Genealogy Chat

VICKY CUNNINGHAM - I have a funny one. An uncle of mine died in Antwerp. Cause of death reads 'Run over by Taxi alongside Ship'. The funny bit is letter from solicitor informs body was being shipped home but at bottom of letter reads 'PS Sorry to say ship has been sunk!' How about that for luck!!!

LOL (I must order some death certifcates)

LOL It's back again the best thread for a laugh that appeared on tips board :-))) Feels good seeing it like an old friend. Pat x

Have not had time to read all of these, so possibly this one already in, on a Tombstone in Winchester Cathedral graveyard 'died of drinking a surfeit of small beer on a hot day' or words to that effect, can't remember the quote precisely Eileen

nudging for everyone to see, great thread..so funny! I have a relative who died from 'hysterical vomiting!' whatever that would mean LOL, hysterical as laughing??? while vomiting... does not bare thinking about... whoever suggested certificates as placemats...brilliant idea but i better leave that one out lol xxxx

What a funny thread! Love it....

cheryl Visitation of God Probably means Old Age or natural causes It had been said that death from Visitation of God might imply a punishment from God of someone who was sinful, but it could also mean someone who was blessed by God because they were spared from enduring a distressing illness or they were rewarded for their virtuous life by admission the heaven. I think it means natural causes www*paul_smith*doctors*org.uk fab website

Lisa, Mortification Used in the medical sense: gangrene, necrosis or severe infection (literally means put to death)

I'll bump this up by adding one Cause of death - Mortification Well, it made me smile! Lisa

nudge, the best thread ever, never stopped laughing. Gill

Hi My favourite cause of death was;- 'by a visitation of God'! Cheryl

Great Aunt in her 90's told me that my grandfather died laughing. Apparently he was on a bus in Aberdeen and the conductor told him a joke. They laughed together and the conductor took another fare. When he next looked at grandfather he was dead. Way to go! I obtained a copy of the death certificate but to my disappointment it only showed heart failure as cause of death. Maybe just as well we don't know the joke.......

I'm glad this resurfaced, it was one of the first threads I ever read on GR, and it still gives me a good laugh.

I have a death certificate for FREDERICK WOOD age 71 Hackney 10/4/1911 occupation Fishing Tackle Maker. Cause of death Suffocated by vomit, Concussion of brain, Wounds of Head, Accidental Fall. Coroners inquest held. I wish this one was mine but unfortunately not. If anyone wants it please get in touch. Lyla

Not a cause of death but... I deal with old wills, one asked his execuotrs to 'cut a lemon in half. Send half to the Inland Revenue and tell them to 'suck on this'. Another requested that after the doctor had certified him dead, be given two lethal injections to endure that he was really dead. He had a fear of being buried alive! Another asked for half of his estate to being given to his ex-wife - he had just been declared bankrupt

One that horrified me when I heard about it was in days of the early submarines a chap flushed the loo whilst still sitting on it and a vacuum formed and - well, I will leave it to your imagination. Because of that you can now only flush the loo on a sub by getting off the loo first.

The recent one I got of my GGFx3 who died aged 87 in 1861 (bless you for hanging on til after April that year GGF) in the next village to me in Norfolk read 'Been ill these last 11 months. Doctor not certified. Was Old age' Bless, you can almost hear the accent, cant you.

Not an amusing cause of death but my gggrandmother's cert gives the cause as 'Found dead' By whom or of what remains a mystery!

Not a cause of death, but an amusing one from the Darwin Awards Honorable mention: (1 January 2004, Singapore) If you ever find yourself with a leaking fuel tank on your motorbike, be sure to take heed of this lesson from a 39-year-old man from the Bukit Panjang neighborhood in Singapore. He removed the leaky tank from the bike and carried it to his sixth-floor flat, where he drained the gasoline into a pail in his toilet. Considering what happened next, it was fortunate that nobody else was in the flat, and that nobody was standing on manhole covers a block away. He lit a propane torch, planning to solder the hole in the tank. Unfortunately, gasoline that had spilled on his hand caught fire. Frantically trying to extinguish the flames by plunging his hand into the toilet, he ignited the gasoline fumes coming from the pail. The toilet was engulfed in a ball of fire, and the explosion 'shook the block.' Smoke poured out of the bathroom window. That was just the beginning. Some of the burning gasoline spilled down a floor drain and into the sewer system, where it mingled with sewer gas and set off a massive underground explosion. Startled residents watched in amazement as one manhole cover was 'blown to pieces,' and two others popped open. People fled their homes, fearing disaster. The man survived all this chaos with minor burns on his left hand, for which he refused treatment. His toilet was badly damaged.

I reckon that we could edit this thread, the rude names found on ancestry thread and the 13 Commandments thread and make it into a little book for sale on here. lol merry!