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The death certificate is not held by me (nyteowl holds that), but the details match with the family information we have.  That is, the dates and names of his wives are accurate so we are sure we have the same person. Whether the information on the DC about his parents is accurate is another question - I do agree with you that DCs often contain errors.  However, it's pretty much all we have to go on.  I own the marriage certificate from the first marriage.  John Phillips is simply listed as "Full age" and his brid as "under 21 years".  The bride's father's name is given but no information is given on John's parents.  So we cannot learn his birth date or parents' names from the MC.  The DC says his age at death (assuming for a moment they've got that right) and it's working back from that that we have assumed he was born in 1861.  Which would mean (if all was accurate) he was 23 when he married his first wife in 1884.  BUT we should add we are looking at TWO John Phillips - the older married to Eliza King and the younger (born approx. 1861) who married in 1884.