Poor old Joseph!

I found these facts interesting, and pass them on to the Forum. It concerns parents Joseph (note) and Ann both born c1805 in Worcestershire, England. Joseph lived to be 71 and Ann 53. It then centres on their family of 11 children and their attempt to name a son Joseph after his father. It took 3 goes but also shows the high mortality rate of their family. 9 remainded in England and 2 who went out to Utah USA with Mormon Missionaries. One, a girl, lived to be 102.

Here is their family in birth order (Ages are approcimates based on birth and death years).

Rebecca H 1828 -1830 = 2 … England

Benjamin 1828-1831 =3… England

William B 1831-1860 = 29… went out to Utah USA

Joseph (1) 1832-1837 = 5 … England

Anne 1836-1838 = 2 …. England

Maria 1838 -1894 = 56 … England

Emily T 1841-1943 = 102 … went out to Utah, USA

Mary A 1844-1845 = 1 … England

Joseph (2) 1845-1846 =1 … England

Amelia 1848-1934 = 86 … England

Joseph (3) 1850 -1897 = 47 … England

Notes:

#1 My research for a cousin actually centred around Maria. She remainded in her birth county of Worcestershire and thankfully made it to the age of 56. She had 8 children.

#2 Her sister Emily T went out to Utah as a teenager married there and had 10 children who ALL lived beyond 65 and dying in Utah. Emily (the family Matriarch) survived her husband by 26 years and died aged 102. She made it by 5 days born 23rd Jan 1841 and dying 29th Jan 1943.

#3 The odd and rather macabre thing about naming a son Joseph (shown in bold) not just 3rd time lucky, but that William B (who also went out to Utah) after marrying, named a son Joseph who only lived to the age of 3 and his father William B died the year he was born (1860), aged 29!

#4 Sister Emily T did not fall into 'the 'Joseph' trap despite having 6 boys. None bore Joseph as a first name and one who had it as a middle name survived to 88.

#5 Maria (remaining in England) - 8 childen 5 boys, 3 girls - named her last son Joseph and broke the spell because he lived to be 79.

#6 Amelia (also in England) - 7 children 3 boys, 4 girls - and did not use Joseph as a first or middle name for any of her sons ...clearly taking no chances.

#7 Joseph (the suviving son) had 3 girls.

Concluding:

6 died as babies or children (3 female, 3 male); 1 male lived to 29 another to 47. The remaining 3 females - to 56, 86 & 102 respectively - an average of 30.3 (a bit false of course with only 5 surving so it rises to 64 among the survivors). Compare that to Emily's Utah family of 10 children: 6 male & 4 female, none died young and their average age totalled 76 and all reaching senior ages.

None of this is of course unique (except for the Matriach at 102) but to scrutinise them all in one place made for an interesting observation of life in the early mid 1800's.

 

It was tough, survival rate was low in some areas and good in others depending on the level of disease and poverty. The same can, sadly, be said for today in parts of the world.

 

The story reminds me of how my great-grandfather and his second wife "re-used" names from some of his children with his previous wife who had died as children.

The two Charles Johns (one born in 1882 and the other in 1890) are constantly confused by people who don't pay enough attention to the records, and the two Jessies (one actually a Jessie Ellen) are also constantly compacted.