Hi Patrick I think it was just "of those times" I have had ancestors in Balmain since the early 1800's. Still have one brother living there now. My grandmother told me a story of how the nuns once came to their house in Adolphus Street, and put ten pounds on the mantlepiece....to feed the children, of which there were seven! My grandfathers family were Roman Catholic Irish.. It was during the great depression of the 1930's, but apart from the depression years they always had work. Childhood diseases like measles, mumps, whooping cough, etc; took more children in those days, even in the wealthier suburbs of Sydney. Mary On 26 September 2012 10:09, Patrick Callaghan <balcolyn@activ8.net.au>wrote: > Greetings listers > > I am sending this email to several mailing lists as I know that that there > is a great deal of knowledge 'out there' > > > > Having reached my target of finding 1000 burials to, at least partially, > recreate the lost burial register of the long disappeared Balmain > > Catholic cemetery I am now getting ready to publish my work (in November) > > > > Here is where I need some wisdom from listers and I understand that the > figures I am using may not represent the perfect statistical base > > BUT > > amongst the 1000 burials I have found there are 258 children under the age > of 5, that's 25% of the known burials and that seems very high to me > > so my question is, dear reader, what do you think??? > > The Balmain area was largely working class in the years the cemetery was > open (1868 - 1902) is this figure representative of other working class > > areas of that time > > > > The figure of 258 is made up of 174 unfants, under the age of one and 84 > under the age of 5, so one conclusion seems to be that if you made it > > to your first birthday your chance of a long life increased markedly ????? > > > I look forward to your thoughts > > Patrick Callaghan > > Please remember to snip most of the earlier message before you post any > reply...... Thank you! > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > AUS-NSW-SYDNEY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Hi Mary Many thanks for your reply, I guess it was just how things were, many of those who died very young survived only a few hours and twins seemed especially vulnerable. I have four children and four grandchildren, all healthy and well, I wonder what the situation might have been if I had lived in those times all the best Patrick -----Original Message----- From: aus-nsw-sydney-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:aus-nsw-sydney-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Mary Cunningham Sent: Wednesday, 26 September 2012 11:16 AM To: aus-nsw-sydney@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [ANS] Help Needed on infant death statistics Hi Patrick I think it was just "of those times" I have had ancestors in Balmain since the early 1800's. Still have one brother living there now. My grandmother told me a story of how the nuns once came to their house in Adolphus Street, and put ten pounds on the mantlepiece....to feed the children, of which there were seven! My grandfathers family were Roman Catholic Irish.. It was during the great depression of the 1930's, but apart from the depression years they always had work. Childhood diseases like measles, mumps, whooping cough, etc; took more children in those days, even in the wealthier suburbs of Sydney. Mary On 26 September 2012 10:09, Patrick Callaghan <balcolyn@activ8.net.au>wrote: > Greetings listers > > I am sending this email to several mailing lists as I know that that > there is a great deal of knowledge 'out there' > > > > Having reached my target of finding 1000 burials to, at least > partially, recreate the lost burial register of the long disappeared > Balmain > > Catholic cemetery I am now getting ready to publish my work (in > November) > > > > Here is where I need some wisdom from listers and I understand that > the figures I am using may not represent the perfect statistical base > > BUT > > amongst the 1000 burials I have found there are 258 children under the > age of 5, that's 25% of the known burials and that seems very high to > me > > so my question is, dear reader, what do you think??? > > The Balmain area was largely working class in the years the cemetery > was open (1868 - 1902) is this figure representative of other working > class > > areas of that time > > > > The figure of 258 is made up of 174 unfants, under the age of one and > 84 under the age of 5, so one conclusion seems to be that if you made > it > > to your first birthday your chance of a long life increased markedly ????? > > > I look forward to your thoughts > > Patrick Callaghan > > Please remember to snip most of the earlier message before you post > any reply...... Thank you! > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > AUS-NSW-SYDNEY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > Please remember to snip most of the earlier message before you post any reply...... Thank you! ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to AUS-NSW-SYDNEY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message