'Stranger'

[Shrop63]

Hi folks, just wondering what 'stranger' means when recorded on a death?

[AllanUK]

In what context was 'stranger' recorded?

[Shrop63]

In what context was 'stranger' recorded?

Well it simply said stranger next to the name of the dead person

[Stanwix England]

As I understand it, in that case 'stranger' can mean foreign or not from the area where they died. Would that fit with the person you are looking at?

Apparently on death duties, stranger can also mean non-biologically related. So I don't know if that has some baring on what you are looking at.

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/death-duties-1796-1903/

[AllanUK]

I have seen this many times for burials (especially in the 18th and 19th Centuries) in rural areas -- I have always understood this to indicate that the deceased person was not from that Parish and that no one knew where that person was from.

[iluleah]

I have seen this many times for burials (especially in the 18th and 19th Centuries) in rural areas -- I have always understood this to indicate that the deceased person was not from that Parish and that no one knew where that person was from.

My understanding too

[AllanUK]

When I was researching my County Durham ancestors, I came across one that read something like 'a stranger found dead under a hedgerow'. I remember this well as the next burial entry was an ancestor of mine.

[AllanUK]

A quick search of parish burials held on Find My Past reveals 1,656 burials with the name 'A Stranger'