We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. See the Community Noticeboard for more info. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
Where can I access a coroners report from the 1970s?
Options
Comments
-
If the hospital no longer exist speak to the nearest national archive office to the hospital. Ours holds all the records for quite a few hospitals that have closed and they go right back to the 1800's.0
-
Curiosity is getting the better of me here:D and please feel free to tell me to mind my own, but why do you want a coroners report? Do you think there was something wrong with the findings?0
-
Curiosity is getting the better of me here:D and please feel free to tell me to mind my own, but why do you want a coroners report? Do you think there was something wrong with the findings?
no, not at all. my OH was a child when his mum died and he was told little of how long and how severe her illness was by his father and the rest of the family. he has always ignored the past, until he met me, and now is curious about the circumstances, what people said, what people thought etc etc, so we thought that the coroners report would have stuff in it.
in the newspaper it said the inquest was adjourned when first opened for medical and pathological reports so we are hoping to see these. then we can get a feel for what hospital and who was treating her so that we can be more accurate when asking for hospital records. the LMA has the records for halliwick and friern barnet hospitals so we would request these from there (if they still exist),,, however we are hopeful they will as i have just spoken to broadmoor hospital this morning (for one of my ancestors) who tell me that they hold records for their patients right back to the first patient so i dont see why other hospitals also wouldnt0 -
Can't offer any further advice but wanted to wish you good luck with it. The circumstances sound quite tragic and I fully understand how your OH wants to find out exactly what happened after all this time.
My mum died in 1981 and such were the times even then that questions weren't asked, not much went on the way of mourning or grieving and my brother and I didn't attend the funeral because my dad and other relatives thought it best we didn't. I didn't know she was THAT ill until she passed away and then someone mentioned the word cancer and it suddenly clicked into place. I do not blame my father or other relatives, things were not so open as they are today.
However you come to a point where you want to ask questions and as my dad got sick and never recovered (stroke) until he passed away a couple of years ago I didn't get to ask them.
I managed to get hold of a copy of the death certificate quite easily and I had even got the type of cancer completely wrong in my head.
Anyway, enough about me. What I'm saying is it did help to finally know, but I do wish it had all happened just a few years later when I would have felt more comfy asking questions. Stiff upper lip is great and all that but I'm convinced there will always be something not quite right in your mind if you are never told the circumstances behind the loss of someone dear.0 -
no, not at all. my OH was a child when his mum died and he was told little of how long and how severe her illness was by his father and the rest of the family. he has always ignored the past, until he met me, and now is curious about the circumstances, what people said, what people thought etc etc, so we thought that the coroners report would have stuff in it.
in the newspaper it said the inquest was adjourned when first opened for medical and pathological reports so we are hoping to see these. then we can get a feel for what hospital and who was treating her so that we can be more accurate when asking for hospital records. the LMA has the records for halliwick and friern barnet hospitals so we would request these from there (if they still exist),,, however we are hopeful they will as i have just spoken to broadmoor hospital this morning (for one of my ancestors) who tell me that they hold records for their patients right back to the first patient so i dont see why other hospitals also wouldnt
Thanks puddy, and it's understandable that your oh would like the full picture. I think these days we tend to forget that things were not always so out in the open as they are now. Things were spoken in whispers and things like cancer were never talked about.0 -
Can't offer any further advice but wanted to wish you good luck with it. The circumstances sound quite tragic and I fully understand how your OH wants to find out exactly what happened after all this time.
My mum died in 1981 and such were the times even then that questions weren't asked, not much went on the way of mourning or grieving and my brother and I didn't attend the funeral because my dad and other relatives thought it best we didn't. I didn't know she was THAT ill until she passed away and then someone mentioned the word cancer and it suddenly clicked into place. I do not blame my father or other relatives, things were not so open as they are today.
However you come to a point where you want to ask questions and as my dad got sick and never recovered (stroke) until he passed away a couple of years ago I didn't get to ask them.
I managed to get hold of a copy of the death certificate quite easily and I had even got the type of cancer completely wrong in my head.
Anyway, enough about me. What I'm saying is it did help to finally know, but I do wish it had all happened just a few years later when I would have felt more comfy asking questions. Stiff upper lip is great and all that but I'm convinced there will always be something not quite right in your mind if you are never told the circumstances behind the loss of someone dear.
he said much the same as you have said, yesterday when we went driving around where he grew up and his families old roads, schools, workplaces etc. he said that although his dad didnt say much, when his dad did make comments (along the lines of 'she was always a nutcase' )he didnt actually want to ask more as he didnt want to know. he said its only in the last few years and ive given him information about mental illness and psychodynamics etc that he wishes he knew all that then and had been able to ask more of his dad while he was alive.
he and his brother werent allowed to the funeral either and she died at the end of the summer holidays and both kids went straight back to school without any support or time to grieve or anything. very sad.0 -
HTH - Friern Barnet hospital and Halliwick unit) closed in '93 and the buildings were developed as luxury flats. The hospital records would have been placed with the local Health Authority at that time to be put in store. It's possible they no longer exist, or if they do can't be traced. Broadmoor records are dealt with differently as it's a high secure hospital and part of the justice system.
Good luck with tracking down the coroner's report,. but it may not tell you much - or any - more than the death certificate does......................I'm smiling because I have no idea what's going on ...:)
0 -
thanks, yes the LMA holds the records including patient records but whether they include the ones we need i dont know. we'll find out after they open again in january0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 350.9K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.5K Spending & Discounts
- 243.9K Work, Benefits & Business
- 598.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 176.9K Life & Family
- 257.2K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards