A letter addressed to Her Majesty's Justices of the Peace, for the county of Middlesex on the subject of the increase of inquests / by William Baker.

  • Baker, William (coroner)
Date:
1839
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A letter addressed to Her Majesty's Justices of the Peace, for the county of Middlesex on the subject of the increase of inquests / by William Baker. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    “ wounded, drowned, or suddenly dead; and if having “ been sent for, he be remiss in doing his duty, and “ do not within a convenient time view the body, and “ take the inquisition he may be amerced by virtue u of the Statute de officio Coronatoris, and by the “ provisions of the Statute 3 Henry 7, c. ], is liable to “ a fine of One Hundred Shillings for every default,” and as if this were not enough, by a further Statute, 1 Henry 8, c. 7, he is liable to forfeit Forty Shillings. So Coroners are liable to a criminal information, or may be indicted if they mis-conduct themselves in taking the inquisition, and last of all, comes the estab- lished Rule of Law, that if a Statute enjoin an act to be done without pointing out any mode of punishment, an indictment will lie for disobeying the injunction of the legislature. What then has been the general rule of conduct under this extremely penal state of the Law, from the earliest period of time ? It has been propounded as follows :— “By the Coroner’s Inquest many crimes are brought “ to light, much evidence arises, and many important “ facts are disclosed on view of the bodies of persons “ who die suddenly, or by the hand of violence. The “ law looks with an equal regard on the rich and “ on the poor. The life of every fellow-subject is of “ consequence not only to his immediate connections, “ but to the country ; and dying out of the ordinary “ course, the cause of death must be inquired into, “ and it has been found from long experience, that para- 1 “ mount to all other inquisitions, those on sudden deaths “ are of the utmost importance to the safety of the “ subject, and ought in no case to be dispensed with, as