Problem With the New GRO Death Index

Question

The UK General Records Office (GRO) has changed the Death Index so it now shows the age of the person who died, which really makes finding the correct death easier.  BUT, unfortunately, there is a problem with the ages of infants.  If a child died at age 3 months, the index shows 3 YEARS.  Peter Calver's article might help you with this problem:

WARNING: Millions of incorrect ages in the new GRO death indexes

Comments

Interesting stuff ... only today the thought came to me that age 3 years for a dead infant on the new GRO index could be explained if it was in fact 3 months but I was reluctant to cite it as it seemed a classic example of ignoring evidence to fit a theory. However having read that many GRO records have precisely that error I'm sure my guess is correct now.

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Not just months, but days and hours have been reported as transcription errors, so be watchful with children.

And obviously for older people, always be wary as the person providing the information may not have had accurate knowledge for a variety of reasons.

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Hi Steve, In this case, the article is referring to a systemic error, not an error by a transcriber or informant, but it is certain necessary to double check and verify everything.