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Beginners => Family History Beginners Board => Topic started by: mwjw22jb on Thursday 10 March 22 03:58 GMT (UK)
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Hi,
I have my James Boulter b 24 Aug 1841 Bethnal Green London. He was a steward in the RN. He died on 4 June 1877 HMS Tamar Hong Kong and is buried in Happy Valley Hong Kong. His probate record 12 Nov 1877 also says he was a seaman. I was wondering if someone would be able to tell me how I can go about getting a Death Certificate please? I've tried GRO but it's not there. I've tried deaths in foreign places or overseas but have drawn a blank also.
Thank you so much.
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Is there a faint possibility that his GRO overseas death registration is that of one James Boland Hong Kong 1877-78
John
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Hi,
It probably could be because I've come across some funny variations for Boulter. I thought I had covered most but I'll get into Gro and have a look. I did a bit of looking on the NA Kew and came across the attached record. James died in the Navy hospital there it seems.
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Hi again,
How do I access the GRO overseas death records? I Know it's not on the normal site, sorry.
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I'm not sure about how to order an overseas death cert from the gro. A phone call might help.
Link below for James Boland from Familysearch
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https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:68F5-8YKQ
John
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You can possibly order it from the GRO website
https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/app_select.asp
Where was the event registered?
England or Wales
Another part of the United Kingdom or British Isles
Outside the United Kingdom and registered by the British Forces, Consul or High Commission
(including Forces or Regimental records in the UK, Ireland or other British Isles between 1761-1924,
see Overseas records GRO hold)
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I had a look at the entry on FS and FindMyPast just has the transcript so I might have to give them a call or email them - I'm in Australia. I had a look on the normal GRO and it's not there.
Thank you so much for the link too
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The details from Find My Past are:-
James Boland, Death Year 1877/1878, Archive Ref DCHA, Page 1027, Line No. 75
Place Hong Kong, Country China
The Record Set is British Armed Forces And Overseas Deaths And Burials
I would suggest that you email the GRO and give them the above details and ask is this the reference needed to order the death certificate.
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Thank you so much for all the help. I most certainly will give it a shot at ordering the certificate. I am most appreciative.
Marj
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Hi,
Just an update to the 1877 DC for James Boulter listed as Boland in Hong Kong. I got a reply from GRO today saying that they don't have the DC and they refunded my money. They advised me to try the Foreign Embassy in Hong Kong but I'm not sure there is even one there since Hong Kong was transferred back to China. Anyway I think trying to find the DC may be a dead end after all.
Thank you everyone for all your help - I really appreciate it.
Marj
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Thanks for the update. How disappointing with regard to the death cert. At least we know he is remembered and buried with a marked grave.
John
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That's exactly what I thought too John .
Marj
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James Boland comes up in the Carl Smith collection. If you don't know this collection, Rev. Carl Smith painstakingly recorded notes on everything in the Hong Kong newspapers over a span of many years.
The dates shown are normally for the newspaper date, not the event date, which leaves Boland as a very good candidate, except for the fact you found something that says he died in the navy hospital.
Boland, James
Death - 8 June 1877 - James Boland, 37 yrs. English, found
dead in sea.
https://search.grs.gov.hk/en/searchcarl.xhtml?q=&names=boland&cno=
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bbart, that does look a good find, with dates all but matching up. I might ring the gro office myself on Monday to see what the story is with that death reference in the overseas death records.
John
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That's a kind offer, John, but maybe hold off till mwjw22jb comes back; I want to make sure that for the GRO reference they put in the entire line of info , which in this case is:
Boland, James, Hong Kong, 1877-78, Page 1027, Line 75, DCHA
Because the box is so tiny, many people just put in the page and line, not realizing the box will let you type pretty much forever!
I'm not sure how much more info the death reg. would supply. I have ordered many overseas documents, and found it quite disappointing, particularly for births (never have gotten the mmn!). The person (chaplain) filling it out just didn't have access to a lot of info.
I did a bit of looking on the NA Kew and came across the attached record. James died in the Navy hospital there it seems.
It seems the attachment didn't work? Was there any dates given?
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Hi all,
It's been ages since I vivited this topic but I hadn't realized I had more replies as didn't get any notifications. I'm so sorry. I've attached the Hong Kong reference to James' death which was in his naval history.
Marj