Hi listers, I have ancestors who were victims of the disease, this link is the history of how cholera spread and how Europe and the UK tried to get a handle on the disease, it's good reading. http://www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/p-health/cholera3.htm Susan ________________________________ From: Geoff Nicholson <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 5:21 AM Subject: Re: [NMB] 1853 Byker cholera victim Amanda:     Unfortunately the "cholera map" to which Ingrid refers you covers only Gateshead.  St Anthony's is well to the east of Byker and for a map dating from about 1853 you will need the 1st edition of the Ordnance Survey, whihc is probably from some time int he late 1850s.  The lalrger scale versions of that (25 inch and  better) should name the steets.  Otherwise you could use the Godfrey editions (see www.ndfhs.org.uk or else at least one of the tables at any family history fair this year) which are reduced copies of, usually, the second edition of c1895.  They have been reduced to about 15 inches to the mile, which is still quite clear.     Cholera victims were usually buried in parish churchyards as at the time they were still usually the only burial places in existence.  The Municipal Cemeteries Act had not yet been passed and although there were a handful of private cemeteries (two in Newcastle - Jesmond Old Cemetery and Westgate Cemetery) they were too expensive for most of the cholera victims.  Another possibility is the Ballast Hills cemetery in the Ouseburn valley, mainly used by non-C of E people.  It was considerably cheaper than either of the private ones and even cheaper than the churchyard, while not being quite so insanitary.     St Anthony's church was not built for many years after the 1850s.  The district took its name from a picture of St Anthony which used to be displayed in her window by a wealthy Roman Catholic lady whose house overlooked the river.  St Anthony (of Padua) is the Patron Saint of sailors and she wanted it to be seen by those on ships heading down the river to go out to sea.  Anyone dying in St Anthony's before the church was built, and seeking burial in the C of E would have been buried in either Newcastle All Saints churchyard or else in St Ann's churchyard (St Ann's was a parochial chapelry of All Saints.  I'm not sure when the various Byker parishes were formed but in any case they did not have churchyards assosiated with them (so were probably formed after the Cemeteries Act).     As a very long shot you could also look at the records of Walker churchyard.  Walker parish was formed out of that of Longbenton in the late 1840s and its church was probably closer to St Anthony's than was St Ann's or All Saints - even close, perhaps than the Ballast Hills.  At one time - and perhaps yet - Walker churchyard was in the Guinness Book of Records" as the biggest in the country, but I think that was only after it was extended much later on.                                             Geoff Nicholson -----Original Message----- From: dampnr <[email protected]> To: northumbria <[email protected]> Sent: Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:22 Subject: [NMB] 1853 Byker cholera victim Hello all - I had an ancestor perish in the 1853 cholera epidemic. She was a widow, residing on the 1851 census at an area of Byker called St. Anthony High Pit. I would like to know the following: 1. If there is an old map showing this street? 2. If cholera victims were buried in their parish churchyards or if there may have been alternate arrangements for these unfortunate souls. Kind regards, Amanda .. Please remember to snip most of the earlier message before you post any reply...... Thank you! The NORTHUMBRIA FAQ page is located at http://www.bpears.org.uk/NorthumbriaFAQ/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] 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! The NORTHUMBRIA FAQ page is located at http://www.bpears.org.uk/NorthumbriaFAQ/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message