Wednesday 4 August 2021

Family history can be so emotional

 


I am still working on Family History - my husband's paternal side on the Isle of Man.  I have made some real breakthroughs, but not yet got the connection to Kirk German from Ballaugh - though to be honest it doesn't matter hugely as my husband's DNA proves that all the Manx people with our particular name spelling all share the same DNA.  At least I did have a few clues for the search, passed down through the family from Keith's g. grandfather who was the last to live on the island.  It was surprising that there was no given specific connection to Ballaugh (but Kirk German instead), I did have  two place names very much connected with the family and named after them, which I have at long last found in an obscure book which I found through the Manx notebook (think I remember that rightly).  I have now booked to research three of the series of this particular book (Place-names of the Isle of Man) at the National Library of Wales, so a trip to Aberystwyth is booked for next week now.  We will get some sea air too, as Aberystwyth is on the coast of Cardiganshire.  


I think I must have read 100s of Birth, Marriage and Death entries for the parish, many of family members.  The poor Vicar in the 1700s had to bury his own wife (she was only 42) and wrote a dedication in praise of her in the records.  Then, sadly, just a couple of years later, his son (oh, he was SO proud of him too) died.  He was a student of Cambridge University (Divinity I will assume).  A young life snuffed out too soon.  Many small children young people died too, but to balance the books, many folk went on into their late 80s and 90s.  Luck of the draw really.  Being a seafaring island, drownings were a regular cause of death and some terrible storms were mentioned.


A new horse on the block - Andalusian I have been told - with that dippy back he looks quite old.

In my research, I also revisited g. grandfather when he moved to England.  There were two infant children who died, that we didn't know of.  One was 14 mths old, their first-born, who died of Bronchitis.  Then their little girl, Elizabeth, aged 8 mths, died from Whooping Cough just a year later.  Further misery was to follow, as P's wife died just a few months later of Consumption.  She was only 28.


Looking through the records on-line showed that so MANY infant children and babies died. A fact we all knew but it underlines it when you read the records. In many cases Convulsions was listed, Teething (I am guessing it was an infection really), Bronchitis, Scarletina, Croup, Measles, Eryisipilis.  A child of 12 died from Rheumatism (Rheumatic Fever perhaps?).  Several died from burning, a 5 yr old was drowned.  In older people, childbirth claimed a few lives in this one year I was researching; Consumption was very common, as was Dropsy. Disease of the brain or heart weren't specified, only called that; there was congestion of the brain, stricture of the throat, ulcerated throat, inflammation of the lungs,  breaking a blood vessel, apoplexy and paralysis (stroke), and a surprising number of abscesses which claimed lives of children and adults alike (I assume the infection spread throughout the body).  Seemingly few died from Cancer or a Tumour, yet when you think of the number of other illnesses which could claim you, perhaps it's not that surprising after all, in those days before antibiotics.  One case of Typhoid, one of Smallpox (rather than outbreaks). Some adults died from falls (at work?), one grocer took his own life.  A 17 year old was stabbed.


On that happy note, I shall leave you and go and do the grocery shopping.

11 comments:

  1. As you say, childhood deaths were common. My mother was one of five, but one brother (J), born two years after her (would have been the middle child) died of pneumonia at the age of two (1913). My grandmother was almost eight months pregnant with another son when J died. Heartbreaking.

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    1. Your poor grandmother. Heartbreaking indeed. I would have been one of 3 sisters, had either of the other two lived. Mum fell on the stairs and miscarried the first, and then the one who came after me only lived two weeks. I never knew what she died of.

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  2. It can make for very traumatic reading indeed. My efforts have not been helped by a hopeless relative who has established a family tree just pulling names off records willie nilly, without cross checking and presuming they are correct, of which 80% are not. Good luck in Aberystwyth, and do take some time out to visit the sea front.

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    1. Oh how frustrating. I have come across some guesses on other people's family trees. It is common. On the Genealogy site I belong to on FB, they tell of people copying other people's ill-researched trees willy-nilly and their goal is to get back as far as possible, hopefully through a Royal line (as that's about the only way you'd get back that far!)

      We will have a proper day out at Aber - it's been ages since we were last there and K and I need some sea air (Tam gets it most weekends when she sees her boyfriend there).

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  3. I can get only so far on my family history on Mom's side. Her Grandfather was one of the Bernardo children and while he kept his name and we know he left a sister and brother behind we can find no record of them. We can trace back to my Great-Great Grandparents but the trail seems to go cold after that. Even traveling to Scotland I didn't manage to find much other than the place they were married. Must really work on this some more.

    I hope your research turns up more information.

    God bless.

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  4. Having your grandad an orphan isn't helpful is it? I guess you've tried here: https://www.barnardos.org.uk/former-barnardos-children

    Scottish records I've had no experience of. Do they keep good parish records? The ones on the IoM are brilliant, and often give the fathers of the couple.

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  5. Sorry to post here, but do you know how Patty is from Tarragon and Thyme blog? She hasn't posted for so long and I'm worried about her. Xx

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    1. Hello Unknown. I think she finds it easier to post on Instagram and Facebook these days, and has accounts with both, but she's absolutely fine and dandy. On Instagram she's tarragonthyme, and on FB she uses her given name.

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    2. Thanks so much for replying xx

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  6. BB, it is very emotional and I have been moved to tears at times when on Ancestry. My GGG Grandparents on Anglesey, lost their 2 daughters to Scarlet fever within a few days of each other. So utterly sad and wouldn't happen these days.
    Bev

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    1. My husband's mum said they had Scarlet Fever as young children and a sheet soaked in disinfectant was hung up at the bedroom door to kill any germs trying to escape. It was truly feared as it was a killer.

      My g.g. grandmother in Devon lost her three children (her entire family) within the space of a week to something very infectious - perhaps that, perhaps Diphtheria. People forget that even Measles can kill too, as there are complications like seizures, encephalitis, pneumonia, etc. When she died, she asked to be buried with her children. She went on to have more children (or else I wouldn't be here) but even one of those died as an adult, from TB.

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