Suspicious deaths in 18th-century Westminster

18th-century inquests were usually held soon after a sudden, violent, accidental or unexplained death. This dashboard explores gender and verdicts across nine parishes between 1760 and 1799.

Inquests

Burials

Sources

• Westminster coroners' inquests data (London Lives)
• London weekly bills of mortality, 1644-1849 (Campop)
• Locating London's Past map data

See also

• Death by Numbers: the Bills of Mortality project
• Coroners' Inquests background information (London Lives)
• Causes of death in Georgian London: index of verbs and objects (Richard Brath)

Notes on sources

Coroners' inquests were usually held within a few days of a suspicious or unexplained death, at a local alehouse, parish workhouse or in the building in which the death occurred. Deaths among prisoners in custody were also subject to an automatic inquest. The data used here is based on the formal inquest, which identified the deceased, date, location, cause of death and gave the jury's verdict.

The weekly bills of mortality represent the most complete source of burials data available for London over the 17th and 18th centuries. However, they do not count all deaths, as they exclude burials of Nonconformists (of whom there were growing numbers), Catholics and others outside the Church of England. The Bills probably account for around 90% of burials overall, but levels of nonconformity could vary between parishes.