Inquest November 1899 on Margaret Gibbs

[julianb]

Margaret Gibbs was the wife of one of my great great uncles (he was in the 17th Lancers). Her death cert says she was found dead having died at sea on 1 November 1899.  The information for the death cert was received from Alfred Blake, coroner for City of Cork, and that an inquest was held (actual date unclear).

Can anyone advise as to whether records of Cork coroner's court survive, and/or whether newspaper reports of the time are archived/available on-line?

Most grateful for any help with this.

JULIAN

[skibbgirl]

I have asked this very same question and have been unable to come up with anything:

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=490859.0

I have emailed the National Archives asking about coroner resources and have gotten no response:

http://www.nationalarchives.ie/topics/Medical_sources/HR_2.html

If you have better luck I'd appreciate if you post their response here.

[julianb]

I've resolved my own request (which seems a bit silly on reflection), but I thought I would share the experience with others 

I today visited, in person, the National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/homepage.aspx and, having consulted their newspaper finding aid, inspected the Cork Constitution and the Cork Daily Herald on microfilm and found newspaper reports in both of these of the inquest into Margaret Gibbs' death.

She died on the "Innisfallen" which according to Irish Ferries, http://www.irish-ferries-enthusiasts.com/innisfallen.php operated on the Cork to Fishgaurd route.

The newspaper report of the inquest tells that she was on the Innisfallen, "coming from Milford" - which I presume to be a reference to Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire. After a rough crossing (according to other passengers, but not considered rough by some of the crew) she had taken ill and was found dead in the morning in her berth.

[I was also able to find a newspaper report of the inquest that skibbgirl was seeking  ]

I think the learning from this is:

- by and large newspapers will report inquests

- someone close to the ground is more likely to be succesful in finding such reports, compared with e-mail enquiries, which is a shame

Finding actual inquest records is a different matter .......

If I was doing this again, I would consult the online indices and send a request for the documents in advance to the Library.  This would have meant I could consult the fiches immediately on arrival rather than having to wait a further 40 minutes or so for them to be retrieved from storage.

JULIAN

[skibbgirl]

I am so glad to hear you found what you were looking for Julian.  Your experience is one for all of us to keep in mind if we someday go through the same thing.

Question:  By "document" request I assume you mean - request for the microfiches the newspaper was on.  What is the online index you are talking about - just the list of newspapers available, or something online mapping fiche number to newspaper date?

Thanks again!

[julianb]

I am so glad to hear you found what you were looking for Julian.  Your experience is one for all of us to keep in mind if we someday go through the same thing.

Question:  By "document" request I assume you mean - request for the microfiches the newspaper was on.  What is the online index you are talking about - just the list of newspapers available, or something online mapping fiche number to newspaper date?

Thanks again!

Yes, requesting the microfiches.  The National Library of Ireland has an online catalogue of its newspaper holdings - http://www.nli.ie/en/catalogues-and-databases-printed-newspapers.aspx.

Just  pop your county or City/Town into the search tool and it will generate a list of appropriate newspapers, and from there you can see, for each newspaper, what dates they have and whether on film, hardcopy etc

The NEWSPLAN project also looks worth exploring - http://www.nli.ie/en/newspapers-newsplan-project.aspx

JULIAN

[skibbgirl]

I had the list of newspapers but I will add these links to my County Cork web pages. 

It is a pity they don't offer microfilms of the West Carbery Eagle for sale, if they did I would give up food for a few years so I could purchase the films. 

I am probably heading back to Salt Lake City in October for vacation.  That is the next best thing to Dublin/Cork libraries.  If you can think of any book or reference there that is not easily accessible that you would like a look at, please let me know!