Lawrence wrote: One hypothetical situation where withholding the cause of death might be prudent is if a deceased ancestor's family have always been led to believe that he died of TB or something equally terrible but relatively innocuous, when in fact he died of a STD in rather unsavoury circumstances (shagging all and sundry in a whorehouse, for example). Or perhaps a great-grandmother was long believed to have passed away peacefully, whereas she was in fact attacked in the street, in one way or another, such as rape, and died of her injuries, perhaps in childbirth or after a failed attempt at abortion. Imagine the heartache that could be caused to her descendants if they were to encounter her actual cause of death without some preparation or prior warning. If nothing else, the discovery might lead to years of genealogical research up the wrong tree being binned. I agree, I had just this situation. I knew my grandfather had died relatively young, but I didn't know why or exactly where. My mother (who was only 12 when he died) only remembered that he had been in hospital "a long time" when he died. I sent for his death certificate and found that he died in a mental hospital of "General Paralysis". I discovered this was then a general term for Syphilis. I didn't tell my mother, who by them was a very old lady, as it would have distressed her. I later met, for the first time, my uncle, who had lived overseas since before I was born. Although he was by then 89. he had a very sharp and good memory. I asked him about various members of the family - and he was able to give me a lot of information. He just remembered his father's funeral (he was only 4), although he didn't remember ever seeing his father. He told me that the women of the family (his mother and his two sisters, who were overseas with him) never spoke of his father, and he had the impression that his father was not popular with them. I was electrified when he then added "I have wondered if he died of Syphilis" ! I didn't enlighten him, but just said something non-commital. After all, it might have cast doubt on his own paternity ! Keith