Can anyone tell me who supplied the information that appeared on the parish death records such as the age of the deceased and details of their parents. Did it come from the informant of the death who might be a relative or neighbour of the deceased or was it the practice for birth certificates to be kept in the house?
Jim Murray
Jim
From 1855 onwards after the introduction of statutory (civil) registration of BMDs, the informant was preferred to be, firstly, a relative present at the death or a relative who had at very least visited the deceased during his or her last illness; if no relative available, then someone living in the same house in which the death occurred; or, failing that, any other person having knowledge of the particulars such as a neighbour, trustee, "intimate friend", - intimate in the meaning of close.
A girl as young as 12, or a boy down the age of 14 was acceptable as informant. In exeptional circumstances it was open to the registrar to take information from a younger child.
(Note: A Scottish statutory death record shows the names of both parents, including the maiden name of the mother.)
There was no requirement for the informant to prove the age of the deceased, but, obviously some informants might have the linked documentation.
Accuracy of the info provided by the informant ranges from usually very high where the informant is a parent or sibling of the deceased, though at least reasonable if the informant was the spouse, but can start to get iffy once children/nephews/nieces are involved, through to questionable if the informant is the matron or governor of an institution such as a hospital or poorhouse, although, as far as the latter are concerned, it all depended of the info with which they had been provided, and whoever provided that !
It's far from unusual for a son to get the maiden name of a granny wrong, especially if there was no elderly relative left to ask.
Registering a death was and is a highly stressful experience, with a high chance of errors creeping in.
In the pre-1855 Scottish parish records, where death info exists, there is rarely any note on the identity of the informant, and only very occasionally info on the parents of the deceased where the deceased wasn't a child.
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