Thousands were to die of the plague in London. September was the key month when the disease ravaged the city. However, death from the plague had started earlier in the year with the first recorded death in June in the Drury Lane area of the city. How many actually died in London probably will not be known. Historians rely on the Bills of Mortality released each week for the 130 parishes in and around London (97 within the City Walls, 16 outside of the City Walls and 17 further a field). Whether these were accurate is not known. It is possible that the clerks involved in the collection of data were so overwhelmed that accurate figures simply could not be kept. It has also been suggested that searchers claimed for people who had not died of the plague but of something else – but they were paid for collecting plague bodies. Regardless of this, there is no doubt that London was hit very hard by the 1665 plague as these figures show.

 

Week beginning June 6th: 43 deaths

Week beginning June 13th: 112 deaths

Week beginning June 20th: 168 deaths

Week beginning June 27th: 267 deaths

Week beginning July 4th: 470 deaths

Week beginning July 11th: 715 deaths

Week beginning July 18th: 1089 deaths

Week beginning July 25th: 1843 deaths

Week beginning August 1st: 2010 deaths

Week beginning August 8th: 3880 deaths

Week beginning August 15th: no record

Week beginning August 22nd: 4237 deaths

Week beginning August 29th: 6102 deaths

Week beginning September 5th: 6978 deaths

Week beginning September 12th: 6544 deaths

Week beginning September 19th: 7165 deaths

Week beginning September 26th: 5532 deaths

Week beginning October 3rd: 4929 deaths

Week beginning October 10th 4327 deaths

Week beginning October 17th: 2665 deaths

Week beginning October 24th: 1421 deaths

Week beginning October 31st: 1031 deaths

Week beginning November 7th: 1414 deaths

Week beginning November 14th: 1050 deaths

Week beginning November 21st: 657 deaths

Week beginning November 28th: 333 deaths

Week beginning December 5th: 210 deaths

Week beginning December 12th: 243 deaths

Week beginning December 19th: 281 deaths

Week beginning December 26th: 152 deaths

 

Though the plague continued into 1666, the number of deaths fell a great deal. In the first two months of the year, only the week starting January 16th had a death toll above 100. All the rest hovered around 50 deaths a week