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Ancestry Daily News
4/16/2002 - Archive
Childhood Diseases in the Victorian Age, Part I: The Families
Children in the nineteenth century faced tremendous physical hazards
that are almost unimaginable in today's world. Long before they would ever reach
the age where they could enter the workforce they had to survive the variety
of epidemic diseases that ravaged America throughout the Victorian era. Our
ancestors' children became so accustomed to seeing horse-drawn hearses on a
regular basis that they developed a game called Funerals, just as children today
play Doctor or House.
From the great epidemic diseases to more common illnesses that still afflicted
children well into the twentieth century, sickness put young children and their
families at great risk for much of the nineteenth century. Since poorly-trained
physicians had no knowledge of vitamins, nor did they understand the benefits
of bathing, general health remained questionable throughout the century.
Diseases such as rickets, which could have been cured with sunlight, led to
bone deformities and left children vulnerable to other diseases. Those who entered
hospitals frequently never came out, and many chose to avoid the "Dead House"
altogether. Nearly a third of deaths annually throughout much of the century
were to children under the age of five.
Among illegitimate children in cities the death rate was even higher. One of
the greatest killers of very young children was diarrhea, which could kill an
infant within 48 hours. Outbreaks of diarrhea resulted from a combination of
poor sanitation, lack of hygiene, and unusually steamy summers. Children who
did not die were often left in such a weakened condition that they later fell
victim to other diseases such as measles, pneumonia, or bronchitis.
Among the deadly hazards older children faced were scarlet fever, measles, diphtheria,
and smallpox. Leaving many victims who survived blind or deaf, scarlet fever
was prevalent in America for much of the century, affecting children from age
two to ten. In England, it raged from the 1840s through the 1870s among children
aged four to eight. Measles outbreaks in England in 1863 and 1874 proved even
more deadly. Consumption claimed the majority of victims throughout the century,
with whooping cough another significant killer.
Children who did not die of disease but managed to survive were often left severely
crippled and at the mercy of public opinion. Nineteenth century belief held
that families who were forced to endure such hardships were suffering a punishment
from God, and many people often remained prejudiced against the afflicted families.
Such diseases took an emotional toll on the parents as well as physical.
Deaths of children from epidemic disease were so common that parents often assumed
an attitude of resignation and did not seek medical attention, believing it
was a foregone conclusion that if a child fell sick death was surely imminent.
The losses were perhaps hardest on the family's remaining children whose lives
were changed forever. Well-bred children were expected to grieve for six months
for their young sister or brother, unable to escape the grim image of the body
laid out in the home, the curtains kept drawn until after the funeral.
Paying for funerals became so burdensome that many families in England entered
their children into burial clubs shortly after birth in order to avoid financial
ruin. Parents set money aside regularly so they would be able to afford funeral
costs should another child succumb in the next epidemic. The poor sometimes
arranged with undertakers to bury a deceased child in a stranger's grave.
Many were lucky and survived the epidemics during their childhood. But those
who did lived with the memory of loved ones whose deaths from disease were either
too sudden or too slow.
Born and raised in Rhode Island, Karen Frisch has been an avid reader since
childhood when she also developed an interest in writing and drawing. She has
traced her lineage back thirty generations to the year 1100 through England,
Scotland, Germany, and Wales. A former teacher, she received a Master of Arts
in Victorian literature from the University of Rhode Island, with courses at
the University of London, and holds undergraduate degrees in English and art
from Rhode Island College. She is the host and writer of Pet Talk, an
award- winning cable television show on pets, and she is active with Volunteer
Services for Animals, working to aid homeless animals. She lives in Rhode Island
with her husband, a daughter adopted from China, and two dogs.
Karen is also the author of Unlocking the Secrets in Old Photographs
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