* WW1 Death Certificate

Got general Family History research questions - this is the place
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saltscar
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WW1 Death Certificate

Post by saltscar » 13 Jun 2008 07:43

I wish to obtain the death certificate of a great uncle 'missing presumed dead' in WW1 on the Somme in July 1916. I have his regimental details. Where do I go to obtain this certificate, if one was issued?

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ADC65
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WW1 Death Certificate

Post by ADC65 » 13 Jun 2008 08:44

You can order a certificate online from the General Records Office at

http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/

You will need to register first. Follow the 'Order a certificate now' link on the main page. Choose the 'Death Certificate (Overseas Events)' options and fill in the 'Year in which the event was registered' box - a best guess is OK. You do not need to fill in the 'Age at Death' box.

You are then given a screen where you fill in the name and any other details you might know - only the name and country of death are required. The GRO will then do a search on this information. It's quite straightforward after that - pay the £7 by debit or credit card.

If you do not want to order online you can contact the GRO and get a paper form to fill in - it's basically the same.

Have you looked your ancestor up on the Commonwealth War Graves site? It is at http://www.cwgc.org/ and can sometimes give extra information about next of kin and addresses, etc.

Good luck!
Adrian Cook
Researching Cook, Summers, Phipps and Bradford, mainly in Wales and the South West of England

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saltscar
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WW1 Death Certificate

Post by saltscar » 13 Jun 2008 09:39

Thank you Adrian. I have ordered the death certificate. I had previously visited the CWGC site and found some details, it was just the method of obtaining the certificate that eluded me.
Many thanks again.
John Baxter

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