General Chat

On my great Uncles death certificate it states that his Brother, my Grandfather is the informant and his usual address which is different from great Uncles whom died at his home address but not that he ( Granddad )was present at death. Am I making any sense?

The informant is the person going to the registrar. They may or may not be present at the death.
Sorry if that’s not what you’re asking

Could it be that your Grandfather wasn't actually there at that moment?

It is more often than not that the informant on a death certificate will be someone who was not necessarily present at the death.

Your grandfather probably just wanted to save his sister-in-law (if his brother was married) to job of having to go to the registrar's office.

"present at the death" would only be written on the certificate if the registrar had actually asked the question "Were you present at the death?"

Kath. x

Yes it is what I was asking thank you Von.
namelessone that’s the bit I don’t understand, how did my Grandfather know as it doesn’t say present at death and they lived about 20 miles apart, my Great Uncle was unmarried.

I see the brother wasn't married. You'd be surprised how quickly news of this sort travelled. He may have got a telegram from whoever found his brother, or a knock on the door from a policeman (in the days when the police had time for such jobs).

My grandfather died in York in 1941 and his son, who lived in the south of England but was staying in Hartlepool at the time still managed to register the death.

20 miles isn't that far so if it was before most people had cars then someone may have cycled or known someone local with a telephone. My dad regularly cycled from Hartlepool to his cousin's house in Richmond, Yorks. which is nearly 40 miles.

Kath. x

Was your grandfather the next of kin or even the eldest brother.? It would normally be down to the family to arrange his funeral etc. If he had a will maybe your grandfather was the executor and felt it was down to him to register the death.
Was there a big gap between the death and the registration?

The informant on my hubby’s death cert is the coroner because there had to be a talk through inquest on his death as he had only been in the hospice for two day when he passed and the doctor that made the decisions on his care hadn’t treated him in the long term

It had to be decided based on evidence that his legal rights had not been breached in his final care

I’m just gathering the information together and shall put it on here later <3

A bit of a mixed puzzle really so prepare to read some gibberish lol. My great Uncle didn’t leave a will so it was administration, his death was 6th of the month and registered 9th same month by his Brother my Grandfather and he received the lot, so I’m assuming my Grandfather was next of kin as he was the eldest. I suppose I will not find out who found him or who else lived at the same household, it is thought he may have been homosexual and that the boyfriend didn’t want it known that they were in a same sex relationship as the event as in the late 1960s.

I think you’ve solved it yourself.
Your Granddad was informed of the death, probably by the partner, he came and registered the death as the partner wouldn’t have wanted to.

Your Grandfather, as next of kin, organised the Admin of the estate. He should really have shared it around any other siblings.

Thank you namelessone, I think I have too, next is to see if I can find his grave and hopefully it may have more information on it.

Electoral rolls for that area might tell you if someone else was living at the same address as your Great Uncle.

Without a Will, laws of inheritance kick in and as nameslessone says, your Grandfather should not have been the sole beneficiary, regardless of whether or not he was the eldest or next of kin.
If your Grandfather was granted administration rights, he was responsible for sharing the estate in a legal set way.

When my dad died my sister and I lived close to our parents mum had gone to work and I was the first to get to the house so I phoned my brother who lived in Brighton at the time and he came up and registered the death its 35 years today since we lost our dad a d we lost mum last year