Genealogy Chat

I have a family who lost 3 young children in Bradford, Yorkshire in the winter of 1868. Ellen aged 4 on Nov 27th, John, not yet 1, 8th Dec and Robert aged 2 27th Dec. Does anyone know of an epidemic at the time?

Hi JIm, I don't have the answer but if you say what area we are talking about I will have a look and see what I can find.... Deb

They were all buried at Undercliffe Cemetery. Ellen Wetherald, born 1864, buried 21Nov 1868 John Wright Wetherald, born 1868, buried 8 Dec 1868 Robert Henry Wetherald, born 1866, buried 27 Dec 1868 They were children of John Wetherald and Hannah Wright.

Hi Jim I have a family of four who were wiped out in a cholera epidemic in 1849.. Father Mother Son and Grandson all died.... I have the burial record for them and in the column it has the words CH infront of the burial register.. But lots of things were killers then.. Measles.. Tuberculosis.. Consumption.. Even a Flu epidemic were potential killers.. I would get one of the death certs to find out.. Mo

I believe Bradford had a Cholera epidemic in 1866 but not in 1888. Dea x

Jim, can you confirm the years of death....in your original post you say they all died in 1868....but you just stated 1864, 1866, 1868......If the latters true they may all have died of different causes and you will have to get all death certs.....Deb

Deb, Thats when they were born - they all died in 1868. Dea x

Thanks for pointing that out Dea!!! OOpps!!!! I really should pay more attention!!! LOL Sorry Jim

Hi Jim, I have been trawling the net but can't find anything about a cholera outbreak in 1868, that doesn't mean there wasn't one just that I can't find it.....I think your best bet is to get the death certs (or at least 1 of them) and take it from there... Have you tried contacting the local library/local studies....you never know!!!!!! Deb

I have 3 Weatheralls (father, daughter and son) who all died of Cholera in Northallerton in summer of 1854. There was a huge epidemic in 1854. I found an intersting article on google 'Soho Cholera Epidemic 1854'. It says there was also an epidemic which started in 1866. Elaine

hi jim, if you google cholera you will see wikipedia the free encyclopedia click on that and scroll down to history origin and spread there are 7 pandemic's whether it will be of any use to you i dont know hazel.

Loads of regional outbreaks of killer childhood diseases - measles, scarlet fever and whooping cough. Diptheria was around a lot and there were still outbreaks of smallpox. Jay

It was just a thought that maybe someone else had come across a lot of children's deaths at that time. It could have been anything I suppose, a fire, a contagious illness, even starvation. The two older children survived. I will have to get one of the death certs and see what happened.

Grampa Jim One death cert doesn't necessarily mean that the other two will have the same cause!

Hi Little Nell, I know, and you are right to slap my wrist. The children who died were my 2nd cousins 4 times removed, so a bit distant to spend money on at the moment as there are more pressing demands.

Some one looking at PRs in Runcorn for me found that in 1849 four of the six children died; Alice (11yrs); Elizabeth (8yrs); & William (5yrs), were buried on 24th August 1849 and Samuel (18 mths) was buried on the 29th August. (The two oldest lived. I contacted the local history society to ask if they knew of any epidemic, fire etc and got the following reply: From Mr Bert Starkey, who had recently written a history of Runcorn: In this period diphtheria and smallpox were regular epidemics in this area. There were no sewers and no running water and the toilets were just open-air ash filled holes in the ground. Mortality rates among children were very high. especially in the summer months. St Johns Street and Penketh Street were both in this poorer area of town although even the better areas were not much better!. There will be no records because there was no medical officer of health at that time and the local newspaper did not start publishing until 1853. However disease would be the far likeliest cause of those sad events in this family. Mavis

Well if this were my family, I would write a letter to the local registrar requesting one of the certs (the middle one, maybe?)....then tell them you are a pensioner and say about the two other deaths, which must be very close to that regstration and in the same book......Tell them you don't want to know the cause of death on the other certs (that will look better!), but could they perhaps indicate if the other causes of death were the same, or not?? Ply them with a sob story about this poor family. If they won't tell you, you are no worse off, and if they do then you will have saved yourself some money. Of course, if they say, ''No the other two were different''........................................................................ Merry

Hi Jim Nothing to do with cholera but I also have relatives buried in Undercliffe Cemetery and do intend to visit one day - I only live about 20 minutes away - disgusting I know! Would you like me to see if I can spot the graves and take a photo for you? I found a scrap of paper amongst my mums papers and she has kindly described the headstones and who is buried there. Oh and another thing, a greedy local builder paid £7 for the land many years ago but caused outrage when photographs appeared in the local paper of a jcb and the builder smashing headstones. I believe Bradford Council bought the land back and is now a conservation area. Debby

OOHH yes please Debby. That would be great if you could. Jim

Right then! This will give me the push I've needed for months - I have noted their names! I go on holiday 2 weeks on Sunday but I'll try and get there this or next weekend armed with my camera! Debby