Stillborn birth, a delicate question

[Elaine ..Spain]

Thanks for your comments Guy. We will review the page in the reference library.

[Tilly Mint]

Thanks Guy.

[Olde Crone Holden]

I do not wish to be argumentative, but there is a difference between what OUGHT to happen by law (civil or ecclesiastical) and what ACTUALLY happened.

The old burial ground in St Ives, cornwall, is on a slope down to the sea. It was closed to burials many years ago. however, land slippage frequently uncovers old graves, and the enclosing wall also suffers from subsidence. This often discloses the remains of infants - no stillborn burials are recorded in the old registers and I understand that the practice was either to inter the stillborn with the next "proper" burial, or for the parents to be allowed to inter the stillborn by the church wall, so bringing the soul under the protection of God. According to guy's post, these burials should have been recorded but they weren't.

In 1963, my ex husband's first wife gave birth to twins at home,one of which was stillborn. My husband was instructed to take the baby to the vicarage and there he was told that he could bury his son by the north wall, discreetly and after dark. Again, this was not recorded.

I also have to wonder under what circumstances the Registrar General would issue a certificate of stillbirth to an indirect or non relative. The fact that he has the ability to do it doesn't mean that he ever does. Still, we'll probably never know as I doubt there are any statistics.

OC

[JBee]

Cemetary records can be quite revealing - I was interested in who was buried in OH's grandparents grave and approached the cemetary office. It turns out that two relatives had bought 3 graves and so the cemetary office had sent details of who was in each of the graves.

There was extended family in both the other two graves, none with them though, but very surprisingly mentioned a still born baby (no gender) of his ggf (no mother mentioned) and is probably the reason why OH's gm was an only child.

[Guy]

I do not wish to be argumentative, but there is a difference between what OUGHT to happen by law (civil or ecclesiastical) and what ACTUALLY happened.

snip
I totally agree OC throughout history people have ignored the rules and regulations, but surely the wiki should reflect what was required rather than give the impression stillbirth burials were not recorded?

In 1963, my ex husband's first wife gave birth to twins at home,one of which was stillborn. My husband was instructed to take the baby to the vicarage and there he was told that he could bury his son by the north wall, discreetly and after dark. Again, this was not recorded.

In that instance the onus was on your ex to record the burial. Such omissions also occur occasionally when non-conformists or dissenters are buried in a churchyard. Sometimes the dissenting minister omits to record the burial.

I also have to wonder under what circumstances the Registrar General would issue a certificate of stillbirth to an indirect or non relative. The fact that he has the ability to do it doesn't mean that he ever does. Still, we'll probably never know as I doubt there are any statistics.

OC

Here I can speak from experience. After I married I was informed by my mother-in-law how she had carried a son almost full term and how no one acknowledged his existence.
I wrote to the Registrar General and asked for a stillbirth certificate. The Registrar General instructed the GRO staff to carry out a search but unfortunately there was no record in the stillbirth register and they returned my fee, but not until they had made numerous attempts to discover the stillbirth and why it was not registered.
It turned out the hospital involved were not as efficient as they should have been in recording such events.

Obviously each Registrar General will set his/her own requirements before release of such information but as long as they are assured the request is not frivolous they will consider the request.
Cheers
Guy

PS My mother-in-law cried through relief and joy when I recorded her stillborn son on the family tree.
As she put it -"After twenty years someone has acknowledged I carried my son for nine months".