We recently looked at the steps you need to take to register a death (part one). If it’s someone closer to you, it can be an emotional time to register a death certificate and a piece of administration that you would probably prefer not to take on.
But in years to come, it may be something your descendants thank you for, should they embark upon exploring their family history and, if you happen to be researching your own family tree right now, you may be grateful for the death certificates of your ancestors and the information which they can yield.
However, despite being a relatively easy-to-understand (and short) document, there are vital clues you can miss if you don’t know what you are looking for, or false conclusions you can draw. You may even struggle to find them at all. Here are our top tips for obtaining the right information from death certificates when researching your family history.
Tip one: Death certificates have not been around forever
Death will come to us all, but not everyone will have a death certificate. In fact, civil registration of deaths was only introduced on 1 July 1837. Before this, Church of England burial records were the de facto method of recording deaths in the UK.
The good news is that if your investigations are most concerned with recent family history you have almost 200 years of death certificates to pursue. But if you intend to go further back, you will find it gets more complicated.
Tip two: Where to search for your ancestor’s death certificate
As with many things in life, the internet is a good place to start. You can try the government website or the charity FreeBMD. If you can navigate the search functionality with the information you have, you should be able to find a basic listing and/or the certificate itself. For a small fee, you can purchase a copy of the certificate from the government website – GRO.gov.uk.
It is also possible to research microfiche in person at certain local libraries, record offices and archives.
Tip three: Watch out for this subtle change in the information recorded
On a death certificate, you can expect to find:
- Location and date of death
- Name and surname (and maiden if relevant)
- Date of birth
- Occupation
- Usual address
- Details of the informant (the person who supplied the information to the registrar)
- Cause of death
However, until 1969 age (sometimes estimated) rather than date of birth was included.
Tip four: An extra treasure trove in Scottish death certificates
English, Welsh, and Northern Irish certificates have the information listed above, but Scottish death certificates feature a little more – well, in terms of genealogical clues, a lot more. On a Scottish death certificate, you also get the names of both parents (including the maiden name of the mother).
If you happen to uncover a Scottish family death certificate for 1855 (the year death certificates were introduced in Scotland), you should also get your relative’s birthplace, place of burial, their children’s names and years of birth (and years of death if they died before the parent). These were cut a year later in 1856, except for the place of burial which was recorded on death certificates for five years until 1860.
Tip five: Don’t automatically trust all you read on a death certificate
Nowadays, a cause of death will say ‘certified’ and be confirmed by a medical professional, but this has not always been the case. In times gone by, a cause of death may have been a source of embarrassment and a bit of licence given as to the reason on the death certificate. The flip side of this is that they may be remarkably candid and show a family tragedy in sharp focus, as this thread on Reddit reveals. So be prepared.
Another detail to be wary of is the age (prior to date of birth being stated). It is not always a given that the informant will know all the facts. Therefore, in a proportion of cases, age may have been a best estimate rather than a categorical fact.
Tip six: Pay attention to the informant’s details
Something easy to overlook when researching a death certificate are the details of the informant. Here you will get their name, their qualification to be the informant and their usual address. Sometimes, this may just confirm what you already know, say a husband or wife, son or daughter. However, there is just the potential that it may provide a ground-breaking revelation or at least a new line of enquiry.
Tip seven: There are other resources you could turn to
If you are disappointed with what a death certificate reveals, or perhaps you could not find it at all, don’t give up. The labyrinth of genealogy is full of wrong turns, dead ends and then unexpected breakthroughs.
You could try out Church of England records if you are investigating before 1837, or military service records if they served our nation. If your relative left a will, the National Probate Calendars may be a rich source of information in lieu of a locatable death certificate.
At Family Wise, we specialise in genealogy and helping people map their family history. So, if you would prefer to leave it to the experts, why not give us a call and we can tell you how we can help.
