Dead or alive

[sherrardk]

How can you find out if someone is still alive or if they have died? Thanks.

[teacher1]

Ask them. If they don't answer .................... ! lol

[JonnyBoy12]

Most people I know are dead then, teacher1!

[teacher1]

Exactly ! ;o)

[sherrardk]

Personally, I would go for the 'give 'em a gentle kick' - however, this is a proper question.

[ummmm]

Isn't there a way of checking death certs? I think they're public records...

[Buenchico]

I'm assuming, Sherrardk, that you're referring to (for example) a friend or relative whom you haven't heard from for ages. I know that this question has been asked before but, as far as I can recall, nobody came up with a 'one size fits all' answer. How much information have you got to go on?

[Buenchico]

As Ummmm suggests, death certificates are public documents but if you only know that the person was called 'John Smith', with no idea of where they were living or when they might have died, they don't help much. That's why it would help to know how exactly much information Sherrardk has to go on.

[sherrardk]

Hi, it's my real father. I'm not bothered either way, but since my mother has gone, I don't think there is anyone who would get the town 'gossip' and pass the info on. (Used to have to ask her if my gran (my real father's mother) was dead or not.)

[Buenchico]

Do you know where he was living?

[boxtops]

Sher, I am sorry, I thought you mean if you found someone in the street....

[sherrardk]

Sorry, meant to add, know his name and the town where he was/is living. No date of birth though. Seem to recall being told that he was seen at the hospital when my mother was ill and that he looked really ill himself - shan't lose any sleep over it though.

[sherrardk]

No probs Box, would have thought that my self.

[Buenchico]

My first thought would be to contact the Register Office for the area where he was/is living:
http://maps.direct.go...ction.do?ref=grolight

[sherrardk]

Thanks Buenchico - it's surprising how your information supply dries up when your family start to pop their clogs (no disrespect to anyone).

[sherrardk]

Hi Trim - didn't really know where to put it as I am not doing a family tree and I don't know if he is actually dead. Was going to put a joke in my original question but know that is frowned upon! x

[Andyvon]

Hi Sherrardk,

A couple of years ago I inadvertently signed up to an Internet company called 192.com. I thought they could help me search for my ancestors and family tree but I'd paid £25 for a one year subscription before I found they couldn't.

However, I did find them very interesting when I started looking through various sites such as marriages and deaths. By entering a name I was able to find out some things about people I'd known in the past. I found out when and where my former step-daughters got married, when and who my first wife remarried as well as the deaths of family members such as my ex-mother-in-law.

If you enter a name into 'Deaths' you get a long list of people with that name and home town and the date and location of their death. It's not comprehensive by any means but I was able to track many people I've known from the past. Much of the information comes from Electoral Rolls and Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages. As I said, it cost me £25 for a year and that was a basic price. More detailed information costs more money (which I didn't pay).

I hope that helps. Good luck

[wolf63]

Also you could try just Googling - put in the information that you have and see what pops up. I found a death this way recently.

Remember to use your " " quotation marks.

Have fun :-)