Genealogy Chat

He is alive! and not only my great grandfather, but my daughters and my cousins sons great great grandfather :o) Well, at least he was in feb of this year - heres hoping he still is. Thank you for your replies :o)

The date of birth given on a death certificate is that given by the person who registered the death!!! I know---I have registered the deaths of both my parents in the last few years. The date given is only as accurate as the informant's information. I remember agonising over the age at death which I gave for my mother---was she 86 or 87---she had just had a birthday!!! And this was in 2003! Please forgive our ancestors if they got it wrong. Always trust a birth certificate rather than a death certificate. Wendy

I guess it would probably depend on when and where he died. If he died in a hospital or something I would guess it would be more accurate. But if he died with or registered by someone who didn't know him very well, they may have guessed at when he was born, remembering only it was the beginning of the year or that he was a certain age. Some death cert dob's can be accurate...others can be completely out and of course some don't have them at all and only have Age at Death.

Does anybody know if the date of someones birth on a death certificate is actually checked or cross referenced? I have a great grandad who was born in 1915 in April. Although he has a relatively common surname, his first name is more uncommon - Kitchener! I've found a possible death for him, but it states that he was born in January 1915 not April and the day is wrong too - could this have been mistranscribed by Ancestry or reported wrong by whoever registered the death?

I regsitered my dad's death a few years ago and I'm sure they took my word for his birthdate. I don't remember having to provide proof Lin