Is it possible to look up a recent death in England?

[hurworth]

I don't know whether the person is deceased.   I last corresponded with a distant cousin by marriage more than a year ago.  I tried to e-mail him last week and his e-mail address is no longer working.

He'd be in his eighties now.   I'm concerned something might have happened to him.

I do have a postal address from the Electoral Roll on FindMyPast, but that may also be out of date.

[groom]

Why not try sending a letter to his last address and see if you get a response, or can you track down a phone number?

It may be something as simple as he's changed his email address or provider.

[rosie99]

Have you checked the probate index 

[StanleysChesterton]

When you do find him - and if he's still alive and kicking - you need to write cards to him that contain your full name/address/telephone number on them .... so if he has a change of circumstances anybody going through his stuff will be able to contact you.

When dad passed it was annoying to have piles of Xmas cards "Love from Bob" and have no idea how to contact people!

I hope all's well and he's just given up being online.

[Jebber]

He could be in hospital, or he may just have moved into a care home and not been set up with email.

 If you decide to write, make sure you put your return address clearly on the back of the envelope so people know how to contact you.

Jebber

[Jebber]

Two of us with similar ideas.

[Treetotal]

You could try 192.com people finder.
Carol

[hurworth]

Thank you everyone.

I'll get a relative in the UK on the case with last known address and phone number.  Hopefully they are still current and it's just a change of e-mail provider.  I'm 12 time-zones away. 

We're trying to organise a family reunion in Scotland and I've taken it upon myself to try to find relatives who have dropped off the radar.  Most of them are related through their maternal lines but I found one branch descended from a relative who went to the Middle East and another through his brother who went to Africa.

[StanleysChesterton]

Ah, 12 timezones away.

It would depend on whether it's England, Scotland, Wales or Ireland to some extent - as all three areas do things a little differently.  In the main, if you don't know "IF" somebody's died there's no place to go to check easily/quickly. 

You know the town where he lives, so I'd start by finding the local newspapers and searching through the death notices.  If somebody's got no family though - and even if they have - there might not be one.  We didn't publish notices for either of our parents as they'd moved in retirement and we felt nobody from 20 years ago would be "that interested" so to speak - and nobody in the town where they lived would probably even know their names. 

That's where I'd start.

If you say which town/county/country then others might chip in with more relevant/local ideas and knowledge.