The dash between life and death

 

Certificates  confirming our ancestors’ existence, and/or passing from this world can often be hard to find, or difficult to verify. And each state, territory in Australia, has a different system, let alone the confusion from the rest of the world. 

Mistakes are going to be made. I made one. Records led me to believe, for a long time, the romantic story that my great, great grandfather, John Proctor was an orphan, and arrived in Melbourne from England,  in 1852 with is cousin, and his cousin’s wife. That’s the theory I followed, and evn found a death certificate for John Proctor who was buried in the Ballarat Cemetery. Victory – all tied up nicely. I even paid Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages for the certificate. NOPE wrong person!!!!!

My “real” John Proctor arrived into Melbourne as an adult in 1860. How did I find the correct one?  I was looking through TROVE and found a newspaper story on my great grandparents’ 50^th wedding anniversary. In this story, my great grandfather mentions his father’s arrival. The name, John Proctor, is so common, without this information I would have kept believing the death certificate  I had purchased was the right one.

Another ancestor was a mystery too (I’m sure you have many). My 3x great grandfather. He was admitted to the Yarra Bend Insane Asylum in November 1848, aged 42, diagnosed with “melancholia”.  His admittance papers are digitised and easy to find on the Public Record Office of Victoria website. But no death certificate at BDM, and no digitised discharge summary from Yarra Bend. I sent an email to PROV and asked for help. I received information about his death (in February 1849) in the asylum. The archivist couldn’t explain why there was no coronial inquest (because he died in custody) and no death certificate. “Reason for discharge: died” is all the information available. It might turn up one day.  Very sad though because there is no burial information either, and no record of where he was laid to rest.

It pays to be diligent and persistent, and to ask questions when you are stumped. Cross-referencing with wills and probate documents, and newspaper reports/stories/articles is often helpful too.

Information from PROV:

Discharged: 9 Feb 1849
Reason for discharge: Died
 
VPRS 7416/P1 Unit 1 - General Register of Admissions and Discharges (1848- 1856) contained:
 
General Register of male patients received and discharged from the Lunatic Asylum Melbourne