Genealogy Chat

Have just received a death cert for a lady who died in 1841 aged 88, cause of death 'decay of nature' presume it just means 'old age' but haven't come across this one before. Michele

Yes that's right......makes me imagine her falling apart! Merry

Does anyone know if there were set 'phrases' for the cause of death or did the person just write more or less what they wanted? Michele

On my ancestors death certificate he was age 46 and died of Natural Decay. Poor chap must have been worked to death - his occupation Optician master. Irene

I cannot recommend too highly this website: http://home.clara.net/dixons/Certificates/indexbd.htm written by a registrar with lots of info about bmd certs and what they mean. Causes of death in earlier certs tend to have just one thing (often not something I would think of as fatal, such as 'laryngitis'); later ones tend to have doctor's certification and have at least 2 or 3 - sometimes 4 - causes of death in medical jargon. nell

It's unlikely that an informant would invent a new cause of death. For one thing, it might suggest that the death was suspicious and needed further investigation. Different terms are fashionable at different times. Plenty of my ancestors in the early days of civil registration died of Decay of Nature or Old Age, but by 1900 the descriptions were far more specific.

Many thanks everyone for all your ideas I'm off to look at the website. Michele

I find this site interesting (if a little graphic!!) antiquusmorbus(.)com/English/English(.)htm This is what they say: Decay of Nature - Debility Elly

Nell - I just looked at the Website you recommended for information on certificates ... wow!! Lots of good information, even for those who are familiar with the basics. This one will definitely be bookmarked. Thanks - Tim