Now! Then! 2024! - Yorkshire On This Day

Excerpt

The deceased child, according to the evidence of its mother, was poorly, and apparently suffering pain in the abdomen on Monday evening, and having heard that laudanum was a good thing to be administered in such cases, she sent her niece, a girl about nine years of age, to the shop of Mr. Ward, druggist, in Kirkgate, for a pennyworth of laudanum. Mr. Ward was in bed at the time, but the laudanum was served to the girl, who had taken a cup for it, by his son, a young boy, who told the girl, in answer to a question from her, that not more than a drop ought to be given to a child so young as a month, and that laudanum was poison. Notwithstanding that the girl told her aunt that the boy said she was not to give the child more than a drop, she gave it a teaspoonful. Immediately after swallowing the laudanum, the child began to gasp for breath, and fell into a stupor. She immediately took it to Mr. Radcliffe, surgeon, and every available means was used to preserve its life, but it died on Tuesday morning about eight o’clock… The mother of the deceased child was severely reprimanded [on Wednesday by the coroner] for her grossly careless conduct, which appeared to have arisen from her own ignorance of the fact that laudanum is a poison, and from her forgetfulness that she ought not to give the child more than a drop. Her forgetfulness appeared to have arisen from her being irritated at the time through “fratching” (quarrelling) with her sister, who, as well as the father of the child, was in the house at the time, but neither of whom were sober. The coroner made some judicious remarks on the evils – the deaths of scores, perhaps hundreds, of children and others – from the sale of opium, laudanum, “Child’s cordial,” and other poisons, by druggists and shopkeepers; and he said he felt it to be his duty to make a representation to the Home Secretary on the subject, to see if the Government would not take some step to prevent the common sale of poisons.

Comment

Comment

Here’s York Street, but where’s Back York Street? I know about the 1926 Rolleston Report, which inaugurated strict regulation, but were there any controls in the 1840s? The immediate and long-term dangers of laudanum for infants (and others) were well-known to those who could have made a difference. Here’s a rhyme from a 25-year-old nurse’s manual:

RESTLESS NIGHTS
When a babe is uneasy and restless in bed,
“Child’s cordial” will soothe it to sleep, it is said;
And ignorant people, who know not its harm,
Think this dangerous stuff has a powerful charm.
But one drop of such poison I never will give,
Because I would rather my darling should live;
And I know very well, if this cordial I try,
That baby will want more and more, till it die.
Tho’ made with such art as to lull and give ease,
It lays the foundation for lasting disease:
No mother deserves a sweet babe for her prize,
Who would poison her infant, to silence its cries;
And a nurse who loves baby, or values her place.
Will ne’er use this drug; ’tis a sin and disgrace.
Well then, I will try with much patience and care,
To soothe by dear babe, or some food to prepare;
And the true satisfaction of doing my best,
Will repay all my labour and sweeten my rest.
(Arthington 1820ish)

One recalls a 19th century(?) “epitaph on a child six weeks old“:

I wonder what I was begun for,
Since I was so soon done for.
(Mathews Jackson 1839)

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Original

On Wednesday last, an inquest was held before Mr. Blackburn, coroner, at the Leeds Court-house, on view of the body of Frances Jane Campbell, aged one month, the daughter of Hugh Campbell, a labourer, residing in Back York-street. The deceased child, according to the evidence of its mother, was poorly, and apparently suffering pain in the abdomen, on Monday evening, and having heard that laudanum was a good thing to be administered in such cases, she sent her niece, a girl about nine years of age, to the shop of Mr. Ward, druggist, in Kirkgate, for a pennyworth of laudanum. Mr. Ward was in bed at the time, but the laudanum was served to the girl, who had taken a cup for it, by his son, a young boy, who told the girl in answer to a question from her, that not more than a drop ought to be given to a child so young as a month, and that laudanum was poison. Notwithstanding that the girl told her aunt that the boy said she was not to give the child more than a drop, she gave it a tea spoonful. Immediately after swallowing the laudanum, the child began to gasp for breath, and fell into a stupor. She immediately took it to Mr. Radcliffe, surgeon, and every available means was used to preserve its life, but it died on Tuesday morning about eight o’clock. The case was thoroughly investigated by the coroner and a respectable jury, and terminated in a verdict to the effect that the deceased died from the effects of laudanum incautiously administered. The mother of the deceased child was severely reprimanded for her grossly careless conduct, which appeared to have arisen from her own ignorance of the fact that laudanum is a poison, and from her forgetfulness that she ought not to give the child more than a drop. Her forgetfulness appeared to have arisen from her being irritated at the time through “fratching” (quarrelling) with her sister, who, as well as the father of the child, was in the house at the time, but neither of whom were sober. The Coroner made some judicious remarks on the evils – the deaths of scores, perhaps hundreds, of children and others – from the sale of opium, laudanum, “Child’s cordial,” and other poisons, by druggists and shopkeepers; and he said he felt it to be his duty to make a representation to the Home Secretary on the subject, to see if the Government would not take some step to prevent the common sale of poisons.

430 words.

Tags

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• Addiction (1) ·
• Drug overdose (2) ·
• First Russell ministry (1) ·
• Godfrey’s Cordial (1), apparently also known as Child's cordial ·
• Inquest (14) ·
• John Russell, 1st Earl Russell (1) ·
• Kirkgate, Leeds (6) ·
• Laudanum (1) ·
• 📌Leeds (235) ·
• Opiate (1) ·
• Opium (2) ·
• Pharmacy (2) ·
• Poetry (70) ·
• Rolleston Committee (1) ·
• Sir George Grey, 2nd Baronet (1) ·
• Song (20) ·
• Substance abuse (1) ·

All tags.

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