Unconfigured Ad Widget

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Death Cert for my Wheelwright

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Death Cert for my Wheelwright

    Got it today I knew he had died in St Pancras Workhouse ,cause of death Disease of the Chest ???thats a new one on me .

  • #2
    Val

    It means

    "He had something wrong with his chest we think, but have no idea what it really was. Anyway, he died of it. We think."

    OC

    Comment


    • #3
      lol OC isn't it ridiculous ?? my Husband suggested he had a Heart condition? so frustrating as he was in the Workhouse for some years so whatever it was wonder if he had it all that time ?

      Comment


      • #4
        It could have been absolutely anything really. I don't suppose the workhouse cared much. Asthma, COPD - but probably not TB as they were very good at recognising that and isolating the sufferers.

        OC

        Comment


        • #5
          thanks OC suppose I shall never know ? poor man and his family.

          Comment


          • #6
            i get lots of chest conditions, they dont get detailed until the 1880's though. i was looking at some scots deaths i have and cause of death for an alarmingly large amount is 'not known'.

            Comment


            • #7
              Poor sod was probably coughing a lot before he died and that would have been a good enough reason to put that.

              Comment


              • #8
                thanks Both yes I dare say he would have had a cough I felt so sad when I found the kids and mum in the workhouse , funny how things that happened so long ago affect us .

                Comment


                • #9
                  Death certs can be pretty useless actually. As Heather said, he maybe coughed a lot before he died....which wouldn't tell you that he was in the workhouse because he was blind, or had lost a leg or some other long term permanent disability.

                  OC

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I hadn't thought of that OC ? quite right of course he could have had something else wrong.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      they usually do list other diseases they suffered from. especially later in the 19th century, as they recognised other ailments as contributing to the death.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        kyle

                        In my experience they only ever list diseases which directly contribute to the cause of death. Ongoiong conditions and disabilities are not mentioned.

                        My late Mum had crippling arthritis for many years which, a century earlier, would have put her in the workhouse if she was poor. She couldn't do anything for herself. It didn't kill her though and it isn't mentioned on her death cert.

                        OC

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          this was in 1852 so maybe they didnt put so much on them then ?

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            No, they didn't put much on them because they mostly didn't have a clue what people died of. Diagnosis was very primitive and as long as your death wasn't suspicious the cause was more or less irrelevant - you were dead and that was it.

                            It is only in more modern times (say post WW2 and the advent of the NHS) that there is a statistical interest in the causes of death, in order that money can be spent on public education to prevent some diseases, and so that money can be channelled in the most needed directions.

                            OC

                            Comment

                            Working...
                            X