Zimbabwe, Death Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
The Zimbabwe Death Records collections include records of Death Notices from 1892 to 1977. These records consist of death notices and registers written in English and obtained from the National Archives at Harare and Salisbury, Zimbabwe.

Birth and death certificates are currently registered through district registries in each town or city, but all records are kept at the National Archives in the capital city of Harare, formerly known as Salisbury. Learn more about the National Archives at | archives.gov.zw.

You can browse through images in these collections by visiting the browse page for | Zimbabwe, Death notices, 1904-1976 or | Zimbabwe, Death Registers, 1890-1977; Index to Death Register, 1892-1977

Record Content
Death notices usually contain the following information:


 * Full name, age and gender of deceased
 * Race, marital status, and residence
 * Occupation
 * Date and place of death
 * Cause of death
 * Duration of last illness
 * Intended burial place
 * Birthplace of deceased
 * Names of parents
 * Name of surviving spouse, if married
 * Number of children and whether they are major or minor
 * Medical attendant's name and residence
 * Informant and their qualifications
 * Informant's residence
 * Property left by the deceased

How to Read the Records
The Zimbabwe Death Registers are printed indexes of the names of deceased. Each entry may have the following abbreviations:
 * DR - Death Register
 * W - Will
 * ADM - Administration

"D.R." is followed by the volume number/page number. It appears those records that are labeled ADM are probably administrations which are separate from the death registers and they contain wills and living Trust records.

After locating the entry for an individual by surname in an index, the death record can be found in the “Death registers” by using the reference information provided in the index.

How to Search the Collection
To begin your search in either collection, it would be helpful if you knew the following information:
 * Full name of the deceased
 * Approximate location and year of death

If there is a digital FamilySearch index, fill in the requested information in the boxes on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the individuals in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to look at the information on several individuals comparing the information about them to your ancestors to make this determination.

Searching The Collection
To browse the Zimbabwe Death Notices by image : ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select the appropriate “District” ⇒Select the appropriate “Record Type and Years” which takes you to the images

Listed after the Death Notice years is the volume number. Use these volume numbers if you’ve already found your ancestor on the Death Registers index.

To browse the Zimbabwe Death Registers by image : ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select the appropriate “Record Type” ⇒Select the appropriate “Year Range and Volume or Certificate Number” which takes you to the images

History of These Records
Zimbabwe was formerly known as Southern Rhodesia and became independent from Great Britain on April 18, 1980. Even though civil registration was established in 1890 it did not become mandatory until after independence. Birth registration began in 1891 and death registration in 1904. Birth and death registrations did not include African tribal members until 1963. The registers of citizen deaths were created following several laws regarding vital records:
 * The Executor's Accounts Act of 1864
 * The Administration of Estates Ordinance No. 6 of 1907
 * The Administration of Estates Act, Chapter 47 of 1952, and Chapter 51 of 1965

Known Issues with These Collections
Zimbabwe, Death Notices, 1904-1976 known issues:

For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Zimbabwe, Death Registers, 1890-1977; Index to Death Register, 1892-1977 known issues:

For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Related Websites

 * Africa Websites
 * Africa Historic Maps
 * Zimbabwe Genealogical Reference
 * Zimbabwe GenWeb Project

Related Wiki Articles

 * Afrikaans Word List
 * Zimbabwe

Citations for This Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image. Collection citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image citation:

Collection Citation:

Image Citation: