Mortuary thoughts...

[Tenth Bell]

Hello to everyone.
I'm wondering, after Mary's remains were removed from Millers Court, why Shoreditch mortuary and not Whitechapel mortuary?
Thank you ... Am always quite fascinated by the wealth of info and knowledge on these boards.

[Dave O]

Hi,

Back in 1888, the coroner had to have possession of the body in order to hold the inquest because there was a legal requirement that he and the jury view the corpse; without this view, the inquest was invalid. So a coroner's jurisdiction over any particular case moved with the body. In Kelly's case, the murder happened within Roderick Macdonald's district of North East Middlesex. Since 13 Miller's Court was a space that was enclosed from the public's view, the police had the leisure of calling in Macdonald's officer to remove the body. So that Macdonald would retain jurisdiction, the officer naturally removed the remains to a mortuary within Macdonald's district, Shoreditch mortuary. Whitechapel was part of Wynne Baxter's South East Middlesex district, so for him to remove the body there would have caused the jurisdiction to shift to Baxter, and he would have held the inquest instead of Macdonald.

In a case of a body being found outdoors and the subject of public curiosity, like Annie Chapman who also was killed in Macdonald's district, the police did not have the luxury of waiting for the coroner's officer to come take the body away. So they removed the body to the nearest mortuary, which happened to be in Whitechapel. They had no reason to be concerned with coroners' jurisdictions. So that is why Wynne Baxter held that inquest, though Chapman was actually murdered inside Macdonald's district, the jurisdiction transferred to Baxter when Chapman's body entered his district.

I think that a lot hangs on whether bodies were found inside or outside!

Hope that helps,
Dave

[Tenth Bell]

Wow... terrific answer. Many thanks, Dave. It paints a clearer picture now.

Chris

[Dave O]

Always happy to communicate with someone from Maine, Chris. My family lived Downeast (Washington County) for many years.