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Lesley Garrett made a shocking discovery when she ordered the death certificate of her great-great-grandmother, Mary Ann Garrett, who died in 1899. The cause of death was recorded as accidental poisoning by carboxylic acid, and a note on the certificate revealed that a coroner’s inquest had been held to investigate the death. Further research was conducted into this incident at the local record office, and on examining local newspapers, the full story became clear.
It appeared that her great-great-grandfather, Charles Garrett, had poisoned his wife by mistake, thinking it was her medicine. Although he was cleared of any wrongdoing, the impartiality of the inquest was called into question when it transpired that Charles knew the coroner and many of the jury!
Similarly, Charles’s work as a butcher would have brought him into contact with carboxylic acid on a daily basis, using it to cleanse his work surfaces and tools of the trade. By this date, bottles containing toxic substances were clearly marked in an attempt to prevent this sort of accident from occurring, which is why questions were raised about how such an incident could have happened.
The discovery shows just how important it can be to order all relevant certificates for your ancestors, and to check the non-biographical sections such as place of birth, occupation or – as in this case – the cause of death. This is why it is important to consider the potential implications of your research – you are never sure what skeletons in the closet you may uncover.
Death certificate, Mary Ann Garrett
Mary Ann Garrett’s death certificate showed that she had been killed by the accidental administration of carboxylic acid, a highly toxic substance that her husband Charles would have used in a professional basis in his butcher’s shop.
Extract from the Doncaster Chronicle and Doncaster Gazette
Although the returns of coroners’ inquests can be found at local archives amongst quarter session records, many no longer survive so the next best place to look for information is in local newspapers, which often carried reports of inquests held.
The National Archives is not the best place to look for modern coroners’ inquests, which are usually stored amongst quarter session records at county record offices. Local newspapers can be found at local study centres and county record offices, with duplicate copies usually held at the British Newspaper Library, Colindale. Further information about medieval coroners’ inquests held at Kew can be found in our research guides.
