The Coroners of Northern Britain c. 1300-1700 [Hardcover]

For the last 800 years coroners have been important in England's legal and political landscape, best known as investigators of sudden, suspicious, or unexplained death. Against the background of the coroner's role in historic England, this book explains how sudden death was investigated by magistrates in Scotland.Introduction: The History of Coroners in Britain 1. Coroners in England, Wales, and Ireland: An Overview of the Development of their Roles 2. Investigating Sudden Death in Scotland: The Task of Local Magistrates 3. Scottish Coroners: Origins and Development of the Office to c.1500 4. Scottish Coroners from c.1500 until their Disappearance in the Eighteenth Century 5. Regional and National Histories: Similarities and Differences between the Coroners of Northern Britain Conclusion: Coroners and British History

Robert Allan Houston is Professor of Early Modern History at the University of St Andrews, UK. He was educated at the Edinburgh Academy and St Andrews University before spending six years at Cambridge University, UK, as a research student (Peterhouse) and research fellow (Clare College).