page_title: Godfrey's Cordial
section_title: Infant deaths and usage
hierarchical_section_title: Godfrey's Cordial / Infant deaths and usage
caption_attribution_description: A large group of doctors deliberating around a patient; presented by figures bearing the characteristics of the cures they are prescribing surrounding a goose. Etching by G. Cruikshank. Iconographic Collections Keywords: James Morison; George Cruikshank
context_page_description: Godfrey's Cordial was a patent medicine, containing laudanum in a sweet syrup, which was commonly used as a sedative to quieten infants and children in Victorian England. Used mostly by mothers working in agricultural groups or industry, it ensured that she could work the maximum hours of her employment, without being disturbed by her infant, and thus increased the family income. It was also used by nurses and baby-minders to enable them to neglect their duties if they wished.
context_section_description: Godfrey's cordial had long been recognised as leading to fatal cases of opium poisoning.
  However, it continued to be made and used until the early twentieth century, at least in part due to the ease with which it could be manufactured. It was reportedly sold in enormous quantities in eighteenth century England, a time-span that has been popularly referred to as the golden age of physic, due to the widespread availability and consumption of enormous amounts of proprietary medicines. Its low cost and a lack of public knowledge about infant management further increased its popularity.
  Though many cases of infant death had been conclusively linked to an indiscriminate use of the medicine by mothers and nurses, exact numbers are hard to ascertain. Those who survived often, reportedly, had a severely damaged physical constitution.
caption: Various quack-cures suggest how they can help an ailing goose - Godfrey's Cordial is at the front of the queue.
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