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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Lancashire => Topic started by: pirhana on Sunday 09 February 20 16:29 GMT (UK)
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My brother ( older than me) was born and died at Broadgreen Emergency Hospital, Liverpool in July 1946. This is something my mother told me about when I was a child.The hospital was later developed into the present Broadgreen Hospital. I have a copy of his death certificate; he lived for 15 minutes and the cause of death was Asphyxia Neonatorum. My question is not to do with the cause of death but what happened to such infants afterwards? I'm fairly sure there wouldn't have been any kind of funeral. Were they just taken away by the hospital staff in the hope that the mothers would "move on with their lives" and look to the future when they might have subsequent children? Were they just incinerated or actually buried in a communal grave somewhere? In the grounds of the hospital possibly?
Pirhana
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If you have access to Ancestry, either via a subscription or at your local library, I'd advise searching the cemetery records.
Ancestry have a database called England & Scotland, Select Cemetery Registers, 1800-2016. This includes various cemeteries in the Liverpool area.
Also try the following (also on Ancestry):
Liverpool, England, Church of England Burials, 1813-1975 and /or
Liverpool, England, Catholic Burials, 1813-1985
Search using his name and the year of death and, fingers crossed, you may find his entry in one of the above databases.
Good luck with it
Boo
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To tickettyboo, many thanks for the Ancestry/ Liverpool cemeteries suggestion.
Pirhana
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Generally, unless the family wanted a funeral, the stillborn/neonatal deaths would be taken by an undertaker when he was collecting an adult body from the hospital and the baby would be put in the same coffin. However, there is a lady who has taken it upon herself to trace the resting places of stillborn children - www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-51271977 - so if you want to trace your brother's resting place she may be able to help you.
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As this baby wasn't stillborn and the OP has the death cert, I think there is a good chance that he may be found in cemetery, or even parish records. Each burial had to be accounted for, though he may well have been buried with either an adult or other babies in a public grave. I'd be interested to know if Pirhana manages to find the burial record in any of the databases I posted.
I have a few babies in our tree who were born and died too soon, so far I have managed to find burial records for them all - though none were born/died in the 1940s so I am not sure if things were different then.
Boo
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My brother was stillborn at home when my mum was 28/30 weeks pregnant. I assume the GP just took the baby away but what happened after that I have no idea. I've tried GRO to see if there is a stillbirth record for him and there isn't. I think in the 1940s/50s and even 1960s things were very different and mums were just told to get on with life. Before he left the GP even told my mum the best thing she could do would be to have another baby!
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My mother's twin sister was stillborn, in 1931.
I have the stillbirth certificate.
This was obtained from the Stillbirth Register, which can't be seen online.
I had to write (not email!) to the GRO in Southport.
I had to prove my connection, and explain the reason why I wanted the certificate.
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I wrote to GRO in Southport and gave my connection, and also gave the dates of death of my parents to show I was next of kin and they responded by saying there was no record of the baby. I know there was a baby and that he was stillborn because it happened (the stillbirth) during the evening after I'd gone to bed. My mum told be later that the baby was strangled by his umbilical cord - so sad. I'm going to write again as the reply I got said there was no record of baby W (my married name) and not baby B (the surname of the baby). Whether the reply letter was just typed wrongly or they'd done the search on the wrong name I don't know. I gave them the full address of where the stillbirth happened and the full names of my parents. My feeling is that the GP just disposed of the baby and didn't bother to record the stillbirth.
My aunt born 1919 was also, according to family folklore, a twin and her twin apparently died at birth. I know she was born in hospital, unlike her siblings including my dad and his sister who were also twins which suggests maybe there was a problem with my gran's last pregnancy. However, my aunt's birth certificate doesn't give a time of birth which would suggest that, perhaps, she wasn't a twin or that if the other baby was stillborn they didn't consider her a twin and didn't bother with the time of birth.
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My brother died in mid 40's age 2weeks.
He was buried with a stranger in the local cemetery.
I went to the cemetery and the workers there kindly looked up his burial and took me to the grave.
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To LizzieW,tickettyboo, KGarrad and a-I thank you for all your information and suggestions. Regarding the BBC feature about stiilborn children I did read something about it but will now try to contact the lady concerned as well as exploring other avenues.My parents were living fairly close to West Derby cemetery in 1946 but as I said in my original post I've always had the gut feeling that there wasn't a funeral.As I believe there were maternity facilities at Broadgreen hospital once the NHS started in the late 1940s I imagine there may have been other cases there like mine.If stillborn and other deceased infants were buried at the local cemetery together with an adult where would that be ? Allerton? Anfield? Cemetery records should hold the key ( hopefully!) so that would seem to be the way to go.
Pirhana
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Quoting from The Births and Deaths Registratiion Act 1926:
7 Registration of still-births
(1)The birth of every still-born child shall be registered by the registrar in a register of still-births containing the heads of information prescribed in the First Schedule to this Act.
(2)In the case of every still-birth, it shall, unless there has been an inquest, be the duty of the person who would, if the child had been born alive, have been required by the Births and Deaths Registration Acts, 1836 to 1901, to give information concerning the birth, to give information to the registrar of the particulars required to be registered concerning the still-birth; and every such person upon giving information shall either—
(i)deliver to the registrar a written certificate that the child was not born alive, signed by a registered medical practitioner or certified midwife who was in attendance at the birth or who has examined the body of such child; or
(ii)make a declaration in the prescribed form to the effect that no registered medical practitioner or certified midwife was present at the birth, or has examined the body, or that his or her certificate cannot be obtained and that the child was not born alive.
(3)Subject to the provisions of this Act, and subject to the prescribed exceptions, the provisions of the Births and Deaths Registration Acts, 1836 to 1901, shall apply to the registration and entry of a still-birth as they apply to the registration or entry of the birth of a child born alive.
(4)The registrar upon registering a still-birth shall, if so required, give, either to the person giving information concerning the still-birth or to the person who has control over or who ordinarily buries bodies in a burial ground in which it is intended to bury the still-born child, a certificate under his hand in the prescribed form that he has registered the still-birth, but may, on receiving written notice of a still-birth accompanied by a certificate given by a registered medical practitioner or certified midwife under the foregoing provisions of this section, before registering the still-birth give to the person sending the notice a certificate that he has received notice of the still-birth, and any certificate given under this subsection shall be given without fee.
And:
5 Burial of still-born children
It shall not be lawful for a person who has control over or who ordinarily buries bodies in any burial ground to permit to be buried or to bury in such burial ground a still-born child before there is delivered to him either a certificate given by the registrar under the provisions of this Act relating to still-births or, if there has been an inquest, an order of the coroner.
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To KGarrad, thanks for that information as well.
Pirhana
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I am fortunate that I still have an elderly aunt alive who, despite being 92 is mentally very sharp and still has a very good memory.I've never broached the subject of my brother's death with her before and so, following my original post on this site decided to contact her. She remembered it and confirmed without me asking her what lizzieW had said in her reply: i.e my mother told my aunt that she was informed by the hospital staff that the baby would be placed for burial in the coffin of an adult who had died.
Pirhana
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Pleased your aunt was able to help you.
Out of interest, did you try the cemetery records to see if he was recorded?
Boo
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To Tickettyboo, No not checked cemetery records yet,but it's on the "To Do"list!
Pirhana
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So pleased you had help from your Aunt.
It was common place then to bury a baby with an adult who was being buried . My brother was buried with a man , a stranger to us. The man at the cemetery gave me his name which I appreciated.