When you are looking at the census records for your ancestors you might not be getting the whole story, especially with regards to any children.
When I am looking for offspring of my ancestors I use a number of different sources. The census records are a start and the General Registry Office (GRO) in the UK is a help. Of course the ability to study and interpret the census records is an important step and so, the story of the missing triplets.
One of my ancestral lines is the White family and the time period we are going to look at is between 1861 and 1871. The usual first step is to review the 1861 census records:
The Whites were living in Romford, Essex. There was Joseph and Sarah and the two children, Joseph (4) and Louisa (1). As a side note their other son, Thomas (3) was staying with relatives.
The next decade, 1871 we find the Whites in Buckhurst Hill, Essex. Joseph appears on the previous page but for the purposes of this exercise I have copied both Sarah and the children at home.
In reviewing the children of Joseph and Sarah (including those not present on the 1871 census) we have:
Joseph (1856), Thomas (1858), Louisa (1859), Henry (1861), Alice (1862), Edward (1864), Frank (1866), Mary Ann (1867) and then Ellen (1871). Seems good but what is missing? If you look you will see that the Whites seem to have a child every two years or so except between Mary Ann, born in January of ’67 and Ellen, born in September ’71. This is a 4 ½ year gap. Why?
If we were talking about a serial killer (and we’re not) the general theory is that Joseph was either away or incarcerated until 1871. Don’t worry, he was neither. This leads me to the GRO indexes. We know Mary Ann was born in Buckhurst Hill as was Ellen so my search begins between 1868 and 1870. The registration district is Epping. Unfortunately the indexes must be searched by sex but you can also add the mother’s maiden name. In searching the males born between 1868 and 1870 whose mother’s surname is Suckling we get:
Are all these boys related? It would seem so but I do not like assuming so I ordered the birth certificates which confirmed they are mine, or rather their sons. The next question was what happened to the boys? Back to GRO indexes for deaths:
Each name had to be searched individually with the same result then I ordered the death certificates. And finally, the story of the missing triplets.
The triplets – May 10th, 1869 and Sarah was to give birth. Joseph was still working as a coal agent and the family had eight children so far. Sarah had been told this was to be a multiple birth and in the afternoon she went into labour. Sarah gave birth to not one, not two but three baby boys but they were small and weak. The Whites were to name the boys Ernest, Sidney and Walter. But unfortunately the boys did not survive. Ernest was born first at 1:30pm, followed by Walter and finally Sidney, at 2:30pm. Total labour lasted approximately one hour which is certainly an indication of how small the babies were. All the boys were listed as being 2 ½ hours old at death and the cause of death was listed as inanition.
Inanition is a quality or state of being empty. It is the exhausted condition that results from lack of food and water. But these were newborns! In all likelihood, they would have been starved in the uterus. Nowadays, with scans etc. mothers are delivered early if the fetus is not growing (intra uterine growth retardation) and the baby is then taken to Special Care Baby Unit until strong enough to go home. In 1869 the baby or babies in this case would have either been born premature and very small and unfortunately very weak.
While Sarah was recovering Joseph had the sad task of going to the registrar on May 13th and registering both the births of his sons and the deaths of his sons.
After this tragedy the Whites had another child. Frederick White was baptized June 20, 1870 in Buckhurst Hill. Joseph was working as a shopkeeper and coal agent. Frederick passed away in early 1871 and was buried on January 13, 1871. Frederick was only seven months old.
Across the Pond 