What You Can Learn From Coroner’s Records
Since they are created as part of the process of investigating a particular cause of death, coroner’s records can often provide information beyond what is recorded on the death certificate. The coroner’s necrology and pathology reports may include details on the health of the individual and the exact manner of death.
Inquest testimony may point to family relationships, as friends and family often provided sworn statements. Police statements and jury testimony and verdicts may also be available, leading to research in court records or penitentiary or prison records. In some cases, ephemeral material such as photographs, bullets, suicide notes, or other items have been retained with the original files. Coroners records may also predate the recording of official death records in some jurisdictions.
How do you know if the death of an ancestor may have required the assistance of a coroner? Death certificates in many locations may provide a clue. In many localities, the will have been signed by a coroner. In England, from 1875, death records include details of when and where the inquest took place. of a violent, accidental or suspicious death may also provide clues that the death was further investigated by the coroner, as well as the date of death necessary for tracking down coroner’s records.
How to Locate Coroner’s Records
Coroner’s records in most localities are considered public and open for research. They may, in many cases, be protected by the same privacy laws that cover death or health records, however. Many coroner’s records in England, for example, are protected for a period of 75 years.
Coroner’s records may be found at various jurisdictional levels. In many places, including the United States and England, coroner’s records will generally be maintained at the county level, although larger cities may have their own medical examiner’s office. Many of these records are not indexed or digitized, so you will need to know the approximate date of death before commencing research. The Family History Library has microfilmed and/or digitized coroner’s records from a number of localities—search the by location, or using a keyword such as “coroner” to find examples of microfilmed and/or digitized records.
In some cases, such as in the examples highlighted below, coroner’s records (or at least an index to coroner’s records) may be found online. In other cases, online research, using keywords such as [your locality] and coroner records can point to how and where to access such records, such as this helpful guide from the on how to access copies of coroner case files.
Examples of Coroner’s Records Online
Search for abstracts of coroner’s inquest case files available on microfilm at the Missouri State Archives, including records from a number of Missouri counties, plus the City of St. Louis.
The 74,160 records in this database were extracted from the Cook County Coroner’s Inquest Records. The site also provides information on how to request copies of the original files.
Explore digitized records of over a century of coroner’s records from Stark County, Ohio, available online for free from FamilySearch.
Access digitized copies of the coroner’s docket page for investigated Westmoreland County deaths from the late 1880s through 1996.
This free, searchable collection from FamilySearch contains digital images of court inquest records from the Public Records Office of Victoria in North Melbourne, Australia.
The Ventura County Genealogical Society hosts this free PDF index of case files available from the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office. They also have a second, very helpful, index of other names they have abstracted from these files (witnesses, family members, etc.).