Thanks Merry - it's very sad because this was a 40 year old female who died in May 1918
and whose child of under a year I think died in the 3rd Q of 1917 -
No, I am 99% certain it means there was no post-mortem.
"By 1875 the cause of death is followed by "Certified by..........(name of doctor) ..........(doctors qualifications)" in which case the doctor in attendance on the deceased in his last illness has signed a medical certificate of cause of death. This tends then to be in medical jargon eg myocardial infarction (a layman would have said heart attack) or cerebrovascular accident (stroke). A doctor is only qualified to sign if he has been in attendance on the deceased in his last illness AND has either seen the deceased within 14 days of his death or saw the deceased after death. If there is no doctor who qualifies under these restrictions then the death must be notified to the coroner."
Hi,
I have a death certificate with almost identical comments. TB - 12 month. I believe that no pm meant no post-mortem as the condition of the deceased was known and therefore it's natural conclusion - death.
It might have been a nebulous suspicion though, based on nothing more than a "feeling" and he might not have wanted to compromise his medical standing just because he didn't like the man.
I would imagine that a Coroner, faced with the death of a woman who had TB for a year, would want a bit more than "a funny feeling" in order to conduct an enquiry.
And of course, the death probably WAS simply TB and this is just my imagination running riot! (Again)
I don't think you need read anything into the "No PM" except that there was no post mortem. Looking through my collection of death certs, I have "Cerebral Haemorrhage No PM" on one from 1931, and (1) Mumps (2) Acute Bronchitis No PM on one from 1920 - I think it was just normal at that time to put PM or no PM on the cert.
KiteRunner
Every five years or so I look back on my life and I have a good... laugh" (Indigo Girls, "Watershed")
No, I don't think it's suspicious. Like Paul, I have death certs saying "no p.m." - if the person had had TB for a year, then the PM wouldn't be necessary. If there was the slightest suspicion about the death, the coroner would have ordered a PM.
Comment