Coronet

“ It is a cardinal rule of armory that save for the single circumstance of attainder no man's armorial insignia shall be degraded. Whilst any man's status may be increased, it cannot be lessened. Most heraldic books quote the coronet of crosses-patée, fleurs-de-lis, and strawberry leaves as the coronet of the "grandsons" of the sovereign, whilst the coronet of crosses-patée and strawberry leaves is stated to be the coronet of "nephews" or cousins of the sovereign. ”

“ While fully appreciating the fact that the forms of modern coronets only date from the time of Charles II., it is still interesting to inquire by what methods peers of earlier date marked their dignity pictorially, and it seems that this was done by means of the use of a crest-chapeau, and the use of a helmet under it. But in sculpture certain forms of coronets also appear. Crowns and coronets are placed immediately upon the top of the shield. Over the crown or coronet comes the helmet, and over the helmet the crest. ”

“ If a peeress, after marriage with a commoner, becomes a widow she bears on the dexter side a lozenge of her late husband's arms and superimposed thereupon her own on an escutcheon of pretence surmounted by a coronet. (The coronet, it should be noted, is over the escutcheon of pretence and not above the lozenge.) On the sinister side she bears a lozenge of her own arms alone with her supporters and with her coronet above the lozenge. ”

“ The coronet of an earl (fig. 23) differs again by having eight tall rays on each of which is set a pearl, the intervening spaces being occupied by strawberry leaves one-fourth of the height of the rays. ”

“ Such coronets cannot however be considered artistic objects, even when depicted apart from the crimson velvet bonnets which they encircle, and there is no reason why ladies should not devise and wear coronet-like ornaments of their own invention. ”

“ That the robe or mantle of a Baroness be of crimson velvet, the cape whereof to be furred with miniver pure, and powdered with two bars or rows of ermine (i.e. narrow pieces of black fur) ; the said mantle to be edged round with miniver pure 2 inches in breadth, and the train to be 3 feet on the ground; the coronet to be according to her degree—viz. a rim or circle with six pearls (represented by silver balls) upon the same, not raised upon points. ”

“ But what we do find in England is that a coronet or fillet was used, apparently without let or hindrance, by even knights. It is, however, a matter for thought as to whether many of these fillets were not simply the turban or "puggaree" folded into the shape of a fillet, but capable of being unrolled if desired. What the object of the wholesale wearing of crowns and coronets was, it is difficult to conjecture.
The development of the crown of the English sovereigns has been best told by Mr. Cyril Davenport in his valuable work on "The English Regalia" (Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co.) . Mr. ”

“ A coroner of our Lord the king ought to inquire of these things, first, when coroners are commanded by the king’s bailiffs or by the honest men of the county, they shall go to the places where any be slain, or suddenly dead or wounded, or where houses are broken, or where treasure is said to be found, and shall forthwith command four of the next towns, or five, or six, to appear before him in such a place ”

“ Call over and swear the jury!
“Well gentlemen,” the Coroner begins:—
“Silence there will you,” says the beadle—not the coroner, though it might appear so. “Well gentlemen!” resumed the coroner, “you are impanelled here, to enquire into the death of a certain man. Evidence will be given before you, as to the circumstances attending that death, and you will give your verdict according to the evidence and not according to anything else. The first thing to be done is to view the body. ”

“ The Coroner's Court.—When a coroner is informed that the dead body of a person is lying within his jurisdiction, and that there is reasonable cause to suspect that such person died either a violent or unnatural death, or died a sudden death of which the cause is unknown, he must summon a jury of not less than twelve men to investigate the matter—in other words, hold an inquest—and if the deceased had received medical treatment, the coroner may summon the medical attendant to give evidence. ”

“ Where coroners are empowered to act as judges, as in taking an inquisition of death, the act of one of them is of the same force as if they had all joined.
The office of Coroner being by election, does not determine by the demise of the king.
The jurisdiction of coroners is limited to the county, liberty, or precinct, to and for which they are elected and appointed, and cannot be enlarged by any private act or delegation from the crown.
By the common law, if a man had been stricken in one county, and died in another, it was doubtful whether he were indictable or liable in either ”

“ The office of Coroner is of great antiquity, for in the days of Alfred, King of England, they existed, for he punished with death, a judge who sentenced a party to suffer death upon the coroner’s record, without allowing the culprit to traverse or be tried in another court. ”

“ Coroners are officers at common law, because they deal principally with the pleas of the crown; and, possibly, the name may be derived from the manner of holding the inquest in corona popupuli. The Lord Chief Justice of the Queen’s Bench is, by virtue of his office, principal coroner of England; and may, if he pleases, exercise the jurisdiction of coroner in any part of the realm. ”

“ Beside those above enumerated, there are particular coroners for each county, who hold their offices (virtuta electionis) in pursuance of the statute 3 Edward I. c. 10, wherein it is provided, that “through all shires sufficient men shall be chosen to be Coroners, of the most loyal and wise knights,” which know well and may best attend upon such offices, and “which lawfully and shall attend and present pleas of the crown.” Therefore the election of a coroner, is by the freeholders of the county, in pursuance of a writ, called a writ De coronatore eligendo, directed to the Sheriff. ”

“ Anciently the Coroner of the Verge had power to do all things within the Verge belonging to the office of the Coroner, to the exclusion of the Coroner of the County; but because the King’s Court was often moveable, it is ordained by stat. of Articuli p. 10super Cartas, c. 3, that on the death of a man, the Coroner of the County shall join in inquisition, to be taken thereof, with the Coroner of the King’s house, and if it happen it cannot be determined before the Steward, process and proceedings shall be thereupon had at common law. ”

“ With us the office of coroner is not an important one. Generally laymen are appointed to it, men who have done some work at that awful power, the political machine. This is wrong. The office of coroner should only be vested in medical men, and only in such who have shown that they are qualified to fill such a position of consequence. Every candidate for coroner should be examined in forensic medicine and pathology, and should give an ocular demonstration of his capability to make a thorough autopsy. ”

“ The cases narrated, plainly demonstrate that care, tact, delicacy, and discernment, are required at coroners’ inquests—for a two-fold object must be kept in view:—the one to ascertain the proximate cause of death, whether arising from natural or mechanical events, and the other, whether the law can take cognizance of, and bring to justice the incautious, the ill-disposed, and possibly the gross offender against the laws of his country. ”

“ The functions of Coroner were exercised by the Chamberlain and Sheriffs. The King’s butler, to whom the office of Coroner belonged, was generally made City Chamberlain. In December 1302 the King’s Writ notified the Mayor and Sheriffs that William Trente, his Chamberlain, to whose bailiwick the office of Coroner in the City belonged (ad cujus ballivam officium Coronatoris ... pertinet) , being busy on affairs of State, had deputed John le Clerk to act as Coroner.
More than once the citizens endeavoured to get the appointment of Coroner into their own hands. ”

“ That the coroner only within whose jurisdiction the body of any person upon whose death an inquest ought to be holden, shall be lying dead, shall hold the inquest, notwithstanding that the cause of death did not arise within the jurisdiction of such coroner ”

“ Unquestionably, sir; our coroner is a very clever man, and you will be glad to know him—very glad to know him, sir, and he will be glad to know you, so I am sure it will be a mutual gratification. It's at four o'clock the inquest is to be, and I dare say, sir, if you are there by half-past, it will be time enough. ”

“ The coroner looked at her grey hairs and her wrinkles, and perhaps he was not disinclined for a minute’s sport.
“Forty-two,” said he, in a loud voice, to his clerk; “take it down. You have spoken correctly, ma'am, I hope,” he added, turning again to the witness, “This is a court of justice, remember, and you are upon your oath; you would not like to be tried for perjury.”
Mrs. Gould sobbed, and shrieked, and finally went off into real hysterics. When the bustle was over, the coroner began again.
“We have not quite got over the question of age. How old did you say you were?” ”

“ It is not necessary that the deceased be seen by the medical practitioner before death, “yet, from the suddenness of the death, the age of the deceased, and the symptoms spoken to by the friends, he may still be enabled, satisfactorily to himself, to certify the cause of death.” In England, such a case would be the subject of a coroner‘s inquest. ”

“ That is why I say that the profession of medicine should not be allowed to conflict with the solemn duties of the coroner. They are constantly clashing and infringing upon each other's territory. This coroner had a kind of tread-softly-bow-the-head way of getting around the room that made my flesh creep. He had a way, too, when I was asleep, of glancing hurriedly through the pockets of my pantaloons as they hung over a chair, probably to see what evidence he could find that might aid the jury in arriving at a verdict. ”

“ In Bavaria, Saxony, Nassau, and Baden, there are regular coroners whose duty it is to inspect every corpse, while in England the coroner’s jury only convenes in cases where the cause of death is not apparent. ”

“ Coroner, an officer of great antiquity, who is to enquire into the causes of all sudden deaths, where there is the least suspicion of murder, and for that purpose he impannels a jury, to whom he gives a charge, and takes evidence upon oath. The Lord Mayor for the time being is coroner of the city; but he appoints a deputy for the discharge of that office. The coroner’s jury have a right to examine the body of the deceased, and to call in the assistance of physicians or surgeons. They are to try the supposed murderer ”

“ If answered in the negative! surely the time has come for the reception of additional evidence, with the view, not only to improvement in accordance with the age in which we live, but for the maintenance of the legitimate object for which coroners’ courts were first established, and which they profess to uphold in all the integrity of seeking the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. ”

“ They will telephone for the coroner. I will give the paper and the key when he come.” He held out his hand. “It is the law.”
“I have a natural hankering—sometimes—to break the law,” affirmed the young man. “I feel that fatal curiosity of mine stirring again, Friend Etienne. I will send the coroner. But coroners love mysteries. If we give him the letter it will take all the spice out of this affair. Let's make him happy—he can drag out the inquest and give his friends a long job on the jury.” He smiled and started away, shaking his head when the old man protested shrilly. ”

“ The person appointed is almost invariably a qualified legal or medical practitioner; how far one is a more “fit person” than another has frequently been a matter of dispute—a Bill of 1879, which, however, failed to pass, decided in favour of the legal profession. The property qualification for a county coroner (“having land in fee sufficient in the same county whereof he may answer to all manner of people,” 14 Ed. III. st. 1, c. 8) , although re-enacted in the Coroners Act 1887, is now virtually dispensed with. The appointment is for life, but is vacated by the holder being made sheriff. ”

“ The present coroner has introduced several improvements on the old system, especially in the matters of holding inquests at public-houses, and the summoning of jurors Formerly the latter were chosen from the residents nearest to the scene of death, some gentlemen being continually called upon, while the occasional exhibition of a dead body in the back lumberroom of an inn yard, among broken bottles and gaping stablemen, was not conductive to the dignity of a coroner's court or particularly agreeable to the unfortunate surgeon who might have to perform a pout mortem. ”

“ Grouped around the table but slightly behind the coroner sat the jury, and I was glad to note that the coroner had had the good sense to pick a fairly respectable set of men to judge the case, from which I argued hopefully that the gray-haired, heavy-set gentleman in charge of the case might possess a modicum of intelligence and a keener brain than the average coroner. ”