Genealogy Chat

Hi John yes you are write I can't see how one of my relations would have left a 2yr old and a 8year old and then remarry 3 years later Margaret

Margaret, My only thought is that they may have emigrated but that would mean they left 3 kids all alone in the workhouse John

Hi John, I have several deaths that I can't find I just can't understand why you can't seem to find deaths because you would need death cert to bury them Margaret

Just a suggestion Michele but have you looked for a death in 1886 the year before his daughters birth? He may not have been alive when she was born, just there on conception? Trying to remember my biology lessons??? I have the same problem with my rellies, can't find 4 of them. Alive in 1878, not on 1881 but no deaths.

Hi everyone, Thanks for your comments. I am wondering if maybe he fell out with all the family and maybe went abroad somewhere. The annoying this is that there is noone left to ask - it is true that things are covered up somewhat and you only get told the respectable things! I am alarmed that so many births are missing though - really we deserve medals for finding anything out at all! Good luck Michele

Thanks for that Robert, I had heard before that some people did not register births, but I did not know it was this later date. Did not know there would 15% missing. I dont know if those Counties would effect my search, my problem is I dont know what Country or exactly when, all I have to go on is a Marriage Cert, I cannot find anything else, I was also told not to trust all the info on the marriage cert either. Now I feel Its getting worse, Just when I thought it couldnt. thanks again Pat x

Patricia “it is estimated that up to 15% of births were not registered between 1837 and 1875 (particularly Surrey, Sussex, Essex, Shropshire, and Middlesex)" (Herber Ancestral trails) even after 1875 (when instead of being required to give details to the registrar when requested the law placed a duty on people to register) births were still not registered. Many believed that baptism counted so you may find a baptism where there is no registration. Anne’s suggestion is highly possible. He would be registered in the district he died in making things very difficult. Bob

Michele - don't assume the 'deceased' on his daughter's marriage cert is true. No one had to verify this. Do you think its possible he might have gone somewhere else in the country and died there? With a name a common as Thomas Brown how would you know if he was yours? Anne

Hi Robert, the death record I am looking for is not at the local office in the area he lived they done a search for me, it is also not on the GRO records as I have been to the records office many times to look, I have also checked deaths at sea and wills, so I take it that it was never recorded only makes you think the worst things. I just keep trying to find it. Also it is the same period of time Michele is looking for relation's death thank you Margaret

Just off the subject for a query on the births that are missing, I never knew this before, can anyone tell me which years are said to be mssing, as I have been looking for a birth from 1878-1882 and have not found it yet at least on 1837online. Would any of these years be amongst lost records? Thanks in advance. Pat

The main records that are missing are births, although many marriages are not on GRO. Burials could not take place without a death or coroners certificate so they should be near complete although again some will be missing from GRO. If a recorded death has been registered locally and then a copy forwarded to GRO It’s difficult to see how both could be destroyed. Bob

Hi Michel, I have got the same problem as you have his wife remarried and on the 1891 census she is a widow and they had a child in 1889 and he is down as the father and alive and working but he was deceased by the 1891 census also have a dauthers marraige cert. and he was deceased on that and she remarried in 1893. but somone on GC told me some records were destroyed, so I don't know if I will ever find it but I so much wanted this death certificate. Margaret

FAO Stan: I hadn't realised that people could be treated as dead after 10 years - this could just about be possible here. If his wife had deserted him I suppose he may well have left without trace: she did have 2 children with the other man, posing as husband and wife. Also, the second husband was Mayor of Leyton or Stratford (Ihaven't found out which) so that might be why they went over to Rotherhithe to get married, to avoid scandal. I have tried Ellis Island etc just in case he went to the US (a married daughter was over there). Michele

FAO Marion: He is on the 1881 census. IN Feb 1887 he is named as the father on his daughter's death certificate, so I assumed he was alive then. I searched from March 1887 to 1899 because in that year he is named on another daughter's marriage cert but as "deceased". Michele

Hi Stan, your answer to registration of death if someone was in a Lunatic asylum but was referred to as dead where would you be likely to find records of these places. Because I have got someone whom I assume had died and his wife was a widow and three years later she remarried. but then I have looked for his death for 2 years and can't find it, even on his daughters marriage cert. it says father deceased, Thank you Margaret

Hi Michele All deaths after 1837 should have been registered, because a burial should not have taken place without the certificate. Don't forget that people could assert someone was dead when they were still alive, and no-one would know if the person in question had moved away. This might also happen if (say) they were in a lunatic asylum and no-one wanted to admit it. Equally some people might disappear for their own reasons, and relatives might later have them declared dead (after ten years I think). I know this doesn't help directly, but you should not assume the marriage had any relationship to a real (as opposed to an asserted) death. Regards Stan

FAO: Margaret: That is what I was hoping I wouldn't hear!! I haven't tried the cemeteries though, that's an idea. Thanks for the reply! Michele

Hi Michele, I have been looking for a death of someone for 2 years and he died between 1889-1891 and I have been told that not all deaths were registered I have tried the local office where he was living also have searched the gro index many times so I will have to give it up also phoned several cemeterys in the area he lived Hope you find yours best wishes Margaret

My gt gt grandfather Thomas Browne (born Jan 1847)must be wandering around aged 157 - or was it possible for deaths to be omitted from the Register? His widow remarried in September 1892 by special licence from an address in Rotherhithe although she had been living with her new husband as man and wife in Leyton at least by the 1891 census (2 children aged 6 and 3 by him). As they married somewhat hastily I guess that poor Thomas must have died shortly before their marriage. Was it ever the case that, say, patients in hospital too ill to speak were clerked in wrongly? How accurate would the Register have been at that time? Any pointers would be gratefully received. Michele