Tuberculosis a Common Cause of Death

Cause of death
 

Have you ever looked at the cause of death of your ancestors? 

There are several places you can research this. The easiest way, is to buy a death certificate. These can now be obtained electronically from the GRO website for £6 each ( GRO link ). If death was unexpected or suspicious you may find the inquest reported in the local papers. These articles are free to search but cost to access the articles ( Newspaper link  ). Occasionally the minister at the church recording the burials may add cause of death, especially if it is something unusual. You may also find some details in old hospital records ( example of hospital records )

Research shows that in 19^th and first half of the 20^th century the cause of death was very different from today. Today the main causes of death are heart disease, cancer, stroke whereas in the nineteenth century one of the biggest cause of death was tuberculosis, followed by other infections such as pneumonia and diarrhoea. Simple infections often had deadly results. It was only in 1928 that the first commercial antibiotic was discovered and it was 1940s before antibiotics were routinely distributed among the general public. Death also occurred much earlier and in 1915 the average life expectancy was 48 for males and 54 for females compared with 79 and 83 today.

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of these infections that took the lives of many people. In the nineteenth century the disease tended to affect young adults and was more prevalent in women than men. It is known by many names and you will also see it written as tuberculosis, TB, Consumption, Phthisis, White Plague and Potts disease. Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria that mainly attack the lungs but other parts of the body are also attacked. It leads to a persistent cough and other symptoms may include losing weight and appetite and a fever. The disease is spread through the air, so a person suffering TB can pass it on by coughs or sneezes. For most people the body’s immune system attacks the bacteria and you don’t get ill, but the disease can lie dormant for years. Before 1949 the only known treatment for TB was rest, good food, gentle exercise and time. In many cases this did not work. It was 1949 before the antibiotic, streptomycin, was first used to cure a patient. Treatment is now antibiotics taken over a long period of time. Between 1851 and 1910 nearly 4 million people died in England from TB.

So far I have come across two young family members who have died of TB.

Alfred William Tutheridge (1906 -1923)

Alfred William Tutheridge was born in the Peckham district of London on 21 February 1906, son of Alfred John Tutheridge and Jemima Alice Thomsett. He was one of one of seven children. Alfred was christened on 15 Jun 1911, with three of his siblings, at Christ Church, Greenwich. The 1911 census shows the family living at 42 Marlston Street, Greenwich, later they moved to 6 Fingal Street. Alfred was admitted to the Greenwich Union Infirmary with TB and hospital records show he died there on 27 January 1923 aged just 16. He was buried on 2nd February 1923 at Greenwich Cemetery. Later in the same grave are buried his father Alfred William (1929), his mother Jemima Alice (1942) and his sister Florence Maud (1933).

Sophia Tytheridge(1826 - 1853)

Sophia Tytheridge was born Sophia Cunningham about April 1826 in Liverpool. The 1841 census shows her living with her aunt and uncle, John and Catherine Courtney and her mother and two sisters. Nineteen year old Sophia married William Henry Walter Tytheridge at St Luke’s Chelsea on 24 May 1845. William was a senior clerk in the General Record Office of Somerset House. The family were relatively well off, with William described as a gentleman on the baptism records. Sophia and William lived at 23 St John’s Terrace Kensington and other addresses in Chelsea. There were three children from the marriage Henry Burton Holdup Tytheridge born 1847, Walter Robert Tytheridge born 1849 and Elizabeth Sophia Tytheridge born June 1853.

Sophia developed TB around the time of the birth of baby Elizabeth. She died as a result of this six months late on 13^th December 1853 age just 27 years. The death certificate records the cause of death as “Phthisis 6 months certified”. Sophia was buried on 20 December at the Brompton Cemetery London. Her Uncle John Courtney had died just two months earlier and when Sophia died her Aunt Catherine requested Sophia be buried in the family plot. Her letter reads “I request my grave be opened to receive the remains of my niece Mrs Sophia Titheridge on 20^th December” signed Catherine Courtney of 3 Old Cottages Brompton. Later in the same grave were buried Catherine (1879), Sophia’s mother Elizabeth Sophia Cunningham (1885) and Sophia's sisters Elizabeth and Anne Cunningham (1899).

After Sophia’s death husband William was left with three children to look after, Henry 6, Walter 4 and Elizabeth 6 months. By the 1861 census he had employed a governess, Caroline Sarah Dredge, to look after the children. In December 1862 William married the governess Caroline who was twenty years his junior. It was 1880 when Caroline died and 1886 when Willliam died.

These are just two of our ancestors who were victim of Tuberculosis. If you have ancestors that contracted TB please tell their story in the comments section below.