Unusual causes of death

[toni*]

I have several who commited suicide (maybe its just me) and the death certs explain exactly how they did it.

[julianb]

My great grandfather Henry Carter was found dead in water in a ditch.  The night before had been foggy; it is hard to tell whether he had just fallen, had drunk too much and fallen, or had been mugged - he had money to buy a new horse when he went out the previous day and no money was found on him, nor was traces of alcohol mentioned at his inquest by the police. So I tend to think that someone got away with not so much murder but manslaughter.

But that story is just the entree to my "unnatural causes of death" entry.

Henry's younger brother William was working as a house servant at a  farm, and for some reason had gone into one of the barns and got involved in a prank with two of the farm-hands and ended up suffocating in a very large bag of flour.  He was just 18.   

JULIAN

[Tobacco]

I am researching deaths caused by nicotine poisoning in the UK.
Some appear to have been deliberate suicides, others\purely accidental. I would be pleased to hear from anyone with details of such cases, including Preraphaelite.

I am keen to what form the nicotine took (e.g. pesticide, solution from a lab, plug of tobacco, etc) who died, where and when etc.

As far as I can ascertain the first reported in the UK was in 1858 in the Geological Museum in London (according to the Times). The most recent one from the Times (up to 1985) was on the Isle of Wight in 1958.

Glad to hear from anyone.

[Icicle]

In some of the parish records I've been looking at the vicar made a note of unusual deaths.

There are several drownings in river, mostly children. A couple of 'burnt to death' a 'gate falling' and 'fell off a hay rick'

[annieoburns]

Apologies for resurrecting this thread.... but inspired by this week' WDYTYA programm, I wonder how to progress finding out more about the accidental death of a child in 1839 in Mitcham, Surrey.  Are there any local newspapers for the area where a report of an inquest might be found?    I would have a date.

[nanny jan]

Hi,

The county archives might, if you are very lucky, have the inquest file in their records.  It's worth emailing them to ask;  they can also advise which newspapers might have carried a report.


Nanny Jan

[annieoburns]

Thank you for speedy response!  ah yes email and basic inquiry!  Croydon I think.

  I have been lucky with local libraries looking up newspaper details for specific information.  I think there is a policy of spending only a certain amount of time on individual  enquiries. I might get lucky as have an exact date.   It would be good  to have some more detail of the death of this toddler "by scalding".  Was a servant implicated or the mother etc.? 

[Billyblue]

My next door neighbour died from haemoptysis, which Viktoria mentioned earlier. He had lung cancer.
One morning I heard him coughing and coughing, then an expletive, then silence. A few minutes later his daughter ran up my back stairs telling me her dad had just died.

[Haemoptysis is coughing up of blood;  haematemesis is vomiting of blood}

A friend of my OH's ran her car under a semi trailer and decapitated herself and her daughter!

One of my Blue family's DC says he 'fell down the stairs when drunk' as cause of death - didn't say buy presumably he either broke his neck or gave himself severe head injuries.

Visitation of God was usually used when they couldn't work out any other explanation, though I'm sure most people would think being struck by lightning was indeed a 'Visitation of God' !

Years ago, in Sydney, someone jumped off a moving tram and somehow fell under its wheels and horrified passengers saw his head roll into the gutter     

Dawn M

[Erato]

I have one victim [shot; buried in a shallow grave in the back yard] of a very famous serial murderess.

Also a child who died of blood poisoning after having been stung by a scorpion.