DEVON-L Archives

Archiver > DEVON > 2011-01 > 1295296138


From: <>
Subject: [DEV] What did "inmate" mean in 1840's?
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2011 14:29:47 -0600
References: <3714.1294951648@ihug.com.au><6F51AFE05BCF41CAA35D8724936E3F3C@ownerc311a87e2><20110117130952.8c3ce641.bareman@tpg.com.au>


I thought I'd just restart this discussion. It's gotten very edifying, but
far from answering the question that was originally asked.

Marie seems to be saying that in context, it looks as though the term inmate
must refer somehow to people who live in an ordinary house. She appears to
say that the boy was living with a relative - somebody's father in law.

So did inmate mean someone who lived in a house, or a boarder, or what?

I actually started reading this because I was curious about a search for
Richard Jenkins in Devon. It's a Welsh name.

Yours,
Villandra Thorsdottir
Austin, Texas

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mick" <>
To: <>
Sent: Sunday, January 16, 2011 9:09 PM
Subject: Re: [DEV] Richard Jenkins


> On Mon, 17 Jan 2011 13:59:25 +1100
> "Marie McCulloch" <> wrote:
>
>> A short time back I was asking about newspapers in the Devonport area
>> in the 1840s.
>>
>> I was seeking information regarding the death of two Richard Jenkins
>> (father and son) between 1841 and 1851 census.
>>
>> Since then I have obtained all three death certificates for Richard
>> Jenkins who died in that time period.
>>
>> Fortunately one of them was the correct certificate for the son
>> Richard Jenkins who died aged 10 years of Scarlet Fever.
>>
>> But still no sign of his father who was a boot maker, shoe maker,
>> cordwainer, leather merchant.
>>
>> In the 1841 census they were at Market Street, Devonport with his
>> father in law John Sloggett as the head of the house.
>>
>> In 1842 when Richard Junior died at Market Street the information was
>> given by Josh. Sweetman (who I believe was a member of the family)
>> and he said he was an "inmate present at the death".
>>
>> I am presuming that the boy died at home but why would Sweetman say
>> he was an inmate?
>>
>> Any suggestions to advance the search?
>> Marie
>>
> With Scarlet fever being a highly infectious disease, wouldn't
> sufferers be isolated in some form of hospice or sanitarium, in which
> case describing himself as an inmate would suggest he was also in the
> institution?
>
> mick
> ------------------------------------------
> The DEVON-L mailing list is co-sponsored by GENUKI/Devon
> ( http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/ )
> and
> the Devon FHS (http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/ )
> List archive for Devon can be found at
> http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index/DEVON/
> -------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to
> with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes
> in the subject and the body of the message

This thread: