Hi folks, A few people seem to be asking how to find deaths at sea and how to get a certificate. I am new to the list and this was/is my problem. All I can contribute is what I have found so far, and that is as regards the deaths at sea of English people, from a British-registered ship. On Findmypast you can do a free search, then pay for whatever you find. http://www.findmypast.com/BirthsMarriagesDeaths.jsp When you are there, you can go to Deaths at sea 1854-1890 (assuming that covers it) for a handwritten records which the GRO made when the RGSS (Register General of Shipping and Seamen) notified them of deaths at sea, as it was obliged to do. and/or you can go to Deaths - British overseas, by date, where you can get the GRO number to order a certificate. Personally I didn't want to have to pay the minimum subscription because I subscribe for most of my material elsewhere, so I went to a local library where there were British Overseas deaths on fiche and got the registration number. The GRO told me that you need "Overseas" then within that "Marine", and of course the ship and people, name and date. Not all local resources have the "Overseas" section in their collection of BMD, so it's best to find out before going. Ancestry do not have the Overseas BMD! At least not according to my searches, my library's searches and the searches of other people. I have yet to order a certificate for the death at sea that I want, because I am a little unclear whether it is going to tell me anything more than I already know. I am going to ask the GRO themselves if they can tell me what the certificate headings are. The RGSS sent some inaccurate data to the GRO in the case of the family I am following (Christian names and ages are very loose), so I would like to see if this was corrected in the certificates, or if the certificates just blindly copied what the RGSS sent them, without following up the information to establish who these people were (which seems a little bizarre for an official "death certificate"?). As you may already know, you can get a death certificate in different ways. The GRO will send you one through an internet or phone order. They charge according to whether you have the required GRO reference numbers or not, and whether you want it in the post or online. The Overseas>Marine Deaths index appears to provide only one GRO reference number. For a death in England and Wales you get a registration district number and a page number. In the case I have followed up on Overseas>Marine, there is only a page number. I guess they don't have/need a registration district number for this because it's one volume, "Marine". If, before all this, you have problems with the date or other details, then you can first try The Times archive, for which you will need to pay a minimum subscription to search. But if you find the event there, you may have lots of additional interesting information. My apologies if I have any of this wrong! When I hear back from the GRO, I will post to the list again. Regards Sally in Yorkshire