Tracing burial of stillborn

[Kazbarinap]

 Hi, I'm fairly new to researching and in all honesty at my wits end

My mums first child lived 20mins. Born 2nd June 1968 at hope hospital called Jayne Crawshaw

Back then babies were taken away and buried by hospital. I have found her registration of birth and death and that's it. My mum has never got closure and I'm
Trying to locate her list baby

Agecroft cemetery have been wonderful but found nothing. Swinton registrars have been quite unhelpful. I've contacted hope but had no reply. My leads have now stopped

I am desperate to bring a neatly 80 year old woman peace. If anyone can help or offer alternate suggestions I would be very grateful

I would imagine the baby to have been buried in an unmarked grave maybe in the coffin of an adult

Thanks

[aghadowey]

Since the baby lived (and you've birth and death certificates to confirm this) then it wasn't a stillborn birth. The hospital was likely to have had some sort of arrangement in place for such circumstances and if anything was discussed with the parents they would probably have been so upset that the information didn't really sink in.
If the hospital can't help with suggestions (and it is so long ago that it's possible the present staff has no information) then perhaps checking with local undertakers who might have been in business during that period might give you other options to try.

I did find this bit on Hope Hospital's website which might be worth trying (not sure how you originally contacted them).
http://www.srft.nhs.uk/about-us/freedom-of-information/requesting-information/

[avm228]

Welcome to Rootschat.

I wonder whether the charity SANDS may also be of help.  Here's a page from their website: http://tinyurl.com/pzoevd7

Good luck in the search.

[dawnsh]

Have you tried contacting Salford Council's cemeteries department

http://www.salford.gov.uk/cemeteries.htm

They also have a bereavement services dept who might be able to help

Unfortunately, Swinton registrars won't be able to help which is most probably why you haven't heard from them. They only deal with the registration of births, marriages, civil partnerships, and deaths but not funerals.

[YO8]

The baby will have been buried in the council cemetery, either the council cemetery closest to the hospital or the one closest to your parent's home at that time.
A friend's mother lost a child in similar circumstances in the early 1960s. The hospital "dealt" with the arrangements and the parents were told to "go home and forget about it". My friend found her brother's burial plot for her mother, a few years ago.  He is buried in the "paupers" area of our town cemetery, they are able to lay flowers but not erect a memorial, it has given her mother peace of mind knowing where he is.
Good luck with your search.

[dawnsh]

Hi YO8

Thanks for your post, but your use of the word 'pauper' is a little unfortunate.

The council would refer to these areas as being 'common' graves. Most of the people in these sections had their actual funerals paid for, but could not afford the expense  of the 'exclusive' rights to a burial plot the family had paid for. As these are not 'exclusive' plots and usually conatin many unrelated people, headstones generally aren't erected. Even older cemeteries have common plots that contain only the remains of babies and children.

At that time, a lot of hospitals took care of the funeral arrangements with little or no regard to the feeling of the parents. This was the morality of the time and things have, thankfully, moved on. As society has come to learn, parents need to have closure as to where children are buried, now they are allowed to spend quiet time with their deceased children and take photos of them.

It is a popular and perpetuated myth that all babies were buried in coffins of adults and that their burial records can't be found. Maybe that was the situation historically and by that I mean pre 20th century but by the late 1960's, I would be very surprised if that was ever the case. The British Undertakers Association started campaigning in 1898 for a change to the death registration of still-born children but the government took until 1927 to change the registration laws. There was strong public opposition to the burial of still-born and new-born children in strangers coffins.

It's a difficult subject to deal with, and the op has discovered that at least one of her local cemeteries has been helpful.

Dawn

[jane camp]

It is good to read all your letters.  I am trying to trace my little brother. He was stillborn. I have the registration for him, but other than parents names there is no other information. The place he was born is not there anymore. I tried the local office in Tredegar where he was born and it costs £58 for them to search for him. Is this usual.

[GillyJ]

I had a stillborn sister in 1945 and I wasn't born until later. I didn't find out until I was in my fifties and my Mum had no birth certificate or anything as she was so poorly after the birth and it was dealt with by my uncle. I was so pleased to be able to obtain her birth certificate after help from the registrars office in her local area. I had no luck with finding her grave but do know that all stillborn babies were buried in a common grave at the top end of the cemetery - no real trace of anything there now.
However it did give me great satisfaction to have her birth certificate to add to our family ones - it meant so much to prove her existence and to have some closure for myself.

[jane camp]

Thank you Gilly. I have already got his stillbirth certificate, that's really good but I am now wanting to find his place of rest.
thank you