The Glasgow Herald on Monday 10th December 1849 page 4 told of tragic events in Blantyre and shows how fragile life can be at any age. It is said that the saddest thing a human can endure is the untimely death of a child. This short news article, in all its sadness, tells tells of a Blantyre family in the village who lost FOUR young children all in the space of 2 years. It’s hard to imagine how parents could cope with such events and the terrible grief they must have felt for the rest of their own lives. I don’t dwell on stories like this, but I think at 167 years old, the little story can now be shared.
“Trying Case.— On Saturday last the wife of a respectable tradesman, at Blantyre Works, was delivered of a child, which lived for a few minutes only, and was buried on Monday. On Tuesday, (the day after) another little child pulled down upon itself the kitchen kettle, full of boiling water, which so scalded the young creature that, after lingering till Wednesday morning, it expired, and on Thursday was interred beside its sister of the preceding week. What renders the case more distressingly striking is that they now lie side by side with twins of the same family who died, after a short illness, less than two years ago (1847)”
With children born after 1841 census and passing before 1851 census, this makes it hugely difficult to find the identity of this family. Thanks to Gordon Cook for sharing this snippet.
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