General question re death information

[zenobia37]

Hi everyone,
I'm looking for any general ideas on where I might find more medical details about an ancestor's cause of death. I have the 1873 death certificate for my 3x g grandfather Ezra Exley which describes his cause of death as 'coma and paralysis'. There is no mention of an inquest or an accident on either the death certificate or in the local newspaper, which suggests perhaps an underlying medical cause. Nor is there any reference to him in the limited coroners notebooks which survive. I am stuck as to where to look next to understand what happened to him, so if anyone has any suggestions about other sources I would appreciate hearing them.
Thanks

[groom]

I'm afraid that is all that you are likely to find - information on the death certificate. It is very unlikely that any medical records still exist about his death in particular.

The best you can do is Google to see if there are any medical conditions that result in coma and paralysis, but even then you can't be sure that is what happened to him.

[zenobia37]

Thank you for replying. That's what I thought too but it is sometimes worth asking.

[AntonyMMM]

If there was an inquest then the coroner would be the informant shown on the certificate.

The cause "coma and paralysis" could be many things - possibly a stroke ?

[Billyblue]

If there was an inquest then the coroner would be the informant shown on the certificate.

The cause "coma and paralysis" could be many things - possibly a stroke ?

Stroke was the first thing I thought of, too.
Anything suggesting need for a PM or an inquest would surely have been noted on the certificate.

Dawn M

[CarolA3]

Where did he die?  If he was a hospital in-patient, a postmortem probably wouldn't be needed.  Some hospital records are available.

Carol

[groom]

If he died 1873, it would be more in an infirmary or workhouse hospital. You could try workhouse records, although they usually just give “ died” rather than a cause.

[zenobia37]

Thanks all. The informant listed on the certificate was a family member and he appears to have died at home, or at least there is nothing to suggest he was at the local hospital. A stroke therefore does sound like the most likely option. Another mystery that will remain!