AboutBruce Fyfe Expertise Scottish Criminal Law - any area. NOT IMMIGRATION ISSUES. I am a serving, operational Police Officer with 25 years` service. As well as my own knowledge and training, I can draw on many other resources in the Scottish criminal justice system and welcome the challenge.
NB Scottish, not English; criminal, not civil or immigration;
Expert: Bruce Fyfe Date: 7/20/2007 Subject: Greetings from Canada
Question Hello Bruce.
This may be outside your subject, but maybe you can point me in the right direction.
My ancestor was found drowned in the Monkland Canal in January 1891. His original death certificate noted he had drowned. By mid February there was an amendment that noted it as a Drowning Suicide.
There was a report in The Scotsman on January 17th (the day after he was found) saying he had been missing for 7-8 weeks and that when the body was found his feet were in a sack and his hands were bound.
I would like to try and find any other reports about this death. Would there have been a coroner's inquest? Or maybe a police inquest/inquiry? If so, where would these records be held?
I find it hard to believe that he committed suicide by tying his feet in a sack and binding his hands.
Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.
Margaret
Answer Hi Margaret
Without wishing to demean your concerns at all, I was a bit worried until I read the event date properly!
The only thing I can suggest is to contact the Curator of the Strathclyde Police Museum - The Glasgow Police Museum, 68, St. Andrew's Square, Glasgow; Email: curator@policemuseum.org.uk.
I honestly don't know what records they'll have, if any, but I'm sure the Curator will point you in the direction of any other source. The only other source I can think of would be a post mortem (PM) report.
We don't have coroners in Scotland - the Police carry out enquiries into sudden and suspicious deaths on behalf of, and sometimes instigated by the local Procurator Fiscal, who represents the Lord Advocate.
If the incident is connected with a death in the course of someone's employment or in some other cases, there are (comparatively occasionally, especially when compared with coroners' inquests) a Fatal Accident Investigation (FAI), but I doubt that that would have been the case then.
The Local Authority retain a Forensic Pathologist (and team) to carry out PMs, if and as directed by the PF.
