Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

The new episode of WDYTYA? tonight briefly touched on the subject of child deaths and the unhealthy conditions in towns and cities in the 19th/early 20th century. While cheaper PDFs of births and deaths are currently available from the GRO and using the GRO birth index with the mothers' surnames I've been collecting births and deaths of my grandparents' siblings. All events were in Liverpool. Some ages below are more exact than others as they are the age given in the register extract. Two families lived in Toxteth, one in Everton and one off Great Howard Street. Here are the numbers of children born and died:-

Toxteth 1: Born = 6, Died 2 [First birth: 1909, ages at death: 7 months, 22 months]
Toxteth 2: Born = 7, Died: 3 [First birth: 1899, ages at death: 11, 12, 10 (10 year old died in Spanish Flu epidemic in 1918)]
Everton: Born = 13, Died: 7 [First birth: 1900, ages at death: 1, 1, 2 days, 20 minutes, 0, 14 days, 0,]
Great Howard Street: Born = 12, Died: 3 [First birth: 1900, ages at death: 5, 13 months, 1 day]

Surprisingly the family who lived furthest away from the docks and in the least industrial area of the three districts covered (Everton) faired the worst in terms of child deaths and the family who lived in what some people would think of as the worst for living conditions (Great Howard Street) faired the best.


Spanish Flu death in Toxteth Park in October 1918






Blue

The high loss of children must have been devastating for the parents. As was mentioned on the programme the mother probably had the duty of care, nursing the babies and to hope for the best and then have the worst happen would have been dreadful.

The location is surprising in a way, but perhaps a family story might give a clue. When my grandmother's youngest became ill, between 3-6 months, (living in Boaler Street) she was advised to take him down to the river to get the fresh sea air, which she did. I wonder if this worked for any poorly children, it didn't for this mite, however she must be considered lucky as this was the only infant loss she suffered.