Delay in death registration

[Silvercup]

I'm wondering about what circumstances might have lead to this:

I have the death certificate for my ancestor Maria Jervis. She died on 4th September 1897 in Southwark, but the death wasn't registered until 14th January 1898. There is nothing on the certificate to say an inquest was held (I understand this could explain a delay in registration, but that from 1875 that should have been indicated on the certificate).

The death also seems to appear on the register twice: once in the Jul-Aug-Sep quarter of 1897, and once in the Jan-Feb-March quarter of 1898. I'm sure these are both my Maria, as same name, age and place, and they correlate to both September and January. Unfortunately I don't remember which entry I ordered the certificate from, as was a few years ago.

Any ideas about what may have happened to explain the delay and 2 entries? She was 43 and died of apoplexy.

[jonwarrn]

Possible new extra info...
Burial of Maria Jervis, 10 September 1897, at Woodgrange Park Cemetery.

Not the greatest burial registers here, but says 44 Webber Street SE Blackfriars
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSJW-677S

[Kay99]

The 1897 death cert does not appear on the GRO Death Index although it does appear on FreeBMD.   Could there have been an error on the original cert and it had to be reissued?   Although it took a while!

[ShaunJ]

Have you seen the newspaper reports of her being kicked in the head by Frederick Roffey in January 1897?

[MollyC]

There is no annotation on either of the original indexes available to view on FreeBMD.  (The registration district is St. Saviour;  Southwark was not used until Jun 1901.)  You could try submitting a missing entry report to the GRO, giving the reason that the entry is in FreeBMD.  However they may simply report "No amendment required".

It seems as though your cert. must be from the 1898 entry as it is the only one that could be ordered from the GRO. Try ordering the 1897 cert. from the local registrar.

[jonwarrn]

Don't forget that registration details are given on the burial register!
Can't read the guy's name (I expect it can be looked up)
Sub-district is London Road
Date 6.9.97

[Silvercup]

Possible new extra info...
Burial of Maria Jervis, 10 September 1897, at Woodgrange Park Cemetery.

Not the greatest burial registers here, but says 44 Webber Street SE Blackfriars
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSJW-677S

Thank you! Yes, that was her address. So she was buried within a few days, all perfectly normal...I wonder why the delay in registration then.

[Silvercup]

Have you seen the newspaper reports of her being kicked in the head by Frederick Roffey in January 1897?

I have indeed. As she died only 9 months later from apoplexy (which I gather would now mean a stroke or brain haemorrhage) I can't help but speculate whether it was damage from the attack. He was a wrong'un...in 1898 after Maria died he committed bigamy and was sentenced to 6 months hard labour.

[AntonyMMM]

There is no way of working this out without ordering certificates from both entries.

It seems to be a re-registration. These are common for births but can very occasionally happen for deaths when there is a significant issue with the first entry (usually that it was done in the wrong district, or by an unqualified informant).

It could be missing in the GRO index because it somehow got skipped, or it could be badly transcribed, or for some other reason ( but a re-registration wouldn't remove the first entry though). Again, a certificate from that first entry may give a clue.