Uninformative death certificate

[Davedrave]

I’ve just received a death registration of 1874 which states cause of death as “unknown, no medical attendant”. My gg grandmother was 69, so I suppose that had a doctor been called he might well have put the ubiquitous “senile decay”. However, was there no requirement for an inquest? There is no suggestion that she had seen a doctor recently.

On a positive note, this registration tells me that her husband called himself Thomas Astley Chesshire, providing the only definite proof I have that Thomas Astley became Thomas Chesshire, (something that previously had looked very likely but not certain), so well worth £7 to find that out.

Dave

[Ayashi]

Well, at least it wasn't entirely in vain! What a nuisance though. The one in my family that gets me is "probably old age". "Probably". He was in his 90s, so fair bet I guess?

[Viktoria]

Well at practically 84 and my friend at 87  both toddling along very well , managing our lives etc ,neither suffering from” senile decay” ,69 ,well still a Spring chicken we would say!
Viktoria.

[bearkat]

I wonder if there is a newspaper report about her death - worth a look.

[Elwyn Soutter]

I don’t think it was mandatory for a doctor or a coroner to certify a death till the 1890s. Prior to that someone with relevant information just reported the event, a bit like registering a birth (then).

In Ireland, and I suspect elsewhere, the medical profession were initially very reluctant to get involved in certifying deaths. They couldn’t see the point, and argued their time would be better spent attending to the ill, not the dead.  There was an underlying issue though, which was money. Who would pay them for certifying a death? Clearly not the deceased. Once the state offered to pay, their opposition to this work mysteriously disappeared.

[Chris Doran]

I don't think I've actually seen an example, but I understand that death certificates for civilians killed in WW2 bombing just give the cause of death as something like "due to war operations". Perhaps someone can confirm? All part of obfuscation to prevent the Luftwaffe finding out how effective the raids were being.

[Ayashi]

Interesting idea. My paternal great grandmother was killed by a bomb but I haven't got her death cert.

[pharmaT]

I have a few certificates with vague causes of death like "old", "heart stopped", "stopped breathing" and "in a well".

[Jed59]

I read about one cause of death given as “Visitation of God”. I think! that would  have rattled my cage a bit too lol!