Genealogy Chat

What information will I find on a UK Death Certificate. Will it give me the persons spouse, parents and siblings?

Hi Leah,

No it will not!!

An English death certificate tells you:-

name of deceased (as known to the informant)
age of deceased (as above)
occupation of deceased (as above)
address where lived
cause of death
date of death, and who certified death
place of death
name of informant, and relationship (if any)
address of informant
if there was an inquest, and name of coroner if so.

"wife of ....." or "widow of .....", with or without occupation of husband, may be added for a woman (not always there).

The reverse information is not usually found for men. It has not been on any of the certificcates I have obtained for example.

If the informant is a relation it often says "wife of ..." or "daughter/son of .......".



No other mention is made of parents or siblings.


And, all information other than date and cause of death is based on information gathered by the informant, which may not be accurate. So the name may be wrong, so might the age, and the occupation!


I consider the death certificate to be the least helpful in terms of chasing up other family members.



sylvia

Hi Leah

I have had some brilliant leads from death certificates. Besides finding a whole branch of my family, have been able also to connect family members I thought may have died or in one case, a son who never lived with his parents and was brought up by his aunt.
Willsy

When you said 'UK' did you mean only England/Wales?

Or did you include Scotland?

Scottish bmd documents differ considerably from England/Wales

Reg

If it is the death certificate of a child it should also give the father's name and occupation, or the mother's if she was unmarried.

Like Willsy. I also have had great leads from death certificates.

Jennifer

I too have had great leads from Death certificates and have found living relatives via the informants names.

The informant might be deceased by now...but by posting Trying to Find messages on the appropriate surname board..you might find out additional information...as I did..... and I also received photographs of my Grandma's & Grandfathers siblings.

Since the Civil Parnership Act 2004 came into force on 5th December 2005, men will have added 'Husband of' or 'Widower of'. Where there is nothing, this means they were unmarried or divorced.

Thanks to all who have responded. You have answered my query. It was an English certificate I would need to get. The positive feedback has been encouraging.