Opium Poisoning - self inflicted?

Post by **Tracey** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 12:51 am

Thanks Frances

You saved me a job !

But in short (if he doesnt want to read it ) My great x 2 grandfather was an alcoholic and Opium was prescribed for his withdrawal symptoms .
It only killed him because he poured it all in a glass of alcohol and drank it !

Tracey

DavidWW · Post by **DavidWW** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 9:44 am

Cathy wrote:Hi Brian,
I have an Opium Poisoning on hubby's side.
RCE very disappointing. It only confirmed cause of death:
Opium Posioning.

That's perfectly normal, I'm afraid.

The way that the system worked was that any violent death, or death where there hadn't been any regular medical attendant in the period before the death, was supposed to be referred to the Procurator Fiscal.

It was then up to the PF and his staff to investigate the situation and determine if any further action was required. Part of the investigation involved determining or confirming the cause of death. All that was then reported back to the registrar was the cause of death and details of any further taken, e.g. a Fatal Accident Inquiry, criminal prosecution, etc.

Occasionally there'll be a wee bit more info on the exact cause, or the location, but, normally, nothing more.

That's the way that the system was meant to work, and mostly did, but, and I can only really comment on the 19th C, - I see many more such register entries compared with the 20th C

, - there are occasions when the strict process wasn't followed.

Some of these are very obvious, - e.g. a 90 year old dying from "senility" or "old age", - but this most often in a small rural community where everyone knew everyone so that it was very obvious that there was nothing suspicious about the death; but occasionally, I come across a situation where it isn't clear why a death wasn't referred to the PF, - I would quote in particular one instance of "accidental poisoning", ... Hmmmmmm...... shouldn't it have been down to the PF to decide if it was accidental or not?, or was this again a situation where most everyone in the community was aware of the facts surrounding the situation, and everyone knew that it was accidental?.....

David

Post by **AnneM** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 1:19 pm

Hi Brian

I was in NRH at the end of the week and have the details of the RCE for you. It does clarify what happened and I will pm you with it when I get home tonight or tomorrow. Currently visiting rellies in the Central Belt.

Anne

Rockford · Post by **Rockford** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 3:37 am

Anne,

I've just seen your pm message. Thank you so much for taking the trouble to look this up for me - I really appreciate it.

For everyone who has been following this thread, the RCE entry that Anne found for me in NRH shows that the procurator fiscal concluded that my gg grandfather took his own life and was found in his garden.

In some ways this answers my original question of what happened, but now that I know that it was suicide, I can't help but wonder about the reasons behind it. I'll need to do some research in the local paper to see if it sheds any more light.

The sad thing is that both my maternal great grandparents lost their fathers in tragic circumstances, as my other gg grandfather, Lindsay Smith, was killed (aged only 44) in a railway accident on a fishing trip. What's curious is that John and Lindsay died a week apart. Although my great grandparents did not meet until 1912, it's strange to think that they were both going through these experiences at the same time, each unknown to the other.

Sorry for being a bit maudlin - must be the time of night.....

On a happier note, I'd like to thank to all for your comments and help. I only joined three days ago, and already you've solved three mysteries for me, plus provided me with your deciphering skills!

Thanks again to everyone,

Brian

Russell · Post by **Russell** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 3:24 pm

Hi Brian
Thanks for the up-date even if it was sad news.
Information like that really makes you want to find out more about the circumstances doesn't it ?

Its good too when you make some breakthroughs. We enjoy your successes almost as much as you do and the breadth of information covered here is amazing sometimes.

Russell

DavidWW · Post by **DavidWW** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 6:54 pm

Rockford wrote:Anne,

I've just seen your pm message. Thank you so much for taking the trouble to look this up for me - I really appreciate it.

For everyone who has been following this thread, the RCE entry that Anne found for me in NRH shows that the procurator fiscal concluded that my gg grandfather took his own life and was found in his garden.

In some ways this answers my original question of what happened, but now that I know that it was suicide, I can't help but wonder about the reasons behind it. I'll need to do some research in the local paper to see if it sheds any more light.

The sad thing is that both my maternal great grandparents lost their fathers in tragic circumstances, as my other gg grandfather, Lindsay Smith, was killed (aged only 44) in a railway accident on a fishing trip. What's curious is that John and Lindsay died a week apart. Although my great grandparents did not meet until 1912, it's strange to think that they were both going through these experiences at the same time, each unknown to the other.

Sorry for being a bit maudlin - must be the time of night.....

On a happier note, I'd like to thank to all for your comments and help. I only joined three days ago, and already you've solved three mysteries for me, plus provided me with your deciphering skills!

Thanks again to everyone,

Brian

There's a possibility that the local newspaper might just have a bit more background detail, e.g. "Friends said that Mr Thomson was depressed following ............", or whatever.

David

Post by **AnneM** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 7:38 pm

Hi Brian

It was no trouble at all and more rewarding than much of what I was doing in NRH the past couple of days.

A friend has me researching for a friend of hers, whom I know fairly well but is not a close friend of mine, with a view to giving her a tree for her 50th this year.

The stage I'm at at the moment is the really boring plodding away to see if I can get any obscure stuff sorted. For example she has a great grandmother Elizabeth, Betsey or Bessie Nixon who was born in Scotland but married and lived in England. I know she was born around 1875 or 1876 and there is a likely candidate in around the right place in 1891. However English marriage certificates give the father's name only so to be sure it was not some kind of ghastly co-incidence I have had to go through 'killing off' as many of the Elizabeth/Betsey/Bessie Nixons born in Scotland around that period as I can. Fortunately I've managed to get rid of most of them and the three that are left, including the prime suspect all have different father's names!!!!!!!

She also has a Margaret McGregor born around 1847 to 1849, probably in Perth, whose marriage certificate suggests that her father James, a grocer, was still alive when she married in 1870. He appears as John a musician on her DC. Can you imagine how tedious it is trawling through every death for a James McGregor or MacGregor after 1870!!!! and also searching every Margaret McGregor or MacGregor or any variant of Margaret on the 1851 census and all without a result. I think I found her in service in 1861 but apart from that all my labours were in vain.

There are the occasional times when this lark feels like more trouble than it is worth! Fortunately they are infrequent.

Anne