334 • Notes to Pages 205–213- In St. Botolph parish, 502 died from the plague and 47 of other diseases. At St.
Giles, there were 581 plague victims, plus 47 others. St. Peters on North Street lost 691 to
the distemper and 81 from other causes (a gross overcount from other years). During the
two-year epidemic, the mortality from all causes in these three parishes stood roughly at
1 , 950. The overall total for the entire sixteen parishes was about five thousand. - Timothy C. Glines, “Politics and Government in the Borough of Colchester,
1660 – 1693 ” (Ph.D. diss., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1974 ), 7 – 8 ; Doyly to Evelyn,
Aug. 17 , BL, Evelyn Papers SXW 1 1665. - Slack,The Impact of Plague, 281 , concludes that money raised inside the town
could have maintained the sick and poor during one-third to two-fifths of the plague
epidemic. A rare plague book from one of the poorest parishes reveals the contours
of plaguetime financing. St. Leonard’s Parish Book, 61 – 63 , ERO (Colchester) D/P/
245 // 8 / 2. - We thank Linda Dunnett for showing us this mound.
- Revisionist studies have stressed a quick demographic and economic rebound af-
ter Colchester’s Great Plague, pointing to the surge in fines on cloth that did not meet
strict standards. See I. G. Doolittle, “The Effects of the Plague on a Provincial Town in
the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries,”Medical History 19 ( 1975 ): 333 – 41. The effect
of loss of life and livelihood at the time cannot be ignored, however. There has also been
some misreading of hearth tax assessments before and after the local epidemic (confus-
ing assessments, nonpayments, and empty houses), resulting in understating the eco-
nomic and financial difficulties of rebounding. - See esp. Leslie Bradley, “The Most Famous of All English Plagues: A Detailed
Analysis of the Plague at Eyam, 1665 – 6 ,” in The Plague Reconsidered, 63 – 94. - On the plague’s path up the Thames, see Hailstone, “If on a Sudden.” On Ports-
mouth’s pesthouse, see Rugge,Diurnal,fol. 143.
26 .Newes,Aug. 3 , 1665.
27 .BL,Addit. MSS 4182 , fols. 30 , 32 , 34 : PRO PC 2 / 58 , fol. 246 ; Bell,The Great
Plague, 170 – 71. - Pepys,Diary, 6 : 218 , Sept. 9 , 1665.
- John Evelyn to Lord Viscount Cornibery, Sept. 9 , Evelyn Letter Book 3 : 251.
- Albemarle to Evelyn, Sept. 25 , Oct. 3 , 4 , 22 , BL, Evelyn Papers SXW 1 1665.
31 .Evelyn,Diary, 1 : 404 – 5 ; Albemarle to Evelyn, Oct. 9 , BL, Evelyn Papers SXW 1
- Evelyn to Sir William Coventry, a privy councilor, Oct. 2 , BL, Evelyn Letter
Book 3 ,no. 257. - Rugge,Diurnal,fol. 151 r.
- Slack,The Impact of Plague, 224.
- BL, Addit. MSS 4182 , fols. 44 – 48.
- Elizabeth Gauden, Hutton Hall, Burntwood [Brentwood], Essex, to Symon Pa-
trick, Oct. 5 , 1665 ,in Patrick,Works, 9 : 585. - Symon Patrick to Elizabeth Gauden, Oct. 14 , in ibid., 588 – 89.
- Patrick to Gauden, Oct. 12 , 26 , in ibid., 590.