Luke Pettyfoot has submitted a formal proposal to the Law Commission of England and Wales, calling for a change to the law which would allow families the right to correct historic birth and death records for babies who lived briefly, but were registered under the wrong name due to outdated laws.
Some babies were buried under incorrect surnames, which meant families were unable to update the official record or memorial plaque to reflect their child’s true identity.
The inspiration for this came from Luke’s Nan, Maureen, who asked him to look into what had happened to her first baby, Alison.
“She had carried confusion, guilt and unanswered questions for 57 years, and she said she just needed to finally understand,” said Luke.
Luke spent months looking through certificates, archives, council files, records, and cemetery logs, trying to discover what had happened to Alison.
Maureen had had a very normal pregnancy, with no inkling that anything was seriously wrong.
She was told that she needed to be monitored for her blood pressure, and was admitted to Victoria Hospital, Swindon’s first general hospital, two weeks before her due date.
Then the unthinkable happened – a nurse walked up to her bed and bluntly said: “you’re baby has died inside you.”
“There was no warning, no compassion no explanation at all. My Nan was so shocked she couldn’t even speak,” said Luke.
“They kept her in hospital for nearly two weeks after that. She was heavily medicated, confused and heartbroken.”
When Maureen delivered her baby on August 2, 1968, she was under the impression that her daughter had been dead for two weeks, and continued to believe that for nearly six decades.
Alison was taken away from Maureen immediately after birth, without allowing Maureen to see her.
But after Luke investigated the records, he discovered that, in fact, Alison had lived for two hours, and died from ‘asphyxia due to anencephaly’.
“Even today, that isn’t survivable. There was nothing my Nan could have done and nothing the doctors could have done.
“After 57 years of guilt, that truth gave my Nan some peace at last,” said Luke.
Maureen’s mum, who had visited her in the hospital whilst she was pregnant, had seen Maureen’s stomach moving and believed the baby to be alive, but the nurses dismissed it as wind or muscle spasms.
Luke also found out that there had been problems with registering Alison’s name.
At the time of giving birth, Maureen had been legally known by her previous married name, despite being with her new partner, John Pettyfoot, who was Alison’s father.
Because of this, the law forced Alison to be registered under Maureen’s surname, not Pettyfoot, with John’s name not appearing on the certificate at all.
Maureen and John had no clue as to where their daughter had been buried, until now, believing she had been “taken away and thrown out.”
It has now been discovered that Alison was placed in a mass grave with 26 stillbirths, eight infant deaths, and a woman from the 1800s.
“We were told there are other baby mass graves in the cemetery too – some with over 80 babies – because that’s how things were done back then, quietly, and without involving the parents,” said Luke.
“For my Nan and Grandad, finally finding Alison after nearly six decades has meant everything.
“They were able to stand at their daughter’s resting place for the first time in their lives.
“And now, with a plaque there, they finally have somewhere to visit – somewhere to say her name.”
The plaque now in place reads: ‘Alison Pettyfoot. 2nd August 1968. Sleeping among little angels, forever loved.’
Luke said that, currently, people are only able to add a note, nothing more, to correct a record or certificate belonging to a baby born around this time.
Plaques and memorials are also not automatically issued, and Luke is calling for this to become a right for parents who lose a baby in this way.
“This wasn’t an isolated case. It happened to hundreds of families,” said Luke.
“Families should be able to correct historic birth and death records properly, not just have a note added.
“Parents and relatives should have the right to access full medical and burial information, even from decades ago.
“Hospitals should not have been able to register babies without the parents being involved, and families should be told exactly where their baby was taken and buried.”
Maureen and John went on to have two other children – Helen born in 1969, and Lee, Luke’s father, born in 1972, along with three grandchildren and one great grandchild.
But all of them grew up without knowing what had happened to their own sister, aunt and great-aunt.
Luke said Swindon Borough Council, the Radnor Street Cemetery volunteers, and Heidi Alexander, South Swindon MP, have all helped the family get to the truth.
“No family should have to wait generations for answers,” said Luke.
“This isn’t just about our family – it’s about making sure no other family spends a lifetime not knowing what happened to their baby.”
