I have started with 1000 "possible deaths" on my main list - and that's if I close my eyes to the idea of "could've died anywhere".
There are ways to eliminate a lot of people from the list. It's laborious though.
Make a list of every possible death.
Cross off those too old/too young entirely.
Take what's left and check probate for every single one - noting the details down before crossing them off or leaving them on the list.
Go through the newspapers for deaths and cross those off if you can see they're not a match.
Use any/all sources imaginable, obtainable and achievable ... to continually revisit your list to "plump out" the lives of everybody on the list to continually dismiss them or leave them on the list.
You'll have to even "build some quick family trees" for some to dismiss them. e.g. you might find a few that never left their village... they're off the list
Over time you'll at least dwindle your list down to a few .... and might even be lucky enough to hit "the one" by fluke.
You keep the written list because as you continually stumble across a "maybe" you can quickly scan through and see if they're on your list already ... and the new information might dismiss them, or keep them on it.
Keep your list annoted with what you've checked/why you've dismissed them, so you can always revisit it and know the answer to "why did I cross that one off?"
