most unusual cause of death!

[Wilkes_ml]

I think we could really do with a sb-forum for "interesting snippits"!

After just realising that the Shropshire parish registers (original images) are now on Find My Past, I have starting going through all the entries for my ancestors with the rare surname of RUF(F)US.

I came across a particular burial register where cause of death is also recorded, and on 30th October 1834 at Madeley, William RUFUS was buried. The note in the margin stated: "Fell down at his work exhausted from fatigue and died in an hour afterwards"

The majority of the male RUFUS' worked at Abraham Darby's Iron works at nearby Coalbrookdale & Ironbridge (which incidentally is a lovely place to visit) so I'm not surprised he was overworked as the conditions would have been rather arduous. My direct ancestor, also called William RUFUS of Coalbrookdale moved in the early 1800s to Dartford, Kent where he became forman at Hall's Iron foundry.

[Wilkes_ml]

I forgot to mention that this poor man was only 26 years old when he dropped down dead, so maybe he had a rare heart condition, or embolism.

[pwholt]

Heart conditions even in the young were not as uncommon as we would think. This is because the hearts got damaged by some of the diseases which might have killed them but which they survived, at least for a while.