Age: 0
Sex: male
Date: 18 Aug 1929
Place: Whinnies Field, Pity Me, Durham
The body of a newly-born male child was found in a cesspool in the Whinnie's Field at Pity Me.
The body was found by a cartman who had gone to the field, which was his usual custom, to read on the Sunday, 18 August 1929. He said that on his way back he saw an object in the cesspool. He said that he first thought that it was a doll, but then found it to be a human body and he informed the police.
A policeman arrived and pulled the body out and said that there was no wrapping in the vicinity to indicate the body had been conveyed to the site.
The doctor who carried out the post-mortem said that the body had not been in the water for more than seven days and that death was due to exposure and inattention at birth. He said that there was an umbilical cord around its neck and no sign of drowning, indicating that it had been dead before being put in the cesspool.
