Family Historian User Group

Can anyone tell me what detail I can expect to find on a death certificate issued around 1870? I'm wondering if it's worth ordering one.

ID:1796

As far as I remember other than the change from age to DOB the information is pretty much the same and there is a good site about certificate details here
http://www.dixons.clara.co.uk/Certificates/deaths.htm

I have certificates from just before and just after your date and the columns are:
When and where died
Name and surname
Sex
Age
Occupation
Cause of death
Signature, description and residence of informant
When registered
Signature of registrar

I recommend getting the death certificate, there could be much useful information.

It will give you occupation and address details which may help you connect the individual with a census record.

Cause of death can be interesting, one of my wife's ancestors died from 'a surfeit of Laudanum, administered in error'.

The informant field can also be useful as it is probably a relative such as a spouse or child and will give confidence in this relationship. It may also show something else of the local history. My great great grandmother, the wife of Tom Baston (whose name and picture I use as my FHUG ID), died in child birth at the age of 45. The informant was listed as Amy Elizabeth Sheard who was present at the death and her address given as the same village. As this was only a few months after a census and they lived in a small farming community I looked up Amy Sheard and found she was listed as a Laundress but was not a neighbour. My conclusion is that Amy was likely to have been acting as a midwife at the birth.

Scottish death certificates are more informative still (and cheaper - you can buy a printout online). You get name, occupation, marital status and name/occupation of spouse; date, time and place of death, plus 'usual residence' if appropriate; sex; age; name and occupation of father, name and maiden surname of mother, and whether or not parents are deceased; cause of death, length of illness and signature of medical attendant; signature, occupation/relationship and address of informant; date and place of registration and signature of registrar.

One of my great-uncles committed suicide, and on his certificate the cause of death etc box is blank. However, the place of death is given as a river so we can have a pretty good guess what the cause was.

I now work in suicide prevention and sometimes use this as an instance of a family being protected from the stigma of suicide.