I have two birth certificates for people that I believed died as infants - either stillborn or very early but I've been unable to find any death certificates for either of them (and the birth certificates don't mention anything about being stillbirths).
I understand that until 1st July 1927 there was no requirement to register stillbirths. One of the births was in 1926 so I guess its possible that the parents registered the birth but not the death? The other is 1928 when I believe a still birth should have been registered in a special register ... so how come there is a (normal) birth certificate?
Can anyone offer any suggestions as to what might be going on here ?
Many Thanks
ID:2136
* Stillbirths
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tbsm
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- Location: Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland.
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Stillbirths
I can only speak for Scotland, before 1939 no official records were kept for still births.
Register of Still-births (from 1939). District registrars compile registers of still-births occurring in Scotland, but these are not open for the public to search and we issue extracts only in exceptional circumstances, eg for legal purposes.
My sister's twin was still born in 1938 and we unfortunately could not get any information.
Register of Still-births (from 1939). District registrars compile registers of still-births occurring in Scotland, but these are not open for the public to search and we issue extracts only in exceptional circumstances, eg for legal purposes.
My sister's twin was still born in 1938 and we unfortunately could not get any information.
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Anonymous
Stillbirths
Yes, I understand it is the same in England but from 1927 rather than 1939. Plus I've found out that until 1983 it wasn't possible to register a stillbirth with a name. So since I've got 2 birth certificates with names, does this mean they are definitely not stillbirths ? Or was it still *possible* just not compulsory to register a stillbirth as a birth?
Stillbirths
If there is a birth certificate it means the baby was born alive. It may only have lived for a few minutes or seconds but if it was alive it had to have a birth and death registration.If it was stillborn the birth was not registered as such.
There is a separate stillbirth register (don't know the date it began)which can only be accessed by the parents or next of kin if the parents are deceased.
There is a separate stillbirth register (don't know the date it began)which can only be accessed by the parents or next of kin if the parents are deceased.
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Anonymous
Stillbirths
Thanks Anne! Des this apply even before 1837 ? If so the death certificates must be somewhere .... hmmm ... I'm stumped as to where to look. I've crawled through about 10 years after the births and still no luck (after 10 years I have someone living in the family who would have remembered them). Any lateral thinking ideas out there on where to go next ?
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tommy166
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Stillbirths
I know this is a back to front way of doing it, but if you are convinced these children died young, how about looking for burials, although I believe a death certificate would have been necessary, it could have been badly indexed or under mother's maiden name etc. Or if you know where they would have died, contact the local register office direct & see if they'll search their index for you.
I suppose there is also possibility they survived but were adopted (not necessarily formally) which would be a bit of a minefield without any other clues.
Tom
I suppose there is also possibility they survived but were adopted (not necessarily formally) which would be a bit of a minefield without any other clues.
Tom
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Anonymous
Stillbirths
Many thanks Tom ... I had another trawl through the death records and think I may have found them in adjacent districts. Fingers crossed!