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The North Yorkshire County Records Office in Northallerton holds an extensive collection of records relating to the area dating back to medieval times. There is also a significant amount of information available online which is very useful if, like me, you find a physical visit somewhat difficult to make time for (due to distance, having to book or pressure of work, family etc.).
Here is the online website which is searchable: https://archivesunlocked.northyorks.gov.uk/CalmView/default.aspx
While searching for some specific records about Brompton-on-Swale I found the following eight coroner’s reports in the county records, which were pretty interesting in terms of the verdict given by the coroner - where the unfortunates involved had met their end due to a mix of drowning, burning, falls and the slightly less exact "by the visitation of God"
21-Jun-1799. John Simpson. Verdict: drowned by accident
21-Oct-1800. John Atkinson. Verdict: sudden death by the visitation of God
09-Jan-1803. Jane Feetham. Verdict: accidental death by burning
04-Oct-1807. John Hilton. Verdict: accident by a fall
17-Dec-1807. Richard Greathead. Verdict: accident by a fall
31-Oct-1812. Mary Theakston. Verdict: accidental by drowning
24-Jul-1817. William Carter.. Verdict: died by the visitation of God
30-Dec-1847. David Ellerton aged 67 years, schoolmaster. Verdict: by the visitation of God
I then thought it would be interesting to do some further analysis on the rest of the data in the county records. After a little searching it became obvious that there was a lot of data available - over 3500 summarised coroner’s records in over a 100 year period from 1753 to 1853. I’ve now completed some detailed analysis and can now present the results here.
There were 3675 records that I looked at and in many cases, it was clear that the coroner was uncertain about just how the person in question died and phases such as “died by the visitation of God” or simply “found dead” are quite common - presumably covering all manner of deaths including old age, natural deaths and unknown causes. These account for about a third of the deaths recorded (1148), but nevertheless, the rest are generally given some reasonable level of detail and cause.
Oops!
By far the biggest category were “accidental deaths” - about half of all recorded deaths come into this category (1895) and of those that are further described rather than just stating “accidental death”, deaths by drowning (415) and burning (335) make up the main causes. Death from drowning is perhaps unsurprisingly the top category in an age where few people were able to swim and clothes were often heavy or voluminous. Deaths from burning are also not wholly surprising in second place. Electric lighting simply did not exist in homes and naked flames would have been commonplace. Combine that with readily combustible materials in terms of clothing and homes and you have the expected results.
The next most common accidental deaths were related to falls (171), vehicles (97) and animals (62).
People were falling off all sorts of things, it seems and there were certainly few health and safety rules back then. Mostly people (mainly men) were dying from falling off horses (44, of which 43 were men) or carts (20, of which 19 were men). Other falls were down mine shafts (6), from “precipices” (8), off walls (7), down stairs (6), from buildings (5), and ladders (5).
Of course there were no motor vehicles at the time, but it seems vehicles were still a hazard.
The records include deaths due to carts (74) and carriages (2), waggons (18) - which I assume were horse drawn - and as we enter the age of steam, three deaths relating to trains.
John Armstrong, aged 29 years, an engine driver is recorded as being “accidentally killed by his head coming in contact with a bridge on the North of England Railway” at an inquest held at Carlton Miniott on 20 August 1844.
William Raine, aged 63 years, a labourer was listed as being accidentally killed “by the engine on the Great North of England Railway” at an inquest held in Romanby on 11 December 1844.
Edward Scurr aged 45 years, a “cattle jobber” was recorded as being accidentally killed when “ jumping from a third class carriage on the railway” at an inquest held at Carlton on 18 February 1845.
Unlike motor vehicles, animals were an intrinsic part of life at the time so it’s unsurprising that quite a number of deaths included animals. Horses (48) and Bulls/Cattle (10) were the main culprits. This does not include falls from horses - but rather the deaths listed more typically as “kicked by a horse”, “accident involving a horse” or “trampled” etc.
In addition, there were two recorded deaths due to dog bites and one “killed by a pig” (the unfortunate Richard Best recorded at an inquest held in Hetton-le-Hole, 20th September 1787).
Farewell, Cruel World!
Another major cause of recorded deaths was suicide. At a time when taking one’s own life was often considered a criminal or immoral act, the vast majority of deaths identifiable as suicide also include coroner’s comments such as “insane” or “lunacy” - for good reason. Another term used is “felo de se”, which is a medieval latin term meaning “crime against self”. Use of this term by a coroner could mean that as a result, the property of the deceased could be forfeit to the Crown as the person was considered “a felon”. It could also mean that the person would be “shamefully”buried - typically at night, with no mourners or clergy (and in earlier times it would mean burial outside consecrated ground - typically at a crossroads and with a stake through the heart!).
Increasingly therefore, a coroner would note suicidal deaths “by reason of temporary insanity” or such like to avoid these penalties being imposed. The Burial of Suicides Act (1823) formally allowed burials of suicides in consecrated ground, but it wasn’t until the Internments (felo de se) Act (1882) that abolished the restriction of suicides being buried between 9pm and midnight without rites. Preferred methods according to the records were hanging (132), drowning (22), cutting of the throat (20), poison (20) or shooting (12).
Captains of Industry
The records for the period in question actually covers all of what is often called the industrial revolution (typically given as 1760 to 1840). While North Yorkshire wasn’t exactly at the centre of the revolution in heavy industry or cotton manufacturing, it was definitely involved and saw significant changes in agriculture, mining and the introduction of steam power.
Mining (44) was particularly prevalent in terms of causing death - whether it was falls, collapsing mines or explosions - and this excludes the people who simply fell down mine shafts. Most of the mines in the area were the lead mines in Swaledale but there are also references to coal pits and gravel pits. Inquests took place in Arkengarthdale, Muker, Melbecks, Heelaugh, Gunnerside and other places associated with lead mining.
Threshing machines (13) accounted for all the farming accidents identified except one (fall from a haystack), although there were also four accidental deaths from pitch forks or dung forks, which were likely to be farming related, but were not specifically stated as such.
Below: A horse driven threshing machine from about 1880
Another significant area of risk were lime kilns. These were used in the production of quick lime which was increasingly in demand for use in construction and as fertilizer. They burnt lime and coal over a period of days and they were prone to giving off smoke and fumes including carbon dioxide which could overcome the unwary. Their warmth also drew vagrants and others (there are stories of people trying to cook potatoes beside them). A certain Richard Firby is mentioned as dying as the result of “sleeping on a lime kiln” in an inquest at “Gebdikes” (19th April 1804). This is Gebdykes Quarry near Masham - now a modern aggregates quarry (the road to the North of the quarry is still called “Limekiln Lane”
Others simply fell into them and were burnt to death - the walls were designed to be smooth to aid the burning process and they were practically impossible to get out of.
Finally, the mills in these parts weren’t necessarily the “dark satanic” ones mentioned by the poet William Blake, but typically smaller local water mills. Nevertheless, dangerous places with moving machinery and huge mill stones.
All that Data
If you're interested in exploring the data more deeply, it's all available here in a spreadsheet (CSV format). 749kb file.
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