John Mark Aitken

The Price of Calico John Mark Aitken

Ascertaining the cause of death, long after an individual has died, is not easy. This is compounded by the fact that medical records often were and still are a catalogue of misinformation. Four of my grandfather's siblings born in Wales died, 3 - 9 years of age, between 1879 and 1888, but nobody ever talked about them. In 1819 my grandfather's great grandfather - Rupert Aitken - died prematurely in Scotland aged 43 but, thanks to misinformation promulgated by my grandfather's father - Samuel Aitken - it was claimed that he had been hanged for 'sheep stealing'. This book entails the unraveling of these mysteries, by looking at what is known about those who were living during that period of history, and trying to understand their motivation for keeping their lips sealed. Capitalism, commerce and personal egos all played their part. Ignorance, and appearing to know what was best for your children, sealed the deaths of those four little children. Ignorance and commercial pressures sealed the death of Rupert Aitken, but my interpretation could be disputed. In the nineteenth century there were many environmental hazards which the local population unknowingly exposed themselves to. Today there are probably even more hazards, mostly man-made, which we blindly ignore. Ignorance is bliss!