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Question: What information is on a death certificate !?
would it say the cause of death in the 1800s and early 1900s and what other info if any does it give !?Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
UK answer!.
Since civil registration became mandatory on July 1st 1837, death certificates had the following information on them!. A persons date and place of birth, their full name, male/female, their given age, his or her occupation, profession or rank, the cause of death and duration of their last illness!. The name and address of the informant was on there as well as their relationship to the deceased, and where and when the death was registered!. In 1969 the deceased usual address was recorded as well!.
Up until 1953 here in the UK a death had to be registered within 8 days, that was reduced to 5 days in 1953, that remains the same now!.
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UK Answer

It should be realised that in the UK statutory registration differed dependent on which country the individual was resident in !. Both England and Wales started compulsory registration in July 1837 but in Scotland it was not until the1st of January 1855 that it came into being !. Scottish certs are generally more informative and useful for the researcher and can be summarised as follows :

The 1855 certificate was very detailed !. Information included :

1!. The names of the deceased
2!. Date and time of death!.
3!. Address at time of death and usual residence , if not the same
4!. Age and occupation
5!. Name of spouse if married
6!. Names of any children born , their ages at the time of death and their ages and when they died if prior to the death in 1855
7!. Name and occupation of the deceased’s father and if he was deceased by this date
8!. Name and m!.s!. of the deceased’s mother and if she was deceased by this date
9!. Cause of death and name of medical attendant
10!. Burial place and name of undertaker
11!. Signature of the informant and relationship to the deceased

Changes after 1855


Death certs from 1856 to 1860 contain the same information except that the marital status , single /widow/ widower of the deceased is shown although no name of spouse is recorded !. No names of offspring are recorded !. From 1861 certs contain the same information as above except that the name of the spouse is now recorded but burial place is not !. Ages at death were included as from 1868 and dates of birth as from 1969 !.

Generally

Other sources include Marine Register of deaths ( from 1855 ) where a person was Scottish ; High Commissioner’s Returns of Deaths ( from 1964 ) ; Register of Deaths in Foreign Countries ( 1865 – 1964 );
Air Register of Deaths ( from 1948 ) ; Service Records from 1881 ( not war registers ) ; Consular Returns from 1914 !. The War Registers exist from 1899 covering the South African ( Boer ) War , WW1 and WW2 !.

A useful source for those with Internet connection is the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
( http://www!.cwgc!.org!.uk/register/register!.!.!. ) !. The have a search facility and you can print out the details !.

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Death certificates even from the 1800s and 1900s would have had a cause of death, although it wouldn't necessarily be reliable or a real medical event by today's standards; some recorded causes of death from the 19th century are hilarious!

A death certificate should include name, age, date of death and cause of death and location of death if known!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Today in addition to what the first poster stated, death certificates usually will show not only the name and place of birth of the deceased but the names of both parents including mother's maiden names and their place of birth, usually just the country or if in the U!.S!., the state!.

I agree with the above poster as you go back the causes of death can frequently be seen aa symptom of something else today!. Diagnostic procedures were not as good then as they are today!.

I've seen twice in early 20th century where colitis was used!. Colitis(an inflammation of the colon) is usually caused by something else!. Apparently, they weren't able to detect causes as easily back then!. also senility and old age!. A lot of us would have been dead a long time ago if that killed people!. You sometimes will see things like "dropsy!."Www@QuestionHome@Com

Most death certificates from that period gave some very interesting information!. Birth, death, where buried, spousal info, parents, Where they died and how!. Often times funeral cards will give more specific information such as burial plot location and cemetary address, and surviving family!.
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also name of person reporting the deathWww@QuestionHome@Com

I believe time of death as well!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com