Genealogy Chat

I have several death records where there is no qualified medical attendent to certify the death. Would there then have to be an inquest? And if so, would it be possible to view the coroners report?
These deaths (I have quite a few of them) all happened in Edinburgh.

I have a number of death certificates where a qualified medical attendant is not named, even though some ancestors had died a pretty gruesome death. My understanding is that, had an inquest been called for, this would have been stated on the death certificate. Have one of those as well.
If a Coroners report was issued and the death occurred in the last 75 years, you would need to apply to the relevant Coroners Office. At least that is what I was told when I asked.

Thank you M.David

I agree that if an inquest has been held this would be stated on the death certificate. I have a death certificate for one of my relatives and this it clearly states the date of the inquest and that the certificate was issued after the coroner's report - the name of the coroner and his district was given on the certificate.

I was also given to understand that it was a requirement that the local press attend inquests and that there is a report in the local papers. I managed to find the inquest reports in the local papers.

If the local papers are available for the area and the dates you want, you could try them.

Lynn

In England, what you get is a certified copy of the register. You can get this in Scotland, but for older events you can also purchase (for a much cheaper price) an image of the page in the register.

You can see an example of the register entries for an inquested death if you go to http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/welcome.aspx and click on the "What's In The Database" tab, "Record Types & Examples", "SR Deaths".
Actually, if you click on the link in the body: "Images of RCEs are now available here on ScotlandsPeople. Please read the help on RCEs before viewing them.":
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/content/help/index.aspx?r=551&1314
then you can see examples from the Register of Corrected Entries for Bs, Ms and Ds.

For deaths, they say:
The following is an example of an RCE relating to an accidental death, in this case a victim of the Tay Rail Bridge disaster, December 1879:
Death entry showing RCE reference in left margin
Please note the entry for the death of one of the guards on the train also appears on the this page.
RCE

In this example, it doesn't explicitly say there was an inquest, but I imagine there was - I don't know if coroners fall under the procurator fiscal in Scotland. Here the correction is essentially to the date of death, substituting the day the Tay Bridge collapsed 28/12/1879 for the day the death was registered 17/2/1880 (the body was only found 1/2/1880).

If you get a certified copy of the certificate, then you don't necessarily see all this - the correction is essentially incorporated into the original entry, and then the certified copy is made.

Incidentally, note that both these Tay Bridge deaths were originally registered with no doctors certification as to c.o.d., as is the infant who died of "teething" in the 1855 example earlier on the SR Deaths web page.

I disagree with Lynn on details (I don't think coroners have the power to order the press to attend - I think they do have the power to rule the inquest closed to the public and to order the press not to publish certain details, but only with cause, and either ruling is subject to a court challenge). However, I agree with the core of her advice - inquests are of interest to the local press, and reports are usually published, so it does pay to check the local press.

Cant remember the date - but was in the 1870s before a doctor was necessary to certify the death?