General Chat

My Dad's eldest sibling died at 23 days old in 1913 of "1. marasmus due to malassimilation of food 2. infantile convulsions".Mother present at death.

She went on to have 14 more children all surviving to adulthood.

I wonder if the poor boy had an allergy to milk.............she couldn't breast feed any of her children according to my aunt.

Very sad:(

Thanks for an interesting thread David:)

Ah my friend has been telling me that marasmus can also be a medical illness that prevents nutrition being taken into the body so it can be that this is the case rather than neglectful or poverty stricken parents.

Yes,and I wish I hadn't found out until after my dad had died, then It would have been ok
Janet

I didn't tell Dad a few things as I knew he would have been upset................likewise with Mum's side, no point in upsetting them.

The thing which hurt me most about the things I found, was that my granny had a baby Edith, who died in infancy. She must have been broken hearted. Then she went on to have another baby girl, and called her Edith.
I keep saying she... but I know that grandad MUST have had something to do with it! ;-0)
I found that strange as we don't do that now do we?

One of the other things which really got to me, was the description of children on their death certificates... I have two within my fathers tree, imbecile.
Someones beloved child.. and to go with a label like that.

Deanna X

Kay, my granny still had *penny insurances*when I was a child... in the 50's I think she was paying them until she died.
She told me when I had my first baby that
I should take out one of those insurances with the COOP.... because I never knew when I might need it!
How I wish I had spoken more about important things with granny when I had her.

Deanna X

I think my saddest time was when I found out my mothers eldest sister was buried in a council grave. I always new the story, age 11 she had gone on a Sunday school outing and forgotten her sandwiches, some kind soul took pity on her and gave her a sausage roll or a pork pie and she got food poisoning and strained the valves of her heart with vomiting.
It was 1931 with no money I supose and with three other children my grandparents didn't have much choice, they had to look after the living, but it still broke my heart when I found out. Gill

Yes Uggers my grandmother was one of 17 children and within a few weeks 4 children died from diphtheria (spelling)

Val

Thanks everyone - I know these are alll a bit sad but I do find them interesting.

*17* children Val?

My 2 x great grandfather going before the Magistrates court for leaving his children.

Would appear he left them with a young girl, while he was looking for work, and his wife had died just a few months before in childbirth.

There's an upside to all this as well Uggers - I've probably told this before but..............

my only remaining aunt always believed (cos she was told it by her sisters all through her life) that their mother died giving birth to aunty. Aunt never knew her mother, and spent all of her formative years with her sisters in a childrens home.

For Aunty's 70th birthday I gave her a death cert!! (I know a card would have been better, but you know me ))))))

The death cert. referred to her mother (my grandmother) and showed that Aunty had been 2 at the time of her mother's death, which was due to TB - the date of death being 1932.

Poor old Aunty was absolutely delighted (if that's the correct term?) to find that she was not the cause of her mother's death - even though it came 68 years after the event. No one else in the family had been bothered, or was interested enough at that time to do any family history research, and death certs. like everything else in the family probably ended up in some one's bin, many years ago. I have no idea why she was told that her mother died after giving birth to her, unless it just seemed like that to her siblings - all I know is that the relief she felt was enormous and she no longer felt guilty.

So it's not all gloom and doom is it?

You feeling better now by the way? no after-effects from the surgery?

Jac

Ello David xx :-)

Just found a dreadful thing! Been reading White Cargo (blurb - in the 17th & 18th Cs, 300,000 people or more became slaves in all but name, mainly in the American colonies) and came across this:

On the isle of Skye two wily lairds concocted a scheme to make money by selling some of their tenants. In 1739 Sir Alexander Macdonald & Norman Macleod sold 100 men, women and children to merchants who planned to sell them in the American slave markets...

Think they are OH's direct line!

Jac, that poor woman. She carried that all her life?

You did a good thing.
I am 68, and I have pains I would give anything for some one to heal with a certificate...
That was a nice present.
Deanna X

Deanna - I also gave her some flowers, but as I worked at the Funeral Parlour at the time she wondered where they came from!!! )))))))

(before you think that they did - they didn't!)


Jac XX

I got a laugh from that Jacs, but not for one minute did I think that you gave her flowers from there!!

SO......... where did you get the flowers, got a receipt??? ;-0)

Deanna X

Just to put a little into prespective,,,,,,,,lots of parents put their children into what was then I supose a chech'e to be looked after often miles from their home while they worked to mainly keep a roof over their heads,,,,,,,,,,,,,these **farm ladies** were paid to look after the children. often up to 15 at a time,,,perhaps the money paid was never put to its full use and the kids got off to a bad start,,,,,and were neglected,,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

There is a case 1896, from a book I have in London ,where such a woman was entruted with such kids and she ended up murdering them and dumping their little bodies in the Thames,!Mrs Amelia Elizabeth Dyer a native of Bristol was hanged at Newgate in June 1896,,,,she was only tried for 2 murders that old 4 month old Doris Marmon who body they found,,,,also found was 1 year old Harry Simmons,,,,,,,,,

My little sad story concerns Crispin Tinley who married Annie Smedley in Oct 1875 In December 1875 a son was born , obviously pregnant when she married, the little boy lived 13 days, In January 1876 Crispin died of Phthisis pulmonaris.

I am still looking for Annie Tinley nee Smedley from these dates onward, she has disappeared.

My grandma's cousin married when she was 20, and had a daughter a year later, 3 or 4 months after she had been widowed.

Love reading this thread.

Dad's brother died when he was 22 months old. I asked dad a couple of times what he died of but he always said 'it was before I was born, I don't know'. I thought this odd as I would want to know if a brother of mine died young.

Anyway curiosity got the better of me and I got the death certificate. Little Reggie died of broncho pneomonia which he suffered for 12 days.

Sue

I have twins in the 1800's who died within 3 months of each other, and neither lived to be 4 month old.