Why?

[Nell]

Looking for burials, I found https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/5158/41511_626640_4174-00060/1217513?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk %2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fdb%3dGloucBurials%26gss%3dsfs28_ms _r_db%26new%3d1%26rank%3d1%26gsfn%3djosephine%26gs fn_x%3dNN%26gsln%3dwilliams%26gsln_x%3dNP_NN_NS%26 MSAV%3d1%26uidh%3di02&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults

The page has the burial of my great-aunt Josephine but at the top of the page another entry has "poisoned by eating meadow saffron" written in the margin. I'm just wondering why this entry was given a cause of death when the others weren't?

[Terri]

Other than it being a rather unusual cause of death, no idea. Unless it is being suggested she WAS poisoned by eating it, as opposed to accidentally poisoning herself.


Apparently, Meadow Saffron is easily mistaken for wild garlic. It contains colchicine, poisonous in quantity, but also used to treat gout amongst other things.

[Chris in Sussex]

http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/coroners-inquests/

Dr Kathleen Chater states that a cause of death was not supposed to be written into a register unless there had been an inquest. So there was probably one in this instance as it is a rare entry in the register.

Chris

[Nell]

Interesting, thanks Chris. They didn't do that with some of my relatives who did have inquest though.

[marquette]

In some registers I have found an entry for "A poor lad who drowned", not exactly a cause of death, but the name was not known, so they had to put something in the register.

[Nell]

That's sad, Marquette. There are lots of parishes on the coast that have entries for men found drowned - unlucky sailors or fishermen.