The Ladies’ Treasury had a popular column answering questions from correspondents and clearly the cold winter weather was taking its toll among its readers. The news of the month was filled with a sense of unease. Amidst the rumours of European royal marriages and the reappearance of the White Lady ghost in the Berliner Schloss, said to only appear only when misfortune threatens combined with the appearance of a prophet named John in Berlin ‘very popular among the lower orders gave food for thought. But back in England there was rising concern about ‘a disease with the classical name of diphtheria.’
Diphtheria had only been formally so named since 1826, previously it had been known in England as Boulogne sore throat based on a belief it had travelled to England from France. The Treasury tells us that the last month had seen ‘much well-founded anxiety has been felt’ about the spread of the illness. In 1878 it was the cause the death of Queen Victoria’s daughter, Princess Alice.
But at least there were some weddings….
The Solitary Reader 