Mystery of Baby Auckland: Child’s body found wrapped in 116-year-old newspaper may be 300 years old

A baby’s remains found wrapped in a 1910 newspaper in the UK are raising more questions than answers, as investigators now believe the remains may be up to 300 years old. The inquest date has been set for 17 September at Crook Coroner’s Court to unravel the mystery surrounding the life and death of the child.

A haunting discovery

It was a usual day. On 29 July 2024, a renovation crew was working on a house in the historic market town of Bishop Auckland. As the day’s work started, the crew made an unexpected and haunting discovery. Beneath the floorboards of the Victorian house were the skeletal remains of an infant. According to The Guardian, there was ‘twine looped around the boy’s neck’, and he was wrapped in The Umpire newspaper, dated 19 June 1910.

Radiocarbon analysis later revealed something much more unusual. The child was likely alive between 1726 and 1812. The infant’s body could be 300 years old, yet it was wrapped in a newspaper from 1910.A post-mortem examination revealed the baby was male, while carbon dating suggests that he was born before 1955. The cause of death, however, is not understood. Investigators said the baby was full-term and 40 weeks old when found.

However, the coroner said it was ‘not possible to determine whether he was stillborn’, as reported by the BBC.

Baby Auckland’s funeral

On 27 April, a funeral service was held for the baby, who has been named Baby Auckland by the authorities. “This has been a deeply thought-provoking case,” Detective Chief Inspector Mel Sutherland said during the service. The baby was buried in a small white casket in Bishop Auckland Town Cemetery.“Coming together today has allowed us to properly acknowledge this little boy’s life and ensure he was laid to rest with the dignity and respect he deserved.

We hope he may now rest in peace,” Sutherland added.Cathy Hunt, Durham County Council’s cabinet member for children and young people’s services, also paid tribute to Baby Auckland and thanked attendees for allowing the child to finally ‘rest in peace’.“Sadly, for reasons we will never know, this little boy was never given the dignified and appropriate burial he deserved. It was important that he was laid to rest in a way that honoured a life that could have been,” she said, as reported by ITV News.Meanwhile, an inquest had been due to conclude in Crook, County Durham, on Monday. However, Senior Coroner Crispin Oliver said he would hold a full inquest on 17 September, after hearing from three witnesses: the police investigation, post-mortem and a radiocarbon dating expert. He said the questions of who the deceased was, where they died, when they died, and how, were all to be considered.