Main Page Before 1796 1796 -1799 1800 - 1819 1820s Late 19th Century Litton Mill Land Ownership Slack & Mill Connections Living Conditions Robert Blincoe Censuses 1841 - 1891

LIVING CONDITIONS AT LITTONSLACK Life and Death From around 1820 more detail, including the age of the individual, was included in the records of deaths. The attached list of deaths for Littonslack up to 1837 shows the stark realities of infant mortality Note the entries for the year 1838.  In this one year 6 children died  (from just the 10 cottages). At the end of July 3 children died in one week. But LIFE on the Slack could not have been dull. Each cottage had just one decent sized living room, a small kitchen and 2 bedrooms. The 10 (dry) toilets were in a row at the Westerley end of the cottages. In 1841 and 1851 the census shows 66 and 67 people respectively living in the 10 cottages. In 1851 one cottage is shown with 13 occupants (although in these years, cottages on the Slack of 10 or 11 people were common). A copy of the census page and a transcript for the cottage with 13 occupants are reproduced here. Most cottages follow a similar make up ...husband and wife ... a good number of children ..a few relatives and usuallly one or 2 lodgers. Ellen (above) gave birth to a Bastard daughter in September 1841. She named her Mary Ann.  Mary Ann died aged 10 weeks.