I've been thinking about Winifred Lee lately, perhaps because the person who was able to tell me something about her, my father's first cousin and my dear relative Bill Tully in Vancouver, is very ill.
Winifred was my grandfather James Lee's oldest of three surviving sisters, with three sisters dying as toddlers before Winifred was born. My work on Scottish People's BDM's had left me with the impression that Winifred may have been quite a strong and loving person who shared family responsibilities, particularly as her older brother James, my grandfather, had migrated to Australia or away at War or on other military service; another brother Anthony had died of tuberculosis aged 18 in 1908; and another older brother, Patrick having married and appearing perhaps to have not coped particularly well with life, committing suicide in 1932. She was quite possibly often responsible for supervising and supporting her younger siblings Elizabeth (Lily) 1896, Phillip 1894 and particularly Mary (May) b 1904. Bill described Winnie as being held in deep affection by his mother, Elizabeth. Although born 10 years after Winnie died, Bill spoke of her with great warmth. Winifred was also remembered by the daughter in law of Phillip's son Anthony (Tony) Lee when I caught up with her in Brisbane through stories Tony had shared about her. When I first discovered Winnie, I remember being very happy to have a great aunt on my father's Lee side who seemed so wonderful. This was followed by deep sadness when, pursuing records father, I found that she died only a year after she married Mathew Donovan of the pregnancy related condition Eclampsia and what would have been associated heart failure. I remember at the time finding an RCE notice which recorded a required variation to her death registration, which listed not just that she had died at Pathhead Ford. I wasn't sure quite what this meant then, nor am I now. Bill provided some information which I've been mulling over ever since. I can remember, when telling with him that, according to her death registration record, Winifred had died of Eclampsia, that he said he remembered hearing that she had died of tuberculosis. Perhaps tuberculosis, or 'pthisis', was not the cause of her death, however it may have been an underlying condition. Certainly in the one photo I have of Winifred taken in c 1917, she looks quite frail physically. With the anniversary of Winifred's death 100 years ago next month, I've decided to spend some time 'with her' by looking into her records and the possible conditions surrounding her life a little more deeply. I want to look into 'Pathhead Ford'; 'Eclampsia' and 'Eclampsia and Tuberculosis'; Tuberculosis treatment in Edinburgh in the late 1890's to 1920; and I also want to consider, given that there is a famous railway bridge at Pathhead Ford, what she may have been doing there to mean that perhaps she was not able to access medical treatment for her eclampsia. ..... More to come..... |
The Journey ...An 'occasional blog' recording elements of my renewed family history journey. This is the second wave in my 'family history' journey. The first lasted from 2010 to 2014. with intermittent bursts since then. It's time to revisit, to share more stories, to edit, to tackle uncertainties... Categories
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