Wha wis deed?, Wha reported them?. Wha birrit them?
Whilst re-searching the OPR Deaths on Scotland’s People, in case there were added records of relevance to my family history, I came across one record which demonstrated one aspect of confusion, which can arise.
Two names!
Does this indicate two Deaths and bodies?
The entry/ies are in the OPR Deaths for the Parish of Inveresk and Musselburgh, early February 1832.
Within the one ruled, printed Record line, there are two manuscript lines, the first part of that second line may possibly over-write yet another name:-
“
___Margaret Livie Widow _________________________________________________ Deceased
ieMary Lant or Margaret Livie ____________ Spouses _________Robert Mitchell ^ Wood Merchant
“
(I have used the Under-score “_” for spacing purposes only.)
That entry is dated 2nd February 1832. All of the preceding entries on that page or Folio 92 are dated 3rd February 1832, 16 total; whilst the succeeding one is dated as the 5th, the remainder being for 4th, those two dates accounting for another eight, giving 25 ruled entries on the page.
LANT is difficult to decipher due to the apparent over-writing; and I suspect that it probably should be LAMB.
Although it turns out that they are not relatives, I decided to try resolving the situation, first locating Banns for a Robert Mitchell to marry a Margaret Livie in 1788, two parishes – Inveresk and Montrose, the latter being significantly further north on the east coast.
Noting the inserted “Deceased” above Robert's name, I located his Death, on the immediate preceding page, Folio 91, second line, dated 2nd February 1832, so on the same day as his wife and possibly someone else in the same household.
Compounding that, the very next line records the Death of their son, John, on the 2nd of February 1832.
The Parish of Inveresk and Musselburgh was/is quite small, so raking the Deaths on the 3rd February, 16, a large quantity, pointing to an epidemic or other large-scale catastrophe.
The parish population in the 1831 Census was almost 9,000. With an average lifespan of 45 years, about 200 Deaths per year or 0.55 per day.
For simplicity, assume 0.5 (one-half) per day, that suggests about 16 times the average quantity.
Further searching brought to light that there was a major Cholera Epidemic that year – NO CURES.
It leads on to other aspects, such as who dealt with that situation etc, both locally and over most of Britain and Europe?
More Replies:
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Re: Wha wis deed?, Wha reported them?. Wha birrit them?
maggie horne 5/21/11
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Re: Wha wis deed?, Wha reported them?. Wha birrit them?
Alex Dow 5/22/11
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Re: Wha wis deed?, Wha reported them?. Wha birrit them?
maggie horne 5/23/11
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Re: Wha wis deed?, Wha reported them?. Wha birrit them?
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Re: Wha wis deed?, Wha reported them?. Wha birrit them?