Death of 4 children from the same family, Intwood with Keswick 1887

[Duodecem]

I have just found that my great grandparents lost their four youngest children in May and July 1887. They were aged from 6 years to 18 months. Four older children survived to adulthood as did their subsequent 5 children.
I thought there may have been an epidemic of some sort, but I've checked the burial register for Intwood and there is only one other child death -of a 6 month infant that year.
I wonder what the cause might have been, does anyone have any ideas?

[Ruskie]

You could always purchase one or more of their birth certificates to find out for sure, otherwise we would just be guessing and there's not really much you can gain from this. It could have been any number of childhood or other illnesses, presumably contagious if they died so close together.

[rutht22000]

either that or an accident that they all succumbed to from injuries over time, but realistically you will need the death certificates.

I had one where both parents and 2 of their children died in quick succession and according to the death certificates it was a house fire - the children died on the night and parents from the injuries a week and a fortnight later.

Could you post their names to see if there is anything (news paper reports etc if it may have been an accident - although that is probably a bit remote)?

[Duodecem]

The family name was Jackson, the children were Clara Harriet b 1881, Ernest Albert b 1882, Robert b 1884 and Rosa Lily b 1885. The two  younger children were baptised within a month of their deaths so that led me to think it was an illness rather than an accident, but I may be wrong.
Was there any kind of epidemic raging that might have affected them? Smallpox or influenza perhaps.It obviously didn't cause many other deaths in the village that year but may have done in the wider area.
 Their father was a miller, their address was Cottage by mill at Keswick and they were all buried in Intwood. I suppose a flood is a possibility but it would have certainly been reported in the newspapers if it caused the deaths of so many children.
Would a death certificate from 1887 be accurate as to cause of death? 

[rutht22000]

Accuracy is a difficult question as it depends on medical knowledge and who might have been attending the children if it was an outbreak of something.

If they just had generalised infection type symptoms you could get "convulsions" given as cause of death but not the actual underlying problem.

If it something obvious like measles, scarlet fever or cholera or something like that I would have thought that the cause of death would be quite accurate especially if there was an outbreak at the time.  I would have thought if it was an accident that that could be very accurately recorded.

it might be a case of buy one certificate and see

[alimag]

Hi there was a measles epidemic in 1887 http://www.kdfhs.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1&Itemid=30  may be of some help.

alan

[Annette7]

My grandfathers only 2 sisters died close together and have often wondered what caused their deaths.

The 7 year old died in Mar.qtr.1879
The 2 year old died in Jun.qtr.1879

Aside from the duration mentioned, cause of death for one was abscess on lung, and the other abscess of stomach.   Is there a known disease that would cause these symptoms?

Annette

[suegill]

Tuberculosis can cause abscesses.

[Duodecem]

The epidemics timeline is very useful Alan, thank you. I'll bookmark that, it may explain some other deaths. Measles is quite possibly the cause of death and would explain why it  caused the deaths of only the youngest children in the family. It's quite possible the older children were also ill but survived. Reading the list it's amazing any of our ancestors survived at all!