Genealogy Chat

Can anyone tell me whether stillbirths would have had to be registered circa 1920's/30's.

The UK register began in 1927 and as a rule were not buried in consecrated ground or in a lone grave or were allowed any marker..unlike in recent years where the rules have changed where the child can be named and given a proper funeral.


Certain rules apply when requesting a certificate,ie,
you must be a proven sibling,have written consent from the birth parent,or be that parent.and in certain circumstances a certificate wont be issued from early registers ,,,,full information can be found by googling.

I also think it depends on who attended the birth. My sister started her midwifery training in the 1950's and she remembers hearing from older midwives that in some circumstances stillborn babies were simply wrapped and "disposed" of - which seems terrible nowadays but things were very different in the past.

As with general registration which started in 1837 but took quite a while before everyone complied with the rules, I imagine that it took a while for people to get used to the stillbirth register, so the earlier the stillbirth took place the more likelihood of it not being registered.

Kath. x

Thanks for your reply. I have vague recollections of being told the baby boy (my Mum's brother) born in 1927/8 was buried by the wall in the churchyard where all babies were placed. I remember being told he had a mass of black curls and was beautiful. Sadly the midwife arrived too late and he had already been born. I don't know if he was given a name. From the information you have given me I think he probably not named.
My grandmother was very ill afterwards and never had any more children.

Susan, He will likely be recorded in the church burial register.
It would be worth finding out if that is still held at church or has been deposited in a local or county archive.

I have records of the resting place of several stillborn children born into my extended family

Thank you for that suggestion, I will get in touch with the archives department. Unfortunately the church and graveyard where he and other family members were buried is now under the M4 outside Cardiff!