Past Epidemic

I’ve been studying social history for almost 50 years, connecting it to genealogical research. One amazing feature that has intrigued me is an occurrence across the country in the 1720s of which very few people are aware.

During my research I’ve uncovered an epidemic (I can’t call it a pandemic as I’m unsure if it was worldwide) that impacted throughout England at least. For example, in a typical middle-sized parish the death rate went up from an average of 19 to 52 in 1728 and was typical of the steep rise during a four-year period. Also, what is more fascinating is that it appears to have hit elderly people very hard, while leaving young children largely untouched – very different to what usually occurred in epidemics.

How do I know this? Well, in one particular parish it not only gives the names of the deceased, their address and occupation, but also their age and cause of death (largely “age and fever”) – very rare for this time. I’ve got data for many parishes and although there are only a couple that provide additional details, they represent a telling image of the time. In some ways it hit more people than the plague in London in 1665–1666, but because it was nationwide and not concentrated in the ‘communication’ capital of

England, I believe it went largely unnoticed. I wonder how many readers, when tracing ancestors, discover that their forebears died within those years?

Mike Randall, by email

EDITOR REPLIES: Mike, your email intrigued me so I’ve looked further into this epidemic. The BBC’s website has some interesting material about it written by Dr Geoff Timmins: bit.ly/dying-in-droves. I would love to hear from any readers who have an ancestor who died during this period.