Informant misunderstanding or Registrar Questions?

[trish1]

I have found yet another death certificate where the informant has given the name of his wife, rather than the name of the deceased's wife when giving the details for a death certificate - I spend time looking for a 2nd marriage then realize what has happened. Are my folks not listening or do the registrars not make it clear as to the "wife" required?

Trish

[AndrewP]

Hi Trish,

Of the birth, marriage and death certificates, the death certificate is the one where the information given has the highest chance of being wrong. It can be that the person giving the information was related, but never knew the parents of the deceased (such as when the informant is a grandson or a nephew), or that the informant is a friend or neighbour who thinks that the names he has given were right. The informant, if close to the deceased, may be distressed at the time of registration and not be thinking clearly when asked the questions.

In the case of a birth, it is normally one (or both) of the parents who inform the registrar, so they should know the names of the new-born, themselves and the other parent. In the case of a marriage, the information is normally completed at home on a 'marriage schedule'. Hopefully the couple know their own names, their parents' names [and mothers' maiden surnames]. In the case of the death certificate, the deceased's information can only be given by someone else, and the deceased' parents' information is only given by a parent of the deceased when they have the misfortune of announcing the death of their child.

All the best,

AndrewP

[Ina]

There are also birth records that are wrong. My great grandmother's birth record states that her mother's maiden name was Flora McDonald when in fact her name was Flora McDougall. The birth was registered by a neighbour as the husband was away at sea.

Ina

[Elwyn 1]

I registered my mother’s death in England last year. My mother had been married previously. The Registrar asked me about her previous husband’s full name, but I didn’t know it. (It was something she never liked to discuss, and I never enquired). And there were a couple of other questions I wasn’t 100% sure about. I had however brought her passport and I could see that this helped a lot. Thereafter, the Registrar seemed more likely to accept any of my answers as correct. But for a couple of her questions I did not have any documentary proof (nor could I have easily obtained them, eg her and her husband’s professions).

What struck me about the whole exercise was that though there was some mandatory paperwork (relating to place and cause of death), much of the other information was as supplied by me. If I got her date of birth or maiden name wrong, or if I unintentionally supplied other incorrect information, then it was most likely to go down on the certificate without challenge. Fortunately with an English death certificate you don’t need the deceased person’s parents names but, had I not been a genealogist, I probably wouldn’t have known how to get them. And so either I would have had to guess or the Registrar would have had to accept “not known”. I suspect that in previous years a lot of people just gave their best understanding in the hope that it would suffice (which it probably did). And then there are some who, for the reasons that have been given, get confused or are distressed, and so inadvertently gave inaccurate information.

With my experience last year, the Registrar typed up all the data and then printed a draft which she invited me to check, before committing to the formal copy of the certificate. That’s good and obviously reduces errors but if you were illiterate, confused, genuinely mistaken, or just guessed the information and don’t want to say so, it won’t make any difference. So for all those reasons I agree that death certificate information needs to be viewed with a degree of caution, even today.

[trish1]

In my case the informant was the son-in-law - and he gave his own wife's name rather than her mother's name for the certificate. His mother-in-law had died 40 years earlier - so the son-in-law would never have known her - but I would think his wife would have known her mother's name & I think this informant misinterpreted the question from the registrar. He correctly identified his father-in-law's parents - presumably this information came from his wife.

Elwyn - I agree that the registrar will take what we (the children/surviving spouse etc) say - there is little else they can do. My parents pre-paid for their funerals and provided the information required for their death certificates at that time. We were not asked to confirm it & the funeral directors submitted the detail for the certificate - listing my sister as the informant when my 2nd parent passed away. This could allow parents to disinherit/deny a child as in Australia most states require names/ages of children on death certificates. My grandmother's death certificate does not include her first child as the family did not know about this child.

Guess we have to accept that certificates don't always match up - for many different reasons - sometimes it makes me backtrack to ensure I have the right person.

Trish

[carolineasb]

I can see all these problems happening more in the past in Scotland. Sadly, 2 years ago I had to be the informant on my Mum's Death Certificate here in Scotland. The Registrar asked if I had her Birth and Marriage Certificates with me which I didn't but because I could tell them when she was born and married they could go straight onto the computer and get full details from the original certificates. I assume that even if I didn't have the exact dates, she would have been able to do a search for them. Obviously that's not a 100% and, also, if she had not been born and married in Scotland then there may well have been a problem.

[WilmaM]

Perhaps a lesson to us all for the occasions where we may have to supply such details.

When my own Mother passed away I was able to hand my Dad her Birth and their Marriage certs so he went off fully prepared.