General Chat

I found one case where a woman died in childbirth, and the child was christened on the same day that the mother was buried...

Yes, Diana, I think we all feel this way. I remember being choked when I saw the 1901 census entry for my grandfather and his family, because the eldest child had been killed the year before, knocked down by a runaway horse. I wondered if my gt grandfather Charles was thinking about her when he filled in the form. Charles' own mother Ann had given birth to twins before Charles' birth. One died aged 6 weeks and one aged 3 months. Later that year her brother went insane and killed someone. Ann herself bled to death after childbirth. My gt grandmother in Islington was pregnant 9 times and only raised 3 children. She went to find her husband dead in the street, having collapsed on their 14th wedding anniversary. Several times she had to register the death of one child whilst she was pregnant with another :-( I can't imagine how awful that must have been. One of her babies died aged 5 weeks. nell

It was discovered that my Grandad had a baby sister who lived only a few months. That was sad.

I found out how to fit in the Merthyr Tydfil side of the family last week, a young man married and in 10 years they had five children all of whom died young, the oldest was two, the husband died the same time as the last child and his wife went to live with her brother as a servant ....................not a lot of happiness there

My FIL was born in July 1901 two days after his parents lost their little girl aged 16 months from diarrhoea. both events happened at home. Shirley

My grandma was one of 12 children, 3 died very young & one when she was 19. Of those, we found their grave which was very sad, it was a cross with all their names on it, very upsetting. I also have a copy of a little letter one sent to my gran .(who was by then married) This child wrote the letter when she was poorly with the illness that killed her. Now that is really very sad, & still upsets me when I read her words. She was only 7 at the time. To think if she'd lived she'd have been my great aunt. I had an aunt who was six months old when she died as well. :0) Joan xx

Doesn't it make you humble? My father had German Measles as a 3 year old and fortunately it was only his hearing he lost not his life otherwise I wouldn't be here today!! GGrandma lost 7 of her 12 and me still hunting for them, but I will find them and go pay my respects if I can!! xx

My gran lost her two first born - the boy died aged 11 months then the girl aged 13 mths - both from what was described as teething convulsions. Her husband was master mariner - so they would have been able to afford medical care. Husband's gran lost 6 siblings - 3 in 8 days - measles. I have the memorial cards for all of them. Ann

I remember sobbing buckets when Mum gave me our Smith family bible and one of the children was listed simply as Boy, December 24 1857. In the same generation there are two Johns one having died in infancy. I believe it was considered good luck to name a child after one that had died? I also sobbed with relief to find a child who I thought had died between the 1861 and 1871 censuses but subsequently found her in 1871 aged 12 in service with her eldest sister working for 5 spinsters. I guess it was that or the work house. Daisy

Ok I've got the bug now..... off to find the little ones! Get the hankies ready!! :O) xx

I found quite a few in my tree but the worst was finding I had a baby brother I knew nothing about.Died 1wk.old.would have been 65yrs old He was the first born. Mum and Dad not around to inquire as to what happened.

I have one lady in my tree whose first 5 children do not survive past their first year. She goes on the have a further 7 children. It always brings me to tears when I look at that part of my tree. I don't think I would have been able to do what she did. Joy

I had an elder brother Peter born aug 1944 died oct 1945 of diptheria luckly there was room in the grave of m y g gran and g gdad so he was buried with them my dad only had one week with him as the war was on, my cousin born and died at 3 month was buried at the side of the path in the cemetry as were other still born or others that died very young if you had little or no money Val

This isnt a child but I have only now put the kleenex away... A death cert arrived yesterday of my greatgran The family have always thought that she died in childbirth to my great aunty Lil.. Oh no she diddnt!...she died of broncitus a couple of months after Lils birth! You want to know why it made me cry?.....cos theres no one left I can tell :-(( Gerri<<the last one of this generation.

i wept when i found out last year that my gt gt grannie had a little girl who died before her first birthday - the little girls name was Lily which is one of my favorite names - (would have been one of my daughters if exOH had agreed)

Yes very sad. My G grandfather went to Canada in about 1906, leaving his wife, 2 sons (6 & 9) and daughter aged 7 (my paternal Grandma) behind in Wales. He sent for them in 1909 once he had a homestead, but within a couple of years Sam, the elder boy died of TB. The other son died aged 20 at the very end of WW1. Until I started my tree I had no idea my Grandma had brothers, I never heard them spoken about. By all accounts my G grandmother didn't want to emigrate. She was quite a genteel lady and the only child of a master mason, and to live as a farmer's wife on the Praries in Saskatchewan was totally different from her life in Wales. To lose both her sons so young must have been dreadful, especially knowing her relations were so far away. I also found that my paternal Grandad had a sister who died of TB aged 10, also in Canada at around the same time. I have a photo of Great Aunt Ella, and she looks like me and my younger daughter at that age, but as far as I know there are no surviving photos of Great Uncle Sam. I suppose finding out about Ella's death upset me more because I do have a photo of her, and that somehow makes her more 'real'. Sue xx

My Mum had 7 children all die in infancy between 1921 - 1933 when my sister was born and me in 1938

Yes Diana, me too. My younger sister only lived half an hour. This was only in 1965. I still get tearful when I look at her death cert - have never shown my mum as I don't think she could cope with the stark terminology used. I found her grave for the first time a couple of years ago - she was buried with 3 strangers - no stone. This year we are hoping to have a memorial put in the Baby Garden of the cem where our dad is buried. My dad had a brother who lived 2 days - he was also buried in a common grave, no longer there though as it is in Woodgrange Cemetary - the part that was dug up for building flats. Dad's mum also apparently had stillborn twins, but we are still searching for proof of this. Maz. XX

A 2nd cousin sent me some certificates including the birth and death certs for a sister of my Gt Nan, poor thing died age 1 week, her birth and death were registered on the same day but the saddest thing of all is she wasn't even given a name in the name colume it just has a line and her surname. Her father registered her birth and death maybe he was too upset to think of one. I cried my eyes out when I read that, and have added her to my tree as Baby, I couldn't bear to put Unnamed female. If it wasn't for my cousin ordering the certs for unnamed female we would never even knew of her existance The same family also lost another daughter age 18 months and a son age 12, these still sadden me but at least they had names. Michele

I think most of us have probably bee touched by this. My mum was raised by her grandparents as her mother died when she was young. She always talks about her nan as a really hard woman and cruel in some ways. Its only since i've been doing this, that i have realised what a hard life my g gran had, She lost her 2nd child at only 18 months old, Two years later her husband was dead. She remarried and had a son (pre-mature) on 17th Dec 1931. He died aged 6 days. Exactly a year later on 17 th Dec 1932 she had another son. He was ok. The next son was born premature and she was told he was going to die. She refused to believe it and carried him around on a pillow to protect him. Against the odds he did live. Also my aunt had a daughter who died after scalding herself to death, she was 2 years old. My aunt ws heavily pregnant at the time. Time was taken up with the inquest and my aunt had a son. He died the day she burried her eldest daughter. I can't imagine how they carried on. Pat