Why did it take so long?

[Jan1954]

Hello twigs and leaves - a ponderance for you.

Joseph WILKINS was born in Eastbourne about 1776. I have his death certificate which states that he died 27 August, 1851 at the age of 75.

He died of dropsy (not certified).

However, his death was not registered until 6th December 1851 (by his daughter Barbara, present at the death)

My question is:
Why did it take over 3 months to register his death?

I thought that a death had to be registered within 5 days of the event - or did that ruling come in later?

By the way, a bit of extra information...
Gravestone in St. Mary`s Churchyard, Eastbourne:
Sacred to the memory of Joseph Wilkins late of this Parish who departed this life Aug. 27 1851 aged 74 years. Also his wife Mary who departed this life Nov. 24 1845 aged 69 years. He built the Crown Inn, ex. information from Charles Gausden who was told by Joe Willard who restored the stone, ex.Station Master of Arundel.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Jan

[Geoffers]

Does the death certificate indicate if there was an inquest?

[Jan1954]

Hello Geoffers,

No inquest indicated at all.

Jan

[Geoffers]

In that case, it could just be a lack of knowledge as to what to do - in the scheme of things, civil registration was still relatively new then. Perhaps the surviving descendents only found out after a few months that they had to register the death?

[Jan1954]

Thanks Geoffers - that's the line of thought that I was taking.

I realise that a number of births weren't registered as some people thought that, by having the child baptised, the birth would automatically be registered. So, I suppose that the same way of thinking could apply to burials...

Thanks,

Jan

[suedent]

Perhaps the informant thought that as you had up to three months to register a birth the same applied to deaths.

Either that, or it was a case of confusion amongst the family members, each thinking the other had reported the death. Perhaps the certificate was needed for some reason & it was realized that nobody had registered the death.

[Jan1954]

Thanks for the suggestion, Sue.|idea| 'Tis another theory to ruminate over.

Jan