Does anyone know where stillborn or babies a day or so old were buried in the fifities? In those days the hospital took care of everything as it was not thought to be good for the mother to see the babies. I had a brother who was born at the city general (now the Northern) and I would like to know where he may be. I do know they probably had a mass grave for these poor souls but dont know where. Thanks for any info

My mother had a still born in the 40's and she told me that then, they would be buried in any grave, where anyone was due to be buried. She said that she never knew where that was and like you say, I think it was a case of the hospital taking care of everything then. Sad really when we think of it now.

Oh dear that is so sad its awful to think that I may never find out where he went its so different these days thank goodness. Thanks for your time

my mother has recently found out where her twin is buried,from 1948!
check with register of births and deaths,local vicar etc.

Long shot i know but can't you try the hospital or something? Surely if you ask them they could atleast put you through to someone else. I know when it happened to my mum and dad (however, my brother wasn't stillborn he lived a day and half so i've recently found out) they had to sort the buriel themselves. Maybe your mum had to sort it herself? :confused:

hi, my friend had a still born baby 18 years ago and the hospital arranged the funeral, her daughter's grave is at a church at darnall (near mc donalds i think).. i do know that a lot of babys are buried at the peter pan gardens in city road cementary or genoside crementorium.

hi- i have copied this from the SANDS website

Tracing A Baby's Grave

hope it helps

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Sands is contacted by many parents who were bereaved long ago and who want to find out where their babies are buried. Often the baby died some time ago. Tracing a baby’s grave can be a difficult task. It takes courage to start a search of this nature and it ought to be stressed that the results can often be frustrated by lack of records or insufficient details.
It’s also worth noting that in many cases babies were, and still are, buried in a shared grave with other babies. In other cases babies were buried with another adult (usually a woman). The graves are usually unmarked, though they do have a plot number.

Through the Hospital
The Hospital Administrator at the local hospital where the baby was delivered should be contacted first. They will need to know:
• the full name and address of the mother
• the date of delivery, and
• any other relevant information (eg the approximate date of the funeral, did the hospital arrange the funeral? Information of this nature)
The administrator should then be able to tell you where the baby is buried and/or the name of the funeral directors who handled the hospitals’ burials at that time.

The funeral directors would be able to tell you which cemetery/crematorium they used. You can then have a search carried out or ask to see the cemetery/crematorium register.

Most hospitals contracted one funeral director. If you cannot find out which company they used you will then need to work your way through all the funeral directors in the relevant area.

Through the Local Council
Hospital records are rarely kept for more than ten years, so you may not be able to follow the above guidelines. The next place to look therefore is the local council cemetery and crematoria department for the area where the baby died or was stillborn. A register is maintained here. The head of this department is usually called the Superintendent Registrar.

The public are legally permitted to inspect burial registers, but do not have an automatic right to personally inspect cremation registers. However, a search can be made on your behalf if the following information is provided:
• the baby’s surname, and
• the date of death or stillbirth

If you do need to talk about any of the above then please contact the Sands Helpline 020 7436 5881, which offers support to bereaved parents, however long ago their baby died.

__________________

Don't you think things like this happen in real life flyer!!!!the most traumatic experience my wife and ever have ever had to endure, and the dictionary definition of that word endure is"painful and prolonged" even after 35 years.

Oh I'm sure its me but every one as a different way of dealing with life & death, i do know with a wake people focus on their life not on death ,the things I have a slight problem with are, eating ham sandwich with the body lying in the room,putting 5cups of ash on the mantel while the rest gets dumped on the local tip by the truck load ,my wife & I wont be long now but have long made plans ,NO service,paper box only to burn the body &most important dump the ash on the city dump,as I said I'm sure its me but we've spent to many yrs trying to help people get over death when they should be seeing council from the experts

Hi pamrenshaw
My parents had a baby that died after a couple of days,that was back in 1932 but we knew nothing about it until shortly before my mother passed away just a few short years ago.
So my sister set about finding out where he was buried. She finally did this three years ago and finally after 78 years we were able to put a small memorial stone with his name George and his date of birth over his resting place.

The point to this is that if you want to go further with this I will be happy to put you in touch with my sister and she could show you how to go about it.

If your interested send me a p.m with you email address

I don't think this is morbid at all. Anyone who has gone through this sort of grief will understand, and if they haven't, they should think themselves lucky! I suffered a miscarriage 17 years ago, and it still hurts! Good luck with your search:)

Does anyone know where stillborn or babies a day or so old were buried in the fifities? In those days the hospital took care of everything as it was not thought to be good for the mother to see the babies. I had a brother who was born at the city general (now the Northern) and I would like to know where he may be. I do know they probably had a mass grave for these poor souls but dont know where. Thanks for any info

I can tell you of one instance, in 1963, where more than one baby (Don't know exact number, but born at Jessops Hospital) was buried in a shared grave at City Road Cemetery.
The plot was on the left hand side, near the top of the hill (where the road sweeps round & climbs after turning left when going through the main gates.
One of these babies was mine. Fills me with shame because I can't bear to think of it or go and look. Hope you find your dear brother

I can tell you of one instance, in 1963, where more than one baby (Don't know exact number, but born at Jessops Hospital) was buried in a shared grave at City Road Cemetery.
The plot was on the left hand side, near the top of the hill (where the road sweeps round & climbs after turning left when going through the main gates.
One of these babies was mine. Fills me with shame because I can't bear to think of it or go and look. Hope you find your dear brother

In those days, it was far different, and there was less understanding about the need for "closure" and for the parents to be able to say goodbye properly to their child.

The grieving process was halted/ interrupted by the attitude of "Oh, you can't talk about it!". And "Put it behind you!"

If you weren't allowed to say goodbye properly to your child, it's no wonder that you feel that you cannot bear to go to the cemetery.

Don't be hard on yourself.

my brother was a still born he would be about 29yrs old if he lived, he was buried along with other still borns in the city rd cemetry along the back wall just up from the care takers house. my mother wanted to have him re-buried with my grandmother when she died but they said that they would have to contact all the other parents for permission to dig the grave so in the end mum thought it would be to upsetting for her and the other parents.

my baby died age 5 months 30yrs ago we had such a fight with the hospital because I was'nt willing to let them sort out the funeral details I was told he would be buried in a childrens grave , not an individual grave because it was'nt normal practice . After a battle I had him cremated as this was the only way I could stop them putting my baby into a mass grave.

Those incidents, Nezzoz and button moon, are awful!

It's appalling how bereaved parents were treated! Talk about disgraceful!

Hello PamRenshaw, First of all I am sorry to hear your sad news. Time makes no difference when it comes to loss. Have you been able to find anything out about your baby brother yet?? I think I may be able to help you. To do so you will need to find out the following information. When was your brother born?? Was he born sleeping (stillborn) - if so how many months pregnant was mum. Did he live - even if only for an hour or so - it can make a difference. Was he given a name. What was mum's name then and address. If you can find this information and then let me know when you have, I will do my best to help. Take care.

Does anyone know where stillborn or babies a day or so old were buried in the fifities? In those days the hospital took care of everything as it was not thought to be good for the mother to see the babies. I had a brother who was born at the city general (now the Northern) and I would like to know where he may be. I do know they probably had a mass grave for these poor souls but dont know where. Thanks for any info

As a family historian I have searched the burial registers for numerous records.

If you know when he died then he will be entered in the burial register. This also gives the parents names, address and the section and grave number.

Burngreave would be a starting point for the Northern General.

It is just a case of ruling the cemeteries out one by one.

The burial registers are available on film at Sheffield Archives.

As for certificates they do not appear in the GRO indexes.

"Due to the sensitive nature of stillbirth registrations, the procedure for ordering a certificate of the entry differs from other types of certificates. We will only send out the application form after we have been contacted by phone or in writing by the mother or father (if he is named on the certificate). In cases where the parents are deceased, a brother or sister can apply if they can provide their parents’ dates of death.

The cost of the certificate is £7. "



Tuppie

My mum's brother, I believe, was stillborn - at least I can find no birth or death certificate - he was 2 months premature and as far as I know was born in the first half of 1945 in the Northern General. I'd love to be able to find some record of him.. :help:

Hello CarolW
I am new to Sheffield Forum, I only registered to try and help pamrenshaw, so I am not too sure about how I should proceed, but, if you want to contact me personally with the details I asked her, I will try my very best to help you. Take care

in city road there seems to be a few old baby graves around the edges of the paths. There are a couple near our family grave at manor lane side. I presume families have traced them because over recent years pots or headstones have been placed.

My Grandparents had a set of twins around 1915. One was still born and the other died after ten days of life. I have only just found this out. I subscribe to Genes Reunited, but can find no trace of them at all in 1915 or three years either side. Does anyone know if it was compulsory to register still born babies at that time? The same question is asked of the ten days old baby. Hope someone can advise me. Thank You.

My Grandparents had a set of twins around 1915. One was still born and the other died after ten days of life. I have only just found this out. I subscribe to Genes Reunited, but can find no trace of them at all in 1915 or three years either side. Does anyone know if it was compulsory to register still born babies at that time? The same question is asked of the ten days old baby. Hope someone can advise me. Thank You.

The 10 day old baby should have had a birth/death certificate. The stillbirth register didn't start until 1926 - and they're quite strict about the information given out!! What was their surname?? You could try www.freebmd.org.uk to search for the birth certificate..

My mum had a stillborn about 43 years ago, she was born in the Northern General Hospital and buried in Shiregreen Cematary. She was put in a grave with 2 other babies and bless her has no headstone, nothing, just a grass verge.

If you no the Cematary you can find out where the plot is, i did and they was very help-
ful.

Thank you both for your help. Sorry to be so late in replying - I have changed Internet providers. It looks as if I shall have no luck with the stillborn baby. I have found her twin who lived ten days. They were actually born in 1925 - just one year prior to the stillborn register. Thank you again for your help. Nigel.