Little Jane Gardner was my maternal grandfather's baby sister. She was born at home in Evelyn St, East Brighton, Victoria, on 13th September 1905, the day of parents Jane and Charles 11th wedding anniversary. Jane was her mothers' 9th child, the 8th with Charles, but at the time of her birth, only her half-sister Elsie and four of the Gardner children were still living - my grandfather Will and his siblings Vera, Emmy and Arty.
Five days later, Jane senior died suddenly, leaving baby Jane motherless. On the 19th September Charles Gardner registered both the birth of his daughter and the death of his wife. I wonder if the baby's name was always going to be Jane, or if this was a last minute change to honour her mother?
Jane Gardner (nee Postlethwaite) was 37 years old. She had buried 3 of her 9 children. There is no inquest for Jane's death, but according to her death certificate she died suddenly from pneumonia and heart failure, certified by the Coroner.
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Jane Gardner Memorial Card
What of sweet baby Jane? Her father left a widower with 5 young children and a newborn baby, plus a business to run, would have needed some help with the family.
Baby Jane was taken in by a neighbour in the area, a Mrs Elizabeth McCurry. In baby Jane's inquest report, her father states Mrs McCurry took the child the same night her mother died, and kept her for almost 4 months, without payment. Charles acknowledges the help and assistance provided by Mrs McCurry and others in a public notice placed in the local newspaper after Jane's funeral.
Elizabeth McCurry nee Lindsay was born in 1849, the daughter of one of the original settlers in the Brighton area. She married in 1866 to Henry McCurry and between 1867 and 1891 the couple had a family of 12 children. Electoral Rolls for the period 1900-1910 record Elizabeth as a nurse, Henry as a market gardener. Elizabeth's youngest children would have been approaching adulthood by the time baby Jane was born, so it would be unlikely that she would have been wet nursing the baby.
The Victorian Government had enacted the Infant Life Protection Act in 1891 in an attempt to regulate the activities of "baby farmers" who would take illegitimate or orphaned babies for payment. For some time there had been extensive discussions regarding the higher than expected infant mortality rate amongst children left in this type of care.
The Act required that all houses where such children were cared for were required to be registered, and the care-giver registered as a resident at that address. Oversight was given to the Chief Commissioner of Police. The details of the Act are provided here: Infant Life Protection Act 1890
I have been unable to establish if Mrs McCurry was a registered provider, although the fact that she describes herself in Electoral Rolls as a nurse would make it likely.
In order to care for his older children, Charles Gardner found a housekeeper. Margaret Mary Miller Fielding was a young woman of 21 years with a small child of her own. It would have been a bit daunting taking on the Gardner household and becoming instant mother to Jane's children. She must have been doing a good job, because on 22 January 1906 she and Charles married, making her a permanent feature in the family home.
According to the Inquest statements, baby Jane was returned to the Gardner home by Mrs McCurry about 3 weeks prior to her death. This was probably around the time it became apparent that Maggie Fielding was there to stay. The baby was reported to have been healthy at this time.
In those days prior to refrigeration, feeding a baby anything other than breast milk was problematic. Unmodified cow's milk was not easily digestible by human babies (not surprisingly, since its purpose is to nourish baby cows!) Although pasteurisation had been shown to reduce microbial contamination of milk, it was not compulsory in Australia until the 1950's.
In order to modify the risks associated with feeding a baby raw cow's milk, it was common practice to scald the milk. Scalding involved heating the milk until just below boiling point, then allowing it to cool. This killed off any bacteria, and also modified the bovine proteins, making it more easily digested by babies.
Even after treating milk in this manner, storage was still a problem. Given that Jane died in January, mid-summer in Australia, this would have been a significant concern. There is no record in the Inquest papers of how this milk was stored, but a common solution was to use a Coolgardie safe. This was a metal or wooden framed box with hessian sides. The box stood in a tray of water, and another tray of water on top into which the hessian was attached. It was often hung or placed outside in the shade of a tree. The process of air flow over the wet hessian caused evaporative cooling, thus providing safer storage for perishable food items.
Charles Gardner reported at the inquest that he had obtained the baby's milk that morning from a local dairyman. The milk was always scalded, and the baby was fed a mix of half cold milk and half water by a bottle. He stated that baby Jane slept in the same room as he and his new wife. The baby had been a little restless the night before, and had taken a bottle of milk at 4am, then another at 10am. Up to that point he had not noticed anything to be wrong with little Jane.
Maggie Gardner fed Jane again at 3pm, but this time she vomited the milk back. By 4pm she was looking unwell and Maggie called for Charles to come home from his nearby blacksmith shop. When Charles arrived, he said Jane was looking "blue and glassy". He immediately sent for a doctor, but Jane died about 10 mins later, before the doctor arrived.
Dr. Joyce, of South Brighton, examined baby Jane and samples of her milk. His conclusion was that she died from acute milk poisoning, but he declined to certify the death. Consequently, an autopsy was held and inquest. The post-mortem exam found that Jane died from acute inflammation of the bowels caused by fermentative changes in the milk. It was also noted that there were no marks of violence and no evidence of suffocation. Baby Jane was otherwise healthy and of average weight for her age.
Jane Gardner was laid to rest with her mother and older brother Charles Allen Gardner who died in 1903 at Brighton Cemetery. Interestingly, another child also named Charles Abram who died in 1904 at 2 months of age is buried in a different plot. The grave was unmarked until 2008, when my cousin Brendon organised a plaque and memorial service for descendants of Jane and Charles. Coincidently, when I went back to my files to check what year that event was, I found that today, 29 December, is the anniversary of the memorial service!
Little Jane Gardner did not have much of a life. I was heartbroken to read the inquest papers where she was always referred to as "the child", "it or its", rather than Jane, she or her. Even her father's deposition referred to her as it. I hope Mrs McCurry was a kind woman, and that Jane was shown some love and attention during her time with her.
References:
DENNETT RH. THE USE OF BOILED MILK IN INFANT-FEEDING. JAMA. 1914;LXIII(23):1991–1996. doi:10.1001/jama.1914.02570230001001
Infant Life Protection Act 1890
