Genealogy Forum UK

Hi Guys.
Im new on here, this is my first post, so i hope i have put it in the right place, lol.
Im researching my family tree, name of Tassell.
My problem is this....
On 1st December 1961 my mother gave birth to a son, he died in the womb, just before he was born, say 40 mins or so.
As you can imagine, my Mother was distraught and never wanted to talk about it. It fell upon my Father to 'sort' things out.
This is where it gets strange, my Father told my Mother that their baby was buried with another lady who died supposedly in childbirth. (now, we don't really know if this is true, or whether he just wanted my mum to think that their baby was not buried alone, but in the arms of another woman???)
My Mum also said that they named him Anthony, after the birth/death, so we don't even know if his christian name will be on any certificates!!
My dad claimed to know where they was buried, but never told my anyone. Unfortunately he took this secret to the grave, he died 15 years ago!!
When we started to research our family tree, we found no record of this baby even existed. We cant find no birth or death certificate, and all my Mum says she has from him is a receipt from the funeral directors for a ' white ash coffin', which she lost when sorting through things when my Dad died.
Surely there should be some record of him somewhere, my Mum is approaching 70 this year ( a very young 70, mind you!! ) and would dearly love to know if we could find out where her son was buried.
If anyone could help, we would be soooo grateful, as it seems we have come up against a 'brick wall' with this one.
His Name was Anthony Tassell, born/died 01/12/1961 at All Saints Hospital, Chatham, Kent.
Cheers guys xx

This is a sad story -- I am not sure what the rules on still births would have been in those days but I suspect it might have been that they didn't actually need to be registered -- I am sure I read somewhere that they used to deal with the babies in as quick and easy way as possible -- and then tell the mother's to adopt a stiff upper lip and get on with the next -- pragmatic but not very good for the emotions.

Was she in hospital at the time? -- if so there may be a general record of the process in these situations --

Hi Maths Girl.
Yes she was in hospital, she even saw him and saw his eyes move, the nurse said it was just his reflexes shutting down, and that he had definately died.
My sister thinks its a conspiracy, and that he was alive and taken away and sold on the black market, lol, She has a very fertile imagination, lol.
Its only really 50 years ago, and if my dad was telling the truth about how he was buried with another lady, how are we going to find him, and did they bury un-related people together back then, i really dont know??

Forgot to mention, that they pulled the hospital down about 15 years ago, and built houses on the site!!

dont know if this will help but looks like the law regarding still births c 1960

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Eli ... 32/enacted

reading it it looks like it would have to be registered ?

I'm not sure what the rules are in the UK, but there's is usually a time limit as to how long medical records have to be kept. Here in Denmark it's 10 years for written records and 5 years for x-rays(the reports of which are written records). Sometimes they may be kept for a longer period, but usually only if the space isn't required for some other purpose.

I seem to remember that stillborns didn't have to be registered, so I don't think there would have been either a birth or death certificate. Maybe the funeral director can be tracked down?

Hi PeterD
Thankyou for that info!
So if i have read it and understood it properly, lol, there should definately be a record of him somewhere, but where!!

lou-lou69 wrote:Forgot to mention, that they pulled the hospital down about 15 years ago, and built houses on the site!!

Hopefully they passed some of the paperwork etc onto the local record office --

snoopysue wrote:I'm not sure what the rules are in the UK, but there's is usually a time limit as to how long medical records have to be kept. Here in Denmark it's 10 years for written records and 5 years for x-rays(the reports of which are written records). Sometimes they may be kept for a longer period, but usually only if the space isn't required for some other purpose.

I seem to remember that stillborns didn't have to be registered, so I don't think there would have been either a birth or death certificate. Maybe the funeral director can be tracked down?

Thanks snoopysue.
The funeral home is still in operation, do you think we would be allowed to access this information??

lou-lou69 wrote:Hi PeterD
Thankyou for that info!
So if i have read it and understood it properly, lol, there should definately be a record of him somewhere, but where!!

Try asking at the local register office -- I wonder if it is a specific register rather than the normal birth one!

Ahhhhh, there is a specific stillbirth registration. Not available to the public, only the parents of the deceased child can access it, or in the event of the parents deaths, siblings will be able to access it!! Whoooooo Whooooo, this maybe the way to go!!!

lou-lou69 wrote:Ahhhhh, there is a specific stillbirth registration. Not available to the public, only the parents of the deceased child can access it, or in the event of the parents deaths, siblings will be able to access it!! Whoooooo Whooooo, this maybe the way to go!!!

It might not tell your mother where your brother was buried but knowing that he was officially acknowledged my bring her some feeling of peace -- I hope so.

lou-lou69 wrote:

snoopysue wrote:I'm not sure what the rules are in the UK, but there's is usually a time limit as to how long medical records have to be kept. Here in Denmark it's 10 years for written records and 5 years for x-rays(the reports of which are written records). Sometimes they may be kept for a longer period, but usually only if the space isn't required for some other purpose.

I seem to remember that stillborns didn't have to be registered, so I don't think there would have been either a birth or death certificate. Maybe the funeral director can be tracked down?

Thanks snoopysue.
The funeral home is still in operation, do you think we would be allowed to access this information??

If they have it hopefully they will let your mother access it even if they say no to you --- I expect Monday can't come quick enough for you now!

Good Luck

kew might have accessble records ?

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cata ... ssmethod=5

there all under RG 41/56 57. 58 etc for different years ?

Hello

We had a similer problem as my aunt had a stillborn baby in the 60's and my uncle delt with everything in the same way.

Also my cousin died in an horrific moterbike accident when she was 11 as she was crossing a road. It was so awful that my aunt begged for the newpapers not to print her name.

I banged my head against a wall as I could not find death certificates for either of them - then one day I was speaking to the person in charge of the cemetaries in the area. Within ten minutes she told me where they were both buried. Dates of buriel and who had been involved in the internment.

So as you are aware who the undertaker was perhaps this is the way to go.

If you have not sorted this it's worth a bash. And it does not cost a penny