Infants age on death certificates

[Debbiexx]

Hi can anyone advise? If an infants age on a death certificate was indicated as 0 could the age at death be say 8 months? Thanks
Debbie

[Kiltpin]

Hi can anyone advise? If an infants age on a death certificate was indicated as 0 could the age at death be say 8 months? Thanks
Debbie

I don't suppose it was universal and each Registrar had their own way of doing things, but I would expect 0 to mean less than a month and probably less than a week. I have seen 9 months written as 9/12 before.

Regards

Kiltpin

[pwholt]

When we index deaths of infants for Wiltshire BMD, 0 is used for any child under 12 months. Thereafter, it is by the relevant year. If the age is given as 18 months, say, the index age is 1. If you are using any of the other indexes being done directly from the original records, I think it likely they may be using the same. It isn't too far fetched to think that the Superintendent Registrar also had a policy similar to the one above. pwholt

[Debbiexx]

Thank you both, it looks like my great uncle was around 7/8/9 months when he died in 1871 he was recorded as 0 on the death certificate but had been 7 months on the 1871 census. Thanks again

[Peter Goodey]

Are you talking about the death certificate or the index?

They are not the same thing, you know.

[Debbiexx]

Hi Peter, it is indicated on the BMD index that the age of death is 0. Haven't had sight of his death certificate

[Peter Goodey]

Debbie
Your original question was about death certificates. You cannot use the index as a substitute for the certificate.

In the GRO index, 0 means less than 1 year old. However the certificate will show the actual age more precisely.

[Sandyhall]

To find out you need to get the copies of the Birth and Death cert. from the records office or GRO.

They will tell you all you need to know ie I have the birth cert. and death cert. for my mums siblings who had died at Birth, who as children her brother and sisters knew nothing about.

1 boy child was not named on the birth cert. but on the Death cert. it has ---------Farmer *(surname) on the death cert. it states he died after 1 hour with the cause of death Premature Birth.
Another one lived for 2 days also cause of death Prematurity & debility.
Another lived for 3 days.

*Added name as no one left living in that part of family.

[Debbiexx]

Feel like I am being told off Peter! I am still new to this. But you are right I said death certificate and should have said BMD index. We have located him on 1871 census as 7 months old so he died within 3 months of this census. I had wanted to check that the BMD index recording age as 0 could be an infant of 7/8/9 months of age to be sure it is my Great Uncle

[Pam Downes]

Peter isn't telling you off at all, just pointing out that there is often a significant difference between what will be written on a document (in this case a death certificate) and what will appear in an index, and that you have to realise the difference.

It's like someone saying 'my great granny was born on 10 July 1820 in Barnstaple' when they mean 'the parish register for Barnstaple shows that my great granny was baptised there on 10 July 1820'.

Took me quite a while to learn to be precise about those differences.

Pam