Bills of Mortality

We all know being alive is dangerous. No one has ever survived being alive. Nope, everyone who ever lived, died. End of story.

But how did they die? That's a good question, even if I ask it myself to set up the next part.

Introducing Bills of Mortality.

Started in 1592 in London as a record of burials, it was published on and off until 1819 when the parishes adopted a new system. Usually it functioned as a record of how many died that week and from what. Now as a disclaimer, I'm aware that this is pretty macabre, and that these were real people, but some of these entries are really funny out of context.

I first heard of these in an episode of 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, but a quick Google search finds a bunch of these. So lets take a look.

The first page I found is from the week of August 15-22 1665, during the Great Plague:

Plague: 3880 (no surprise there)

Consumption: 174

Dropsy (a form of heart failure): 40

Aged: 54

Fairly normal stuff so far, right? Let's keep going:

Frighted: 1

Lethargy: 1

Sore Legge: 1

Stone: 2

Winde: 8

Then we get very specific:

Found dead in the Street at St. Bartholomew the Lefs: 1

Killed by a fall down the stairs at St. Thomas Apostle: 1

Apparently going to church is dangerous...

Another list is for the entire year of 1665 and is therefore more detailed:

Drowned: 50

Executed: 21

Leprosie: 2

Murthered (Murdered) and Shot: 9

Killed by several accidents: 46

King's Evil: 86 (this is actually TB not the acts of an evil king.)

And finally, my favorite entry as a cause of death:

Suddenly: 1

So there you have it, stay away from the King's Evil or you may die Suddenly! Until next time, have a great (and safe) week!