How many of us have in our family tree the following occupations: military personnel, health workers, sex workers, artists, domestic servants, members of the nobility and those who constitute the family and friends of these and many other occupations? That covers a lot of us, doesn’t it?

In this talk, Patrice Connelly will take you through the medical progression of the bacterial disease syphilis, the various names you may find, the moral stigma attached to it, early treatments, the effect it had on the number of surviving children in families (Cassvitz’s Law) and the influence of suffragettes on the 20th century treatments for syphilis. And remember that “lunatic” column in the censuses? You will learn and extrapolate all sorts of things which are useful for understanding family trees in greater detail as well as why Patrice chose the title for this talk.

This is a members only event that will take place via Zoom.

Bookings are essential for this session.

About the Family History Connect series:

Our 'members-only' series, Family History Connect, feature themed sessions focusing on particular areas of genealogical research.

Sessions are generally facilitated by one of the Society’s wonderful volunteers and this session will take place online.  These sessions are open to all current members of the Society. 

If you would like to facilitate a session, please get in touch with us via email.