Genealogy Chat

Maybe. A bit unusual, but who knows. Possibly didn't want to shock the vicar! Is his birth near their marriage date though?
I would be inclined to get the other child's death cert as suggested, if you really want to know.
Jan

That inclines me towards a different theory then.... that my g-grandfather's birth date was falsified in order that he would not appear illegitimate!!!

Then it makes no sense. There is no way a baby of 29 weeks could have survived that long at that time. The only possibility is if he were a little more mature, but she would have had to get a move on!
Jan

Well, the little fellow was christened on 10th October, so he survived for at least 42 days.

Going by weeks, there were 35 weeks between them. To be born at 35 weeks is normally fine, but assuming she conceived 6 weeks after her previous child was born, the 2nd one would only be 29 weeks' gestation. Might have survived a day or two at best I would say as it would be unable to feed and would almost certainly have had significant breathing difficulties.
Jan

Fascinating. So how premature could a baby be in 1868 I wonder and survive long enough to be christened? These were very poor people living in the East End of London.

Women are advised not to have intercourse for at least 6 weeks after giving birth.

So from 6 weeks on providing she is producing an egg every month it could be as quick as 8 weeks,

And the old wives tale that you cannot get pregnant whilst breastfeeding is just that an old wives tale.

I would hazard a guess that this 2nd child was so premature as so be unable to survive in those days. Personally I would order the Death Certificate to assuage my curiosity. It will tell you exactly how old the child was. I have a few where the child only survived hours.

My ex mil had 2 children within 1 year, my husband and his younger sister. There was less than 3 months between his birth and her conceiving his sister.

My g-grandfather was born 26th December 1867 and his brother was born 29th August 1868 according to christening records. This means there were 246 days beteween them, less than nine months.

The younger brother was not on the 1871 census so I guess he was a very premature baby that died after his christening. But 246 days between births? Does anybody know how soon after childbirth a woman can conceive? Just how premature would this baby have been?