Why a missing death certificate?

[Rodeo]

I have been unable to access a 19th century death certificate for which I have searched on SP under every possible variation of the name (and other surname) of the deceased. Why would this be so? If this person died abroad, would a record of the death be held in the GRO archives for Scotland or only in the country in which the death occurred? Alternatively, is it possible that this death has simply not yet been indexed? Are there other reasons of which I am unaware that could account for my failure to locate this death certificate?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Rodeo

[Clare Fowler]

Hi there,

All death certs from 1855 to 1955 should be on SP.  What is the date and the name that you are looking for, and maybe someone on here can help out?

Cheers,
Clare

[Rodeo]

Hi Clare

Thanks for your speedy reply. The death certificate I am seeking is that of Janet Paterson (maiden surname Harvie), spouse of Gavin Paterson. I know that she died prior to 1881, as Gavin Paterson is cited as a widower in the 1881 census. As I said, I have searched assiduously but in vain on the SP site. I would be grateful for any help. Janet Harvie's age, according to the 1855 marriage certificate, was 23, which makes her date of birth 1832 (or 31). The name of their daughter, Jane Harvie Paterson, was misspelled on the 1881 census as Harvey. I have also tried that variation.

Cheers,

Rodeo

[Clare Fowler]

Hi there,

I am not sure why you are not finding the certificate.  It is possible that it has been mistranscribed so the spelling of Paterson my have been corrupted.  Have you found the family on the 1861 and 1871 census records to try and narrow down when she died?

Another possibility is that she didn't die before 1881, but that the couple separated.  Since divorce was difficult at that time, couples sometimes separated and declared themselves widowed as it was easier.

Did the couple have any children?  And if so, were any married after 1881?  Looking at their wedding certificate may give as idea as to the status of their mother and possibly any other married name.

All of this is pure speculation, but I have found a Jane Paterson, also known as Harvey who died in 1919 aged 92 in East Kilbride.

Cheers,
Clare

[Rodeo]

Hi Clare

Yes, they had eight children, the last of whom were twins (Lizzie and Mary) born in 1871. I doubt that Janet Harvie Paterson would have abandoned her family, as her husband at the time of her death was a baillie of Hamilton (and later provost of Hamilton). That is what is so perplexing -- that the death certificate of the spouse of someone well known in the burgh would be missing. Yet, I simply can't find it under her maiden name or married name. That is what made me wonder if she perhaps died abroad.

Cheers,

Linda

[Arranroots]

Have you traced any relatives who went south of the border?

I searched in vain for one of my Scots relatives, only to find that he went to be nursed by an unmarried daughter in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Perhaps a well-to-do family would have sent her to a better climate (sorry!) or a spa?

Having said that, she obviously had a young family to care for...

At least the English records are free to search at the moment!  so nothing lost if you can't find her there either.

kind regards, Arranroots 

[Rodeo]

Hi Arranroots

Two of her daughters went to England and Ireland respectively -- hardly a better clime one would have thought (particularly by our Austraralian standards). One of them married a British surgeon and another an Irish pharmacist. More's the pity (for me) that they ever left Scotland.

Thanks for your psot.

Cheers,

Rodeo

[Clare Fowler]

Hi there,

What Arranroots has said may make sense.  If the person was suffering from something like TB, she may have been sent away to 'recover'.  The Victorians seemed quite fond of this kind of thing.  She might have gone abroad or been sent to a hospital in the countryside to take advantage of the better air.

Cheers,
Clare

[Rodeo]

Hi Clare

Yes, I agree with Arranroots' argument. In fact,  I am well aware of the Victorian scourge of TB (particuarly bovine TB, contracted through drinking the milk of infected cows, from which dome of my forebears perished). I was not flippant in my reply to Arranroots but merely pointed out that the fact that the two daughters who left Scotland (although perhaps not for better climes) have posed a genealogical problem for me in that I can not find them in the Irish or English census records. It would have been easier ifor me if they'd remained in Scotland.

Assuming that Janet Paterson had been sent abroad to recover and, perhaps, passed away there, wouldn't there still be a record of her death in Scotland? How could she simply disappear without a trace? It's a mystery.

Cheers,

Rodeo