Citation

Cooke S. Aust. Hist. Stud. 2000; 31(115): 304-324.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, Dept. of History, University of Melbourne)

DOI

10.1080/10314610008596133

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Contrary to common belief, suicide was not hidden during the nineteenth century. People who found the bodies of suicides rarely tried to disguise this fact and neighbours took an active interest in what had happened. Inquests were held in public houses before juries of local men who heard evidence from witnesses who had known the deceased. Suicide was reported regularly in newspapers. By the early twentieth century, juries had been abolished, the inquest had been professionalised and the newspaper reporting of suicide was beginning to wane. I argue that the professionalisation of the inquest excluded most popular participation and led, by the 1930s, to the erosion of popular knowledge of suicide.

Language: en