Not weird at all, I also find many interesting tiny details - my great uncle was living on a railway siding near Middelburg Traansvaal, and somehow was moved all the way to Grahamstown (over 1000 km away) to be treated at the mental hospital (presumably Fort England) for a period of 10 days after which he died, reportedly from status epilepticus, which sounds horrific! The only reason I can consider for the move was that his mother who was still alive, and perhaps other family members, were living in Uitenhage and would have had easier access to visit him. He was then buried in Grahamstown all by his lonesome and even his grave marker has been mis-numbered, poor soul. It is possible to conclude that he suffered from epilepsy, although there could be other causes of SE. My mother used to joke that she was suffering from senile decay which I assume was simply the old-fashioned term for dementia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status_epilepticus ----- Original Message ----- From: "Accounts IBF" <accounts@ibfprint.co.za> To: "'John Wynne'" <jw_email2004-clwyd@yahoo.co.uk>; <south-africa-eastern-cape@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2012 10:59 AM Subject: Re: [ZA-EC] Index to 1896 Albany Death Certificates [Deathfromteething] > No, I have been going through numerous civil death notices in Aberdeen > around 1900 and in many cases the cause of death for babies is giving as > "teething" or even "dentition". As most of us know, a teething baby is > often > miserable, feverish with a runny tummy. Perhaps when the official asked > the > parent if the baby had been unwell, they replied that the baby had been > teething, therefore given as reason of death. Another common cause of > death > in the elderly is given as "senile decay". Sometimes the deceased was only > in their 50's! > > I may be weird, but I find it extremely interesting going through the > death > notices. A lot can be deduced as to the way of life of people in those > times > - the saddest is when you pick up that more than 1 baby or child from a > family die very close together or when mother's and baby's death notices > appear one after the other. > Antoinette > > -----Original Message----- > From: John Wynne [mailto:jw_email2004-clwyd@yahoo.co.uk] > Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2012 12:46 PM > To: south-africa-eastern-cape@rootsweb.com; > south-africa-immigrants-british@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [ZA-EC] Index to 1896 Albany Death Certificates [Death > fromteething] > > 573; Mary Amy BUCKLEY, died aged 7 months, from "Teething". > I've never heard of that before. Have I mis-read it? > John