A Death in New York

[Northerngeezer]

Duncan McArthur (could be alternative spellings) my 3 times great grandfather who died in New York 28th March 1883.
I've found the details of his death on Family Search but there is further confusion over his place of birth and who his parents are, I need to physically see a copy of his death certificate to be certain who is parents really are, evidence is everything eh.
I've tried searching the NYC vital records site but I'm struggling in making any headway.
I have a death certificate number (I think) 453449 but vital records don't recognise that either and a lead from elsewhere suggested it is not digitised.
What I know..................... married to Jane McArthur, they lived in East 166th Street near Union Avenue, he was a customs house broker.
He was buried on 1st April 1883 in Trinity Cemetery Lower Manhattan.
Any help from the forum would be gratefully appreciated.

 

[emeltee]

Have you found him in any Census?

 

[Northerngeezer]

Duncan is in every census in the USA from 1850 to 1880, 3 years before he died but cant find him in a UK census.
Its been like pulling teeth tracking him down in the UK and I'm still not convinced I've got the right guy this side of the pond.
I started off thinking with a name like his he would have come from Scotland but once you start looking at the USA census it gives his birth place as England.
Its not a common name in England and I've ended up in Walsall and Devizes and I think I've found him in London, but even then its not without its problems.
He was born in Clerkenwell in London 14th of June 1823 and baptised 1st September the same year.
His baptism shows his name to be Duncan McArthur BROWNING and his parents to be Sarah and Duncan Browning.
Best guess is Sarah was the McArthur but at some time, for whatever reason, he's dropped the Browning, all records in the USA show him as McArthur or Macarthur.
I have him on the 1850 census in the USA as Duncan McArthur and a record of his marriage in 1852 to Jane Perry, but not the certificate.
I cant find an immigration record for him, I thought I had one from from 1849 but it was the wrong person.
I cant find Duncan Browning on the 1841 UK census but I can find his brother John so I think they may have emigrated at some point to the USA between 1823 and 1841.
So, its still a bit messy in the UK but ties up nicely in the USA.
I'm hoping sight of his death certificate gives me his mother and fathers names and place of birth.