Fire was used a lot in everyday life for heating, lighting and cooking, and in industry.
Samuel Pepys's maid woke him to tell him about the fire. How do you think others found out about the fire?
The fire became a cover for looters. Others were suspected of spreading the fire on purpose.
Pepys packed his ‘best things’ onto a cart to take them to safety. What do you think other people saved?
Jo Morgan was watching the fire from an attic a few streets away when a fireball whizzed past his head. How would it feel to see the fire?
Lady Ann Hobart paid £20 to hire carts to take her belongings to safety. Carters saw an opportunity to charge large sums.
Homeless Londoners camped in the fields outside the City. What do you think happened to them?
A royal proclamation stated that churches should store people’s belongings. Temporary markets were set up so people could buy food.
About 100,000 people lost their homes during the fire, but we don’t know for sure how many people died.
There were many disputes between tenants and landlords about who should pay to rebuild houses. The Fire Court helped to resolve these.
The areas devastated by the fire became dangerous places. Unstable walls fell on passers-by and thieves lurked in the ruins.
Elizabeth Peacock sought help from a relief fund set up in October 1666. What was this relief fund and how did it help?
Around 100,000 people lost their homes in the fire. Many homes burned down, but others had been pulled down to halt the fire.
Henry Brewster and his wife Rachel’s property on Tower Wharf was amongst those demolished by order of the Privy Council (a group of advisers to the king) to save the Tower of London.
As people lost their homes, thousands began to take shelter in tents in Moorfields and Finsbury Fields outside the City surrounded by their belongings. For most this was temporary but some people lived there for up to eight years.
The navy sent ships’ biscuits for poor people camping at Moorfields. They were salty, hard biscuits made for sailors to eat at sea. People didn’t like them and sent them back uneaten.
The large numbers of people fleeing the City put a strain on surrounding areas. St James Church, Clerkenwell recorded 46 people previously from various parishes in the City who had no means of supporting themselves and relied on the church for aid.
Lucky Londoners moved in with friends and family while others looked for somewhere to rent. But rents soared in unaffected areas and many people moved away and never returned.
The king was worried about his homeless, hungry subjects and ordered temporary markets to be set up.
The king also established a national fundraising scheme to help penniless Londoners. On 10 October 1666, people across the country collected money to send to London. Over the next few years, over £16,000 (about £2.4 million today) was given, although there was a real worry that London would never recover.
Londoners could petition the Lord Mayor for money from the relief fund if they were in particularly dire straits. Unfortunately the Lord Mayor, Sir William Bolton, allegedly reduced the fund by embezzling large sums from it.
Elizabeth Peacock was amongst those claiming relief. Having recently lost her husband and eldest son, Elizabeth and her five remaining small children found themselves:
...utterly destitute…[with] not so much as a stool to sit upon...
