St. Pancras Workhouse Baptism Records

[Chestnutvilla]

Hello, I have received the birth certificate for my Nan's half-sister who was born September 11, 1881 at 115 Pancras Road, London. The mother also states that she was residing at the same address. I have since found out that this address is the same as that for St. Pancras Old Church.

Due to some of the information given on the birth certificate being untruthful, ie. the mother stated she was married to a butler with the surname of Burgess, when she was in fact unmarried at the time, I understand that she may have given this church address to simply avoid putting down that she gave birth at the St. Pancras Workhouse which was very near to the church.

I was wondering if there most likely would have been a baptism for the child at St. Pancras Old Church and, if so, where would the records be kept?

Also, I'm also not sure if it would depend on which infirmary she would have given birth at where the workhouse records would be kept, if any. What type of records would they mostly be....admission? hospital records? that would show her length of time there.

I do know that she had a previous daughter at Queen Charlotte's hospital (for unwed mothers) in 1880 and then returned home to Leatherhead, Surrey to live with her mother (from 1881 census) and then obviously was pregnant again during the the time of that 1881 census and for some reason returned to London to give birth in St. Pancras in Sept. 1881.

Any help with regard to the baptism and workhouse records would be greatly appreciated!

Regards,

Jilly

[caliope]

Hello Jilly,

A distant relative of mine looked through the St. Pancras Workhouse admissions book (on microfiche) at the London Metropolitan Archives. It showed the entry and discharge date of our relative. I believe the St. Pancras Old Church parish records were also at the LMA. They showed our relative's baptism date and the location of the birth being the workhouse. I know a more knowledgeable forum member will be able to help you further but for my relative who was born in the St. Pancras workhouse and baptised in the Old Church, the records were found at the LMA. I don't know how you would access them from Canada :( but, again, I'm sure a forum member, with far more experience than I, will be able to answer this question. Also, as our relative was also born out-of-wedlock, the workhouse records also contained a declaration - from the unwed mother - which stated who the father of the baby was. Best of luck!

[Peter Goodey]

The birth register has survived

1878 Jul - 1888 Jun Saint Pancras Workhouse; register of births; X020/151; STPBG/164/002

Record are at the London Metropolitan Archives.

[marmaduke123]

The St Pancras workhouse register of births is now online at Ancestry - the workhouse records are the first batch of the LMA records to appear.

Anne

[Chestnutvilla]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I wasn't sure if the St. Pancras had been put on Ancestry yet from the LMA. Unfortunately, I don't have access to Ancestry at this time.

Caliope, it looks like your ancestor's situation was very much like mine, but as the mother, Mary Chapman, lied about being married, she probably wouldn't have had to fill in the declaration at all. Poor Laurie May Burgess had five different surnames that I have discovered throughout her life. It has been a real puzzle piecing all the bits together. I very nearly didn't order the Laurie May Burgess birth certificate, but as it had the correct year, and place, and the fact that her surname had changed so much, I ordered it just in case, and lo and behold was pleasantly surprised to find that Mary Chapman was mentioned as the mother, though she took on the 'Burgess' surname pretending she was married. Laurie May stated on her marriage certificate in 1906 that her father was a John Amey, Butcher, so a totally different story there!

Oh well, these types of things keep us family tree researchers on our toes!!!

Thanks again!

Jilly