Regarding the registration of deaths overseas, whilst on military service: whilst looking for an entry in the Index of South Australian deaths, I came across one entry for a death at Gallipoli in 1915. I thought this remarkable at the time. I have not seen any other comparable entries. My suspicion is that individual deaths overseas might find their way into the civil registers as follows: if the deceased left an estate that required to be administered promptly (leases to be signed; shares to be traded), the family would want to move quickly on probate. If, however, the local Registrar of Probates wasn't co-operative, regarding being satisfied as to proof of death; then perhaps the Registrar of BDM might be persuaded to issue his certificate, which would get over the hurdle. I am sure that somewhere in Commonwealth legislation there exists a facilitation of proof of the death of a soldier. But perhaps, especially in the early days, such as 1915, the situation wasn't so clear. Anyway, that's a theory to explain an unusual phenomenon. The Boer War is probably in a class of its own, because Federation didn't have much impact on those who participated. It will be interesting to see where the recent death in Iraq gets registered: I note that the inquiry into the death is being presided over by a NSW Coroner. Peter THOMAS Darwin, AUSTRALIA <pmthomas@bigpond.com> -----Original Message----- From: Anthony Staunton [mailto:anthony.staunton@pcug.org.au] Sent: Thursday, 22 June 2006 10:40 PM To: AUS-MILITARY-L@rootsweb.com Subject: RE: [AUS-MIL] A good question Anne A death on service overseas would not appear on the civil registry. There are a number of references at http://www.pcug.org.au/~croe/ozb/ See http://www.pcug.org.au/~croe/ozb/oz_boer_more.cgi?record=7122 Anthony Staunton -----Original Message----- From: Anne Hanson [mailto:ahanson8@bigpond.com] Sent: Thursday, 22 June 2006 5:54 PM To: AUS-MILITARY-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [AUS-MIL] A silly question perhaps