| Notes |
- NOTE 1./
The Great Plague struck England in the summer of 1665.
First, it should be understood that many epidemic diseases are constantly present in the population, with some years of significant mortality and others of only scattered occurrence. For example, the
bubonic plague had already had noticeable outbreaks in London in 1630, 1636, and 1647, but few years were without any plague deaths. Thus, you should not dismiss a cause of death from a disease you
usually associate with epidemics as erroneous just because it wasn't during a major outbreak.
One of the supporting conditions of epidemics is, of course, population density. For example, the London of this period was densely populated. The one square mile within the walls of "the City"
contained over 600,000 people. 69,596 of the 97,306 deaths in 1665 were attributed to plague, occurring in the latter half of the year. The plague continued through 1666, and some estimates say that almost
20 percent of the population died.
Epidemiologists are still debating why epidemics are often characterized by sudden onset and equally sudden cessation. When reading church burial registers, the genealogist may realize that the
typical handful of entries each month has suddenly multiplied many times over, as I saw in the London register I was reading for 1665. Even when no causes of death are given, chances are that you are
seeing the results of an epidemic, which you may want to research.
For London, the plague basically ended when in September 1666 a fire began in a baker's shop in Pudding Lane near London Bridge. It spread westward along the Thames and northward through the City, traveling easily through the wood-timbered houses overhanging the maze of narrow streets. London burned for four days, literally to the ground in much of the city. The flea-infested rats that carried the plague were either killed or driven away. The plague also faded away outside the city soon after, typical of a plague cycle.
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Abt 1670 - Aft 1700 (> 31 years)
