Victorian Death
Strange Deaths
While people did die from much the same ailments as we do today such as heart failure, strokes and pneumonia, there were just as many deaths caused under bizarre circumstances which serves as a looking glass of the times: Ever hear of death by corset? Well, according to the Dundee Courier of October 22, 1844, one Jane Goodwin, twenty-two, was sitting in church when she was suddenly taken ill and was carried out of the church to the sexton's house. Unfortunately before her friends got to her however, she was already dead. Her cause of death?-her corset was too tightly laced. In a time when dentures were made from the teeth of the recently deceased, it's rather ironic when one considers the death of Mr. Edwin Clayton who died after swallowing his false teeth. As was written in the June 8th 1904 edition of the Yorkshire Evening Post,
"Mr. Clayton was suffocated at Endon, between Leek and Stoke, through swallowing his false teeth. A doctor said he found the top plate of Clayton's false teeth wedged behind the claque of his throat, which would cause him to attempt to vomit, but he would not be able to do so, the fluid would enter the lungs, and he would be suffocated. A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned."
Sadly, children were not exempt from death under bizarre circumstances. On December 2, 1873 a child named Mullins was fatally mauled by a pig. As was described in the Yorkshire Post, "Its throat and chest were so lacerated that it died in a short time. The pig dragged the child out of the house by the throat into the street. This is the second fatal accident of the kind at Galway within a month."
Other ways people died that were indicative of the times was scarlet fever, typhoid, cholera and for women, death by burns which was caused by a combination of open hearth cooking and the use of highly flammable fabrics in their clothes.
Superstitions
From weddings to illnesses, people in the Victorian age had many superstitions regarding everyday life. But no life occurrence was the subject of more superstitions than death. Though no one really knows how or why the Victorians came up with these superstitions, many of them are quite malevolent and ominous in nature. Here's a small sample:
It is bad luck to meet a funeral procession head on.
If you see one approaching, turn around.
If this is unavoidable, hold on to a button until the funeral cortege passes.
Stop the clock in a death room or you will have bad luck.
If you hear a clap of thunder following a burial it indicates that the soul of the departed has reached heaven.
If you don't hold your breath while going by a graveyard you will not be buried.
If the deceased has lived a good life, flowers would bloom on his grave; but if he has been evil, only weeds would grow.
If you smell roses when no one is around, someone is going to die.
If you see yourself in a dream, your death will follow.
If a sparrow lands on a piano, someone in the home will die.
If a picture falls off a wall, there will be a death of someone you know.
A single snowdrop growing in the garden foretells death.
Mementos
So attached were survivors to the memory of the deceased, that families would obsessively collect any reminder of the deceased that could be had. Such items as lockets, brooches, rings and even locks of hair were known to be coveted. And in an era when photography was still in its infancy, families were also known to take pictures of the deceased mere days after they passed. Called memento mori, which translates to "remember your mortality," these photos showed the deceased in settings that displayed their personalities. If for example, the person was a carpenter, they would be photographed in a woodshed, if they were a priest, they would be photographed in church. And yes, if the deceased was an infant, the child would be posed with other family members. And in order to ensure that the deceased looked as natural as possible in these photos, the photographer would either prop the deceased eyes open or paint pupils on to the photographic print. Sometimes even a rosy tint would be added to their cheeks. An even more macabre memento was in the sad case of a deceased infant, the family would often keep the dead body until it mummified, then dress the baby's body and display it as an objet d'art!
Funeral Etiquette
For the Victorians, life was all about proper etiquette, and nowhere was this more evident than at funerals. Unlike current times where anyone can attend a funeral service, in the Victorian age, a person must first wait to receive their formal written invitation. (It was not proper however, to send invitations to a funeral of a person who died from a contagious disease. In this case, there would just be a simple notice of death posted in the local paper with the simple phrase "funeral private" and all would be understood.) Funeral guests were then expected to arrive precisely an hour before the service was to begin. Upon entering the funeral parlor or house of the deceased, men were expected to remove their hats and not "replace them again while in the house." Loud talking and laughter were also strictly forbidden and "interviews with the family at the time should not be expected."
In the home or funeral parlor, the remains of the deceased were to be placed in such a way so that "when the discourse is finished, if the corpse is exposed to view, the assembled guests may see the same by passing in single file past the coffin, going from foot to head, up one aisle and down another." On the way to the burial, there were exactly six pall bearers who walked in threes, "on each side of the hearse, or in a carriage immediately before, while the near relatives directly follow the hearse succeeded by those more distantly connected." Ladies however, were firmly denied the privilege of following the remains to the grave by strict social etiquette. At the end of the service, the master of ceremonies preceded the mourners to the carriages and assisted the ladies to their places. If the physician of the deceased happened to be in attendance, he was placed in the carriage immediately following the near relatives of the deceased.
Mourning Periods
Mourning Periods Were Strictly Regulated thanks to Queen Victoria who turned mourning into an art form unto itself, mourning the dead in the Vi