According to family stories, one of my gggrandfathers, who had a senior position in the Royal Irish Constabulary, lost his sight in an accident and the family fell on hard times. (No accident insurance back then!) The measure of it can be seen by the fact that they really needed some of the children to leave home. So much so, that my ggrandfather at the age of 14 or 15 was allowed to travel to Australia to join two maternal uncles. Imagine how hard it would have been for his mother, letting her son travel to the other side of the world in 1860! As far as I know, the parents never saw their son again. Just one example of the consequences of disability in the 19th century!
MarieC
