Les enquêtes des coroners du district de Québec, 1765–1930 : une source en histoire médicale et sociale canadienne

Abstract

The coroner's office, created in England in 1194 to hold inquiries into suspicious or violent deaths, was established in Quebec and Montreal in 1764. From 1765 to 1930, more than 16,000 reports, housed in the provincial National Library and Archives, were documented for the district of Quebec. A database was created to facilitate access for those interested in past customs, in provision of medical care, in attitudes towards death, in crime, in the effects of industrialization, and in new ways of production. This paper summarizes the most important elements of this database, gives a chronological account of the office of the coroner, describes the documents, and show the connection between the inquiries of the coroners and the socioeconomic events of the region.