Genealogy Chat

Can anyone please tell me if a baby born 3months premature and lived for just over an hour would have had a birth and death cert, this would have been in 1965. thank you for any help given. Regards Maureen.

Yes, if the baby lived for any length of time, there should be a cert. However, it may not have been named, so the cert. may just say 'Male' or 'Female' and the surname.

Mary Thank you for your reply,my sisters and I know that he was named but can not remember what it was,he was our baby brother and no one talked about him, only boy and to upset dont know if he was burried. Regards Maureen.

have you got ancestry.look in the births against your surname and see if you can find a boy born with your mums maiden name may even be added at the bottom of the page as male and surname.. Sorry to say even in those days it was normal to put babies in a coffin with another unrelated soul who was about to be buried ,saved the parents the expense of the funeral. hospitals often arranged this by saying to the parents dont worry we will take care of it. parents in their grief would have been grateful but not know what happened. Shirley

Shirley Thank you for your reply,I dont have ancestry so cant check that. Regards Maureen

Maureen If you are just searching the BMD index on ancestry its free - you just have to register - if you don't want to do that or give all the details of your surname & mother's maiden name just PM me and I will have a look for you if you want regards Jane

If you want to give the name and approximate year and area, I'll have a look at the births and deaths for you. If you don't want to put the details on the thread you can pm me with them. Kath. x

Jane, I don't think the BMD's are free on Ancestry any more. Kath. x

thanks for that Kathleen - I was under the impression it was still free but have been away for a while. Jane

I'm not sure how far back the law goes, but the in early 90's, the law stated, if any child was born and unfortunately died before the 28th week of pregnancy, the child was NOT registered. If the child was born before, but died after 28 wks, only the death would be registered. Depending on parent's personal choice or preference, their baby could be buried with other children in a cemetery plot, have an individual plot for ashes to be buried or ashes scattered. The individual plots usually have a lease of 75 to 99 years, depending on the cemetery. If this is the case, a burial record would exist. Today, the law is changed and applies to the 24th week. This is because nowadays more and more babies are surviving with medical intervention. It may be worth looking at local cematery records, if you have a good idea of the date. You will most probably have to contact the cemetery in person stating your connection to the child. Hope this may be of some help.

Thank you all for your replies and a really big thank you to Kathleen as she found our baby brothers birth and death cert so we now have a name for him.I will be going to the records office tomorrow to see if I can find out where he was buried. Regards Maureen