What's the possibility that 2 death registrations are the same person?

[Silvercup]

So we have:

Maria JERVIS deaths Sep 1897 St Saviour age 43
and
Maria JERVIS deaths Mar 1898 St Saviour age 43

"My" Maria was born 1853 D Quarter so the first death fits age-wise and is the certificate I will definitely be ordering as I'm curious to cause of death. On new years eve 1896 she was assaulted by her partner who stamped on her head - according to newspaper reports she ended up in hospital in a dangerous state with concussion. I'm wondering whether this contributed to her death.

The 1898 death intrigues me though. It seems like a real coincidence to have 2 Maria Jervis, same age, dying in the same place, within 6 months of each other. On the 1891 census the only other Maria Jervis of that age living in London (mine was transcribed as Gervis) is alive and well in 1901 still. Of course I know that the second Maria may not have had the surname Jervis in 1891 or have been in London then, but it still seems like rather a coincidence.

So - are there any explanations for 2 registrations of the same death? I will probably end up ordering both certificates but just trying to figure out first a possible reason.

[Milliepede]

Certainly a coincidence - is there a burial record for either or both? 

[Silvercup]

not that I can find

[groom]

If you order online from the GRO you can get them for £6 each rather than £9.25 for a paper one.

[Silvercup]

Thank you, yes I would get PDFs.

[Essnell]

Hi Silvercup and others.

simply YES !  It happens  but there has to be a good reason.  In my case the original cert was said by stat dec to contain the wrong personal details of the deceased and a second entry of death with the correct details was entered but the two records are connected on the certificate I purchased.

The Certificate is in the original detail data with the corrections noted in the margin and signed by the Registrar. 

On searching I get the record relevant to the details entered.

I stumbled on to this by accident.   I wrote to the relevant local archive repository for clarification and was told of the above.

Get both Certs as PDF's

Cheers  Essnell

[AntonyMMM]

There are no statutory reasons for re-registering a death unlike birth registrations (which are quite common).

A entry being corrected won't create another separate registration either, but there are some circumstances where the Registrar General can order the death to be re-registered, which will give another register entry. These are where there is a significant problem with the original entry - usually something like the informant not being qualified to register, or some element of fraudulent activity.

Some correspondence on such cases does survive in the National Archives in the RG48 series.

Getting copies of both entries is the only way to be sure - and even then, if they are the same person, the actual reason for re-registration may not always be apparent.

[Melbell]

Why don't you ring the Register Office which holds the records and ask them about it?  They will not tell you any details of the two registrations, but they might tell you whether it's worth your while ordering both, or which one would be more helpful for you.

Melbell

[Silvercup]

Well this is curious...I went onto the GRO website to order both and only the 1898 registration comes up. No sign of the 1897 death whatsoever despite it being there on freeBMD.

So I have ordered 1898...presumably the death was re-registered for some reason then, hopefully the certificate will shed some light on it all!