Wrong husband.

[Dargie]

I recently sent away for the death certificate of my great, great grandmother. I believed I had all the relevant facts correct as the death was recorded in the Parish registers.
Ann LEEKS buried 29th July 1859 wife of James. Onehouse, Suffolk.
I wanted the certificate to determine the cause of death.
When it arrived I was shocked. :shocked:All the details were correct except it gave the name of husband as Charles instead of James.
A neighbour was with Ann at time of death.
A fellow LEEKS researcher agrees with me that no Ann /Charles LEEKS combination has so far been found in Suffolk certainly not in a small place like Onehouse.
Is it possible that the neighbour registered the death and gave a wrong name for the husband?
Is it feasible to believe this could happen? Were errors on death certificates common? I did once receive a Scottish death certificate where the maiden name of the wife was incorrect.
Marj.

[BeeJay]

Marj, I have the same situation with my 4xgt-grandmother who died at age 90 in a workhouse. The death was registered by the workhouse master and the name of her husband was William instead of Edmund. I ordered a second certificate from the register office, to see if it had been copied wrong to the GRO copy, but it was the same. I searched census records like you, and I'm almost certain I have the death certificate for the right person.

I don't know how common errors are on death certificates, but mistakes can be made any time someone is giving, recording or copying information.

:smile5:

[stevenpenny]

Hi Dargie,

In the 1841 Census Ann and James are living in a 'Halfway House' in Onehouse. In the 1851 Census Ann Leeks is still living in Onehouse Suffolk with her husband James, son James and daughter Mary-Ann in what looks like Rattlesden Road.

I think from this that you can safely assume that you have the right person although curiously there is an Ann Leeks married to a Charles in the 1851 Census. This Ann Leeks was born in Eyke Suffolk and although there is no obvious death record for her, she might have died around the same time as your Ann, and in the same place and a simple error was made.

Yes I know this is extremely unlikely but you never know.

Steve

[Dargie]

Thank you Beejay...you have answered one of my questions...errors do occur on death certificates. I too am sure I have the right person but it always leaves a lingering doubt which is unpleasant!

Oh dear, stevenpenny ,just as I was feeling better!! It is interesting you have found a Charles and Ann LEEKS living in Suffolk in the right time frame, as I thought there were none.

My Ann was in Onehouse in 1851 and gone in 1861. James a widower. I can find no other Ann LEEKS death in the Stow.S district during that time.
I have been tracing cause of death down the generations for obvious reasons and I would prefer not to claim Ann's cause of death however I do think she is mine.
Marj.:smile5:

[Dargie]

Could somebody help me to determine the origins of a death certificate.
It has been suggested that the name was written as Jas which a later person thought to be Chas, thus writing Charles instead of James.

After kind neighbour Harriet Hollex reported the death in Onehouse in July 1859 where did that notification go and how many people were involved before it became the death certificate I now hold?
Please excuse me for my "dumbness" or point me to a "sticky" if necessary.
Sorry!
:blush5:|dunce2|
MArj.

[Dargie]

I have now found out the answer to the above #5 query.
I no longer consider myself "Dumb",,,,, well in this case anyhow!
Thanks
Marj.