Scotland's People query

[billymac]

Hello all.
I have noticed in a search for a death in the statutory register that it has a search field "mother's maiden name" but with the proviso "not always recorded before 1974".
I have purchased a huge number of death registration images over the years and don't believe I have ever received one without the mothers maiden surname shown.
I was curious as to why this proviso was there. Was the mother's maiden surname not always included on the searchable data base even though it appears on the actual registration?
Regards,
Bill

[AndrewP]

Hi Bill,

The mother's maiden surname will be on all death certificates, assuming it was known to the person registering the death. The proviso 'not always recorded before 1974' refers to ScotlandsPeople's index, not the certificates. The mother's maiden surname has been entered into SP's index consistently since 1974, but not so before that. It is in the index for some of the earlier years from 1855, but not consistently.

See: https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/guid ... ter-deaths

The above webpage includes the following text:

• "Mother’s maiden surname - this wasn't included in the statutory index of deaths until 1974. The information is being added retrospectively starting with the early years although you may find it in some later entries as a result of individual record updates. If you enter a name in this field and the information hasn't been included in the index the record will not be found."

All the best,

AndrewP

[billymac]

Ah thank you for the explanation. Is there no plan to upgrade the index --- it would make some searches so much easier and more accurate.
Bill

Oops! Sorry Andrew --- I just noticed you quoted the information was being added retrospectively. It must be age