Woosters at the time of the Cholera epidemics in England

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Woosters at the time of the Cholera epidemics in England - Part 1
By Mike White

Where possible the ID reference has been included for those Woosters that have been identified as persons on the Great Wooster Tree (GWT); and all searches for Wooster included Worster, Woster, and Worcester.

My 3x great-grandparents, Thomas Wooster (1804-1886) (I00581) and Charlotte, nee Bradbury (I00886), were raising a family in West Wycombe at the time of the 1832 cholera epidemic. Charlotte was pregnant with her third child, Aaron, who was baptised on the 5th Aug 1832, and she already had two children to look after, William (abt. 5yrs) and Thomas (abt. 3yrs). How were their lives affected by the cholera epidemics? Did any family members, relatives or neighbours die from cholera? What do we know about the lives of other Wooster ancestors during the cholera epidemics in the 19th Century? Did they experience the same problems we are facing during the current corona-virus pandemic? Did any of them die from cholera? Stuck at home, self-isolating during this period of lockdown, was a good time to explore the online records to see what life was like for our Wooster ancestors during the cholera epidemics.

The Four Cholera Epidemics
Between 1832 and 1866, four cholera epidemics struck Great Britain, as part of pandemic outbreaks that affected the entire globe. The 1832 epidemic started in the autumn of 1831 with a few cases in Sunderland and then spread to other parts of the country the following year. The second epidemic, of 1848-1849 showed a similar pattern, with an initial wave in the autumn of 1848 and a national outbreak in the summer of 1849. The third outbreak in the mid 1850's was concentrated in London, and the last major outbreak in Britain was in 1866 [1 and 2].
In 1832 there were no accurate means of recording the number of deaths due to cholera as civil registration did not commence until 1 Jul 1837. Reporting of cholera deaths was voluntary and it was known that the disease was prevalent in several places from which no returns were received. This was especially the case for coastal resorts and other places whose prosperity depended on visitors who might be deterred by the cholera threat [3]. The number of cholera deaths in Great Britain during this first cholera epidemic was reported as 31,376 with a further 21,171 in Ireland [4].
When the cholera returned in 1848, the requirement for registration of all deaths facilitated a more accurate compilation of mortality data. In England and Wales in 1849 there were 53,293 cholera deaths and a further 18,887 deaths from diarrhoea which could be attributed to the cholera [4].

On the 20th October 1831, the Privy Council issued instructions for certain rules and regulations to be "....circulated in all the principal ports, creeks and other stations of the United Kingdom .... for purpose of preventing the introduction and spreading of the disease called Cholera Morbus...". When the posters appeared in Exeter three days later, "...the effect which was produced upon the public mind may well be conceived. The historic horrors of the ancient plague were recalled to memory, and all became busied in the gloomy anticipations of the future." However, in the papers there was a continuing bitter and vehement dispute waging on the existence or non-existence of the Cholera and some even thought that the pretended existence of cholera was a conspiracy "...got up for the destruction of our commercial relations." [5]

Comparison with COVID-19
As we are in lockdown during the current corona-virus pandemic, we can perhaps relate to how people felt at the time of the cholera epidemics. Although the total number of COVID 19 deaths in the UK, currently 41,662 as of 13 June 2020 [6], is still significantly lower than the number of cholera deaths in 1849, especially given that the current population is more than twice that at the time of the 1851 census. Those of us self-isolating, relying on friends or on-line shopping for food deliveries, can also relate to Regulation 7 in the notice issued before the 1832 cholera epidemic: Where removal of the sick from the healthy cannot be effected, all unnecessary communication should be avoided with the public out of doors; all articles of food, or other necessaries required by the family, should be placed in front of the house, and received by one of the inhabitants of the house, after the person delivering them shall have retired [5].

Wooster Cholera Deaths
So, did any of our Wooster ancestors die of the cholera? During lockdown, without access to copies of death certificates, this is difficult to answer and for the 1832 cholera epidemic we are reliant on those foresighted vicars who recorded the cause of death in the parish register of burials. An online search of family history databases for Wooster burials in England in 1832 resulted in only seven records but none were in Buckinghamshire and none gave cholera as a cause of death, although only two of the Parish Registers recorded any cholera deaths and some of those deaths occurred before cholera had arrived in that parish.
For cholera deaths during the 1849 epidemic we have the possibility of exploring the GRO index of deaths. A search on FreeBMD for all Wooster deaths between Sep 1837 and Dec 1870 shows a small but significant peak of ten Wooster deaths in 1849 Quarter 3. Only two of these were in Buckinghamshire; Harriet Wooster, age 46, Amersham, and Sarah Wooster, age 3, Amersham. Several of the Woosters who died at this time are on the Great Wooster Tree (GWT) but for those that are not there remains the challenge of researching their family history and seeing if they are related to any of the Woosters in the GWT; some potential stories for future newsletters! In this article I have focused on researching the lives of a few of the Woosters, mostly around the time of the first and second cholera epidemics. In addition to deaths and burial records, the newspaper archives give us an interesting insight into the lives of Woosters around this time.

Richard Worster of Ely
Richard Worster, was a butcher, living with his wife Mary (nee Shearman) in Ely when the cholera arrived on the 17th March 1832. The parish register shows that they appear to have had numerous children, although many died as infants and their names were re-used for subsequent children. One of their children, Richard, was baptised 24th November 1831 in the parish of Ely Trinity, but died during the cholera outbreak and was buried on 26th March 1832. Did he die from cholera? The parish register does not identify any cholera deaths but shows that infant deaths were quite frequent. The Local Board of Health in Ely kept a register of the 1832 cholera deaths, but it does not include any Woosters, so the infant Richard is unlikely to have been a cholera victim [7]. Ely largely escaped the 1848-49 epidemic with only 6 cholera deaths in 1848 and 3 cholera deaths in 1849 plus 13 diarrhoea deaths probably due to cholera [4]. Richard Worster, the butcher, had built up quite a good reputation in Ely for the quality of his beef, especially at Christmas Shews [8a, 8b and 8c], although his business suffered from the predation of rival butchers, as when in 1837 two of his sheep were butchered and stolen [8d]. However, his bullocks were a cause for concern when the cholera returned to Ely in 1853 [8e]. The first victim that year was James Eusden, who lived with his wife Rebecca in one of five cottages in Powers Court, Broad Street. He died on Saturday 29th October and an inquest was held into his death on the following Monday; he was buried on 1st November. The cottages shared a yard "in a foul and miry condition" with just one shared privy in a corner of the yard, which was "in a most dilapidated condition. The floor had been broken up and removed and its place was occupied by semi-fluid, which stood exactly level with the soil. The smell was pestilential. At another corner was an open well the water of which stands within two feet of the surface." One of the cottagers stated that he did not use the privy, he goes "200 yards off, to Taylors opposite the Blackbirds [Inn]....and water for washing is fetched from the river or bought". Giving evidence at the inquest, Rebecca claimed, "The well in the yard is only used for cleaning floors; it was good water until Mr. Worster had bullocks in the adjoining yard; he spoilt the water first." To be fair James Eusden appears to have been a grumpy and obstinate character, and was as much to blame; constable Richard Toombs had visited the cottages at Powers Court on 2nd October to deliver notices with respect to the removal of nuisances and the prevention of cholera. He delivered a notice to the deceased in person, but Mr Eusden, "using an expression not for publication", threw it back at the constable and told him to "take it back to them that sent it!" At the time of the 1841 and 1851 Census, Richard Worster and his family were living on Fore Hill, in the parish of Holy Trinity, Ely, which adjoins Broad Street, so it seems likely that it was Richard who kept bullocks nearby in the yard adjoining Powers Court.
Richard Worster died in 1856 leaving his widow Mary to settle any outstanding debts and to thank the public "for the liberal support she has received during the last 40 years" [8f]. Even so, the following year she was having to sue Mr. Simper, another butcher, for £6 14s. 9d. for meat supplied [8g]. After a legal objection about probate "the matter was subsequently settled by the parties", which must have been a relief to Mary given the number of children she had to support. Many years later, in 1894, a local resident of Ely, in a letter to the editor of the Westminster Gazette, commented on the epitaph on Richard's tombstone in the cemetery at Ely, which reads, "Sacred to the memory of Richard Worster, Who died May 11th, 1856, Aged 73 years. Look upon my affliction, O Lord, and forgive all my sins. Also to the memory of 22 Sons and 5 Daughters." [8h] Is this a Wooster Family record?

Buckinghamshire and the First Epidemic
The cholera reached Aylesbury around the 23rd June 1832 with 15 cases and 5 deaths [8i]. The Bucks Gazette quotes, "As usual, it is at present confining itself to the most filthy abodes". One case appeared in the gaol, where earlier in the year Thomas Wooster, aged 23, was awaiting trial, charged with stealing a quantity of beans and peas, value 5s [8j]. There were 105 cholera deaths in Buckinghamshire in 1832 [9], but as mentioned earlier, no Woosters appear to be amongst those who died. Aylesbury was the worst affected with 60 cholera deaths, with a further 20 deaths in nearby Olney [9]. The surgeon, Robert Ceely, had first-hand experience of treating cholera cases in Aylesbury during the 1832 epidemic. Writing in the Bucks Herald, he states, "the great mass of the bad cases and most of the deaths [in Aylesbury] arose amongst the poor and labouring classes". The locations which suffered the most were Castle Street, especially in its alleys, Duck Street, Whitehall Place, with its courts and passages behind the church, Walton Street near the brook and in the yards, courts and alleys beyond, and in the lanes and passages leading to Buckingham Road, Bierton Road and Cambridge Road [8k].

Joseph Worster - Boatman
According to the records of baptisms and the 1841 Census records, most of the Woosters in Aylesbury around the time of this first epidemic were living outside the town, in Wendover, Buckland and Aston Clinton, although there was a Joseph Worster, age 22, boatman, staying with the George family on Chapel Row, off Walton Street, one of the areas that suffered from the cholera. However, he would only have been about 13 years old at the time of the 1832 epidemic and was born outside the county, so he may not have experienced the cholera epidemic in Aylesbury. A few years later, on Saturday 18th December 1841, at the Aylesbury Petty Session, a Joseph Wooster (possibly the aforementioned Joseph Worster) and James Lay, boatmen who worked the boat called Richard, were brought up in custody, charged with stealing a tarpaulin from the wharf-yard in Aylesbury [8m]. On this occasion they appear to have got off lightly; they were "bound in the sum of £10 each, and one surety of £5, to appear at the next Sessions." No newspaper report was found for their appearance at the next Sessions, but only a couple of months later James Lay met with a fatal accident when bringing a boatload of goods to Aylesbury [8m]. Passing through the locks at Wilston, near Tring, he neglected to take out the tiller, which struck him violently on the head and knocked him down. He exclaimed "Oh my God," and immediately expired! Was Joseph Worster on the boat at that time to hear his mate's exclamation? A few years later in January 1848, Joseph Wooster, boatman, was back in trouble again. He was indicted, along with William Burton, for having stolen 4cwt coal from another boat. This time he was found guilty and sentenced to six weeks hard labour in the House of Correction [8p]. Joseph survived the cholera epidemic of 1848-49, as on the 21st May 1861 he again appeared at a Petty Session in Great Berkhampstead [sic], charged with assaulting James Tarsey [8q]. The parties were anxious to come to some arrangement amongst themselves and were allowed to go out of the court and settle the affair!

The Second Epidemic in Buckinghamshire
The second cholera epidemic arrived in Buckinghamshire in the autumn of 1848, the time of the Royal Bucks Agricultural Association annual ploughing match, held this year in Beaconsfield on 19th September [8r]. It was business as usual for the farmers and spectators; "The weather was most beautiful, the attendance numerous, and the ploughing of the best description." Joseph Worster, ploughman to Mr J.L. Manning, was one of the competitors for Prize Plough. Although not a winner, Joseph and his master may well have been amongst the 60 or 70 guests enjoying the celebration dinner at 3 o'clock in the White Heart Inn. After dinner there was much hilarity and good humour with several speeches each followed by a toast, which was drunk with "three times three", and a glee (a song for men's voices in three or more parts). After a break in the proceedings for the Judges to award the prizes the event continued into the evening with yet more speeches, toasts and glees; a well-earned celebration for Joseph Worster and his master.
Ploughing expertise must be in the Wooster genes as, a couple of weeks later, on Tuesday 10th October 1848, at a ploughing match in Wendover, Mr. J. Wooster, ploughman to Mr J.L. Manning, won the first prize of £1:10s, with second prize going to Thomas Wooster, ploughman to Mr J. Philips. Mr Joseph Wooster [I00191], farmer, also entered his ploughman, Joseph Wells who won fourth prize [8s]. Only two weeks later, on Monday 23rd October 1848 James Wooster[I00154], also ploughman to Mr. J.L. Manning, won the first prize of £2 for ploughing in the best manner at the Tring Agricultural Show [8t]. Each competitor had to have been in the employment of their master for at least six months and had to plough half-an-acre of land within four hours, using two horses abreast.
The following year it was the turn of John Wooster, ploughman to Mr Manning, to win the first prize of £3 in the ploughing competition at the agricultural show in Wendover on Wednesday 12th September 1849 [8u]. However, other newspapers reported that it was James Wooster who won first prize! During the after-dinner speeches a toast was proposed to "The health of the Chairman and President of the day". In his response, the Chairman commented that "He had been told that the cholera was amongst them. But he was glad to say that the Royal Bucks Agricultural Association had not suffered yet from any attacks of that epidemic."

Emigration
Some of the Woosters managed to avoid the cholera by leaving the country. Thomas Worster joined the navy on 2nd July 1822 at the age of 25, and at the time of the 1832 cholera epidemic he was a boatswain aboard HMS Ariadne [10]. He had joined the ship on 10 Dec 1830 shortly after it was leaving St Helena in the picture below [11]. According to the log of HMS Conway [12], HMS Ariadne and HMS Victor were supposedly expected at Halifax, Canada, on 15 September 1832, at the time of the first cholera epidemic back in England. What happened to delay them will have to wait until the log of HMS Ariadne can be examined at the National Archives. It was whilst serving on HMS Ariadne that Thomas fractured his leg and spent a few weeks in hospital from 23rd July 1833 to 15th October 1833. Thomas Worster, mariner, married Maria Smith on 6th March 1830 in the parish of Stoke Damerel, Plymouth. On 12th December 1837, Thomas, "considering the perils and dangers of the seas", signed his will leaving everything to his wife Maria, who was living in Hardway near Gosport. After more than 10 years of married life and with a secure job in the navy, he appears to have got himself into financial difficulties, as the Exeter and Plymouth Gazette reported that he was due to appear at court in Exeter on 26th November 1841 as an insolvent debtor. His service record ends on 30th Jun 1843, possibly due to ill health as he died soon afterwards on 28th January 1844. His wife, Maria, then had to make a claim for the money owed her by the Royal Navy, which she eventually received in July 1844 [13].



H.M. Frigate Ariadne [right] escorting East India Company ships leaving St Helena July 1830 [11]


Jonathan and Druscilla Wooster
Joining the navy was not the only way of leaving the country to avoid the cholera. Several countries and islands, like Australia and Bermuda were said to have been exempt from the visitation of epidemic cholera [14]; although cholera did reach Australia in 1832 it persisted only briefly [15]. Perhaps this was why Jonathan Wooster [I04022], his wife, Druscilla and their infant daughter Ellen, set off from Wycombe, with another family, on the morning of 20th January 1849 to Deptford where a few days later they would board the James Gibb to start a new life in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia [8v]. Both families obtained a free passage from her Majesty's Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners. On leaving their hometown they were accompanied for a short distance along the road towards London by friends and relatives who left them with "hearty wishes for their future prosperity and happiness".

Timothy Wooster
Other Wooster ancestors got a free passage to Australia for different reasons. Timothy Wooster [I01638] was a notorious thieve in High Wycombe. In 1823, barely 16 years old, Timothy and two accomplices, Richard Briggs and George Wootton, were charged at Chepping Wycombe with stealing a copper coffee-pot and two brass candlesticks [8w]. Fortunately for them, a principal witness was unable to attend due to illness, so the evidence failed to incriminate the prisoners and the jury were directed by the judge to return a verdict of Not Guilty. Timothy was not reformed by this event and appears to have continued with a life of crime, clocking up a string of offences until 29 January 1829 when he and John Dell stole two tubs of butter [8x]. On the 7th March 1829 at Buckinghamshire assizes, both were sentenced to be Transported for Seven Years. By 1832, the time of the first cholera epidemic in England, he was still finding it difficult to adjust to the harsh conditions of his sentence; on 6th June he was sentenced to 3 months imprisonment with hard labour for disobedience of orders![Notes from Tanya Pritchard on GWT]

Henry Featherstonhaugh Wooster
If you were prepared to pay for you own passage, then in May 1832, H.F. Wooster was offering superior accommodations aboard the barque Astrea (272 tons), which was under contract with the Navy Board to take some cargo to St George's, Bermuda[8y]. Henry Featherstonhaugh Wooster appears to have been a successful broker, shipwright, ship owner and corn chandler, frequently advertising in the newspapers, so it was a surprise to discover that he was declared bankrupt in October 1849[16]. The 1849 cholera epidemic may have affected his business, but he had already had a serious setback in November 1846 when his house in Deptford caught fire and was destroyed along with the valuable furniture and all their clothes. With flames rolling up the staircase, Mrs Wooster, who was about 6 months pregnant at the time, was trapped on the landing but she managed to escape with her three children by jumping from one of the upper windows[8z]. Charles was born the following year on the 12th February and does not appear to have been adversely affected by the ordeal as he had a long life, dying at the age of 93 in Australia [GWT].

Woosters in High Wycombe
So, did the cholera affect the lives of my 3xgreat-grandparents, Thomas and Charlotte Wooster, living in West Wycombe? In High Wycombe in 1849, there were 43 cholera deaths and 7 diarrhoea deaths. The first case of cholera occurred in High Wycombe on 3rd August 1849, a butcher's daughter aged 8[4]. A month later, on account of the number of cholera deaths in the town, a "day of fasting and humiliation" was held on Thursday 6th September. Most of the shops were closed, and business for the most part suspended. Early prayer meetings were held in the parish church, several places of worship made collections for the relief of those families who had suffered from cholera[8aa]. The greatest mortality appears to have taken place at Newland [aka New Land or Newlands], an expansion of the town to the west of the town centre, built on low-lying, water-logged meadows, where 17 deaths occurred during September and October[4]. This is where some of the poorest people lived during the nineteenth and early twentieth century[17 and 18]. Houses were crammed together with several families sharing one privy, which they emptied into the Wye, and wells providing drinking water were within yards of a privy.

The backs of the dwellings in Rosa Place, Newlands 1934 before demolition, showing the close proximity of the houses.

Taken from SWOP - Sharing Wycombe's Old Photographs website.
In 1841 there were three Wooster households living in Newland, High Wycombe. Firstly, there was Elizabeth Wooster, age 80 and Elizabeth Wooster age 65, living at New Land Hunts Row. No corresponding death could be found for an Elizabeth age 80 ± 5yrs, so she maybe the Elizabeth Wooster who died 7th October 1849 age 100 years and 7 months[19a and b]. Although her death occurred during the cholera epidemic, the cause of death on the certificate was "Old Age". The younger Elizabeth was still living in Newland in 1851, but died the following year. Next, we have three Aron Wosters [sic], aged 70, 45 and 70, living together in Newland Elephant Castle. A search of the GWT suggests that these may be Aaron Wooster[I5297] who died in 1850 and his uncle [I00440] who died in 1845 and a second cousin of the uncle [I00231], who at the time of the 1851 Census was a pauper age 86, in the Wycombe Union workhouse. Finally, we have James [I00236] and Esther [I00240] Woster, and their three children James age 15, Caroline age 14 and Maria age 7. The family were still living in Newland in 1851. Caroline had married Francis Gray in 1843 and appears to have moved to St Georges, London where she had two children Mary (b. 1847) and George (b. 1849), but she was back in Newland at the time of the 1851 Census. The Woosters of High Wycombe may have escaped the cholera epidemics of 1832 and 1849 despite the poor living conditions, but life was still a struggle for some, perhaps even because of the fear and anxiety caused by the cholera epidemics.

In 1850 Catherine Wooster [I6261], was admitted to Warburton's Lunatic Asylum in Bethnal Green. Her husband, Moses Wooster [I04026], a blacksmith journeyman and brother of the younger Aron Woster from Newland, High Wycombe, was ordered to pay 4s per week at High Wycombe Petty Sessions, towards her maintenance[8ab].

Maria Woster [I00242], the youngest daughter of James and Esther Woster of Newland, became a wayward young lady, in trouble with the law. Maria had been imprisoned twice; one month for being a common prostitute and behaving in a riotous and indecent manner in October 1853[8ac] and one month for vagrancy in May 1854[8ad]. On the 15th December 1855, Maria had a more serious brush with the law. Late that night she was walking up the Hughenden Road with James Lane, who had just left the White Hart Inn at 11pm, when Mr Lane was allegedly assaulted by two men who stole a gold sovereign and 4 half sovereigns from him. She was locked up with the two suspects and appeared as a witness in March 1856 at the trial of the two men who were charged with assault and violently stealing[8ae]. The jury returned a verdict of Not Guilty, but was Maria just picking up another 'client' that night or was she an accomplice of the two suspects? What happened to Maria after this is yet to be discovered, but she appears to have kept out of any further trouble with the law. In 1861 she was still in Newland living with her brother James and his family and it appears that she died in the first quarter of 1871 at the age of 38.

Thomas & Charlotte
My Wooster ancestors living in West Wycombe, the source of the river Wye, some 3½ miles upstream of High Wycombe, appear to have been spared most of the effects of the cholera. One wonders though whether the children of my 3xgreat-grandparents, especially Thomas Wooster, my 2xgreat-grandfather, who was of a similar age to Maria Wooster, knew her when she was a child or of her later reputation as a prostitute; or indeed that they were related, fourth cousins once removed! Perhaps not!

Sources

[1] Romola Jane Davenport, Max Satchell & Leigh Matthew William Shaw-Taylor (2019) Cholera as a 'sanitary test' of British cities, 1831-1866, The History of the Family, 24:2, 404-438 (www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1081602X.2018.1525755; accessed 3 May 2020).
[2] Gilbert, Pamela K. "On Cholera in Nineteenth-Century England." BRANCH: Britain, Representation and Nineteenth-Century History. Ed. Dino Franco Felluga. Extension of Romanticism and Victorianism on the Net. Web. (www.branchcollective.org; accessed 3 May 2020).
[3] R.D. Grainger, Report of the General Board of Health on the Epidemic Cholera of 1848 & 1849, London 1850, HMSO. (https://wellcomelibrary.org/; accessed 14 June 2020).
[4] William Farr, Report on the Mortality of Cholera in England 1848-1849. London 1852, HMSO. (https://kora.matrix.msu.edu/files/21/120/15-78-1EE-22-GRO-1852-Report48-49.pdf; accessed 14 June 2020).
[5] Thomas Shapter M.D, A History of Cholera in Exeter in 1832 (available from Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/b21363821/page/n9/mode/2up; accessed 1 May 2020).
[6] Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the UK (https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/; accessed 14 June 2020).
[7] Reg Holmes, "That Alarming Malady" (1974). The extracted list of cholera deaths in 1832 in Ely available at https://sites.rootsweb.com/~engcam/history/cholera.html (accessed 28 May 2020).
[8] The British Newspaper Archive (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk):
[8i] Buckinghamshire continued; Bucks Gazette - Saturday 23 June 1832.
[8j] Bucks Assizes; Bucks Gazette - Saturday 25 February 1832.
[8k] Robert Ceeley, Alyesbury and its drains and cottages, Bucks Herald, Saturday 14th October 1848.
[8m] Magistrates' Chamber Aylesbury, December 18, Bucks Herald - Saturday 25 December 1841.
[8n] Fatal Accident, Bucks Gazette - Saturday 05 March 1842.
[8p] Bucks Epiphany Sessions, Wednesday, Bucks Herald - Saturday 08 January 1848.
[8q] Great Berkhampstead Petty Session, Tuesday May 21, A Boatman's Quarrels, Bucks Chronicle and Bucks Gazette - Saturday 25 May 1861.
[8r] The Royal Bucks Agricultural Association, Bucks Herald - Saturday 23 September 1848.
[8s] Wendover Ploughing Match, Bucks Chronicle and Bucks Gazette - Saturday 14 October 1848.
[8t] Tring Agricultural Association, Bucks Chronicle and Bucks Gazette - Saturday 28 October 1848.
[8u] Wendover, Royal Bucks Agricultural Association, Bucks Herald - Saturday 15 September 1849.
[8v] Emigration, Bucks Herald - Saturday 20 January 1849.
[8w] Bucks Summer Assizes, Windsor and Eton Express - Saturday 19 July 1823.
[8x] Aylesbury, Windsor and Eton Express - Saturday 07 February 1829.
[8y] Advertisement, Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser - Wednesday 02 May 1832.
[8z] Extensive Fire at Deptford, The Evening Chronicle - Monday 09 November 1846.
[8aa] High Wycombe, Bucks Chronicle and Bucks Gazette - Saturday 15 September 1849.
[8ab] High Wycombe Petty Sessions, May 11, Bucks Herald - Saturday 18 May 1850.
[8ac] Wycombe, Borough Petty Sessions, Bucks Herald - Saturday 15 October 1853.
[8ad] Aylesbury, Commitments, Bucks Herald - Saturday 27 May 1854.
[8ae] Highway Robbery, Bucks Herald - Saturday 15 March 1856.
[9] Charles Creighton, A History of Epidemics in Britain, Volume II (of 2). The Project Gutenberg eBook, available at https://www.gutenberg.org/files/43671/43671-h/43671-h.htm (accessed 4 May 2020).
[10] Thomas Worster, Service Record, National Archives, Kew; ADM 29/24/63.
[11] Edward Duncan, William John Huggins; The Honourable East India Company's Ship Inglis (1812)... leaving St Helena, in July 1830 In Company with H.M. Frigate Ariadne (1816) and the H.C.Ships Windsor (1818), Waterloo (1816), Scaleby Castle (1807), General Kidd, Farquharson (1820) & Lowther Castle; Royal Museums Greenwich (https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/148409.html; accessed 4 June 2020).
[12] Alfie Windsor, HMS Conway 1859 - 1974 (www.hmsconway.org/history_second.html; accessed 4 June 2020).
[13] Thomas Worster, Superannuated Boatswain, who died 28 January 1844. Notes on executor's application for money owed by the Royal Navy. National Archives, Kew; ADM 45/17/107.
[14] Sir Charles Alexander Gordon, Notes on the hygiene of cholera, Balliere, Tindall, & Cox, 1877, page 78 (https://books.google.co.uk/; accessed 5 June2020)
[15] Blake P. 1994. Endemic Cholera in Australia and the United States, p 309-319. In Wachsmuth I, Blake P, Olsvik Ø (ed), Vibrio cholerae and Cholera. ASM Press, Washington, DC (www.asmscience.org/content/book/10.1128/9781555818364.chap20; accessed 13 June 2020).
[16] The London Gazette, 12 October 1849, Issue:21028 Page:3063 (www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/21028/page/3063; accessed 5 June 2020).
[17] Martin Andrew, Buckinghamshire Privies, Countryside Books, Newbury, Berks. 1998.
[18] Bucks County Museum, A Brief History of High Wycombe (www.buckscountymuseum.org; accessed 15 June 2020).
[19a] Personal communication from Kate Clarke, member of the Wooster Family Group, who provided a copy of the Death Certificate for Elizabeth Wooster, died aged 100 years.
[19b] The British Newspaper Archive. Died, Windsor and Eton Express - Saturday 13 October 1849 (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk).

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