The UNSOLVED MYSTERY of Our AMERICAN HEIRESS' Nephew's TRAGIC DEATH in 1908
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- Опубліковано 26 вер 2024
- The ALL NEW look and NEW season of American Viscountess opens with a VERY special episode - a visit to the parish church in Cambridgeshire were generations of the Montagu family have been laid to rest. Here I uncover a family tragedy which leads me to the archives and a meeting with my Father-in-law, the 11th Earl of Sandwich, to try and solve a 100 year mystery!
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The Sturgis family being so prominent in Chicago, the American newspapers from 1907 and 1908 probably printed articles and notices about all of their doings and experiences. Baby Billy's birth and death would have been in the newspapers, and probably also his parents' trip to England and his father's business. You might also contact the Chicago Public Library, the Newbery Library, the University of Chicago, and any other history museums or archives that you can, which would have the old newspapers in their collections.
She came from Chiago and it may well be easy to visit once more, or maybe has checked this out early on? Good idea if she has not though
What a sad story! As a big fan of both history & the hobby of Mudlarking, I learned about something called; "Mrs. Winslows Soothing Syrup." It was invented in America in 1849, and marketed & used in the U.S. & U.K. widely all the way up until the 1930's. This medication was available for babies to clean teeth, for constipation, and for "fussiness" & crying. It was made of a combination of Morphine & Alcohol. It is said that one teaspoon contained enough Morphine to kill the average child. Many babies given this medication went to sleep and sadly never woke up again. In 1868, the medicine sold 1.5 million bottles. These bottles are commonly found along the shores of the Thames River and in Victorian era trash dumps. The nickname for the medication became the "Baby Killer." It was not until 1906 when the U.S. started the Food & Drug administration that medication like this was investigated, and as the article stated it was still being used until the 1930's. Also around the time of Billy's death there was a very dangerous baby bottle that was supposed to be "state of the art." Unfortunately it was nearly impossible to clean thoroughly. The bottles were called Mummie's Darling or The Empire, they proved to be perfect incubators for deadly bacteria. During the Victorian era, U.K. many new Mothers hung on the advice of Mrs. Beeton who wrote a book called; "Mrs. Beeton's Household Management." Especially for the best advice on raising babies. It also had advice on hiring and firing staff, what meals to cook and so on. Mrs. Beeton told new Mothers that it was not necessary to clean the Nipple part of this new bottle for 2-3 weeks due to its design. The bottles were later nicknamed Murder Bottles, and they too can be found in the Thames, and other rivers & Victorian trash heaps. Sadly, the sale & use of these bottles continued through the 1920's despite warnings from Doctors.The bottle continued being used, because this type of bottle was shaped so a child could feed from it without much help. Of course Penicillin was not yet invented, and news about these dangerous items that were meant to feed or make baby better was often slow to get widely distributed. The years 1906-07 appear to be right in the middle of the most dangerous time to be born for any baby.
I love your short essay. I studied Child, Youth and Family studies, where we found about about horrible incidences such as lead in baby food and saw dust in children's biscuits. Despite Nestle having a horrible reputation as water thieves today, the company did babies a solid by producing one of the most reliable baby formulas and food in the pre WWI Europe. Regarding the poorly designed baby bottle, both Little House on the Prairie and Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman had episodes about these incidents on the frontiers. Not only that, lead poisoning and the spread of small pox, polio and measles where also the cause of many children's death. Indeed, when I was in kindergarten back in 1970, several children came down with polio and the school remained closed after Easter until the Labor Day.
Fascinating read, thank you for sharing.
I would buy a book of her letters. What a fascinating, historical figure. I am proud of her for having the vision for keeping a record. That is a very wise beyond her years outlook of her life. I feel like she is a hero staying out of the unnecessary drama of society life. Regardless of our “station” or circumstances in our lives, we all have a story to tell. Death, life, joys and sorrows hit us ALL because we are human.
Would also buy a book about Alberta!
Your father in law is such a lovely person. I could listen to him tell stories forever.
Alberta wrote such wonderful letters. The letter about Billy is happy and yet we know he dies.
If Alberta did not write anything about Billy's mother joining her husband, perhaps she was in the UK with her baby...Very sad to lose a baby with the father (and perhaps mother as well) being far away.
Such a fascinating story of Billy and who he was and how he ended up in the crypt with Alberta. I can't imagine how Alberta felt with the very young Billy dying while in her care. It must have been incredibly sad. Love this new content and look forward to your upcoming shows.
These were the same years my grandmother and her twin were born. He died of Bright’s disease, 1908. It was common then. I’ve been doing genealogy research for over 50 years. Get those memories documented is an understatement. Because no one believed my grandmother until I documented it thru research. Great stuff.
The plot thickens… extraordinary journey you are taking us on, she sounded like such a matriarch at such a young age! Julie, someday people in the future will want to study your journey, are you writing your own journals ? I hope so, you are just as fascinating and all the work you and Luke continue toward preserving his/yr family lineage.
Hi Julie,,,
I thoroughly enjoyed this video... One thing I'd like to suggest...,,
When you go back to the daffodil plot for your ancestors you should take a wire brush and some cleaning solution to clean off the top of Alberta's gravestone so people can read it. A plastic putty knife you could be a tool you can use to scrape the debris up without scratching the stone.
I think her plot would look so much nicer if it had a beautiful stone marker. Keep up the good work.
It brought tears to my eyes when your father-in-law thanked you for all the hard work you're doing to bring forth the history of his family. You can tell he truely and dearly loves you. God bless you all!
👍😍👍
What a beautiful cemetery...history I love more than anything....enjoyed this immensely.
Me too!
It fascinating to me to see you as exactly the right person at the right time to research and report this chapter of the family history. So fortunate your mother and father in law are right there to contribute to and to clarify what you find. Not to mention the pleasure they have seeing your dedication to the family history.
The Earl of Mapperton is such a lovely man. He seems so appreciative of all the research work you are doing on the Montague family. Great episode!
I love the history of the family and the homes they lived in. Just a wonderful vlog Julie👏🏻💕
Poor baby Billy. I'm looking forward to hearing more about this mystery. 💜
Julie, we have a wonderful archival online system here in Australia called Trove. It has scanned letters, newspaper clippings, archival movies, photographs etc and then volunteers transcript the sometimes hard to decipher written documents in plain text alongside. How wonderful if you could set up a similar online archive for all the documents in the muniments room at Mapperton.
A digital archive would be invaluable. Plus, the originals would be able to be protected from moisture and damage once they were digitized. An archivist would be able to help set up a system for cataloging the documents for easy searching. I think they use glare-proof glass to weigh down creased documents for scanning/photographing. My sister is a historian and she accesses multiple sites that contain digital records here in the US. Many local governments are undertaking large digitizing projects to scan deeds and legal records.
The episodes with the Father In Law and also with the Aunt are fabulous and I think I could listen to them for hours. Thank you for the videos.
What an intriguing story you followed from the graveside to letters, to unravel this mystery of Billy. It was touching to see how much your father-in-law appreciates your time in researching all of this. You’re an absolute gem, Julie in resurfacing such treasures of family history.
I found the news article about the death of a young boy in my family, in 1893. It had been forgotten about by current members. It feels good to bring their story back. Parents I know, who have lost children fear they will be forgotten.
This is nail biting stuff Julie…..I can’t wait to hear more! My father’s eldest brother, and the first born son, died aged 13 months from meningitis. Referred to always as ‘the boy’. Every time I visited my grandparents, my grandmother took me to lay wild flowers on his grave…….so I do hope you will be able to find out more about this baby boy & his untimely death.
I think this is my favorite video of all. The history , people and their lives that they lived. You can just feel the sadness and heartache about William (Billy). You have brought him and his life back. As long as they are never forgotten they live on.
For some reason, the tombstone of "James Alexander" at 3:42 is what stood out to me the most. I think about what it must have been like to be a servant in the 1700s and 1800s, before there were labour laws and the protections we have today for workers. It must have been a tough life for most servants, especially worse if you were "A Native of *Africa* " as he was, living and working in England. May his soul continue to rest in peace.
A note .. it was not uncommon at that time, when a son dies, to name another son after that one.
What a lovely gentleman your father inlaw is
What an interesting story about Alberta’s nephew. Sounds so tragic & sad that the baby passed away…perhaps his parents weren’t able to be there. I really enjoy learning about the Montagu family history
I just love how much Luke looks and sounds like his dad! And I really enjoy the history of the family.
Very intriguing story of Billy and how he came to be in Alberta's care in England. Looking forward to hearing more in future episodes.
Julie, as always, another splendid presentation. Fascinating historical information, beautiful cemetery. You look so lovely in green, such a beautiful dress and matching shoes.
Also, you are closer to 200,000 subs, than 100,000! Congratulations!👍💕🇺🇲🇬🇧
Your conversation with your father-in-law was just incredible Julie! This is such an important story - as you say - for the Montagu/Sturgess family! I would think that maybe the Burlington and county records might also have some information about little Billy - his birth and death and perhaps the cause of death may be on record. Good luck uncovering the rest of this story - and as your FIL said, you may need a Hercule Poirot mindset to solve this!
Hi Julie, You are a great sleuth! You found this small baby in a cemetery, opening up a new story to unfold. After my mom died, I knew I was going to look for my family. I did grow up in Brampton Ontario and my birth mother was 20 km away in Halton Hills Ontario. We have a registry in Ontario for birth moms and also their children if both agree and in my case, my mother had wanted to meet me. So, the government sent my adoption papers and I began a search with her last name. Her sister was great at making announcements in the paper. The towns or villages were not that huge so I could go to the cemetery and ask the keeper to help me locate burials. In all of this was my first look at my possible health to which I had never had any idea. I found a person with her last name and wrote him a letter. He was a cousin and would meet me at their still country church and attached cemetery. Her entire family was there. I was able to write about each of them in a journal and what happened to them. Then my cousin set up a meeting with my birth mom. I will leave that there. I will say that I learned so much in cemeteries. I drove all around this area and found all of them. It was an amazing journey. Many times archived newspapers can tell you so much. I printed the announcements out and was the first to see a picture of my mother based on a news article about her marriage. I called the library in this northern city and they were good enough to email me her photo. My heart jumped out of my chest. I sat and cried because for the first time, I saw a woman that looked like me. Love on your journey Julie!
Thank you for such a moving and important episode. These are special insights into the life of the Montagu family and, indeed life at that time. I note en passant that it is only in our own time that most babies born in the Western world can be expected to survive. It might help you in your search for the full story, at least in so far as documentary evidence can tell you anything, to find such items as the death certificate as well as any documents and records in the custody of the church where he is buried. I would also encourage you to try to trace any medical records via the survivors of the doctors or the country coroner, etc. Alberta must have had a very difficult experience as Billy died while under her care. The use of the nickname suggests that she had a warm relationship to him, and thus the death may well have been a very hard blow indeed. This is all very personal, and I thank you again for sharing this family story. I look forward to the next installment of this story, and encourage you to continue to make your fine videos.
I am so glad you took us inside St. Mary Magdalene - the layout makes the interior much wider and more spacious than I expected, and I am blown away by all of the GORGEOUS stained glass windows, there are so many! I have now put this church on my bucket list... I want to go in and just sit there for a very long time. I would also love to attend a service there, and am wondering how the music and hymns would sound in that space. I am now jealous of the residents of the area for whom this is their parish church.
Hey, you have me captured with your history. What a exhausting love of what your and your husband have been granted to you. Keep being an impressive histori.
Julie, you did it again, leaving me sad the vlog is over and wanting more. Alberta is such a fascinating person. Her insight to archive everything, is truly amazing, almost as if she knew one day someone would be looking into the family history to tell her story. It had to be you, the comparisons between you two is remarkable. Until our next video. Well done. Love from N.Y.
Oh my goodness, Julie! What an amazing video!!! I loved it SO much! I love the letters you found and the discovery of who Baby Sturgess was! It was great hearing John's information!!!! So much amazing history!!!! Fascinating research! ❤️
How spectacular to live in a history book that you’ll never exhaust. Blessed you are, Julie!♥️
This is fascinating!
I loved this episode!! Thank you for putting it all together in such an interesting way and including your father in law and his sister and Hinchingbrook!
This was so good. I'm happy you have such an intriguing Father-in-Law with such a lovely relationship.
Love your historical information on your family. It makes it so real all these years later. Can’t wait to hear the end of your journey…from PA, USA.
21:57 Julie, you can see how grateful Luke’s father is for your research. I can imagine it being possibly overwhelming to him having lived some of it. You offer an objective perspective and clarity and energy.
Maybe, a newspaper article would explain about the baby
A ...IS THE CHOST WALKING WITH YOU ..and she is proud x
Absolutely beautiful x
This is the best episode I’ve seen on the family history. You had a puzzle and solved it. You stayed focused and the story was fascinating. I’m not a fan of the lives because your attention is drawn to the computer while you are talking and it’s hard to follow the train of thought. Excellent episode, Julie!
Fantastic research!! So endearing to see Julie’s interaction with the Earl!! (❤ the pink socks)
Dear Lady Hinchingbrooke, What a wonderful example of detective work and, by careful review of the records, putting the pieces together. A death certificate should shed more light on matters while you delve further into the family archive.
Perhaps she’ll find that death certificate within all the letters. Sounded like this aunt was very thorough. Let’s hope so.
Wonderful episode! Wondering about cemetery vault “management” and the last time it was inspected (perhaps permanently sealed now). If there are laws regarding this, who is responsible, the church or family, or the firm who built it maybe with the pitch of a 100 year guarantee (if they are still in business). If the vault would need restoration, if the contents would be left to decay, not be refitted with new caskets. As was apparently not done over the centuries with royal vaults. Apologies as wondering aloud, this is a sensitive subject as is closer family ancestors rather than removed national historical figures. The death of the late Queen and her internment into the special family vault brought these older practices up again.
There are so many stories There the place is full of history loy it thank you from Australia ❤ it nice to meet you
Very interesting and quite sad. Thank you for telling the story. Best of luck on your dissertation.
It just keeps going. I cannot wait to learn more.
Love the story!!
Thank you for sharing this engrossing insight. Rather than dictating a narrative, you are stepping aside while a story tells itself. You are to be congratulated.
I Love history!! This was great! Enjoyed it so much!
Love the pilot! - and the tragic research of baby Billy. XO from KS
Love your curosity into family history.
God your energy has so supported this family. The whole Montague family from Lady Mary Wortley Montague through to the Douglas Scott Montagues Dukes of Buccleuch and Marquis of Queensbury!
I had the joy of finding my ancestors - questions needing answered with - Family Bibles, Letters, old address books, photos etc. My Grandmom saved ALOT and wrote things down. I need to get back into it. I love the adventure - finding clues etc. bringing family history to life. My Great-Grandmom came to America from Watford England. I have photos from the 1800's from family in England and want to do more research. Love this new platform of videos you are doing.
Thanks for sharing!
Looking forward to continuation of Billy and his Aunt’s stories.
Awesome research you are doing.
I love a good mystery!!! Let's get this one solved!!
This was such a good episode! I love history! I especially the family histories. When a cousin mailed me a family tree from my mom’s maternal side it absolutely intrigued me. I read the names and the basic information of where they came from in England to the United States. They somehow made their way to Southern Illinois and settled. I wanted to know all of their stories! What they endured. I wondered how they met their spouses. What brought them to each place. Why they ultimately settled in Southern Illinois. What was their day to day family life like. Alberta’s letters and writings are providing so many of these types of details. So very interesting!
Really love your family, the British are not expansive, emotional people but we can hear and feel the love with you and the family ❤️
What a marvelous contribution Julie is in this family!❤
Julie I like how to explain about history of your family and the Cstle.
This new information about the family is soo fascinating! I cannot wait to find out more of these amazing stories! Thank you for all you do.
Looks like England is having an early spring as well.
Across the pond, we have beeb enjoying an early spring as well.
We forget today that infant mortality was huge through all levels of society. This was before antibiotics so things such as chest infections were quite often fatal to infants. Thankfully today this is much much rarer in the western world. It’s not any less tragic but was far more common even just 100 years ago.
Such an interesting research and an exciting family story about Alberta. Great job 🙌 hope you’ll find some more exciting stories.
As an Icelander I find it fascinating what you are working on. We Icelanders love to connect to our family roots 🌱
Absolutely LOVE your history lessons! Thanks so very much!
I am blown away 😳 I have enjoyed watching this about your family.
So lovely! ❤
I had to subscribe as I can't wait to see what more you have found out. Brilliant. 😊
I grew up in Bucks County, PA in the US, settled by the Englishman William Penn. There was a town "Chalfont" that I always wondered, why was there this French-sounding town in the middle of the county? When you mentioned "Chalfont Lodge" in Buckinghamshire the penny dropped.
Loved this episode!
My goodness. This is riveting.
I have letters from my mother’s aunt. I must read them more. I have deciphered many antique letters from our families that come from one side and come from the other side. There are many still left and I am prompted to look at them. Thank you.
CongradulTionsinthis new find.
Great channel! Love it Julie, you and Luke are lovely ❤
Love a historical mystery!! Crack on!!
Wow, such treasures for you to discover. Thank you Julie..
Fascinating family history. Thank you for continuing to share with us.
What a wonderful compliment from your Father In-Law. I’m sure he wasn’t excited when an “American Divorcée” was joining the family, but to have him see your worth now and as a valuable asset to the family.
Oh my heart 💗Way to go on winning them over! Congratulations American Viscountess
That is so amazing. I think that it's so important to keep items that are important to future generations. You are doing so well with the family history.
Loved this video log. Love the history, the wonder in every letter from Alberta. And by the way, I love seeing the love you have for your father-in-law. You are making a wonderful historic mark on this wonderful family. God Bless You!
Thank you so much!
I've met Lord Montegue of Beaulie, my parents did the autojumble he holds on his estate, every year, he presented a clock to my late father who had been to every single one since the start back in the late 60s.
As we were stall holders we were allowed free access to the Monestary, the grounds of the house and the National Autombile Museum! I went with my parents every year, I have so many amazing memories, I lost both parents very recently.
Riveting! Really looking forward to future installments!
Following along as you research the family history is so interesting. I enjoy your chats with your father-in-law. The video itself is so well done. I look forward to what future episodes reveal. Thanks for sharing.
This type of history is so fascinating. I truly enjoy your videos and the information you share. It would be so much fun to fly over to help you explore and research.
Really enjoying the history and family stories.
I hope another video is done on Billy. I did find a few articles by googling.
Well done👏 these vidieos (that were very good at the start) are just getting better and better, thankyou for sharing!
Thanks so much! 😊
I just so enjoy your presentations.
Please inquire from knowledgeable archivists how best to handle these papers, letters and documents. Should anyone who touches them wear gloves? Are they kept in the metal trunk when not in use? How about repair of ripped papers? Your inquiry into this child captivates my interest and your trip to gravestones and church is so personal. Well done.
Maybe the 9th countess of Montagu Alberta's nephew was too sickly to travel to the states and he was left with his aunt to see if he could get better as he grew up ,but he only survived for a year .infant mortality rates were quite high at the time and if he was sickly and unable to travel and he got a bug or virus that could have been how he died .
Yes, it's so sad. Can you imagine the extreme fear parents must've had for their children because so many died from the simplest of conditions.
So very interesting Julie. Your father in law is such a
Perfect vlog: a bit of mystery, family history, and beautiful video - all wrapped up in one.
Amazing episode
You mention Alberta being an heiress. Do you know or have any records of the amount her inheritance/dowry was that she brought to the marriage?
Yay!
You are a good hard worker Julie. Well done.
Thank you!
Absolutely fascinating!
Going on the hunt through her letters to piece history together would be a dream to me❤️