Genealogy Chat

Afternoon all,

I'm only logged in for a quickie but thought I'd get the ball rolling with this question.

I have an ancestor who died from childbirth in 1886 it appears to have been a few days after the child was born. There is no child with the father on the 1891 census when he appears with his parents and he dies in 1892.

I'm guessing as a result of this the child died. If this is the case and the child was still born would they have registered the birth and death in 1886?

The couple to which I refer are Samuel Hay and Isabella Hay (nee Plenderleith). He was born 1861 in Portobello and died there in 1892. She was born 1862 in Cockpen and died in Portobello.

They were married in 1885 in New Monkland.

I hope this is enough to go by for now, I'm on a public computer and won't be able to log in for another couple of days.

Thanks for any and all help.

Gypsyjoe

Your best bet would be to ask here:-

General Register Office for Scotland
New Register House
3 West Register Street
Edinburgh
Scotland
EH1 3YT

In England stillbirths were not registered until 1927 and then in a separate register from the normal birth and death registers. I don't know about Scotland.

Kath. x

Possible the child may not have been a stillbirth and perhaps survived.

Scotlandspeople.

There are 29 matches for births between 1886 and 1891 for the name Hay. Male and female. District Duddingston and Portobello.

There are 4 matches for deaths between 1886 and 1891 for the name Hay. Male and female. Age 0 - 5yrs. (2 of which died at 2yrs old and 2 at 3yrs old) District Duddingston and Portobello.

Information on stillbirths is not available online. A Register of Stillbirths was kept by the General Register Office for Scotland from 1939.

Morning All

Thank you all very much for your help. I do already have Isabella's death record that is how I found she had died as a result of childbirth.

When the cashflow is healthier I'll go back to scotlands people and have a look at the matches you mentioned Helen and hopefully will come up with something. I suppose the child could have survived but then gone into care and maybe adoption if the father couldn't care for it.

Does anyone know if a father would have kept a baby if his wife died? I suppose the child could also have ended up with another family member - does anyone think this would be possible?

Gypsyjoe