This past weekend I took part in the WikiTree Connect-a-thon. Adding new profiles to the tree, I noticed there were many cases of infant or child mortality. In some families, 5 out of 10 children died before age three. Then when I searched newspapers for the death of parents, I found many of these infants were not mentioned as deceased children in the family.
These children had been overlooked by their siblings who wrote the death notice in the newspaper. Maybe they didn’t know they had more siblings who had died young. Some of these infants didn’t even get a formal name.
Looking in my direct family tree:
- Mum had an older sister Iris who died aged 9, just a month after mum was born. She is remembered on the family gravestone and in photos I have inherited.
- Dad was an only child but ended up having 7 half siblings who all survived to adulthood. But one was in a mental hospital from a young age and I can’t find his death.
- My paternal grandfather William Elvis Allen had 2 siblings and three half siblings. His older sister Ethel Maud Allen only survived two years and I have not yet found any headstone for her.
- My paternal grandmother Irene Smith had 14 siblings (DNA they are half maternal siblings) and another 3 siblings (DNA they are half paternal siblings). Only one of those half siblings died less than one year old.
- My maternal grandfather Henry Lewis England had 3 sisters. The youngest Lucy died aged 20.
- My maternal grandmother Hannah Davey had 11 siblings. Her younger sisters Elsie died aged 11 and Lila died aged 8. Both are remembered on the same headstone as their parents in Evandale, Tasmania. They were always mentioned in newspaper reports as well.
Hannah had 44 nieces and nephews and only one of them died young aged 14.
If I were to go further back in my tree and look at nieces and nephews of my direct ancestors, I know there are a lot more families with infants or children who have died young.
So to make sure these youngsters are not overlooked, I am making sure I write a profile for them in WikiTree. Here are some of them:
My brother Nicholas was born and died around Christmas, 1948. My father diarised that a plot at the local cemetery was bought, and noted the relevant number. Many years later, about 2008, it was decided that the grave should be marked with a headstone. The family was surprised to find that the Council could not locate the site from the information my father had written down. The family had to content itself with a plaque on a chair under a tree.
What a pity the original plot wasn’t found. But a plaque where others can sit and reflect on the lives of those who have passed is very useful for many other people as well as your family.
My father had an older brother named Harold Frank Brenchley. Harold died young …. 6 months old …. jn 1917 in Brisbane. I found him quite by accident. Then to find his grave. The people in Brisbane cemeteries were absolutely fabulous. They helped us located his unmarked grave. He rests in Toowong Cemetery. We had a plaque made exactly 100 years after his death to mark his life.
My father died in 1999 and I don’t think he knew about little Harold. May they all rest in peace, safe in the knowledge that the family genuinely cared.
It is often the children born early in married life who passed as infants that are forgotten because those who came later might not have known about them at all.
Sometimes family “stories” point to little ones who died young and were forgotten. The siblings remembered hearing something about a baby who died very young, but they didn’t have details, weren’t even sure their memories were correct. I was lucky to be able to find a death cert showing he died within minutes of his birth, never named. Of course this baby is on the family tree now so he won’t be overlooked in the future.
Sue, You have inspired me to look into this in my father’s family line, as I know there are many child deaths in the generations preceding him, especially on his mother’s side. Keep on bloggin’!