WANTED – examples of people of who were born deaf in the 1840’s in England

[chris_49]

I have one born in the latter half of 1839, surely that would do? I've quite a lot on him.

He was John Henry Skelsey, eldest child of John Skelsey and Ellen nee Lumb born in Sept quarter in Wakefield district and baptised 13th Oct at St Helen's, Sandall Magna. The surname is rare and would be easily followed, but for mistranscriptions.

By the 1841 census the family were at Bradford, Salford (HO 107/579) transcribed as Skilsey but clearly them - John's father and family are on the same page. John Henry is not identified as deaf in the infirmity column but this may be because the detail was omitted, or the condition undiagnosed. (Despite the record, he was surely under 2 at the time.)

In 1851 he is a Pupil at an Institution for the Deaf in Doncaster (HO 107/2347) though his birthplace is transcribed as nearby Bawtry, which would be wrong, but it's a strange-looking B and institutions aren't always particular about these details (it's a pretty big place.) But he is also registered at home at Walton near Wakefield! (HO 107/2346/1). He is shown as deaf, with a Walton birthplace. This is not the only time this family have been guilty of double-counting (see Ellen Skelsey born Canada in 1881) and there is only one John Henry Skelsey of this age on records.

Sometime around 1854 the family moved to Toronto and John senior went from being a humble brickmaker to a tycoon in the railway boom, though details are sparse - but I found John Henry at a School for the Deaf in New York, a record I've sadly lost. By 1861 they are back in Hatfield, Yorkshire (RG 9/3524, transcribed as Skebsey) where John Sr is a farmer and John Henry a Farmer's son in the occupation column.

In 1871 they are still in Hatfield (RG10/4726, this time as Shelsey) where John Henry is described as "deaf and dumb from birth" for the first time, still born Walton.. His dad's occupation (Farmer of 400 acres emplying 10 men and 2 boys, Landowner) takes up so much space that no occupation is given for John Henry. His younger siblings have started to leave home - in fact second son George has set up as a farmer in his own right.

In 1881 they are still there (RG11/4697) - John senior's acreage has grown to 600, but John Henry still has no occupation and is almost a generation older than his sisters remaining at home - the brothers have gone on to various enterprises (some in North America) the sisters have married, some into money.

By 1891, 73-year-old John has retired from farming and moved to Harrogate (RG12/3519) where he is described as Manufacturer, though that really refers mainly to his involvement in his sons' businesses. 51-year-old John Henry is the only one at home - still not given an occupation.

By 1901 John and Ellen have died, and John Henry is at the home of his brother Walter (Cement manufacturer, born Toronto) in Cottingham, Hull (RG13/4471 - some of this family transcribed as Spelssey!) and is shown as Living on Own Means, so I expect his parents left him well provided for (A relative has found John's will, but the amounts left suggest some duty avoidance was going on!).

John Henry died in March quarter 1914, aged 74, in Sculcoates district (includes Cottingham) but I can't find him on the 1911 census. He is not with Walter and family, who have moved to Batley, nor with any of his other siblings, and the suspicion is that he is in some instutution, either badly transcribed or missed off, though Rootschatters are welcome to try to find him!

Although the Skelseys came from humble backgrounds in Cubbington, Warwickshire, this branch made good, starting with John Henry's grandfather, also John. They were brickmakers, railway entrepreneurs, textile and cement manufacturers. Because this fortune was made early in John Henry's life, he had a comfortable existence, but I wonder if his deafness isolated him. I've no idea how effective his special education was. He never seems to have had a real job, and he never married.

I hope this is the sort of thing you need. Chris

[asherman]

Hi Chris

Many thanks that is just what I need - and 1839 can be included.

If I find him on the 1911 during my trawl I will let you know.  I live in East Yorkshire and often pop into the ER archives so I can see if he is on the indexes there.

Thank you so much for taking the time to write it all out for me.

It is when you find stories like that, that you realise how little information official documents can give us.  Have you looked to see if the Doncaster institute have any pupil records for him?

His death certificate will give the address where he died which might give you a clue as to his location in 1911.

[chris_49]

I haven't looked at the records for the institute as it isn't named on the census - just the address, the title is taken from the head honcho's occupation, first on the list some pages back from John Henry. But it seems so big that it must surely be the only institution for deaf children in the Doncaster area.

I'll ask a cousin who is a nearer relation to these Skelseys than I am - descended from John senior's youngest brother Henry. He researched this lot before I did, including sending for wills and finding out about Skelsey's Adamant Cement (there's plenty revealed by Googling).

[asherman]

Good luck Chris

Thanks again for the story.

[Rena]

Good luck with your dissertation - you've taken on a big subject.  When I was a toddler I had measles and it was known at that time that measles caused blindness and in the worst cases, it caused death in children - I didn't become blind.    I knew a little girl in the late 1960s who was born deaf due to her mother having Rubella in the early stages of pregnancy so I was more than a little interested in your project.

Whilst researching my ancestors it's noticeable that there were an awful lot of childhood deaths from measles and it's immediately striking when you come across so many recorded on one page that there must have been an epidemic in some particular years.  I believe in those early centuries that the appearance of red spots were sometimes incorrectly diagnosed and that Measles would be thought the cause of death when in fact it could have been either Scarlet Fever or Rubella (German measles).

As well as Venereal Disease, Rubella is known to cause blindness/deafness in babies if the mother comes into contact with the air borne disease during her first few weeks of pregnancy.  This was confirmed in the 1960s when an epidemic of Rubella spread around the world in 1965 and 1966.

Also whilst researching the areas ancestors lived in it was astonishing with the introduction of industrial technology in the late 18th, early 19th century how quickly a small settlement of perhaps a few hundred people would suddenly explode into tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands of inhabitants.  With the inevitable overcrowding it stands to reason that any virus would spread quickly.

Below is the link to a graph which shows that in 1840 there was an epidemic of Measles deaths.  I'd be interested to see if the number of blind children born at that time reflected the epidemic.

http://www.iayork.com/Images/2009/9-2-09/UKMeaslesDeaths.jpg

[chris_49]

Hi again. The information that John Henry Skelsey was at a New York deaf school in the 1850s comes not from Ancestry but from Google Books, in a long and unreadable text document that appears to contain HTML tags - he's mentioned 5 times but though there is a syllabus there's nothing on his progress AFAICS. He left in 1858 as I read it, which fits with Ellen born 1857 Toronto but Alfred 1859 Doncaster. It seems he was in NY at a York? institute but his address given as Toronto so it's him:

http://archive.org/stream/annualreportnew07dumbgoog/annualreportnew07dumbgoog_djvu.txt

The date is given as 1853 but that must be a start date for the document, or John and his older children arrived earlier than Ellen, who had Arthur in 1853 in Doncaster but Walter in 1855 in Toronto. Good luck interpreting this!

This .pdf document apparently mentions him, but it's the end-notes of another doc and doesn't seem to be searchable:

http://www.deafculturecentre.ca/Common/ResearchN/Items/1_Endnotes.pdf

[Yorks-girl]

Hi asherman

I have relatives that were born Deaf in the 1840s, well one was, his sister was born 1851.
Anyway happy to share what I have, if you need further info let me know.

James Leadbeater, born Mortown Leeds 4th April 1846, baptised 3rd May 1846. 
In 1854 he attended Yorkshire Institute for Deaf & Dumd(YIDD) until 1860.  When he left, the school stated he was employed as a 'shaft turner".
1861 census he's living at home (Chapel Allerton) and is described as a metal worker
1871 census still at home and an Iron worker
1881 census still at home ( 5 Providence Place, Moor Allerton) , Turner for machine
1891 census still at home (Harrogate Road, Moortown), iron Turner
1901 census still at home (7 Providence Square, Moor Allerton), Mechanical engineer
He died in 1903

His sister Hannah was born May 1851
She attended YIDD from 1859 to 1864, and when she left was described as a laundress.
1871 census she's at home and working as a laundress
In 1874 she marries William Rutherford (from Fifeshire, Scotland), who is also Deaf and works as a bookmaker.
1881 census living in Leeds (12 Khandalla Place, Holbeck), dressmaker and mother to Elizabeth & John.
1891 census living in Lancashire (Booth Street, Newchurch, Rawtenstall), children Elizabeth and Andrew W.
November 1891 emigrated to USA, sailed on the Germanic to New York
1900 USA census living in Beverley, County Essex, Maasachusetts
1910 USA census. Living in Metuchan, Middlesex, New Jersey
 
I lose her after this, but her daughter, Elizabeth marries a Henry Samuel Hamilton in Salem, Essex, Mass and his parents are Deaf!

Just as a side note have you contacted BDHS, British Deaf History Society?  They have lots of information, which is where I got the details about YIDD from.

If you need any more info let me know, I have studied Deaf History myself thru doing a course on "The Living History of British Sign Language"!

Yorks

[Annie65115]

How are you going to prove that people were born deaf?

As mentioned above, childhood deafness could be caused by infection - and as well as things like measles, chronic ear infection was very common with associated perforated eardrums and deafness.

These children may have been identified as being deaf from a young age but not born deaf. Conversely, children born deaf would not be identified as such until they were well past the neonatal period (especially in those big families - children are excellent mimics and learn from all their surroundings so a non-hearing child would copy its older siblings. And if there were already 8 or 10 people in the household - and we know that wasn't unusual - it could be a long time before anyone realised that there was one quiet child who didn't talk).

Academically speaking, for your thesis I think you need to be very careful how you define your parameters and it may be better for you to discuss children who were found to be deaf, rather than born deaf, as you'll never be able prove or disprove the latter.

[asherman]

Hi Chris  thanks for the added info.

Thanks Yorks for the info and offer of more. I will add your ancestor to my list.

Hi Annie - thanks for the warning.  I am basing it on the 1851 census that reports the child was "born deaf and dumb". Obviously there are issues here and I will make the parameters and wording clear in the dissertation, especially when I cover the causes.  I have seen one example on the census of a child under the age of 1 who was listed as born deaf and dumb.