Before 1889 coroners were appointed for boroughs, liberties and
for one or more divisions of counties. From 1889 coroners have been
County Council appointments, although they are Crown officials
('coroner' indeed comes from a corona, 'of the Crown'). Public
access to coroners' records is governed by the Public Records Act
1958. Records relating to reported deaths are closed to
public inspection for 75 years. This includes inquest
files. Records older than 75 years, however, are open to public
inspection. For details of more recent inquests you may be best
advised to look at any surviving newspaper accounts of the
proceedings.
The most concise introduction to coroners' records is the Gibson
Guide Coroners' Records in England and Wales (FFHS 1988), which
includes a helpful glossary of terms encountered in the records.
Alfred Fellows The Law of Burial (London 1940) reprints some of the
Coroners acts.
In relation to these records, Peterborough falls within the
Nassaburgh Hundred (Soke of Peterborough) district of
Northamptonshire.
Northamptonshire Record Office holds the following records for
this district:
- Inquest returns 1813, 1821-42: giving date, name, verdict and
cause [Dean and Chapter of Peterborough deposit].
- Various other records as yet unlisted 1822, 1827, 1842-1948
[Coroner's deposit].
- Notices of deaths and doctors reports 1922-46.
- Registers 1928-40.
- Inquests 1963, 1965-71.
Information source for Northamptonshire Record Office's
holdings: Gibson's Coroners' Records in England and Wales,
Second Edition, Federation of Family Historians: 1997.
Peterborough Central Library holds a printed index for the
Peterborough Coroners' Inquests prepared by Northamptonshire Record
Office (organised by year and by surname) covering the dates 1822,
1827, 1841-1844, 1846-1850, 1852-1899 available for consultation in
the Archives Search Room/Local Studies Room.
There were five coroners' districts in Huntingdonshire
(Hurstingstone, Leightonstone, Norman Cross, Toseland and the
Liberty of Ramsey). The Norman Cross District covers the Southern
parts of Peterborough previously in Huntingdonshire.
In relation to this district Huntingdon Record Office holds:
- Norman Cross District 1914-1937 (acc. 1906).
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