coroner inquest info

[Guest kirsten]

Hi

Please can anyone help me.

I've got a death certificate for my great grand grandfather Robert Winstanley, who committed suicide due to temporary insanity in May 1905.

On the certificate is says that there were an inquest on 22 May 1905.

Is there anyway I can find more information out.

Thanks Kirsten

[HughW]

I've got a death certificate for my great grand grandfather Robert Winstanley, who committed suicide due to temporary insanity in May 1905.

On the certificate is says that there were an inquest on 22 May 1905.

Is there anyway I can find more information out.

Thanks Kirsten

hello Kirsten,

Official records of inquests seem not to survive, but there will almost certainly have been a report in the local newspapers.

This is the transcription of his burial record, from http://www.sheffieldindexers.com

Winstanley, Robert (Blacksmith, age 43).

(Died at) Found drowned in canal; Buried on May 23, 1905 in Consecrated ground;

Grave Number 17726, Section CC1 of City Road Cemetery, Sheffield.

This is a public grave with 26 burials.

Hugh

[Bayleaf]

hello Kirsten,

Official records of inquests seem not to survive, but there will almost certainly have been a report in the local newspapers.

This is the transcription of his burial record, from http://www.sheffieldindexers.com

Winstanley, Robert (Blacksmith, age 43).

(Died at) Found drowned in canal; Buried on May 23, 1905 in Consecrated ground;

Grave Number 17726, Section CC1 of City Road Cemetery, Sheffield.

This is a public grave with 26 burials.

Hugh

Hi Hugh

Just a thought, but in 1905, would he have been buried in consecrated ground if the inquest had ruled it to be a suicide?

[HughW]

Hi Hugh

Just a thought, but in 1905, would he have been buried in consecrated ground if the inquest had ruled it to be a suicide?

I've wondered about the timescale of the change in attitudes towards the burial of suicides in consecrated ground. I found at Google Books:

Death in the Victorian Family By Patricia Jalland

"Between 1852 and 1880 legislation permitted suicides to be buried with religious rites if co-operative clergymen could be found, but no clause compelled ministers to perform the burial service. Popular opinion continued to oppose the burial of suicides in consecrated ground."

(p73)

Hugh

[Bayleaf]

Thanks for the information Hugh.

Bayleaf