Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry

Once again I was looking at how women are represented in museums.  This sampler had the typical meandering border, with a red honeysuckle design around the edge. The images are not great, because it was framed behind hazy perspex and there was a window behind that reflected on it, no matter what angle I tried.  However on closer examination, it was a very interesting social history document.  

Family tree of Jemima Shakespear's family, 1804

The longer lines on the righthand side indicate the child  died.

Mrs Mary Shakespear had 18 children over 29 years.  Only 7 children survived beyond 1804, the date of the sampler.  Sometimes the parents used the same name twice, if a younger child had died.  

The death certificates of these children may typically indicate tuberculosis, but it makes me wonder whether it was a family that was carrying cystic fibrosis.  As I come from a family that carries CF, I am aware that infant deaths with any form of lung problems were often attributed to TB or pneumonia. Research with families that have children with CF shows that these families have a pronounced history of infant death from lung problems.