Part 1

Transcribed from the [1852] Samuel Daynes edition by David Price, email [email protected]

[Picture: Public domain book cover]

OBSERVATIONS ON CORONERS,

BY

WILLIAM HEWITT, SURGEON, NORTH WALSHAM,

Author of an Essay on the Encroachments of the German Ocean, with a design to arrest its further depredations.

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“_Unius ætatis sunt quæ fortiter flunt_, _quæ_ _pro utilitate scribuntur æterna_.”

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PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, BY SAMUEL DAYNES, SAINT STEPHEN’S STREET, NORWICH; SOLD BY JOHN CHURCHILL, MEDICAL BOOKSELLER, PRINCES’ ST., SOHO, LONDON; OURY AND CO., LONDON ST., NORWICH; JOHN MOWER, NORTH WALSHAM, AND ALL BOOKSELLERS.

Entered at Stationers’ Hall.

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_To the Right Honourable The Secretary of State_, _for the Home Department_.

SIR,

The importance of the subject, I humbly anticipate will be sufficient excuse for the liberty I have taken, in dedicating to you the result of my experience connected with Coroners’ Inquests.

The instances narrated with reference to apparent delinquencies, in non-medical Coroners, contained in the following pages, occurred in my immediate neighbourhood, and may be believed, as resting on the brow of truth. Yet I most heartily coincide in acknowledging the integrity and worth, of Gentlemen pursuing vocations, for which they have alone been amply educated; and it is only when they assume a position, or accept office to execute duties they are incompetent to perform, as is frequently observed, that I deem it my duty to wield my pen against such appointments: not less for the sake of humanity, than for the dignity, and I might add, the disregarded importance of the medical profession, to which I have the honor to belong.

I am, Sir,

Your very humble and obedient Servant, The AUTHOR.

OBSERVATIONS ON CORONERS.

“If there’s a hole in a’your coats, I rede you tent it: A Chield’s amang you, taking notes, And, faith, he’ll prent it.”

IT is no inglorious vanity in Englishmen to consider the laws of their country afford an example for other nations to follow. Founded on the lasting rock of integrity, shewn in the strict regard for the liberty of the subject, they command the obedience and the admiration of thousands. But events, as they transpire, unfold the humiliating circumstance, that blemishes dimly seen in the distance become prominent on the near approach of extending knowledge; thus disclosing the fact, that this is a progressionary as well as a probationary world in which we live, and that perfection in human institutions cannot be attained, unless, through the power of an Infinite Being, the mortal in his earthly career be permitted to assume immortality.

Trial by jury appears the great feature by which the laws are regarded; and a better test for its usefulness cannot be pourtrayed than when with becoming dignity, discrimination, and foresight, it is employed to search into the cause of the death of a fellow creature; consequently no judge in the lands hold a higher position than a coroner, for almost unlimited power is allowed, perfectly in accordance with the sacred trust imposed upon him. But the responsibility attached to office, involves duties of extraordinary character; and the public have a right to expect that efficient pains-taking persons should be appointed, so that enquiries should be conducted in a clear, straightforward, impartial, manner; otherwise innocence might be tarnished, criminals might escape, and laws—coeval with life, framed for its protection—might be considered non-entities.

Coroners are officers at common law, because they deal principally with the pleas of the crown; and, possibly, the name may be derived from the manner of holding the inquest in _corona popupuli_. The Lord Chief Justice of the Queen’s Bench is, by virtue of his office, principal coroner of England; and may, if he pleases, exercise the jurisdiction of coroner in any part of the realm. In former days they were the principal conservators, and principal magistrates, within their counties, and they may now bind to the peace any person who make an affray in their presence.

The office of Coroner is of great antiquity, for in the days of Alfred, King of England, they existed, for he punished with death, a judge who sentenced a party to suffer death upon the coroner’s record, without allowing the culprit to traverse or be tried in another court. Coroners were ordinarily made by grant or commission, without election—such are the coroners of particular lords of liberties or franchises, who by charter, have power to create their own coroners, or to be coroners themselves. Thus, the Lord Mayor of London, is by charter of 18 Edward the Fourth, Coroner of London. The Bishop of Ely also has power to make coroners in the Isle of Ely, by charter of Henry the Seventh—Queen Catherine had the hundred of Colridge granted her by Henry the Eighth, with power to nominate coroners.

The Cinque Ports {7} have their own coroner. The Dean and Chapter of Westminster have their own coroner, who by their appointment, is coroner of the city and liberties of Westminster. The Wardens are coroners of the Stannaries in Cornwall. The Master of the Crown Office, or Clerk of the Crown, is Coroner of the Queen’s Bench, and has jurisdiction over matters arising within the prison of that court and Marshalsea. He holds his office by letters patent, under the great seal. In addition to which, there are many exclusive jurisdictions and corporations, for which coroners are appointed.

In each of the twelve shires, in Wales, and Cheshire, &c. there are only two coroners, which are settled by stat. 33 H. 8, c. 13 and 34 H. 8, c. 26.

But the two principal jurisdictions over which by the King’s grant, coroners may be appointed, are those of the Admiralty and the Verge.

At common law, if any felonies or treasons were committed within any creek or arm of the sea, which was in the body of the county, the common law courts had jurisdiction; but by stat. 15 Richard 2, c. 3, it was provided, that in “case of the death of a man or mayhem, done on great ships hovering in the main stream of great rivers only beneath bridges nigh to the sea, the admiral shall have cognizance of the same rivers.”

It is said that his jurisdiction extends only to rivers that are arms of the sea, namely, that flow and re-flow, and bear great ships. When the haven, &c. is within the body of the county, the common law tribunals have a concurrent jurisdiction, and the Coroner of the County as well as of the Admiralty, may take inquisition of deaths, &c. happening there.

Therefore, when a man-of-war was _infra corpus comitatus_, the land coroner was holden to have jurisdiction; and if the captain refuse the coroner admission, on board, the court will grant an information.

Again the Admiralty jurisdiction extends only to such deaths, &c. as happen in great ships, and not to such as occur in small vessels.

When the jurisdiction of the County and of the Admiralty is concurrent, the coroner who first seizes the body, is entitled to take the inquisition; and if he proceed to do so, the authority of the other is determined.

The other great jurisdiction is the Coroner of the King’s House, usually called the Coroner of the Verge, who it seems anciently was appointed by the King’s letters patent, but by stat. 33 H. 8 c. 12, the granting thereof, is settled in perpetuity in the Lord Steward, or Lord Great Master of the King’s house for the time being.

Anciently the Coroner of the Verge had power to do all things within the Verge belonging to the office of the Coroner, to the exclusion of the Coroner of the County; but because the King’s Court was often moveable, it is ordained by stat. of Articuli super Cartas, c. 3, that on the death of a man, the Coroner of the County shall join in inquisition, to be taken thereof, with the Coroner of the King’s house, and if it happen it cannot be determined before the Steward, process and proceedings shall be thereupon had at common law.

But yet in the case of death within the Verge, the Coroner of the County cannot take an inquisition without the Coroner of the Verge; and if he does it is void, but if one person be Coroner of the County, and also of the Verge, the inquisition before him is as good as if the offices had been in several persons and taken by both. And though the court remove, yet he may proceed upon that inquisition as Coroner of the County.

Beside those above enumerated, there are particular coroners for each county, who hold their offices (virtuta electionis) in pursuance of the statute 3 Edward I. c. 10, wherein it is provided, that “through all shires sufficient men shall be chosen to be Coroners, of the most loyal and wise knights,” which _know well_ and _may best_ attend upon such offices, and “which lawfully and shall attend and present pleas of the crown.” Therefore the election of a coroner, is by the freeholders of the county, in pursuance of a writ, called a writ _De coronatore eligendo_, directed to the Sheriff.

This statute does not define the precise number which varies in different counties, according to usuage. In some there is only one—in others, there are two, four, and six coroners appointed. But as no number is limited by the statute, it is competent for the Lord Chancellor if he thinks fit, to issue a writ for the election of one or more additional coroners, upon the petition of the freeholders of a county, and the approbation of the justices, certified at the general quarter sessions of the peace, holden for the county.

The degree of knighthood, observes “Sewell on the Law of Coroners,” is now no longer an essential qualification for the office of coroner. Yet candidates for that office must it is said, have land sufficient to take upon themselves that degree, whether they be really knighted or not. They must be possessed of an estate in fee, within the county, over which, if elected, their jurisdiction will extend. The statute 14 Edward 3, s. 1 c. 8, enacts, “that no coroner be chosen, unless he have land in fee sufficient in the same county whereof he may answer to all manner of people.” No precise amount of estate is defined by this statute, but the coroner ought to have sufficient property to maintain the dignity of his office, and to answer any fine that may be set upon him for his behaviour. But if having an estate in fee within the county, it be insufficient to answer his fines, that will not operate as a disqualification or be a ground for his removal, if he be of sufficient estate to execute his office, for the county, upon his default, will be liable to the fine as punishment for having elected an insufficient officer.

The authority of the coroner is twofold:—

1. Judicial

2. Ministerial

In his judicial capacity, he has to enquire when any one comes to his death suddenly or violently; how and by what means such death was caused; to pronounce judgement upon out-lawries; to inquire of lands and goods, and escapes of murderers, treasure trove, wreck of the sea, deodands, &c.

Before the statute of Magna Charta, c. 17, (4,) coroners held pleas of the crown, but that power is taken away by a more recent enactment. The Sheriff in his tourne might by the common law, inquire of all felonies, save the death of a man, but it is doubtful whether the coroner can inquire of any felony but the death of a person, and that _super visum corporis_, except in Northumberland, where the coroner may, by custom, inquire of other felonies.

In his ministerial capacity, he has to execute the King’s writs, when the Sheriff is a party to the suit, or kin to either of the parties, or on default of the Sheriff, but they are only authorized so to act in the execution of a process directed to them when their acts are void, unless they all join.

Coroners are conservators of the King’s peace, and become magistrates by virtue of their election and appointment. This privilege, independently of their more official duties, they are entitled at this day to exercise; and are empowered to cause felons to be apprehended, as well as those that have been found guilty after inquisition, as those suspected of guilt, or present at the death, and not guilty; as also burglers and robbers, in respect of whom, no inquisition can be taken. And this, says Lord Hale, appears evidently by the statutes, 3 Edward I, c. 94, and 4 Edward I. _Officium Coronatoris_, and with this agrees the common usage at this day; for many times the inquest are long in the inquiry, and the offender may escape, if the coroner stay until the inquisition is delivered up.

Where coroners are empowered to act as judges, as in taking an inquisition of death, the act of one of them is of the same force as if they had all joined.

The office of Coroner being by election, does not determine by the demise of the king.

The jurisdiction of coroners is limited to the county, liberty, or precinct, to and for which they are elected and appointed, and cannot be enlarged by any private act or delegation from the crown.

By the common law, if a man had been stricken in one county, and died in another, it was doubtful whether he were indictable or liable in either; but the more common opinion was, that he might be indicted where the stroke was given. And if the party died in another county, the body was removed into the county where the stroke was given, for the coroner to take an inquisition _semper visum corporis_.

But the statute 2 and 3 Edward the Sixth, cap. 24, sec. 2, provided that when any person shall be feloniously stricten or poisoned in one county, and die of the same stroke, or poisoning in another county, an indictment thereof found by jurors of the county where the death shall happen, whether before the coroner upon the sight of such dead body, or before the Justices of the Peace, or other Justices or Commissioners, which shall have authority to inquire of such offences, shall be as good and effectual in the law, as if the stroke and poisoning had been committed and done in the same county where the party shall die, or where such indictment shall be founded. This statute, however, assumed the existence of a _felony_, and was silent entirely as to what is to be done by the coroner or jury if no such indictment were found. The effect of any other finding was left entirely as it stood at common law.

It was thought, too, that the statute 2nd and 3rd Edward the Sixth, cap. 24, did not extend to boroughs; but that in cases of felonious killing, where the stroke, occurred out of the borough, and the death, within, the jurisdiction of the coroner, was according to common law.

By the 9th George the Fourth, cap. 31, sec. 8, it was enacted, that, “where any person being feloniously stricken, poisoned, or otherwise hurt upon the sea, or at any place out of England, should die of such stroke, poisoning, or hurt in England, or being feloniously stricken, poisoned or otherwise hurt at any place in England, should die of such stroke, poisoning, or hurt upon the sea, or at any place out of England, every offence committed in respect of any such case, whether the same amounted to the offence of murder or of manslaughter, or of being accessory before the fact to murder, or after the fact to murder or manslaughter might be dealt with, enquired of, tried, determined, or punished in the county or place in England, in which such death, stroke, poisoning, or hurt should happen, in the same manner, in all respects, as if such offence had been wholly committed in that county or place.”

By the 7th George the Fourth, cap. 64, sec. 12, it was enacted, “where a felony or misdemeanour is committed on the boundary of two or more counties, or within the distance of 500 yards of the boundary, or is begun in one county and completed in another, every such felony, &c. may be dealt with, inquired of, tried, determined, and punished in any of the said counties, in the same manner as if it had been wholly committed therein.” This enactment extends to the boundaries of counties only, and not to prosecutions in limited jurisdictions.

Many difficulties, however, having arisen on the construction of these statutes, as to the jurisdiction of coroner; by the 6 Vic. cap. 12, it was enacted, “That the coroner only within whose jurisdiction the body of any person upon whose death an inquest ought to be holden, shall be lying dead, shall hold the inquest, notwithstanding that the cause of death did not arise within the jurisdiction of such coroner; and in case of any body found dead in the sea, or any creek, river, or navigable canal within the flowing of the sea, where there shall be no deputy coroner for the jurisdiction of the Admiralty of England, the inquest shall be holden only by the coroner having jurisdiction in the place where the body shall be first brought to land.” And by sec. 2, it is further enacted, “That for the purpose of holding coroners’ inquests, every detached part of a county, riding, or division, shall be deemed to be within that county, riding or division, by which it is wholly surrounded, or where it is partly surrounded by two or more counties, ridings, or divisions, within that one with which it has the longest common boundary.” Sec. 3 provides for the trial of parties on verdicts of murder and manslaughter. Sec. 4, provides for the levying of deodands on verdicts.

The enquiry of the coroner must be restricted to the cause of the death of the person upon whom the inquest is taken, and cannot be extended to accessories after the fact. He may, however, inquire of accessories before the fact, for such are instrumental to the death. {17}

And by the statute 7 George the Fourth, c. 64, sec. 9, “the offence of the person counselling, procuring, or commanding, howsoever indicted, may be inquired of, tried, determined, and punished by any court which shall have jurisdiction to try the principal felon, in the same manner as if such offence had been committed at the same place as the principal felony, although such offence may have been committed either on the high seas, or at any place on land, within his majesty’s dominions or without. And in case the principal felony shall have been committed within the body of any county, and the offence of counselling, procuring, or commanding shall have been committed within the body of any other county, the last-mentioned offence may be inquired of, tried, determined and punished in either of such counties.”

This cursory glance of the office, the election, the authority, and the jurisdiction of coroners, show at once the importance of the trust imposed in them. Yet in the present day negligence and laxity prevail to such an extent, that a coroner’s tribunal is considered an inferior instead of a superior court, for some magistrates though differently elected, endeavour to control their labours, on the plea of economy—and this may be considered as one cause why coroners’ inquests appear unsatisfactory tribunals, for surely the doing so, must interfere with the sacred duties imposed and intended to operate on the minds of the many, that an untimely end of a fellow creature with all the awfulness attending it, should be carefully inquired into as the safety valve by which we live and move, and have our being.

The incomparable Dickens has, in one of the numbers of his present novel, “Bleak House,” sketched a lively representation of the manner in which these courts are commonly conducted; and as fiction demonstrates truthfully, truth itself, it may not be considered an unpardonable liberty in introducing the following extract:

The coroner frequents more public houses than any man alive. The smell of sawdust, beer, tobacco smoke and spirits, is inseparable in his vocation from death in its most awful shapes. He is conducted by the beadle and the landlord to the Harmonic Meeting room, where he puts his hat on the piano, and takes a Windsor chair at the head of a long table, formed of several short tables put together, and ornamented with glutinous rings in endless involutions, made by pots and glasses. As many of the jury as can crowd together at the table sit there. The rest get among the spittoons and pipes, or bear against the piano. Over the coroner’s head is a small iron garland, the pendant handle of a bell, which rather gives the Majesty of the Court, the appearance of going to be hanged presently.

Call over and swear the jury!

“Well gentlemen,” the Coroner begins:—

“Silence there will you,” says the beadle—not the coroner, though it might appear so. “Well gentlemen!” resumed the coroner, “you are impanelled here, to enquire into the death of a certain man. Evidence will be given before you, as to the circumstances attending that death, and you will give your verdict according to the evidence and not according to anything else. The first thing to be done is to view the body.

“Make way there!” cries the beadle.

So they go out in loose procession, something after the manner of a straggling funeral, and make inspection, from which a few of the jurymen retire pale and precipitately.

The inquiry proceeds. The jury learn how the subject of the inquiry died, and learn no more about him. “A very eminent solicitor is in attendance, gentlemen,” says the coroner, “who I am informed was accidentally present, when discovery of the death was made; but he could only repeat the evidence you have already heard from the surgeon, the landlord, &c., and it is not necessary to trouble him.” Is any body in attendance who knows anything more?

Mrs. Piper pushed forward by Mrs. Perkins.

Mrs. Piper sworn.

Anastasia Piper, gentlemen, married woman.

Now, Mrs. Piper—what have you got to say about this?