Not long ago, I was listening to one of the many genealogy podcasts to which I subscribe (so many that I don’t recall which one brought me this welcome news!) when I learned that the General Register Office of the U.K. was running a pilot where one could order certificates to be delivered digitally in pdf form at a reduced price. That is, instead of the regular price of £9.25, a pdf costs only £6. Taking into account exchange rates, that is a difference of more than $4. So naturally I rushed to take advantage of this potentially limited time offer.
Having once before ordered a certificate through the GRO, which came through the mail, the time in which this pdf arrived seemed exceedingly short. I had ordered the death certificate of my 3great-grandfather Abraham Amos.
I must admit that at first glance I was a bit disappointed at the appearance of the certificate, which was missing the attractive pastel background and official seals of the paper certificate I had received in the past. But soon I remembered that I had ordered the certificate for information, not aesthetics. And information it did provide.
I learned that Abraham Amos had died on 2 April 1881 in Martin, East Langdon, Dover, Kent, of hemiplegia (from which he had suffered 14 years) and exhaustion. Not being much of a medical aficionado, I had to look up the word hemiplegia, which it turns out means paralysis of one side of the body, often as a result of a stroke. The certificate also records that he was a farm labourer, which must have been rather difficult without the use of one side of his body. No wonder he died of exhaustion!
His son Thomas was the informant.
Source:
England and Wales, death certificate for Abraham Amos, died 2 Apr 1881; citing 2a/515/434, Apr/May/Jun quarter 1881, Dover registration district, St. James sub-district; General Register Office, Southport.
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