Hi Everyone - I received the pdf Death Cert for Prudence Hamley (or Vernon) at the end of last week. It says, further to what I have already mentioned in previous posts:
Date of Death: 25 Dec 1935
Profession: Professional Musician
Cause of Death: Valvular disease of the heart
Informant: Certificate received from Walter Hall, Coroner for the County of Salop, Inquest held 27 Dec 1935
So that really doesn't help much as I was hoping for Mr Vernon or a family member to be the Informant! The death was registered under the name Pauline H Hamley and also in the index under Pauline H Vernon. I have been unable to find any marriage to a Mr Vernon.
I emailed the Shropshire Coroner last Friday regarding the Death Cert - I asked why there might be an Inquest without PM, or an Inquest at all, and they said:
''It is not clear, from the inquisition alone, why there was an inquest. If it was a natural cause and a doctor could issue an appropriate certificate then it would not have needed to be referred to a coroner. It is possible that there was a doctor with some knowledge of the patient, but was not involved in the last illness and was not able to issue a death certificate. The death would then have been reported to the coroner who, to avoid a post mortem examination, may have held the inquest to take medical evidence upon which he could record the medical cause of death. There is no requirement for a post mortem examination for an inquest to be held if the medical cause of death can be established by other means''.
I have now emailed the oldest funeral directors in the town after having a chat with them on the phone - they are going to see if their 1935 ledger of burials still exists - they said their archive was a bit patchy - and hopefully that might reveal if a family member was in charge of arranging the burial.
I have also gone back over the 1911 Census in case I missed anything but just cannot find any entry that might be her.
It seems I am no closer to finding out where she was and who she was with between 1910-1935. Does anyone have any further ideas? Are there any local Whitchurch or Shropshire newspapers online from those decades? I have done a search but nothing is popping up. I thought if she was a professional musician then she may have advertised over the years from whichever address she was residing?
Nina
