Herlingshaw Family Website

The Herlingshaw family

Longevity

Many of the Shaws lived quite long lives, especially considering the poor standards of medical knowledge at the time and the kind of work and sanitation they had. In 1837 average life expectancy at birth was less than 40 but ten years earlier it had been less than 30 (in 1750 it was 32). However, people living in villages or the countryside like many of the family tended to live longer than those in big towns and cities - as long as they survived the common early childhood illnesses. As with most families of the day the Shaws had large numbers of children and a significant proportion of them died at, or soon after birth. In common with the much of the population in England the majority on the male side were employed in agriculture, lead/coal mining, and in later years in foundry/industrial work.

Examples from the family include:

Ivy Johnson (née Herlingshaw) born January 1927, died 6th November 2020 (93)

Louis Raymond Herlingshaw, born 31st December 1922, died 2nd March 2016 (93)

Mary Jane Shaw, born 4th March 1860, died 30th September 1950 (90)

James Leslie Herling, born 5th April 1897, died Q2 1985 (88)

Alice Southworth (née Shaw, later Shaw-Herling), born 1890, died 1976 (86)

Clifford Herlingshaw, born 1932, died 24th May 2019 (86)

James Shaw, born 28th May 1751, died 18th January 1837 (85)

George Shaw, born 8th February 1789, died 24th March 1874 (85)

Charles William Shaw, born 6th May 1898, died 1983 (85)

Phoebe Shaw (née Fawley), born 1792 or 1793, died Q2 1878 (about 85)

George Henry Shaw, born 1856, died 1940 (84)

Charles William Shaw, born 1899, died 1983 (84)

Jethro Shaw, born 16th February 1686, died 1769 (83)

John Shaw, born 23rd June 1708, died 1794 (82)

Martha Ellen Jarvis (née Shaw) born 1866, died 1946 (80)

Hannah Shaw (née Roper) born 1770, died 1850 (80)

Elizabeth Shaw, born 10th April 1793, died 11th September 1872 (79)

Jethro Shaw, born 17th April 1803, died 1881 (78)

James Shaw, born 1857, died 1935 (78)

Alfred James Shaw, born 16th April 1896, died 1974 (78)

Ellen Shaw, born 14th January 1781, died 28th December 1858 (77)

Mary Shaw, born 12th June 1796, died November 1873 (77)