Before 1889 coroners were appointed for boroughs, liberties and for one or more divisions of counties. From 1889 coroners have been County Council appointments, although they are Crown officials ('coroner' indeed comes from a corona, 'of the Crown'). There were five coroners' districts in Huntingdonshire (Hurstingstone, Leightonstone, Norman Cross, Toseland and the Liberty of Ramsey) but in practice a single individual sometimes fulfilled some or all of these posts. A single coroner for the whole county was formally appointed in 1952.
Access to Coroners records created within the last 75 years is restricted by the Public Records Act of 1958 and by subsequent relevant legislation. Anyone wishing to consult a particular record must contact the Archives Service beforehand, in writing. The archives staff will not produce such records without the written consent of the district coroner. Records older than 75 years, however, are open to public inspection. For details of more recent inquests you may be best advised to look at any surviving newspaper accounts of the proceedings.
The most concise introduction to coroners' records is the Gibson Guide Coroners' Records in England and Wales (FFHS 1988), which includes a helpful glossary of terms encountered in the records. Alfred Fellows The Law of Burial (London 1940) reprints some of the Coroners acts.
Huntingdonshire records before 1952
Huntingdonshire Archives holds records of:
The Liberty of Ramsey 1875-1912 (acc. 2513)
Norman Cross District 1914-1937 (acc. 1906)
Records concerning the appointments of coroners can be found in (1) the records of Norman Cross District mentioned above, and (2) in the archives of the Clerk of the Peace; please consult catalogue number 11: Quarter Sessions for more details.*
Correspondence of Major S G Cooke, Coroner and County Education Officer 1938-1941, is also available (acc. 268).
Some very early documents of the old Godmanchester borough coroner can be found in the borough records collection: please consult catalogue number 15: Godmanchester Borough Records for more details.* Similarly, some 17th century coroners' inquests can be found in the records of the Assize court: see catalogue number 11: Quarter Sessions, appendix 1, for more details.*
Huntingdonshire records after 1952
Records of Huntingdon District Coroner are held here, but all records relating to deaths are closed under the 75 year rule.
All Peterborough District Coroner records are currently held at the Northamptonshire Record Office.
*On searchroom shelves at Huntingdonshire Archives.
Cambridgeshire records
Cambridge Borough/City: includes inquisition books 1826-33, 1836-69,1959-69 inquisitions, 1836-72, 1885, 1940, 1945-89, inquests about fires 1850-58, register of deaths reported to the coroner, 1958-1999, post-mortem reports 1945-6, 1948-83
County of Cambridge (excluding Cambridge): includes inquisitions, 1922, 1925-39 [C/Co/P1-16] Coroner’s daily record, 1894-1950 [C/Co/R1-6] register of deaths reported to the coroner, 1965-1982
Isle of Ely, Northern Division: includes notes of inquests 1914-1922, depositions, 1933-44, deposition books, 1926-44, inquisitions, 1939-68, 1971-87
Isle of Ely Southern Division: includes minutes of inquisitions 1782-1844, [ESCo/R1-6], depositions etc. 1782-1845 [ES/Co/P1-310]
Cambridgeshire Southern Division: includes sudden death reports, post-mortem reports and inquest papers, 1966-1989 [C92/401A], 1990-1991 [C95/1090-91]
Records of the Southern Division of the Isle of Ely and later records of the County of Cambridgeshire were destroyed following water damage in the 1950s.