Gents Mag 1840 part 2 p.226

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	list, 2nd qtr 19th century
	Gentleman's Magazine 1840 part 2 p.226
longevity   Cumberland
	Longevity, Cumberland MINOR CORRESPONDENCE. IN the Obituary of our last Magazine, p.218, the death of Mrs. Jane Barwis, relict of the Rev. John Barwis, of Langrigg Hall, Cumberland, and Rector of Niton, in the Isle of Wight, was briefly noticed. Messrs. Daniel and Samuel Lysons, in their Topographical Account of Cumberland, state, "It is remarkable that two ladies of this family attained the age of 100 years: Mrs. Anne Barwis, buried at Dearham in 1686, and Mrs. Elizabeth Barwis, mother of the late Mr. Barwis, who died at Langrigg Hall, in 1814." His widow, who died at Langrigg Hall, on the 12th of June last, was born on the 24th of July 1744, o.s., and consequently had nearly attained the age of 96. Mr. Daniel Lysons, in a letter to the Vicar of Bromfield written in 1811, says, "It is extremely difficult to account for the cause of the extraordinary longevity observable in certain districts. The whole of Cumberland we have ascertained to be remarkable for it. Bromfield is among the parishes that are most so, but the same is observable in some of the parishes on the borders of Northumberland. Some think the climate of the North particularly favourable to longevity, but in Cornwall the only part particularly not for it is on the southern coast. Temperance is generally, and I believe justly, supposed to contribute to longevity, and I dare say it may be the general character of the Cumberland people; but in the course of our enquiries we heard of several instances of extraordinary longevity among persons who had accustomed themselves to a contrary habit. Whatever has been the cause, the fact is very curious and remarkable: the general calculation is, that one in 32 attain the age of fourscore; in great towns about one in 40. In Cumberland we have found the general average in the country to be about one in 7 or 8; in Bromfield, and some other villages, more than one in 8; in great towns, even in Whitehaven, notwithstanding great ravages of the small-pox, about one in 16: indeed, a very extraordinary proportion in every part of the county." It should be remarked, that Mrs. Jane Barwis was born in the parish of St. Andrew's, Holborn, and passed the greater part of her early life in London. In 1788 she removed to Niton, in the Isle of Wight, where she lived till 1822, after which time she resided at Langrigg Hall. Her father and mother were both natives of the same part of Cumberland. ... ...
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