Genealogy Chat

Im not sure if anyone can help, but I have just come across3 members of the same family who all died within the same month. It was the father and 2 children aged 12 and 14. The date of death was Jnuary 1864. They all lived in Cockermouth, Cumberland. I was just wondering if anyone knew of any epidemic that was about then that might of killed them all. Kind Regards Jody Martin

I have 4 members of the same family who died within months of each other from consumption in 1863. They lived in Lincolnshire by the way. Maybe there was an epidemic that year. You would need to send for the certs to be sure. Carole

Thanks for the reply. Ive just ordered the certificates £21!!! I cant believe it. Oh well, the wondering will do me in. Their references are all in order 10b 373, 10b 374 & 10b 375. Im wondering if they all died on the same day, a fire perhaps

It wasn't unusual in those days...........if a family member contracted an infectious disease, it was almost guaranteed that all of them would succumb. And, if it was a potentially fatal infection, there could be several deaths. Will you let us know when you find out? It would be interesting to know............ Reg

In 1856 the Dean of Carlisle Cathedral's 5 daughters died of scarlet fever within a few weeks of each other. A bit before your date but not that far. Scarlet fever is easily treated these days - it hardly bears thinking of. Anne

Looking around the churchyard at Hogsthorpe Lincs, I noticed a row of footstones with a headstone in the center. It was a family of 6 children all died of Diptheria within the space of two weeks. Sad to lose all those children in one go.

Slightly off topic (because I will never know the answer to this) I have a huge family in the 1700's - 13 siblings. All except one who I cannot trace, grew up, married and had huge and heallthy families who survived well into old age. No young deaths in this extended family at all. Except - one couple married and had a total of 19 children. Only two survived to adulthood the rest died before they were ten. Only one of them has a cause of death marked in the PR - smallpox. No other entry for that year has smallpox marked as the death, so I assume it was unusual in this remote village. I am left with two reasons for the deaths of all these children - a genetic fault (but both parents came from huge and healthy families, blah blah) OR - this couple uniquely in this family were NOT farmers, they were potters. Could it, I wonder, have been lead poisoning or some other form of chemical poisoning to do with pottery making? As I say, I will never know the answer but it is intriguing. OC

Jody I would be fascinated to know the outcome of this any chance you could pm with the details Val

I had a father and daughter die in Feb 1871 London, day after each other, aged 35 and 9. Turned out to be TB. Selena

When i was at college, i learnt about pottery and ceramics as part of my art and design course. When clay is dry before it is fired sometimes it needs to be sanded down, if you do not wear googles or a thing to cover your mouth the dust is toxic and can cause cancer, so it is possible that as potters this could have been a cause of death. Julie

Well, in 1864 they could have died of typhoid, tuberculosis, whooping cough, scarlet fever, measles, cholera and any number of other diseases. I'd guess it would likely be cholera which was a quick killer and virulent too, or tb.

Some genetic disorders can be recessive, this means that only when two people with the gene get together that they can have a child with the condition. So, while your two people and their big families appear healthy, they could still have children who were not. Also, as has been suggested it could be that their environment wasn't healthy (pottery dust, lead poisoning etc). Your original three that you mentioned, may have died any number of ways and it'll be interesting to hear what you find out from the death certs.