Ascertaining reliable date of birth

[Gordon163]

Hi,

I am investigating the case of a man, who died in hospital, in 2003, having been admitted as an emergency. The hospital did not have his medical records to hand. The family, when they registered his death, only had a date of birth from his Army attestation, which gave his dob as 10 Aug 1915.

When the Death Certificate was produced, the date of birth was 10 Aug 1917.

Presumably, the year of birth came as a result of The Registrar contacting DWP for Pension details.

It seems to be a familiar tale of a young man altering the year of his birth to get into the army.

Any thoughts most welcome,

Thanks,

Gordon

[AntonyMMM]

(In England/Wales), registrars dont check birthdates with the DWP, or anyone else, it should be recorded as whatever the informant said.

Any certificate produced should match whatever is recorded on the register entry

[CaroleW]

Without a name - how could anybody comment 

Lots of male deaths in 2003 with that birthdate

You obviously know his name so have you looked for his birth on freebmd?

[coombs]

So you are saying the August 1917 birthdate is the correct one as opposed to the one on his army attestation records?

When my father died in 2020, the hospital records had his DOB and I think they handed it to the registrar. I registered the death over the phone due to the pandemic but never had to send off for his birth certificate to give the birth details to the registrar.

My uncle by marriage died in 2008 of a long lung illness aged 43, the GRO death entry says born Nov 1964, but his funeral card says 1 September 1964. I would go with the early Nov date. Not sure what info on his birth was supplied but perhaps the hospital already had his details.

[Tickettyboo]

If you want to give us a name we can see if we can help, but without a name you will have to try by yourself.

I'd start with what you know about the man - did have have known siblings? which country/county did they live in?
Did he marry, does anyone have his marriage record sitting in a drawer somewhere that will tell you his Dad's name and occupation? Maybe witnesses were siblings?

Have you looked for him on the 1921 census? He would have been aged 4- 6 so is likely to be with his parents.  In my experience the nearer the record to the person's birth the great the chance of accuracy with the age/place of birth

If you can establish his parents' names then you can set to, looking for his birth registration (and that of any siblings to cross check the MMN) and hopefully then getting his birth cert.

Boo

[cockney rebel]

If you have a name, try the 1939 Register with the date (s) of birth and work backwards
Rebel

[Tickettyboo]

If you have a name, try the 1939 Register with the date (s) of birth and work backwards
Rebel

If, as the OP suggests, this man may have fibbed about his age to join up then it would seem logical that by 1939 he would already be in the forces and therefore not included on the 1939 register.

Boo

[cockney rebel]

Yes, but worth a try

[Tickettyboo]

 If the family have his attestation papers and the OP thinks its possible the man lied about his age to join up, then its a real long shot to find him in the 1939 register - but as you say its worth checking

Boo