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Post Mortem Examinations and Case Books Pathology Museum
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Dinah Green, 17, [No occupation stated]

Occupation or role: [No occupation stated]
Age: 17
Gender: Female
Date of admission: 11 May 1846
Date of death: 30 Jun 1846
Disease (transcribed): Fracture of sternum, of pelvis, of left leg and of left arm. Secondary deposits in various parts. Suppuration about some of the fractures. Pleuropneumonia.
Disease (standardised): Fracture (Sternum); Fracture (Pelvis); Fracture (Leg); Fracture (Arm); Suppuration (Fractures); Pleuropneumonia (Pleura, Lung)
Admitted under the care of: Hawkins, Caesar Henry
Medical examination performed by: Gee, Adolphus John
Post mortem examination performed by: Hewett, Prescott Gardner
Medical notes: This patient threw himself from the window of a fifth story building and fell on her side.
Body parts examined in the post mortem: Thorax, abdomen, left inferior extremity, left superior extremity, right forearm and sternum
Type of incident: Suicide

George Carter, 24, [No occupation stated]

Occupation or role: [No occupation stated]
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Date of admission: 6 Mar 1850
Date of death: 19 May 1850
Disease (transcribed): Caries of cranium. Abscess of scalp. Old pleural adhesions, with condensation of lung, and several cavities on right. No tubercles
Disease (standardised): Caries (Skull); Abscess (Scalp); Adhesions (Pleura); Cavities (Lung)
Admitted under the care of: Nairne, Robert. Hawkins, Caesar Henry
Medical examination performed by: Barclay, Andrew Whyte
Post mortem examination performed by: Holl, Harvey Buchanan
Medical notes: This man applied for admission for relief of cough and spitting with pain on the right side of the chest.
Body parts examined in the post mortem: Head, thorax and abdomen
Type of incident: n/a

Isabella Summers, 52, [Occupation not stated]

Occupation or role: [Occupation not stated]
Age: 52
Gender: Female
Date of admission: 12 Oct 1859
Date of death: 22 Feb 1860
Disease (transcribed): Scirrhus of heart. Malignant disease of the bones
Disease (standardised): Scirrhus (Heart); Malignant disease (Bones)
Admitted under the care of: Tatum, Thomas
Medical examination performed by: Rouse, James
Post mortem examination performed by: Holmes, Timothy
Medical notes: 'This patient was admitted under Dr Pitman [Henry Pitman] on the 12th of October 1859, for what was supposed to be rheumatic pains in her limbs’
Body parts examined in the post mortem: Thorax, abdomen, bones

Type of incident: n/a

William Smart, 72, [Occupation not stated]

Occupation or role: [Occupation not stated]
Age: 72
Gender: Male
Date of admission: 1 Feb 1860
Date of death: 9 Apr 1860
Disease (transcribed): Senile gangrene
Disease (standardised): Gangrene
Admitted under the care of: Tatum, Thomas
Medical examination performed by: Rouse, James
Post mortem examination performed by: Holmes, Timothy
Medical notes: 'A month before admission he cut a corn on the little toe of the right foot. He cut it rather more than he intended & made a small wound. He continued to walk about & it did not heal’
Body parts examined in the post mortem: Thorax, arteries, abdomen, right shoulder

Type of incident: Trauma / accident

Mary Worboys, 74, Widow

Occupation or role: Widow
Age: 74
Gender: Female
Date of admission: 10 Feb 1861
Date of death: 17 Mar 1861
Disease (transcribed): Fracture of the neck of the femur. Bedsores. Secondary deposits
Disease (standardised): Fracture (Leg); Pressure ulcer (Skin); Deposits (Lung)
Admitted under the care of: Johnson, Henry Charles
Medical examination performed by: Rouse, James
Post mortem examination performed by: n/a
Medical notes: The patient had tripped on a piece of carpet and fell to the ground. On admission it was found that she had fractured the neck of the right femur.
Body parts examined in the post mortem: Thorax, abdomen and hip joints
Type of incident: Trauma/accident

George Hampshire, 43, Coffee house keeper

Occupation or role: Coffee house keeper
Age: 43
Gender: Male
Date of admission: 23 Jul 1883
Date of death: 25 Jul 1883
Disease (transcribed): Cirrhosis of liver
Disease (standardised): Cirrhosis (Liver)
Admitted under the care of: Dickinson, William Howship
Medical examination performed by: Myers, Arthur Thomas
Post mortem examination performed by: Giles, Oswald
Medical notes: Throughout his life he had been accustomed to heavy drinking, either taking 6 or 7 pints of old ale daily, or about a quart of spirits generally whiskey.
Body parts examined in the post mortem: Pleurae, liver, spleen, kidneys, abdomen and heart
Type of incident: n/a

Post Mortem Examinations and Case Books

  • 406 PM
  • Collection
  • 1840-1946

The post mortem records contain manuscript case notes, with medical notes both pre and post mortem. These include details on patients’ admission to the hospital, treatments and medication administered to patients and the medical history of patients; the medical histories were copied into the volumes from hospital registers, which are no longer extant. The post mortem cases include detailed pathological findings made during the detailed examination of the body after death. From the 1880s onwards the case books contain original anatomical drawings and photographs.

For more information and updates about the project, see our project page

The following information is recorded for each case. The information is transcribed from the case notes and/or the relevant index and, where relevant, additionally standardised using MeSH (Medical Subject Headings)

• Name of the patient. If a name is not entered in the volume, it is noted in the catalogue as ‘[No name stated]’

• Gender of the patient (female / male / unknown)

• Age of the patient. Usually in numbers, following the original, with the following exceptions: 4/12 = 4 months, 4/52 = 4 weeks, 4/365 = 4 days. If no age is entered, it is noted in the catalogue as ‘[No age stated]’

• Occupation of the patient. Where no occupation is entered, it is noted in the catalogue as ‘[No occupation stated]’. Children are often designated according to their father’s or mother’s occupation and women by their husband’s occupation (e.g. ‘F / Horsekeeper’, ‘M. Charwoman’, ‘Hd Grocer’); these have been rendered in the catalogue as ‘[Child of] Horsekeeper’, ‘[Wife of] Grocer’

• Date of admission and date of death

• The names of the doctors treating or examining the patient. ‘Admitted under the care of’ denotes the senior doctor in charge of the case (usually entered at the top of the page and in the index); ‘Post mortem performed by’ denotes the doctor responsible for the post mortem examination (usually signed at the bottom of the page) and ‘Medical examination performed by’ denotes the doctor responsible for the medical examination prior to death (usually signed at the bottom of the page). The earliest records usually contain only one name, and some of the later ones may contain multiple names in each category. An authority record (name access point) with basic biographical details has been created for each doctor mentioned in the records; these can be used to explore all the cases related to a particular individual

• Disease(s) or cause of death of the patient. Transcribed from the medical case and/or the index and standardised, e.g. ‘Disease (transcribed): Phthisis. Fractured base. Disease (standardised): Tuberculosis (lungs). Fracture (skull)’

• Medical and post mortem notes. Brief summary description or transcription of the case notes relating to previous medical history (not a full transcription of the case notes)

• Note on whether the case includes illustrations or photographs; these can also be browsed via genre access points

• Note on whether the death was caused by trauma, accident or suicide

• Subject access points, using standardised terms from MeSH, with disease type (e.g. respiratory tract diseases, cardiovascular diseases) and anatomy type (e.g. cardiovascular system, musculoskeletal system), which can be used for browsing all relevant cases

Note on transcriptions and abbreviations

Names have been silently expanded, e.g. Jas = James, Wm = William

Some common abbreviations and acronyms

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

St George's Hospital, London

Edward Marchant, 29, Joiner

Occupation or role: Joiner
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Date of admission: 3 Oct 1902
Date of death: 8 Nov 1902
Disease (transcribed): Phthisis. Membranous laryngitis (Diphtheria)
Disease (standardised): Tuberculosis (Lung); Laryngitis (Larynx); Diphtheria (Pharynx)
Admitted under the care of: Ewart, William
Medical examination performed by: Whipham, Thomas Roland Charles
Post mortem examination performed by: Trevor, Robert Salusbury
Medical notes: About five weeks ago he began a bad cough which seemed to get worse on moving about.
Body parts examined in the post mortem: Lungs, larynx, heart, abdomen, liver, spleen, kidneys, suprarenals, pancreas, bladder and alimentary canal
Type of incident: n/a