Tracing burial of stillborn

[dawnsh]

Hi Jane

I know the council website states that they charge for a look-up.

http://www.blaenau-gwent.gov.uk/resident/births-deaths-marriages/cemeteries/our-cemeteries/

Under the circumstances, they might be a little more sensitive to a search trying to locate the burial of a stillborn sibling.

I would send an email as requested with all the information stating you are looking for the burial of your stillborn brother with the names of your parents and the dates of the stillbirth and see if you get a response with a free look-up.

Let us know how you get on.

Dawn

[iolaus]

Neville Hall Hospital now covers that area, I wonder if they have the old notes

[dawnsh]

If they survive, they may be closed under a 100 year rule.

[GillyJ]

I wish you all the best in your search - I know how important it must be to you.

[onyxandopal]

Good Evening,

Not to step on the original post's toes, but this post has prompted me to ask about stillborn babies in the 1920s.

What would have been the 'paperwork process' regarding a stillborn during that time? Would a birth have been registered, a death? Or would it have been recorded differently somehow?

I know the baby was called Gerald Ladkin. He would have been born sometime between 1923-1926 in Birmingham. I believe he was stillborn and not an infancy death.

It would mean so much for my elderly family member to trace where he might be buried, but I'm not even sure there would be any record. (I'm very new to the family research stuff!)

[nanny jan]

Welcome to Rootschat.   

Stillbirth registration in England and Wales began in 1927.

[Guy Etchells]

Good Evening,

Not to step on the original post's toes, but this post has prompted me to ask about stillborn babies in the 1920s.

What would have been the 'paperwork process' regarding a stillborn during that time? Would a birth have been registered, a death? Or would it have been recorded differently somehow?

Due to the baby being stillborn there would be no birth registered prior to 1927 after that date stillborn births should be registered in the stillbirth register.
Birth registers should only register the births of live births.

From 1874 all burials should have been registered, but that does not mean they were. At first (from around 1550) stillborns were registered under their parents name(s) but in the 20th century as the years went by it became more common to find stillbirths registered with a forename as well as a surname.
Examples –

1611 July 15, Elizabeth wife to Rowland Johnson ironmonger had a child still borne & bur. 15 July at her pew end.
1621 October 24, A child of Thomas Champ's still-borne
1629 June 20, Widowe Martine's child, stillborne
1684 May 13, A stillborn child of Prince George's buried in the vault. i. e. of Prince George of Denmark (see his burial 13 Nov. 1708) by the Princess, afterwards Queen Anne

In these early years church registers only named children who were baptised which meant still borns were not named.

1656/7 January 9, Walter Hall had two male children at one birth one of them still borne by Elizabeth his wife the 9th day of January the name of the one is called John
1656 January 10, Two twinne sons of Walter Hall was buridd the 10th day of Januarie one of them still borne the other his name is called John

Hospital registers tend to contain the least information, though the parents address is mentioned
01/03/1946, Jones Stillborn
01 November 1948, Jones Stillborn

I know the baby was called Gerald Ladkin. He would have been born sometime between 1923-1926 in Birmingham. I believe he was stillborn and not an infancy death.

It would mean so much for my elderly family member to trace where he might be buried, but I'm not even sure there would be any record. (I'm very new to the family research stuff!)

As your stillbirth was pre 1927 I would suggest searching the burial registers of the local parish churches, begin by searching the parish other family members were buried in.
If there was a maternity hospital in the region try the parishes around that hospital.

Cheers
Guy

[onyxandopal]

Good Evening,

Not to step on the original post's toes, but this post has prompted me to ask about stillborn babies in the 1920s.

What would have been the 'paperwork process' regarding a stillborn during that time? Would a birth have been registered, a death? Or would it have been recorded differently somehow?

Due to the baby being stillborn there would be no birth registered prior to 1927 after that date stillborn births should be registered in the stillbirth register.
Birth registers should only register the births of live births.

From 1874 all burials should have been registered, but that does not mean they were. At first (from around 1550) stillborns were registered under their parents name(s) but in the 20th century as the years went by it became more common to find stillbirths registered with a forename as well as a surname.
Examples –

1611 July 15, Elizabeth wife to Rowland Johnson ironmonger had a child still borne & bur. 15 July at her pew end.
1621 October 24, A child of Thomas Champ's still-borne
1629 June 20, Widowe Martine's child, stillborne
1684 May 13, A stillborn child of Prince George's buried in the vault. i. e. of Prince George of Denmark (see his burial 13 Nov. 1708) by the Princess, afterwards Queen Anne

In these early years church registers only named children who were baptised which meant still borns were not named.

1656/7 January 9, Walter Hall had two male children at one birth one of them still borne by Elizabeth his wife the 9th day of January the name of the one is called John
1656 January 10, Two twinne sons of Walter Hall was buridd the 10th day of Januarie one of them still borne the other his name is called John

Hospital registers tend to contain the least information, though the parents address is mentioned
01/03/1946, Jones Stillborn
01 November 1948, Jones Stillborn

I know the baby was called Gerald Ladkin. He would have been born sometime between 1923-1926 in Birmingham. I believe he was stillborn and not an infancy death.

It would mean so much for my elderly family member to trace where he might be buried, but I'm not even sure there would be any record. (I'm very new to the family research stuff!)

As your stillbirth was pre 1927 I would suggest searching the burial registers of the local parish churches, begin by searching the parish other family members were buried in.
If there was a maternity hospital in the region try the parishes around that hospital.

Cheers
Guy

Many thanks for your replies, that’s been very helpful.

The baby was born at home in the Jewellery Quarter area of Birmingham. There is a hospital very very close to the house, where the siblings were born (after the still born boy), so I would imagine the burial place would have been the same whether he was born at home or in the hospital.

I emailed the local council last night and they sent me a link to check burial records online. With no luck. 😕

[sillgen]

In my local village the babies born at the local hospital who did not survive were all buried in the local cemetery in specific areas but without any markers.  The parish council are just arranging to have a memorial sculpture placed there to make sure they are not forgotten and give parents a place to visit.   The burial records up to the 1990s show babies still being buried there.
http://www.cuckfield.gov.uk/local/burial-ground/burial-registers
Just looking at the first page of 1961 in the link above gives an idea of the number of infants who died.  Seven on that page alone and looking at earlier and later dates there are hundreds more.