https://pentagon-pomegranate-r99s.squarespace.com/blog daily 0.75 2026-10-06 https://pentagon-pomegranate-r99s.squarespace.com/blog/shakespeare-cliff-dover-from-king-lear-to-the-channel-tunnel monthly 0.5 2026-10-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/de1395be-44d6-450d-92f3-9f336b57af21/shakespeare-cliff.jpeg Blog - Shakespeare Cliff, Dover: From King Lear to the Channel Tunnel - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/7597d003-457c-4a25-9b36-49726e94dc64/the-white-cliffs_orig+.jpeg Blog - Shakespeare Cliff, Dover: From King Lear to the Channel Tunnel Shakespeare Cliff is the most visually distinctive of the White Cliffs of Dover, which stretch for eight miles, or thirteen kilometres, along the south-eastern coast of England, facing France across the Straits of Dover. The cliffs form part of the North Downs and are composed of chalk laid down in the Late Cretaceous period between 100 and 66 million years ago. Reaching a height of 350 feet (110 metres), Shakespeare Cliff has a sharp peak pointing skywards. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/7dc9c7d7-67fc-4f43-8376-87c319f48257/shakespeare-halt-in-1958_orig.jpg Blog - Shakespeare Cliff, Dover: From King Lear to the Channel Tunnel - Shakespeare Halt in 1958 with railway cottages in the background. The only access to the cottages was by rail or climbing the 333 steps up the cliff seen next to the tunnel entrance. (Photo by HC Casserley) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/5289bbf4-aecb-4113-acea-d4f8da7a48e2/bundesarchiv-bild-102-10212-gertrud-ederle_orig.jpeg Blog - Shakespeare Cliff, Dover: From King Lear to the Channel Tunnel - Gertrude Ederle Standing on Shakespeare Cliff on a clear day, one can clearly see the French coast at Cap Gris Nez twenty-one miles (thirty-four kilometres) away. By the time Sarah was meeting Edwin on the cliff top in 1897, several people had attempted to swim across the Channel, but only one had succeeded. In 1875 Matthew Webb made the crossing in 21 hours, 45 minutes despite being stung by jellyfish. It was another thirty-six years until the next successful attempt. The first woman to swim the Channel was Gertrude Ederle in 1926, who also broke the record for the fastest time. She began her swim from the French coast at Cap Gris Nez and reached England in 14 hours, 39 minutes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/59c29a4a-278e-4f42-9a26-96183a6553de/crithmum-maritimum-rock-samphire4_orig.jpeg Blog - Shakespeare Cliff, Dover: From King Lear to the Channel Tunnel Shakespeare’s lines describing the cliff mention samphire gatherers: half way down Hangs one that gathers samphire, dreadful trade! Methinks he seems no bigger than his head. Rock samphire, a plant from the carrot family with fleshy green edible leaves, was commonly found high up on the cliffs. Collecting it was dangerous. Bert, one of the characters in my second novel, The Papermaker’s Daughter, has never heard of this occupation: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/068542a9-adc2-401a-9c27-1e4aaadbc6b0/shakespeare-cliff-george-fennel-robson-1813-1832_orig.jpg Blog - Shakespeare Cliff, Dover: From King Lear to the Channel Tunnel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/1790869465530-IWZZ9CLRJHSXMFAPZE86/william-daniell-1829_orig.jpg Blog - Shakespeare Cliff, Dover: From King Lear to the Channel Tunnel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/1790869465532-T6LDE51NRA27SNUV18US/watercolour-by-george-childs-active-1826-1873.jpg Blog - Shakespeare Cliff, Dover: From King Lear to the Channel Tunnel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/1790869466677-W79UUBPRIF5W6GOEEWIJ/shakespeare-beach-dover-c1840-by-james-patterson-cockburn.jpg Blog - Shakespeare Cliff, Dover: From King Lear to the Channel Tunnel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/1790869466723-ECSFE2X207E0LJYQJ7WJ/sc-henry-bishop-1933-tate_orig.jpeg Blog - Shakespeare Cliff, Dover: From King Lear to the Channel Tunnel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/1790869467864-WORGSN8D0U9YFL2AXAJF/sc-by-james-webb-after-clarkson-frederick-stanfield_orig.jpeg Blog - Shakespeare Cliff, Dover: From King Lear to the Channel Tunnel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/1790869467866-YPH1S6MZ05W4ZWCK16ZJ/samuel-austin-1796-1834_orig.jpg Blog - Shakespeare Cliff, Dover: From King Lear to the Channel Tunnel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/1790869468838-WPI4RD9MKVYGKF9QGCV3/samuel-atkins-image-released-under-creative-commons-cc-by-nc-nd-3-0-unported-tate-gallery_orig.jpg Blog - Shakespeare Cliff, Dover: From King Lear to the Channel Tunnel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/1790869469001-4SV9YA7UFRQMJX2RVEV1/lone-tree-at-shakespeare-cliff-canvas-print-dave-godden-by-dave-godden_orig.jpg Blog - Shakespeare Cliff, Dover: From King Lear to the Channel Tunnel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/1790869471016-R6RGTQHEJKDS819O3L89/john-byrne-1786-1847-ra-collection_orig.jpeg Blog - Shakespeare Cliff, Dover: From King Lear to the Channel Tunnel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/1790869471050-56LLB21X9YOBO42ZNGCU/james-stroudley-1906-1985-herbert-art-gallery-museum_orig.jpg Blog - Shakespeare Cliff, Dover: From King Lear to the Channel Tunnel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/1790869472066-IJDKCN8JT8DJ3MAA5MNI/a-boat-on-the-shore-near-shakespeare-s-cliff-1795-6-joseph-mallord-william-turner-thomas-girtin-tate-gallery-image-released-under-creative-commons-cc-by-nc-nd-3-0-unported-jpg_orig.jpg Blog - Shakespeare Cliff, Dover: From King Lear to the Channel Tunnel https://pentagon-pomegranate-r99s.squarespace.com/blog/public-libraries-from-circulating-libraries-to-dovers-long-wait monthly 0.5 2026-10-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/d1165805-80cd-4a30-a463-81a328a782ed/rules-for-public-libraries_orig.jpeg Blog - Public Libraries: From Circulating Libraries to Dover's Long Wait Inside the library, a pleasant smell of leather and paper pervades the cool atmosphere. Few people occupy the space, and my attention is drawn to a dark-haired young man in workman’s clothes, the sole occupant of a reading desk. Despite his shabby attire, there is something entrancing about his curly black hair and tanned skin. Thread a ring through his ear and he would look like a pirate from one of my novels—a different sort of young man from those on Mrs Kesby’s list. He raises his head as we approach, and for a moment, our eyes meet. I feel a little unsteady. While Mrs Kesby returns her books, I study him. He is concentrating on the volume propped in front of him with the title Political Economy by W. Stanley Jevons, LLD, MA, FRS. How intriguing. Is he a working man with ambitions beyond his station? As I hand in my books, he returns his to the shelf and glances my way before leaving. An image of him persists in my mind on the walk home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/76b7c853-db27-4f41-a001-a23e2ff4d787/chetham-s-library-manchester_orig.jpeg Blog - Public Libraries: From Circulating Libraries to Dover's Long Wait The first public libraries in the UK which allowed access to the general public were established in the first half of the seventeenth century. Possibly the earliest was one in the Free Grammar School in Coventry in 1601. The most famous is the Cheltham Library which opened in Manchester in 1653. It is named after its founder, Humphrey Cheltham, a textile merchant, who left money in his will for the purchase of the building. It currently houses over 100,000 volumes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/64749a43-1046-4076-a7a3-a51927832f92/the-circulating-library-cartoon.jpeg Blog - Public Libraries: From Circulating Libraries to Dover's Long Wait Many circulating libraries were also publishing houses and their output had a significant effect on the development of the novel. The novel was viewed with much suspicion by the establishment, particularly in the hands of women, as it was thought to encourage idleness and moral laxity. The circulating libraries’ stock consisted mostly of novels. Their championing of female authors and the gothic novel turned reading into a popular pastime for women in the Victorian era. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/92643708-43d6-4532-ac59-a99bb525783c/dover-library_orig.jpeg Blog - Public Libraries: From Circulating Libraries to Dover's Long Wait The first municipal public library in Dover only opened in 1935, eighty-five years after the Public Libraries Act. The queues the length of the street for the opening, and the fact that almost 20,000 books were borrowed in the first fortnight attest to how much the people of Dover wanted this facility. Why, then, did it take the council so long to establish one? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/750eea88-b8b2-4231-ae70-5d843ca4e80b/market-hall-1846_orig+%281%29.png Blog - Public Libraries: From Circulating Libraries to Dover's Long Wait - Market Hall, Dover, 1846, which housed the museum on the top floor Towards the end of the 19th century, pressure on the Dover council to open a free public library ratcheted up. A resolution was put forward on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce backed by the Dover Express newspaper. Objectors claimed the Chamber of Commerce was foisting a library on Dover ratepayers. A bookshop owner offered a large collection of books as a gift for a library opened in accordance with the Libraries Act, but the council declined the gift. https://pentagon-pomegranate-r99s.squarespace.com/blog/mental-illness-and-asylums-what-was-life-really-like-inside monthly 0.5 2026-10-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/0780e064-b5a4-418f-a417-0e9db3fed3fe/two-feeble-minded-cretins-aged-twenty-two-and-twenty-one-dartford-wellcome-images_orig.jpg Blog - Mental Illness and Asylums: What Was Life Really Like Inside? Welcome to blog post number 7, the last on the subject of health issues. Writing historical fiction involves a lot of research which informs the story but is not necessarily included in it. This blog is for sharing some of the interesting and fun facts I discovered while researching my novels. SPOILER ALERT! Contains extracts from the book and plot reveals. Two 'feeble-minded cretins' aged twenty-two and twenty-one, Dartford. (Wellcome images) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/6afd9662-aee1-4569-9ae2-d2dc6ea83cb1/st-augustines-old-pic.jpeg Blog - Mental Illness and Asylums: What Was Life Really Like Inside? - St Augustine's Hospital, Chartham, Kent By the 1920s it had become a self-contained village, with its own farm, workshops, baker, butcher, fire-brigade, church, graveyard, gasworks, cricket team, band, etc. Male patients worked on the farm, while female patients worked in the laundry or as seamstresses.2 It doesn’t sound too bad, does it? So why did John dread the idea of living in an asylum so much? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/ce6d7d99-b734-48b4-9ee7-3856fe93b963/bethlem-moorfields.jpeg Blog - Mental Illness and Asylums: What Was Life Really Like Inside? The general public was able to gain an understanding of what life was like inside Bedlam due to a scheme, which began in the seventeenth century, of allowing casual visitors access to the inmates. This display of madness was a popular entertainment. In 1689, Thomas Tryon, a merchant and author, described the ‘swarms of people’ that flocked to Bedlam on public holidays, and César de Saussure wrote an account of his visit to the asylum on his tour of London sights in 1725: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/8b683bbd-f483-48a7-b9a7-3887cabcc092/james-norris-bethlem-patient-1815.jpeg Blog - Mental Illness and Asylums: What Was Life Really Like Inside? You find yourself in a long and wide gallery, on either side of which are a large number of little cells where lunatics of every description are shut up, and you can get a sight of these poor creatures, little windows being let into the doors. Many inoffensive madmen walk in the big gallery. On the second floor is a corridor and cells like those on the first floor, and this is the part reserved for dangerous maniacs, most of them being chained and terrible to behold. On holidays numerous persons of both sexes, but belonging generally to the lower classes, visit this hospital and amuse themselves watching these unfortunate wretches, who often give them cause for laughter. During these visits the inmates were subjected to many kinds of abuse, being taunted, poked with sticks, even sexually assaulted. Conditions for many patients at Bedlam during the worst phases of its history were undoubtedly shocking. A famous example is that of James Norris, an American marine, who spent twelve years shackled to an iron pole by means of a contraption which severely restricted his movement. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/664742ca-2b42-4894-a77c-1e3adb92edd4/kew-female-patients-exercising+%281%29.jpeg Blog - Mental Illness and Asylums: What Was Life Really Like Inside? - Female patients exercising at Kew (Wellcome Images) Female patients exercising at Kew (Wellcome Images) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/85208ba1-b993-40ad-95ad-01da831ad9a9/starcross-nurses_orig.jpeg Blog - Mental Illness and Asylums: What Was Life Really Like Inside? - Nurses at Starcross asylum (Wellcome images) https://pentagon-pomegranate-r99s.squarespace.com/blog/childbirth-in-the-early-20th-century monthly 0.5 2026-10-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/4a42cf45-a425-4ebb-9ba8-2a12ce2393e3/giving-birth-in-the-20th-century.jpeg Blog - Childbirth in the Early 20th Century: Midwives, Dangers and Pain Relief - Make it stand out Giving birth in the early 20th century (Getty images). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/c9972e66-0d6e-43b4-a90a-becd0fb370ab/a-woman-handing-a-note-to-her-physician-after-giving-birth-the-midwife-is-seated-near-her-pen-drawing-by-j-ulrich-wellcome-collection-cc-by-4-0_orig.jpeg Blog - Childbirth in the Early 20th Century: Midwives, Dangers and Pain Relief A woman handing a note to her physician after giving birth, the midwife is seated near her. Pen drawing by J. Ulrich. Wellcome Collection.(CC BY 4.0). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/122c7ef8-2cc6-4936-9dbe-4940c84bbbe9/obstetrical-instrument-set-england-1851-1900-science-museum-london-attribution-4-0-international-cc-by-4-0_orig.jpeg Blog - Childbirth in the Early 20th Century: Midwives, Dangers and Pain Relief A range of obstetric instruments was available to help with these processes. Sarah catches sight of some in Granny Makey’s bag during her first labour, though she doesn’t then know what they are for: She sits by the window and takes her knitting from her bag, which contains metal instruments like oversized knitting needles, a huge crochet hook, and a pair of tongs. They don’t bear thinking about. If the foetus was deemed to be undeliverable, the crochet was used to crush the skull and pull the baby from the womb. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/a64e67c2-be91-4834-99d8-0b569df2b9c6/murphy-type-inhaler-dublin-ireland-1848-1900-science-museum-london-cc-by-4-0_orig.jpeg Blog - Childbirth in the Early 20th Century: Midwives, Dangers and Pain Relief - Murphy-type inhaler, Dublin, Ireland, 1848-1900 Science Museum, London (CC BY 4.0) In 1848, Edward Murphy invented a portable inhaler for administering chloroform during childbirth. A sponge soaked with the liquid was held in a small drum and the vapours breathed in through a mouthpiece. Of course, there was a price to pay and only the privileged could afford it. Until the mid-twentieth century, the vast majority of women struggled through labour with no pain relief at all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/0d2ccd95-87d2-4c96-b1d5-6a0cceaddee7/a-father-to-be-is-being-reassured-by-the-family-physician-reproduction-of-a-drawing-after-f-reynolds-1928-wellcome-collection-cc-by-4-0_orig.jpeg Blog - Childbirth in the Early 20th Century: Midwives, Dangers and Pain Relief Nowadays, it is normal for a woman’s husband or partner to be present during the birth. At the beginning of the century, men, other than a doctor, were kept strictly out of the way, as illustrated in the cartoon below from a 1928 edition of Punch. During Jane’s difficult labour, her husband, Charles waits downstairs, no doubt listening to her screams. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/7286d18f-5cc7-4dd1-8cae-75f61d6dc471/a-bemused-husband-querying-a-doctor-as-to-how-his-wife-of-only-six-months-can-have-already-given-birth-to-a-child-wood-engraving-1838-wellcome-collection_orig.jpeg Blog - Childbirth in the Early 20th Century: Midwives, Dangers and Pain Relief - A bemused husband querying a doctor as to how his wife of only six months can have already given birth to a child. Wood engraving, 1838. Wellcome Collection. When the mid-wife offered her the baby to hold, Jane turned away. Sleep was all she wanted. Annie took him downstairs to Charles, who was pacing the floor in the parlour. ‘Congratulations! A big, bouncing boy.’ She passed the bundle to Charles, who held him as though he might break. Thankfully, childbirth today in the UK is a much less risky business. The latest statistics show neonatal deaths are 2.7 per 1000 live births, and the maternal death rate is 9.1 per 100,000, rather different from the four to six deaths in every 1000 of Sarah’s time. https://pentagon-pomegranate-r99s.squarespace.com/blog/shell-shock-the-hidden-wounds-of-war monthly 0.5 2026-10-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/ffef2b54-228e-4eb4-9d2f-d6aee2a4033a/shell-shock_orig.jpeg Blog - Shell Shock: The Hidden Wounds of War, from the Boer War to the Trenches One of the characters, Sarah’s brother, John, is seriously injured during the South African war, known at the time as the Boer War: He draws an uneven breath. ‘I got a rifle shot in my thigh, so I dragged myself under a rock overhang to take cover from the pom-pom shells. Two of my comrades pegged out nearby, one with his face blasted off.’ He gives a humourless laugh. ‘He was the lucky one. The other bled dry from a belly wound. That’s a slow death, I can tell you.’ He shakes his head as though trying to rid himself of the memory. ‘Reckon I’ll hear his screams to my dying day.’ He strikes a match, cupping the flame with his undamaged hand, and lights his cigarette. I remain silent, not wishing to interrupt his flow. ‘Seemed like forever I lay there. Then I noticed the stretcher-bearers in the near distance and waved my handkerchief. That’s when a sniper blasted away the handkerchief, and my fingers with it.’ He holds out his right hand—a reptilian claw with the middle and ring fingers missing. ‘They’re hunters, you know, the Boers, used to aiming quick before their prey catches wind. They practise by firing at hens’ eggs a hundred yards away. Anyway, I was in no doubt of their skills.’ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/19686b1a-6fb8-4968-a9ce-dfd876891615/shell-shocked-soldier-1916_orig+%281%29.jpeg Blog - Shell Shock: The Hidden Wounds of War, from the Boer War to the Trenches - Soldiers in WW1 being treated by medics in a trench. The man on the left of the picture is suffering from shell-shock. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/7bc3556a-80b9-4b88-a1f3-dc8c57254b20/whr-rivers2_orig.jpeg Blog - Shell Shock: The Hidden Wounds of War, from the Boer War to the Trenches Officers were four times likely to suffer from shell-shock than the ordinary ranks, perhaps because they were expected to repress their emotions to set an example for their troops. Anthropologist and psychologist, William Halse Rivers Rivers (yes, he has two Rivers in his name), pioneered humane treatments for officers suffering from shell-shock at Craiglockhart War Hospital, near Edinburgh. The war poets, Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Graves and Wilfred Owen were all patients there. https://pentagon-pomegranate-r99s.squarespace.com/blog/the-spanish-flu-of-1918 monthly 0.5 2026-10-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/7dc2defb-af6c-444f-9b68-7c88246e9dad/women-wearing-masks-112170147-04gettyimages-515181868_orig.jpg Blog - The Spanish Flu of 1918: History, Symptoms and Lessons for the Covid Era - Make it stand out Women wearing masks in 1918 (Getty images) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/5ec067a4-ad69-47d2-ae5e-2fcebd17e64b/cartoon-112181093-gettyimages-592850496_orig.jpg Blog - The Spanish Flu of 1918: History, Symptoms and Lessons for the Covid Era - A Daily mirror cartoonist captures the confusion over public health messages (Getty images) The Spanish flu was the most serious pandemic of modern times. Only the so-called Black Death caused by the bubonic plague during the fourteenth century caused a higher estimated death toll. But whereas the bubonic plague was caused by a bacterium, the Spanish flu was caused by an influenza virus of the H1N1 type originating in birds. Spanish flu ravaged the world during 1918 and 1919, overlapping with ‘The Great War’ as WW1 was known at the time. The flu produced more fatalities than the war, causing upwards of 25 million deaths worldwide. It is impossible to arrive at a definitive number due to the lack of accurate record-keeping in many countries in that era, and some estimates put the death toll at more than 50 million. Whatever the exact figure, it far exceeds the number of deaths due to Covid19. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/3233e053-8185-4040-b6e7-bb43fada388d/hospital-kansas-camp-funston-influenza-pandemic.jpg Blog - The Spanish Flu of 1918: History, Symptoms and Lessons for the Covid Era The rapid spread of the disease is not surprising. The war placed large numbers of men together in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions. Troop movements in 1918 and especially in 1919, when service personnel returned home after the armistice, carried the disease over the whole world. By the end of the pandemic, the only region not to have reported an outbreak was an isolated island in the Amazon River delta. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/a88b0d24-02d3-4e6d-9944-b06203baf3eb/6214018-6327-wear-a-mask_orig.jpg Blog - The Spanish Flu of 1918: History, Symptoms and Lessons for the Covid Era As with Covid19, steps were taken to limit the spread of the disease. Public health notices advised against coughing, sneezing and spitting in public. In many communities, churches, schools, theatres, dancehalls and businesses were closed, and the wearing of masks was mandatory. In 1918, a health officer in San Francisco shot three people when one refused to wear a mandatory face mask. https://pentagon-pomegranate-r99s.squarespace.com/blog/living-with-polio-a-century-ago monthly 0.5 2026-10-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/d5afe372-07ed-4e3b-b766-2af97ede159c/early-20th-century-doctor_orig.jpg Blog - Living with Illness a Century Ago: Stomach Flu, Brain Fever and Polio - Make it stand out An early 20th century doctor https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/4b3fd875-1298-414b-ae52-2b651fcf9949/ww1-hospital-ward.jpg Blog - Living with Illness a Century Ago: Stomach Flu, Brain Fever and Polio Whilst not a sufferer of this illness himself, Bert suffers the consequence of an outbreak of brain fever at the naval training barracks at HMS Pembroke, Chatham in 1917. Sent back to Chatham to await reassignment, Bert walked into the drill shed with his kitbag, searching for a place to kip. The multitude of men astounded him. Close to nine hundred sailors, all trades and ranks, slept in crowded conditions in that hall. Some were there because the authorities had quarantined one barrack following an outbreak of brain fever. The majority were men like him, assigned to crew HMS Vanguard before the disaster. As he scanned the room, his gaze homed in on a figure standing a few yards away and his heart leapt. Jack. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/2fe21f80-cf15-487f-bddf-981e4b843a44/children-in-an-iron-lung-before-the-advent-of-the-polio-vaccination-1950_orig.jpg Blog - Living with Illness a Century Ago: Stomach Flu, Brain Fever and Polio - Make it stand out Children in an iron lung, 1950, before the advent of a vaccine. https://pentagon-pomegranate-r99s.squarespace.com/blog/cancer-measles-and-consumption-in-the-papermakers-daughter monthly 0.5 2026-10-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/7f0921bf-b9bc-4f42-92d0-96d7a8d0e205/280px-bloodlettingphoto-cropped_orig.jpg Blog - Brain Tumours, Measles and Consumption: Illness in The Papermaker's Daughter - Bloodletting in 1860 (Wikipedia) The headaches grow worse, and following a fall in which she hits her head on the arm of a wooden chair, she is confined to bed: In the dim light, the poor woman lying in the enormous bed looked shrunken. Her gauntness emphasised her sharp features, softened only by the frills of her night-bonnet. Although supported by pillows, it appeared the effort of keeping her head upright exhausted Mrs Kesby and she kept closing her eyes. She has called Sarah to her room to offer her a compromise. She will agree to her marrying Edwin – an unsuitable match in her eyes – on condition Sarah waits for a year: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/bc33e920-461e-47e1-80f4-78fcde5766e6/measles-cartoon_orig.jpg Blog - Brain Tumours, Measles and Consumption: Illness in The Papermaker's Daughter - Four children, two with measles, in the same bed. Their mother tells the district nurse: “There ain’t no danger of infection. Them children wat’s got the measles is at the ’ead of the bed and them wat ain’t is at the foot.” Wood engraving by S. Wood, 1915. Wellcome collection. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/b9f508e1-f147-4257-b3ee-14846cffe189/different-tb-poster_orig.jpg Blog - Brain Tumours, Measles and Consumption: Illness in The Papermaker's Daughter Ed’s coughing fit marred the walk to the park. He’d had a lingering cough for three weeks and couldn’t seem to shift it. Half way up Park Avenue he convulsed in a spasm lasting minutes, bringing up phlegm which he spat into a drain. Annie watched in concern. As soon as they reached the park, he sat down on a bench close to the entrance. ’You lot go and explore. I’m gonna sit here and catch my breath. I’ll wander along later and find you.’ The coughing is followed by a fever. Waking in the night to use the chamber pot, Annie hears her Ma and Pa talking in their bedroom across the hall and she creeps across the landing. The light from their paraffin lamp spilled out through the half-open door. Ma spoke in an insistent tone. ’Tell me, Ed. What can I do?’ ‘Don’t know,’ Pa replied. ‘I can’t stop shaking. Must’ve got a fever.’ Ma moved across the room, and water dripped into the washbasin. ‘Here, Ed. A flannel to cool your brow.’ Annie crept back to bed but couldn’t sleep for worrying about Pa. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/45bb8b44-c5cf-445e-88cf-95711eec5902/tuberculosis-poster_orig.jpg Blog - Brain Tumours, Measles and Consumption: Illness in The Papermaker's Daughter - 1910 advertising postcard for the National Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis Immunization was developed by 1921 but only became widespread after World War 2. In the early 1900s when Ed was suffering from this disease treatment options were limited. It was believed that fresh air was of benefit and sufferers were encouraged to rest and take the air in sanatoria located in the mountains or by the sea – a feasible course of treatment for the wealthy but not for the likes of Ed. He eventually succumbs to TB and dies aged forty: Two weeks after Armistice Day, Pa neared his end. He surprised the doctor by lingering so long after so protracted an illness. At least he realised the war was over. For the final hours he slipped into unconsciousness, Jane took turns with Annie and Ma to hold his hand, listening to the gurgling breathing, as though his lungs were liquefying. Ma smoothed the hair from his forehead. ‘Look how curly black his hair still is, Jane. Hardly any grey.’ She ran her fingertips along the side of his face, tracing his jawbone in a loving caress. ‘We must give him another shave this evening. See how badly we did it before.’ Jane moved closer to study Pa’s gaunt, muscle-wasted face. Patches of tattered beard grew where the pockets of sunken flesh were too slack for the razor. The sight made her tearful. Nowadays TB is treated by antibiotics and is only fatal if left untreated. That’s this dose of medical facts done with, but there’s more to come. Thanks for reading. https://pentagon-pomegranate-r99s.squarespace.com/blog/disease-illness-and-death-in-the-papermakers-daughter monthly 0.5 2026-10-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/2bcdb76e-4ca6-43b8-9772-9bd1b992b2f5/post-partum-death_orig.jpg Blog - Disease, Illness and Death in the Papermaker’s Daughter: Childbed Fever, Ulcers and Lung Cancer - Make it stand out [Engraving by A.H.Payne after C.Piloty - Wellcome Collection.] https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6aba59ba08a65f1713f50b9b/efa0893c-a72d-4a07-b144-6a8e76b302f8/deathbed-scene_orig+%281%29.jpg Blog - Disease, Illness and Death in the Papermaker’s Daughter: Childbed Fever, Ulcers and Lung Cancer George recovers from his ulcer and lives to a ripe old age before dying of lung cancer. 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