VPRS 12064 Reports of Still-Births by District

Full description

By 1853, the Registrar General's Department was responsible for the administration of the compulsory registration of births, deaths, and marriages as determined by the Births, Deaths and Marriages Act 16 Vic., No.26.

The Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Amendment) Act in 1952 provided for the registration of stillbirths. Prior to this Act however, Stillbirths were recorded neither as births or deaths by the District Registrar.

This series was created to comply with the Registrar's obligation to maintain a record of stillbirths for statistical purposes. It contains details of the date and locality of the stillbirth, details of the parents, period of intra-uterine gestation, legitimacy of birth, and by whom the stillbirth was recorded.

Each district maintained its own separate record of stillbirths. However they have been registered together in one series for ease of reference.

Related series created after the proclamation of the Act in 1952 include VPRS 11768 Name Index to Still Birth Registers and VPRS 11769 Still Birth Registers.

There is only one volume which is dates from 1863, whilst the majority begin registering stillbirths from the early 20th century.