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1st. World War deaths

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  • 1st. World War deaths

    This may have been asked before but I'll try again.

    If a soldier was killed in action in the 1st. World War would there be a death certificate produced in this country, and if so how would I go about getting one, and would they be made out in their home district ?

    On my mother's side of my family (Richardson's) I cannot find any death records of who would have been her uncles. I have traced their births and marriages and found them on the 1911 census, but after that nothing. They were all born in the 1880s or 1890s so would have been of serving age for the war. The trouble is that there were more than enough men named Richardson from Lancashire who died and I'm not sure which regiment they would have served in as they were born in either the Preston or Blackburn area and there were several regiments within the Lancashire catchment area.
    Ken. ;)

    Staveley, Richardson, Maunder, Stewart.

  • #2
    The death registration would appear in the overseas BMDs which are available to search on Findmypast (subscription or credits) or Family Relatives (free). If you locate one in the overseas index then you can apply to the General Register Office in the same way as you do for English & Welsh certificates.

    Have you searched the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site?
    You can only search using initials for the first name but on some of the records you will find age and also "son of ...." or "husband of ...."

    Have you looked at Ancestry to see if you can see any Army Service or Pension records? Again you would need to sift through the records if you are searching for a common name, but you often get year and place of birth or address which can help.
    Elaine







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    • #3
      My family are Scottish but I imagine it could be similar for English was deaths.
      Anytime I have viewed a "killed in action" death cert on SP it is just a list of names with little detail ie no parents names etc.
      The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website may be the best place to look.
      herky
      Researching - Trimmer (Farringdon), Noble & Taylor (Ross and Cromarty), Norris (Glasgow), McGilvray (Glasgow and Australia), Leck & Efford (Glasgow), Ferrett (Hampshire), Jenkins & Williams (Aberystwyth), Morton (Motherwell and Tipton), Barrowman (Glasgow), Lilley (Bromsgrove and Glasgow), Cresswell (England and Lanarkshire). Simpson, Morrow and Norris in Ireland. Thomas Price b c 1844 Scotland.

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      • #4
        Thank you Elaine, some good advice there which will keep me busy for a while.
        Ken. ;)

        Staveley, Richardson, Maunder, Stewart.

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        • #5
          I too would recommend Commonwealth War Graves Commission as a first port of call.

          Another avenue is to look for village or town war memorials. Transcriptions for SOME places are now on line, so you may be lucky. I have found the memorials vary greatly as some just name men who died: others also name men who served.
          Our village churchyard has a war memorial listing men who died. Inside the church is a roll of honour, naming all who served in the forces, including women's forces, nurses etc. (These are both transcribed on GENUKI)

          As an aside, each village or town decided on whether or not to subscribe for the erection of a war memorial and also decided who should be included. When researching the men on my local war memorial, it was quite a surprise to learn that not all of them were from the village and that some men feature on the war memorial in another village as well.

          Jay
          Janet in Yorkshire



          Genealogists never die - they just swap places in the family tree

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          • #6
            Some death certs (in French) for British troops who died in France in WW1 are on BMD Registers - I found my great uncle's there.

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            • #7
              I am not sure about this but if someone was killed in action then a death cert could give cause of death, name rank and number etc but who would be available to show age or next of kin etc. and if this additinal information is not shown it would be of little use in proving he was a relative

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              • #8
                I was very disappointed in my grandfathers death certificate, I thought that it might give me more information than was provided on the CWGC site, but all I got was:-

                18/287 Private 18 ELLIOTT James 32 England 8-11-1917 France Killed in Action

                All of which I knew.

                Margaret

                PS I've just noticed that it seems to be a special certificate under the 'Special Provisions' Act of 1957 and across the top it gives the additional information:-

                Return of Warrant Officers, Non-commisioned Officers and Men of the Northumberland Fusiliers

                Killed in Action or who have died whilst on Service Abroad in the War of 1914 to 1921
                Last edited by Rusty; 21-05-11, 13:31.
                Margaret

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Janet in Yorkshire View Post
                  As an aside, each village or town decided on whether or not to subscribe for the erection of a war memorial and also decided who should be included. When researching the men on my local war memorial, it was quite a surprise to learn that not all of them were from the village and that some men feature on the war memorial in another village as well.
                  The main war memorial in Bedford apparently has no names at all on it.
                  Uncle John - Passed away March 2020

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by colin taylor View Post
                    I am not sure about this but if someone was killed in action then a death cert could give cause of death, name rank and number etc but who would be available to show age or next of kin etc. and if this additinal information is not shown it would be of little use in proving he was a relative
                    My great-uncle died of wounds in a French hospital, and the French death cert gives not only the exact time and date of death but his date of birth, address where he was born, father's name and marital status. There was space on the cert for the mother's name, but it wasn't filled in.

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