Documents In Depth – #3 death certificates

Registration of deaths began in England and Wales, along with that of births and marriages, on 1 July 1837. There was no change to the layout and content of death certificates until 1 April 1969. Each entry consists of nine columns. In most cases the information supplied is quite straightforward and the meaning is obvious. But occasionally, we come across something out of the ordinary. This is a guide to some of the most frequently-found oddities.

Death certificates are all-too-frequently overlooked by family historians. While it’s