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My family say that my great grandmother Mary Ann Williams (nee Whitney)
[Birth Apr 1884 in Cwmdu, Breconshire, Wales Death Apr 1914 in Weobley, Herefordshire, England] died during childbirth with twins and that one twin was buried with her and the other survived for a little while before dying so was buried separately.
in the BMD records I can see a child Mary Ann Williams (born to mothers maiden name Whitney) Mary A Williams [Birth Mar 1914 in Weobley, Herefordshire, England Death Mar 1914 in Weobley, Herefordshire, England]

Would the other child have been registered if it died during birth?
How can the death of the living twin be recorded in the quarter before her mothers death if her mother died during childbirth?
Would there have been an inquest in to a death like this?
Do you think my family have got it wrong? although they said they saw some evidence at the church in Almeley a few year back that proved it and my grandfather was 11 at the time this all happened so should know if it were twins surely?

Just wondering if anyone has any knowledge regarding situations like this and might be able to answer my questions....

Thanks,

Kate

Maybe she did not die in Childbirth but shortly afterwards?

If there were twins and one was a still birth it would not be registered in the birth indexes

A live birth had to be registered. I think the definition of a live birth was that the child had to take a breath, irrespective of whether the child had a heartbeat when delivered. I think Mary Ann's birth was one of the last 3 births rego'ed in that subdistrict in 1914q1. Similarly, her death was one of the last 3 deaths rego'ed in that subdistrict in 1914q1.

Clearly, a woman who died in childbirth can't be rego'ed over 3m after she delivers her child/children, so this bit sounds like it's not the literal truth - but if she never really recovered from the birth & death and died 3m later, it might not be the literal truth, but it's hardly completely untrue either.

An 11 year old boy was unlikely to have been told much about childbirth etc in those days

Do you know where your gt grandmother is buried?

When checking through burial records at the records office, I have come across several

name,,,,,stillborn son/daughter of

I've often thought it a shame that people researching those families wouldn't know about these as the babies were more oftern than not, not buried in family plots.

As you know the month she died maybe you could contact the relevant records office and ask for a search to be carried out. You'd need to ask what their charges are for a search.

Chris

Do you have any of the certificates? It would answer the query over why the child's birth and death was registered in Q1 and the mother's death in Q2

What the family may have meant was that your great grandmother died "as a result of" childbirth rather than "during" childbirth.

My grandmother died 6 weeks after the birth of her last child from peritonitis but she had never recovered from the birth and never got to look after her baby daughter - who was brought up by a neighbour as my grandfather had 6 other children so my mother - 14 year old and the eldest daughter - had to look after the others but couldn't look after a baby as well. This was in 1931.

A stillborn child in those days was unfortunately likely to have been "disposed of" for want of a better phrase.

I doubt that there would have been an inquest as death during or just after childbirth was relatively common in those days.

Kath. x

The Historic Stillbirth Register (covering the years 1551 to 2005) is expected to become an invaluable resource with regards to stillbirths. ...

http://anguline.co.uk/sources.html

They are always looking for any information as to where stillbirths have been registered e.g Parish registers.

For those who are not aware, the site owner, Guy is the person who fought for the 1911 census to be released early.

Chris

I believe my g grandmother may have been buried at St Marys Church Almeley but as there is no headstone I am not sure.

I have the death certificate of both mother and child on order but not received yet.

Very confusing as my family think that she was buried with the child who died during birth...

Will await the certificates,

Thank you for your help :-)

Kate

The church should have a plan of the churchyard which should give information about who is buried where. This churchyard plan could be at the church or at the County Records Office.

Even if mother and child died three months apart the mother could still have been buried in the same plot which is perhaps what the family meant rather than that they were buried at the same time.

It will be interesting to see what the death certificates show. Please come back to the thread and let us know when they arrive.

Kath. x