In this month’s edition of our Dear Paul column, Paul Chiddicks presents a genealogical miscellany of war-related names, ‘whaling women’ and the fascinating tale of a ‘sheep to suit’ tailoring competition...

Paul Chiddicks

W

e start this month’s edition of ‘Dear Paul’ with a challenge. Daniel (@ DanielGenealogy) sent me a birth certificate he found, whilst researching for a friend, and it’s the mother’s name that’s the intriguing part:

Julia Walsh, formerly Harrington, formerly Mahony, formerly Sullivan.

Has anybody found a certificate with the word ‘formerly’ written on more times than Daniel?

Working too hard?

Next, we delve into the world of the registrar, somebody that we family historians are accustomed to dealing with and whose details we see recorded on our certificates on a routine basis. However, we can sometimes forget about the legal responsibilities associated with the role of the registrar and the certified medical professionals, who determine a cause of death.  Reader Peter Edwards sent me a particularly sad, but unusual, death certificate.

Peter’s great-uncle, Robert Murray, died in 1893 at the age of 15, apparently from excessive study! The death certificate states that the cause of death was ‘simple cerebral meningitis 7 days due to excessive study and concussion of brain. Coma 15 hours’. The family story is that he died from an injury (presumably concussion) received while playing rugby at school, but the doctor did not want to mention this, because of the impact it might have on the school.

Can you beat the number of ‘formerly’ surnames with one of your own ancestors?

Even today, a number of deaths get referred to the coroner to agree on a cause of death

Not being an expert in this area, I consulted with ex-deputy registrar and professional genealogist Antony Marr, who was able to give some detailed information surrounding the legal requirements and definitions surrounding ‘causes of death’ that can legally be entered on death certificates.

The 1874 Births and Deaths Registration Act introduced the requirement for a ‘registered medical practitioner’ to specify the cause of death, but causes of death at the turn of the century could be quite vague, which gave doctors plenty of leeway over what they could write.

Today, there are far stricter rules surrounding ‘acceptable causes of death’ and these are far more detailed and specific. If we take this case in point, the child was obviously seen by the doctor himself, during the seven days of illness and he diagnosed meningitis. He doesn’t mention the supposed sports injury, but he does note there has been a concussion of the brain and a coma. If the doctor felt the death was due to an accidental injury, then there should have been a referral to the coroner which would have almost certainly led to an inquest and that hasn’t happened, but it’s possible that the doctor may have discussed the case with the coroner and the wording of the cause agreed.