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Death in the Suburbs: Mortality in London and its Hinterland Between 1550 and 1700
| By 1700 each of London’s suburbs had a population of at least 10,000 inhabitants, rivalling or exceeding that of the largest English cities and often still contained within a single parish (for example, only Norwich’s 30,000 inhabitants and Bristol’s 21,000 exceeded the 20,000 souls found in the parish of St Botolph Aldgate by 1710). The suburbs were the main focus of growth, where land was more readily available and economic activities less stringently controlled by civic or guild authorities, but the central city area remained vitally important for trade. Despite an extremely hazardous disease environment, the metropolis continued to grow from in-migration. During the sixteenth and seventeenth century both international and English born migrants flocked to London, working in new or expanding manufactures (such as gunmaking, brewing, silk manufacture), supporting the growing population by selling food or services, or working as domestic servants. Others came to market to keep the city supplied with meat, grains, fruit and vegetables, or shipped in fuel and raw materials. In a city periodically ravaged by plague, and subject to rising levels of infant mortality, many of these incomers and their children did not survive for long. Moving home was a frequent occurence, and very few adults who did persist for a long time in one area had been born there.
This paper will contrast the mortality of early modern Londoners in the still-urbanising northern suburb of Clerkenwell, the built-up, partly riverside eastern suburb of Aldgate, and a predominantly mercantile sample population from the city centre. Other populations from the still-rural hinterland surrounding the metropolis may also be considered, to investigate the geographical scope of London's effect.
Using church records, we can trace patterns of life and death in each of these areas. While the wealth and living conditions of inhabitants in the city and suburbs differed markedly, commerce and entertainments brought Londoners together on a daily basis. In this fluid and ever-changing environment, to what extent was there a convergence in the short-term experience of mortality, both before and after the last plague year of 1665? We will also explore the long-term trends in mortality among infants and children.
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