They were also common causes of death for those buried at Roxburgh Cemetery, where work to digitise the cemetery’s records was completed late last month.
These records have been added to the Central Otago District Council’s (CODC) online cemetery database, so people now have complete access to burial records.
Roxburgh Cemetery contains over 2200 digitised records.
Council cadet Jocelyn Ryan spent over 600 hours photographing, researching and digitising the Roxburgh cemetery records.
"Roxburgh Cemetery has been a challenge due to the size and age of the cemetery," Ms Ryan said.
The cemetery opened for burials in
the 1860s, when the gold rush hit the Teviot Valley and took Roxburgh from a quiet country town to a booming mining city.
"Lost cemetery records pre-1900s and the lack of headstones made identifying unknown plots near impossible.
"People are proud of the history of the cemetery, which was the last home for the great, the good and the humble."
More than 600 hours of work had gone into the project, with 1500 photos taken and more than 2200 records digitised.
Parks and recreation manager Gordon Bailey noted the clear progression in modern medicine, workplace safety and living conditions.
The inscriptions that depicted disease, accidents and common ailments began to decrease as causes of mortality as the years went by.
CODC group manager community experience David Scoones said the project showed the value of future-proofing burial records.
"Cemeteries are fascinating and historical places, but it’s good to have the option to be able to look online if you can’t visit in person, or to verify the information that you see on a gravestone."
Digitisation is now under way at St Bathans Cemetery.
