Help Deciphering a Death Certificate Entry - (Stephen, or Steven) / Young

[sgmcgregor]

Hello all,

I have uploaded an image of part of a death certificate in the hope someone can help decipher an entry. It is only the part I am having problems with as I'm not sure what the rules are on posting a complete certificate when it comes to copyright issues.

The death is for William Stephen (registered as Steven) on 10th August 1877 in Thurso. The man was married to Christina Young, daughter of George Young and Isabel Fairweather: William was the son of Alexander Steven/Stephen and Margaret/May Rosie.

The problem I have is with the informant on the death certificate - John Young. He isn't related to the widow, Christina, but I can't make out what the "qualification" (as the term on the certificate is) of the informant is.

Can anyone help me, and offer suggestions or confirmation of what the word is? The image can be seen at the following site...

http://i742.photobucket.com/albums/x...Steven1877.jpg

Thanks in advance for any help,
Steven

[Sage]

Hi Steven,

Your entry says John Young, Occupier, (present)

Which means that he was an occupant of the house and was present at the death of William

[Garnet]

was about to say the same..but I couldn't log in for some reason...pc acting funny this last couple of hours!!

[sgmcgregor]

Thanks for the help.

I wasn't sure of the entry at all - I thought it started "Occ....", but couldn't be sure of any word.

As far as I can tell, John is not related to Christina - he is definitely not a sibling, and I don't believe him to be an uncle although the Young family is still a 'work in progress'. To be honest, I'm not sure how common Young is as a surname in Caithness.

Thanks for the help,
Steven

[Duncansby]

Have you tried having a look at the census for 1871 or 1881? If John Young was living in the house at the time of the census it should say what his relationship was to the head of the house.

If you don't already know about it, you can access free info here. Although there is some gaps to the information....

[sgmcgregor]

Duncansby,

Thanks for your interest and reply.

The death of William Steven took place at Carsgoe, just outside Thurso. I have since spoken to someone who has said that a Young family owned the farm - at least up until the 1960s. It seems to be a coincidence that there is a commonality with the name Young. In 1881 the wife of William Steven, Christina Young, is at Gerston, Halkirk. Christina was born in the parish of Latheron but is living at the Thurso side of the county.

Regards,
Steven

[Durran]

Steven,

I have had a look at the image and the word you are having difficulty with is 'Occupier'.

John Young may have lived in the property in which the death occurred.

Regards,
John