Finding out the cause of death

Alex121

2 years ago, a friend of mine died. It was sudden and unexpected.

Nobody seems to know how he died. Nothing was mentioned at the funeral. None of our friends seem to know. His facebook page is filled with messages asking what happened. It seems only his parents know.

It's been 2 years now and I'm still really disturbed by his loss. I want to be able to have closure and peace. I really want to know what happened to my friend. My mind races thinking of scenarios and I just want to know the truth.

Is there a way of finding out the cause of death? Eg online or in public records? I only want to know for my own peace of mind not to tell anyone and approaching his parents is not an option.

Any help would be much appreciated

Mojisola

You can buy a copy of the death certificate.

TonyMMM

Ring the registration office for the area where he died, buy a copy of the certificate - costs about £10.

Alex121

Hi, thanks.

I wasn't aware of that. I thought the death certificate was issued to the next of kin/family.

Is it a simple process? could the family find out I've got a copy? I wouldn't want to cause them any upset

Mojisola

Alex121 wrote: »

I wasn't aware of that. I thought the death certificate was issued to the next of kin/family.

Is it a simple process? could the family find out I've got a copy? I wouldn't want to cause them any upset

Birth, marriage and death certificates are publicly available documents.

No-one is told if someone else buys one.

Mojisola

You can contact the local registration office or order here -
https://www.gov.uk/order-copy-birth-death-marriage-certificate

Alex121

Thank you so much for your helpful information.

I'll look into obtaining a copy although now I feel I am getting closer to the truth of what happened, I suddenly feel quite initimidated. I need to consider whether I'm ready to deal with what I may find out before proceeding.

Thanks so much x

Savvy_Sue

It could be worth searching the local paper for his name, if you haven't already. Sometimes, if there's an inquest at the coroner's court, that will be reported.

ClaretHead

If you get a copy of the death certificate, it may raise more questions than answers. You won't normally get a detailed statement of how your friend died - just a short phrase like "Head injury" or "Pneumonia".

G6JNS

ClaretHead wrote: »

If you get a copy of the death certificate, it may raise more questions than answers. You won't normally get a detailed statement of how your friend died - just a short phrase like "Head injury" or "Pneumonia".

Also bear in mind the cause of death can be seriously misleading. For example my late mother was suffering from terminal cancer and was admitted to hospital pending transfer to a hospice. The next day she suffered cardiac arrest and did not respond to treatment. The cause of death given by the doctor was bronchopneumonia. I discussed this with the registrar when I registered the death and was told if I wanted to query it she would be pleased to refer it to the coroner with a view to holding a postmortem. I could see no useful purpose in doing this so the wording stood. Since there were no other close family it seemed it would be a waste of resources and public money quite apart from probably delaying the funeral. Subsequently I have heard that such cases are not uncommon. As wider point genealogists often come across un-helpful causes of death. One of my great great grandfathers was recorded as dying of "Old age"!.

TonyMMM

The way causes of death can be shown are quite strictly defined and because of the rules about certification, it can get quite complex and without a PM sometimes doctors are limited in what they can put.

If an inquest has taken place - then sometimes a you may get fuller cause/story shown (especially if there is a narrative verdict).

"Old Age" is an acceptable cause of death ( where the person is over 80) and still used quite regularly.