Melksham Times Past

A column about days gone by in Melksham by local historian Lisa Ellis

Although the role may have existed earlier, the office of the coroner was established by the King’s Council in 1194, with duties more clarified in the 1215 Magna Carta. 

The administrative duties performed by a local coroner ranged widely, and included holding inquests when people died unnaturally or when their death was unexplained. Early coroners were a type of medieval tax collector when the Crown benefitted from the forfeit of goods and chattels from wrecks at sea, discovery of buried treasure etc, and of those proved guilty of suicide.

The coroner system developed and adapted over the years, but in the 1800s, major changes occurred relating to investigations of death when the first Birth and Deaths Registration Act was passed and brought public attention and panic caused by inaccurate recording of actual numbers of deaths arising from epidemics. There was also concern over the easy and uncontrolled access to numerous poisons and inadequate investigations of deaths, as many homicides were going undetected.

Coroners were paid for each individual person who was the subject of an inquest. In some cases of obvious death, such as a heart attack or old age, the need for an inquest was questioned as it was felt the coroner was taking advantage of the system. In the 1844 case of the death of a cloth draper at Snarlton Lane, William Gunning, several parish officers argued that he was long suffering of heart disease and begged the finance committee to withhold payment from coroner Frederick Thomas Sylvester of Trowbridge. Inquest jurors were also paid for their time, but they frequently donated their fees to the surviving family.

There were no coroners’ courts in those days. The usual place of hearing for an inquest was the local public house. During the 18th and 19th centuries, there was a shortage of public buildings, and in many towns, the local inn provided the only available space for a large gathering, whether civic or otherwise. When a venue wasn’t available, or was too far from the area, nearby homes were used, especially if it was the location of the death. The body of the deceased remained there until after the inquest, whether they were of the family affected or a total stranger.

We may now shudder at the thought of an inquest being held in a private home or in a public area, such as a pub, but there doesn’t seem to be a current legal prohibition of holding inquests in pubs. The Licensing Act of 1902 forbade this use, but was repealed in 1910.

It was certainly proved that a private home is not the most convenient place for a coroner’s inquest. In 1899, 10-year-old Percy Alexander of Challymead Mill went to a spot near “The Hump” in the Avon to bathe. Because it was against his parents’ wishes, he told Richard Davis, aged five, not to tell his parents he’d gone into the water. The water close to the bank he entered was shallow, but the bottom depth was variable in spots and treacherous. Alexander couldn’t swim and must have gotten caught in one of the holes. By then, Davis had gone home, and true to his word, said nothing. Alexander was missed, and his clothes were found by the bank, but his body was not found until the next morning between 10 and 11 o’clock. His body was taken to his home and an inquest was arranged for that afternoon.

Except the parents weren’t informed of the timing; they had gone away to Norton to see friends. 

Coroner Sylvester and the jury arrived for the inquest and found the house was locked with no visible access. PC Jones “effected an entrance” through the back, and the jury was left to view the boy’s body through a window. The inquiry was held in Alfred Onslow’s cottage opposite.

Tea dealer and insurance agent, Joseph Buchanan, known as the “Poet of Melksham”, was a juror in the inquest and donated his fee to Richard Davis, the only witness, and who proved to be “an intelligent little chap” and gave sufficient evidence to prove the cause of Alexander’s death. His action was also in protest against the “miserable monarchical remuneration, which would disgrace a Republic.” He argued that time was money to a working man, and it was an insult to offer a man ninepence.

The remuneration for jury duty hasn’t exactly improved over time. If you serve on a jury today, you will not be paid for doing jury service, but if you are not compensated by your employer, you can claim some money back. For each day you’re at court, you can usually claim up to £64.95 per day for up to 10 days to help cover your loss of earnings and the cost of any care or childcare outside of your usual arrangements; £5.71 for food and drink, plus any travel expense. Beyond serving 10 days, you can claim £129.91 per day. (Rates at time of print).

Today, coroners continue to be appointed and paid by the relevant local authority; in Melksham that is Wiltshire Council.

Lisa Ellis