A sad tale but interesting question...

[Aliballibee]

Evening all,

I won't provide names or dates here but my interest in expanding our family tree threw up a difficult question.

Would a still born baby be registered as a birth and / or a death in Scotland? My (living) relative has a memory of a funeral talking place (small white coffin) but I cannot find a registered birth or death.

If a funeral took place then presumably this would need to be registered. If not (and I can't think why) would some record of the funeral be kept anywhere?

Apologies for such a sad question.

Kind regards


Alan

[Russell]

Hi Alan
Sadly the birth would not need to be registered although some parishes kept records. Only live births were required to be registered even if they only lived a few hours. Funerals are not recorded (registered ) since they need not be religious in nature and the sacraments are not required. Most burials of stillborn infants were in the family Lair which required the ground to be opened so it would be recorded in the interment records of the burial ground/cemetery.
If you know where the parents or grandparents were buried you would have to approach the company who own the cemetery or the local authority who manage it to see whether they have any information about all the burials in that particular plot. Some companies are very obliging about releasing information. Most local authorities appear to charge a search fee which varies according to the vagueness or accuracy of the information you provide.
Good luck with the search.

Russell

[Aliballibee]

Russell

Many thanks for that excellent information.

There is a family plot somewhere (although I don't know where at the moment) so that will be a future port of call.

Kind regards

Alan

[nelmit]

Evening all,

I won't provide names or dates here but my interest in expanding our family tree threw up a difficult question.

Would a still born baby be registered as a birth and / or a death in Scotland? My (living) relative has a memory of a funeral talking place (small white coffin) but I cannot find a registered birth or death.

If a funeral took place then presumably this would need to be registered. If not (and I can't think why) would some record of the funeral be kept anywhere?

Apologies for such a sad question.

Kind regards


Alan

Hi Alan,

Russell's info is correct up to 1939 but I'm assuming that since you have a living relative who remembers the funeral then the stillbirth is fairly modern.

It would have been registered in the stillbirth register which is closed to the public although these days close relatives can apply for a copy of the entry.

The cemetery where the burial took place should be able to supply the details if you have the date and place.

Regards,
Annette

[carlineric]

I can confirm what Russell says about the interment records. I have been looking through the CDs which West Lothian Family History Society have produced and have found a number of stillbirths recorded.

Eric

[paddyscar]

Hi Alan:

It's my understanding that Catholic Church registries include death/funeral records, but that may not apply to the family you are searching.

Frances

[Currie]

It’s possible, although probably rare, for a stillbirth to appear in the ‘births’ column of a newspaper. One of my lot, a rather wealthy individual, advertised in the Sydney Morning Herald in 1872.

“On the 27th instant, at her residence, Woollahra, Mrs. C. H. S****, of a daughter, stillborn.”

If there was a regular funeral, in particular a fairly recent one, there must be a bit of a chance there was a mention in the usual place in the local newspaper. That’s unless they decided to keep it completely private.

Alan