GRO Records contents

[Essnell]

Hello all,

Right now I am not happy.. more likely confused. 

In the last three days I have received from GRO two death records via PDF. Both arrived on time as expected and that is fine.

However neither contain what I expected to be on them namely  "parents of the deceased". 

One is totally useless for the purpose of identifying who the deceased related to.  Nothing on it not even a brother or sister nor the person's marital status.  The informant also is not a relative.

The second is at least somewhat better.   Still no parents mentioned, not even a column for that info.  I am just lucky with this one as the informant was the persons spouse and only that that information was already known, it also would be useless for identification. In this instance the informant name only has an initial and the last name.   A. or R.....could be loads of names.

Now is what we are paying for here a shortened form of a Full Certified Posted Certificate or  is it still what the Register shows  or what.      When did GRO change the format to leave out parents..
The PDF's are from 1940's and 1950's. 
Incidentally both have been typed on a typewriter. 
I  need to know the status at GRO as there are more things to get.

Essnell

[bikermickau]

https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/50164/family_history_research/1558/civil_registration_records/4
Information given on death certificates
In England and Wales, a death certificate holds the following information:

date and place of death – from the late nineteenth century an address may be given rather than the name of an institution (e.g. City Hospital will appear as 77 Dudley Road)
name of the deceased
sex, age and occupation of deceased and possibly their home address
the cause of death – if there was an inquest it may be possible to obtain a copy of the coroner’s report
the name and address of informant and possibly their relationship to the deceased
If the deceased was a child or a single woman, the name of the father is shown.

From 1969 a death certificate also includes the date and place of birth of the deceased, and the maiden name of a married woman.

[Dundee]

When did GRO change the format to leave out parents

Perhaps you are thinking of death certs in Scotland.

Debra 

[Essnell]

Hi and thanks to both of you.
Such quick replies. 
Dundee, No , not the Scotland ones.  These are English and i have in the past made goo use of them. the Scotland Certs are fantastic and so is SP. 

For both of you, thanks for the update on what is on the certs. So after 1900  pretty useless unless you know a lot of other information.   

 I am in Australia and what we see varies from state to state.  In my neck of the woods we can search the DB for deaths up to 1991 and  the result  shows parents if known and sometimes date of birth. So we are a bit spoilt.   We are able to get PDF immediately but Certified ones are posted. We also can get source documents.  Each state is a little different but basically the same info is available.
 
So now I need to rethink how to make this work in England. 

Cheers  Essnell

[bikermickau]

Perhaps try newspaper reports as they may provide relatives.
ie: I have a relative who drowned in the English channel and the Welsh newspaper reports provided enough information to confirm he was my 3rd Great Grandfather, however there is no Death Registration for him.

I'm from Queensland here and yes the Eastern states BDM information are usually excellent. I've not purchased any from the other states.

Mick

[Essnell]

Hi bikermickau,

 I'm a Queenslander too, yes I have had dealings with NSW and VIC and SA, SA have a Genealogical Soc where you can get Certs etc  as well as the Government.

I find NSW harder as their website often is not fully functional.  
Such is life.

I think I might see if I can get anything useful out of GRO, worth trying.

Take care and stay safe,
Essnell.

[Dundee]

These are English and i have in the past made goo use of them. the Scotland Certs are fantastic and so is SP. 

For both of you, thanks for the update on what is on the certs. So after 1900  pretty useless unless you know a lot of other information.   

You really must be thinking of something else as English death certs have never had parents' names on them since the beginning of civil reg. in 1837.  You may find it noted in the occupation or informant column in the case of an infant death.

Debra 

[Essnell]

Hi Dundee ,

Thanks for the Info.  Old age must be catching up.

Essnell.

[Jebber]

The GRO only hold copies of certificates, the originals are held by local Register Offices. Original signatures on marriage certificates can usually be seen if you locate the entry in the appropriate Parish Records.

You may find it helpful to view examples of the various certificates and other records on Guy Etchell’s website.

http://anguline.co.uk/cert/certificates.