‘Death is the Cure of All Diseases’: Using the General Register Office Cause of Death Statistics for 1837–1920

Abstract

The series of cause of death statistics for England and Wales published by the General Register Office between 1837 and 1920 are a fundamental source for historians studying death and disease in this period. Attention was first drawn to the historical importance of this source, and to its principal shortcomings, by Bill Luckin in 1980. Research by a number of scholars in recent years on mortality and morbidity in the nineteenth century has uncovered further problems, which are outlined in this essay under two heads: general problems, and problems relating to specific cause of death categories.