Having very little free cash available I have to be very careful spending any on certificates. Since GRO death records are relatively expensive (£11), usually contain little useful information (for me anyway), and are often (for me) the wrong person, I've started going for the probate records instead.
They're cheaper (£1.50), also contain little useful information (for me anyway), but up till now I've always got the correct one - the (free) probate record index information for the ones I've obtained contained sufficient information for me to be certain it was the right person; an address and/or the name of a family member or two.
I've done this successfully a few times.
However, I've now been pointed at a likely GRO index death record for a great uncle about whom we know next to nothing except his birth date (3 Jun 1904) and that he likely left Ireland and moved to England:
Deaths, 1981, Q2, James Corbett, b.3 June 1904, Bexley, v11, p395
Following my previously successful approach I went to
https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/ , entered his name and year of death, and got one document page returned. I found one James Corbett on it - but his address is in Peterborough and he died 9 July 1981 which doesn't match the quarter from the GRO BMD. So that's clearly not the same person.
I've tried the following few years as suggested on the probate site, from 1982 to 1986, but none of those have our man.
Does anybody have any ideas ?