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Stockholm 1853 Cholera Mortality Records
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About
Death records document the severe cholera outbreak that afflicted Stockholm in 1853. These meticulous data entries originate from the handwritten church archives of S:t Catherine parish, one of the poorest urban districts most heavily impacted by the epidemic. The data set provides a detailed record of individuals who succumbed to the disease during the intense period when approximately 3% of the local population died within a few weeks. It serves as a vital resource for understanding the scale and speed of a major 19th-century pandemic in an environment marked by rudimentary sanitation.
Columns
The data file contains nine key columns relating to the deceased individual and the record itself:
- Dödsdatum (Day of death): The date the individual died. The data spans from mid-August to late December 1853.
- Namn (Name): The name of the deceased. Note that naming conventions and spelling were highly inconsistent in this era.
- Yrke (Profession/Title): The recorded profession or title, transcribed directly from the original Swedish manuscripts. This field requires interpretation for modern classification of societal status.
- Kön (Sex): Indicates whether the individual was Male ("Man") or Female ("Kvinna").
- Ålder (Age): The age of the deceased, ranging from 0 to 86 years, with a mean age of 37.8.
- Församling (Parish): The parish location, which is consistently S:t Catherine (Katarina).
- Arkivref (Reference to Swedish Archival records): A reference code for the source material.
- Sida (Page # in related book/file): The page number in the original book, often including references to the "Provisoriska Sjukhuset" (Emergency Hospital).
- Hemort (Residence): The location of residence, noting that a small percentage of individuals may have been visitors or relocated from other parishes.
Distribution
The data is available in a CSV file format, named
kolera-katarina-1853.csv. The file size is 43.64 kB. It currently contains 546 verified records of mortality from the outbreak period.Usage
This data set is highly valuable for historical and epidemiological research. It can be used to illustrate the rapid spread and devastating mortality rates of cholera in the 19th century. Ideal applications include creating detailed data visualizations, performing spatial analysis of the disease’s spread within the parish, studying the impact of the pandemic on different age and occupational groups, and supporting academic research into urban poverty and public health crises.
Coverage
The geographic scope is focused solely on S:t Catherine (Katarina) parish in Stockholm, Sweden. The temporal coverage spans the peak of the 1853 cholera epidemic, beginning on 15 August 1853 and concluding on 25 December 1853. Demographic information includes age, sex, and raw transcriptions of profession, offering insights into the demographics most affected by the crisis in this specific, high-poverty urban area.
License
CC BY-SA 4.0
Who Can Use It
- Historians: Researching 19th-century Swedish social history, specifically focusing on epidemic events and societal response.
- Epidemiologists: Modelling disease spread in historical urban environments and analyzing mortality data.
- Data Scientists and Analysts: Creating visual narratives and statistical analyses of historical public health data.
- Students: Studying the effects of sanitation and poverty on disease vulnerability.
Dataset Name Suggestions
- Stockholm 1853 Cholera Mortality Records
- S:t Catherine Parish Death Registry
- 19th Century Stockholm Epidemic Data
- Katarina Parish Cholera Deaths 1853
Attributes
Original Data Source: Stockholm 1853 Cholera Mortality Records
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