Early death and long life in history: establishing the scale of premature death in Europe and its cultural, economic and social significance

'Bis zum späten 18. Jahrhundert und auch darüber hinaus war der vorzeitige Tod für die Menschen unabhängig von ihrem sozialen Status eher die Regel als die Ausnahme. Der vorzeitige Tod gab Anlass zu vielfältigen Diskussionen über seine ökonomische und soziale Bedeutung, über unterschiedliche, z.B. religiöse Deutungen und besondere Formen des Gedenkens, über seine kulturelle Repräsentation und politische Instrumentalisierung sowie die Rolle von Ärzten und anderen Berufsgruppen bei der Begrenzung seiner negativen Implikationen auf Familie und Gesellschaft. Dieser Beitrag analysiert den gesellschaftspolitischen Prozess seit dem frühen 18. Jahrhundert, in dessen Verlauf sich die Vorstellung eines als vorzeitig empfundenen Todes wissenschaftlich durchsetzen konnte. Untersucht werden kulturelle, ökonomische und soziale Faktoren, die die zunehmenden Beschäftigung mit den Dimensionen Überlegungen zu einer Ausdehnung der begrenzten Lebensdauer beeinflussten, die Entwicklung der individuellen und familiären Wahrnehmung des vorzeitigen Todes sowie der Einfluss menschlichen Handels auf vermeidbare Todesfälle.' (Autorenreferat)'Up until the late-eighteenth century and beyond, premature death was a constant reality for individuals and their families irrespective of their social standing rather than an exceptional occurrence. Premature death is a theme which has given rise to wide-ranging discussions relating to its economic and social significance, its interpretation and commemoration, its cultural and political representation, and the role of medical practitioners and other professional groups in limiting its familial and societal impact. This paper will analyze the process by which the scale of premature death was scientifically established from the early eighteenth century onwards; examine the key factors which influenced the growing concern over the extent of truncated longevity; explore the ways in which private perceptions of premature death evolved over time; assess the role of human agency in responding to an avoidable loss of life; and discuss the cultural, economic and social significance of premature death.' (author's abstract

Guide to the Western Historical Manuscripts Collection

"April 1, 1957."This issue of the Guide to the Western Historical Manuscripts Collection supplements the previous Guide, published in 1952. It includes the acquisitions of the Collection since 1951, and combined with the earlier publication, constitutes a complete listing of the holdings of the Collection as of July l, 1956. John A. Galloway, for two years a staff member, now of the History Department at Arkansas State College, did the necessary research for the present bulletin, and prepared the manuscript. The manuscript was typed and the index prepared by Mrs. Jane R. Barry, of the staff of the Manuscripts Collection. The considerable growth of the Collection during the thirteen years of its existence has been facilitated greatly by the unremitting (and unremitted) efforts of friends of historical research and of the University of Missouri, some of them professional historians, but more of them just interested citizens. We are grateful. Sincerely, James N. Primm, Director.--Page 3.stats201910uploa

Fort Malden National Historic Park Archives Guide

Since its establishment in 1941, and particularly during its early years of operation, Fort Malden National Historic Park has acquired variety of manuscript materials, both relevant and irrelevant to its themes. In keeping with the early procedures for the receipt of items into the collections, much of this material is in the form of now untraceable loans, creating potentially permanent custodial situation. Whether thematically relevant or irrelevant, much of the material is historically invaluable and there exists an ethical obligation for its proper care and accessibility to legitimate researchers.https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/swoda-windsor-region/1009/thumbnail.jp

The diaries of Thomas Shone: 1820 settler, 1838-39 and 1850-59

I first read the diaries of Thomas Shone in 1971, when working on manuscripts in the Cory Library, Rhodes University, for the Dictionary of South African English on Historical Principles. The diaries were a significant source of South African English; but more than that, they created a moving and vivid picture of one man's life and personality, which made a deep impression. Written daily (unlike many other settler writings, which are reminiscences), the diaries proved to be a journey into the interior life of Thomas Shone, with all his guilt, pain and occasional joys, documented in his idiosyncratic style. Photographs show Thomas to have been a man with a determined, even hard, mouth, and piercing eyes under rather lowering brows. If he was like his son, Thomas junior, he was "erect and bright", and of the "typical Shone build, rather stumpy and fairly broad." His command of language suggests a good education and a sharp intellect, strangely at variance with his description as a labourer. His writing is imbued with the archaic ring of the King James Bible, and much of the charm of the diaries lies in their movement between the sublime and the mundane, as when Shone breaks a discussion of his need to be faithful to God, to note that "Sarah sat a hen on 22 eggs." Shone's diary is an intensely personal document, yet there are signs that he was at times conscious of a possible audience. His use of the phrase "My friends" to address his readers " is likely to have been part of a convention of the time, rather than overt acknowledgement of the presence of an audience; however at the most personal level of all, his relationship with his mistress, he was not explicit, but employed a form of code (.∶.) Furthermore, there is evidence that he kept a rough diary, from which he later made a neat copy. Thomas began his diary in order to record his attempt to stay away from drink, but his writing soon came to mean more to him than this. He gradually introduced notes on his daily activities, and his temptation to drink became just one part of a personal history. From 5 August 1838, when he first wrote of the loss of his wife, the diary became an important outlet for his misery. Despite his unhappiness, Thomas took delight in the use of sarcasm and wry humour to comment on the foibles of humanity. "Me and Billy went to Mandy's; I cut my thumb and three trees", he wrote; and "Indian corn bread makes my belly ache... (My relations have the mind ache; I believe it is worse than the belly ache.)" "Religion is flying away to other parts as fast as it can; the religion here is money, and Cattle and a covetious Spirit for other men's goods ", he grumbled of the Clumber community. The most effective (and prolonged) use of his gift for sharp conment may be found in his description of the watchnight service at Clumber. Shone seems to have possessed a natural flair for language, and used metaphor and simile to good effect, as in the following examples: "Now am I like a dove that as lost his mate"; Every thing seems quiet; I have still a war in my mind"; "Riches very often finds wing and flys away"; and "My mind is like the troubled sea, never at rest". He often showed an affinity for rhythm and alliteration, probably as a result of his familiarity with Biblical English: "These are my days of grief and sorrow"; "poor poverty"; and "Hard is my fate... all things seem to go contrary, strive which way I will." These examples of language provide a strong contrast with his reporting of everyday activities: Shone changes from one linguistic register into another in his movement from introspective to factual writing. At times Shone achieves an extraordinary vividness in his description of small incidents, as in his stories of encounters with monkeys, or his report of an altercation with his son Jack. One of the loveliest passages is his account of a day spent on his old location at Scott's Bottan. Thomas was "political" only insofar as politics touched his own life. For the political historian the diaries are frustrating; except for his descriptions of the War of Mlanjeni, Shone shows little interest in the wider issues of his time. However, the diaries show the complex web of relationships in a small community, and give insights into commercial interaction, domestic activities, marriage ties, religious attitudes, family behaviour and interpersonal conflicts, all set within the political tensions of the frontier society. As the diaries progressed, and Thomas Shone aged, he weed from being an active participant in the life of the frontier, to being an onlooker and commentator. Possessed of a mind (and tongue) which isolated him from many of his neighbours, he was no doubt also separated from his community by his relationship with Ann Hiscock and by his heavy drinking. The diaries became his vehicle for expressing the inexpressible; and in the end it was religion which gave him solace. It is the "interior" diary which provides much of the fascination which Shone's writings hold for the modern reader. Professor Guy Butler has pointed out that writing was a secondary activity for the settlers, whose chief preoccupation was survival in a difficult environment. Shone's diaries certainly reflect his economic struggle; but it is their portrayal of his pilgrimage through life which makes them remarkable

The diaries of Thomas Shone: 1820 settler, 1838-39 and 1850-59

I first read the diaries of Thomas Shone in 1971, when working on manuscripts in the Cory Library, Rhodes University, for the Dictionary of South African English on Historical Principles. The diaries were a significant source of South African English; but more than that, they created a moving and vivid picture of one man's life and personality, which made a deep impression. Written daily (unlike many other settler writings, which are reminiscences), the diaries proved to be a journey into the interior life of Thomas Shone, with all his guilt, pain and occasional joys, documented in his idiosyncratic style. Photographs show Thomas to have been a man with a determined, even hard, mouth, and piercing eyes under rather lowering brows. If he was like his son, Thomas junior, he was "erect and bright", and of the "typical Shone build, rather stumpy and fairly broad." His command of language suggests a good education and a sharp intellect, strangely at variance with his description as a labourer. His writing is imbued with the archaic ring of the King James Bible, and much of the charm of the diaries lies in their movement between the sublime and the mundane, as when Shone breaks a discussion of his need to be faithful to God, to note that "Sarah sat a hen on 22 eggs." Shone's diary is an intensely personal document, yet there are signs that he was at times conscious of a possible audience. His use of the phrase "My friends" to address his readers " is likely to have been part of a convention of the time, rather than overt acknowledgement of the presence of an audience; however at the most personal level of all, his relationship with his mistress, he was not explicit, but employed a form of code (.∶.) Furthermore, there is evidence that he kept a rough diary, from which he later made a neat copy. Thomas began his diary in order to record his attempt to stay away from drink, but his writing soon came to mean more to him than this. He gradually introduced notes on his daily activities, and his temptation to drink became just one part of a personal history. From 5 August 1838, when he first wrote of the loss of his wife, the diary became an important outlet for his misery. Despite his unhappiness, Thomas took delight in the use of sarcasm and wry humour to comment on the foibles of humanity. "Me and Billy went to Mandy's; I cut my thumb and three trees", he wrote; and "Indian corn bread makes my belly ache... (My relations have the mind ache; I believe it is worse than the belly ache.)" "Religion is flying away to other parts as fast as it can; the religion here is money, and Cattle and a covetious Spirit for other men's goods ", he grumbled of the Clumber community. The most effective (and prolonged) use of his gift for sharp conment may be found in his description of the watchnight service at Clumber. Shone seems to have possessed a natural flair for language, and used metaphor and simile to good effect, as in the following examples: "Now am I like a dove that as lost his mate"; Every thing seems quiet; I have still a war in my mind"; "Riches very often finds wing and flys away"; and "My mind is like the troubled sea, never at rest". He often showed an affinity for rhythm and alliteration, probably as a result of his familiarity with Biblical English: "These are my days of grief and sorrow"; "poor poverty"; and "Hard is my fate... all things seem to go contrary, strive which way I will." These examples of language provide a strong contrast with his reporting of everyday activities: Shone changes from one linguistic register into another in his movement from introspective to factual writing. At times Shone achieves an extraordinary vividness in his description of small incidents, as in his stories of encounters with monkeys, or his report of an altercation with his son Jack. One of the loveliest passages is his account of a day spent on his old location at Scott's Bottan. Thomas was "political" only insofar as politics touched his own life. For the political historian the diaries are frustrating; except for his descriptions of the War of Mlanjeni, Shone shows little interest in the wider issues of his time. However, the diaries show the complex web of relationships in a small community, and give insights into commercial interaction, domestic activities, marriage ties, religious attitudes, family behaviour and interpersonal conflicts, all set within the political tensions of the frontier society. As the diaries progressed, and Thomas Shone aged, he weed from being an active participant in the life of the frontier, to being an onlooker and commentator. Possessed of a mind (and tongue) which isolated him from many of his neighbours, he was no doubt also separated from his community by his relationship with Ann Hiscock and by his heavy drinking. The diaries became his vehicle for expressing the inexpressible; and in the end it was religion which gave him solace. It is the "interior" diary which provides much of the fascination which Shone's writings hold for the modern reader. Professor Guy Butler has pointed out that writing was a secondary activity for the settlers, whose chief preoccupation was survival in a difficult environment. Shone's diaries certainly reflect his economic struggle; but it is their portrayal of his pilgrimage through life which makes them remarkable

A study of the personal literature written in the Eastern Cape in the nineteenth century

The evidence of these diaries, all written in the nineteenth century, reveals the heterogeneous nature of early settler society in the Eastern Cape. Generalizations can only be of the most tenuous kind in such a small sample; but women tend to dwell on the domestic, the men on their public lives, the most reticent about their private lives are the soldiers. There is one diary which can be described as personal; the diarists did not regard their diaries as appropriate repositories of their personal triumphs and failures. The perceptions formed in Britain about the land and people of Africa are not drastically modified upon arrival unless the diarist experiences a prolongued contact with either

An overview of translation history in South Africa 1652-1860

Abstract This research report comprises an outline of South African translation history in the years 1652 – 1860. The report is divided into three chapters, covering scriptural and secular translation history across two time periods, namely 1652-1750 (scriptural and secular), 1750-1860 (scriptural) and 1750-1860 (secular). A catalogue of translations done in these time periods is also included. The research methodology is based on hermeneutical principles, and therefore seeks to interpret and represent historical material in a way that makes it relevant for contemporary circumstances, always focusing on the individuals involved in events as well as taking into account the subjectivity of the researcher. In conclusion, but also as a part of the overall rationale for performing the research, the report discusses the immediate importance to modern society of understanding the historical linguistic dynamics between cultures, as represented in translation activity

The interaction between the missionaries of the Cape eastern frontier and the colonial authorities in the era of Sir George Grey, 1854-1861.

Master of Art in Historical Studies. University of KwaZulu-Natal. Durban, 1984.In the work of radical historians and in Xhosa tradition the Cattle Killing has become the supreme example of the deliberately destructive impact of a colonial governor, helped by missionaries, on the Black peoples of the eastern frontier of the Cape. This figure of controversy, Sir George Grey, was Governor of the Cape and High Commissioner from 1854-1861. As a civilian, he sought to pacify the Xhosa through 'civilization1 and education. To do this he enlisted the help of the frontier missionaries, who themselves desired a stable Xhosa society to aid their work. The result, it has been alleged, was the final demise of effective Xhosa resistance to the encroachment of imperial forces and white settler society. By the early 1850s the work of the missionaries on the frontier was at an all-time low. And so they certainly did hope that Grey's plans, of which the extension of education was part, would provide a long-sought breakthrough for them. But this, in turn, has led to the accusation that the missionaries acted merely as mercenary imperial agents and as a 'collaborating group' for the extension of colonial authority over the Xhosa, rather than for the benefit of their would- be converts. Because of the nature of the allegations, it seemed a significant historical exercise to investigate more closely the nature and extent of the links which the missionaries did in fact forge with Sir George Grey. It must be admitted that Grey's frontier plans, together with the steady erosion of traditional society over the years, economic distress in the mid-1850s, and the Cattle Killing dealt a deathblow to effective Xhosa resistance to colonial encroachment. Radical historians have blamed Grey and the missionaries of deliberately engineering the Cattle Killing for their own Machiavellian purposes. There is not enough evidence to convict Grey on this charge, but certainly his actions, or lack of them, during the crisis suggest that once the Cattle Killing had started he deliberately allowed it to develop to the point where the Xhosa could be more easily subordinated. It can not, with any justification, be said that the missionaries had a part either in instigating or maintaining the crisis, though they were not slow to hope for some advantage from it in the shape of a more receptive Xhosa nation driven by adversity to 'humble themselves before God1 and accept conversion. The Xhosa were deeply divided over Nongqawuse's prophecy - which was a fact that tended to work very much to Grey's advantage. He also used the crisis to break the chiefs who survived the disaster and to evict Sarhili from his ancestral land in Kaffraria Proper. On what seems to have been fabricated evidence, Grey accused Sarhili, together with Moshoe- shoe, of plotting the Cattle Killing to force the Xhosa into war with the Colony. Far from this being the case, the Cattle Killing should rather be regarded both as a millenarian movement and as a feature of a so-called 'closing' frontier. Grey had hoped to use the crisis to extend his 'civilizing' plans to Kaffraria Proper; but though his expulsion of Sarhili to beyond the Mbashe River prepared the way, he did not receive official sanction to go ahead with his plans. This, together with other setbacks to his plans, may well have led Grey to accept a transfer to New Zealand in 1861, sooner than had been expected. It has been suggested that the Cattle Killing resulted in an unprecedented advance by the missionaries, but detailed investigation of their records has shown this to be untrue. The influence attributed to the missionaries has, thus, been somewhat overrated and their links with Grey, who was essentially a man of independent and arbitrary action, exaggerated. Although their converts were few, missionaries did, however, foster far-reaching changes in traditional society. One of the most notable was the growth of peasant communities around the stations, which supplied a viable alternative to wage labour in the pre-capitalist colonial society. They also contributed to the stratification of Xhosa society and to the creation of an educated elite which would become leaders in a new industrial situation of contracting options. Grey was Governor at a time when the frontier was in the process of closing. A study of his era is, thus, relevant not only in terms of the relationship between the missionaries and the personality embodying the authority of the colonial state - and their consequent combined impact on Xhosa history but also in terms of more general frontier studies