Workhouse = Hospital?

[Jebber]

Paralysis can affect the whole body not just the limbs, if your lungs are affected then you stop breathing. You may have heard of polio victims being put in an iron lung in the 1940s and 1950s, those severely affected were unable to breath unaided.

Jebber

[Tsu]

Wouldn't the death certificate have said poliomyeltis in that case?

[Jebber]

Poliomyelitis is a modern term, it used to be called Infantile Paralysis, but it was not confined to infants. that aside, there are other causes of paralysis which is simply a term for loss of movement.

Jebber

[Tsu]

It's frustrating, isn't it, when the death certificates are so wooly....

[Tsu]

Ah, just been Googling and 'paralysis' was used as a term for a stroke.

[Jebber]

Yes it is, and it is interesting to see how much more detailed they become as medicine advances.

[Tsu]

This is very true.  One of my ancestors died of 'Bright's Disease' and this was used as a catch all for all the known kidney diseases at the time.  Only now (partly through genealogy) we know that he had Polycystic Kindey Disease, a genetic disorder that runs right through our family.

[silvery]

Did anyone interesting register the deaths or was it just someone from the institutions?

[Tsu]

Well, I son't think it was relatives.  Annie's infomrant was Isabella Gosnay, Union Workhouse Salford and John Burton's was Emma Slater Workhouse New Bridge Street, Manchester.