Death in the Harvest Field – Mabel Titheridge 1888 - 1889

Cottages in Frogmore, East Meon

Infant Mortality 

I was recently transcribing some Portsmouth Burials records and found 26 burial records for our family pre 1904. I was surprised to see that of 62% of these were children, with 13 of the burials children below five years old.

One of these records was the burial of Mabel Tetheridge buried at St Mary, Porchester, Hampshire on 7 August 1889 aged 18 months. No known Titheridge families lived in Porchester, so I was intrigued to find out more about Mabel and her family and find out why they were in Porchester.

Francis Titheridge from East Meon

Mabel’s father was identified as Francis Titheridge of East Meon, Hampshire. Francis was born in 1854 youngest of the fifteen children of William Titheridge and Elizabeth Lee. In the 1861 census Francis was living with his parents in Frogmore, East Meon and in the 1871 census living with elder brother William at Old Down, East Meon.

In October 1877 23 year old Francis married Emily Jane Port in East Meon and they had one child Henry Titheridge born in 1879 in Midhurst district of Sussex. On the 1881 census Emily and son Henry are living in Farlingham, near Portsmouth, but Francis is missing from the census. A year later in 1882 Emily’s death is recorded in Midhurst Sussex. No further records are found for son Henry.

Four years later in 1886 Francis married 18 year old Alice Emma Langrish 14 years his junior. Alice was from Compton near Chichester. Francis and Alice had four children.

• Minnie Catherine Titheridge born 1887 in Westbourne district of Sussex
• Mabel Titheridge born 1888 Droxford district christened in East Meon
• Florence Mary Titheridge born 1890 in East Meon
• William George Titheridge born 1892 in Westbourne district of Sussex

Mabel’s death is recorded in 1889 in Fareham aged one and Florence’s death is recorded in 1892 in Midhurst district aged 2.

The one thing noticeable is the nomadic life style of the family moving from place to place in the Sussex / Hampshire border area. Francis was a farm labourer and presumably he moved to find work. In the 1891 census Francis and Alice are living in Compton, Sussex with children Minnie aged 4 and Florence aged 1. However by 1901 Francis is living on his own in Up Marden, Sussex.  I have no idea what has happened to Alice and son William. They are not found on 1901 or 1911 census and there are no death records found. Daughter, Minnie, married William Allen in 1904 in Aldershot.

The Death of Mabel Titheridge

The question "Why was Mabel and family in Porchester" was revealed in the local newspapers. It was August 1889 and harvest time and Mabel had been brought to Porchester with her parents Alice and Francis as they came to harvest the crops on a local farm. It was here that Mabel, who was already unwell, died.  The account in the local paper is below:

Portsmouth Evening News - 6 August 1889

Death in the Harvest Field
The Deputy County Coroner (Leonard Warner, Esq.) held an inquest on Monday at the Railway Hotel Porchester, upon the body of Mabel Titheridge 18 months who died suddenly on Saturday last. The evidence showed the deceased had been unwell for the past three months and was brought to Porchester by its parents a few days since, the latter being engaged harvesting on the  farm of Mr Curtis, and whilst thus employed slept in the shepherd’s hut on the farm.  The child did not appear to be any worse but at half past eleven on Saturday night the mother heard a gargling in the child’s throat and at once took it to Dr Brake at Porchester but before arrival the child had died. Medical evidence showed that death had arisen from natural causes and the Jury returned a verdict to that effect.

If you can add any details about this family please get in touch email: titheradgegenealogy@gmail.com

The story of Francis’s life after Mabel’s death will be the subject of later blog.