Do registrars write rubbish?

[lozaras]

I'm thinking about making a complaint about the registrar that filled in the paperwork for my mum's death in 2011. Some of you may remember the pig's ear she made of the form.

I went to register the death and dad came along too.

There were two problems with the registration.

1/
When they asked for mum's occupation I replied (as she always did, when asked) 'domestic manager' - a term that does the job much more justice than 'housewife' - she always said she married a man not a house!

The registrar refused it, presumably because it wasn't on her list of accepted occupations (though I find it hard to believe that the list is completely exhaustive). She ended up asking dad what job mum had had before - well, she trained as an occupational therapist but as far as I know, never worked as one, or if she did it was only for a short time. She had her first child aged 23 having fallen pregnant at a training college, she never went back to work.

So, posterity now will find that she died aged 78 as a retired occupational therapist ;(

2/
I live in France and came home to England when we knew just how ill mum was, I had less than a week with her.
I was the informant for her death but the registrar wouldn't let me put my address in France. She made me put my parent's address - I have never lived there, and I had left England 20 years earlier.

Why did she do that?

I tried to convince her for both things, and if I had been alone I would have been more insistent but dad was there and mum had only died 2 days before and I didn't want to make a difficult time more difficult for him.

I can't think that it's right that the registrar should tell you what to write (even when it's patently wrong) and then make you sign that it's correct to the best of your knowledge.

We all know how important GRO certs are to family historians - if all the registrars are like the one I dealt with, then most of the info is a load of rubbish.

What are your thoughts?

Is it worth dropping them a line?

[kiterunner]

Looking through the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953, in some circumstances it looks as though the relative who registers a death is supposed to "reside or be in the sub-district where the death occurred", so possibly that is why the registrar wanted to put down your mother's address as yours?

[Merry]

With regard to your address, you can't have done this:

You should also take supporting documents that show your name and address (eg a utility bill) but you can still register a death without them.
But I suppose you just said you didn't have any paperwork? Or did she look at some French paperwork and then ignore it?

I can't see anything that says there is an acceptable list of occupations, but certainly when I went with a friend to register her father's death last Feb we had a discussion about his occupation as he'd had many during his life. The registrar commented "You can put whatever you think is most appropriate", she didn't say "but it has to be on this list".

I would definitely contact them.

[Merry]

Looking through the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953, in some circumstances it looks as though the relative who registers a death is supposed to "reside or be in the sub-district where the death occurred", so possibly that is why the registrar wanted to put down your mother's address as yours?

I saw this that mentions the above:

First three categories for registering a death:

•a relative who was present at the death
•a relative present during the person's last illness
•a relative living in the district where the death took place

So, I would read it that people in the first and second categories could live anywhere as long as they fulfilled the criteria mentioned.

[Glen TK]

I don't fit any of those categories but registered a death (England) and recorded my address (Scotland) with no problems at all.

[Merry]

There were more categories, Glen, but I only posted the first three. They were from the CAB website.

[lozaras]

Thanks for your replies.
So on both counts, the registrar was wrong it seems.

I was present at the death.

Any ideas who I should write to?

[JBee]

I registered a death some years ago - I wasn't a next of kin or even a relative.



However talking about registration of deaths - A neighbour of my ggf registered his death under the name of PARDON - his name was PADEN. I do wonder if she said pardon and the registrar thought that was the name lol.

[Olde Crone]

My friend's father died in a care home in the UK and one of the staff registered his death because his son could not get to the UK within the 6 days. Staff member knew the deceased as Bert. His birth name was actually A_C_Hubert.

Friend tried to change the registration details but it was going to be such a hoo-ha, he gave up. Future researchers will never find the man!

I registered my father's death and the registrar would not accept his occupation (Technical Officer) cos it wasn't on her list. He supervised and oversaw construction from an office but did not actually ever do any construction himself. He is on his death cert as "Construction worker". His cause of death is incorrect, because his medical death cert lists something which is not on any list.

As far as I am concerned, it's a minor miracle if any death cert tells the actual truth. The government is most concerned about producing statistics from death records and likes things neat and tidy, so the deceased has to fit into a box on a form.

OC

[Nell]

When my mother registered her mother's death in 1990, the registrar asked for the occupation of grannie's husband. My mother explained that her father had done many things - blacksmith, lorry driver, caretaker, shoemaker, agricultural labourer...at which the registrar said "I'll put blacksmith - we don't get many of them these days!"

This same grandfather - his death was recorded in 1972. My uncle was the informant and incorrectly gave grandad's date of birth a year out. Interestingly, granddad lied about his age in 1914 so he could join the army. Now of course, it should be possible to verify birth details.

On a personal note, I was rather miffed when I registered my brother's death in 2012. His place of birth was correctly recorded as 8 Broadway Close, Sanderstead, Surrey, but because of boundary changes etc his place of death, although the same address, was recorded as South Croydon, Surrey. This really annoys me, as Sanderstead and South Croydon are two separate areas with their own railway stations! But those were the rules.

I suppose we have to remember that the registers are not kept with family history in mind.