Traditionally the information contained within the parish marriage register has been used to consider the separation distance of bride and groom when they marry. However, this method of approaching the parish marriage register can be misleading and conceals a hidden narrative. By creating longitudinal narratives, the marriage can be viewed not as an isolated event, but as an event set within the bride and groom's broader life history. This method is time consuming if carried out on a large scale, so the ideal vehicle for this close analysis is the local study, and the parish this paper uses as a case study is Fletton, Huntingdonshire. Fletton is an ideal parish to choose for an analysis of marriage as it was an area of population growth and migration, and so attracted young unmarried migrants, both male and female. In addition, despite its growth, for the period 1891 to 1911 Fletton still had a comparatively small population so full record linkage can take place. In carrying out this approach this paper makes it clear that a quite different narrative of marriage horizons, separation distances and belonging can be told from that which would emerge from a consideration of separation distances in isolation.

Ciarán McCabe's appraisal of charwomen in early twentieth -century Dublin tenements revealed large numbers of widow chars maintaining independent households. This initial quantitative demographic study of a one fifth sample of rural Berkshire charwomen, using raw data from the 1911 census, finds similarities with contemporary Dublin. Charring was often a response to financial imperatives, and migration played little part in the life of charwomen.

This research note adds to the evidence of the scale and nature of the 1727-1731 mortality crisis by describing some evidence from the parish registers of Surrey. It shows that non-metropolitan Surrey experienced waves of raised mortality over a period of several years between 1727 and 1731 and, to a lesser extent, into 1732. The raised mortality affected different parishes at different times and to different extents. The seasonality of peaks in burials and differences in the ages of those buried provides an indication of the diseases which may have been involved. There is some evidence suggesting a degree of social disruption during the crisis.

he main objective of this paper is to reveal the effect of social value in child mortality in the city of Zacatecas, Mexico, between 1835 and 1845. The source of the data analysed was the departures of deaths of the parish of El Sagrario, and the statistical techniques of historical demography were used under the approach of demographic anthropology. The results indicated differences in the causes of mortality by sex, gender, and age. In neonatal mortality there was a greater number of deaths due to infectious processes (fevers), especially diseases related to the respiratory system, and there was a male predominance (53 per cent). From the second year of life female mortality has a predominance. Due to gastrointestinal infections, fevers, nutritional deficiencies, and epidemic diseases (measles), women recorded higher mortality (53 per cent), especially from measles. These results suggest that the cultural value attributed to gender had a fundamental role towards the care provided to children.

This article shows that, for a sample of Devon parishes during the period c.1700–1850, there were seasonalities in the events of marriages and baptisms in general, but that in parishes linked to seafaring, especially in the Newfoundland trade, the seasonal patterns were much greater and occurred in different months. Seasonal variations also declined and changed over time, which in part was due to the changing economies of the maritime parishes, especially after 1800 when the Newfoundland trade changed and declined. It cannot be claimed that this trade was exclusively responsible for the seasonal pattern, but the results confirm that seafaring was linked to the variation in the number of marriages and baptisms from month to month.

The Registrar General's Returns are an integral source for historical demographers. Concerns have been raised, however, over the geographical accuracy of their pre-1911 mortality figures when institutional deaths were not redistributed to place of residence. This paper determines the extent of the distortions caused by institutional mortality in the context of aggregate infant mortality rates for London's registration sub-districts. The potential of two alternative methods to 'correct' these distortions is then assessed. The first method uses indirect estimation techniques based on data from the 1911 Fertility Census, and the second exploits the rich detail available from the Medical Officer of Health reports. Through narrowing the focus to seven London registration sub-districts over the years 1896–1911, it is shown that both suggested alternative methods remove the institutional mortality biases found in the Registrar General's figures, yet they come with their own limitations.

This paper, the third of four, discusses infant mortality during the Victorian and Edwardian periods, 1837-1910. It mainly uses sources generated by the civil registration of vital events, which was established in 1837, to identify trends and patterns, and more importantly, it discusses the beginnings of the secular decline in infant mortality that occurred during this period. The paper also includes examples of how research into this important topic can be carried out and it ends with suggestions for future research.