I've finally started adding collateral relatives to my Ancestry family tree and new information has already come to light. One ancestor who fascinated me ever since I realized her last child was born out of wedlock is Mary Rideout née Maidment, my 2 x great grandmother.
Mary Maidment married Thomas Rideout in Ashmore, Dorset on the 25th of April 1833. Their son George was baptized on December 1st of the same year. Maybe he was a premature baby or had they anticipated their marriage? The couple went on to have two more children, Harriet in 1836 and Charles in 1839. The 1841 census showed the family living in Green Lane with Thomas working as an Ag Lab. Also living with them were Harriet Maidment aged 20 and Henry Maidment 1 month old. That Harriet looked to be Mary's younger sister. Mary's age was given as 30. Interestingly, Thomas was listed as being 25. The ages of adults on the 1841 census are noted for being rounded up.
Thomas's age on the census might have been accurate, at least according to his death record. He died the following year, 1842, on March 26. His age was given as 26. Such a young age to die. What must it have been like for Mary left to pick up the pieces with young children to take care of? Her oldest, George, would have been 8 by then, her youngest, Charles, 3.
I felt bad for Mary all these years later but, until I started inputting the children I didn't realize the extent of the devastation Thomas's death would have brought. I knew from the 1851 census there were two more children. But because of the oddity of John's birth three years after Mary's husband's death, I hadn't really clocked the birth of Silvia born the same year that Thomas died.
A search for Silvia's baptism turned up nothing so I turned to Find My Past to see if I could find a listing for a General Registry Office birth record. A possible entry was for that of a female with the last name Rideout for the district of Shaftsbury, which was the district where the other registrations for this family were made. The birth was registered in the third quarter of the year, so July, August or September. That would have been a scant few months after Thomas's death. It makes sense that things like baptisms and naming the baby went by the wayside for a while.
When someone young like Thomas dies, initial thoughts might be that the cause was accidental. Not in his case. He was felled by typhus, a disease spread by lice. So, while not contagious per se, infected lice can spread it. The disease caused its victims to become listless, dim-witted, feverish and foul smelling. Thomas would have been unable to support his family for a time before he finally succumbed. Which meant that Mary, pregnant with young children to care for, would have had to find a way to keep the family going. It's a hard story which makes me wonder if I can find out more.
Sources:
Dobson, Mary Disease: The Extraordinary Stories Behind History’s Deadliest Killers Quercus,
London, 2007
General Register Office death certificate
for Thomas Ashmore
LDS film 1279479 Bishops Transcripts
for Ashmore 1732-1879
LDS film 241341 1841 census for
Ashmore, Dorset
Rounding of ages on the 1841 census https://durhamrecordsonline.com/updates/2010/09/added-explanation-of-1841-census-age-rounding/
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