SMALLPOX 1832

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Things remained quiet in Carnarvon until early August, 1832, when, with the shadow of the cholera hanging over their heads, the last thing the inhabitants needed happened: smallpox reared it ugly head once more. The first two deaths were of two year old Mary Morgan, and 16 months old Anne Rhees. Because we have no exact date of death in any of the cases in 1832, we have to rely on the burial dates in the Llanbeblig Burial Register. It must have been a sad sight as these two infants were both buried on the same day, namely the 3rd. of August.

Young Mary and Anne were only the beginning, and over the next two months Smallpox would ravage the town's infant population, and eventually result in more deaths than the dreaded cholera caused. Again, there are no reports of the smallpox in the local newspapers. This has one major disadvantage as it does not give us an eyewitness account of the conditions in the town at the time. Neither does it enable us to piece together any form of pattern as to the spread of the disease, nor its original source.

The areas most likely to have been the focal point of the disease would have been the poorer parts of town, and would have possibly included areas such as Crown Street, Turkey Shore, Glanymor, Tanybont, Smithfield, North and South Penrallt, and Tanrallt. These were particularly heavily populated, with the inhabitants forced to suffer terrible conditions, with poor sanitation and slum housing being the main problems faced. An example of the living conditions of the time comes from the last surviving presentment of nuisances, conveniently dated the 2nd. of January, 1832.

".....We also in like manner beg leave to call the attention of the Court to a Pit near Crown Street that is from the putrid and stagnant Matter with which it is filled a very offensive nuisance....."

It is a pointless exercise to entertain guesswork as the foundation for historical analysis, therefore I will conclude this section with a roll call of the young victims, but spare a thought for the church officials who had to deal with the ravages of the disease on a daily basis. Who could fail to be moved, and affected, by having to bury so many infants in such a short space of time.

Name	Abode	Date	Age
Mary Morgan	Carnarvon	August 03	02
Anne Rhees	Carnarvon	August 03	16 months
Elizabeth Owen	Carnarvon	August 06	16 months
David Prichard	Carnarvon	August 06	10 months
Evan Davies	Carnarvon	August 06	01
Mary Parry	Carnarvon	August 08	01
John Jones	Carnarvon	August 10	05
John Morris	Carnarvon	August 11	09 months
Anne Parry	Carnarvon	August 14	03
Barbara Morris	Carnarvon	August 17	02
Ellen Jones	Carnarvon	August 18	02
Richard Jones	Carnarvon	August 20	09
Elizabeth Williams	Carnarvon	August 20	09 months
Jane Williams	Carnarvon	August 20	02
John Williams	Carnarvon	August 20	02
Griffith Morris	Carnarvon	August 21	02
Jane Jones	Carnarvon	August 21	02
Mary Williams	Carnarvon	August 21	15 months
Jane Prichard	Carnarvon	August 22	18 months
John Davies	Carnarvon	August 22	11 months
John Jones	Carnarvon	August 24	08
Jane Williams	Carnarvon	August 27	02
Henry Parry	Carnarvon	August 27	02
Thomas Jones	Carnarvon	August 27	20 months
Mary Williams	Carnarvon	September 03	01
Elizabeth Williams	Carnarvon	September 04	01
Elizabeth Williams	Carnarvon	September 05	25
Anne Jones	Carnarvon	September 05	10
Elizabeth Davies	Carnarvon	September 06	18 months
Griffith Roberts	Gellach fain	September 07	03
Catherine Griffith	Carnarvon	September 13	13 months
Gwen Roberts	Carnarvon	September 13	03
Elizabeth Parry	Carnarvon	September 15	02
John Prichard	Carnarvon	September 19	04
Anne Ellis	Carnarvon	September 21	02
William Griffith	Carnarvon	September 21	05
Thomas Harris	Carnarvon	September 22	10 months
Merddin Lloyd Morris 1	Carnarvon	September 22	18 months
Griffith Thomas	Carnarvon	October 04	25
Harriet Roberts	Carnarvon	October 08	02
Elizabeth Williams	Carnarvon	October 10	05
John Jones	Carnarvon	October 12	05
Anne Jones	Carnarvon	October 12	03
John Griffith	Carnarvon	October 13	02
Catherine Roberts	Carnarvon	October 29	01
Hugh Lewis	Carnarvon	November 02	15 months
William Jones	Carnarvon	November 03	13 months
Catherine Hughes	Carnarvon	November 20	05
Evan Evans	Carnarvon	November 24	01
William Humphreys	Carnarvon	December 31	38

¹ This entry has a cross next to it in the register, but no indication why this is so. Given the young age of the child it is possible that it was smallpox related.

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SOURCES

Carnarvon Borough Presentments of Nuisances.
Llanbeblig Parish Burial Registers.

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INDEX