Have you ever visited a doctor who has asked about your family health history? You know, like, “is there any heart disease in your family?” or “does anyone in your family have asthma?” or “have any of your close relatives died from cancer?”.
One thing I find fascinating with my family history hobby is receiving the death certificates of my ancestors or close relatives and seeing their cause of death. I have been able to paint an interesting picture of my forebears and in some cases, the lives they led.
Mary Josephine Lucas, nee Johnston (1890 – 1913)
There are some very sad tales. My 22 year-old great-grandmother, Mary Lucas (nee Johnston), passed away at her Liverpool home in 1913 a few weeks after giving birth to my grandad. Her official cause of death was, ‘Acute Nephritis 4 days and Uraemia – 33 hours’. I feel a great affinity with Mary.
In my two pregnancies, I was admitted to hospital weeks before my due date and placed on bed rest because I developed Preeclampsia, a pregnancy complication that can affect numerous organs and systems in the body. After the dramatic birth of my first daughter, my doctor said that had we been a generation or two earlier, I, my baby, or both of us may not have survived. Had Mary lived 100 years later with closer medical monitoring of her pregnancy and the post-partum period, she probably would have survived. Timing, I guess, is crucial.
England’s Industrial North
With many generations of ancestors living and working in Northern English cities and towns during the industrial revolution, there were many lung-disease deaths – bronchitis, pneumonia, tuberculosis. Pollution and cotton dust in the mills would have been rife and of course, without vaccines and the medicines we have today, contagious diseases were easily spread.
Emma Lucas, nee Paisley (1862 – 1908)
Two deaths, in particular, stood out for me. The death of my 2 x great-grandmother Emma Lucas (nee Paisley), who died on 11 November 1908, was subject to an inquest. The cause of death recorded is, ‘extravasation of blood on the brain, due to injury to head by accidentally falling on the 9th, accelerated by excessive drinking’. Excessive drinking! Those words certainly stood out.
A second cousin, who I have connected with along my family history journey, remembers her mother, one of Emma’s granddaughters, speaking of her gran’s death. She had fallen on the steps after going to the toilet which was in the backyard. She went back to bed and the next morning, her husband Joseph told their daughters not to disturb their mother when they were getting ready for work. They should let her sleep. It seems that a few of the women in the street had taken to regularly partaking in a jug of ale. Emma was 46. Far too young.
George Paisley (1830 – 1878)
Continuing my research along the Paisley family line, I ordered the death certificate of Emma’s father George, who had died 30 years earlier in 1878 when he was 48 years old. His death was also subject to an inquest and he died in the Liverpool Workhouse. His occupation had been listed on various census records and on his death certificate as a shipwright or ships carpenter. I was staggered to see his cause of death – ‘inflammation of the spine from injury – 5 weeks – from accidentally falling down stairs whilst intoxicated’. Intoxicated!
Warning!
What lessons do I take from this? Well, I’m glad that we now have excellent medical services available to us and that there is a strong focus on environmental factors that impact our lives.
Whilst many families need to be aware of genetic health issues like heart disease and cancer, those of us who are descended from this Lucas and Paisley line need to be extremely careful around stairs if we have been enjoying an alcoholic beverage or two. On that note, Cheers!
