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| Whose family was decimated by Phthisis? |
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In 1854 the sons of Robert Charles and Harriet Tanner née Scammell were growing up and starting to bring in money. Charles was a footman and Harry was a labourer. Helen was ten, George was eight, Levina was five and the baby, Elizabeth Henrietta, was nearly three. Their daughter, Levina, died of scarlatina on 22nd September 1854 in Lyndhurst. This was to be the start of a cycle of illness and death for Robert Charles’ family. |
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At the age of thirty seven Harriet died of consumption on 24th July 1855 and was buried at Lyndhurst Baptist Church. Consumption or phthisis almost invariably meant pulmonary tuberculosis which was spread by close contact with an infected person. Charles, Robert Charles’ son, was becoming increasingly unwell and, at the age of twenty, he died of phthisis on 12th April 1860. Charles was buried with his mother at Lyndhurst Baptist Church. Robert Charles and his children had TB and he and three of his children died within four years; George (aged 15) died in 1861; Robert Charles (aged forty six) and Harry (aged twenty two) died in 1863; Helen (aged twenty) died in 1865. Only one child remained. |
Harriet Tanner |
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| George Tanner | Helen Tanner | Henry Tanner |
| Elizabeth Henrietta was a domestic servant for Captain Lovell in Winchelsea, Sussex. Her grandfather, William Scammell, made a will on 6th August 1867 stating that he would leave her a bequest of £10 provided that she “did not go beyond the seas to distant nations.” However, the promise of money did not stop Elizabeth Henrietta. In November 1867, when her aunt Flora White Bromfield and her husband decided to emigrate with their family, Elizabeth Henrietta went with them for health reasons as she also suffered from tuberculosis. She was only sixteen and Flora and Thomas acted as her guardians. Elizabeth Henrietta sailed from Liverpool aboard the sailing ship “Queen of the North”. The 414 ton ship had only been built in 1865 and was bound for Melbourne. |
