An inquest has revealed that a baby skeleton, believed to be a male born around 1726, was discovered in an upstairs flat with twine around its neck. The infant’s remains were found wrapped in a 1910 newspaper under the floorboards in Bishop Auckland. The coroner confirmed the baby’s gender through DNA profiling.
The formal opening of the inquest into the baby’s death took place at the County Durham and Darlington Coroner’s Court. The baby was determined to be born full term, but the circumstances of its death, whether stillborn or under suspicious conditions, could not be conclusively determined. Twine was found wrapped multiple times around the baby’s neck.
The newspaper in which the baby was wrapped, ‘The Umpire,’ dated back to June 1910. This British Sunday newspaper, founded in Manchester in 1884, featured news about King Edward VII’s death, leading to a constitutional crisis. Despite carbon dating and DNA profiling, the exact timeframe of the baby’s existence remains uncertain, with estimates ranging between 1726 and 1812.
A post-mortem examination conducted at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle identified the cause of death as ‘unascertained.’ DNA analysis confirmed the baby as a 38 to 40-week full-term male fetus. The burial of the baby at Bishop Auckland Town Cemetery is being arranged for April 27, with the inquest adjourned until May 18.
The property in Bishop Auckland, where the baby was found during renovations, was investigated by police and CSI teams. The circumstances surrounding the baby’s death were deemed suspicious, although the building previously housed a church-run mother-and-baby unit, suggesting the baby was concealed there beforehand.
