The first thing to undertake when researching the death of an individual is to find the death certificate as this often provides the inquest date and outlines the circumstances.
Deaths are usually registered by the coroner in such cases but it may be some time after the actual death occurred,
Most inquest records are held at county record offices or local archives where records over seventy-five years old are generally open for unrestricted research; but those records less than seventy-five years old require permission from the coroner. These records can include inquest papers, coroner's personal notes and witness statements.
If the official records are not available, then local newspapers often provide detailed reports of inquests. It is always useful to refer to both when piecing together an ancestor’s circumstances.
Unfortunately, many post-1875 coroners’ records were destroyed, some only after fifteen years, hence the need to refer to local or national newspapers reports. Pre-1875 documents are legally protected, but records may have been previously destroyed before such protection became law in 1921.
