The name ‘consumption’ arose from the idea that the body was being consumed as the sufferer wasted away. In this context it is actually an old term for tuberculosis or TB, used from the 18th to the early 20th century. You might associate the word ‘consumption’ with ideas of expenditure or eating. This vocabulary allows us to see the differences between medical knowledge in the 19th to early 20th century, compared to modern medical knowledge. The archaic medical terminology found in the burial records is a particular point of interest. You may have immediately noticed some unfamiliar words. This list of causes of death is striking for a number of reasons. The top ten causes of death recorded in the Leeds General Cemetery burial records are as follows: These causes of death provide us with a fascinating insight into what diseases were prevalent among those buried in this cemetery in Leeds during the 19th and 20th century, and how these diseases were described over time. For 82.6% of these entries, the deceased’s cause of death has also been recorded. In 25 burial registers there are 97,000 entries spanning the period 1835 to 1969. The collection includes the detailed burial records of the people interred at a cemetery which opened just before the start of the Victorian era, at a location which is now part of the University of Leeds campus (to learn more about the history of the cemetery, now known as St George’s Field, see here). To help us imagine some answers to these questions, we can turn to the Leeds General Cemetery archive, held by Special Collections in the Brotherton Library. If you lived in Leeds during the 19th century, how do you think you would have died? What disease, condition or accident would have been your cause of death? And, 100 to 200 years ago, what language would you have used to describe such illnesses or health conditions? Item reference: MS 421/3/1/6, Burial Register.
Image r eproduced with the permission of Special Collections, Leeds University Library.
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