§ MR. JOHNSTON (Belfast, S.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he can state how many deaths of nuns in convents in the United Kingdom have been registered by the Registrar General during the last 20 years; how many of those deaths have taken place in convents whose inmates never are outside their walls; and whether any, and, if so, how many, inquests have been held in the convents of the United Kingdom during the same period?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. MATTHEWS,) Birmingham, E.The Registrar General informs me that he has no means of supplying the information for which the hon. Gentleman asks. Deaths in convents in England and Wales are required to be registered under precisely the same rules as all other deaths which occur in private houses, and are not distinguished from such deaths in the statistical records of the office. I am unable, also, to answer the third paragraph of the question.
§ MR. SEXTON (Belfast, W.)With reference to the extraordinary form of this question, and the sinister suggestion contained in it, I beg to ask the right hon. Gentleman whether he is aware of any reason for thinking that there are more deaths in convents requiring inquests than occur outside?
§ MR. MATTHEWSI have absolutely no reason for thinking so.