224 • Survivingmediately installed at Newgate jail after the keeper died. No one wanted that
position to go unfilled; Cowdery was formally sworn in at the next alder-
manic session.^16
Sir John Robinson, commander of the Tower guard and an alderman,
served in several capacities. He found new burial grounds outside the walls
to take the overflow from city churchyards. He negotiated the acquisition of
extra land around the Cripplegate pesthouse. He also had a hand in the erec-
tion of the Stepney pesthouse and became involved in its finances after some
of his soldiers at the Tower became sick and were sent there. The pesthouse
budget was already strained to the limit before these extra charges came in.
Robinson’s handling of this situation is uncertain, for he had the reputation
of exaggerating his deeds. The pesthouse doctor later lodged a printed com-
plaint of going into debt to feed, clothe, and provide medical care, without
reimbursement from Robinson and the city.^17
How much time and energy Robinson, his fellow aldermen, and Mayor
Lawrence devoted to their emergency duties can only be guessed. Sir Wil-
liam Turner let his partners in Paris know he had “no time” to go over their
joint finances in detail—a clear hint of pressing duties at the Guildhall. At
first it was the Plague Orders and their enforcement. Then came the imposi-
tion of the plague tax; the appointment of the public doctors, apothecaries,
and surgeons; and the replacement of fallen officials. In retrospect, the hur-
ried early orders seemed far less crucial than had been believed at the time.
The Guildhall had labored over keeping the conduits open for street clean-
ing. As mortality soared, there were complaints of far more alarming prob-
lems, including the stench and danger from overcrowded churchyards with
uncovered graves. This situation demanded immediate attention, and the
mayor ordered quicklime and piles of earth to be heaped on the graves.
There was plenty to do in the public arena. The more the city emptied, the
more there was to be done.
Four weeks after the public fires, Alderman Turner was relieved to see the
mortality finally dropping. The weekly plague toll within the city wall re-
mained above one thousand, however. The abruptness of his correspondence
with the Pocquelins in Paris suggested a man still weighed down by civic
burdens and the prolonged stoppage of trade: “Herewith I send you the ac-
compt current. I had no tyme to looke them over but I presume you will find
them right.” He continued his sad refrain as autumn took hold and the sick-
ness persisted despite cooler weather. Writing in French, the consummate
English entrepreneur advised his partners: “The sickness increased during
the past week, which increased the fears of those who were already wary of