Death Certificates and Archaic Medical Terms

'Death certificates are an important document
in family research both to ‘kill off ’ our
ancestors and to determine their cause of
death. This is especially so for people who
are interested in establishing their medical
genealogy. However at times it seems as though
the cause of death is in a foreign language.
Death certificates and archaic medical terms
examines the history and evolution of death
certificates. When did they start? What is on
them? What were the legal requirements?
What does it mean when a death is certified?
Why aren’t all deaths certified?
It also gives meanings to a number of
archaic terms found on death certificates such
as cachexia, breakbone fever, byssinosis, coeliac
passion, dipsomania, inanition and Potter’s
Rot.

Contents:
Introduction
1. Evolution of death certificates
- England
- Australia
- United States of America
2. Getting the most out of the death certificate or 'buyer beware'
3. Access to death indexes and/or certificates
- Australia
- England and Wales
4. Occupational causes of death
5. Classifications of causes of death
6. Further avenues of research
- Newspapers
- Probate files
- Internet Archive
- Certificate Exchange
- Online websites
7. Glossary of Some Archaic Medical Terms
Index

Pages: 64