Start with the date and event
A historical obituary may appear on the day after death, after a funeral, in a weekly edition or in a distant relative’s local paper. Start with the best-supported death date and search a wider window when needed. Distinguish an obituary, a brief death notice, a funeral report and a later memorial item.
Gather the details before you search
| Clue | Useful variations |
|---|---|
| Name | Full name, initials, nickname, maiden name, former surname, misspelling |
| Relationships | Spouse, children, siblings, parents, in-laws |
| Place | Residence, death place, burial place, former hometown |
| Time | Death date, funeral date, burial date, anniversary |
| Context | Occupation, employer, church, lodge, military unit, funeral home |
Search from narrow to broad
- 1
Exact event and place
Start with a narrow range and the most likely locality.
- 2
Surname plus a relative
Relationship clues can bypass poor OCR of the subject’s first name.
- 3
Address or occupation
A distinctive street or job can separate people with common names.
- 4
Browse the issue
Inspect likely pages manually when OCR produces no result.
- 5
Expand geographically
Try former residences and places where close relatives lived.
If you do not yet know which newspaper to search, try the Library of Congress U.S. Newspaper Directory and its search tips. For detailed advice on name variants, relatives and failed searches, continue to our full obituary and death-notice guide.
Check free, library and paid sources
Check free public collections, state digitisation projects and library databases before personal subscriptions. For paid research, compare Newspapers.com, GenealogyBank and NewspaperArchive for US titles, and compare the British Newspaper Archive with Findmypast for British and Irish newspapers. For a focused US obituary route, see our GenealogyBank review.
Do not assume an online absence means the notice never existed. The issue may be undigitised, missing, poorly scanned, incorrectly dated or available only on microfilm.
Record what you find
Save the newspaper title, place of publication, date, page, column, article heading, archive, stable URL or image identifier and access date. Preserve the image where terms allow and transcribe difficult passages without silently correcting the original.
Sources and further reading
External services and collections change. Check the provider directly before making a purchase decision.