Unusual causes of death

[goldnutmeg]

May not be classed as unusual but it is certain mystifying. I have a relative who was hit by a train while crossing the tracks. It is strange because the local newspaper at the time have her name wrong and she is listed with a different occupation but I am sure it is the same person.

I know that we are probably more aware of dangers these days but how do you miss a dirty great stream engine coming towards you? 

Kevin

Funnily enough, I forgot to put in the newspaper also spelt my ggrandfather’s name wrong although it was still a plausible surname ... I know I was very lucky that the inquest papers are still in existence. Have you managed to find any other sources, Kevin?

[kevinf2349]

Funnily enough, I forgot to put in the newspaper also spelt my ggrandfather’s name wrong although it was still a plausible surname ... I know I was very lucky that the inquest papers are still in existence. Have you managed to find any other sources, Kevin?

I wrote for the inquest papers but nobody seems to have them. It was over a hundred years ago and the local authorities have changed hands many many times since then so I guess that is a dead -end (if you pardon the pun).

I may try again soon but as I am in the US and the death was in England it may take a while.

Kevin

[goldnutmeg]

I think it’s rare to obtain inquest papers in the UK. I was very lucky to obtain the papers from Montreal and it was then I saw who the jurors were!!! Otherwise I wouldn’t have realised how ‘peculiar’ the case was! Do you have a hunch about this? Was she married?

Funnily enough, I forgot to put in the newspaper also spelt my ggrandfather’s name wrong although it was still a plausible surname ... I know I was very lucky that the inquest papers are still in existence. Have you managed to find any other sources, Kevin?

I wrote for the inquest papers but nobody seems to have them. It was over a hundred years ago and the local authorities have changed hands many many times since then so I guess that is a dead -end (if you pardon the pun).

I may try again soon but as I am in the US and the death was in England it may take a while.

Kevin

[kevinf2349]

I think it’s rare to obtain inquest papers in the UK. I was very lucky to obtain the papers from Montreal and it was then I saw who the jurors were!!! Otherwise I wouldn’t have realised how ‘peculiar’ the case was! Do you have a hunch about this? Was she married?

No she was only 16 at the time of death. Her father died in the Battle of the Somme in 1915 so it must have been awful for the family. Her DC states that she was a slag works labourer, but she is listed on a plaque as being a munitions worker!

Kevin

[barryd]

Charles Triggs - 1857- Died of Erysipelas - A contagious skin disease also called Saint Anthony's Fire (from its burning heat) and Peritonitis - inflammation of the peritoneum (a membrane that surrounds the abdominal organs). The kind and considerate parish  then tried to throw his widow and children out of the parish. She fought them and won. Good for her.

[Viktoria]

Not certain but there were some harsh rules re Parish relief,people who were destitute could ask for help but were a drain on the funds so were moved on to the next parish and then the next.As long as they did not stay in “ my backyard”!
Not sure where the funds came from, church or donors, probably some from
local gentry .
Hard times.
Viktoria.

[coombs]

In November 1886 my 3xgreat grandmother died of erysipelas, chronic bronchitis and pericarditis. Ouch, sounds painful. She lived in a central London tenement building so no doubt the pollution of the time and the squalid conditions made her ill. She had previously been more well off but the family lost a lot of their business in a beer house in Walworth in the 1870s.

[stonechat]

Not certain but there were some harsh rules re Parish relief,people who were destitute could ask for help but were a drain on the funds so were moved on to the next parish and then the next.As long as they did not stay in “ my backyard”!
Not sure where the funds came from, church or donors, probably some from
local gentry .
Hard times.
Viktoria.

No they were not moved on endlessly but to where they were thought to "belong"

[Viktoria]

For some people to get to the places they were thought to belong,there could be distances of many miles.
Would they not be classed as vagrants?
What help would they get along the way on a journey of perhaps months?
That they would not be welcome anywhere is pretty certain as they were a drain on the parish funds.
I remember our history teacher telling us that they were not really welcome
at workhouses and the conditions to discourage people from going into workhorses there meant they were often worse than conditions outside.
And that meant starvation levels .
But there was some reform so just above starvation conditions .
So that would be nice!
Isn’t it shocking ,Dickens wrote so graphically about it all.
Viktoria.