Life expectancy in Baden in the 1700s to 1850 -- how long did our ancestors live?

1stackgen4

A superficial online look gives about 30-45 years life expectancy generally, not specific to Baden, which increased significantly post-Industrial Revolution.

Yet, very often my ancestors live quite a bit beyond that. One couple's burial records give her age as 76 years and 11 months (1779-1855) and his age as 84 (1779-1859, so it would actually be 80).

Another direct male ancestral line with baptisms from 1647 to 1832 has ages at death of 62, 54, 59, 80 and 90 (the last two having emigrated to the U.S.).

Records for women have been less available, but even so, one ancestress died of childbirth at age 35 while her granddaughter lived to 73, both born in the 1700s.

Are my findings typical?

Thanks,

Elizabeth

A van Helsdingen

It is good to distinguish between life expectancy at birth and life expectancy of those who made it to adulthood. Life expectancy at birth was as low as 15-20 years in some societies, but those who made it to adulthood generally had a life expectancy of at least 45-50 years. The reason for the difference is that so many children died young, dragging down the average lifespan of the entire population. During the industrial revolution, gains in life expectancy were mostly due to children not dying of childhood diseases. Only later was greater progress made on extending the lifespan of older people.

1stackgen4

I did think the 30-45 year range posited for adults in the articles I read online, was a little low, especially given the onerous requirements for couples before they could get married (financial, conscription, etc.), which meant many men couldn't get married until later and they would die before their children could fend for themselves. The 45-50 year range makes more sense.

Since my direct line adults generally lived beyond the 45-50 years, even those born in the 1600s, they seem to be atypical. That is as I thought, but it's nice to have the confirmation. Thank you.

A van Helsdingen

I said at least 45-50 years. I did some more research on this and it seems that in most medieval and early modern European societies life expectancy for those who made it to adulthood was over 50 years. It was 71 for members of the English aristocracy in the 16th century.

I've previously collated some statistics on my own family tree (which was half Dutch, and the rest Irish, English, German and Scottish) and the average age of the ancestors in each generation of my pedigree chart back to 9 generations ago was never less than 64.

1stackgen4

Thanks for the clarification.