Hi Kate. Yes, for Martha I have only downloaded one cert, the 1879 one (Yarra Bend L.A.). The age given on the cert is 22 years, not 45 (perhaps a transcription error somewhere?). That fits in pretty well with John Derbyshire's daughter's birth in 1856 (she was probably closer to 21). I was trying to think what sort of scenario would see her die without any family around her (the section for parents' details on her death cert says "not known"). Perhaps she left home as a young woman due to problems (caused by early indications of mental illness perhaps), moved to Melbourne, became dislocated from her parents and in later years admitted to the asylum. For the 1899 death (Martha Darbyshire), I located her in the PROV's online records, Register of Patients (Sunbury). She was admitted 24 July 1888 but age was listed as unknown. An Ancestry record for the death said she was 30, which if correct, does not match. I imagine the inquest for the 1899 death is for the same person. The 1879 death cert also refers to a coroners inquest, so I imagine it was/is standard procedure for deaths in those institutions. Thanks for your help with this. regards, Martin On Sunday, November 10, 2013 2:37:43 PM UTC+11, Kate wrote: > Martin did you download just the one certificate? The one who died of cancer > at Yarra Bend 1879 was 45, that was the one on the Inquest CD, she would > have been too old to be your Martha. The other one 1879 on the Pioneer Index > was 22, though why they were not both there > I think I added in my earlier post there was another Martha Darbyshire on > the Inquest CD, no details, died 1799 Ref No 402. > > All rather confusing with so little detail recorded and you can't keep > buying certificates off the cuff. > > > Regards, Kate > (Sydney, Australia)

"MartinE" wrote in message news:0971044c-ef5d-4f4e-8db7-33fba19c38dc@googlegroups.com... Hi Kate. Yes, for Martha I have only downloaded one cert, the 1879 one (Yarra Bend L.A.). The age given on the cert is 22 years, not 45 (perhaps a transcription error somewhere?). That fits in pretty well with John Derbyshire's daughter's birth in 1856 (she was probably closer to 21). That's excellent Martin just another indication of mistakes in Indices, a sad story all the way down the line for this family but I'm glad you found Martha. Kate I was trying to think what sort of scenario would see her die without any family around her (the section for parents' details on her death cert says "not known"). Perhaps she left home as a young woman due to problems (caused by early indications of mental illness perhaps), moved to Melbourne, became dislocated from her parents and in later years admitted to the asylum. For the 1899 death (Martha Darbyshire), I located her in the PROV's online records, Register of Patients (Sunbury). She was admitted 24 July 1888 but age was listed as unknown. An Ancestry record for the death said she was 30, which if correct, does not match. I imagine the inquest for the 1899 death is for the same person. The 1879 death cert also refers to a coroners inquest, so I imagine it was/is standard procedure for deaths in those institutions. Thanks for your help with this. regards, Martin On Sunday, November 10, 2013 2:37:43 PM UTC+11, Kate wrote: > Martin did you download just the one certificate? The one who died of > cancer > at Yarra Bend 1879 was 45, that was the one on the Inquest CD, she would > have been too old to be your Martha. The other one 1879 on the Pioneer > Index > was 22, though why they were not both there > I think I added in my earlier post there was another Martha Darbyshire on > the Inquest CD, no details, died 1799 Ref No 402. > > All rather confusing with so little detail recorded and you can't keep > buying certificates off the cuff. > > > Regards, Kate > (Sydney, Australia)