John Clerevaux Fenwick death 1912

[Beg Clonrode...]

Thanks Janette.

Memories of a rap on the knuckles from Sister Margaret for not picking up on that :-)

Certainly puts a different slant on things.

All the best
Beg

[lilyJ]

Beg and Janette

Beg: Thank you for mentioning that it could be a suicide. My vivid imagination hadn't thought of that. I'm glad you mentioned it as it prepares me. Mind you it was a long time ago and he is a distant relative. I hate getting death certs actually. But I always have a little moment to acknowledge the relative. I only get upset when I find all the child deaths that happenned in my family tree as well as the women who died in childbirth.

Janette

Thank you for the source of the quote. Now I'm even more intrigued!

lilyj

[Janette]

I have an Uncle who has this verse on his headstone

Is life a boon?
If so, it must befall
That Death, whene'er he call,
Must call too soon.

It is from Gilbert and Sullivan's Yeomen of the Guard,the family could not work out what it meant as it is on a WW2 headstone ,finally the penny dropped when we realised he was in the Surrey and Sussex Yeomanry

Cheers Janette

[Beg Clonrode...]

Hi again...

BDM NZ Deaths Microfiche

1912/2343 - FENWICK, John C

Death registered in Auckland.

You can use the above fiche reference to order a death certificate from BDM NZ.

Regards
Beg

[lilyJ]

Thanks, Beg

How do you do that? I'm having a difficult time figuring out the NZ certificate system as it is so different from the UK one.

Oh well here goes with yet another 20 NZ dollars:)

Joan

[Beg Clonrode...]

Hi again...

As I understand it.....

...the microfiche were the original means of public access to BDM records in pre-internet NZ. They contain surname, christian name and, for the births and deaths, a reference number which denotes the district in which the event was registered. The reference number on the marriage fiche is one of a matched pair, the other belonging to the spouse.

I have a feeling the reference numbers are actually the folio (page) numbers from the original registers but I may be wrong.

The microfiche are still found at the larger public libraries.

When the internet appeared BDM NZ transferred the BDM records onto their website. Unfortunately not all microfiche records seem to have survived the transfer and, equally annoying, the registration district information is no longer mentioned. And to top it all off the website numbering system bears no relation to the microfiche numbering system.

On the plus side - the website mentions parents of the child (births), the name of the spouse (marriages) and the age at death or date of birth of the deceased (deaths). And NZ genealogy research is a lot easier for those not actually in NZ.

So swings and roundabouts.

-----

Because the reference number is from the microfiche, not the website, the best thing to do is just phone up BDM NZ. Have your credit card ready

0800 22 52 52 (New Zealand only)
+64 (4) 463 9362 (Outside New Zealand)

Mention that the reference number is from the microfiche and that there is no corresponding entry on the website.

Make sure you ask for a printout, costing NZ$20.40, not a certificate. A printout is a scan of the original register. A certificate is not only more expensive (NZ$26.50) but may contain human error as it's a transcript of the original register.

You can also ask for the printout to be emailed to you as opposed to posting it out. There's no great difference in time taken to receive it but, if needed, it's a lot easier to zoom in on an electronic document than a paper document....(although that's Twiggy's opinion. Personally, I quite like dusting off the old magnifying glass and acting all sleuth like

Regards
Beg

[lilyJ]

Thanks for the added information and detailed explanation.

I will phone in my order once I have researched the time difference between Canada and NZ!

lilyj

[Janette]

Hi Lilyj,

It is 2pm NZ time at present

Cheers Janette

[lilyJ]

Hi Janette and Beg

Just wanted to let you know I now have the information.

John died of TB, had been in NZ 3 months, and was a marine engineer

Thanks for all your help

lilyj