SOUTH-AFRICA-L Archives

From: Eileen & Marty Russell <>
Subject: Re: Measles and Small Pox
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 19:46:25 -0700

Hi Janet
One of the Lists we belong to that is based mainly in the USA recently
featured information regarding epidemics in various cities. Quite how
one goes about the research I don't know, presumably newspaper archives
would be a good source.

Does anyone know if this has been done for SA?


Eileen


Janet Melville wrote:
>
> I thought listers might be interested in the following.
>
> In the book My Grandfathers account of His family (1889) edited by Frank van
> der Riet
>
> .....My mother fell a victim to the smallpox which raged virulently in the
> City (Cape) in 1858 and carried off a number of people, especially those not
> vaccinated and she was one of those.
>
> ....About the year 1840 (?) the measles passed through the length and bredth
> of the Colony and a great manyh persons were victims of that disease. It had
> not visited the Colony for half a century and most persons then living had
> never had it before. I was the first to catch it in our household, and I
> caught it at the farm of my father's and Mauritz Heegers and unwittingly
> carried the infection home with me. I infected the whole household excepting
> my mother, who escaped.
>
> A person often sees a number of deaths in a family round about the same time
> and you wonder what tragedy struck them so it could have been the smallpox
> or measles.
>
> Janet Melville
>
> ==== SOUTH-AFRICA Mailing List ====
> *****************************************************************
> You can visit the South African Genealogical Society Web Site at:
> http://genweb.net/~mercon/

--
Eileen & Marty Russell
Richards Bay
South Africa

This thread:

• Measles and Small Pox by Janet Melville <>
  • Re: Measles and Small Pox by <>

  • Re: Measles and Small Pox by Eileen & Marty Russell <>