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General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: Finley 1 on Friday 16 November 18 20:09 GMT (UK)
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I have just finished a branch that had 9 children and only 2 survived to actually marry and have a family.
The other 7 --- 4 died within a fortnight of Scarlet Fever and the other 3 .. assorted ages.
Now surely to goodness that is a 'story' that needs writing.. How on earth did the parents cope with that.
:(
xin
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Sad. I followed my great grandmother's sister's family and found that she'd had 10 children. 8 died in the first year of life, one at 18 and the other survived. He went to Canada in 1912 and joined up in 1914 but was discharged a few weeks later due to a weak heart. A few months later he joined up again, was accepted and sent to France. I know for certain it was him, due to an unusual name and the fact he gave his mother's name and address in England as his next of kin. It must have been very hard for her having lost all those children and knowing her only son was fighting in the war. Luckily he survived and returned to Canada early 1919.
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It was a different world
My 3x great aunt had 5 children
2 died before they were 1
1 died age 5
1 died age 20
1 I can't trace
and my gt aunt died just after the birth of the last one who didn't survive either
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In the course of my local history work, I looked at a wealthy farmer, who had 11 children. All except one died at ages ranging from 1 year to 24 years. This was early 19th century, too early for death certificates, so I can only guess at childhood diseases, T.B. and accidents. I did a comparison of a labouring family who had 9 children at the same time in the same village and 8 of those lived to late middle age or old age. I suspect the son who survived was probably a bitter and difficult man - his wife left him in middle age, having a well-off family to return to.
This sort of death rate was not common in this rural area - my great grandfather was one of 12, none died in infancy, 2 girls at about 20, and the rest carried on. He died at 87 in 1923.
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It's so odd, isn't it? I have families who were fairly well-off, where several children died young, and families who were obviously not, where they all seem to have thrived. In some cases it might well be epidemics, in others housing / sanitary conditions, for even if reasonably well-off, towns and cities seemed to be breeding grounds for illness and infection. Others, "Ag labs" and their large families seemed to thrive - possibly better air, food and general conditions, even though so often we think of rural poverty....
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One thought that crossed my mind was that the wealthy ones spent more time indoors, but I realised that would not apply to a farmer's sons, even if it did to the daughters.
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On my maternal line
My maternal grandfather had 4 siblings who survived to adulthood but on the 1911 census it states my great grandmother had 14 live births, other 9 died in infancy.
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Here's my sad little one.
M - 1861-1863 : 2 years
M - 1863-1864 : 10 months, born a month after the above died
F - 1865-1865 : 4 months
F - 1868 : Lived a full life
F - 1871-1871 : 4 months
M - 1872-1872 : 3 months - born a year to the day the above died
F - 1873-1874 : 4 months
F - 1875-1877 : 2 years
F - 1878 : Lived a full life
Teething, Bronchitis, Fever
Cheers
KHP
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I don't think this theory would fit for Kiwi's fated family, but I often wonder if it might sometimes have been cases due to Rhesus disease which is caused by a specific mix of blood types between a pregnant mother and her unborn baby.
If my understanding is correct, when the first child's blood group is not compatible with the mother's, that is likely to render all future pregnancies non-viable, though now medical practise can deal with it.
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I don't believe all pregnancies are compromised only those with opposing blood group.
Today rhesus negative blood group mothers who have a rhesus positive baby have a gamma globulin injection like I did - some of my mother's family were O rhesus negative, my mother, my uncle and myself amongst them.
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Sadly it was often Syphilis !!! wasnt it :) after the Boar War..
I have read or heard that somewhere.. Because it shocked me.
But it seems that it can be carried through generations...
I know someone will put me right on that :)
I get muxed ip these days.
xin
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Sadly it was often Syphilis !!! wasn't it :) after the Boar War..
I have read or heard that somewhere.. Because it shocked me.
But it seems that it can be carried through generations...
I know someone will put me right on that :)
I get muxed ip these days. xin
I believe you are correct in principle Xin - syphilis also led to a lot of sight problems/blindness.
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When I first started to research the only person who would tell me anything was my grandmother, sitting alone she whispered to me " I think my mum was married before but don't know as children never asked parents questions"
So I set out to try to find out and at first looking at her 6 brothers/sisters couldn't find her oldest sisters birth/bap and it was a long time before I did and I never got to tell my nan what I found out.
It was her dad who was married before, her older sister was in fact her half sister and her dad and first wife had 5 children, the oldest who lived and 4 others that died between 1 hour and 16 weeks old losing his wife when their last one was born. How life changed for him between the census and coping with such sadness in his life.
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Sadly with rhesus incompatibility once the effects start we can't cure it (well you can do in utereo blood transfusions but they don't always work) and while the most common one is to do with the anti D antibodies (hence the prophylaxis) I've know someone loose their child through anti Kell antibodies and they can't prevent it
If they have another rhesus negative child that one will survive, but yes it can explain a lot of first babies being well then followed by stillbirths or early neonatal deaths - the prophylaxis only came in in 1969, if any of you heard about 'blue babies' being born or died as they were a blue baby from your grandmother etc they are probably referring to rhesus incompatibility
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Thank you Iolaus.
I was fairly sure it used to be called blue baby syndrome, but Mr Google suggests that term refers to something different now.
I am rhesus negative, and my first child, (born in the late '70s,) is rhesus +ve, so I remember there were special measures taken. I had an injection of something I believe, but I'm not sure what precisely was done.
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My families saddest story in terms of baby loss
My great great grandparents married in 1883
1884 - My great grandmother was born and lived till mid 50s
1886 - George - died 3 months
1887 - Florence - died 7 months
1888 - Archibald - died 2 months
1889 - Leonard (lived till his 70s)
1891 - Minnie - died 4 months
1892 - Percy (lived till his 80s)
1893 - Elsie - died 2 months
1894 - Charles - died 8 months
1896 - Arthur - died 5 months
1897 - George - died 13 months
Eliza died in childbirth with George, - so she had 11 children only 3 grew up
My father said his grandmother was always distant and detached from children, I do wonder if watching so many siblings died (and then loosing twins herself during WW1) is what caused that
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:'(
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I cannot imagine what these parents went through, losing so many babies/young children. I too have an example, interestingly a farming couple who stated 10 children born alive with only three surviving. Sadly I have only been able to find one of those 'missing' children, no civil records for birth/death and no baptisms or burial for the other six :(