useful death registration info

Genealogy Chat

Welcome to the Genes Reunited community boards!

The Genes Reunited community is made up of millions of people with similar interests. Discover your family history and make life long friends along the way.
You will find a close knit but welcoming group of keen genealogists all prepared to offer advice and help to new members.
And it's not all serious business. The boards are often a place to relax and be entertained by all kinds of subjects.
The Genes community will go out of their way to help you, so don’t be shy about asking for help.

Profile	Posted by	Options	Post Date
Member Since: August 2004 Posts: 314 Send Message	Ed	Report	16 Jan 2008 14:56
Member Since: August 2004 Posts: 314 Send Message	this is from the durham records on-line site Question: I have found the burial of an ancestor in 1854, but cannot find a matching death certificate in the GRO (aka St. Catherine's House) indexes. Why? Answer: Although civil registration of deaths began in England and Wales on July 1,1837 and was theoretically compulsory, the legislation did not include penalties for failure to comply. Also, there was a small fee for registration, which deterred many. Between 1837 and 1874 there were many deaths which escaped the official net and which do not appear in the GRO indexes. The only real reason to register a death from 1837 to 1874 was if a person was insured, as the insurance company demanded to see the death certificate before paying out. It was the serial murders committed by Mary Ann Cotton (executed at Durham in 1873) which obliged the authorities to rethink the law. Starting in January 1, 1874, penalties were introduced for not registering a death, and it became necessary to have a death certificate before a burial could take place. The small fee was also abolished, so registration was free.