Hughie,

I've had time to have a look at the death certificate now and my interpretations is:-

The first column is - NAME, AGE AND SEX - under which is PATRICK KELLY, 8 YEARS, MALE, (SINGLE).

Under this column is - PROCURATOR FISCAL'S OFFICE, KILMARNOCK, 7th MARCH 1882.

The second column is - WHEN AND WHERE DIED - under which is 15th FEBRUARY 1882 - IN HIS FATHER'S HOME IN NEW STREET OF STEVENSTON.

The third column is - CAUSE OF DEATH - under which is - INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNG WITH SOME CONSEQUENT MENINGITIS - POST MORTEM EXAMINATION OF BODY MADE BY DRs MACFARLANE, KILMARNOCK, AND MOFFAT, STEVENSTON.

Under this column is - CERTIFIED BY J POLLOCK STEVENSON, PROCURATOR FISCAL, - 9th MARCH - AT STEVENSTON - JOHN DICKIE, REGISTRAR.

************************************************************************************************************************************

The relevant dates make me think that there has been some process gone through between the date of the death and 7 March which satisfied the Procurator Fiscal that the cause of death was as given, thus authorising the Registrar to formally register the death on 9 March; and the cause of death is likely to have cleared the teacher, certainly of a charge of culpable homicide, but maybe not assault. My guess however, is that she would be cleared. Later today I'll have a look at the Glasgow Herald issues around 7, 8, and 9 March to see if I can pick anything up.

Thanks again, Penny. Much appreciated. :)

Hughie,

I'll have a look at the whole text later but the cause of death seems to be [i]"Inflammation of the lung with some consequent meningitis. Post mortem examination of body made by Dr. Macfarlane, Kilmarnock."
[/i]

Thought this would be better as a topic on its own. The quoted posts below are taken from our [url=https://www.threetowners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=159923#p159923] Stevenston - On This Day[/url] topic. See below these quoted posts for what I'd like help with:
[quote="Penny Tray" post_id=159957 time=1518959140 user_id=763]
[quote=Hughie post_id=159954 time=1518951762 user_id=2]
This did prove to be a relative on my Stevenston Kelly side. Thanks to regular member, Irene, hahaya2004 for confirming this with documentation. Many thanks, Irene, and to Penny Tray for alerting us to such incidents.

[quote="Penny Tray" post_id=159923 time=1518860581 user_id=763]
GLASGOW HERALD
17 FEBRUARY 1882

[b]STEVENSTON – DEATH OF A SCHOOLBOY UNDER PECULIAR CIRCUMSTANCES
[/b]
A boy named PATRICK KELLY, aged 8 years, son of HUGH KELLY, steamboat fireman, died suddenly about 5 o’clock on Wednesday evening under circumstances which have called for an investigation by the authorities.

The boy, it appears, was attending Stevenston Public School, and on Tuesday, it is said, was punished by a pupil-teacher named GRACE GAIT.

On returning home he complained of being unwell, and went to bed. Medical assistance was obtained, but the boy died the next day.

It is alleged that the pupil-teacher struck the boy about the head. This is denied by her, and she states that he received only slight punishment on the head. It is also said that the boy met with an accident on Monday, falling from a dyke on his head.

Miss Gait was taken before the Sheriff at Kilmarnock yesterday and after emitting a declaration she was liberated pending the result of an inquiry into the case.

A post-mortem examination was made by Dr. McFarlane, Kilmarnock, but the result has not been made known.[/quote]
[/quote]

Hughie,

While the circumstances are dreadful it's beneficial, I imagine, to become aware of such an important piece of family history. Hopefully, in the longer term, myself or somebody else, will determine how the legal process, involving Miss Gait, ended.
[/quote]
It doesn't seem likely that any action against the teacher would have occurred, though I am guessing as I can't work out what the first three lines in the "Cause of Death" box says. My guess is [color=#FF0000][b]Inflammation of the lungs with ... [/b][/color]Any guesses?
[b]From the "Register of Corrected Entries".[/b]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/nZD9iBo.jpg[/img]