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Topic: Not for the want of trying, starting a family in Cambridge 1729-1734 (Read 439 times)
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Keith Sherwood
RootsChat Marquessate
Posts: 3515
One's native place is the shell of one's soul...
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Hi, Everyone,
I never cease to be moved by tragic snapshots of family life in the past, when looking things up for other Rootschatters in Parish records...
Today in the Cambridge St Edwards baptism entries I discovered a Joseph and Anne WILMOT desperately trying to start a family and name their offspring after themselves.
A baptism in 1729 of son, Joseph; buried days later
A baptism in 1730 of another son, Joseph; buried 7 days later
A baptism in 1731 of another son, Joseph; buried 9 days later
A baptism in 1732 of twin sons Joseph and John, buried 4 days later
A baptism in 1733 of a daughter Elizabeth; buried 11 days later
Finally, a baptism in 1734 of a son Joseph; buried 5 days later.
Have other Rootschatters come across family tragedies of this scale too...?
Keith
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Boongie Pam
Global Moderator
RootsChat Aristocrat
Posts: 2497
Pa is Scottish, Ma is Welsh, Nose is Roamin'
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That is so sad and I'm sure so rare unless they had a genetic problem?
My family were exceptionally lucky, as they were mostly rural, infant mortality has been very very low.
P 
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All census look up transcriptions are Crown Copyright
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Dumfrieshire: Fallen, Fallon, Carruthers, Scott, Farish, Aitchison, Green, Ryecroft, Thomson, Stewart
Midlothian: Linn/d, Aitken, Martin
North Wales: Robins(on), Hughes, Parry, Jones
Cumberland: Lowther, Young, Steward, Miller
Somerset: Palmer, Cork, Greedy, Clothier
Currently offline due to work reasons- sorry for the silence!
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linmey
RootsChat Aristocrat
Posts: 1568
Propping up a Saxon shore fort!!
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Its all very sad Keith. I am wondering if she had a tendency towards premature delivery, or as Pam says, a genetic problem.
Best wishes, Linda.
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Reynolds, Woodham, Payne, Wilmott, Hart, Richardson, Packwood, Tandy, Dexter - Bedfordshire. Chamberlain and Wagstaff- Hunts. Freeman, Cheney, Cox- Northants. Burns, Muter, Cobban, Hossack, Strachan, Moonlight. Lanarkshire, Ross and Cromarty and Kincardineshire. Garvey- Ireland. Census Information Is Crown Copyright From-- www.nationalarchives.gov.uk |
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Keith Sherwood
RootsChat Marquessate
Posts: 3515
One's native place is the shell of one's soul...
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Thanks, Pam and Linda,
I've no theories of my own about what might have caused all this; perhaps when I speak more to the Rootschatter I did the research for, he'll be able to provide a clue or two.
But as you both say, it does sound like some kind of unfortunate genetic thing...
Keith
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trish251
RootsChat Leaver
RootsChat Marquessate
Posts: 9162
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Hi Keith
I have a ggg uncle (think I have the correct number of gs) who wrote a "family register" in 1870s. His children were listed as follows
An infant born Oct 3 1840
Emma born March 3 1842 died July 29 A 7 months child always delicate - but showed such signs of great intelligence
An infant born March 11 1843
An infant born Sep 16 1844
An infant born Oct 16 1845 living about 7 hours
Elizabeth born Jan 27 1847, baptized March 31 by Mr Fletcher died April 23 1864 about 3 o’clock am it being a Saturday morning
An infant born July 26 1849
An infant born Sep 2 1850 died the day following
The mother of the above children died Oct 8 1851 after a miscarriage.
I cried when I read it - especially the comments on the two daughters who lived. I can't imagine his grief when Elizabeth died. And, of course one wonders about what his wife had to endure
Trish
PS I did speak to a doctor friend who said what the cause may have been (I don't remember the description given) and that it would have probably been easy to avoid today.
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Keith Sherwood
RootsChat Marquessate
Posts: 3515
One's native place is the shell of one's soul...
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Trish,
What an amazing tragic catalogue! - almost reminds me of reading details of the plague years of 1665/6, i.e. the story of the Riley graves in Eyam, Derbyshire, when one by one Mrs Hancock's (I think that was her name, anyway) children died, and also her husband. She took them one at a time and buried them on a hillside near her cottage - there's a fence round them now, as they've become a celebrated monument...
Keith
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avm228
RootsChat Marquessate
Posts: 5153
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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How very sad.
One possible explanation for numerous perinatal losses in the same family might be Rhesus factor disease. If the mother's blood is Rhesus negative and the father Rhesus positive, then (if the baby takes after its father and is Rhesus positive) the mother can develop antibodies which enter the baby's body and can damage or destroy its red blood cells. The baby can then be stillborn or born seriously ill with anaemia or jaundice and may die soon after birth.
Nowadays it's easily dealt with by injections to prevent the mother developing the antibodies, but the Rhesus factor was not discovered until 1937 and many families must have lost child after child in earlier centuries. It didn't necessarily mean that they would lose all their children - babies which shared their mother's Rhesus negative status would have been OK. Indeed, the firstborn would normally not have been affected as the mother would not yet have developed the relevant antibodies. But then there were many other hazards for a newborn...
Desperately sad to think of what families went through.
Anna
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Ayr: Barnes, Wylie
Caithness: MacGregor
Essex: Eldred (Pebmarsh)
Gloucs: Timbrell (Winchcomb)
Hants: Stares (Wickham)
Lincs: Maw, Jackson (Epworth, Belton)
London: Pierce
Suffolk: Markham (Framlingham)
Surrey: Gosling (Richmond)
Wilts: Matthews, Tarrant (Calne, Preshute)
Worcs: Milward (Redditch)
Yorks: Beaumont, Crook, Moore, Styring (Huddersfield); Middleton (Church Fenton); Exley, Gelder (High Hoyland); Barnes, Birchinall (Sheffield); Kenyon, Wood (Cumberworth/Denby Dale)
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Boongie Pam
Global Moderator
RootsChat Aristocrat
Posts: 2497
Pa is Scottish, Ma is Welsh, Nose is Roamin'
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I have to say I thought of "blue-babies" as well.
I'm not sure of the actual probabilities but I would of thought it would be a 50:50 chance therefore in Keith's example some of the babies should be of the mother's blood type?
The number of days in Keith's records fits though. So sad
Trish,
What an astonishing and sad find you have there. It really brings the sadness into a real context knowing he would of written his register with such a heavy heart.
The most common causes of perinatal death nowadays is premature births if the mother had a condition that meant premature birth was likely then they would not of been able to anything about that.
Looking at perinatal deaths and genetic disorders there is hypophosphatasia which if both parents carry the recessive gene then there is a 25% chance per pregnancy - again the odds don't stack to Keith's 6 births in arow.
http://health.enotes.com/genetic-disorders-encyclopedia/hypophosphatasia
Another possiblity is Syphilis. It can lead to a very high perinatal death probability if a pregancy goes full term.
Anyway this is too upsetting now!
P 
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All census look up transcriptions are Crown Copyright
~~~~~~~~~~~
Dumfrieshire: Fallen, Fallon, Carruthers, Scott, Farish, Aitchison, Green, Ryecroft, Thomson, Stewart
Midlothian: Linn/d, Aitken, Martin
North Wales: Robins(on), Hughes, Parry, Jones
Cumberland: Lowther, Young, Steward, Miller
Somerset: Palmer, Cork, Greedy, Clothier
Currently offline due to work reasons- sorry for the silence!
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JillJ
RootsChat Aristocrat
Posts: 1597
Exhumation is my game
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Trish,
What an amazing tragic catalogue! - almost reminds me of reading details of the plague years of 1665/6, i.e. the story of the Riley graves in Eyam, Derbyshire, when one by one Mrs Hancock's (I think that was her name, anyway) children died, and also her husband. She took them one at a time and buried them on a hillside near her cottage - there's a fence round them now, as they've become a celebrated monument...
Keith
You're quite right Keith. I lived in Eyam and was married in the church there - a long time ago now! I was privileged to actually hold and read the Parish Register of the plague years and I can tell you it made very sad reading. Almost 300 people died - about a third of the total inhabitants, including the wife of William Mompesson the Rector who was responsible for quarantining the village. Plague graves are scattered in fields all around the village but you may like to know that at least up to the 1970's there were still Hancocks in the village.
Jill
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Jowett, Broadbent & Ellis in Leeds. Perry, Hartshorn/e & Wilkes in Birmingham & Dudley. Walker and Dabill in Sheffield & Notts. Farrar in Darlington. Kidd & Taylor in Hartlepool & Teesside Census information is crown copyright from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk |
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Keith Sherwood
RootsChat Marquessate
Posts: 3515
One's native place is the shell of one's soul...
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Jill,
Didn't that particular Mrs Hancock actually move away from the village after the plague died down? But good to know that the family name still lives on today.
I've been twice to Eyam in the past, both times in the winter, and both times I've very soon afterwards been struck down by an extremely virulent form of 'flu. I had vowed never to go back, but recently I discovered that my direct COCKER ancestors married there in 1788 - so I have no choice, curiosity draws me back despite my superstitious fears about catching something nasty!
Keith
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