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Cause of Death??

G

gilbersj

proper brummie kid
Hi,
I wonder if anyone would be able to decipher the cause of death on the death certificate I have for my Great Great Grandfather. He died in 1870. The middle word word is " Exhaustion " and the bottom word is " certified ". It's the top word I'm having trouble with. Thanks in advance... Steve

DeathCert.jpg
 
Eric Gibson said:
Can't see it as a fit but Empyema was a common cause, pus in the lungs or sometimes called double pneumonia.
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Hi Eric, you could be onto something there. I thought at first it may have been a shortened version of emphysema but it could be either of these two words. Thanks
 
gilbersj said:
Hi,
I wonder if anyone would be able to decipher the cause of death on the death certificate I have for my Great Great Grandfather. He died in 1870. The middle word word is " Exhaustion " and the bottom word is " certified ". It's the top word I'm having trouble with. Thanks in advance... Steve

View attachment 174741
Click to expand...
Can you post more of the certificate so we can make a comparison of the writing please?
 
Morturn said:
Can you post more of the certificate so we can make a comparison of the writing please?
Click to expand...
It could be Eczema with a y not a z. I've looked at a list of letter shapes from old documents and it seems to fit. What is the date of the cert? I can see the possibility because of the nature of the condition without modern drugs.
 
DJRVST said:
It could be Eczema with a y not a z. I've looked at a list of letter shapes from old documents and it seems to fit. What is the date of the cert? I can see the possibility because of the nature of the condition without modern drugs.
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Sorry, question already answered I've just seen the 1870 above. My brother had the condition develop and could not sleep with it untreated.
 
Morturn said:
Can you post more of the certificate so we can make a comparison of the writing please?
Click to expand...
Hi,
Thanks for the help
Here's a picture of the whole certificate and I've printed underneath what I think are the words.
Hope that helps.
Cheers
Steve
 

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    Publication1.jpg
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The best I can think of at the moment is:
Look at the y in Mary.
The capital E's vary have a look at the date in particular.
No more than supposition because I can't find a definitive example, but my Occam's Razor vote/best guess is an E.
There are some Palaeography books available from various sources, but I only have a copy of an illustration (sadly I didn't keep the source info).
If you have any other copies of the Registrars hand it may help. The E's do look different and we all at times can vary our handwriting. I realise it's a y not a z on the form.
So, I stick with Eczema. It's not a cause of death in itself but it can introduce infections into the body which damage organs slowly a wider example would be of a heart valve condition caused by bacteria from bad teeth. It is as well, when severe particularly exhausting. Exhaustion was often recorded on Death Certs in the era. As a Cordwainer it probably means long hours crouched over a bench in a closed environment. This doesn't prove anything above but may help in context.
Sorry a lot of words to say "might" be but I hope it helps further research. I'll have a think but someone on the site may be able sort it for you.
 
DJRVST said:
The best I can think of at the moment is:
Look at the y in Mary.
The capital E's vary have a look at the date in particular.
No more than supposition because I can't find a definitive example, but my Occam's Razor vote/best guess is an E.
There are some Palaeography books available from various sources, but I only have a copy of an illustration (sadly I didn't keep the source info).
If you have any other copies of the Registrars hand it may help. The E's do look different and we all at times can vary our handwriting. I realise it's a y not a z on the form.
So, I stick with Eczema. It's not a cause of death in itself but it can introduce infections into the body which damage organs slowly a wider example would be of a heart valve condition caused by bacteria from bad teeth. It is as well, when severe particularly exhausting. Exhaustion was often recorded on Death Certs in the era. As a Cordwainer it probably means long hours crouched over a bench in a closed environment. This doesn't prove anything above but may help in context.
Sorry a lot of words to say "might" be but I hope it helps further research. I'll have a think but someone on the site may be able sort it for you.
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Thank you so much for your help. I'm pretty certain it begins with an E.
I can't help thinking it's the Registrars abbreviation of emphysema ( E'cyma )
I don't have any more certificates written by the same Registrar so nothing to compare.
Thanks again
 
gilbersj said:
Thank you so much for your help. I'm pretty certain it begins with an E.
I can't help thinking it's the Registrars abbreviation of emphysema ( E'cyma )
I don't have any more certificates written by the same Registrar so nothing to compare.
Thanks again
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That hangs together well. I tried all manner of various spellings and wildcard searches and didn't come up with anything, but I didn't think of an abbreviation. Happy hunting.
 
Morturn said:
My wife came to the same conclusion in that it may possibly be eczema, which may not be a primary cause of death, but could give rise to infections. With no antibiotics, it is a possibility.
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Hi Morturn
I've looked again and searched through the internet for causes of death on 19th Century death certificates.
I've also searched for words starting with E and ending with YMA
Ecthyma is one of the results, this is a type of eczema, so maybe you're right, it does say " Eczema "
Many thanks again
 
gilbersj said:
Hi Morturn
I've looked again and searched through the internet for causes of death on 19th Century death certificates.
I've also searched for words starting with E and ending with YMA
Ecthyma is one of the results, this is a type of eczema, so maybe you're right, it does say " Eczema "
Many thanks again
Click to expand...
Interestingly, Ecthyma is variation of impetigo and can be quite nasty causing deep infection in the skin. Usually found in animals and people who worked with them
 
Morturn said:
Interestingly, Ecthyma is variation of impetigo and can be quite nasty causing deep infection in the skin. Usually found in animals and people who worked with them
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He was a Cordwainer (Shoemaker) which would involve close contact with animal hide. So very possibly.
 
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