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  • Dying from Fright: Women and the Weak Minded? February 14, 2016

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Modern , trackback

    fear

    A lazy morning and so Beach inspired by his recent post of a girl who died of fear decided to look a little deeper. How many people really die because they are frightened? To carry out a half decent experiment he surveyed the British press from January 1850 to December 1859. He ignored probable urban legends (no names, sound like jokes – there were only two); and he concentrated on contemporary news stories (ignoring tales from the past). The result was this list of 32 (all but three from the United Kingdom). Leaving aside the medical theory of ‘dying of or from fright’: what causes these kinds of death in the minds of nineteenth-century writers? Well, there are not many common elements: crime features quite a lot. However, it is striking that of our 32 there were four men, twenty-one women and five children. Even those four men included: a ‘degenerate’, a foreigner (‘they don’t count’) and an old man. Fear clearly was not supposed to effect sturdy Anglo-Saxon yeomen. There is one reference, though, to the weak-minded dying of fear: it gives some idea of the way this ‘condition’ was viewed.

    Any other thoughts on death by fear: drbeachcombing AT yahoo DOT com

    Who: Mother and Newborn
    Cause: Mother fear of rats, baby fear of mother’s death
    Place: Alderney (Channel Islands)
    Date: 26 Jan 1850 (Bells)

    Who: ‘Two people’
    Cause: Earthquake
    Place: Smyrna (Russia)
    Date: 2 May 1850, (Stirl Obs)

    Who: Woman, 53 (Sarah Snelling)
    Cause: Robbers (in doctor’s opinion)
    Place: Clapham (UK, Lancs)
    Date: 7 May 1850 (Morn Chron)

    Who: Mrs Corcoran
    Cause: Losing her house in a fire (and a subsequent fire in the house where she was staying)
    Place: Fethard, (Tipperary, Ireland)
    Date: 15 Feb 1851

    Who: Wife of a working man
    Cause: Walking into a cart on the street
    Place: Salford (Manchester, UK)
    Date: 10 May 1851 (Staf Adv)

    Who: Man
    Cause: discovered trying to palm off a fake coin
    Place: Bridewell
    Date: 20 Sep 1851 (Prest Chron)

    Who: John Bellis
    Cause: Falling 80 Yards [!?!]
    Place: Holywell, Wales (?)
    Date: 30 October 1851 (Fif Her)

    Who: Mrs Collins
    Cause: Robbers in house
    Place: Near Bath
    Date: 6 August 1852 (Chel Chron)

    Who: ‘a person’ (editor heard a rumour)
    Cause: Thunder Storm
    Place: Awre (Glos)
    Date: 21 Aug 1852 (Glos Chron)

    Who: a baby of six months
    Cause: Little girl screaming
    Place: Worksop
    Date: 25 Dec 1852 (Derb Cour)

    Who: A woman
    Cause: Being put to sleep by a doctor with chloroform
    Place: London
    Date: 20 May 1854 (Exam)

    Who: King of Spain’s brother
    Cause: News of attack on palace
    Place: Madrid
    Date: 27 July 1854 (Falk Her)

    Who: Wife
    Cause: Husband gambled with an officer of the law
    Place: Ireland
    Date: 26 August 1854 (Gloc Chron)

    Who: Woman
    Cause: Heard her child scream ‘nearly run over by a cart’
    Place: London
    Date: 28 August 1854 (Bells)

    Who: Old Woman
    Cause: Massive Explosion
    Place: Kentucky (US)
    Date: 28 August 1854 (Mor Post)

    Who: Woman
    Cause: Stones thrown through her window
    Place: Tipperary
    Date: 14 March 1855 (Tipp F P)

    Who: Woman
    Cause: A ghost
    Place: Sheffield
    Date: 16 Mar 1855 (Liv Merc

    Who: Shop woman
    Cause: Robbery (in a later report because suspected of thieving)
    Place: Oldbury (Staffs)
    Date: 18 May 1855 (Stam Merc)

    Who: Hannah Curtis
    Cause: Explosives (fireworks??)
    Place: London
    Date: 27 August 1855 (Aris’)

    Who: Henry Harrison, boy
    Cause: Saw blood in a cut on his chest
    Place: Fulford (Yorkshire)
    Date: 29 Dec 1855 (York Gaz)

    Who: a lady
    Cause: A runaway horse
    Place: Dudley
    Date: 4 Oct 1856 (Camb Chron)

    Who: Commander’s wife
    Cause: While hiding in the mutiny
    Place: India
    Date: 19 Aug 1857 (Ev Mail)

    Who: Grace, 5 years old
    Cause: Got lost and wandered through the countryside
    Place: Stirlingshire (Scotland)
    Date: 29 Apr 1858 (Inv Cou)

    Who: Miss Lewthwaite
    Cause: Thunderstorm
    Place: Leamington
    Date: 26 Jun 1858 (Leeds Int)

    Who: William Warren, 8
    Cause: Threatened by bully on horse
    Place: England
    Date: 12 Aug 1858 (Birm Dai Pos)

    Who: Elizabeth Hillman
    Cause: Careless hunter shoots at windows
    Place: Somerset
    Date: 16 Sep 1858 (Bath Chron)

    Who: ‘Lad’, 17
    Cause: Finding a girl’s body (who he knew)
    Place: South Weald
    Date: 9 October 1858 (Her Times)

    Who: Woman
    Cause: Not given
    Place: St Blazey (Cornwall)
    Date: 7 January 1859 (Royal Corn Gaz)

    Who: A woman
    Cause: Floor collapsed and a group dropped a floor
    Place: Warren (New England, US)
    Date: 29 Jan 1859 (Pre Chron)

    Who: Woman
    Cause: Fire
    Place: Tralee (Ireland)
    Date: 9 April 1859 (Wat Chron)

    Who: ‘Wife’
    Cause: Sinking ship
    Place: At Sea
    Date: 11 Jun 1859 (Hamp Tel)

    Who: Joshua Johnson, 63
    Cause: Being knocked down by a bull [!!]
    Place: Norfolk
    Date: 24 Dec 1859 (Norf News)

    Chris from Haunted Ohio Books: Loved the scared to death post! I need to look up the Spanish King’s brother. Rats, fires, and robbers: you could scarcely escape some exposure to those stressors in the 19th century. But why did only a few fall dead?

    Here are some from my collection:

    I think the gist is contained in that word “scuffling.” I haven’t found a grave or death date for the lady so can’t confirm that this killed her. A SERIOUS JOKE Springfield, Ohio, Nov. 13 Special Telegram. An extraordinary case of fright has just occurred here which may result in the death of Miss Louise Eltingly, a beautiful and accomplished young lady. Miss Eltingly lives at Brighton, ten miles east of here, and has been visiting her sister, Mrs. Sam Wilson, living in the outskirts of the town. Miss Eltingly is of slight build, rather delicate, and has been in mortal terror of darkness. Mr. Wilson came home two nights ago at a rather late hour, and after some conventionalities began scuffling with his sister-in-law. The night was very dark, and, for fun, he pushed her through an open door and locked her outside. She fancied she saw a ghost, which was in reality a swaying grain sack, gave vent to her terror in screams and went into convulsions. She has been critically ill since and her condition is such that little hope of recovery is expected. Mr. Wilson is overcome with grief at his thoughtless action.
    Daily Inter Ocean [Chicago, IL] 14 November 1890: p. 8