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A History of Diseases and Illnesses through the years in the UK
This page gives you a chart showing the history of Illnesses and Diseases in the UK, we cover from the year 1350 right through to 1950. Of course this may not detail the Full History, but we have added all those that we have researched.
Here we have listed many Disease and Illness terms, together with the basic interpretation, you may find these on your ancestors death certificates, and not understand the meaning, we do hope that you find this page useful.
Ab Nepos - a great-great-grandson
Ab Neptis - a great-great-granddaughter
Abeyance - a condition of undetermined ownership, as of an estate that has not yet been assigned
Ablepsy - blindness
Abstract - a statement summarizing the essential facts contained in a document or record
Accomptant - accountant
Action - a proceeding in a court of law
Addison's Disease - anemic condition caused by kidney disease
Administrator - an appointee of the court who settles the estate of a deceased who died without leaving a will
Administrator's Bond - a bond posted by an administrator to guarantee the proper performance of his duties
Administratrix - a female administrator
Aegrotantem - illness, sickness
Affidavit - a written and signed statement sworn in front of a court officer
Ahnentafel - a table of one's ancestors, from the German Ahnen (ancestor) and Tafel (table or list)
Amanuensis - secretary or stenographer
Aphonia - laryngitis
Apoplexy - stroke
Archives - reference to the storage of older records
Artificer - soldier mechanic who does repairs
Ascendant - ancestor
Ashman - shipman or sailor
Asphicsia - lack of oxygen, cyanotic
Assignee - the person to whom a privilege or some property is signed over to by the court
Assignor - the person who signs over a right or property to another
Assistant Marshall - the census taker prior to 1880
Atrophy - wasting away
Aurifaber - goldsmith
Ava, Avia - grandmother
Avorum, Avi - grandparents
Avus - grandfather
Banns - publication or posting of the announcement of a coming marriage, a period of time before the actual marriage to allow advance notice to those that might have reason to protest. In most churches the banns were read aloud on three successive Sundays.
Baptizatus - baptized
Baptizavi - I baptized
Barrister - lawyer
Bequest - legacy; usually a gift of real estate by will
Belhoste - tavern keeper
Belleyetere - bellfounder
Black Death - typhus
Black Lung - disease from breathing coal dust
Black Plague - bubonic plague
Blockmaker - one who crafted pulleys
Bloody Flux - dysentery
Bond - a written promise by a borrower to pay a lender a fixed dollar sum of interest for a prescribed period of time and to repay the principal on a stated date
Boniface - innkeeper
Borough - a self-governing incorporated town, larger than a village
Bounty Land - public land given by the government to induce young men to join the military
Bounty Land Warrant - a gift of bounty land due to a person entitled by military service, or to his heirs or assignees
Brand Iron - the cob irons or fire dogs which confine the brands on an open hearth
Brasiler - dyer
Brazier - works with brass
Bright's Disease - kidney disease
Brightsmith - metal worker
Bronze John - yellow fever
Brother - a male sibling, can also be used to show close friendship
Brownsmith - copper or brass smith
Burnisher - polishes or shines metal
Cals - Certified American Lineage Specialist - a certification of competence in genealogy
Canon Law - a law of the church
Capitation Tax - tax on people, also called a head tax or poll tax
Carner - granary keeper
Carter - maker or driver of carts
Castor - hat maker
Catalepsy - seizures or trances
Catarrh - Inflammation of mucous membrane or cerebral hemmorage
Census - periodic official tally of the population with details as to ages, sexes, occupations, etc., U.S. Federal censuses have been taken every 10 years since 1790.
Census Index - alphabetical listing of names enumerated in a census
Cerebritis - inflammation of cerebrum or lead poisoning
Chaffer - a chaffing dish
Chandler - makes or sells candles; retailer of groceries
Chapman - merchant
Chattels - personal property, both animate and inanimate
Chiffonier - wigmaker
Chin Cough - Whooping Cough
Chirugion - apothecary
Chorea - disease characterized by convulsions and contortions
Circiter - about
Civis - citizen
Civitate - the city of
Clan - a social unit in the Scottish Highlands, consisting of a number of families claiming a common ancestor and following the same hereditary leader
Clarke - cleric or scribe
Coat of Arms - shield with certain distinctive symbols or emblems painted on it in definite fixed colors identifying one person and his direct descendants
Codicil - a supplement to a will
Coemeterium - cemetery
Cold Plague - ague which is characterized by chills
Colic - abdominal pain and cramping
Collateral Ancestor - an ancestor not in the direct line of ascent, but of the same ancestral family
Collier - a coal miner or a coal ship
Colporteur - peddler of books
Common Law - a man and woman living together in a marital status without legal action. In some states living together for a specified period of time constitutes a legal marriage, even without benefit of legal action.
Coniunx - married person, spouse
Conjugata - wife
Conjugatus - married, also husband
Conjugi - a husband, wife, or spouse
Connubium - marriage
Consanguinity - blood relationship
Consumption - Tuberculosis
Convey -transfer property or the title to property
Conveyance - a written instrument that transfers title to property from one party to another
Conveyor - grantor or seller
Cooper - makes and repairs barrels and casks
Coppice Keeper - one who takes care of small wood
Cordwainer - shoemaker
Corruption - infection
Cousin - In colonial usage, it most often meant nephew or niece. In the broadest sense, it could also mean any familial relationship, blood or otherwise (except mother, father, sister, or brother), or the modern-day meaning of a child of one's aunt or uncle. Modern usage includes qualifiers such as first, second, third, once removed, twice removed, etc.
Cramp Colic - appendicitis
Crayman - driver of a cart carrying heavy loads
Cretinism - congenital hypothyroidism
Crop Sickness - overextended stomach
Croup - laryngitis, diphtheria, or strep throat
Crowner - coroner
Cui - of whom, of whose, of whatever person, of what place/country
Culler - gelder of male animals
Currier - tans leather; uses curry comb on horses
Curtesy - the life tenure which by common law is held by a man over the property of his deceased wife and has by her issue born alive who is capable of inheriting her estate; in this case, on the death of his wife, he holds the lands for his life, as tenant by courtesy
Cutler - one who makes or sells knives, etc.
Cyanosis - lack of oxygen in blood, dark skin colour
Dareman - dairyman
Decedent - the deceased individual
Decem - ten
Declaration of Intention - document filed by an alien in a court of record declaring his intention to apply for citizenship after fulfillment of the residency requirement. It may also be used to refer to an intent to marry, usually filed with the town clerk.
Deed - document signed, sealed, and delivered according to the law conveying title to real estate
Defunctus - dead
Delirium Tremens - hallucinations due to alcoholism
Demography - the study of the characteristics of human populations, such as size, growth, density, distribution and vital statistics
Deposition - a written testimony by a witness for use in court in his or her absence
Descendant - an immediate or remote offspring
Devise - to transmit property by will
Devisee - one to whom a devise is made
Diptheria - contagious disease of the throat
Direct Heir - one who is in an individual's direct line of ascent or descent
Distributee - one entitled to a share in the estate of a person who died intestate (without a will)
Diviner - one who finds water under the ground
Domo - to master or subdue a home, residence, or family
Dowager - a widow who holds title or property derived from her dead husband
Dower - the part of interest of a deceased man's real estate alloted by law to his widow
Dowry - property a bride brings to her husband for the duration of a marriage
Dowser - finds water under the ground
Draper - dealer in cloth and dry goods
Drayman - drives a cart carrying heavy loads
Dresser - surgeon's assistant in a hospital
Dropsy - edema, congestive heart failure
Dropsy of the Brain - encephalitis
Drover - drives animals to market; dealer in cattle
Drummer - traveling salesman
Dry Bellyache - lead poisoning
Duffer - peddler
Dysentery - Inflammation of intestinal membrane
Dyspepsia - Acid indigestion
D.S.P. - died sine prole - died without offspring
Eam - she
Ecclescia - church
Eclampsy - form of catalepsy characterized by loss of reason
Edema - swelling of tissue
Elutus - baptized
Encephalitis - swelling of the brain, aka sleeping sickness
Enteritis - inflammation of the bowels
Enumeration - process by which persons are counted for purposes of a census
Enumerator - census taker
Eodem - to the same place/person/day
Episcopus - bishop
Escheat - property reverted to the state when no legal heirs or claimants exist
Estate - the whole of one's possessions; especially all the property left by a deceased person
Et Ux, Et Uxor - and wife
Ex - from
Executor - the person named in a will to carry out the provisions of the will
Executrix - a female executor
Farrier - horse doctor, blacksmith who shoes horses
Fatty Liver - cirrhosis
Fee Simple - estate of land which the inheritor has unqualified ownership and power of disposition
Ferur - blacksmith or farrier
Filia/Filiam - daughter
Filius/Filium - son
Final Papers - petition for citizenship with supporting documentation filed by an alien in a court of law
Firelands - a tract of land in northeastern Ohio reserved by Connecticut for its own settlers when it ceded its western lands in 1786. The State of Connecticut deeded land there to its citizens whose homes were burned during the Revolutionary War, therefore, the terrirory became known as "fire land."
First Papers - declaration of intention filed by an alien in a court of law
Fits - sudden attack or seizure
Flauner - confectioner
Fletcher - makes bows and arrows
Flux - discharge of fluid from the body
Foemina - woman
Forebear - an ancestor, a forefather
Fortnight - 14 days
Framar - farmer
Frater - brother
Freeborn - born as a free person
Freedman/woman - a man or woman who has been freed from bondage or slavery
Freeholder - one who holds land by fee simple. In colonial times, a freeholder had the right to vote and hold public office.
Freeman - one who held the full rights of citizenship, such as voting and engaging in business (as opposed to an indentured servant)
French pox - syphilis
Friends - correctly called "The Society of Friends", the correct term for the Quakers
Fuere - were
Fuller - cleans and thickens cloth
Furner - baker
Galloping Consumption - Pulmonary Tuberculosis
Gaoler - jailer
Gener - son-in-law
Genimus - twin
Gentile - a person who is not Jewish
Gentleman - a member of the gentry, a descendant from an aristocratic family whose income came from the rental of his land
Ginerr - joiner
Glandular Fever - mononucleosis
Glos - sister-in-law
Glover - dealer or maker of gloves
Godfather - a man or woman who sponsors a child at baptism, also called a Godparent
Goodman - a solid member of the community who ranked above a freeman but below a gentleman on the social scale
Goods and Chattels - personal property, as distinguished from real property
Goodwife - a woman married to a "gentlman." Often the title was shortened to "Goody." If you come across names such as Goody Cook or Goody Loomis, they are not first names but the abbreviation of a title
Grant - to transfer property by a deed
Grantee - one to whom a grant is made
Grantee Index - index to grantees of deeds recorded in a deed book
Great pox - syphilis
Grecher - grocer
Green Sickness - Anemia
Gregorian Calendar - the calendar in use today. Pope Gregory XIII ordered the replacement of the previous Julian Calendar in 1582, although it was not adopted by England and the American Colonies until 1752.
Guardian - an appointee of the court who cares for the property and rights of a minor or someone incapable of handling his or her own affairs
Guilder - makes gold or silver coins
Gynour - engineer
Hansard - weapon maker of seller
Hawker - peddler
Headborough - constable
Headright - right to a certain number of acres (usually 50) of land guaranteed in advance for each settler in a new territory
Head Tax - tax on people, also called a poll tax or capitation tax
Heir - a person who inherits, or is entitled by law to inherit, the estate of another
Hereditaments - property that can be inherited
Heraldry - the practice of devising, blazoning, and granting armoral insignia (coats of arms)
Hibernia - Ireland
Hillard/Hiller - one who covers houses with slate
Hind - farm laborer
Holographic Will - a document written entirely by the hand of the person whose signature it bears
Hostler - takes care of horses at an inn
Huc - here, to this place
Huckster - sells small articles
Hujus - of this
Hujusidem - of this month and year
Husbandman - a person whose occupation is in husbandry; a farmer
Hutch - a chest, box coffer, or bin
Imminens - eminent, immediate
Impositum - the name bestowed
Impressment - the act of seizing people or property for public service or use
Incola - resident
Indenture - a deed, contract, or sealed agreement executed between two or more parties; a contract by which a person is bound over for services
Indentured Servant - one who was voluntarily or involuntarily committed to working for someone for a fixed number of years (usually 4 to 7) in exchange for passage to America or some other financial advantage (i.e., learning a trade). An indentured servant had few, if any, rights, but people without skills or money accepted this position in order to emigrate. After the period of work was over, the servant usually became a freeman. It was also common practice for parents to indenture their children with the intent of having their child learn a trade or craft.
Infant - a minor
Infantem - child
Infantile Paralysis - polio
Infra - down, below
In-Law - colonists used this term for any familial relationship that occurred from a marriage. Thus, a woman's father-in-law could be her husband's father or her stepfather. Her son-in-law could be her daughter's husband or her own stepson.
Inprimis - in the first place
Inqus - repeat, maintain
Ipsius - in person, of own accord
Instrument - a formal document such as a deed or a will
Intestate - having no legal will; not disposed of by legal will
Inventory - a list of goods in the estate of a deceased person
Ironmonger - dealer in iron goods
Issue - offspring or children
Jaundice - condition caused by blockage of the intestines
Jail Fever - typhus
Journeyman - craftsman hired day by day
Julian Calendar - the calendar in use prior to 1752 (see Gregorian Calendar), created by Julius Caesar
Junior, Senior - these terms were used in early times to differentiate between men (and sometimes women) with the same name whether they were related or not. These titles were not permanent, but rather conveniences in colonial families and communities.
Keller - salt keeper
Kellogg - slaughter man
Kilderkin - a small vessel, the eighth part of a tun or vat
Kindred - a group of blood-related persons
King's evil - tuberculosis of neck and lymph glands
Kith and Kin - friends and neighbours
Lardner - official in charge of pig food
Legacy - money or property bequeathed to someone by will
Levante - witness
Ligatus - bound, joined, married
Limner - draughtsman or artist
Lineal Descendant - being in the direct line of descent from an ancestor
Lock Jaw - tetanus
Loco - to place, establish, give in marriage
Locus - place
Loyalist - a Tory (person who remained loyal to England during the Revolutionary War) who later moved to Canada or to another British possession
Lung Fever - pneumonia
Lung Sickness - tuberculosis
Malster - brewer of malted beverages (beer)
Mania - insanity
Manumission - a formal written act to free slaves
Marasmus - similar to malnutrition, progessive wasting away
Marita - wife
Maritus - husband
Marriage Bond - a document executed to guarantee that no legal or moral impediments existed to an intended marriage
Mater - mother
Mayer - physician
Mensis - month
Milk leg - postpartum thrombophlebitis
Milk Sickness - disease from the milk from cattle which had eaten poisonous weeds
Millwright - one who designs or builds mills
Mormal - gangrene
Morsal - Gangrene
Mortis - death
Mr. - a title that could only precede the names of gentlemen, clergymen, or government officials
Mrs. - a feminine equivalent of Mr., it did not denote marital status, but social position (women of the aristocracy)
Myelitis - inflammation of the spine
Myocarditits - inflammation of the heart muscles
Naturalize - to grant full citizenship to one of foreign birth
Natus - born
Necrology - register book of deaths
Necrosis - mortification of bones or tissue
Nepos - grandson
Nepritis - inflammation of the kidneys
Neptis - granddaughter
Nomen - name
Nuncupative Will - an oral will declared by the deceased before dying, in the presence of witnesses
Nuptias celebrare - to marry
Notary - a person officially authorized to draw up or attest to contracts, wills, deeds, or similar documents
Now Wife - exclusively found in wills, this term implied that there was a former (or ex-) wife
Oath of Abjuration - sworn statement renouncing a former allegiance
Obit - died
Obstetrix - midwife
Oppido - town
Ordinary - public house or tavern
Osler - bird catcher
Outrider - mounted attendant riding before or behind a carriage
Paleography - the study of ancient forms of writing
Palsy - paralysis or loss of muscle control
Parochia - parish
Parochus - rector, pastor
Paroxysm - convulsion
Pater - father
Patrina - godmother
Patrinus - godfather
Patritius - paternal
Patronymic - a name derived from a paternal ancestor, such as "Johnson, the son of John"
Pedigree - recorded ancestry or line of descent
Pedigree Chart - a standard genealogical form for recording several generations of ancestry
Peel - a long handled broad shovel used for putting bread into an oven
Peever - pepper seller
Personal Property - property other than land
Phthiriasas - lice infestation
Phthisis - chronic wasting away, tuberculosis
Pleurisy - Inflammation of the lung, chest pain
Podagra - gout
Population Schedule - a completed population census questionnaire
Posthumous - born after father's death
Porcher - pig keeper
Porter - gate-keeper or door-keeper
Pott's Disease - tuberculosis of the spinal vertebrae
Pox - Syphilis
Praecende - previous, preceeding
Primary Record - a record created at the time of the event (birth, marriage, death, etc.) as opposed to records written years later
Primogenitor - the earlies known ancestor or forefather
Primogeniture - the right of the eldest child (especially the son) to inherit the estate of both parents
Probate - legal establishment of the validity of a will
Procurant - stand instead of, proxy
Procuratorem - in behalf of
Progeny - children
Progenitor - an originator of a line of descent, frequently used in reference to the immigrant ancestor
Progenitus - firstborn
Puella - girl child
Puellus - boy child
Puerperal exhaustion - death from childbirth
Purrell - made of a lace called purl
Putrid Fever - diptheria or typhus
Quaker - a member of the Society of Friends
Quarryman - stonecutter
Quarta - four
Quearne - a handmill for grinding grain or seed
Qui - who, whereby
Quinque - five
Relict - widow, sometimes a widower
Remitting fever - malaria
Renatus - baptized
Rickets - disease of the skeletal system
Rower - builder of small wagon wheels
Sawyer - sawer of wood
Scarlet Fever