Find Norfolk County Obituary Records

Norfolk County obituary records are held by the city and town clerks across 28 communities south and west of Boston. There is no single county office for death records here. Each town clerk keeps its own files, so you need to know where the death took place to get the right record. Quincy, Brookline, Newton, and Wellesley all have their own clerk offices that handle obituary record requests. You can search for older Norfolk County death records through the state archives free database, order certified copies by mail, or visit a local clerk in person. This page walks you through each option step by step.

Quincy City Clerk for Norfolk County Obituary Records

Quincy is the largest city in Norfolk County. The Quincy City Clerk handles death certificates and obituary record requests for anyone who died in the city. The office sits at 1305 Hancock Street in downtown Quincy. Call 617-376-1150 to check if a record is on file before you make the trip. Staff can tell you what you need to bring and how long it will take.

Fees for Norfolk County obituary records at the Quincy clerk run $15 to $25 per copy. You will need a valid ID when you show up. If you want a certified copy, bring proof of your relationship to the person or a document that shows your legal interest in the case. Walk-in requests get same day service most of the time. Mail requests take 7 to 10 business days. Send a check payable to the City of Quincy with your written request, and include a self-addressed stamped envelope so they can mail the record back to you.

The Quincy clerk keeps death records for people who died in Quincy or were Quincy residents at the time of death. Records from before 1841 may be limited. For those older Norfolk County obituary records, the state archives is your best bet.

Norfolk County Town Clerk Offices

Norfolk County has 28 cities and towns. Each one runs its own clerk office for vital records. There is no central county office that stores death certificates. This setup can be confusing if you don't know which town to contact. The rule is simple: reach out to the clerk in the city or town where the person died. That office holds the original obituary record on file. Below are some of the busiest Norfolk County clerk offices for obituary requests.

The Wellesley Town Clerk vital records page shows how to request death certificates and other vital records from the Wellesley office at 525 Washington Street.

The Wellesley clerk charges $10 per certified copy and accepts online payments through Viewpoint Cloud with a small convenience fee.

Newton City Clerk Obituary Records

The Newton City Clerk is at 1000 Commonwealth Avenue. Death certificates cost $10 each. The office takes cash, checks payable to City of Newton, and debit or credit cards. You can also email vitals@newtonma.gov to start a request. In-person visits get same day service. Mail and online orders take 10 to 14 days to process. The Newton clerk cannot accept fax or phone requests for Norfolk County obituary records.

Newton keeps records for deaths that happened in the city and for Newton residents who died elsewhere. Hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. If you are not sure whether Newton has the record you need, call 617-796-1200 first. Staff are helpful and can point you to the right town clerk if the record is filed in a different Norfolk County office.

Search Norfolk County Death Records Online

The Massachusetts Archives Vital Records Search is a free tool that covers death records from 1841 to 1910. You can search by name, pick the town, select "Death" as the record type, and set a year range. Results show volume and page numbers that point to the original books. Many Norfolk County death records from 1841 to 1925 have been digitized and are free to view right on the site. This is the best starting point for historical obituary research in Norfolk County.

For more recent records, the Registry of Vital Records and Statistics holds Norfolk County death records from 1936 to the present. You can order through VitalChek online for $54 per copy, or by mail for $32 per copy. Mail orders go to 150 Mount Vernon Street, 1st Floor, Dorchester, MA 02125. Make checks payable to Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Standard mail orders take about 30 business days. Expedited service runs 7 to 10 days if you write "Attention: Expedited Mail Service" on the envelope.

FamilySearch has free collections that cover Massachusetts deaths and burials from 1795 to 1910, plus town clerk records from 1626 to 2001. You need a free account to use it. The site includes Norfolk County records mixed in with the rest of the state. Search by name and filter by county to narrow things down. This is a solid backup when the state archives database does not turn up what you need.

Norfolk County Obituary Research Resources

The Thomas Crane Public Library in Quincy has a genealogy collection that covers Norfolk County obituary records and local history. Staff can help you search through old death notices, cemetery records, and family files. The library holds microfilm of local newspapers that published obituaries for decades. It is one of the best free resources in the county for this kind of work.

The Dedham Historical Society is another key source. Based in the county seat, it keeps records that go back to the founding of Norfolk County in 1793. Their collection includes old town records, church registers with death entries, and newspaper clippings that mention obituary notices. The Brookline Historical Society has a similar local collection for that town.

AmericanAncestors.org runs the Massachusetts Vital Records Index from 1841 to 1920. This subscription site from the New England Historic Genealogical Society has indexed Norfolk County death records along with birth and marriage files. If you are tracing a family line through the county, this database can save you hours of searching through paper records. They also have a library at 99-101 Newbury Street in Boston where you can use the database for free on site.

Norfolk County Obituary Newspapers

Newspapers are one of the most useful tools for finding obituary records in Norfolk County. The Patriot Ledger is based in Quincy and covers the entire South Shore, including most Norfolk County towns. It runs death notices and full obituaries daily. The paper has been in print since 1837, so its archives go way back. Check with the Thomas Crane Public Library for microfilm copies of older issues.

The Brookline Tab and Newton Tab are two smaller papers that publish local obituary notices for those towns. These can catch deaths that the bigger papers miss, especially for longtime residents who were known in their community but not across the region. The Dedham Transcript covers the county seat and surrounding towns. The Canton Journal, Braintree Forum, and Randolph Herald each serve their own corners of Norfolk County with local obituary listings.

For online access to older newspaper obituaries, sites like Newspapers.com have digitized runs of many Norfolk County papers. Some libraries offer free access to these databases with a library card. Ask at your local branch.

Norfolk County Probate Court Records

The Norfolk County Probate and Family Court in Canton handles estate cases that often tie in with obituary research. When someone dies, the probate file may list heirs, assets, and the date of death. These records can fill gaps when a death certificate is hard to find or when you need more detail about a person's family at the time they passed. Probate files are public records in Massachusetts.

The Norfolk County Registry of Deeds at 508-528-1960 is a separate office that tracks property transfers after death. If the person owned land in Norfolk County, the deed records may show when the property changed hands and who the heirs were. This is a secondary source for obituary research, but it can confirm dates and family connections that other records leave out.

Massachusetts Laws on Norfolk County Death Records

Death records in Norfolk County fall under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 46. Section 11 says the funeral director must file the death certificate with the city or town clerk where the death took place. Section 9 lets a nurse or physician's assistant sign the declaration of death in some cases. Section 17B gives the state registrar control over original records and certified copies. Section 26 sets the fee schedule that clerks use.

Under MGL c.46, death certificates are public records. Anyone can ask for a copy. The one catch is that cause of death is restricted. Only the surviving spouse, parent, child, sibling, legal guardian, or someone with a documented legal interest can see that part. General public requests get a certificate with the cause of death left blank. For most Norfolk County obituary research, this does not matter much since the name, date, and place of death are all included on every copy.

The Massachusetts Public Records Law under MGL c.66, Section 10 also applies. It gives everyone the right to request government records. Agencies must respond within 10 business days. The first two hours of search time are free for towns with over 20,000 people, which covers most of the larger Norfolk County communities.

Cities in Norfolk County

Norfolk County has 28 cities and towns. Each one keeps its own obituary and death records at the local clerk office. The four cities below have their own pages with detailed information about searching for records there.

Dedham, Braintree, Milton, Randolph, Franklin, Needham, Norwood, and other Norfolk County towns also have clerk offices that handle obituary record requests for their area.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Norfolk County. If you are not sure which county has the obituary record you need, check where the death took place. The clerk in that town will have the original record on file.