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trying to find out any details of a stillbirth

Oooo !! sorry Shortie, I forgot he was placed in a soap box, (presumably a little wooden one) so yes he had his own coffin of sorts..trust me to miss out the vital bit !! I wouldnt have thought there would have been many Undertakers in the village (Rubery) at the time so I imagine they all mainly used the same one ? perhaps they arranged for baby to be included in the mans grave for my Grandparents ..guess we will never know :(
I got a bit confused with the urban myth thing above..what is it that is The Myth exactly (sorry to be dense !!)
 
What is the myth? Well, it looks like there may have been plenty, but mainly that the child was placed in someone else's coffin. Sound comforting to a mother perhaps, but I am told it never happened. I agree there may not have been more than one undertaker in Rubery, but don't bank on it. Death was big business in days gone by, but it does depend on what year we are talking about. I have seen current babies' coffins, but not got a clue about what they would be like around the turn of the 20th century or earlier. Must enquire. (I have some strange interests).
 
May I put my experiences to you please?

I have lost 4 babies between the years of 1963 up to 1975, the 1st one in Birmingham Loveday Street, the last 3 when I lived in Cheltenham. What happened to my little boy born in Birmingham I do not know. I was told nothing only to go home and forget about it and try again :uncomfortableness:

My last little boy lived for 3 days and he was buried in with an elderly lady after permision was given and he is buried in Gloucester.

this was my experiences
 
Shortie said:
What is the myth? Well, it looks like there may have been plenty, but mainly that the child was placed in someone else's coffin. Sound comforting to a mother perhaps, but I am told it never happened. I agree there may not have been more than one undertaker in Rubery, but don't bank on it. Death was big business in days gone by, but it does depend on what year we are talking about. I have seen current babies' coffins, but not got a clue about what they would be like around the turn of the 20th century or earlier. Must enquire. (I have some strange interests).
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Thanks for clearing that up Shortie :) It was in 1942
 
rowan said:
May I put my experiences to you please?

I have lost 4 babies between the years of 1963 up to 1975, the 1st one in Birmingham Loveday Street, the last 3 when I lived in Cheltenham. What happened to my little boy born in Birmingham I do not know. I was told nothing only to go home and forget about it and try again :uncomfortableness:

My last little boy lived for 3 days and he was buried in with an elderly lady after permision was given and he is buried in Gloucester.

this was my experiences
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Rowan, my heart goes out to you..it really does :(
..was it commonplace in those years to treat mothers who had lost babies in the way you were treated ? Thats disgraceful !! I am lost for words..
 
Oh Rowan, what sadness you must have felt, and probably still do, I do feel for you. I spoke in an earlier posting about a lady who had a baby in 1959 and the little girl, called Kay Elizabeth, lived for four hours. She is in Warstone - I found her for her family about five or six years ago. That was also Loveday Street. You may find your little boy in there, Wendy should be able to help you. The best thing for me about finding Kay, was that she was not alone, she was with about twenty other little ones who had died, and although I had no family connections, it made me feel good to think she was with her peer group so to speak, and was not alone. Her family were also comforted by that. All mothers at the time were told to go away and forget it, I have heard that so many times, however, those days were like that, it was part of how life was.

Apart from the little boy at Gloucester, are the others at Bouncer's Lane in Cheltenham? I know Cheltenham quite well, my mothers side of my family came from there, and I still visit cousins from time to time.

Shortie
 
What an interesting thread I have learned a lot about burials. Brian and I found a child who as an aunt of Lyn's. One of the saddest recent finds was for my friend and neighbor. We were chatting about what I do at Key Hill, she told me that her husband who had recently passed away had lost his sister when she was three, they never knew where she was buried. It took me ten minutes to find her in a public grave in Key Hill. How I wish she had mentioned it be for as I know her husband would have been so pleased to find her resting place. At least the rest of the family know where she is now.

There is an entry in the burial register of my family grave at at Key Hill in 1893 no exact date just year and no ref number. It states John Jennings but I haven't been able to find who it is. It may have been an infant death or still born but I wonder why no ref no. No entry on the grave stone either.
 
Wendy, do you think that entry in 1893 may have just been the purchase of the grave or was there someone in there first? I am thinking that possibly they just thought to purchase a grave long before anyone needed it, in the same way as we have burial plans today.
 
Hi Rosiethankyou for that information ,I will certainly pass it on It was about 6mths ago when I made inquiries at the Hatfield registry office and it was the Assistant Registrar who gave me the information I would sugest its the information that is on the certifcate which is open to misusetom
 
Hi Wendy, I received a copy of the 'Registration of a Stillbirth for my sister today. She was delivered on 10th March 1963. My sister Jane can sit alongside me now, not forgotten, on my family tree and on her birth-date and Christmas I can reflect on what might have been. If you are able to find any more details from that it would be appreciated. Many thanks, Phil
 
Phil I have checked the burial indexes for Key Hill and Warstone Lane cemeteries but sadly Jane is not listed. She could be in Witton or possibly cremated. I found your post very heartwarming with your comments that she is now on your tree and will be remembered on her birthday and Christmas. This is the positive side of family history. I do hope you manage to find her resting place..x
 
Hi Wendy, My original enquiry was because of a chance sighting of a posting on Facebook suggesting people should remember not just the deaths of older family members but also those that are still-born. It caused me to remember that it had happened to our family and that over the years, I'd forgotten all about it.
It stirred me to think my Sister deserved better that that so I'm just so pleased to have made the enquiries and have now found her date of birth. She was delivered at Lordswood Maternity but I don't think I'll take it any further now. Many thanks for your help.
Phil
 
Phil just to say I hope others take on board what you have done. Also whatever the circumstances your sister would have had a proper funeral. Maybe one day.....hug x
 
I found the resting place of my brother who was still born in 1956.i remembered the local funeral parlour and rang them they told me a lot of babies were buried in a mass childrens grave at lodge hill cemetary.i rang them and gave the name and date of birth and they gave me the plot number and even put a marker on it for me ...so dont give up...
 
Phil Price said:
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.
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Today is my little sister's birthday. She was stillborn and would have been 49 today. I found out my parents had given her the name Jane. She now sits alongside me in my family tree and will never be forgotten. Many thanks to those that helped me in my search.
 
My sister who would have been 64 now was still born, when I asked my father what happened to her after wards he said that she had been buried with some else.
 
Sooty, I had heard this many times, however, one of the ladies who works at Witton Cemetery, Heather Robertson, used to give talks to societies and charities on burials and she said it is an 'urban myth'. Babies are always in their own coffins with their own separate burial entry.
 
There is some truth in babies being buried in someone elses grave when the very poor couldnt afford a funeral.i found this out when i tried to find my baby brother who died in 1956..my brother was buried in a large plot for babies .at that time there were 2 cemetaries that did this brandwood end and lodge hill..i found my brothers resting place at lodge hill .the woman in the office was very helpful and put a marker there for me to find. He had his own coffin and burial entry .if you have his date of birth and death and an address they can go back many years in their records try lodge hill first..good luck.
 
Sandra we were speaking about babies being buried in a coffin along with someone else. which is the 'urban myth' Children were always charged much less for anyway and in all the Birmingham cemeteries there are graes full of little babies either stillborn or died very young. They were usually, unless the family was rich, buried in what is known as a common, or public grave. A common grave holds three people usually unrelated to each other, but public graves can have many many people in them.
 
Glad that you were successful in finding your brothers resting place. I think that my sister will most likely be buried at Witton Cemetery. I will try contacting them and see if they can help me in this matter.
 
Due to the kind help from members of this site, I was able to quietly reflect on my stillborn sister' birth-date on March 10th - Never forgotten.
 
Phil Price said:
Due to the kind help from members of this site, I was able to quietly reflect on my stillborn sister' birth-date on March 10th 1963 - Never forgotten.
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Not to forget my sister who would be 50 on Mothers day this year. How apt for this to fall on this special day and particularly as we have our whole family together this year. We can share a toast in her memory.
 
my sister maria was 13 hours old when she died in 1965 she is buried in brandwood end we phoned brandwood and was told we coudnt put anything on the grave becouse she is buried with some one else
she was born in dudley rd hospital and would have been baptisted in the hospital as we are RC i phoned st patricks church but they have no record nether as the hospital church is there anyway i can find out what church baptised thank you
josie
 
Hi Josie, duuno if St Chads knows anything about the diiocesan records? They may keep master copies there if it was an RC Baptism.

Because Maria is in a Public Grave, they like everyone or no one to be on any memorial - putting everyone on is tricky as they will insist you need their relatives permission and they will not give out their details (data protection)!
Try the Friends of Brandwood End - Ann Courbet 0121 628 1186 or see the website.

It ought to be possible to plant spring flowering bulbs on the grave which wioll not affect any mowing if the area is grass.

Fingers crossed

Brian
 
hi brian
thank you for that i will go to st chads and see if they have it and will have a look on website
josie
 
sooty said:
My sister who would have been 64 now was still born, when I asked my father what happened to her after wards he said that she had been buried with some else.
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So sad, this is the story i have heard for my brother as well, as far as i know neither my mom or dad know what happened to him after he was born. I am so sad he is not acknowledged anywhere formally

Deb
 
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