possible (I had a copy of the death certificate), and they found local newspaper reports of the inquest. They posted photocopies out to me at a cost of £6 for three A4 sheets and I got lots of valuable information from the reports. Janet

Hi Demelza, you could try looking in the local newspaper for that year. Coroners dont always keep their records, but local newspapers would report on something like this. I had an uncle who hanged himself in the 50's and so far my only source of information about it has been from the local newspaper. If you're lucky the local library might have newspapers on microfilm which you can view for free. Jane