Whats on a Death Certificate?
Order England and Wales Certificates Here
England and Wales
Civil Registration for deaths in England and Wales began on 1st July 1837. Death Certificates before 1969 will list the Name, Place and Death of the deceased, their age at death and cause of death. It will also tell you their occupation and usual residence at the time of death as well as the informants details who registered the death.
Entries after 1969 will also show the place and date of birth of the deceased. If the entry you are looking for is prior to 1969 and your unsure of a date of birth you can still gain verification that you have the right person by checking the informants name which in most cases is a spouse or close family member. Also if you have access to the last census before their death then you may have a match on the address which will help to confirm you have the right person. As with other documents deducting the age they were at the time of the event in this case their death from the year of the event will help you to lock down their year of birth.
Order Scottish Certificates Here
How much will a certificate cost?
A death certifcate ordered through the England and Wales General Register Office on a standard delivery should cost around £7.00 if you supply the GRO index numbers and around £10.00 if you don't. If you request the 24hr priority service it will cost you between £23.00 and £26.00.
you can view online images of scottish death entries for the years between 1855 and 1958 for arund 5 credits each. (Minimum credit pourchase is £6.00 for 30 credits. For deaths occuring after 1958 you should contact the General Register Office for Scotland directly.
Scotland
Scotlands Statutory Registers are generally more detailed but the format of which information is included has changed since civil registration began in scotland in 1855.
Generally you should always get the Name, Gender and Marital status of the deceased. You should also get their Rank, Profession or Occupation. The date, place and time of death along with their age at death and cause of death will be recorded as well as their parents and/or spouses names and professions. Usefully they usually record whether their parents are alive or deceased which helpful in working out timelines for search radiuses. The recording of informants details and registrars names are also consistantly recorded throughout the years.
If the entry you are looking for is after 1964 you should also get their date of birth. If your luck enough to be looking between 1855 and 1860 you might come across details of children, burial and undertakers details but this level of detail clearly proved to difficult to administate so many details were dropped in the years following the start of Civil registration.
* As with other searches on the scotlandspeople website do use the soundex and also check under any other names the person was known by for example sometimes deaths are registered under the persons maiden name or other married name they have been known by.
