Fearless Females 11: Amanda Died Young

Once again, in honour of National Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo of  The Accidental Genealogist blog presents Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women’s History Month.

March 11 — Did you have any female ancestors who died young or from tragic or unexpected circumstances? Describe and how did this affect the family?

Amanda Malvina Ley BUCKINGHAM (my great great grandmother) died on 21 April 1895 in Plymouth, Devon, aged only 43.  Her youngest child (Ernest Silas) was 9. The cause of death was given as morbus cordis and anasarca.  "Morbus cordis" means heart disease or heart failure, often used by doctors when they didn't know what the exact cause was.  "Anasarca", however, is more specific. Extreme generalized oedema often caused by renal failure and malnutrition sounds to me as though there was a story there.

Three years earlier, several of Amanda's children had been taken into care by Dr Barnado's, and in the years leading up to and following her death, the two youngest became "Home Children" and were sent to Canada.  I have investigated the family history packages which the Dr Barnado's charity offers, and although a simple search only costs GBP15, a more detailed package is much too expensive for my pocket!

• Admission Package - £70
• Full History Package - £85
• Photograph Package - £20

My great grandmother, Annie Marian Buckingham EDGCOMBE, was 18 and in domestic service at this time, so she escaped being sent abroad - and, in fact, only two years later she got married, so maybe she was already courting.