How can I find the date of death of a relative who died in the 40's in the U

Question:I am researching someone from my family tree in Devon, England, and I have a rough idea of when she died in the 1940's, but I can't figure out where she is buried or exactly what year she died in. I've searched the Free BMD records, but she isn't there. Also, how would I go about looking for info on her in old news paper articles? Her death has a bit of a mystery to it... and it is highly likely that it would have been published at that time. Thanks in advance for your help!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I am researching someone from my family tree in Devon, England, and I have a rough idea of when she died in the 1940's, but I can't figure out where she is buried or exactly what year she died in. I've searched the Free BMD records, but she isn't there. Also, how would I go about looking for info on her in old news paper articles? Her death has a bit of a mystery to it... and it is highly likely that it would have been published at that time. Thanks in advance for your help!

if you would like to email me the persons name and the year that you think / know they were born I will do the search on ancestry.co.uk.
Hope I can help you out on this one.
You say that there was a bit of a mystery surrounding her death, was there an inquest, if so I would check anything up to a year after your relative died. If there was an inquest the coroner's office registers the death as far as I know.
The site posted below is the archives site for Devon newspapers,
http://www.devon.gov.uk/localstudies/110...

If you know where she died you can check the records in the town hall.

Local newspapers also keep records of all their old papers and I expect you can ask them to have a look at the ones you need.

Does anyone in your family know?

Some families keep bible recording deaths, births and marriages. Try asking your parents or grand parents if your family has one.

go on the web search for Silvia Brown she will help you

What you are running into, in terms of contradicting information, is completely standard in research. People's memories are fallible (I know mine is.. which is why I am a huge stickler for "proof").
I encourage you to email justme... she is very active in UK sources, and is very likely to have sources that can find your person. One very easy thing is that you have a name that is slightly different than what the record shows.

Have you tried this site? It outlines how to find wills and administrations in Devon.

http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/democracyc...

Also, Devon County Council offers a professional research service through its Devon Record Office for a fee. See this link for the form
http://www.devon.gov.uk/researchrequestf...

Try goldenmemories she might help you - as she gives free advice

FreeBMD is only as good as the people doing the transcribing, and it will take many years for all years and locations to be included in their database. At the moment, the cut-off year is about 1915-1920 - after this point then you have to search the BMD indexes yourself and that does usually cost for a subscription to one of the paysites (ancestry.co.uk or findmypast.com). If you have a reasonable idea where and when the death took place, then someone on here with nothing better to do (usually itsjustme) will use their subscription to have a look on your behalf.

Searching newspapers can be quite difficult, especially without a date. I recommend you get the death certificate first, then you'll be able to find an obituary or coronors inquest report quite easily. Local libraries usually keep copies of their local newspaper on microfilm, so you'd need to contact the Local Studies Unit of the nearest large town. Plymouth or Exeter probably, depending on which half of the county we're talking about. Unfortunately, many county libraries have staffing issues which can affect the things they will do for you by email. If you have a name, exact date and place they will usually look in a newspaper for you and get a copy as long as it deosn't take more than 15 minutes, otherwise they will charge by the hour to find and copy something for you. Obviously newspapers aren't usually indexed, so saying "sometime in the 1940s" will mean consulting dozens if not hundreds of microfilm reels and take many man-hours, which just isn't feasible. On the other hand, if you have the death certificate then you just start at the first issue following the death and work forward from there - usually you find a result quite quickly in that very same issue.

I would take itsjustme up on her offer, and completely ignore he person above mes remarks about itsjustme having nothing better to do, that's just nasty and really not necessary, do I detect the "green eyed monster" rearing its ugly head here. I think so...roflmao.