| Description | Most records are inquest papers which normally include, for each inquest, a notice from the police to a coroner describing the deceased and the supposed circumstances of death; "Informations" of witnesses, giving evidence to the court; and an "Inquisition" describing the findings of the court.
In this collection there are Inquest papers for the York District 1875-1883, the East Riding 1875, Ripon Liberty 1855-1972, Kirby Malzeard 1898-1910, Bishopthorpe 1914-1922 and 1943-1945, Northern District 1819-1941, Pickering District 1877-1940, Langbaurgh North 1875-1941, Langbaurgh East 1920-1941, Langbaurgh West 1914-1923 and 1930-1941, Whitby Strand 1939-1941, Thirsk District 1913-1927, Western District 1942-1997; Northern District 1941-1959, Eastern District 1941-1959, North-Eastern District 1955-1993, Ryedale District 1941-1979, Scarborough District 1965-1979, Scarborough/Ryedale District 1980-1996, Southern District 1961-1962 & 1970, Claro District 1978-1997, Craven District 1975, Eastern District 1997-2020, 2008-18, Western District 1998-2020; register of inquests held 1915-2010; notebooks 1957-1968; annual reports 1890-1954; circulars and other papers from the national coroner's records 1872-1969; coroner's personal papers 1886-1903; returns of inquests 1898-1906; abstracts of inquisitions 1930-1957; correspondence 1860-2000; copy returns to the Home Office 1868-1951; Coroner's Daily Records 1934-1972; accounts of fees and disbursements 1861-1941; and statistical returns 1982-1996.
Inquest papers are closed for 75 years. |
| Administrative history | Coroners were first appointed in 1194. They had a number of duties but by the thirteenth century were responsible for holding inquests in cases of sudden death which remains their main task to this day. Originally the Coroner was a royal officer but under the Local Government Act 1888 is now appointed by the County Council. Very few Coroners' papers survive before the mid nineteenth century. In certain boroughs and liberties separate coroners were appointed. From early times for example, Scarborough appointed its own coroner in accordance with its charters of incorporation: a charter of 25 May 40 Henry III granted the borough the right to appoint its own coroner or coroners. The Municipal Corporations Reform Act of 1832 (5 & 6 William IV) provided that boroughs holding separate courts of Quarter Sessions should appoint coroners for their boroughs. This provision was continued in the Municipal Corporations Act of 1882 (45 & 46 Victoria). Coroners independent of the county would have been appointed in York and in Middlesbrough which had County Borough status and separate courts of Quarter Sessions. Richmond and Ripon probably also had separate coroners. Liberties which appointed coroners separate from the counties and boroughs included the Liberty of St Peter, York, where the Dean of York appointed two coroners.
In 1862 Yorkshire was divided into ten Coroner's Districts: York, Selby, Doncaster, Rotherham, Wakefield, Halifax, Craven, Northern, Pickering and East Riding. In 1898, Yorkshire was divided into fifteen County Coroner's Districts: York; Selby, Bishopthorpe, Doncaster, Rotherham, Wakefield, Halifax, Craven and Kirby Malzeard in the West Riding; Northern, Flaxton, and Pickering in the North Riding; East Riding, Esckrick and Bubwith in the East Riding. In 1911 Flaxton Coroner's District was altered and re-named the Thirsk Coroner's District. The Coroner's (Amendment) Act of 1926, which came into force on 1 May 1927, abolished franchise coroners and as such posts fell vacant their duties were to be taken over by county coroners and the districts were re-organised. At this time the North Riding was divided into seven Coroner's Districts: the Northern, Thirsk and Pickering County Districts, the Langbaurgh North, Langbaurgh East, Langbaurgh West and Whitby Strand franchise districts. In April 1933 the Finance Committee proposed to reduce the seven districts to five. On 17 May 1941 all the franchise districts had fallen vacant and five new county districts were created: The Western district covering the Petty Sessional divisions of Richmond, Gilling East, Gilling West, Greta Bridge, Hang East and Hang West i.e. the old Northern District, minus land to the East which was transferred to the new Eastern District; The Northern District which covered the Petty Sessional divisions of Allertonshire, Langbaurgh North, Langbaurgh West and Thornaby and Yarm i.e. the old Langbaurgh North and most of Langbaurgh West coroner's districts; the Eastern District covering the Petty Sessional divisions of Langbaurgh East, Redcar and Saltburn, and Whity Strand i.e. the old Langbaurgh East and the land around Whitby taken from the old Northern District; the Ryedale District including the Petty Sessional divisions of Malton, Pickering Lythe East, Pickering Lythe West and Ryedale i.e. the Southern District covering the Petty Sessional divisions of Birdforth, Bulmer East, Bulmer West and Hallikeld i.e. the old Thirsk District and the southern part of the old Pickering District. On 20 June 1950, the Eastern District coroner took over the Northern District following the resignation of the latter's coroner, effectively reducing the number of districts to four. In 1968 the area included in the new Teesside County Borough was omitted from the North Eastern coroner's area. In 1974 the area included in the new Cleveland County was omitted from the North Eastern coroner's area of the new North Yorkshire County, but the same coroner acted for both the North Eastern district of North Yorkshire and the East Cleveland district, and his office continued to be at Guisborough in Cleveland. In 1997 two coroner's districts replaced the old structure: the Western District (comprising Richmondshire, Craven, Harrogate and Selby district council areas); and the Eastern District (comprising Scarborough, Ryedale and Hambleton district council areas).
Some coroner's records for parts of North Yorkshire formerly in the West Riding are at Wakefield. These include Craven district 'returns' (not full inquest papers) 1887-1953. Teesside Archives have Middlesborough coroner's records from 1950s but the whereabouts of earlier records are unknown. York City Archives have York coroner's records c.1913-date, plus a volume of abstracts. |