"The great Jehova, full of love,

A messenger did send,

To call this little babe above,

To joys that never end."

Epitaph on the grave of Joseph Stuttaford at the porch doorway of Walkhampton Church. 

Joseph died on 20 Oct 1824.

Even at the start of the 20th Century, the mortality rate was 1 in 4 for babies born in some parts of Devon. In country districts, away from the squalor of city slums, the mortality rate was slightly lower, but not much.

Survival of the mother was the critical factor. If she died, usually from haemorrhaging or septicaemia, there was little hope for the survival of the child. The odds improved with the introduction of condensed and evaporated milk in the 1870s, but death remained a frequent event in the lives of most Stentiford families.

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