A sad discovery at the cemetery

The stigma of giving birth out of wedlock in past times and the expense of burying the stillborn lead to many mothers disposing of their babies in rivers, the countryside and elsewhere. But those with Christian beliefs preferred consecrated ground and as a consequence there were several cases of unauthorised burials in churchyards and cemeteries.

On the morning of Wednesday 19th February 1862, a sad discovery was made in the town cemetery at Bourne that led to an inquest being held at the Angel Hotel the following Friday before Mr William Edwards, coroner. He was told that the body of an infant child had been buried in the cemetery without the knowledge of the authorities although the mother had not been traced.

The parish clerk, Mr Simon Benstead, lived at the cemetery lodge [now demolished] and it was part of his duties to keep the grounds in good order. On the morning in question, he was planting flowers on the newly made grave of Miss Elizabeth Wherry [who had died on New Year's Day, 1st January 1862, aged 15] when his spade came into contact with some obstruction and on examination, he discovered a small box. He called the sexton, Mr John Gilby, who knew nothing about the burial and it was not in that section of the cemetery that had been set aside for stillborn children and no person had any right to carry out a burial at that spot.

The clerk to the burial board, William Bell, was informed and the police were called, an investigation subsequently being carried out by Superintendent William Keep who opened the box with the assistance of the cemetery keeper, Charles Christopher. It contained the body of a female child and had been buried 3-4 inches below the surface of the earth of a newly dug grave in which interment had taken place only seven weeks previously. The body was that of a fully grown child, 21 inches long and wrapped in an outer covering of flannel, apparently part of an old petticoat, and next to the body was a piece of linen. The box, 13-14 inches long and 6-7 inches wide, was made of wood and appeared to be an old nail container. The lid was secured with a piece of thick cord being tied twice around the middle.

Mr George Octavius Munton, surgeon, of West Street, Bourne, carried out a post mortem examination on the body which had the appearance of having been born at about the full period of gestation. Decomposition was far advanced. He told the coroner:

On opening the chest, I found it gorged with venous blood. The heart was distended and full of blood. The lungs were also gorged and not occupying the full cavity of the chest. They were placed in water and swam. On making some incisions in the lungs, they were found to be solid, cutting like liver. There was no ligature upon the naval string, nor had it been cut with a sharp instrument but was torn or lacerated. The test of the lungs floating is not infallible but I am firmly of the opinion that the child had never breathed. There were no marks of violence upon the body nor did I see anything to induce the belief that the child was born alive. If decomposition had not commenced before the body was interred, the process would be very slow and from the appearance, it might have been buried two or three weeks.

The coroner informed the jury, under the foremanship of Mr Thomas Harrison, that as the child was not born alive, it was not within their province to carry the investigation further. The subject of the concealment of the birth would be within the jurisdiction of the police authorities. The jury therefore returned a verdict to the effect that the child was stillborn. Police took possession of the box and carried out an investigation over the ensuing weeks but the mother was never found.

See also The Wherry family grave