Bending History

A Bending History - page 5


Health One of the effects of the Industrial Revolution was to draw people from the country into towns, as we have seen in the dispersal of Bendings, and in particular the large influx into London with no consequent improvements in waste disposal had a disastrous effect on the health of its inhabitants. Outbreaks of cholera, a water borne disease, broke out from time to time and in 1853-54 a cholera epidemic killed 10,738 inhabitants of London, and in the hot summer of 1858 'The Great Stink of London' overwhelmed all those who ventured near, or lived by the Thames. A scheme to build proper sewers was proposed and was completed by 1868. William, son of John the tailor of Bath, and also a tailor, moved to London about 1840, married, had seven children, and then in 1854 died of cholera at Bartholomews Hospital, at the age of 37. Neither of his two sons appear to have had children, so that the line died with him. As recently as the decade ending in 1880 a third of Bending children died before the age of three, although nearly half of the survivors lived beyond 70. In the present generation (the thirty years ending in 2000), the mortality of under threes was 2-3%. The longevity of this generation will not be known for another one hundred years.(see statstics After the Great War, in 1918-1919, there was a pandemic of influenze, Spanish flu', which is said to have been more deadly than the War itself. At least three Bendings were killed by the disease, Alfred Henry George Bending, aged 42, Lilian Grace Bending, aged 3, and Walter Bending aged 25		Wealth One of the great social changes in the last hundred years has been the increase and the redistribution of wealth. Since 1858 wills have been readily available from the Probate Registry, and the first will, dated 1860, is that of Ann Bending, a widow, and she left under £100. and there were five more wills proven up to 1900. The total amount involved was under £4000 over 40 years. There were nearly forty wills in the ten years to 1998, of these ten, showing the value of the estates, came to nearly £2 million in total. (Many wills show only that the estate was less than the minimum level for estate duty/inheritance tax). In 1913 John Bending, amongst other dispositions, left a mangle with accessories to his daughter. A mangle was a heavy duty clothes wringer, with large wooden rollers and iron gear wheels. A valued possession perhaps. Beside the increase in wealth there has been a change in occupations. The censuses for 1851 and 1881 show that male Bendings were mainly in labouring or artisan occupations. (see Occupations). By the time of the 1901 census the number of occupations was too great to list. John Bending Leicester September, 2003

Health

One of the effects of the Industrial Revolution was to draw people from the country into towns, as we have seen in the dispersal of Bendings, and in particular the large influx into London with no consequent improvements in waste disposal had a disastrous effect on the health of its inhabitants. Outbreaks of cholera, a water borne disease, broke out from time to time and in 1853-54 a cholera epidemic killed 10,738 inhabitants of London, and in the hot summer of 1858 'The Great Stink of London' overwhelmed all those who ventured near, or lived by the Thames. A scheme to build proper sewers was proposed and was completed by 1868.

William, son of John the tailor of Bath, and also a tailor, moved to London about 1840, married, had seven children, and then in 1854 died of cholera at Bartholomews Hospital, at the age of 37. Neither of his two sons appear to have had children, so that the line died with him.

As recently as the decade ending in 1880 a third of Bending children died before the age of three, although nearly half of the survivors lived beyond 70. In the present generation (the thirty years ending in 2000), the mortality of under threes was 2-3%. The longevity of this generation will not be known for another one hundred years.(see statstics

After the Great War, in 1918-1919, there was a pandemic of influenze, Spanish flu', which is said to have been more deadly than the War itself. At least three Bendings were killed by the disease, Alfred Henry George Bending, aged 42, Lilian Grace Bending, aged 3, and Walter Bending aged 25

Wealth

One of the great social changes in the last hundred years has been the increase and the redistribution of wealth. Since 1858 wills have been readily available from the Probate Registry, and the first will, dated 1860, is that of Ann Bending, a widow, and she left under £100. and there were five more wills proven up to 1900. The total amount involved was under £4000 over 40 years. There were nearly forty wills in the ten years to 1998, of these ten, showing the value of the estates, came to nearly £2 million in total. (Many wills show only that the estate was less than the minimum level for estate duty/inheritance tax).

In 1913 John Bending, amongst other dispositions, left a mangle with accessories to his daughter. A mangle was a heavy duty clothes wringer, with large wooden rollers and iron gear wheels. A valued possession perhaps.

Beside the increase in wealth there has been a change in occupations. The censuses for 1851 and 1881 show that male Bendings were mainly in labouring or artisan occupations. (see Occupations). By the time of the 1901 census the number of occupations was too great to list.

John Bending
Leicester
September, 2003