Useful information

We have an almost complete holding of the inquests held in Birmingham over the whole period there has been a Birmingham Coroner. We hold a microfilm of the “roll of the inquests” in the Heritage Research Area, covering 1838 to 1875. The roll records very little detail on the cases, giving names, address, cause of death and verdict. There are no further details relating to the death and on the whole, the entries do not tell you any more than you would find on a death certificate.

Researchers should keep in mind that, by their nature, inquest files can be very graphic and distressing

Photographs of the deceased and the scene of death are often present (even in some of the late Victorian inquests). Inquest files for suicides frequently contain the actual suicide note of the deceased. All descriptions of deaths will be graphic.