Reports relating to deaths and fires were compiled by police officers and forwarded to the City Coroner. On the basis of this information the Coroner decided whether or not an inquest was necessary.
We hold:
- Police reports to the City Coroner
- Inquests of the City Coroner, except for the period 1877-1930
- Inquest registers for regional police stations.
Content warning: Inquests from the middle of the 20th century may include graphic photographs.
Access conditions
Records of the SA Police Department are typically available for general public access after 50 or 60 years. Records of the State Coroner are typically available for general public access after 60 years.
Copying of graphic photographs or other media types within these records is prohibited.
Researching the records
Until the 1960s, the main Police reports to the Coroner series - GRG1/44 - only related to deaths in the Adelaide metropolitan area and matters were forwarded to the City Coroner. This series also included reports on deaths of patients at Parkside Lunatic Asylum and Adelaide Lunatic Asylum.
Inquests for the period 1877-1930 were authorised for pulping during World War II as part of the war effort. For this era you will need to rely on the police reports to the Coroner.
Some regional police station records include a local inquest register. Search for the police station first, and check the consignments for an inquest register.
Indexes and Digitised Records
A publication compiled by Jill Statton - Inquests 1880-1942 : South Australian Record Series No. 3 partly indexes GRG1/27, GRG1/44, GRG1/94 and GRG1/95. This work is available through Libraries SA. Other relevant publications by Jill Statton are available in the Research Centre.
Inquests
- Inquest papers, 1839-1851
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Inquest papers - Colonial Secretary's Office 1839-1851 - GRG 24/11
Inquests were required to be deposited with the Colonial Secretary.
Index to GRG24/11 Inquest papers - Colonial Secretary's Office 1839-1851
- Inquests within correspondence files, 1852-1856
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Correspondence files - CSO files - Colonial, later Chief Secretary's Office 1852-1856 - GRG 24/6
Some early inquests were recorded in correspondence of the Colonial Secretary.
- Inquests within correspondence files, 1857-1869
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Correspondence files - AGO or AGD files Attorney-General’s Department 1857-1869 - GRG 1/2
This index covers 1857 to 1869 and is an alphabetical index to abstracts of, and material relating to, inquests contained in the letters received by the Attorney General's Department.
The index is arranged alphabetically by the person's surname.
Index to GRG 1/2 - Inquests into sudden deaths and fires 1857 - 1869 A - Z
- Inquest files - City Coroner, 1867-1976
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Inquest files - City Coroner and successors 1867-1976 - GRG 1/27
These records are coronial hearings into deaths and fires where an inquest was deemed necessary.
This index is arranged alphabetically by the person's surname.
Note: Inquests for the period 1877-1930 were authorised for pulping during World War II as part of the war effort.
- Inquest Records from Police Stations
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Digitised records on FamilySearch - Blinman Police Station Inquest register, 1884-1915 (GRG 5/301/1)
Digitised records on FamilySearch - Carrieton Police Station Inquest register, 1884-1920 (GRG 5/302/1)
Digitised records on FamilySearch - Jamestown Police Station Inquest register, 1885-1935 (GRG 5/275/2)
Digitised records on FamilySearch - Waukuringa Police Station Inquest register, 1885-1913 (GRG 5/291/1)
Digitised records on FamilySearch - Yongala Police Station Inquest register, 1887-1922 (GRG 5/294/3)
Police reports to the Coroner
Police reports to the City Coroner 1879 - 1982 - GRG 1/44
There are gaps between 1884-1891
Indexes for this series are arranged by year, covering 1911 to 1966.
- 1910s
- 1920s
- 1930s
- 1940s
- 1950s
- 1960s
- Digitised copies of Police reports to the Coroner
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FamilySearch has digitised records from within GRG 1/44 and GRG 1/39, with a single catalogue page for all of the Police reports to the Coroner.
Access through FamilySearch will require you to complete a free registration on the FamilySearch site. If you do not wish to register, or if the images for the records are not available, you may send us an enquiry to ask for a copying quote. Specific references are required.
For a direct link to FamilySearch entries by date range:
1879-1892 - TBC (GRG 1/44)
1884-1891 (GRG 1/39)
1893-1918 (GRG 1/44)
1919-1931 (GRG 1/44)
1932-1935 (GRG 1/44)
1936-1937 (GRG 1/44)
1938-1941 (GRG 1/44)
1942-1944 (GRG 1/44)
1945-1947 (GRG 1/44)
1948-1951 (GRG 1/44)
1952-1953 (GRG 1/44)
1954-1955 (GRG 1/44)
1956-1957 (GRG 1/44)
1958-1960 (GRG 1/44)
1961-1963 (GRG 1/44)
1964-1965 (GRG 1/44)
1966-1967 (GRG 1/44)
Other records held
Police reports to the Coroner
Notices of deaths to Coroner 1875-1876 - GRG 1/28
Police Reports to the Coroner 1884-1891 - GRG 1/39
Inquests
Burial orders 1926-1971 - GRG 1/91 - partly indexed by Index to certificates of burial, 1933 - 1953 - GRG 1/92
Inquest findings 1937-1942 - GRG 1/95
Fire reports 1956-1984 - GRG 1/106 - partly indexed by Index to fire reports, 1966 - 1993 (GRS 14140)
Various police station inquest registers see GRG5
Key Facts
Historically, in South Australia the investigation into a reportable death usually started with a police report. This report was forwarded to the State Coroner who then decided whether or not to proceed with a coronial inquest.
Inquests were held into deaths deemed to be either unnatural or criminally suspicious. Inquests were also held into the cause of fires, even where no deaths or injuries were reported.
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