Researching Family History Can Be So Tragic

[JackB015725]

I've been researching my family for a number of years and I can't believe the number of tragedies I've came across.

My ancestor, Thomas Blenkinsopp was crushed by a log in 1840, aged only 43 and died a day after.

His first son, George, also died aged 1 in 1821.

Thomas' daughter, Jane died aged only 34 from "Exhaustion with Diarrhoea" in 1864.

Thomas' other son, George Scott, died aged 41 of Typhus Fever in The Govan Poor House in 1869.

George Scott had a son called Henry Jackson Blenkinsopp who died in 1871 in Sunderland in very tragic circumstances. After picking up his death certificate, I found that he died of "Extreme Marasmus", the poor lad. How sad.

George Scott's other son, John (my 2nd great grandfather), died of Liver Cancer aged 44 in 1899, and was buried in a pauper's grave in Bishopwearmouth Cemetery.

John, had a daughter called Mary who was tragically burnt to death in 1888 (aged 3) and she had a sister called Sarah, who died in 1896 of "Diphtheria, Pneumonia Morbus, Convulsions and Bodily Fits" aged 3. So tragic.

But, it gets worse. In 1902, John's brother, Thomas Pigg drowned himself in the Sunderland North Dock aged 45, and his nephew; Third Engineer Tom Blenkinsopp was drowned whilst on board the SS Cheviot in WW1.

I can't remember now, but another family member also died of "Debility" and another of "General Paralysis". So awful.

I can't believe the amount of terrible tragedies my family has had. It seems that some families were ridden with bad luck and poverty, and others were luckier.

JackB

[Zaphod99]

If I look back over my research for 200 years I could come up with a similar list. We moan about health and safety these days, but it does save a lot of lives. I have ancestors who've died after being arrested drunk, fallen off ships, drowned in harbours, not to mention war casualties.

Zaph

[Josephine]

Wow, JackB, that is really sad.

It's incredible how much our lives have been improved by science / modern medicine.

When I was young, my mother told me that in the olden days people could die from a sinus infection, and I've seen that listed as the cause of death on at least two occasions.

A lot of people in my husband's family, including his grandfather, died young of TB.

My great-grandmother had nine children between 1901-1915: six died in infancy.

I often wonder about people such as your relative who died of "Exhaustion with Diarrhoea" and the one who died of "Extreme Marasmus" -- did they have illnesses that might be more easily diagnosed and treated today?

For example, I was very ill for many years before a specialist finally diagnosed me with celiac disease (through biopsy and blood work). If I had been born in an earlier time, and had wasted away and died after years of life-limiting fatigue and weakness, what disease would have been blamed? 

[Ayjay228]

I think this topic should be moved to “The Common Room” rather than this sub-board, so tragic.

[ThrelfallYorky]

Perhaps it was something connected with the "Blenkinsop" name in the extreme NW /Scotland area? I have found some Blenkinsops in one line, and none of them seemed to thrive.....
TY

[coombs]

I have several ancestors who died of "phthisis", aka pulmonary TB.

I have an ancestor who, aged 40, was sent to Australia for stealing a hog, and he died just months after landing in Sydney. This was the 1790s. He likely contracted cholera. I was in Australia in 2007 at the convict museum in Sydney, and never knew about my convict direct ancestor at the time.

One ancestor was admitted to Marylebone workhouse in late 1848 and died in Feb 1851 of cerebral disease.

[JackB015725]

Getting sent to a workhouse must have been absolutely terrible. I can't imagine how awful it must have been dying there as well. Cerebral Disease, sounds very vague, I wonder what that would be diagnosed as now?

Another one of my Blenkinsopp ancestors died during a game of cricket in 1921. He was playing cricked in a shipbuilding yard using a rock as a ball, and was struck on the head and died soon after. It's sad, but not as bad as dying of Marasmus or drowning.

JackB

[Pennines]

Oh my goodness - what tragic stories. Some of our ancestors really had it rough didn't they.

We 'don't know we are born' as the saying goes - and we tend to take everything for granted.

Thank you JackB for sharing all this.

[BumbleB]

Getting sent to a workhouse must have been absolutely terrible. I can't imagine how awful it must have been dying there as well. Cerebral Disease, sounds very vague, I wonder what that would be diagnosed as now?

We have to remember that hospitals were part of the workhouse system - so that could be the reason.

I have found this website very useful - https://www.workhouses.org.uk/addresses/m.shtml