Changes on death certificate

Jellybaby1

Maybe this is the wrong forum, please move if so. My mother's death certificate contained several mistakes. They did add a couple of certified corrections a couple of months later on my request, this was back in the 1980's. However, there was one other major blunder which was never corrected. If it was a trifle I'd let it go but this is a serious one for me. After all this time, what are my chances of getting the correction made now?

pinkypinky

It depends on what sort of mistake. If you have supporting proof, it should be no bother. I knew someone whose mother's name was wrong on her birth cert and it was corrected 30 years later, no problem but it did involve getting the mother's birth cert and her swearing in front of a peace commissioner.

I tried to get 2 things corrected on my grandmother's death cert (one was her age, and the other said it was registered in Tralee, Co. Meath! Obviously an error with a dropdown menu) but gave up because they wanted all her surviving children to swear before a peace commissioner. Her birth cert wasn't enough to confirm the age was wrong!

Jellybaby1

Thanks Pinky, that clarifies it for me.

Wyldwood

Jellybaby, I had a similar situation with my mother's death cert, she was registered as having been single instead of widowed (stupid hospital). My poor mother would have been mortified! Anyway, I had to get a copy of her marriage cert and take it to a Peace Commissioner to verify that she had actually been married and it was then corrected on death cert.

Jellybaby1

My problem is her occupation, and I don't have any proof that she was a seamstress working from home. It makes me so angry there are so many mistakes. There is no way anyone in our family could have told them she was a retired clerk!!!! She never had a job outside the home in her life.

pedroeibar1

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

My problem is her occupation, and I don't have any proof that she was a seamstress working from home.

The likelihood is that she was neither. I’ve encountered ‘seamstress’ a few times and believe that it is a ‘catch-all’ occupation for females who were of working age but had no specific occupation. One of my gggrandmothers in Co. Tipp. was describes as ‘Seamstress’ on her marriage cert in the 1870’s when she was very young, living at home with her parents (farmer.)
There is a lot of rubbish on the Web that 'seamstress' is a euphemism for a prostitute, (also ‘dressmaker’) but for every ‘working girl’ there probably were thousands of genuine dressmakers/seamstresses.

cobham

I only thought to get proper copy of marriage register for self in past year only to find my name incorrect on it! I am suprised that I seem to have managed without it for many years.
So all fixed up with form filled out and and signed off on by a solicitor and copy of birth cert attached. They sent back the corrected copy and said the old one would be removed from the record.

pinkypinky

Best thing to do is ring up the GRO and ask what sort of proof would be required for a self-employed person's business run from home.

Jellybaby1

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

The likelihood is that she was neither. I’ve encountered ‘seamstress’ a few times and believe that it is a ‘catch-all’ occupation for females who were of working age but had no specific occupation. One of my gggrandmothers in Co. Tipp. was describes as ‘Seamstress’ on her marriage cert in the 1870’s when she was very young, living at home with her parents (farmer.)
There is a lot of rubbish on the Web that 'seamstress' is a euphemism for a prostitute, (also ‘dressmaker’) but for every ‘working girl’ there probably were thousands of genuine dressmakers/seamstresses.

Hi Pedro. Its not the 1800's - its the 1980's so I was there!! I know, the whole family know, the whole neighbourhood knew, that she was a seamstress/dressmaker all her life, I still have her biscuit box full of buttons, and her book of customer's measurements and her measuring tape and bullet shaped shuttle for her Singer sewing machine. But I doubt the Dept will accept that as proof. However, a photograph of her at the sewing machine does exist but doubt they would accept that either.

Edit: "euphemism for a prostitute" would make mum spin in her grave as she was a modest and conservative lady, from her fingertips to her toes!

KildareFan

[euphemism for a prostitute" would make mum spin in her grave as she was a modest and conservative lady, from her fingertips to her toes! ]

Oh dear, many of my relatives were genuine dressmakers and seamstresses and I have photos of the frocks to prove it. I will look at them with great interest in future.

With regard to death certs, I've already found that they are unreliable, even if the informant was a relative. Sometimes the age is way out, and represents a best guess since parents often wouldn't tell their children what their age was because they didn't know themselves, or because they didn't want them to know - the mother of someone I know was actually eight years older than his father and the family only found out when she was dead and someone went looking for birth records.

Occupations are also a wild guess. The cause of death as self reported can be just a guess as well. Some of the death certs I have give a cause of death, but state no medical attention, so how did the informant know? One cert for a 4 year old child says something like marasmus [not sure if this is what it says] 21/2 years ill, no medical attendant.

Jellybaby1

Mum died in hospital, the hospital gave us the certified cause of death which was entered on the death certificate, its all recent stuff. The reason for the blunders is well known in the family. The clerk taking the details was detached and hardly listening to the answers to his questions, and the description of him at the time was 'couldn't care less' whether he got it right or not. It's haunted me ever since.

pedroeibar1

I do hope that nobody took offence!
@Kildare - marasmus is malnutrition, so if a child was ill for 2 and 1/2 yrs it would suggest another underlying medical condition and the poor thing would look so emaciated the cause of death would be obvious.
@Jellybaby - That is sad; some clerks in those positions become hardened and just don't care. The next-of-kin usually are too upset to do anything on the occasion, which unfortunately is when it need to be done. I hope you get it resolved.