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trying to find out any details of a stillbirth

H

heathy72

master brummie
im not to sure what to do,or how to look for any records of a stillbirth..
ive heard that years ago stillborn babies were buried with other people,my mom had a stillbirth,quite a while back,but as both my parents are no longer with us i can get any info,all i know is that the birth was at home,and would of happened between 1961-1965...my 1 brother was born 61 and my other brother was born 66,..i would be interested to find out any details of it at all,the date it happened would be great...ive tried looking on findmypast site and i cant find nothing..a relative told me my mom called him roy,but i dont know if when the birth/death was registered he was actually named..or simply called baby heath(our surname)..x
 
Many still borns at the period were buried in Lodge Hill - would be worth a try - they would be under surname and still born instead of christian name

brian
 
thanx for that...
i did try looking for him on find my past,through the deaths.i know the stillborns show as null or a zero next to the name....
how would i look for hodge hill,as im new to this site im still learning..thanx..x
 
If the birth took place in Birmingham Register Office area it would be worth contact their resident genealogist about it. I found this info on GENUKI:- Stillbirth registration was introduced on 1 July 1927 to help protect infant life, provide a valuable source of statistical information and to give parents the opportunity to have their child officially acknowledged. A stillborn child is a child born after the 24th week of pregnancy who did not breathe or show any other signs of life. When a child is stillborn the midwife or doctor will issue a medical certificate of stillbirth which will be used to register the stillbirth. When stillbirth registration was introduced the the age limit was the end of the 28th week of pregnancy, not the 24th (as it is now). This is a relatively recent change following the greatly increased survival rates of premature babies. Current GRO policy on obtaining stillbirth certificates: "Due to the sensitive nature of stillbirth registrations, the procedure for ordering a certificate of the entry differs from other types of certificates. We will only send out the application form after we have been contacted by phone or in writing by the mother or father (if he is named on the certificate). In cases where the parents are deceased, a brother or sister can apply if they can provide their parents' dates of death."
 
You can get a stillbirth certificate and it just like a birth cert if you have date details order it through the GRO as you would with any other.

Chris & I had a 1st born, stillbirth in Selly Oak 1969.

Good luck with your search.

Derek
 
a big thank you to everyone who's gave info on trying to find out about still birth's..
i dont know to much just a rough estimate of a year.and as both my parents are no longer with us,its so difficult to find a relative that would remember it happening.
the little boy was my brother,altho it happened a long time before i was born,it would mean a lot to find out somthing,even if it is just a date.
my mom never really spoke about what happened.all i know for definate is that he was a boy and he was born at home,i couldnt even say if mom was full term pregnant,im just assuming she was..
it was an aunt that said he had been called roy,and another aunt gave a rough estimate of when it happened..not much to gon im afraid,but once again a very big thank you to all.xx
 
Would all Stillbirth babies have been buried or would some be cremated?. I am about to start the search for my sister, born in the late 50's or early 60's. That's all I know. I'll start by obtaining a stillbirth certificate as both parents have passed away.
 
Hi Phil, some were buried and some cremated, I am not sure how it was decided. The problem is sometimes they were buried with just a surname. If you give me a name I will check Warstone Lane and Key Hill cemeteries for you.
 
I have no idea if a first name was given. I'll know more when I send my application form for a certificate of the stillbirth. When I have that I'll come back to you of that's okay
 
Thats fine you can give me the surname and I will see if anything fits.
 
There wre a lot, and I mean a lot, of babies either still born or died after a few hours at Warstone Lane, mostly buried in the catacombs. i found that out when I tried to find a baby girl born in 1959 to a lady who never saw her daughter, and never actually got over it. The baby lived for four hours and the mother was then told she had been buried. No imput from the mother at all, and they never told her where her little girl was either. Dreadful situation, but common at that time.
 
Phil as Shortie says many are buried in Warstone Lane I have checked the indexes and found these in the cemetery. When you get the birth cert check the date and maybe we can help further.

Price stillborn two in 1953, twins in 1956, one 1957 and three in 1958.

There was only one in Key Hill in the 1940's so to early.
 
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Many years ago when people couldnt really afford a funeral, a small backhander was sometimes paid to a gravedigger for a small baby/child to be placed in another person's grave, in this way they knew that their offspring was in consecrated ground.
 
I have not heard of "backhanders" small children and babies were often put in a coffin with an adult and they were sometimes listed in the burial register but don't always appear in the indexes.
 
I had heard of that, too, but if you speak to heather at Witton Cemetery, she will tell you that is an urban myth. She gives talks on such things for certain socieities, or used to (charities I think). If I remember rightly, she knows why that was said, but apparently it is not true.

It was very cheap to bury a small child, I think 2/6, but without looking at my files in the loft, I cannot say for sure. I have some old Key Hill records which give a list of prices for children. I also understand that a lot of families took out insurance, which cost about two old pence a week, and that catered for any funeral that came along, but I don't know what happened if there were several at one time.
 
Hi Heathy 72 I made some enquiriesfor a friend about her mothers still birth in the 1950s here at Hatfield in Hertfordshire .I was told that I would have to see the assistant Registrar ,who informed me that under NO circumstances ever would any information and certainly no certificates would ever be issued to anybody ,even the mother of such a birth ,because of the misuse ,ie false identity,pasports etc,etc.I asked were there any such circumstances in which that rule would be relaxed and she said definately not .I would be interested in other areas response tom
 
Wendy said:
Phil as Shortie says many are buried in Warstone Lane I have checked the indexes and found these in the cemetery. When you get the birth cert check the date and maybe we can help further.

Price stillborn two in 1953, twins in 1956, one 1957 and three in 1958.

There was only one in Key Hill in the 1940's so to early.
Click to expand...

Hi Wendy,

Many thanks for the info.
 
I think the 'backhanders' came from the burial of illegitimate children as there might not have been any record of their birth, hence they couldnt be buried.
 
Illegitimate children still have to be registered by law, and have had to be since July 1837. I don't think that for any burial you need to have any birth details, but you do need a burial certificate or the body cannot be buried. I believe that has always been the case at least since State Registration.
 
Hi Shortie, I have to bow to your knowledge on this, but I have just read this in a book recently and thats why I related it. You are probably right. Carol
 
That's interesting Carol, I think I might speak to Heather at Witton about it - she knows such a lot - A full term baby has to be registered, but one that we might call a miscarriage - say at about 18 weeks, that might be a different situation. What book was is that you read it in?
 
Hi Carol, I have just had a very interesting (and amusing) conversation with Julia at Witton. She said all of this is 'urban myth' and she has no idea where it came from. Miscarried babies under 24 weeks can be buried without a death certificate because in law under 24 weeks they are not 'viable' even though it is known that is not always true. Then they are buried with only a midwife's certificate. This has been the case since the 1860's or before.

It matters not whether the child is legitimate or not, each body has to have its own coffin, except in the case of a mother and child where both have died during or just after the birth. Twins also can be buried together. A grave digger handed a 'backhander' would have lost his job immediately if he had been found out, so she thinks that again, is a myth. All dead bodies have to have a certificate in law to allow a burial. Often the children were buried in the same grave together (they have some vaults at Key Hill were there are mostly children and also at Warstone Lane), but there are instances of children buried in common or public graves with adults, but that is less common.

Shortie
 
Shortie it wasnt a factual book, it was a fictional story but within it, it was stated what I previously had said, so presusmably it must have come from somewhere - sorry. :sorrow: ...
 
Well Carol, not to worry, what matters is that we now know the actual truth. It is strange how some myths start - I always believed that canal barges/narrowboats whatever you want to call them, were used to ship goods from town to town. However, I was aghast when an antiques 'expert' last week said on the television that narrowboats became popular when the Victorians wanted to get out of the cities and used them to live on. Never heart such poppycock in the whole of my life. I bet people will be thinking he is right, too.
 
A still-birth certificate states that it is just that, i.e a copy of an entry of a still-birth. Therefore it cannot be used for passport purposes as it is a death certificate!!
I believe it can only be obtained by one of the parents. Applications have to be made to the General Register Office.
The one I am looking at belongs to a close family member and dates from 1964.
 
Hi All, Just thought I would add this..My grandparents lost a son at 4 hours old..he has a Birth and Death record.
My Grandparents used to visit the Churchyard on his birthday and other occasions to lay flowers. They did not know exactly where he was buried, all they knew and passed on to the family was that he had been placed in the coffin of man who was buried on the same day. I contacted the church secretary who looked at the records for me. The records say that he was buried in the churchyard but it does not say where...(I found this odd ) The only other person that was buried that day is actually buried in the cemetery extension, I have his name and plot details...so where would my Uncle be ?? and why would my Grandparents have said what they did if it didnt happen ?? ..it remains a puzzle but if I were taking flowers I think I would place them on the man's grave in the extension.
 
I would think Lindyloo that he was in the same grave, but he would have had to have his own coffin. Remember the coffin is sealed at the undertaker's and how would the family know what undertaker was used for the other man? As he was a tiny baby, the coffin would have not been large, perhaps it was placed in the other man's grave but the other family were not told about it, hence the apparent secrecy? The information I have given above is from people who have been in the burial business for many many years, so I personally cannot doubt it, however, there are somethings we shall never know for sure.

I hope this makes sense!
 
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