GONE TOO SOON: THE SHORT LIVES OF THOMAS AND MARY JENNINGS 

Family History research is often filled with stories and tales of resilience and survival - but sometimes the records remind us of lives that ended far too early.  For Thomas and Bridget Jennings, times were tough and made more difficult by the grief of losing two children, Thomas and Mary, in infancy.

Their tiny lives, though brief, were part of a much larger story in colonial Australia.  In the 1860s, infant mortality was heartbreakingly common.  Across New  South Wales, as many as one in five babies did not survive their first year.  In Newcastle, where the family settled, a town shaped by coal mining, industry and poverty - the risk could have been considered as even greater. 

HARSH REALITIES OF THE TIME

Families like those of Thomas and Bridget lived in small, often damp cottages near mines and along the waterfront. Poor sanitation meant sewage ran through open drains, contaminating water supplies.  Outbreaks of diseases such as measles, whooping cough and diphtheria swept through early Newcastle. Gastrointestinal illnesses (often described on death certificates as 'summer diarrhoea) were especially deadly to infants. 

Feeding infants was another challenge.  If the mother was unwell or unable to breastfeed, alternatives such as cow's milk often spoiled in the summer heat, leading to sickness. Medical care was limited, with doctors expensive and hospitals not commonplace.  Research tells us that children were not routinely treated in the hospital, as its focus was on convicts and workers from the mining industry.  Many families turned to home remedies or simply prayed for survival.

THE HUMAN COST

Although high infant mortality ws tragically common, the death of a child was never treated lightly.  Parents grieved deeply, even if their faith communities encouraged them to accept such losses as "God's will." Some families coped by focusing on the children who survived, while others named later children after those they had lost.

For Thomas and Bridget, the loss of two children must have left a lasting mark, even as they continued to raise their five remaining children, Jeremiah, William, John, Patrick and Michael.

REMEMBERING THOMAS AND MARY

While we may never know the exact causes of Thomas and Mary's deaths, their brief lives may have been marked by simple burial entries.  But remembering them in the family story makes sure they will never be forgotten.

Their short presence reminds us of the fragility of life in colonial Newcastle, and the strength it took for families to build loss while continuing to build a new future for those that remained.