Free death and burial records
Records
Twenty years of transcribed primary-source death records, organised by what they are. Most categories are still being indexed in this format — “Coming soon” means a category exists but its page hasn’t been built yet.
Or browse the whole archive by surname, A–Z →
Death and burial records
Primary-source records of death, interment, and memorialisation.
Coffin plates
Engraved metal plaques affixed to the coffin, often kept by families as a remembrance.
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Cemetery records
Burial registers, plot records, and transcriptions of cemetery archives.
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Obituaries
Newspaper death notices and obituary clippings, often the most detailed account of a life.
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Funeral & memorial cards
Funeral invitations and service notices, plus memorial, mourning, remembrance, and mass cards kept by the family after the death.
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Probate & wills
Probate filings, wills, estate inventories — covers both testate and intestate cases.
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Church & parish registers
Parish record books from Ireland, England, and the United States — burial, baptism, and marriage entries, indexed name by name.
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Military death records
Service deaths, casualty rolls, and pension files for servicemen and women.
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Vital records
County civil registers — death, birth, and marriage records transcribed and indexed name by name, from Ontario and Nova Scotia.
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Cenotaphs
Empty-tomb monuments commemorating those buried elsewhere or lost — every carved name indexed. A collection within Military death records.
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German death cards
Sterbebilder — German Catholic memorial prayer cards, mostly WWI soldiers, transcribed and translated. A collection within Funeral & memorial cards.
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Research aids
Reference material for interpreting and extending what the records preserve.
Other archival sources
Records that aren’t strictly death-stage but often contain death information.
Old ledger books
Mortician, undertaker, and parish ledger records.
Migrating soon
Photo albums
Family photo collections that document the deceased.
Migrating soon
School yearbooks
Student name indexes and page scans from school and college annuals. A collection within Source documents.
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Naturalization records
Immigration and citizenship records that often note place of origin — a guide to where they're held.
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Have a record to share?
The archive grows by contribution. Coffin plate, funeral card, cemetery transcription — if it sits at the end of a life, send it.
Submit a record →