Genealogy Chat

Can anyone tell me something about baptisms in Lying In Hospitals. I have an ancestor who I believe was born in the City of London Lying in hospital around 1805. It seems (from checking the LMA site) that baptisms were performed there. Does anyone know if this was standard procedure to baptise all the babies born there or was it just done to perhaps those babies which may have been born and then subsequently died there too ? Regards Martin

Time to bump. I've also found an ancestor who was bapotised in 'Lying in Hospital' in Holborn. Does anyone know anything about 'Lying in Hospital'?? A google search give the information: [quote]British Lying In Hospital Endell Street, Holborn. Originally founded in 1749 in Brownlow Street, but was moved to an Elizabethan Structure erected with all improvements in 1849. It was solely for affording medical and surgical treatment to married Women, who were either admitted to the hospital or attended in their own homes. The hospital was supported by voluntary subscriptions and donations. It closed in 1913.[/quote] Really, I would like some further information.

Lying-in Hospitals were the forerunners of Maternity Hospitals. If a child was baptised in hospital, or anywhere, very soon after birth, it usually indicated that the child was not expected to survive. If it did survive, there was often a second baptism in church. Reg

Thanks Reg, I have a whole family where all 4 boys were baptised in 'Lying In Hospital Endell Street, Holborn, London' although that was 1800-1810 which was when it was before it was at Endell St. Presuambly it just the records that are all described that way.

I am not so sure that baptism in a Lying-In hospital indicated that the child was not expected to live. Many of these Lying-In hospitals were funded by deeply religious people and I wonder if baptism was a service offered, much as the modern service of the Registrar attending a hospital to register births? OC