Volume 6, Number 2 2003 

Family & Community History

Contents

Editorial	83
ARTICLES
Within the shelter of the old elm tree: oddfellowship and community in north Oxfordshire, 1871-2002  Malcolm Bee	85
Community and the establishment of social order on the Canadian frontier in the 1840S and 1850s: an English immigrant's account  Michael R. Redclift	97
FOCUS ON INFANT MORTALITY (Focus editor: Michael Drake)	107
Infant mortality: some family and community approaches Michael Drake 'Who you are or where you are?': determinants of infant mortality in Fulham 1876-1888  Susan M. Smith	113
Faith street, South Kirkby - 'that troublesome place': infant mortality in a Yorkshire coal-mining community, 1894-19II  Linda M. Davies	121
Neonatal mortality in Northamptonshire: Higham Ferrers 1880-1890  Tricia James	129
Family migration and infant mortality in rural Kent, 1876-1888  Ann Clark	141
REVIEWS
P. Sharpe, Population and society in an east Devon parish: reproducing Colyton I540-I840, and J. Robin, The way we lived then (Brian Roberts)	151
J. Burchardt, The allotment movement in England, 1793-1873  (Jacqueline Cooper)	152
H. Doe, Jane Slade of Polruan: the inspiration for Daphne du Maurier's first novel  (David J. Starkey)	153
NEWS	155

Volume 6 No. 2 pp. 85-97 November 2003

WITHIN THE SHELTER OF THE OLD ELM TREE: ODDFELLOWSHIP AND COMMUNITY IN NORTH OXFORDSHIRE, 1871-2002

By MALCOLM BEE

In recent years the focus of friendly society history has shifted from preoccupation with organizational and legislative issues towards evaluation of societies' relevance to the communities of which they were part. But although the 19th century has received considerable attention, much less research has been undertaken into the period after the commencement of compulsory state sickness insurance in 1912, and almost no interest has been shown in friendly societies' struggle for survival in the modern era of the welfare state. This study of the Old Elm Tree Lodge of the Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity, which was established in the Oxfordshire town of Chipping Norton in 1871, contrasts the experience of friendly societies before and after 1912 and sheds light on their role in the provision of social capital and on their changing community significance in the pre- and post-National Insurance eras and up to the present day.

Volume 6 No. 2 pp. 97-107 November 2003

COMMUNITY AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SOCIAL ORDER ON THE CANADIAN FRONTIER IN THE 1840s AND 1850s: AN ENGLISH IMMIGRANT'S ACCOUNT

By MICHAEL R. RED CLIFT

This article draws on the letters of a young immigrant doctor, Francis Codd, who arrived in British Canada in the 1840s. Many of the one million migrants, mainly of British and Irish origin, who arrived in Canada in the mid-19th century, benefited from the availability of land and absence of social barriers to mobility. This enabled them to think and feel like citizens of the new country, in a way denied them at home. Francis Codd's account throws light on the part played by the appreciation of nature and 'wilderness' in this process, as well as describing the beginnings of a new civil society and the development of 'community' institutions. However, at the same time as a 'Canadian' identity was being constructed for the white settler population, that of the indigenous population was accorded little recognition or respect.

Volume 6 No. 2 pp. 107-113 November 2003

INFANT MORTALITY: SOME FAMILY AND COMMUNITY APPROACHES

By MICHAEL DRAKE

Family and community historians have played a big part in advancing our understanding of the population history of England in the years prior to the inauguration of the civil registration of births, deaths and marriages in 1837. This was, in part due to the main sources being parish registers and census-type listings that were usually locally deposited. For the period since 1837, the study of population change, although not population structure as revealed by the census enumerators' books, has largely shifted from the local community to the registration district and even higher levels of aggregation and has been dominated by scholars wielding sophisticated statistical techniques. The 'discovery' of the vaccination birth and infant death registers - virtually copies of the civil birth and death registers - opens the possibility of a new wave of activity for family and community historians for the period 1871-1948, especially in the study of infant mortality.

Volume 6 No. 2 pp.113-121 November 2003

'WHO YOU ARE OR WHERE YOU ARE?': DETERMINANTS OF INFANT MORTALITY IN FULHAM 1876-1888

By SUSAN M. SMITH

This article explores recent suggestions that during the late 19th and early 20th centuries where one lived had a greater effect on infant survival chances than the socia-economic class into which one was born. The research focuses on a micro-level study of a London suburb with a highly mobile population in the late 19th century. Vaccination registers have provided a source to identify all births in a sample of streets in Fulham during the period 1876-1888 and to place those infants into working- or middle-class groups based on parental occupation. The analysis of these sample data has produced interesting results. As one might expect, lower infant mortality rates are confirmed for those living in better housing conditions and born to parents of higher social class. However, the middle class in poorer environments and the working class in better environments were also able to achieve lower rates.

Volume 6 No. 2 pp.121-129 November 2003
 

FAITH STREET, SOUTH KIRKBY - 'THAT TROUBLESOME PLACE': INFANT MORTALITY IN A YORKSHIRE COAL-MINING COMMUNITY, 1894-1911

By LINDA M. DAVIES

This paper is a case study of infant mortality in one street in South Kirkby between 1894 and 1911: a street almost entirely occupied by coal-miners. The generally very high infant mortality rate amongst coal-miners was something of a paradox. They were comparatively well paid, their wives rarely went out to work and they often lived in rural surroundings - all of which were normally associated with relatively low infant mortality. Coal-miners, however, experienced high rates of migration, overcrowding brought about by large families (coal-miners also had one of the highest rates of fertility) and the presence of boarders. Such factors, it is suggested here, may have been critical for their mortality experience. The main source for this research is the vaccination register of births. Other sources include the 1901 census enumerators' books, South Kirkby parish registers of baptisms and burials, Moorthorpe Cemetery records and the minutes of the Sanitary Committee of Hemsworth Rural District Council.

Volume 6 No. 2 pp. 129-141 November 2003

NEONATAL MORTALITY IN NORTHAMPTONSHIRE: HIGHAM FERRERS 1880-1890

By TRICIA JAMES

Within much of the literature on infant mortality in the late 19th century, the neonate is usually discussed together with the older infant rather than as a separate entity, because of the lack of accurate age at death data. lnformation about the experience of the neonate has come from reconstitution studies or studies from a later period when age at death data was more accurate. The smallpox vaccination birth registers and infant death registers provide this information and have been used in this paper to explore the neonatal experience of a group of infants born during the 1880s in Northamptonshire. The rate of neonatal death was found to be high, especially in Rushden, a shoemanufacturing centre. This rate could be attributed to the impact of industrialization and rapid population growth at the time, but the rate for the other towns in the subdistrict, which did not have similar experiences, was also high. This suggests that factors other than urbanization may have been influential in the death of the infant during the first month of life in the Higham Ferrers Sub-District. For the most part the findings support rather than contradict previous work, indicating that the previously identified influencing factors on neonatal death were also to be found in the Higham Ferrers Sub-District.

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Volume 6 No. 2 pp. 141-151 November 2003

FAMILY MIGRATION AND INFANT MORTALITY IN RURAL KENT, 1876-1888

By ANN CLARK

Without any system of residence registration in England and Wales it is difficult to trace migration of individual families. In-migrants can be deduced from census returns, but following out-migrants from a particular place is more difficult. Using nominal record linkage, starting with vaccination registers, the families of a cohort of 1,363 infants were followed in order to test the hypothesis that there may be a relationship between infant mortality and migration. This local study concludes that there is evidence to suggest that families who migrate suffer more infant deaths than those who remain in the same place for a number of years. Few studies link these two issues and much remains to be done to identify what factors in short-distance migration can have a negative effect on the well-being of infants.

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