English common law was applied in the New South Wales penal colony when it was founded by Governor Arthur Phillip in 1788. Phillip’s second commission granted him sole authority to appoint coroners and justices of the peace within the colony. The first paid city coroner was appointed in 1810 and only five coroners served the expanding territory of New South Wales by 1821. To relieve the burden on coroners, justices of the peace were authorised to conduct magisterial inquiries as an alternative to inquests. When the Moreton Bay settlement was established, and land was opened up to free settlers, justices were relocated from New South Wales to the far northern colony. Nonetheless, the administration of justice, along with the function of the coroner, was hindered by issues of isolation, geography and poor administration by a government far removed from the evolving settlement. This article is about death investigation and the role of the coroner in Moreton Bay. By examining a number of case studies, it looks at the constraints faced by coroners, deaths due to interracial violence and deaths not investigated. It concludes that not all violent and unexplained deaths were investigated in accordance with coronial law due to a paucity of legally qualified magistrates, the physical limitations of local conditions and the denial of justice to Aborigines as subjects of the Crown.

中文翻译：

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调查摩顿湾的死亡：死因调查和地方法官调查

1788 年总督亚瑟·菲利普 (Arthur Phillip) 创立新南威尔士流放地时，英国普通法适用于该流放地。菲利普的第二个委员会授予他在殖民地内任命验尸官和治安法官的唯一权力。第一位付费的城市验尸官于 1810 年任命，到 1821 年，只有五名验尸官为新南威尔士州不断扩大的领土服务。为了减轻验尸官的负担，治安法官被授权进行治安调查，以替代审讯。当摩顿湾定居点建立，土地向自由定居者开放后，法官们从新南威尔士州搬到了遥远的北部殖民地。尽管如此，司法行政以及验尸官的职能受到孤立问题的阻碍，一个远离不断发展的定居点的政府的地理位置和管理不善。这篇文章是关于死亡调查和死因裁判官在摩顿湾的作用。通过检查一些案例研究，它着眼于验尸官面临的限制、因种族暴力而导致的死亡和未调查的死亡。它的结论是，由于缺乏具有法律资格的地方法官、当地条件的物理限制以及对作为王室臣民的原住民不公正对待，并非所有暴力和无法解释的死亡都根据死因法进行调查。