How to research question

[LandD]

I am just learning how to research and am hoping someone can point me in the proper direction for these two inquiries:

1) I am wondering how to find either newspaper coverage or a police report on the accidental death of Mary Ann Cooper Yeats Rennie. She was hit by a cab, and died on March 28th 1900 at the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh. There was a Report of Precognition registered on May 8th, 1900 in the Registrar of Corrected Entries Vol 13, p 98 concerning her death.
What we are trying to find out is who the cab driver was.
One of our relatives, John Stannard, was a coachman, and he later adopted Mary's orphaned child.
So the question is - can I research newspaper records of the 1900 period without subscribing to a service?
 
2) Family oral tradition holds that one of two relatives was a Postilion on the Royal carriages when the royal family was residing in Balmoral Castle. The two coachmen in question are Alfred Stannard, (living in Edinburgh between 1866 and 1907) and John Stannard, (b1858 - died 1909).
Is there any way to check lists of employees of Balmoral Castle of this time period?
I realize this may be a totally fanciful speculation, but at least my aunt didn't believe they were mice turned into coachmen until midnight...

I appreciate the invaluable help I have received through this forum.
LandD

[GR2]

I'm sure there is a site which gives details of royal servants. You could probably find it by using the search facility on this site as people have asked this question before.

Edinburgh Evening News Thurs. 29/3/1900

The Union Place Accident. - The woman, Mary
Rennie, 30a Haddington Place, who was run over
by a cab in Union Place on Tuesday night, suc-
cumbed to her injuries in the Royal Infirmary last
night.

[josey]

Well phrased & immediately comprehensible queries, if you don't mind me saying 

For [1] the British Newspaper Archive do have pay per view, you don't have to subscribe. I looked on the National Records of Scotland website catalogue www.nas.gov.uk but did not find records for a fatal accident enquiry. If there was a trial there is this but sadly closed [although subsequent years up to 1912 are open]
SC39/66/67   Record of criminal jury trials   1900   This record is Closed.

For [2] you could try finding their occupations & places of residence [they would have had to have lived on-site] from the census images on Scotlands People; the transcriptions on ancestry & findmypast do not include occupation.

Josey

[lizdb]

Dont know if this gives any help re question 2

http://www.royal.gov.uk/the%20royal%20collection%20and%20other%20collections/theroyalarchives/theroyalarchives.aspx

[DebPat]

British newpapers online give you

Register now to receive 15 free credits to help get you started in The Archive!

which is helpful

http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

[LandD]

Thank you to all for the clear and patient help.
You have helped me leapfrog the deadends that my ignorance is producing in entertaining quantities.

DebPat -  I followed that link you kindly forwarded and it seems to be exactly what I need.
Thank you for the advice on the 15 free credits from the British Newspaper Archives. I intend to take the plunge and sign up, at the considerable risk of spending all my time for the next month addicted to reading 100 year old newspapers.

Lizdb - thank you for the link to the Royal Archives. The FAQ section has exactly what I was looking for - an address to write to concerning former employees of the Royal family.
Although my ancestors may not have been magically transformed coachmen mice, these answers are seeming magical to me.

josey - thanks for your kind words and practical help. Your insight that a coachman would have had to have lived on site had completely escaped me, so I am delighted that you pointed it out. Alfred Stannard, coachman, is listed in the 1861 census as living in the Coachman's House in Garvald, Linton, Co Peebles. Would every country house have had a coachman's house?
It is looking like I should be treasuring my late aunt for her imagination, and not her accuracy.

GR2 - thanks for the excerpt from the Edinburgh Evening News. It revealed a new address for Mary, which is a great boon.

Thank you to all for the benefits of your experience. I perhaps could have found this information with more research, but as I am taking my mom on a tour of her genealogy next week in Scotland and have been scrambling to clear up many details. Your time is appreciated. Any other pointers are welcome.
 

[josey]

Any house that had a coach would have some accommodation for its coachmen, but they might not have had a coachman's house.

If you look at this site there is a picture of Garvald House [now a care home]:
http://www.garvaldwestlinton.org.uk/

From a quick look at the Register of Sasines property index, the occupiers of Garvald House from ca 1870 - 1959 have been named White, Watson, Lucas, Macpherson. You could check the censuses for these names to find Alfred's employer. I have sent a pm.

Enjoy your trip!

Josey

ADDED:
An 1860s map with Garvald House here
http://maps.nls.uk/view/74954774
& 1890s here
http://maps.nls.uk/view/82897230
& 1908 here
http://maps.nls.uk/view/82897233
top left corner