Wednesday 11 September 2013

Maiden Names missing from Queensland death indexes online

I recently (Sep 2013) sent this question to the Queensland Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages:

'Since your recent changes to online historical indexes, the mother's maiden surname has disappeared from many death index entries. Why is that, and will the matter be rectified in the future?'

Their reply was (I quote):

'If the Mothers maiden name (or Parents names) had been included on a Death Certificate than it will also be included on the historical index. Any details and information included on a Death Certificate does vary and is dependent on the amount of information provided by the Informant at time of death. All details we have are included on the index.'

Umm... WRONG!

Example 1 (death of Frederick William STEVENS, 1882):

Queensland Registrar-General's Pioneers Index 1829-1889 (on CD-ROM) shows the mother's maiden surname (GIBSON), but the online index at www.bdm.qld.gov.au does not.



Example 2 (death of John PERRON, 1911):

Queensland Registrar-General's Federation Index 1890-1914 (on CD-ROM) shows the mother's maiden surname (BERBACCI), but the online index at www.bdm.qld.gov.au does not.



I sent this information to the Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages. Their response was:

'We are aware of this and it will be rectified in the new release which will be in October.'


My main Web site has more tips about Queensland BDM indexes and certificates.
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4 comments:

  1. Thanks for following it up Judy and good to know that it will be fixed in October.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I hope they keep that promise. Research is much more difficult when the mother's maiden name is not shown.

      Delete
  2. Good work Judy. Thanks for doing this. (Paulette Flint)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Paulette. Nice to hear from you again!

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