Family Historian User Group

Hello everyone,
I have an anomaly and would welcome any opinions or advice.
My paternal grandfather died in August 1942.
His death certificate states that he died on 27th August 1942 - the same date that his death was registered.
However, the headstone on his grave clearly states that he died on August 24th 1942.
I am inclined to believe the headstone and that the register entry is an error. Is this likely or possible? It was 1942, a mid point in World War 2.
(Registrars are not completely infallible; in a recent family death certificate, 'Cerebro' is misspelled 'Cerebo'!)
What do you think?
Cheers
Chris P

It's impossible to know really without more sources. e.g. is there a date of death on the burial record? Is there a newspaper report, etc. Ultimately, does it really matter which day in a 4 days period he died, way back in 1942?

Do you have an original death certificate, or a copy?

If a copy, is it a transcription (which happens occasionally when the original is too hard to read) or a image copy?

Is the certificate a GRO (or Scottish equivalent) certificate or a local register office certificate? Or did he die overseas?

The chain of events (assuming you have a GRO certificate and it was a England and Wales death) would have been:

• Death registered at the local register office -- an opportunity for the date of death to be mis-heard or mis-entered by a (probably hard-pressed) registrar
• After the end of the quarter, a copy made (by hand) to send to the GRO -- an opportunity for transcription mistakes
• Many years later, you request a copy -- most likely this is an image copy, but if it's another transcription you get the gist

One possibility to consider (not free however) is to get a copy of the death certificate from the local GRO. (You should end up with an image copy of the original, and be able to see if there's been any errors downstream.

You should also try to lay your hands on the relevant entry in the burial register (be that from a civil cemetery or a church). If he was buried before 27th, you can be reasonably sure that date is in error (no death certificate = no burial, although I couldn't swear that wasn't relaxed during the war, as I've never needed to look into it).

Bear in mind as well that the inscription on the stone will have been made some time after the burial -- could be months if not years -- so is probably less contemporaneous with the death than the registration. The family may have mis-remembered the date (not so likely); the stone-mason may have misheard it; or the stone-mason may just have had a bad day at the stone face...

In short, there's no reason (IMO) to believe one date over the other without more evidence.

I agree with Nick. I have about half a dozen deaths in my project where there is an inconsistency of several days between the death certificate and the death date inscribed on a gravestone, or recorded elsewhere. It is impossible to know which might be correct, although depending on the circumstances and the type of evidence more weight might be ascribed to one date over the other.

Then there is my grandfather, who has three birth dates; the one on his birth certificate, given by his mother who died before he was three, followed shortly afterwards by the death of his father; the one entered on his admission to the Training Ship Exmouth, presumably given on admission by the West Ham Union or Metropolitan Asylums Board, and the one entered on his Navy service record which he also used for the rest of his life.

I regard the birth certificate as likely to have been the most accurate, but as he knew nothing whatsoever about his early life before he was taken into care, and personally used the third date for the rest of his life, which of those two is really of greater importance?

If all else fails then maybe enter the Death Date as 'between 24 Aug 1942 and 27 Aug 1942' and cite both sources.

having laid gravestones for a living in my life, I would give the gravestone date a lower quay than the death certificate.

The date on the gravestone would probably have been suppied by relatives - suggesting false recollection or poor communication to the stone mason.

bormley wrote: ↑

04 Feb 2022 09:53

(Registrars are not completely infallible; in a recent family death certificate, 'Cerebro' is misspelled 'Cerebo'!)

That may be the way the doctor wrote it on the MCCD (Medical Certificate of Cause of Death) - registrars have to record exactly what the doctor writes (including spelling errors !)

RS3100 wrote: ↑

04 Feb 2022 11:05

Then there is my grandfather, who has three birth dates; the one on his birth certificate, given by his mother

Ahah, mothers often tell fibs, don’t trust anything, even on official documents.

My father was born on 18 December, but I was astonished to find his birth certificate stated 31 December. Nan had manipulated his birth date to avoid a fine for late registration.

Thanks everyone for the helpful and intriguing anecdotal replies.
I think I may go with the 'between dates' suggestion.
Cheers
Chris P