The memories of the long dead people who provided information on a 1900-era death certificate can easily be wrong. So can yours.
What things about your ancestors are you using to help you research that might not be true or which you are remembering incorrectly? Are you searching the 1860 census for a relative who died in 1857? Are you looking for an obituary in the 1890s for someone who died in 1902?
Virtually any detail can be remembered incorrectly. What details are you pulling from your head when you should be pulling them from your files?
One response
I use an example of being the informant on my husband’s death certificate in the UK. I didn’t realize the information I would be asked to provide. When asked the name of his father and occupation, I was able to provide all three forenames but provided the incorrect military service of Royal Marines instead of Royal Engineers. Understandably, it was only hours after his death, being the next morning with little sleep, and both of his children were with me bearing their own grief. I was provided 5 copies on the spot and it was only later I realized my own contribution toward someone’s possible research in the wrong direction in the future.