Myself and a distant Irish cousin (and brilliant genie!) have been having a high old time researching a side branch of our shared family tree, featuring at least 3 siblings who emigrated to Australia around the 1850's-60's. The death certificate of one of them, Minnie Pierce Thomas nee Maria Pierce Hopkins is pictured left and has been rather diligently completed by the Registrar to say the least! From this we learned;
- Married name, including familiar family name "Minnie",
- Date and exact place of death,
- Age and so corroboration for approximate known year of birth,
- Detailed cause & duration of death, doctor and date of his last visit,
- Name and occupation of father & full maiden name of mother,
- Name of informant, relationship to deceased (daughter) and helpfully too, witnessed by her other daughter for some reason?
- Date and place of registration,
- When, where and by whom she was buried, undertaker and minister!
- Witnesses to her burial - in this case her son-in-law and her nephew,
- Birthplace and approximate date of emigration,
- Husband, place of marriage and her age when married, so giving an approximate year for their marriage,
- Names and ages of children of the marriage, including the fact that they are all still alive in 1903, 2 boys are twins and both daughters are married.
Minnie's bother, Thomas Pierce Hopkins, died in Queensland where considerably less information was recorded. Does anyone have any examples of death certificates from the state of Victoria, as I've a few relatives who expired there and I'm thinking that it may be worth investing in some copies? The following website offers a comparison of what to expect for each state or territory but I suppose as with any of the records we rely on, they can print the form but whether it's all filled in will depends on the Registrar on the day! By contrast, Minnie's NSW marriage record sports 4 empty crucial boxes and the same illegible placename scribbled 4 times. Having said that we are talking 1863 Australian frontier country in the gloriously named district of Wee Waa where form filling was probably not a priority!