BBC TV "WDYTYA?" Series 7 Episode #6: Martin Freeman

[Spidermonkey]

Perhaps the 1911 census hadn't come on line when the researchers were doing their stuff, but there is an Emily Freeman bn 1857 Petworth in East Preston district (the district Tarring comes under I think)

Does she have any children living with her? I dont have acess to the 1911 census at the moment. Maybe the third marriage was not legal.

No children, she is a cook for William Henry Mason (aged 73) and his wife Amy Harriet Mason (aged 49) at Malvern Lodge, Westbrook, Worthing.  Emily is noted as being a widow.

When did Richard die?

[stanmapstone]

The Fiftieth Report of the Registrar General, 1887, comments that "by far the greater part of the registered deaths from syphilis occur in infancy, from inherited disease.........In infancy the male death-rate is very much higher than that of females..........the deaths from infantile syphilis occur mostly in the first year of life and in the first quarter of that year. Thus in the years 1881-85 there were in all 11,085 registered deaths from this disease among children under five. Of these 10,065 or 91 per cent, were in the first year of life, and of these again 5,566, or more than 50 per cent., were children under the age of three months".
http://www.histpop.org/ohpr/servlet/Show?page=Home


Stan

[Springbok]

 This link may be of interest ,regarding present day statistics for sexually transmitted diseases.

http://www.avert.org/stdstatisticuk.htm


Spring

[Siamese Girl]

You also have to bear in mind that incompatibility of blood groups could be the cause of miscarriage, premature and early infant deaths.

Carole

[Marmaduke 123]

I'm interested in that Carole. I have one family where the first child survived to adulthood and all the other following five died shortly after birth. I've always thought that was probably rhesus incompatability.

The syphilis pattern of deaths seems to be different though. I'll be back to my family tree later to see if that particular pattern occurs.

Anne

[Windsor87]

I thought the episode was alright.
He wasted his time ordering the service records. He could have got the information he used (grandfather's date of death) for free off of the CWGC website.

Apart from that, its not everyday that you end up in a sexual health clinic as a direct result of researching your family tree.  

[heywood]

I agree - so interesting and almost too much information for the hour.
I have to say that initially I thought that the discussion on syphilis was being used to pad out the programme and was quite shocked when it turned out to be true. (only shocked in the sense of not being a 'filler').
I had to laugh too when, I think it was in the church, there was discussion about whether Richard had been previously married.
My husband, who has no interest in research etc, remarked 'Why don't they look him up in the censuses!' and then the chap produced the 1891 census 
I think this series has been overall - good.
As has been said- what are we going to do without it and Heir Hunters 

heywood

[millymcb]

He wasted his time ordering the service records. He could have got the information he used (grandfather's date of death) for free off of the CWGC website.
 

The service papers told him that he was killed in action which the CWGC site does not.  He could have died of wounds suffered earlier but that information helped towards confirming that was the most likely date he was injured and died - which narrowed down the search in the war diary. 

Service records are never a waste of time in my opinion - you never know what you might learn - and it is good to show the viewer that it is not just a matter of doing a bit of surfing on the net.


I loved this programme - but I do wonder if the experts were primed a little too much.... I found it a little odd that the expert came up with syphillis so definitely and so early on... and then low and behold that is what it said on her brother's death cert....  Could it possibly be that they had the death cert and then worked backwards

Milly

[heywood]

Hi Milly,

I agree- in this programme particularly, certificates and information were being produced like rabbits out of a hat   ,for example,  the chap in the church and the expert doctor.
I suppose, because it was packed with information, they had to do this.