Genealogy Chat

Hi all, My Nan has always said her father in Laws father comitted suicide. I've just received his death certificate and it appears she was right, He died 23 July 1907 in Leeds from Ammonia poisoning, self administratered while of unsound mind. An inquest was held the next day. I'm hopeing to check out the newspapers for the area to see if there are any mentions of him, My mum says suicide was illegal in those days so I'm hopeing there may be something. Does anyone know if its possible to obtain a copy of the inquest and where else could I look for information? He was a captain in the army and I wondered if it was what he may have witnessed that may have pushed him over the edge. Much appreciated for any help Michele

Afraid its unlikely you will find actual inquest papers, best bet is a report in local newspaper -thats how I got my GGF suicide report.

Thanks for that Heather, I will try the newspapers to see what they have. Michele

The death cert will give the date of the inquest. If you e-mail the library service in the relevant area with that date they can probably provide a photocopy of the report for a small sum. Additionally, coroner's papers sometimes survive. They might be in the relevant county records office or with the appropriate coroner's office. Worth a try. My gt gt gt grandfather cut his throat with a razor and lived 20 days afterwards. nell

I don't think that having an army career is much evidence for being suicidal. Anyway, I seem to recall that suicide was decriminalised in the 1960s.

Many thanks Nell for your advice, you have given me some more avenues to try. Thanks again Michele

hi michelle, i had a rellie, a baby of 3 years who set fire to himself and died in 1905. I did a search to find out what local papers were running in that area at the time. I went to Colindale London, which has newspapers archives searched through and found a report of the inquest so you could give something like that a try, while searching i found that these reports were quite common, good luck yvette

Thanks Yvette, I'm certainly thinking another trip to Colindale may be coming soon. Michele

Hi does Collindale have an online service? i am also trying to look up a suicide of my gt grandfather who slit his own throat back in 1915 an inquest too took place cheers Sally

Don't forget the 'Black Sheep Index' - you can search newspaper reports by surname. I found the death of my g-g-grandfather that way - he fell out of a hansom cab.

Also try the Times Online via the Bedfordshire library site. You can join as an online user of their library and obtain a free pin number to view The Times Online archive. Make a note of the pin number so that you have it for future reference. Replace the stars in the web address below with full stops. http://www*galaxy*bedfordshire.gov.uk/cgi-bin/viewpoint_server.sh?session_no=&from= good luck for your search Claire

Paul Thanks for the 'Black Sheep' site reminder....I had it on my last computer's favourite list but lost it when it when the computer went kaput!....It's one of many sites that I had forgotten about!! Chris