Death Certificate

I'm sorry annie, I'm not quite sure what you're asking. Is this the copy of your daughter's death certificate, but you're saying the year of birth is incorrect?

No grannyactivist, the deceased was male, his son asked me to trace his father , he hadn't seen him since he was five, now approaching fifty. It was difficult because all I knew was the fathers name and he was born in N.I. Taken me two months but tracked him down to Salford. Sadly he had died. I will tell his son this evening , the Informant puzzled me, just a name and causing body to be cremated. I think he died a lonely man, just hoped it was a relative who had been the informant, she couldn't have known him well if she thought he was forty, he was fifty .

It sounds as though he was found by a stranger, perhaps not immediately, and his death registered by someone who didn't know him very well. Maybe you could find a newspaper item mentioning that his body had been found. The wrong date of birth could be a guess because no-one knew exactly, but some acquaintance knew his birhday and that he came from N.I.

Good suggestion Elegran, I am sad, I started this in the hope I could reunite the father and son , the divorce was acrimonious, battle for custody over the son. Now I have to tell the son his father is dead . I did say when I started the search not to pin hope on a happy outcome , oh I am so sad.

Could the informant have been an undertaker or the police, do you think? It does sound very sad.

I have no idea who the informant on my grandmother's death cert is. It's just an initial and surname and says it was her stepdaughter, but there were no step-daughters. I'd have expected it to be her brother or sister in law.

I am having a little weep, this started because a little boy said to his daddy, your my father, where is your father ? This is why I was asked to search, and it is for someone I am very,very fond of.

This comment from a Registrar might help:

The qualification of "causing the body to be buried" (or cremated), is used when the person registering the death does not qualify to be allowed to do so in any closer way. Often it may be a friend or neighbour, or a solicitor dealing with the estate of a person with no close family.

It is also used quite often for an unmarried partner. They do not qualify as related to the deceased, and unless present at the death have no other way of being allowed to legally register the event which can be very distressing for them. A relative (for the purpose of registration) is someone related by blood, marriage or adoption. There is no legal status of a common law relationship in England/Wales.

They lived at different addresses . Thank you Grannyactivist

are you sure you have the right man? I've been trying to find info on my fathers brother who we lost touch with in the 60's...when it wasn't as easy to keep in touch.I've found at least 5 men born on the same day of the same month but different years .All registered in the same district and all with a mother who has the right name .These men have 16 years between the oldest and the youngest.As I dont know my uncles year of birth its trial and error trying to pinpoint the right man.If your man has a relatively common name chances are there are more than one with the same details.My fathers family had an Irish name and the area his brother was born had a lot of irish inhabitants so not only was his surname common his first name was too.Try to look for other folk with the same or similar names but closer to the birthdate you think is right .Good luck with it and dont give up just yet he might still be out there .

Update.

It was the right man, all so very sad , yet from my searching has come such joy

Breaking the news your father died twenty years ago followed by - you have a half sister who has been searching for you

Annie it was once my job to counsel birth parents and their adopted children prior to reunions taking place, so I understand the mixed emotions your searching has brought. The news of the sister will be most welcome I'm sure.

Grannyactivist, the news of the death was difficult to break, there was a hope of a reunion after 44 years , I felt cruel taking away that hope .

But the half brother and sister have made contact , the brother learned the sister didn't know their father either so this helps ease feeling that his father deserted him .

I have found a third marriage, hope there wasn't a third abandoned child .

What I found so moving is they both feel sorry for their father who died quite young and alone .

Such a bittersweet ending, Annie.

I hope the new-found siblings find solace in each other.

Very glad to hear there was a partial happy outcome to your search. I have a similar problem tracing the death cert. for my uncle. Can I ask how you knew you had the correct cert. despite the wrong dates?
I've got a choice of wrong dates but right place, or right dates and wrong place. Name is correct in both cases. Do I just need to send for both? He was a widower and estranged from children when he died so I assume it was a neighbour or friend who registered the death.

The person was born in Ireland , I sent for the birth certificate . Found a death in England , born in N.I. name was correct , day and month were correct , year was ten years out , cause of death fitted with lifestyle of the deceased , it helped that the name was very Irish and the deceased had been the informant of his fathers death, the deceased had named his son for his father . Also the second wife confirmed the deceased had a certain lifestyle as did the first wife

Many thanks for the info. Unfortunately I am seeking a fairly common name and am not 100% certain of the cause of death. I think I will get both certs. and see if there is anything to give a clue on them. Thanks again.