Death certificate.

[Lizzy Drippin]

Hi I wondered if anyone had come across this cause of death on a certificate before Visitation of God. The certificate is dated 1st. of September 1838. The informant is Thomas Badger coroner and not a family member.
Thanks Lizzy Drippin.

[rutht22000]

Hi Lizzy

It's appeared on one of mine - usually means that whoever wrote the death certificate had no idea how they died/that it was inexplicable...

http://www.historyhouse.co.uk/articles/visitation_of_god.html

[Tom Piper]

By Googling the phrase I found this explanation.

In the early days, Coroners investigated deaths to protect the King’s revenue. “Before the rise of the local magistracy and local police forces, the coroner was the principal agent in the investigation of homicide. He could also fine the community for unexplained murders. When he found that a person had committed suicide, his verdict would be that the deceased was a ‘felo de se’ and would order his property to be forfeit to the Crown.”(Ian Freckleton SC, “F.W. Guest Memorial Lecture 2007″ University of Otago). When a death was not a murder or suicide, a finding of death ‘by visitation of God’ would be returned.

Looking in the local newspaper for the East Riding of Yorkshire, the Hull Packet, I can see many such verdicts in 1838. It's possible that in the 19th century the forensic medicine department was not as good as it is now, so when they came across an unexplained death they gave that cause of death for the reason above.

Tom

[Lizzy Drippin]

Hi there Tom thank you for your help.
Lizzy.

[Billyblue]

'Visitation of God' was a standard "cause of death" when, as rutht said, the person writing the certificate could not pinpoint what happened.  Usually with a sudden death.
In the 1800s there was no such thing as forensics and even medicine was a much less exact science than it is now.

Dawn M

[BumbleB]

1852 - "Suddenly by the visitation of God" and signed off by the Coroner