"A hundred years ago, you were lucky if you reached sixty"

[Merry]

My tree program tells me my female ancestors, where I have their birth and death details, pan out like this:

Died aged ..... number of ancestors
20-29............1
30-39............2
40-49............9
50-59............6
60-69..........10
70-79..........16
80-89..........23
90-99............3

Male ancestors:

Died aged ..... number of ancestors
40-49............2
50-59..........15
60-69..........15
70-79..........23
80-89..........23
90-99............1

[Phoenix]

I suppose there are going to be sickly young people who were unlikely to have children, and where you live makes a difference: my labouring Norfolk ancestors did in general make their late seventies or eighties, while those who crowded into the cities did not last as long, but I'm sure Merry's statistics are fairly representative of our ancestors, who didn'tall die at sixty!

[Merry]

I just wish it would also tell me which male ancestor it was who died aged over 90, as I can't recall that!

[Pinefamily]

My grandmothers died at 44 and 97 ( in her 98th year). It's highly likely my paternal grandmother was an undiagnosed diabetic, she did die of kidney related illness; her mother was a diabetic, my father died of renal failure, and I too got the diabetes gene.
Great grandmothers: 84, 68 ( the diabetic), 85 (also a diabetic), and 74.
Great-great grandmothers: 50, 63, 69, 75, 89, 48 (typhoid fever), 55, and 32 (septicaemia after childbirth).

[Mary from Italy]

The thing that really shocked me about my tree (apart from the deaths and the bigamies ) was the number of people in lunatic asylums on both sides of my family. Some of them were there for half their lives. A few were only there towards the end of their lives, and probably had Alzheimer's or similar, but some had really serious mental illness.

[Olde Crone]

Further back, my 6 x ggm died aged 84. She had 19 children, 16 did not make it to adult hood, the first six all died in a three week period from smallpox. She outlived all of them. She haunts my dreams.

OC

[Sue from Southend]

An interesting exercise!

My great grandmothers were aged 38, 39, 65 and 82 at death. The two that died young had TB/Phthisis. All four lived in the East End of London.

My 8 2x gt grandmothers were 61, 36, 85, 36, 67, 68, 76 and 43.. Again, all East Enders, the two in their thirties died of Phthsis. The 43 year old died of starvation in Shoreditch through sheer poverty and the failure of the Poor Relief system.

[Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Sue from Southend

An interesting exercise!

My great grandmothers were aged 38, 39, 65 and 82 at death. The two that died young had TB/Phthisis. All four lived in the East End of London.

My 8 2x gt grandmothers were 61, 36, 85, 36, 67, 68, 76 and 43.. Again, all East Enders, the two in their thirties died of Phthsis. The 43 year old died of starvation in Shoreditch through sheer poverty and the failure of the Poor Relief system.

That is awful, Sue. Best Mate's father was born at the turn of the last century. He was the youngest of a large family. Only four reached adulthood. Looking at the babies who died, they were down to malnutrition and the poor mother obviously having the next child before her body was ready.



I went to a lecture on postpartum depression where the mothers were admitted to asylums where they were fed properly, had peace and quiet, and returned to their communities stronger, happier and with much more flesh on their bones!

[Sue from Southend]

Sarah Moore's death certificate records her cause of death as "Sudden death/fever accelerated by long privation and want of proper food"

The inquest was widely reported across the country. My favourite report is this one from The Bedfordshire Mercury, 11 Apr 1863 https://search.findmypast.co.uk/bna/...ethnal%20green
I hope the link works. Other more factual and less florid reports state at the end that the jurors were of the opinion that no blame attached to the parish authorities.

[Phoenix]

That is awful, Sue. There was a fuss when a relation of mine presented himself and his son at the workhouse.... but left his wife behind. When asked why he had disobeyed the rules, he said she was heavily pregnant and FIFTEEN MILES was too far for her to walk. It has always reminded me of Fanny Robbins in Far From The Madding Crowd.