Thanks for that Jeff. I have several accounts of Cholera in Merthyr from
various sources which I have found in essays, etc. at Merthyr library.
Doctor Dyke who responsible for the 'well being' of health in the town
at that time published substantial reports of the reasons for the
epidemic and ways for it's eradication. It is pretty subjective as Dr.
Dyke 'may' have been answerable to certain 'bodies' of Office and many
of his reports may have been subject to scrutiny by these 'bodies'.
There was a lot of hysteria of cholera at that time it would not be
surprising that personal and 'parish' items would have been destroyed.
Even when the Cholera victims were interred it was distrusted that their
remains at place of internment were a threat to the health of the
living! Just look at Cefn Golau, Cholera cemetery in Tredegar, a few
hundred yards from the main cemetery.
At Merthyr the original Cholera cemetery at Twynroddyn is now a housing
estate and the original graves transferred to various cemeteries
throughout the Borough.
best regards
Barrie Jones, Gwent
In message Jeff Coleman <jeff.coleman(a)ntlworld.com> writes:-
If the Roman Catholic Priest in Merthyr died of Cholera in 1848/9
outbreak
it is quite possible that his parish register notebook was destroyed along
with the rest of his belongings. It was known that handling the clothing of
cholera victims was a way of catching it.
http://86.1911encyclopedia.org/C/CH/CHOLERA.htm is a colourful account of
cholera from the 1911 encyclopaedia site which, despite typos, gives quite a
good insight into the world of the early 19th century and the state of
knowledge then.
Jeff
-Visit Gwent FHS at :-
http://www.rootsweb.com/~wlsgfhs/
(comprises, Ebbw Vale, Pontypool, Chepstow, Newport, Abergavenny/Monmouth,
Blackwood.Of interest to anyone who has ancestral connections with the old
county of Monmouthshire.--