The Importance of Death Certificates in Family History
If you’re interested in learning about your family history, a good place to start is by obtaining a death certificate. My great-grandfather hid his identity as he did not want to be found as being married twice at the same time. It was a well told family story. Only when I ordered his death certificate was his birth name on the document.
What information is included in a death certificate?
Death certificates can break down brick walls and provide you with other important information about your ancestor, such as their date of death, place of death, cause of death, who registered the death, age at death and, in the case of a child, parent details.
In addition to a death certificate, there are other genealogy starting points that can be helpful in your research. These include census records, birth certificates, marriage records, and obituaries. By using these documents, you can piece together important information about your family history.
How can I order a death certificate?
The best way to obtain a death certificate for genealogy purposes in Australia is to contact the State or Territory registry office in the State or Territory where the person died. The National Library of Australia have links and guides to obtaining birth, death, and marriage documents in Australia’s States and Territories.
The General Register Office in the UK have kept records of births, marriages and deaths since July 1837. The certificate when ready, can be downloaded onto your computer.
There are a few other ways to obtain death certificates besides contacting the registry office. Many genealogy websites, such as Ancestry and Findmypast, have databases of death certificates that can be searched.
When searching for death certificates, it is important to have as much information as possible about the person of interest. The full name, date of death, and place of death are essential pieces of information. Having an approximate date of birth can also be helpful in narrowing down the search.
Who can apply for a death certificate?
It is important to respect privacy and legal regulation when seeking information about someone’s death. Therefore, some restrictions do apply in accessing death certificates to immediate family members and time lapses.
