Historical cause of death 1600s-1700s
What did rising of the lights mean on a death certificate?
On a death record, rising of the lights meant a choking sensation, as if the lungs, the lights, were rising into the throat. In modern terms it usually pointed to croup, asthma, or another obstructed-airway death. Lights is the butcher's word for lungs. The phrase puzzles every reader of the London bills of mortality, which is reason enough to know it. Expect it on records mostly 1600s-1700s.
Also written on records as: the lights, risen lights.
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Related terms
Browse the full genealogy records glossary for more occupations, causes of death, and legal terms.
FAQs
What is rising of the lights called today?+
Croup, asthma, or another obstructed-airway death, broadly speaking. Doctors of the period diagnosed without laboratory tests, so one label often covered several conditions we would now separate. This page explains historical record language and is not medical advice.
How was rising of the lights written on death records?+
Clerks and doctors also wrote the lights and risen lights. Spelling wandered from register to register, so check every variant before you decide a record is missing or wrong.
Where do these definitions come from?+
They are drawn from period dictionaries, government archive glossaries, and standard genealogy references, cross-checked against each other; provenance is documented with the dataset. Inside AncestorIQ, Deep Research reads the record itself and explains terms like this in context, against your ancestor's own document.
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