Can anyone trace Adelaide Springett?

[IONICUS]

Yes, she certainly had tragedy and misfortune during a long and hard life.  I wonder what she did for entertainment in her few hours off,  theatre, cinema or just walks in the park.  She started working 'in service' and I suspect that's how she continued.  It would have given her a roof over her head, a crust and a few pennies.  Perhaps she just wanted a simple existence.  In 1939 at 46 years old,  she took up with Frank Harling, a house painter and they stayed at about half a dozen addresses together.  I had a look at some of them on Google Streetview and they look as if they would have been beyond her means.  From that I surmise they were 'in service' as a husband and wife team.  Hence Adelaide adopting his surname. 
I don't think her father would have been very supportive.  He rarely crops up anywhere in the records.  Looking at the workhouse Infirmary records at Adelaide's mothers death, he is noted as being homeless.  I still haven't found a record of his death.  He was my Great Grandfather and I still have no idea what he died of, or where he's buried.  Most likely he died in the street and was given a paupers burial.  The search continues.

[IONICUS]

What are the pre-requisites for developing Erysipelas?  My Grandfather William John Springett, Adelaides brother, died an early death due to Anasarca.  My mother told me it was something he picked up in the Middle East during WW1.  Both diseases seem to be quite rare nowadays.

Since erysipelas is a bacterial infection, the only real prerequisite is to pick up the relevant bacterium. The bacterium that causes most cases of erysipelas is called  "Streptococcus pyogenes"; this is also responsible for cases of scarlet fever which can lead to rheumatic fever. Both types of infection still exist these days but are far less common than they used to be; it's not 100% certain why this should be the case, but better general hygiene standards are at least in part to thank for this. Antibiotics (which of course didn't exist in Adelaide's day) also help to cut strep infections, but it's thought as well that the bacterium may be mutating/evolving in a way that makes it less toxic to humans.

So lack of hygiene would play a part in the incidence of strep infections, but is not a pre-requisite -- erysipelas is still around today and you don't have to live in a filthy house to get it!


I had to look up "anasarca" too; it's not a term with which I was familiar. Having done so, it looks to me as though the term could be interchangeable with "dropsy" - an accumulation of oedema (fluid) throughout the body. This could manifest in various ways - the commonest (still around) is swollen ankles. Fluid can also collect around the lungs. In more severe cases it can collect in other areas eg inside the abdominal cavity. Oedema like this has a large number of possible causes. The only one that comes to mind as the consequence of an infection would be again caused by our new/old friend Streptococcus - scarlet fever, caused by strep, used to not-infrequently lead on either to rheumatic fever or to glomerulonephritis (a type of kidney disease). The latter can obviously cause accumulation of oedema/fluid in the body if the kidneys are damaged. Rheumatic fever can do so by causing damage to the heart valves so the heart can no longer pump efficiently. So it's possible that William picked up a strep infection in ww1 but the family may have assumed that to be the case as it was not uncommon; it might not have true. (Heavy alcohol intake can cause similar problems for example!)

As I mentioned, streptococcus may be changing in a way beneficial to humans as a host, and that probably accounts largely for the dramatic reduction in heart and kidney disease caused by strep.
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It seems to have caused the heart attack that ended his life.  In the Cause of Death box are what appears to be four letters which I suspect may be some form of Latin code.  Any idea what they may mean, please?  A sad end to a brave man who fought at the Battle of Loos and in Mesopotamia.

[groom]

Doesn't it just say no p.m - no post mortem?

[JenB]

I Agree with groom - it says no p.m. i.e. no post mortem.

[Annie65115]

So - "anasarca" ie a build upof fluid - and "myocardial degeneration"; we'd probably these days call this heart failure. I don't think this would have been a heart attack as such.

(though it's a bit odd to have it shown as it is - 1a on the certificate should be caused by 1b, and really I think they've go this the wrong way round!)

Heart failure in a young person like this -- likeliest causes might be disease of the heart valves (eg through rheumatic fever -- although that was so common I'd expect them to put that down on the cert) or cardiomyopathy (weakening of the heart muscle) - which could be caused by alcohol, or runaway high blood pressure (not so likely in a younger person) or be a congenital problem. Sometimes infection can cause a cardiomyopathy (eg flu can) but that tends to come on at or shortly after the time that you're suffering from the infection. There are other possible causes but I think those would be the likeliest in a younger person.

Syphilis can also affect the heart valves and of course it was far from unknown from soldiers to return from foreign postings with sexually transmitted infections. However, again syphilis was very well known and recognised so I'd expect that that to have been mentioned if it were the case.

[groom]

Looking at that certificate there are a couple of things. Usually it says how long a person had suffered from the condition that killed them. Not many certificates even mention a PM, so perhaps he died suddenly but the cause was so obvious that they didn't need a PM.

[IONICUS]

Not part of the hunt, but I spotted another photo on't'web, about 1/3 way down this page, "Little Adelaide's best and only boots" - we can't tell if that is "our" Adelaide but thought the pic was worth showing

http://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/06/30/in-search-of-horace-warner/

The boots look like the ones the girl is wearing in the previous photo..

I know she hated those boots but I couldn't resist reuniting her with them.

[simpletech]

Colorized

[Annie65115]

Oh wow, what a beautiful picture that makes. I find that putting colour into these old photos really brings out detail, such as the texture of the cloth of her dress and the raggedness of the ends of the sleeves.
I'm very impressed with this touch up .