UK, Post Mortem Examinations and Case Books, 1840-1920

Source Information

Ancestry.com. UK, Post Mortem Examinations and Case Books, 1840-1920 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2022.
Original data: Collection PM - Post Mortem Examinations and Case Books. London, England: Archives and Special Collections, St George’s, University of London. Conditions governing access The collection as a whole runs from 1841 to 1946. Due to the sensitivity of the material, however, only volumes up to 1921 contain images and full personal details of the patients. Names and digital images of the cases have been redacted from the records for 1922-1946. Conditions governing reproduction The images are provided under a Creative Commons CC-BY License.

About UK, Post Mortem Examinations and Case Books, 1840-1920

General collection information

This collection is an index to post-mortem examination records and case books produced at St. George's Hospital and Medical School in London, England, between 1840 and 1920. Post-mortem examinations were routinely performed on patients who died at the hospital and were used to find causes of death and train medical students. The records contain personal information about the deceased patient and notes written by the attending doctor.

Please note some records contain detailed descriptions of injuries.

Using this collection

Records in this collection may include the following information:

  • Name
  • Age at time of death
  • Occupation
  • Date of admission
  • Date of death
  • Names of the attending doctors
  • Diseases and cause of death
  • Doctor's notes on the case

    • This collection can be used to verify that your deceased ancestor was the subject of a post-mortem examination and to discover your ancestor's cause of death and the circumstances of their hospitalisation.

    Some common abbreviations and acronyms used in these records include:

  • AMCH = Atkinson Morley Convalescent Hospital, Wimbledon
  • BID = Brought in dead
  • COA = Condition on admission
  • F = Father
  • H or Hd = Husband
  • HP = House physician
  • HS = House surgeon
  • IP = In-patient
  • L = Left
  • M = Mother
  • MR or Med reg or Med r = Medical register or Medical registrar
  • MS = Museum specimen
  • OP = Out-patient
  • OPD = Out-patient department
  • OR = Obstetric register
  • PMH = Previous medical history
  • PH = Previous history
  • Pt or Pat = Patient
  • PM = Post mortem
  • R = Right
  • RF = Rheumatic fever
  • Ry = Railway
  • SR or Surg reg = Surgical register or Surgical registrar
  • TB = Tuberculosis
  • VD = Venereal disease

    • Collection in context

    These records were created by doctors at St. George's Hospital and Medical School. The bound volumes normally include deaths that occurred in one year in chronological order. Due to the sensitivity of the information, only records created before 1921 have images of the records and personal details about the patient. The original record books are primary historical sources housed at St. George's Archives and Special Collections at the University of London.

    St. George's Hospital was founded in 1733 and doctors began training medical students at that time, but a formal register of students was first made in 1752. A new hospital building was constructed in 1829, and a formal medical school was opened in 1834.

    Bibliography

    St. George's Archives and Special Collections at the University of London. "Collection PM - Post Mortem Examinations and Case Books." Accessed July 1, 2022. https://archives.sgul.ac.uk/post-mortem-examinations-and-case-books.