Hi List I am probably missing something obvious, but even before the necessity to have a death certified by a doctor, I understood that a death certificate needed to be produced before burial could take place. I have 2 examples in Badsey in 1841 where the following occurred :- death 16 Mar 1843, burial (as per parish records) 21 Mar, certificate 30 Mar death 3 May 1841, burial 7 May, certificate 13 May. Please could someone more knowledgeable put me right. Thanks Mike Walker Researching KNIGHT, SHARP Badsey WALKER, JELFS, COLE, SMART, HILL, PROCTOR Evesham

MichaelWalker wrote: > Hi List > > I am probably missing something obvious, but even before the > necessity to have a death certified by a doctor, I understood that > a death certificate needed to be produced before burial could take > place. > > I have 2 examples in Badsey in 1841 where the following occurred :- > > > death 16 Mar 1843, burial (as per parish records) 21 Mar, > certificate 30 Mar > > death 3 May 1841, burial 7 May, certificate 13 May. > > Please could someone more knowledgeable put me right. Yes, you are right in your understanding. It would appear that the vicar has agreed to the burial with the proviso that the death cert was produced in due course in both cases you highlight. Either the vicar trusted the families concerned or knew they would do as required. Another possibility is that the burial didn't take place on the date given in the parish register since the registers weren't made up as baptisms and burials occurred but maybe once a week, once a month or even once a quarter ahead of the returns having to be sent to the GRO. It meant that the scraps of paper could have been got out of order or the information on it wasn't complete or that the vicar or clerk was going by memory as to the date. I'm not quite sure what the vicar would have done if the families hadn't produced the certificate!