Macabre guessing game... "a lingering illness" Newcastle 1888

[rosie99]

Martha's early death and that of Robert two years later had an immense impact on my family with repercussions down to this day - people still talk about it.

Have none of them done anything about establishing what she died of 

[Lidfam]

.

[brooksburns]

I've now found out:

Bright's disease 2[?] months [would probably be called acute nephritis today: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bright's_disease]
Rheumatic gout 1 year

"Your kidneys filter uric acid, but if levels get too high or the kidneys can’t remove enough of it, [gout can ensue] ...  Foods rich in purines, high alcohol intake, and drugs like  immunosuppressants and diuretics can raise your risk of gout." www.rosdrs.com/rheumatic_diseases_gout.html
Nephritis can arise from a UTI, immune disease, or strenuous exercise.  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephritis

From this it seems gout could cause nephritis, or nephritis could cause gout.

Martha's husband later died of alcohol poisoning so maybe that affected her health too.  Besides that, in industrializing Newcastle I imagine poor hygiene could lead to UTI, or maybe a mother of 5 had unhealthily strenuous levels of physically activity.

That's as far as reason can take me, I think.

I've certainly been building a fuller picture of the poor living conditions in late-19th-century Newcastle through following this family.  It must have been quite a shock for ordinary people/families to suddenly be in cramped streets next to factories. (Martha's family had moved in her childhood from the Bedlington Ironworks, much less urban.)  Poor regulation of alcohol was a publicly-discussed problem as well.

[brooksburns]

Martha's early death and that of Robert two years later had an immense impact on my family with repercussions down to this day - people still talk about it.

Have none of them done anything about establishing what she died of 

Not as far as I know.  I suppose it's a nerdy question.

It's just been a matter of family lore that this ancestor was orphaned as a child and spent her youth moving around various cousins' families and was separated from her siblings (all older).  I suppose cause of death is almost irrelevant in that context.  She probably didn't know much about the circumstances herself.  My oldest and best-informed relatives even swore by incorrect information about years and ages.