The pioneering medical statistician, William Farr, commented in 1875 on the lack of improvement in maternal mortality in England and wondered: How long is this sacrifice of lives to go on? The same question might have been posed, perhaps even more sharply, in relation to the neighbouring island...

Previous studies have identified a link between religious affiliation and child mortality, yet the underlying factors that contributed to this association are not fully understood. This study investigates how religious affiliation might have influenced child mortality in early 20th- century...