Death Certificates

[MrsLizzy]

When I obtained my mother's dad's death certificate, it revealed his brother's address so we were able to write to him and he was able to give us LOADS of very useful information.  My mother's parents split when she was a baby and she never saw her dad again, so it meant a lot to her, just to have a letter from his brother, as she's always felt she didn't belong, having had a very unhappy childhood.

Obtaining my 3 x great aunt's death certificate gave me a great shock as I learned she had committed suicide.  I then got a newspaper report into her funeral and inquest.  It is absolutely fascinating, although so sad that she seems to have died for no real reason.

I also think it can be very useful to plot the time lapses between the deaths of the generations and the causes of death:  for example, if you see that the women seem to keep dying of heart disease and the men of strokes, etc, maybe it would prompt you to look at your family's lifestyle and wonder whether any changes ought to be made, so this pattern can be broken.

I also don't really feel I've completed an individual until I've got at least a note of the reference for the death certificate.  Obviously the cost means you can't order everyone's certificates at once.  Another thing is that you can liaise with any others researching the same family and share the cost, or come to some kind of arrangement where maybe you take turns and send each other photocopies of the certificates you get.

[Pollynation]

i have lots of certificates that have come through the family to me ( because i'm trying to do a family tree). i have my great grandad's death certificate and found out he was run over by a train about 15 miles from where i live now. was a bit weird but interesting to have the info.

Pauline

[Darcy]

Hi Everyone

I must be weird - I can't wait for the death certificates to arrive! I get so personally involved I have to know what happened to them and finish their story.

Through one death certificate, signed by the coroner due to sudden death, I found out heaps about the family from the newspaper report of the inquest.

My 2nd great grandmother went from being a stranger to a distressed woman running for a neighbour when she found the deceased. I even know what their last meal together was - bread and butter and celery - how would that do for tea today?  - and he was a blacksmith too - not much there to sustain him!

The certificates are sending me broke - but I'm addicted

Cheers
Aaron

[carrey]

I like to get certificates as there can always be another lead on there. After almost 30 years I just sent for and recieved the death certs for my 2x great grandparents only to find the informant could be a daughter I did not know about. the other gave me proof of a son that we were not sure of. also the cause of deaths are often interesting and give us ideas of possible hereditary diseases etc.

[Kazza]

I would in all cases get the certificates.  I want to know about my ancestors,  I want to build a picture of them.  I want to know who they were,  what their lives were like,  not just when they were.

So I will take any nugget of information,  from whatever source I can to help me build my picture,  this includes to cause of death,  and who registered the death.

In the case of my Grandmother who died relatively recently,  the cause of death was recorded,  along with some other medical conditions she had,  and I felt these added to my knowledge. 

I feel almost as if I am a detective,  collecting clues,  and I will leave no stone unturned in my search,  you never know what you may find.   

So in answer to the original question:

But am I missing out on something. Has anyone found something really useful from a death cert they wouldnt have found elsewhere?

For me it will be yes and YES.   

Kazza.

[nora T]

i found one particular death cert. very very useful, he died at chesterton staffs in 1869 age 62,it gave his job as ribbon weaver,and the informant was a ralph simms, who i found out was married to his daughter charlotte, through that death cert. i found out [roughly] when he was born, his job, and through the ralph simms connection, i traced them back to congleton in cheshire, then some kind person on roots chat did a couple of census look ups 1841 and 1851 and i found out a lot of info. all through one death cert. regards, nora T

[Amy K]

As a rule I always get the death certificate if they died before the age of 40. It is a useful indicator that they didn't die of natural causes. (Although of course about 25% of my under 40 deaths have actually been from natural causes). Then I go to the newspaper and find out what really happened. I've had someone fall of a train and get run over by it. He was only in his 20's. I've had another crushed by a rock fall in a mine, he was only a teenager. So you see, death certificates can be interesting and useful.

It is interesting to think though what kind of info I may be missing on the older people who died. I you think about it, if 25% of under 40 deaths were natural and 75% of under 40 deaths were somehow 'unnatural', then would the same logic imply that 75% of over 40 deaths would be natural and 25% of over 40 deaths,  unnatural?

(Does that even make any sense?)

 

[dinkey]

I would love to get the death certificate for one of my ancestors but I do not know when he died or where he was living at the time. I have lost track of him after the 1851 census. The Free BMD does not give any ages for the period I am looking at between 1851 & 1881. I have not got the money to spend on certificates that might not belong to me so I am very envious of all of you who have got your deathcerts.

Also I do not know whether his wife died before or after him so do I mention her details if I was to request a possible cert. Do you get charged for them searching for the correct death if you do not have any definite age or address at death?

Sorry for all the questions but I would like to complete this persons life.

dinkey

[geniedi]

Apparently next months your Family Tree has an article regarding this.

I have loads I can't find/don't know deaths of.

So will hope that it gives some ideas.