List of causes of Death from 1632

[Peteryougit]

I find this sort of thing really interesting. I’m sorry, I don’t have a direct link so I don’t know which region it’s from - l hope the photo attached okay.

”Rising of the lights” - any ideas?

Scarletina, probably Scarlet Fever?

Scarlet fever makes sense thanks

That must have been a bugger of a pile.

Oh dear my husband is Scorpio and I'm Taurus, we're doomed.

When I'm daydreaming sometimes I imagine some lady from the days of yore ending up on the side of the road and panicking at all the cars and technology. But I hadn't even thought of their thoughts of the pharmacy. For some of the causes of death you wouldn't even need a prescription for now. canesten, baby formula, heamaroid creams.

I always remember watching some drama-documentary about what would happen if society broke down (I forget why this was supposed to have happened). They followed several characters through all these trials and tribulations, and one family made it right through the initial chaos, survived to become part of a new, village type self-sufficient community, then just as you thought they were safe, the dad cut his hand and died of an infection because they didn’t have ready access to medicines any more. You forget how awful it would have been in a pre-antibiotic era. No painkillers, no nothing.

11 people died of ‘grief’ - depression, perhaps?

I actually find it interesting that, despite all these causes of death that would be survivable today, life expectancy wasn't too bad if you survived infancy and childhood. Average life expectancy prior to 1800 and industrialization is around 30-40 but it is heavily skewed by infant mortality. Make it to adulthood and you stood a chance of reaching your 60s-70s.

Obviously, there are times when this didn't apply ie: during plague outbreaks. And it depend who you were - women had the high risks associated with childbirth, some jobs were more risky than others etc. But on a general level, an adult stood a better chance than we tend to think.

Long term lurker, but being someone who has always loved medicine, this thread is too brilliant not to comment on!

I have a funny story about that place...when I was studying the History of Medicine in school, they took us to visit that place...only it was closed for renovations when we got there, so they told us about what went on in it in a nearby little like lecture room.

We were all sat on these wooden benches and please bare in mind this was before I developed the fairly strong stomach that I have today from working in a hospital, well the lovely museum lady started going on about how they used to do amputations without any anaesthesia or pain relief (except for alcohol!) and as she got to the really gory details....I passed out cold and fell off my bench infront of the entire class. I was both mortified and gutted that it happened and that I missed out on the rest of it!

Perhaps a prolapse?

Several years ago the Wellcome Collection had a fascinating, if grisly, exhibition of skeletons from London cemeteries over the centuries, going back to Roman times, and there was a lot of detail about the medical history of each one.

It was striking how many had survived quite major injuries - not just arm and leg fractures (healed badly or otherwise) but things like arrow wounds to the head that had penetrated the skull. Teeth were especially problematic and there were a lot of horrific abscesses that had eaten away at bone and, without antibiotics, could have killed a person. They could tell from pitting of the bones that certain people had suffered from syphilis.

It’s easy for us to determine these medical details now but in the 17th c many of these ‘causes of death' must have been very approximate, unless it was completely obvious, eg drowning. Things like 'affrighted' could be sudden heart attacks which they’d have no way of understanding. They were still a long way from properly comprehending the way the human body worked at that point - I mean, we're continuing to learn about aspects of it even now.

11 died from grief

My great aunt apparently died of this, her son died in childhood and her blood turned to water from crying.
This was in the 1940's.

I’m surprised more people didn’t die from the plague as only 8 are listed with that as the cause of death. Or was this a few years before the outbreak?

I'm assuming Planets is similar to what Omens used to be but more "scientific-y" than that "religious nonsense ". Blame Mars rather than the black crow flying over your shadow.

Great thread!

Very interesting and has got me googling

Horribly fascinating.
Seems so long ago but only 5 of our lifetimes ago

What is "impostume"?

I can answer my own question. I thought there was no point in Googling because it was such an archaic word, but it is there. It means "a swelling containing pus; an abscess" Must be bad to be fatal.

Someone posts this, or a version of, every few years. It never ceases to be interesting.

I read The Emperor of All Maladies (a history of cancer really going back thousands of years ) after one of these threads.

Those West Virginia ones are great : 'laziness'

😂😂🙄

Plague went in cycles. There would be an outbreak and then it would subside.

Check out this bill of mortality from 1665.

I would like to know more about "Muthered at Stepney".

After masturbating for thirty years you would probably be glad to enter the asylum for a rest. Talk about RSI 😀

Very interesting 😊

Grief can actually cause a heart condition.

www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/takotsubo-cardiomyopathy-broken-heart-syndrome&ved=2ahUKEwiSg7y_jMH7AhWIUMAKHQvdD4MQFnoECCgQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0-t6M3nRFZy_NEeAqq5zs3