Infectious Diseases

[mgeneas]

Infectious diseases were the cause of death of many of our ancesters.
Measles, scarlet fever, smallpox, whooping cough, cholera, typhus, diptheria were often fatal.

Some clergy were very helpful and often entered the cause of death in the burial registers. But most didn't though a sudden increase in the  burials of young children or of all ages in a parish suggests that something nasty was making the rounds.

Have you got a NORTHAMPTONSHIRE death certificate 1837-1900 that has an infectious disease as the cause of death?
Please share the place and date so that I can add it to my list.
These are what I have found so far in church burial records


1813   Long Buckby   smallpox
1814   Broughton   measles
1814   Long Buckby   smallpox
1817   Moulton   measles
1818   Broughton   measles
1826   Daventry   measles
1827   Benefield   scarlet fever
1828   Daventry   smallpox
1830   Daventry   smallpox
1831   Chacombe   scarlet fever
1832   Daventry   measles
1833   Pytchley   whooping cough
1833   Pytchley   scarlet fever
1834   Walgrave   smallpox
1838   Pytchley   whooping cough
1838   Ashton   smallpox
1844   Pytchley   smallpox
1844   Pytchley   scarlet fever
1848   Long Buckby   smallpox
1848   Benefield   measles
1848   Benefield   scarlet fever
1850   Pytchley   whooping cough
1850   Badby   smallpox
1851   Pytchley   scarlet fever
1851   Hellidon   typhus
1854   Syresham   cholera
1856   Pytchley   measles
1856   Daventry   smallpox
1857   Pytchley   typhus
1858   Pytchley   typhus
1858   Pytchley   diptheria
1858   Daventry   smallpox
1860   Badby   smallpox
1861   Pytchley   typhus
1861   Daventry   smallpox
1864   Pytchley   scarlet fever
1872   Brafield   smallpox
1874   Broughton   typhus
1878   Brafield   scarlet fever
1887   Walgrave   diptheria

Marilyn

[PalmTree1]

Hello Marilyn,

Interesting list and I'll add one more for you, my gt gt grandfather age 41...

Bozeat Dec1859 Typhus

Regards,
Paul

[mgeneas]

Thank you Paul, and I can add these to the list

1834 Mears Ashby smallpox
1839 Mears Ashby typhus

[Newfloridian]

Hi Marilyn

1854 Cottingham        Scarlet fever

(I have three young children from branches of the same family died within ten days of one another in February of that year: Kettering 15 222)

Cheers Alan

[Newfloridian]

Hi again

I've just been through my "Death" box and can give you the following:

1839 Gretton     tuberculosis (registered as consumption)

1851 Cottingham/Middleton    Candidiasis (registered as thrush in an 18 day of infant)

1865 Gretton    Scarlet fever (this is also recorded with the supplementary "old" diagnosis of inward fever)

1895 Kettering    tuberculosis

I also have a couple of certificates with other old fashioned diagnoses such as "strumatous disease" and "marasmus" which usually indicated TB.

Cheers Alan

[mgeneas]

Thanks Alan

[Newfloridian]

Hi Marilyn

Out of interest are you also looking for things that we would now suspect were infections even though they might not have been recognised at the time?

I've just acquired a death certificate (admittedly a woman who died in Leicester but who actually lived in Northamptonshire). The cause of death in enteritis which is a fairly nonspecific term but which could be an infectious disease such as typhoid or cholera. They had no knowledge of the specific bacteriological causes then

Cheers Alan

[seahall]

Hi All.

I have put a modified list so I could see what periods were already
done and villages as may help others too.

See below.

1838 Ashton smallpox, 1850 Badby smallpox, 1860 Badby smallpox

1827 Benefield scarlet fever, 1848 Benefield measles, 1848 Benefield scarlet fever

1872 Brafield smallpox, 1878 Brafield scarlet fever

1814 Broughton measles, 1818 Broughton measles, 1874 Broughton typhus

1831 Chacombe scarlet fever

1826 Daventry measles, 1828 Daventry smallpox, 1830 Daventry smallpox
1832 Daventry measles, 1856 Daventry smallpox, 1858 Daventry smallpox
1861 Daventry smallpox

1851 Hellidon typhus

1813 Long Buckby smallpox, 1814 Long Buckby smallpox, 1848 Long Buckby smallpox

1817 Moulton measles

1833 Pytchley scarlet fever, 1833 Pytchley whooping cough, 1838 Pytchley whooping cough,
1844 Pytchley scarlet fever, 1844 Pytchley smallpox, 1850 Pytchley whooping cough
1851 Pytchley scarlet fever, 1856 Pytchley measles, 1857 Pytchley typhus, 1858 Pytchley diptheria, 1858 Pytchley typhus, 1861 Pytchley typhus
1864 Pytchley scarlet fever

1854 Syresham cholera

1834 Walgrave smallpox, 1887 Walgrave diptheria

Sandy

[seahall]

Marilyn I have looked through lots of burials but at last found a mention

1850 Great Brington Scarlet Fever.

Sandy