Death certificate age crossed out

[Hoosteen]

I’ve hit a brick wall in my family tree with one of my relatives.
Long story short, I was torn between 2 years he could have been born (6 years apart) as I couldn’t find any records of someone of his name being born in Ireland for the year the 1939 register says, found someone born 6 years before then which I thought could be him. So I ordered his death certificate (he died in 1942 which I know for definite) and lo and behold, there are 2 ages written on the death certificate (6 years apart) with one crossed out! I couldn’t believe it!

Does anyone have any idea why one age would be crossed out and replaced by another? Does the registrar just take the word of who registered the death of how old the person was, or Would they have registered his age using official records and then perhaps his daughter (she registered the death) said that it was incorrect so it was changed? I don’t know how it works.
This was in 1942 so I’m guessing things weren’t as strict as today.

I hope this makes sense!

[Hoosteen]

By the way he died in England if this makes any difference

[Elwyn Soutter]

With a death registration a lot of the information is taken on trust. The Registrar doesn’t make exhaustive enquiries to verify every aspect. Today they like it if you can produce the deceased’s passport or other documentation but sometimes there is none to produce. In that case the information is only as accurate as the informant’s knowledge.

Today the information is generally more accurate but in the 1800s a lot of ages were just simply guesses, and that probably also applied in 1942. If there was a change in the age, then it was probably because the informant had second thoughts about what they had just said. Any change should be formally recorded in a note in the margins.

But for someone in their 70s or 80s, at one time an error of up to 10 years in the deceased’s age was quite common.

[AntonyMMM]

You may be confusing the age, with another number showing a numbered correction.

What exactly does it say in the age column, and what is written in the margin (if anything). Can you post an image ?

[Hoosteen]

[AntonyMMM]

It is a standard "numbered correction" which means it was done whilst the entry was being completed and before it was signed by the informant and registrar. So all you can say is that the registrar first recorded 59 as the age but then changed it to 53 - but it was done whilst the informant was present, not later.

[Peter Goodey]

The place of death, by the way, was South Shields General Hospital, formerly the South Shields Union Workhouse infirmary.

[Hoosteen]

Thank you so much for the info about when the age was changed! Never in s million years would I have found that out on my own.