Howard Roscoe Andrewes, died 1877

Born in 1861, Howard Roscoe Andrewes was the son of Charles James Andrewes of Greyfriars House in Reading, Berkshire. According to the 1871 census, Andrewes père was a ‘Magistrate, Alderman, [and the] Managing Director of [an] Ironworks.'

Howard died on 8 September 1877, when he was 16 years old. For some reason, he was in London when his death occurred, at 53 Inverness Terrace, one of those streets filled with white stucco houses that runs off the north side of Hyde Park. The cause of death was recorded as 'Foreign body in vermiform appendix, peritonitis 7 days.' ('Vermiform' just means shaped like a worm.) Although rare, this is even today not unknown. According to the website Journal of Medical Case Reports, reported FBs in modern times include 'bird shot, bullets, fishing lines, screws, coins, stones, toothbrush bristle, pins, needles, teeth, bone fragments, dog hair, fruit seeds and pits, toothpicks, drill bits, tongue studs, crown posts, keys and intrauterine contraceptive devices.'

Photographer unidentified.