Genealogy Chat

Earlier this year I finally looked for the four missing children of my great great grandparents, as I discovered in the 1911 census four children had died that I knew nothing about.

It wasn't easy, as the surname was an exceedingly common one, and I was searching over a period of 20+ years.

To cut a long story short, I traced the missing children and found my great great grandparents had lost 3 of their then 5 living children in the space of a week. They lost three boys aged aged 5 yrs, 3 yrs and 4 months, between 22nd and 28th Jan 1890, to diphtheria.

Luckily for me, my great grandfather was one of the two children that survived, but I can't imagine how his parents must have felt at the loss of his siblings one after the other like that.

It's really sad isn't it, especially when they might well have survived with modern medicines.

One branch of my family buried baby Thomas aged 16 hours old in 1872 and within a week his sister Ada aged 4 had also died.
In August 1876 they lost Herbert aged 4, then in October that year the mother herself died after childbirth.
She was 39 and my GG grandmother.

Gwyn

A contact has said that one great great aunt buried one of her children who died in a measles epidemic. On their return from the cemetery, they found that one of the other ones (out of 19) had died while they were out.

7 died before reaching adulthood :-0

My mother always thought that she had twin brothers that died but that was not quite right. Being at the cemetery when she was young and told that this is where the 2 boys are buried it was just assumed they were twins.

My research led me to Denis who died aged 4 days of convulsions and then, just three weeks later, his 20 month old brother, Frederick died of Broncho Pneumonia.

It is very sad and I cannot begin to imagine what my grandmother must have gone through.

Have been researching OH grans side .i knew she was the eldest of a big family and married young to get out as she was fed up with being the nursemaid especially as out of 12 children only 3 survived to adults, I bought some certs for deaths to confirm was on the right family and the sad thing was they all died of syphillis. One at only 2 days old . By the time nos 12 was born some 8 years after gran married !! it had worked its way out of the family . Very sad though .

Yes I have one a bit like it

Death Cert: Tabes Mesenterica

An illness of children caused by drinking cow's milk infected with tuberculosis

unthinkable nowadays

sad

I have been researching my family tree for 11yrs now and for the first time have bought a childs death cert and now wished I hadn't...It was really sad as she was only 2 when she died and had scarlatina maligna, dropsy and TB....Poor little thing...
I know thousands of young children and babies died but when it's one of your family it brings it home just how lucky we are to have advanced in medicine....

Jules x