General Chat

and what x

Deaths of a few children at only few months old, one of which was my mum's brother. Knew he had died young but no one talked about it so didn't really know anything about him. Got his birth and death certificates and my mum and her sisters were all surprised to find he was 3rd born and not first as always thought, made him feel bit closer to them so that was nice. Also found a relly had died young leaving wife and 2 young children and she was on census as char woman, that made me feel sad for her. Old softy at heart!

being able to prove my dads tale that his aunt was killed in an accident. Was horrible when I found the obit report and when myt sister rang me from Nottingham reg office to say she had the cert and what it said sent me all a shiver. She was just over 2 and was out playing with her brothers when some lads pushed over a butchers block onto her and she died. The butcher had put it against a wall while he went and got his horse and cart to move it as it was that big.

Yes, loads, but the two things that REALLY made me cry: My greatgrandfather had two brothers, and a sister that no-one had ever heard of or even knew about. I found Jane in the Workhouse, imbecile. She was there in 1871,81,91. I got the workhouse admissions register and found that she WAS my greatgrandfather's sister, and that she was put in the Workhouse at the request of her father and a doctor, two weeks after her younger brother was born - she was 17 months old. Her father paid a small weekly sum for her keep. To my utter horror, in 1891, just after her father had died, she is reclassified as 'Deaf and Dumb'. She was released at the age of 39, as a nursemaid to her 'kinsman', a vicar from the IOM. There is a copy of the letter sent as a reference about Jane - 'Jane is clean and neat of person. She is skilled at laundrywork and needlework and we commend her as nursemaid to your children' I lost track of her after that, but I hope the Vicar and his family were kind to her - kinder than her family was, anyway. What makes this bitterly ironic is that the family lived only a stone's throw from the Manchester School for the Deaf and Dumb, considered the finest in the world at that time. The other was my poor dead Jane Green 'found dead in a field, of childbed, unshriven' and 'her bastard stillborn infant, unshriven' She was 19 years old. May both my Janes rest in peace. OC

DEC 1908 MARRIED DEC 1908 WIDOWED GREAT AUNT

No not in my tree yet but in my oh's tree we found that he'd had a brother who was born 2yrs after him but died at the age of 3months that was just last yr we found that then about 2/3 yrs ago we found out that there was another brother that was adopted who is now 69yrs old he was born in 1937. hazelx

my gr gr grandfather was on this ship Copied from Aberdeen Journal, dated Wednesday 17th May 1871: Loss of the City of Quebec – On Thursday forenoon, a telegram was received by the owners of the barque, City of Quebec, of this port, announcing that the vessel had been lost upon an island on the coast of North America, on the night of the 8th inst., and that, unfortunately, all the crew (fourteen in number) had been drowned. The City of Quebec was under the command of Captain Richard Pithie, of this place – a careful and experienced master in the American trade. The officers and crew also belonged to Aberdeen, and the loss of so many hands is occasion of much sorrow and regret. The City of Quebec was a fine vessel of 527 tons, built in 1856. There then followed a list of names of the crew – I had a look at the census taken on the City of London on 3rd April, most of them were on the ship! They were passengers, en route for London, not members of the crew as I had thought. I suppose that should be the end of the story – Ritchie was found. However, it is really the start of yet another story – the story of the City of Quebec and her crew! According to Naval Historical Centre, U.S. Navy: This ship started life as the Thistle, a 636-ton iron side-wheel steamship, built in Glasgow in 1863. She was operated as a blockade runner during the American Civil War, making a successful round-trip voyage between Bermuda and Wilmington, North Carolina, in March-May 1864. However, another attempt to run into Wilmington was cut short when she was captured by USS Fort Jackson on the 4th June. The U.S. Navy purchased her from the Boston Prize Court in July 1864 and, after conversion to a gunboat, placed her in commission as the USS Dumbarton in August 1864. After participating in a fruitless search for the Confederate raider Tallahassie, she returned to the Wilmington area, where she served until December as an enforcer of the blockade that she had previously challenged. Dumbarton had flagship duty on Virginia’s James River during February and March 1865 and was subsequently decommissioned at Washington, D.C.. Moved to New York in November 1865, she was sold to the Quebec and Gulf Ports Steamship Company in October 1867. Briefly retaining the name Dumbarton, she changed to British registry and was given a new rig and engines in the months after she left Navy ownership. She then operated under the name City of Quebec. Northern Shipwrecks Database reports that the City of Quebec was lost at the Isles aux Morts about 12 miles east of Port aux Basques at the southwest corner of Newfoundland on May 8th, 1871. A letter to the Times from T.A.Goode Missionary at Channel, states that: On Sunday night, May 7th, the barque City of Quebec was lost, and all her crew, on a small rocky island near a place called Isle aux Mortes, 6 miles distant from Channel and 15 from Cape Ray, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. She cleared from London for Quebec on the 6th of April. It is supposed she was in ballast, although many pieces of hard wood, three feet long and two inches thick were picked up. Her crew thought they were on the Cape Breton shore, and after having sounded different times and finding less water, they altered her course, but it was only into the jaws of death. They encountered some severe weather, a thick Newfoundland fog having existed for a few days, and the wind blowing a fresh gale from the south-east. She was sailing fast, running before the wind in a heavy sea; and when she struck, the upper part of her hull, which seemed to be new with masts, chains, deck, cabin etc, was driven right over the island, with the lower part, which appeared to be old, remained behind. Therefore, we conclude that the crew, which numbered seventeen, were killed almost instantaneously. Seven bodies were found and buried according to the rites and ceremonies of the English Church, details are given in the hope they might be recognised by their grieving families. Another letter dated 12th September 1871 states that another 5 bodies were recovered and again gives details of identifying marks. Using this information we have been able to “identify” some of the crew. We now have a copy of the document (BT154) showing the list of effects of the crew which sadly, only amount to the remainder of wages due to each man, the rest having been lost. Again, though, we have the list of the crew – Ritchie’s shipmates, the men in whose company he spent his last month; the men he died with. Crew List: Captain Richard Pithie, married, 3 children, from Aberdeen First Mate James Watson, aged 30, unmarried, from Aberdeen, wages £1 1 s 6d His body was the eighth to be found, identified by JW marked on shirt; 5ft 11in, no marks on body Second Mate William T. Phillips, aged 32, unmarried, from Aberdeen, wages 15s 6d Carpenter Keith Milne, aged 29, from Aberdeen, wage

My paternal grandparents had a daughter, (the firstborn) in 1891 On the census she is shown as living in a unoccupied dwelling next door to where her parents are lodging. Probably isolated through illness She died a couple of months after census was taken. They also had a son born 1900 who died in 1909 but I don't know the cause of his death. The same grandfather took his own life in 1905 in his early thirties. Doesn't get much sadder does it ? Jeff x

Some very sad stories. An ancestor of mine had two sons out of wedlock. She was in a workhouse in 1861/71/81/91 and died in 1894 in the workhouse. Her sons lived with her as children in the workhouse and then became quite successful in their adult lives. Why did they leave their poor Mum in the workhouse? Another ancestor married at 23, by 26 had two children and had died by 28. She died of diarroea (4 days) and infection. Poor girl must have been in a pitiful state. Susan

my 7th gt grandad and his 9yr old daughter went to pick some flowers for his wife one sunday morning. the flowers were by an old quarry in dorset. as they stooped to pick them the both slipped and fell into the quarry .both of them died. i was so upset when i read it. susie

Yes Tinkle, and I keep thinking about it........a g.g.g.grandfather was in an asylum......don't know why, but about 7 of his 9 children died....poor people.....

How sad ,Susie. My greartgrandmother died age 37 leaving 5 children , the first 3 to different men , then she married , had 2 more and died when baby 3 months of liver disease-in the 1870`s --wonder if it was alcohol or something else? Ros

Not a direct relation of mine, but the Gt. Grandfather of my cousin, who was the treasurer of a branch of the Radical Society, for some reason (we know not why) stole £125 of the funds. The crime was soon discovered and he was sent a letter by the officials of the Club saying that unless he repaid the amount within a given time, the police would be informed. He took himself down to the railway station, lay on the lines and was decapitated by a train, leaving behind a young widow in her 20's and small children. The letter was found in his pocket. Dee x

There are several for me. One was one of my great grandfather's. By the time my grandad was born in 1926 my great grandfather had lost his father at 11, his uncle, first wife and brother in the same year, plus his 11 year old son and three of his youngest children. I always felt sadness when thinking about one of my great grandmother's. She was widowed at forty and lived in a foreign country, with no immediate family, except her son. She couldn't speak, read or write the language. I feel a great deal of sadness knowing she was widowed for forty years and lived with her sister once my grandad moved away. One that really makes me sad is my great great grandfather. He was found dead in a building in London and buried in a cemetery, vandalised, and now closed. I feel very sad knowing that none of his family are buried in that cemetery and that he's all alone and I can't visit him because evil people have ruined any chance of comfort for the rest of us.

Loads, so many young deaths, including My Dad's brother and sister, but because of their young death's they are helping us who have a hereditary heart problem-bless them.

Always thought until recentley that my g uncle and his wife were childless. Mum & I were reading through some old letters sent to my nan when she was in hospital. In one letter my great grandmother indormed her that Uncle F's baby had only lived for just over a day. Looked up the birth and death and he was listed as 'male' G. Cried buckets for the little mite who never even had a name. Libby

My great grandparents had 10 children between 1881 and 1901 - 7 boys and 3 girls. By the end of WW1, five of the boys were killed in action, and one daughter died age 18. I don't know how they dealt with that, but how tragic. I'm sure there were many more families in the same position in those days. PP xx

My first foray into family research .Was helping my SIL research OH dads side , he was in a Home in the early 1900 cos his Mum died & dad couldnt look after him. Found his Mum & Two sisters on the 1901, his dad was away from home on census night cos he was a commercial traveller. Puzzled cos there were two sisters listed,and Dad ,born July 1901, only remembered one. Lots of research later found that the youger sister born mar 1900 ,had died July 1901 two days before Dad was born in the same house in Harborne Birmingham. His Dad registered the death of his daughter aged 17months ,and three days later reg his only sons birth. Very sad especially after his Mum died ,Dad had no more contact with his family. Shirley

Yeah Grandma's twin siblings that she remembers well!! they both died before they were 1 year old and Grandma remembers pushing them in their pram...... she was 11 when they were born!! ;o(

OH thinks the whole Tree is 'sad'!! He's jealous cos he has only twigs Hazel