decline as cause of death in 1841?

[coombs]

General debility can also be another term for decline.

[tedscout]

My grandmother "declined".

Her daughter, who was a nurse thought her symptoms were similar to what we now call MS (multiple sclerosis).

It was not a known illness when my grandmother died - it became officially called MS about 20 years later.

I think a lot of illnesses would have been like that back then

 

[coombs]

Hi

My ancestor Thomas Brain was an ag labourer in 1851. He was aged 36. He then died in December 1854 of decline. I do think it was some major disease such as MS, TB or cancer.

Ben

[hiraeth]

I have several young people who died in their twenties of "decline".  Have always thought it was a euphemisum for TB which was epidemic mid 1800s,

[coombs]

TB was also termed as consumption, phthisis and pulmonary TB.

[Redroger]

TB was well known, the problem was it was incurable. I have this gem from a tombstone of an ancestor of my wife's: "A pale consumption struck the final blow, the disease was fatal but the end came slow!"

[coombs]

My great, great grandfather Thomas Roberts second wife died in November 1863 of "Phthisis, years, certified".

[coombs]

Update on my ancestor. Thomas Brain died of phthisis pulmonaris on the 10th December 1854 in Bletchingdon, Oxfordshire. The cert said he had it for 6 years. So he must have been suffering quite badly. The burial says decline so what it meant was he had phthisis. When he died at least he was finally at rest. His wife died in June 1848 of consumption and bronchitis. He must have caught it when she died.

[Lydart]

Thank goodness it is now treatable !   I had it when I was 13 ... and I'm still here !   But I can vouch for it being a nasty debilitating disease ... coughing all the time, weakness, exhausted, no energy, no will to do anything ...