Filed under MOD Records for Deceased Persons: A Method Guide
What should you look for first?
Privacy rules for deceased persons balance family research against protections for living people named in a record and against other disclosure limits. That balance is why some material is withheld even when the subject of the record has died.
If a search starves you of results, drop one filter, not all of them. Dropping everything at once teaches you nothing about which filter was wrong. Before you search, decide what would count as a match for this person, and write that standard down, so a near match cannot quietly become a match.
Working through it in order
A good session ends with the next step already named. If you finish a step without knowing the next one, the timeline, not the record, is telling you. Work in date order, one record at a time, and write each finding into the timeline with its reference before opening the next record. Separate your transcription, your interpretation, and your questions into three columns. A column that mixes them cannot be checked.
- Fix the service, the dates, and the branch of service from what you already know.
- Check the holder current guidance for proof of death and next of kin requirements for your case.
- Prepare the identifying details the holder asks for, name, number, unit and dates, before making any request.
- Note what is released and what is withheld, and keep the holder reply with the record.
How to read this kind of entry
When a record and a published history disagree, the record written at the time wins, and the history becomes a question, not an answer. Keep the original terms in your transcription and put your interpretation in a separate column. A transcription that already contains conclusions cannot be checked by anyone else.
A single sheet can contain several dates: the date of the event, the date of writing, and the date of filing. Keep them separate in your notes. A summary page at the front of a file is a later compilation, and compilations introduce errors. Use it as a map, and verify its claims sheet by sheet.
What are the common dead ends?
If you have tried every spelling variant and every date range, the next step is not another search, it is a different record type. Let the timeline choose it. A record that exists but is not digitised is not a dead end, it is a different route: a catalogue reference, a copy order, or a visit, where the holder offers one.
- A record that transferred to another holder.
- A proof of death question for the case in hand.
- A next of kin question for the case in hand.
- An officer file held on a different route from an other ranks file.
Where to go next from here
If the next record is a unit record, carry the posting dates with you. If it is a personal record, carry the number. The filter you carry decides what you find. Work the chain one link at a time. A timeline built link by link can be checked; a timeline built by jumping to the most interesting record cannot.
If the next step is unclear, return to the timeline and find its weakest link. The weakest dated entry, not the most interesting gap, is what to strengthen next. The next record should answer a question this one raised, not repeat what you already know.
Primary sources for this guide
This guide keeps its claims general and points to the official holders, so the holder itself is the place to check the current position. It is general educational information only, not personal professional advice, and it offers no record lookup service and no determination of any individual's service.