Daily AncestorFelo de se
Felo de se, Latin for felon of himself, was the old coroner's verdict for a sane adult who took their own life; later juries usually said temporary insanity instead.
Under early English common law a felo de se verdict could mean forfeiting the dead person's property and denying a normal burial. In the 1700s many of the American colonies stopped treating suicide as a crime.
From the 1600s on, coroners' juries increasingly found temporary insanity instead, which spared the family. The verdict appears in coroners' inquests, court records and some burial registers.
As seen in a recordCoroner's inquest record
Inquisition: the jurors say he was felo de se
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Felo de se." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/felo-de-se. Last checked 2026-10-01.