Anne Rudge (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Sunday, June 30, 2019, 21:14 (1979 days ago) @ nimrod

Hi nimrod,
I know nothing abt local/parish government in those days, and I don't know when formal Inquests as such were introduced. However I do feel sure that an incident like this would have been "investigated", and the Church would have been involved. Given that it was within an ancient manor, I suspect the "local squire" aka a member of Pauntley Court's ruling classes would also have been involved if not have the final say.

Reading these accounts of the local parish government shows that during the late 1700s there was a local constable, who would presumably be involved. These records show several occasions when the Parish was involved with daily goings-on of the area which suggests they were well-organised.
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol12/281-301#h3-0023

This article shows that "Coroners Inquests" were being held in the UK since medieval times. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/coroners-inq...

Until now I'd assumed a Coroner was a representative of the Crown, but apparently nowadays it's a far more special-ist role than I'd thought, namely;
"an official who examines the reasons for a person's death, especially if it was violent or unexpected".
However in those medieval times it was indeed a more general role, see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coroner#History