Second report of the Departmental Committee appointed to inquire into the law relating to coroners and coroners' inquests, and into the practice in coroners' courts.

  • Great Britain. Committee on Coroners.
Date:
1909
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Second report of the Departmental Committee appointed to inquire into the law relating to coroners and coroners' inquests, and into the practice in coroners' courts. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    8 June 1909.] [ Continued. ~ 6684. Would you go so far as to say that he would not call that person in a case involving a criminal charge ?—If there were anything like a serious case he would call you, of course. 6685. But you mean that in ordinary simple cases he does not call the medical attendant as a witness P— He does not—but the question is, what is a simple case. In this case of suffocation that I mentioned, I gave a certificate with the object of forcing Mr. Troutbeck to call me, because in a previous case that I had where the people were drunk he did not call me at all. 6686. Do you suggest that Mr. Troutbeck performs his duties improperly ?—That is our opinion; he does not treat the medical practitioners with any respect. 6687. Have you ever made any official complaint as to his performance of his duties P—Most decidedly. 6688. To whom ?—-To the British Medical Associa- tion. The Medical Defence Union took the case up, and we had an inquiry before Mr. Cockerton, the Auditor of the London County Council, to try and stop the payment of his fees, when we endeavoured to prove that Mr. Troutbeck’s action was illegal according to the Coroners’ Act. 6689. I did not mean that, I meant, has any official complaint been made to the Home Office ?—I believe so. A complaint has been made to the Lord Chancellor to have Mr. Troutbeck removed. 6690. I take it that you know that if a coroner carries on his duties improperly a complaint can be made to the Lord Chancellor >—Yes. 6691. Do you say that such complaint has been made ?—Certainly. 6692. Has the complaint been heard by the Lord Chancellor ?—It has. 6693. With what result P—I do not exactly know, but the Lord Chancellor I believe states that he cannot see his way upon the facts to remove him. 6694. You mean that Mr. Troutbeck was able to justify himself before the Lord Chancellor 2—I suppose he has done so. I do not know much about it. 6695. Your complaint then to-day is purely a personal complaint against Mr. Troutbeck ?—Personal : to a great extent. 6696. Have you any similar complaint to make against other coroners ?—None at all. 6697. You have nothing, to say to us as to the ordinary law of coroners or their practice, except so far as it may be carried out by Mr. Troutbeck ?—Quite so. 6698. Was the case of hemorrhage that you have mentioned Sedgebeer’s case P—Yes, that was the criminal charge. 6699. Do I rightly understand that in that case you gave evidence yourself at the coroner’s inquest ?—Yes, but Mr. Troutbeck was going to refuse. 6700. I gathered that. The case was heard by the coroner's jury ?—Yes. 6701. And they committed the man to the Old Bailey ?—Yes. 6702. And at the Old Bailey the judge decided that there was no case to go to a jury 2—Yes. It must have been on my evidence, of course; it could not have been otherwise. 6703. I take it that you have known of other cases like that where there has been no complaint against the coroner ?— Yes, 6704. (Dr. Willcox.) Have many other medical men in your district come into conflict with Mr. Troutbeck ? — Yes, a great number. 6705. To your personal knowledge ?—Yes, to my personal knowledge. 6706. (Chairman.) You, I believe, hold the office of Franchise Coroner of the Hundreds of Badbury and Cogdean, in the county of Dorset >—Yes. 6707. How long have you held the office P—26 years. 6708. You were appointed, I suppose, by the lord of the manor ?—By the Lord of the Hundreds; he is also lord of the manor. 6709. And you are paid by the county council ?— Yes. 6710. Your salary being 201. a year ?—Yes. 6711. What is the area of your jurisdiction P— Perhaps I may state that I reside at Wimborne, in the county of Dorset, and have lived there nearly all my life. My age is 76 years. J am a land agent by calling, and have for the past 50 years had the management of large landed estates in the county. As I have stated, I have held the office of coroner of the Hundreds of Badbury and Cogdean in that county for the past 26 years, having been appointed in the year 1883 by the Lord of the Hundreds, the late Mr. Walter Ralph Bankes, of Kingston Lacy. The appointment is and always has been a life one; the salary is an annual payment of 20/. paid me quarterly by the Dorset County Council, to whom I render my account quarterly. Beyond this salary, I receive no fees whatever. During the time I have been in office, I have held something between 200 and 250 inquests. My jurisdiction is a seattered one, extending from the boundaries of Hamp- shire to those of Wiltshire; something like 20 to 30 miles. It includes the town of Wimhorne, where I reside, and in addition thereto, a large agricultural area embracing thinly populated scattered villages and farms. By reason of this, I am often compelled to hold inquests in village public-houses, much against my inclination, there being no other accommodation. The village schools are, as a rule, occupied during the daytime, and there is but seldom any public hall or room available. I have no deputy coroner. 6712. You hold about 10 or a dozen inquests a year ?—Yes, about a dozen. 6713. And your jurisdiction is surrounded by that of other Liberties, and by that of the county coroner ? —Yes, 6714. Are there several Liberties 9—Yes, four in the county. 6715. What county coroner is it 2—The East Dorset county coroner. 6716. Subject, of course, to your vested rights, is there any reason why your district should not be part of the Kast Dorset coroner’s district >—None whatever. I think, in fact, subject to my rights, it would be a good thing, because we dovetail into each other. For instance, I have one parish; in the next parish the East Dorset coroner steps in, and I go beyond to the next, and then the East Dorset coroner steps in again; and then there is the coroner of another Liberty in an adjoiming parish to Wimborne, the parish of Ham Preston ; the Liberty of Cranborne man steps in there, and I go beyond him to Canford Magna and Kinson. 6717. It is very complicated ?,—Very much so. 6718. And I suppose it leads to practical difficulties occasionally P—Not very often; we generally know each other’s district. But I have difficulties sometimes with the police; a new man comes on beat and does not understand which jurisdiction he is in; he comes to me and I have to put him right, and he has to go to Ringwood to another coroner. 6719. And it would be highly convenient if all these Liberties were swept into the county P—Speaking candidly, I have always thought so. The Hundreds coroners really existed before county coroners in the Old Hundreds, before there were magisterial courts and soon. In old times the steward of the Hundreds sitting in his capacity as steward of the Hundreds had enormous powers, almost of life and death; now they are superseded by the Police Act. 6720. (Mr. Bramsdon.) Do you call anyone to your assistance when you hold an inquest, or do you do all the duty yourself ?—I do it all myself; but if I am away I get my neighbour coroner, the coroner for B 2