The General Register Office (GRO) recently launched their new Online View service, which offers instant access to images of entries from the birth and death registers for England & Wales. The service currently covers births from 1837-1922 and deaths from 1837-1887. The cost is £2-50 (compared to £7 charged for a PDF image).
I have used this service to order an image of the entry for
the death of Robert Thomas Ivall (1812-65). There is an item about his life on
this blog.
The entry shows that he died on 13 August 1865 in Chalvey
(now a suburb of Slough) aged 53. His “Rank or Profession” is given as “District
Secretary to Benefit Club”. The cause of death was “Pneumonia 6 weeks, Gangrene
of Leg, Certified.” The informant was Owen Ivall (then aged 19, a son of
Robert), who was present at the death.
Robert was born on 4 December 1812, so he was actually aged 52
(not 53) when he died.
Pneumonia is an infection that inflames the air sacs in one
or both lungs. Gangrene is a serious condition where a loss of blood supply
causes body tissue to die. It can occur as a result of an injury, infection or
a long-term condition that affects blood circulation. The treatment of both of
these conditions would now involve antibiotics, which were not available when
Robert died. Surgery is also used to treat gangrene.
