Hello there, Returning to South Hams research after a lengthy break... I'm hoping someone may be able to clarify a really basic question I have before I proceed with ordering a cert from the UK. I feel I may have found the death of my William HURRELL in Kingsbridge 1893 but will the death cert actually contain enough information to confirm whether this is MY William? I've always avoided buying death certs because everyone says they contain so little information... Is there a more reliable way to bury this ancestor or am I right to proceed? Thanks for your patience everyone, Courtney -- Courtney Pedersen Brisbane, Australia Researching: HURRELL, WOOD, WAKEHAM, MOORE, BAVILL - Malborough, Thurlestone, South Hams DEV ENG

Hello Courtney, The death certificate will give the following information: Where and when he died The name and surname of the deceased Sex Age Occupation Cause of death The informant's name, description (this is usually the relationship to the deceased) and address Date the death was registered Name of the registrar. In other words you get quite a lot of information, but I gather that the English death certificate does not include as much information as is provided in Australia. Regards, Joan Rotorua, NZ

Sometimes Death Certificates do contain very little information but often they are extremely useful. It depends who the "informant" is - usually the family relationship is given together with the current address. This can be very helpful - not only in providing evidence of the relationship and of dispersal patterns but also in painting a picture of family relationships and who was still on good terms with who etc., Mostly the informants are children - I found a married daughter solely through a death certificate where she was the informant and had come up from Worcestershire to Lancashire to be at her Devonshire mother's deathbed. Similarly I have another married daughter who came down to Devon from Manchester to be at her father's deathbed.. As well as the very common occurrence of wives and husbands, you also occasionally get a mother or father or grandparent at an adult child's death. Sometimes, when the informant appears to be an unknown, a little digging can reveal a sister-in-law or other such relation that you didn't know about previously. So, yes, it is definitely worth taking the chance! On 3 Jan 2005 at 17:17, Courtney Pedersen wrote: > Hello there, > > Returning to South Hams research after a lengthy break... > > I'm hoping someone may be able to clarify a really basic question I have > before I proceed with ordering a cert from the UK. > > I feel I may have found the death of my William HURRELL in Kingsbridge 1893 > but will the death cert actually contain enough information to confirm > whether this is MY William? > > I've always avoided buying death certs because everyone says they contain so > little information... > > Is there a more reliable way to bury this ancestor or am I right to proceed? > > Thanks for your patience everyone, > > Courtney > -- > Courtney Pedersen > Brisbane, Australia > Researching: HURRELL, WOOD, WAKEHAM, MOORE, BAVILL - Malborough, > Thurlestone, South Hams DEV ENG > > ______________________________

At 20:17 3/01/05, you wrote: >I feel I may have found the death of my William HURRELL in Kingsbridge >1893 but will the death cert actually contain enough information to >confirm whether this is MY William? > >I've always avoided buying death certs because everyone says they contain >so little information... Hi Courtney, You're absolutely correct in not expecting much from an English death certficate. The age is the best bit but that may not be reliable - as I always tell students "the only person who MAY reliably know is dead". The informant may have been doctor, midwife, neighbour or any other visitor who happened to have been around "at the time of death". Seldom, if ever, is any relationship stated - it was not required, so why tell anyone? Depending on the date and age the best you can do is check the nearest census before death and others before that - and/or make a guess as to date & place of birth and try that. Give me some details and I'll do what I can. Ray Co-ordinator of the Rootsweb SOUTHHAMS Mailing List and Webmaster of the South Hams information site - to be found at <http://my4bears.orcon.net.nz/Home.html>