Part Six Descendants of Walter and Mary Adams of Bundaberg

Chapter 27

The Passage of the Innocents

The fifth daughter of Walter and Mary, Susanna, was born and died, at the age of 18 months, in Maryborough.

The family record demonstrates a typical picture of the day, a high birth rate and high infant mortality. Of the forty-five children born to George, Matilda, Mary Ann, James, Sarah and Nellie, nine died before the age of three years.

The greatest killer of children in Queensland at the end of the nineteenth century was scarlet fever. Other bacterial diseases, such as diphtheria and typhoid, and viral diseases, such as yellow fever, measles and influenza, also took their toll.

The results of the advances in hygiene (safe water supply and sanitation), medication and vaccination over the last century are eloquently demonstrated by the grim health statistics of our predecessors.