Coward : Christchurch's controversial coroner : the life of John William Smith Coward (1815-88) / Geoffrey W. Rice.

"Be warned: this is a book about death. More specifically, sudden and unexplained deaths, including accidents, murders and suicides. Dr John Coward was Coroner for the Christchurch District in New Zealand between 1861 and 1886 and conducted inquests into hundreds of deaths in that quarter-century. The stories behind these deaths reveal much about the social history of nineteenth-century Christchurch and its often quirky inhabitants. An alternative title might have been 'Different Ways of Dying', or perhaps Quite Dead', the usual comment of a doctor who arrived too late to help. Inquest juries could be pithy in their verdicts: 'Found Drowned' was a favourite, probably because it rhymes. Dr Coward's career also throws new light on Christchurch's notoriously quarrelsome medical fraternity. They criticised his appointment as Coroner because he had only the basic LSA qualification of an apothecary, yet he had practised as a doctor in London before emigrating to New Zealand. They continued to criticise his performance, giving him a reputation as a controversial Coroner. He ordered the first exhumation of a body in Christchurch, that of his former colleague Dr Hilson, and called inquests even when the cause of death was not in doubt. His response was that he was only doing his duty and what the law demanded of him. His first interest outside medicine was the Canterbury Philosophical Institute at which he sat alongside such Canterbury notables as Dr Haast of the Canterbury Museum and the Magistrate Christopher Bowen. In 1876 he was appointed to the Board of Governors of Canterbury College and became one of its most assiduous attenders, contributing to many key decisions in the early expansion of what is now the University of Canterbury. Based largely on the newspapers of the day, this biography adds a richly detailed chapter to the medical and legal history of Christchurch and New Zealand."--Provided by publisher.