Accidental death David Thomson of Torphichen. What happened?

[sw1]

Researching this for a friend and come across a strange death certificate.

David born 2 Apr 1813 Torphichen.
Parents John Thomson and Jean Beveridge.

First wife was Marjorie Lawson in 1846. She died in 1856.
Second wife Emily Sutton b Dorset.

David is last seen on the 1871 census at 15 Graham Street, Edinburgh with his family.

In 1881, wife Emily is there with the children but no David. Where was he?
By 1891 Emily is a widow.

David's death cert eventually found; died 15 Sep 1877 in the premises 479 Lawnmarket, Edinburgh occupied by James Stuart, spirit dealer. (David was a general merchant and spirit dealer). Cause of death was accidental suffocation while under the influence of liquor. Certified by Dr Littlejohn, surgeon to the Edinburgh police. The death was not registered until 6 weeks later on 30 Oct by Bruce Johnston, Procurator Fiscal. There are no family details on the certificate at all.

I wonder if there was an inquest of some kind and if so where could I find details of that? I would love to find out more. Can anyone direct me to any websites where that might be? I've already had a look at British Newspaper Archive but nothing seemed to appear there.

Many thanks.
Suzie (from Orkney)

[whiteout7]

You can drink yourself to death. In my first aid classe we were taught to put a really drunk person into a recovery position (on their side) incase they were vomited and they choked to death. It is a horrible thing to say but the medical people teaching me this must have known of it happening when people had been drinking alone. Very sad demise, I'm sorry

[RJ_Paton]

There would have been no "Inquest".

The death would have been investigated as you saw by the Procurator Fiscal, unfortunately such records are rarely kept for more than a few years although it may be worth checking the NRS catalogue to see if any records of witness interviews (precognitions) were maintained
http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/catalogues-and-indexes

[scotmum]

At the time, the Dundee Telegraph of September 19th described David as a mason, from Dundee, who had been living in Mid Calder. And just before that, on 17th, the Aberdeen Journal made mention that the unidentified (at that point) body, had been taken to lie at the Main Post Office in High Street.

Also on the 19th, the Edinburgh Evening News carried an item about his body having been identified and saying he was of Dundee, had left there quite some time previous, and had lived since in Mid Calder. On the 17th, the same paper had carried a partial description of him, saying he was 5'11" and about 70yrs and that papers found in his pocket indicated he had lived in Mid Calder.

[sw1]

Scotmum. Oh...that's unexpected and sort of puts a spanner in my works! I'll have to look that up. Have you by any chance got a link to that bit of the paper?

Falkyrn. Thank you for that. I'll have a look at that website.

Whiteout7. Thanks for reply. Yes, it was a sad end for David, but being a merchant and spirit dealer himself, perhaps not surprising.

Thanks for all your responses.
Suzie

[scotmum]

I've added a few more snippets to my post above. All entries are available on the British Newspapers Archive, under the respective publications and dates.

[sw1]

I'm on the case!!
Thanks.
Suzie