You will not find any death certificates for anyone in Scotland before 1855 when statutory registration was introduced. The best you can expect is a reference in the Old Parochial Deaths and Burials Register kept for the parish where the person was buried.
In the 1848 cholera epidemic there were 251 deaths/burials registered in St Michael's Parish in Dumfries. The list records only two for DOUGLAS, Ann aged 46 buried Dec 2, 1848 and James aged 47 buried the same date. The OPR list only one SMITH, Menie aged 21 buried Dec 14, 1848
The OPR gives no details other than name, age and date of burial.
You can see a photo tour of this graveyard at
http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~dfsgalUse the index to find Dumfries Graveyards then St Michael's
There is a general memorial at the location of the mass burial to those who died in the first cholera epidemic of 1832 [no names are given] and very few are recorded. I've been told that was because the clerk was an early victim and nobody took on the task of registering the names of those buried. The monument inscription states that '..more than 420..' were buried in the mass grave.
There is nothing in the graveyard to indicate where the 1848 epidemic victims were buried but again I'm told they are under what is now paved pathways leading to Burns Mausoleum.
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