Death of Englishman, John WEST, in Switzerland, 1890.

[Les de B]

Just a quick update, regarding my email to the British Embassy, Berne - they have replied! Unfortunately, it was good news/bad news.

The goods new was, they do have Death Certificates dating back to the mid 1800's of deaths reported to the British Embassy. Whether this death of John WEST was reported to the Embassy is unknown.

The bad news was, they can perform a search, and that search would cost 65£. I'm not sure whether that amount/symbol stands for Swiss Francs, Euros or English Pounds, but in any case a bit too rich for me, for something that may/may not be there, and if there may/may not relate to my John WEST (depending what information is recorded).

I've replied to them indicating the cost was prohibitive (in a polite way), but also gave enough information that if they are kind hearted, they may search the records for me unofficially, and just confirm its the correct John WEST (I don't require the actual certificate).

I've tried this approach before with other expensive fees - sometimes it works  sometimes it doesn't    Don't get me wrong, I'm quite willing to pay for things when I know its what I'm after, but spending that amount of money on something that may not even exist is another thing.

Just have to wait and see now.

Les

[Les de B]

As stated in previous reply, the British Embassy in Berne wanted 65£ just to search for the old Birth Certificate, even though it may not be there. After my "polite" email back to them, I received another reply from them, indicating a "free peek" at their records failed to find my ancestor's Death Certificate - that's all I wanted to know. Yes, it pays to be "polite" when emailing, rather than "rant and rave" about high costs. It also helps if the person opening the email is sympathetic too 

In any case, I'm still tending to lean towards this death as being my ancestors. I've only found a handful of John WEST's having a wife named Augusta (English marriages and Censuses), and most of them I have elminated. Augusta was born in Germany, which is another European connection.

However, its back to the "drawing board", to see if I can be 100% certain - oh the joy 

Les

[pb_devon]

Hi Les,
You don't say, but have you asked whether the Swiss authorities are able to supply a death certificate?  The Civil Registry "Zivilstandsamt Bern-Mittelland" would hopefully respond to an e-mail, and (if my german is right) a copy is CHF25 (£16).
Their e-mail is za.mittelland@pom.be.ch, and I've always found there will be someone able to reply in english at these offices.
The website is in german at: http://www.pom.be.ch/pom/de/index/zivilstand-pass-id/zivilstand/Zivilstandskreise/bern-mittelland.html (change the de to fr for the french version if it helps!
Let us know how you get on!
cheers,
Paul

[Les de B]

Thanks very much for that information Paul.

Unfortunately, my knowledge of the German language is as good as my knowledge of the Eskimo language, but with the help of the "Google Translator" site, I emailed the address you supplied with an apology for my non-German, and then requested a look-up for the death of John WEST.

Here's hoping I get a positive reply 

Les

(A quick update - just received an automatic reply from the Civil Registry. Using the "Google Translator", I should get a "human" response in a few days. Well, at least its a start!)

[pb_devon]

Les,
If it helps, there are German (and other language) letter writing guides available, here:
http://www.unige.ch/biblio/ses/jla/gen/pratique00.html
and the LDS Church has a comprehensive one to download from their site, here:
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/RG/images/34066_LWGGerman.pdf

The on-line translators can sometimes not provide the result intended.  In any event most Swiss Government offices will have staff with some English (if not fluent!!), so writing in English should produce a result, especially if you start with an apology as you have done.

cheers,
Paul

[Les de B]

Thanks again Paul. I will wait until I receive a reply before I try to improve(?) my German. If all else fails, I do have a friend in Germany who would translate any correspondence for me.

At this stage, I will wait and see happens from the Swiss end.

Les

[Les de B]

I have just received an email from the Swiss Civil Registry WITH a copy of the original Death Certificate I was inquring about!!!! And YES, it does appear to be my ancestor!!!

From what I can make of it I can see his name as John WEST, then there are 2 names following; John WEST and Deborah BOWDITCH. I presume these are his parents, as my ancestor's parents were John WEST and Hannah BOWDITCH - that's close. I can also make out Somerset, and that's where he was born.

He had two wives, both named Augusta. I can make out what appears to be Augusta MITSCHEL(?). His first wife was Augusta MICHELL. His second wife was Augusta ANGIER nee ANTON (her 2nd marraige too). I can't seem to see that name on the certificate.

I've attached a copy of the certificate, but not too sure of the quality as it came as a Adobe PDF file, and when I converted it to JPEG, it lost some of its clarity. Maybe Swissgill might be able to have a read of it for translation? If no luck I will try a German friend of mine.

To Paul, thank you very much for your help with this thread - very much appreciated.

And to top it it all off, the Certificate was free!!!   

Les

[pb_devon]

Excellent result, Les!

Been a pleasure to help out.

cheers,

Paul

[SwissGill]

Hi Les

I've been trying to decipher it but am having trouble, especially with the handwriting.

Augusta "Mitschel" and Deborah "Bowditsch" are written as the names Mitchel and Bowditch would be pronounced in German.

It looks like the information about his parents was given by the said Augusta Michell of Somerset, England in London. Cannot see any mention of Augusta Angier either.

John West's birthdate is given but unreadable.

Is there any way you can post a better copy?

Gill