Hi Charani I have had a full print-out of all the burials under that name (Quiney) at Cheltenham cemetery, which was opened in 1864 (I think), and the only place that anyone could be buried who lived in that part of town, because the churchyard was closed by then, so I have eliminated that. There are other childrenof the same name, one lived two minutes, one lived two seconds, but they were not the same dates, and were the children of another member of the same family. We had understood that the child lived a little while, and this person I spoke to yesterday had said to his daughters that he had twin sisters. It is all very bizarre. I will call Cheltenham Register office today. Regards Pauline > > If there had been a twin, I would have expected there to have been > some indication, even if the other one had been still born. > > A stillborn child had neither a birth nor a death certificate, so no > entry in either index. Stillbirths weren't registered until 1927 and > the registers are closed except to the parents of the child or > siblings where the parents are deceased. > > If the child was born alive and had drawn breath, then there would be > a registration in both the relevant birth and death indices. That > there is none suggests that either the child was still born or that > the story was a family legend. Such stories can perpetuate through > more than one family which tend to lend substance where there is none. > > All you can do is record the fact that it's believed there was a twin > but there is no trace of her. That said, have you tried the parish > burial registers? There *might* be a reference in there depending on > how conscientious the incumbent was. Stillborn children were usually > buried in the same coffin as an adult who was not necessarily a relative. > -- > Charani (UK) > >