Gavin Thurston

<div>CORONER in deaths of Stephen</div><div>Ward, Freddie Mills, Adlai Stevenson, Brian</div><div>Epstein, Judy Garland, Keith Moon, Mamma Cass, and</div><div>Jimi Hendrix</div><div>
</div><div><div>CBE, FRCP, FRCGP, DCH, DMG,</div><div>Barrister-at-law</div><div>Dr Gavin Thurston, who was formerly the</div><div>coroner for Westminster and deputy coroner</div><div>to the Royal Household, died on 15 June. He</div><div>was 69.</div><div>Gavin Thurston was born in London on 26</div><div>March 1911 and</div><div>educated at Dulwich</div><div>College. He</div><div>qualified in medi-</div><div>&nbsp;cine from Guy's</div><div>Hospital, London,</div><div>in 1933 and took</div><div>the MRCP in</div><div>_ 1937. He went</div><div>i.nto general</div><div>practice in Brentwood,</div><div>Essex, and</div><div>_ during the second</div><div>world war served</div><div>with the RAMC</div><div>in India and</div><div>north-west Europe as specialist in medicine,</div><div>reaching the rank of lieutenant-colonel. On</div><div>returning from the war Dr Thurston came</div><div>under the influence of the Metropolitan Essex</div><div>coroner and subsequently became deputy to</div><div>the leading coroner of the day, Sir William</div><div>Bentley Purchase. He was called to the Bar of</div><div>the -Inner Temple in 1952. With more deputyships</div><div>he rapidly gained experience, and on the</div><div>death of Neville Stafford in 1956 was appointed</div><div>coroner for West (later Inner West) London,</div><div>centred at Westminster. He -served in that</div><div>office for 25 years with quiet authority and</div><div>dignity, and gave satisfaction to hospital</div><div>administrators, doctors, and lawyers-not an</div><div>easy combination. Not least satisfied were the</div><div>tens of thousands of relatives who passed</div><div>through his court, often in a state of anxiety</div><div>and grief, who were treated with tact and</div><div>humanity. Dr Thurston never used his position</div><div>to bully or browbeat anyone; he was amiable</div><div>with a cheerfulness that belied his office.</div><div>Gavin Thurston became a lecturer in</div><div>forensic medicine to the West London Hospital</div><div>in 1956. He was secretary of the Coroners'</div><div>Society of England and Wales for many years,</div><div>and later the president, and always a source of</div><div>advice to his fellows. The gratitude of the</div><div>medicolegal world was reflected in his editorship</div><div>of the Medico-Legal journal and presidency</div><div>of the Medico-Legal Society. A founder</div><div>member of the British Academy of Forensic</div><div>Sciences, he was an examiner for the diploma</div><div>of medical jurisprudence for some years, and</div><div>for the Milburn Prize. It was a source of pride</div><div>for him to be elected fellow of the Royal</div><div>College of Physicians of London and fellow of</div><div>the Royal College of General Practitioners.</div><div>For many years he served on the Council of</div><div>the Medical Defence Union. He was appointed</div><div>CBE in 1966.</div><div>Gavin Thurston contributed to parts of</div><div>Jervis on Coroners and to the section on</div><div>coroners in Halsbury's Laws of England, and</div><div>in 1976 wrote his own authoritative work,</div><div>Coronership. He liked writing, and found time</div><div>to write Coroner's Practice, The Great Thames</div><div>Disaster, and The Clerkenwell Riot, as well as</div><div>an article of worldwide reference on "The</div><div>point of death." He presided over more</div><div>"famous cases" than any other coroner. The</div><div>late Professor Gordon Hamilton Fairley and</div><div>Airey Neave were among some recent bombing</div><div>cases; the death at the India House siege and</div><div>that of Lord Lucan's nanny required particular</div><div>patience and application. The newsworthy</div><div>often passed through his court-Stephen</div><div>Ward, Freddie Mills, Adlai Stevenson, Brian</div><div>Epstein-and more theatrical figures such as</div><div>Judy Garland, Keith Moon, Mamma Cass, and</div><div>Jimi Hendrix. A new cause of death was</div><div>illustrated in the inquest on Georgi Markov.</div><div>These cases were all quietly conducted with</div><div>firmness and dignity.</div><div>Gavin Thurston enjoyed family life and in</div><div>recent years took pleasure in his country home</div><div>in tranquil Sussex. Tragically, he lost his first</div><div>wife in a street accident, but subsequently</div><div>married a talented doctor, Janet, a specialist</div><div>in community medicine, who restored his</div><div>jovial personality and was a keen companion at</div><div>medicolegal and forensic meetings. He is also</div><div>survived by his son John, a consultant physician</div><div>in London, and his daughter Mary.-</div></div><div>
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