Missing GRO records

System

This discussion was created from comments split from: Off topic: chat.

Rmulvany

Question regarding civil records on IrishGenealogy.ie that I have been meaning to ask for a while now.

Why are there some (mainly c. 1866) that aren't available on the site, and you have to request from the GRO?

I have requested a couple and the only reason I can think of is they were a little harder to read (handwriting) than the records that are available.

pinkypinky

All that is missing are deaths 1864-1870.

They've never given a reason why but I believe they are working on them.

The records are all in a database already so it's not about the handwriting. When you go into the GRO to order, they actually pull up images on their screen after searching a database and print them out.

Rmulvany

Okay so it must be that they haven't gotten around to releasing the death records for this period.

It is annoying having to fork out a 5r just to check if the record is even the one you are looking for!

pinkypinky

I know a lot of GRO staff were seconded for contact tracing in the early stages of the pandemic.

However, they're working super quickly today. I emailed a request for a birth record at 12:13 and had it by 12:30!

mrslancaster

Does anyone know what role the GRO played in the late 1800's early 1900's if a married man went to war and didn't come back?

If there was no body and they were missing for years and if the wife met someone else and wanted to marry him, what happened? She wasn't a widow as there was no body, and couldn't be divorced as it wasn't available in those days.

Did the GRO decide the husband was presumed dead after a certain number of years, so therefore the wife was legally a widow and free to marry again, even though there was no body?

Or, was she legally single again - did the GRO declare the original marriage void after a certain number of years as there was no husband, no body, and no divorce in those days.

As the population in Ireland was almost 100% RC, did the church rules have any impact on a situation like that?

pinkypinky

If someone died while in the army, he would be registered in the Army deaths register. Army would forward this info to the GRO. See here: https://www.gov.ie/en/organisation-information/143f25-about-the-general-register-office/

If they weren't in the army and just went missing, then I've no idea.

Earnest

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118049783#Comment_118049783

I don't think the GRO would have declared anybody dead. Wikipedia gives the position from 1962 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presumption_of_death#Ireland and I imagine it was similar previously. The marrying body (church or registry office) would probably have refused to carry out the marriage without this.

mrslancaster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118086987#Comment_118086987

Thanks for the link.