Has anyone ever found an OPR death? .....

[Rab]

I was having a look at this page on the GRO site and it led me to looking through the coverage of death records. Looking through Lanark I see there is quite a bit of coverage for certain years with regards to death records. I was just wondering if anyone has had any success with these and if so what they contain in them.

[nelmit]

I was having a look at this page on the GRO site and it led me to looking through the coverage of death records. Looking through Lanark I see there is quite a bit of coverage for certain years with regards to death records. I was just wondering if anyone has had any success with these and if so what they contain in them.

Hello Rab,

I've seen some OPR death records and it's the usual - some are more detailed than others.
Some Glasgow deaths I was browsing through recently gave cause of death and where the person was buried and by whom- even a family member's name in some cases.
Others gave nothing more than the name and date.

Regards,
Annette M

[LesleyB]

Hi Rab
Dunfrmline OPRs are pretty hot on deaths! And I've seen some Leith ones too & Canongate.

The usual content I've seen tends to give name, age, sometimes area of abode, sometimes spouse, and what they died of. Sometimes date of death AND date of burial. Sometimes also who the undertaker was.

I'm not 100% sure but I seem to remember around 1790 odd there was some rule/law? brought in about having to mention the undertaker - but maybe it was just an Edinburgh thang! (or maybe I imagined it??) I can't for the life of me remember where I read it but I think it was something to do with who was responsible for the burial and the payment for same - as a kind of insurance that the burial would be paid for? Maybe it will all come back to me... or may be not!

Example from Dunfermline OPR 424/18-19 deaths 1825-54, kept like a ledger:

p.76 1831
James Dick, Devonbank, age 87 [dod] July 12, [dob] July 18th, Dunfermline. Decay of nature.

p.86 1832 James Dick, son of Andrew Dick, aged 1& 1/2 [dod] May 19th [dob]May 22nd Dunfermline, Water in the head.

p.98 1833 Mary Dick, wife of Robert White, age 24, March 14 ,March 17 Dunfermline. In child bed.

Hope this helps
Best wishes
Lesley

[Rab]

Thanks for those examples. I wasn't sure whether it would just be a name or not- sounds like it could be that way in some instances.

Cheers

Rab

[DavidWW]

Thanks for those examples. I wasn't sure whether it would just be a name or not- sounds like it could be that way in some instances.

Cheers

Rab

Rab

But sometimes it will only be a name and an age with no other linking info !!

Quite often the so-called OPR death records are nothing more than a record of the payment for the hire of the mortcloth.

David

[Rab]

Hi David

A name and age could be useful in some instances. Although I'd much prefer the full biography but I never seem to get it-

Cheers

Rab

[JackyHSF]

Hi

For those with ancestors in Perth, a Burial Register was kept from 1794 onwards.

It gives the year, month and date of burial (and death), the name (and if you're lucky some personal information, eg Peter Spence, son of Andrew Spence, shoemaker or Margaret Spence spouse of David Miller), the age at death and cause of death. From about 1840 it also shows the place of birth, usual residence and place (graveyard) and time of burial (usually 1 o'clock), as well as the charges for the burial.

It's a really useful resource, although it does sometimes seem to be a little 'hit and miss', it can be a big help.

Jacky

[tishgibbons]

Hi,

Are OPR deaths available at the NAS or locally at each parish or where?

Tish

[AndrewP]

Are OPR deaths available at the NAS or locally at each parish or where?

Hi Tish,

Until such times as the OPRs come online at SP, they are available on the OPR microfilms, along with the births (baptisms) and marriages (proclamations). These microfilms are available in New Register House, various libraries and can be ordered in to the LDS Family History Centres.

Generally, these are not indexed, so it is a matter of slowly winding your way through the roll(s) of film and seeing if you find your people. In most of the death OPRs I have seen, the information found is minimal, so often it is difficult to be certain that this is your (for example) John Campbell.

On the GROS website, there is a set of pdf files (one pdf file per county) showing the date range of births, marriages and/or deaths in each OPR book for each parish in that county. That can give you an idea of the stop and start date for the deaths available on that film. It gives no idea if that OPR section is continuous or riddled with gaps.

Go to the end of the page at:
http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/famrec/h ... r-cov.html
to download OPR contents by parish, by county.

All the best,

Andrew Paterson

[tishgibbons]

Andrew,

thanks a lot for that - I had just assumed they couldn't be got and that was that. I am planning a trip to Scotland in the New Year and have a list as long as my arm of things I need to look up in Edinburgh - if the GROS site proves fruitful I'll need another arm! Thanks again,

Tish