RootsChat.Com
England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Dorset => Topic started by: historydch on Wednesday 21 March 18 09:53 GMT (UK)
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I am doing a project on illnesses and causes of death in Dorset during the 1850s. This is an extension of work I have already done on the history of Dorset County Hospital.
I am trying to extract info from as many death certificates for the period 1850-59 as possible (I currently have access to over 100). Would you be willing to email me scans of any relevant death certificates you might have in your possession?
I will transcribe them and put them on a dedicated website so we can all use the info freely - I'll advertise it on Rootschat when it's set up. I won't sell the data or copies of your scans - this is an entirely non-commercial information exchange.
If you are able to donate any death certificate scans please send them to the following email address: dorsetdead [at] aol.com. (Obviously you need to put the @ sign in and get rid of the spaces to make it work.)
Also, if you know of any Dorset burial registers for the 1850s that have causes of death recorded in them, please let me know. I am already aware of Fordington (cholera deaths); Hilton; Milton Abbas; Morden; Tarrant Monkton; Beaminster (fever deaths); and Shillingstone. There may be others.
Many thanks.
Mark
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Have you thought about contacting the Dorset Family History Society?
https://www.dorsetfhs.org.uk/
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And Somerset and Dorset Family History Society.
http://www.sdfhs.org
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Dear Nanny Jan & Jebber
Thanks for the suggestions - I am a member of S&DFHS (but not DFHS although I am of course aware of them). I will in due course contact them but I want to do this progressively so that I don't become too inundated too quickly.
I'm actually not sure how many people buy death certificates - most people seem to be focused on leap-frogging from marriage to birth so they can get as far back as quickly as possible. Perhaps that's not a fair impression but it will be interesting to see what response I get here before casting my net a bit wider. 3-4,000 deaths a year were registered in Dorset so I need to be a bit careful!
I am also aware of the official mortality stats from the Registrar General's reports but they don't go down to the level of detail I am after.
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Following on from my message on 21 March I have now set up a website with transcripts of the death certificates I have received. Although my interest is the 1850s, I have expanded the time period to make the site much more useful to others.
The website address is www.dorsetdci.com.
It currently covers 1837-1875 and already there are 350 death certificate transcriptions. The site is free-to-use and non-commercial.
Please see if you have any Dorset death certificates to contribute. If so, please send a scan to the following email address:
dorsetdead [at] aol.com (You need to put the @ sign in and get rid of the spaces to make it work.)
I will acknowledge receipt of all emails. Thank you.