Inquest 1923

JDERIC2017

Hey,



Found something I didn't want to but its history.... I am trying to make sense of it and i don't understand how my family let it happen.... My 2x great grandmother died from malnutrition in november 1923 and found that there was an inquest. She lived with my grandmother who would have been about 14 at the time... there was not food in her system at all... I know my great grandfather only lost his wife in april so times would have been hard but still... find it hard to take. in.

Hermy

Might she have had some other undiagnosed health issue - maybe something psychological - that those around her weren't in a position to deal with.

JDERIC2017

Possibly... but how could family not see this... but maybe she was giving them her food and pretending she was eating?

Hermy

In the not too distant past a now deceased member of my family concealed a very serious illness from us for months, an illness that meant they weren't able to eat, and the first we knew about it was when they were rushed to intensive care.

Even today people might conceal all sorts of things - depression, pregnancy, anorexia - for all sorts of reasons.
But in the past people were less informed and more fearful of what they didn't know.
It was about survival. Illness might threaten your job, your home or your family.
You didn't ask and you didn't tell and you hoped whatever it was would pass, or failing that, go unnoticed.
And so concealment was probably the order of the day.

pedroeibar1

JDERIC2017 wrote: »

Possibly... but how could family not see this... but maybe she was giving them her food and pretending she was eating?

Context is everything.

She was about 76 which is a very good age in the 1920’s particularly if she had several children, had worked hard and lived in cramped conditions (1911 census shows most houses in Jervis St as multi-family). Looking at the GRO for the 1920’s it is not unusual to see ‘senile decay’ as a cause of death for people in their 60’s, She died of cardiac failure, aggravated by exposure and malnutrition which were secondary and tertiary causes.

Putting it in context she had lived a long life particularly as she was born during the Famine. Malnutrition during childhood can lead to long-term health problems. She died in late November, so it would have been cold and as she was old/malnourished/thin this would have exacerbated the risk of exposure. The fact that there was no food in her intestines is telling, but several causes could be attributed to this. Mental health issues could have been a factor (as mentioned by Hermy above) – lassitude would be quite normal in a 76 year-old in the 1920’s. Older people, especially those who live on their own - even today - are at higher risk of malnutrition. Also. medically she might have had difficulty absorbing nutrients e.g. coeliac disease, Crohn’s disease, difficulty in swallowing, etc.

IMO in view of her age it is unusual that there was an inquest, although a coroner can hold one if a death has been sudden and unexplained. Had she been attending a doctor for heart disease the cert would have ‘x days / months certified’ and there probably would not have been an inquest.

JDERIC2017

she lived in same Tenement/ house as her son and grandchildren, I don't accept that this could go unnoticed by her family.

Hermy

Well I've just told you it went unnoticed by my family, all living under the one roof, so don't be so quick to dismiss it.

JDERIC2017

Hermy wrote: »

Well I've just told you it went unnoticed by my family, all living under the one roof, so don't be so quick to dismiss it.

I am not dismissing it I just don't want to believe it

Hermy

JDERIC2017 wrote: »

I am not dismissing it I just don't want to believe it

Apologies JD - that was a hasty comment on my part.

JDERIC2017

Hermy wrote: »

Apologies JD - that was a hasty comment on my part.

Don't worry about it..... I am trying to understand it, my grandmother was about 14 at the time and she was an amazing lady, just find it hard to take in that she couldn't see what was happening to her grandmother... but her own mother had died 6 months before so she was left to look after her two younger siblings while her father was out working....

pinkypinky

It's a sad story, and I think Hermy and Pedroeibar1 have had a good go at suggesting reasons, but you'll never be able to find out the full truth of it.