Genealogy Chat

just looking at my Cambridge gt grandmother's lot

My gt grandma was called Emma and lived to a ripe old age. However, she was pregnant 9 times and only 3 of her children lived to adulthood. All her children but one (my grandmother) were boys. Emma had 5 sisters and a brother. The brother died young. I've managed to marry off four of the sisters: Sarah didn't have any children that I can discover. Elizabeth had two sons. Her husband died when the boys were aged 8 and 7. The elder boy then died aged 20. Eliza Ellen had 5 children, and one of her sons died aged 7. I had thought initially Emma's children had been unhealthy because they lived in London, and Elizabeth's family lived there too, but Eliza's lad died in Kent. So sad. Sometimes I am amazed that any of our ancestors lived long enough to produce enough children to carry on the family genes.

On my mothers side i have a similiar tale. My granny had 9 kids,two died before they were a year old,one was a twin and a girl died aged 10. She lost her hubby when he was only 43. Her mum lost her hubby after just 15 years of marriage. Her granny lost a girl at three days and died herself aged just 35. The other line from grandad faired even worse. Glen

Gramps story His mum lost a son aged 6,just weeks before grandad was born.Her hubby died just three years later. Her first hubby lost two brothers,one was born and died xmas day 1851,lived to the ripe old age of 16 hours poor mite,the other just seven months old and he too died in 1851. Both these little fellows were buried in Berwick,and the whole family moved to Norfolk within six years. Her second hubby (brother in law prior to her being a widow) died after 13 years of marriage,and they lost a son aged just 11 days and one just 13 months.

At 20 years old Mary Jane (My Great Grandmother) had her first child, John James who was born out of wedlock. She married in December 1890. Two months and four days later she gave birth to her second child Hilda. By April 1892 both children had died. Hilda died first at the age of nine months and five days of acute bronchitis in November 1891. Within a month of Hilda's death John James fell ill with tubercular peritonitis which lasted six months he also developed tubercular meningitis two weeks before his death on the 16th April 1892. Mary Jane went on to have a further ten children with John Henry. Between 1904 and 1914 only one child, George William, of the 5 children born in this period survived more than 4 years with May (2mths), Robert (5mths), Mary (1 day) and Florence Elma (3 years 9 mths) all being buried in York Cemetery. Mary Jane gave birth to her last child (Mary) at the age of 40. She also lost Edward her seventh child in WW1 on the 20th August 1917 when his trawler, The Kirkland, hit a submerged mine while on escort duty in the North Sea. He was 15 years of age and couldn’t swim. Only one member of the crew survived. During most of this time she ran her own thriving laundry business. She did bring up 5 healthy children but what sadness there must have been in the family. To say the least it was a hard life. Gill