Queen Victoria and the Burton-on-Trent Quads

It's always a good day when a bit of research and reading around a subject uncovers another forgotten Burton story.

This week I was digging for a bit more information on the two doctors that Vale Rawlings' father Richard used to drive around Burton in a horse-drawn carriage in the late 19th and early 20th century. Richard Rawlings and the horse and carriage are pictured below, courtesy of Vale's family.

Richard Rawlings, father of Vale Rawlings, drove for doctors Charles Perks and Otto Fraser Frohwein.

As I hunted for facts I found a remarkable story of a multiple birth involving one of those doctors, Dr Charles Perks, of High Street, Burton.

On Wednesday, March 9,1870 (before Richard Rawlings was his coachman) Dr Perks safely delivered girl quadruplets to Mrs Patience Getley of Branstone Road. This would have been a sensation at the time. To carry four babies safely to term and then for them all to be delivered alive was virtually unheard of and it's not surprising that it was a news item in most of the newspapers across the United Kingdom.

The babies' father, William Getley was a labourer at what was then Robinson's Brewery based in Union Street in the town. The couple already had five children.

The Queen's donation

The four girls were baptised by Rev Charles Guest who was vicar of Christ Church. They were named Patience, Elizabeth, Hannah and Mary Ann.

Supported by Dr Perks and Robinson's Brewery, Rev Guest started a fund - and created a committee to manage it - and appealed for financial help for the family.

He wrote to Queen Victoria who personally donated £4. Rev Guest then proudly shared the wording of the letter he received from Buckingham Palace in a number of appeal letters he subsequently had published in newspapers and magazines. His smart plan was obviously to use the Queen's donation to encourage others to give.

That letter from Buckingham Palace said: "Major-General Sir Thomas M. Biddulph has received the Queen's commands to forward to the Rev. Charles Guest the enclosed post-office order for four pounds, payable to him, as a donation from her Majesty to Patience Getley, the wife of Wm. Getley, on whose behalf Mr. Guest made application for her Majesty's bounty in consequence of Mrs. Getley's confinement of four children at one birth. Will Mr. Guest kindly take care that the poor woman receives the Queen's gift in safety? - Buckingham Palace, London, March 18, 1870."

Thanks to The British Newspaper Archive online I have found that Rev Guest's letter of appeal was published in many newspapers and also periodicals and specialist publications.

A sad ending

Rev Guest's letter explained how difficult it was for any family to suddenly have four babies to feed and clothe. He said he had never heard of a previous case where quadruplets had been born alive and continued to thrive.

But the story has a very sad ending, although one not unusual for the times.

In early April, many of the papers who had carried the original appeal began to carry this sad news item: "An appeal has lately been made in our columns by the Rev. C. Guest, of Burton-on-Trent, on behalf of the Getley family. The committee interested in this case request us to thank those who have kindly assisted them, and to state that in consequence of the death of three of the children, donations are no longer solicited."

Elizabeth was the only baby to survive those early weeks. Her sisters died on March 29, April 2 and April 3. The Rev Guest's fund, including the Queen's donation, was used to pay for funerals for Elizabeth's little sisters.