Scarlet Fever hits Family
According to 'The Bignells and the Pomeroy's of Broadwindsor', Charles Pomeroy, born on 9 July 1867 at Church Lane Farnham was {Page 4 note 35} 'The first of a succession of childhood deaths in the family resulting from an epidemic of scarlet fever}. He died at the same place on 11 September 1869. About 14 months old. The information does not explicitly state which Farnham.
William Bailey Pomeroy, b 1864 in Farnham had died a few days earlier on 29 August 1868. A mear fortnight between them, but not specifically mentioned as being Scarlet Fever.
Best seen as a table, in 1868, the children of Daniel Pomeroy b 3 April 1831 {according to a Family Bible} and Edith Jane Bailey b 1838/9, ;-
| Name | Born | Birth Place | Death | Death Place | Age | Interval |
| William Bailey Pomeroy | 1864 | Farnham | 29 August 1868 | Farnham | 4 years | |
| Charles Pomeroy | 9 July 1867 | Church Lane Farnham | 11 September 1868 | Church Lane Farnham | 14 Months | 13 days |
| Israel John Pomeroy | Q 4 1861 | Beaminster | 17 September 1868 | Farnham | 7 years | 6 days |
| Edith Harriet Pomeroy | 1865 | Church Lane Farnham | 18 September 1868 | Church Lane Farnham | 3 years | 1 day |
| Henry (Harry) Pomeroy | 30 June 1858 | Bradford Peverell | Survived | 10 years | ||
| Joseph Pomeroy | 5 February 1860 | Bradford Peverell | Survived | 8 years |
Four children in one family lost in three weeks. That must have been unimaginably devastating. All at the time when Edith Jane was approximatly 13 weeks pregnant with Walter. Two of the six children survived.
Daniel and Edith went on to have two more children, although Walter George Pomeroy b 5 March 1869 in Farnham probably died in infancy. Dan Pomeroy together with his elder brothers went on to have families of their own.
The dynamics of scarlet fever epidemics in England and Wales in the 19th century.
Duncan CJ1, Duncan SR, Scott S.
Author information
School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, UK.
Abstract
There was a marked rise in scarlet fever mortality in England and Wales in the mid-nineteenth century and spectral analysis of the registration details, 1847-80, shows that the interepidemic interval was 5-6 years, but after 1880 the endemic level fell and the fatal epidemics disappeared. The dynamics of the scarlet fever epidemics can be represented by a linearized mathematical model and because the system is lightly damped, it could be driven by an oscillation in susceptibility. Epidemics were significantly correlated with dry conditions in spring/summer (P < 0.001), suggesting that these produced a low amplitude oscillation in susceptibility which drove the system. Epidemics also correlated (P < 0.001) with an oscillation in wheat prices but at a lag of 3 years, suggesting that malnutrition during pregnancy caused increased susceptibility in the subsequent children which interacted synergistically with seasonal dry conditions. Scarlet fever mortality was sharply reduced after 1880 in parallel with falling wheat prices suggesting that the remarkable period of high scarlet fever mortality (1840-80) was dependent on poor nutritive levels during that time.
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