When I went to LMA in search of the inquest on one of my ancestors they were very helpful ... but explained that whether anything survives, and the quality of what you get if it does survive, varies greatly. It's pot luck, really.
In my great great grandfather's case there was a surviving record, but it was exceedingly terse. However, we have a family tradition that he was a railway delivery driver (horse-drawn) and working excessively long hours, he fell asleep on the box seat and fell under the wheels of his own cart.
Knowing that background, I could make sense of the abbreviations and shorthand that had been used in the record, and it confirmed the family account in all material particulars (and the event occurred in June ... when the hours of daylight were at their longest).
So sometimes you get lucky. I certainly did.
