unexplained notations in a modern death book

[Martha Garrett]

Dear colleagues, I have recently acquired, from a Swedish archive, one page from a parish death book covering 1948-1966. On the page are two notations that I have never seen before, neither of which is explained. Obviously, I cannot post an image, so I will describe the notations.

The column regarding the birth date of the deceased is headed "Födelseår, månad och dag" and then "nr". The entries for the deceased persons give the year, month, and day of birth, and then, below the date, a number.  For example, for the person I am interested in, the entry reads 18XX jan 13, nr 122.  I have checked, and this 122 does NOT refer to the person's registration number in the original birth book. The other numbers on the same page are, from top to bottom: 242, 125, 120, 162 (crossed out), 121, ---, 112, 101, 100, 121, 122, 122.  What are these numbers?

Among the many other columns on the page are ones for information about the cause of death (dödorsak) and about whether a death certificate was issued (dödattest).  Finally, there is a column for "Särskilda anteckningar". In this column the priest has entered information about the date of the death certificate, whether the deceased was buried or cremated, and the name of the physician. But there is also a code that begins with the letter L, such as L560915. I can see that, in most cases, the numbers following L correspond to the date of the death certificate. However, this is not always so. The entry for one person showed a death certificate dated 560910 plus the notation L560911. I am guessing that the L code might refer to the cause-of-death certificate that physicians were required to submit, separately from the death certificate. I believe this requirement started in the early 1950s. Can anyone confirm my guess or otherwise explain this code? 

Thanks for the help!
Martha Garrett 
 

[Ulf Svensson]

I assume, from your description, that it is the "serial number" för the given birthday in the county. In the beginning it was three figures where the last ess the sex. Född for males and even for females. Later a fourth figure was added to  validate the whole series.




The other one I can't help you with.

[Martha Garrett]

Hej, Ulf! I looked up my person of interest in the Swedish death book. Sure enough, she is listed with the old-style personal number, and the last three digits correspond to the number that was entered in the parish death record. THANKS!