Hi - seems to be a few meanings;
Died of natural causes (unexplained)
Emphasise another cause of death
(They) believed the plague was a visitation of God. Visitation of God
This is an interesting thread Judy, I haven't come across it before, but reading John's website I'm seriously hoping to find one of my ancestors 'visited by God' :D
They) believed the plague was a visitation of God
Libby I'm inclined to believe that it would have been Satan's visit that would have spread this around
I've a few death certificates with Visitation by God on them. They are all from early records before Dr's were advised to put a medical reason for death.
Daphne
Looking for Northey, Goodfellow, Jobes, Heal, Lilburn, Curry, Gay, Carpenter, Johns, Harris, Vigus from Cornwall, Somerset, Durham, Northumberland, Cumberland, USA, Australia.
What does Visitation of God mean on a death certificate?
If you are researching your family history, you may be somewhat surprised and perplexed when you come across a parish register, death certificate or coroner's report which states the cause of death as 'Visitation of God' (ex visitacone dei). What does this mean?
For centuries, doctors struggled in the darkness over the causes of disease and death, and how the human body functioned. If a person died, because of the doctor's limited knowledge they could only describe the cause of death as a fever, apoplexy, or convulsions, or what he could visibly see such as a head wound, or evidence of a lifestyle such as over indulgence of drink.
Occasionally he would describe the cause of death as a Visitation of God. Used in a more religious time than ours, it meant the death was inexplicable and it was thought that God had decided that it was time for the person to die.
It later came to mean that the person died of natural causes. It was a verdict often given by Coroner's juries, particularly in the 19th century. It was very rare that any autopsy was held and a doctor would give his opinion from the physical evidence of the body before him and the accounts he heard from others of the health of the deceased.
Also the coroner was only really concerned with the detection of crime, so the medical reason for the death did not matter to him once criminality had been ruled out.
I ordered a copy of a death certificate hoping the informant would help establish whether or not the deceased was my relative....No such luck and the cause of death (1885) was shown as '..probably decay of nature'
......or else maybe what?
My Dad sadly passed away in January and we were most surprised when the death certificate just said,"old age". I thought they had to be more specific than that these days. Probably the best thing to die of tho.
My Dad sadly passed away in January and we were most surprised when the death certificate just said,"old age". I thought they had to be more specific than that these days. Probably the best thing to die of tho.
In this day and age Karen, it does seem really strange that a Dr would just put "old age" on a certificate doesn't it! I'd have thought they would have to be more specific.
Comment