Hi.
What is the best approach to searching for Death Registers on SP?
I find that I'm wasting a LOT of credits on trying to find the DC on
folk.
dennis
DCs on SP
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AndrewP
- Site Admin
- Posts: 6189
- Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2004 1:36 am
- Location: Edinburgh
The more that you can narrow the search down, the more specific the outcome will be. The ways of narrowing should come from the following selection - the more you already know, the better.
(1) When was the subject last known to be alive - by family knowledge, or preferably by appearing on censuses; or on a birth, marriage or death certificate as a parent, witness or informant; or on their own birth or marriage certificate.
(2) When was the subject first known to be deceased - marked as deceased on a child's marriage or death certificate; or their spouse is shown as widowed on a census, subsequent marriage certificate or death certificate.
(3) Was there an area where the subject lived latterly - a town or registration district where other family certificates were issued; or at least a county.
(4) Other surnames for a female subject - (until the search by two surnames comes online) choose the less common surname to search by first. When you have a likely result, see if the other surname produces a positive result. If you get it down to a short list, you can spend a credit (per page) and print out the results. If the second surname produces a short list, spend a credit per page and print that out. Search the two print outs for any exact matches. If the second surname produces a long list, then one by one, you can see if there is a match by searching using all criteria - surname, first name, age, county and registration district. A positive result there is worth following up to see if it is an exact match to the certificte number.
None of the above guarantees you a 100% result, but used to the best advantage, it can cut down on the amount of fruitless searches.
All the best,
Andrew Paterson
PS - I now see that the search for a female death by two surnames should be online tomorrow - on the upgraded ScotlandsPeople site.
(1) When was the subject last known to be alive - by family knowledge, or preferably by appearing on censuses; or on a birth, marriage or death certificate as a parent, witness or informant; or on their own birth or marriage certificate.
(2) When was the subject first known to be deceased - marked as deceased on a child's marriage or death certificate; or their spouse is shown as widowed on a census, subsequent marriage certificate or death certificate.
(3) Was there an area where the subject lived latterly - a town or registration district where other family certificates were issued; or at least a county.
(4) Other surnames for a female subject - (until the search by two surnames comes online) choose the less common surname to search by first. When you have a likely result, see if the other surname produces a positive result. If you get it down to a short list, you can spend a credit (per page) and print out the results. If the second surname produces a short list, spend a credit per page and print that out. Search the two print outs for any exact matches. If the second surname produces a long list, then one by one, you can see if there is a match by searching using all criteria - surname, first name, age, county and registration district. A positive result there is worth following up to see if it is an exact match to the certificte number.
None of the above guarantees you a 100% result, but used to the best advantage, it can cut down on the amount of fruitless searches.
All the best,
Andrew Paterson
PS - I now see that the search for a female death by two surnames should be online tomorrow - on the upgraded ScotlandsPeople site.
Last edited by AndrewP on Tue May 31, 2005 7:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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STUARTDALGLEISH
- Posts: 145
- Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2005 7:57 pm
- Location: PAISLEY
Hi Dennis,
I'm far from an expert but I'll tell you how I go about it.
Firstly I try to find them in the census records as far as possible to make sure they are dead or alive i.e if they are alive in the 1891 census but either the husband wife etc is not in the 1901 census then this "should give you a 10 year gap to search.
I then work out from their last census age how old they will be in this gap i.e if they are 50 years old in 1891 then they will be between 50 and 60 give or take a year for good luck when they die between 1891 and 1901.
I then search in the area they last appeared, or if the spouse is still alive, the area that they now live. This should eliminate quite a few hits.
If it is a woman you are looking for search for their married name and take a note of they GROS number at the side for all they hits. Do they same again for their maiden name and take a note of the GROS numbers again. IF any match then this "should" be your person.
All this said and done, name changes, spelling and moving south or abraod often still make it difficult.
I'm sure some of the Pro's may share some more idea's
Cheers
Stuart
I'm far from an expert but I'll tell you how I go about it.
Firstly I try to find them in the census records as far as possible to make sure they are dead or alive i.e if they are alive in the 1891 census but either the husband wife etc is not in the 1901 census then this "should give you a 10 year gap to search.
I then work out from their last census age how old they will be in this gap i.e if they are 50 years old in 1891 then they will be between 50 and 60 give or take a year for good luck when they die between 1891 and 1901.
I then search in the area they last appeared, or if the spouse is still alive, the area that they now live. This should eliminate quite a few hits.
If it is a woman you are looking for search for their married name and take a note of they GROS number at the side for all they hits. Do they same again for their maiden name and take a note of the GROS numbers again. IF any match then this "should" be your person.
All this said and done, name changes, spelling and moving south or abraod often still make it difficult.
I'm sure some of the Pro's may share some more idea's
Cheers
Stuart