The Plague in Maidstone.

According to J.M. Russell’s “History of Maidstone” the plague frequently visited Maidstone. The first known details were in 1544, when five members of one household Joan, Alice, Gervase and John Nash, and Alice the mother died and were buried within a fortnight. The plague again broke out in the autumn of 1562. The town crier went round the town and announced that the Michaelmas Fair, which was being held, could not be continued; because of the pestilence. Communication with London was immediately suspended and strangers fled to their homes. Public meetings were prohibited and All Saints Church was closed and marriages were postponed and infants were taken to Otham and Loose for baptism. In the following year, about a hundred and fifty inhabitants died from the plague, seven buried in one day. There were more deaths in 1574 and also in 1578, when seven members of one household were buried within six days, interred in All Saints Churchyard. In 1579, about forty persons succumbed to the plague. There were further partial outbreaks in 1589 -1591. In 1591,the sanitary state of the town was so poor, that the Mayor and Jurates attempted measures of relief, an order was issued to the people living in the almhouses in Stone Street, Pudding Lane and on the bridge, that “if they continued to keep hogs or swine in the rooms or houses where they lived” they would each be fined, at the discretion of the Mayor and four of the Jurates; 3 shillings 4d, “to be levied by the sale of the said hogs or swine.” About thirty deaths occurred in 1592, and a byelaw in October 1592, imposed a fine on the owners of pigs found wandering in the streets. The out breaks of plague continued and in 1595, the borough chamberlains paid 6 shillings 8d for the burial of William Ellis and his wife and 4d for the burial of Kate Durrant. Fifty persons died in 1594, forty in 1596 and sixty five in 1597.  The plague was once more prevalent in the autumn of 1602 and in 1603, the death toll was for 1602 was 112.  Great difficulty was experienced in obtaining nurses for the sick and the almhouses were living in charity and without occupation, the Corporation ordered them to admit into their rooms and to wait upon the desperate cases. At the same time, the owners of pigstys which has long existed on St. Faith’s Green were ordered to have them removed. The precautions however produced no abatement in the excessive mortality, twenty five persons died in 1604 and sixty two in 1609. In 1614, there were ninety one deaths. There were further outbreaks in 1615-16 and in 1625,the Mayor and the Jurates issued an order that “no hoyman, foot or horse post, should, during the infection in the Metropolis, carry or receive any goods from Maidstone to London, under a fine of £5; and no inhabitant was to take or lodge any stranger from London or other places. By the August of 1625, the pestilence had subsided and a public fast was held, but in 1626-7 the deaths were again numerous. Forty persons died in 1634 and in 1636, when the plague was raging in London, the Corporation posted seven watchmen at the chief entrances to the town with orders “to keep all suppositious person” coming into the streets.

On 18th October 1665, Sir John Banks, of the Friars, Aylesford wrote to Samuel Pepys, of the Admiralty, entreating his interest with the Duke of York, on behalf of a letter from gentlemen of Maidstone, praying that sick men might not be sent from the fleet, as Maidstone was the only town, free of the plague. he stated that the militia and one of the duke’s troops were already quartered in the town and pointed out to remove disabled men thither “would be a great inconvenience.” On August 27th 1666, it was reported in London that the plague was “very hot in Maidstone.” Fearful havoc was wrought amongst the prisoners in the County gaol, High Street and it was found expedient to use the George Inn, East Lane (now King Street), as a temporary prison, where three of the prisoners died. A pest house for the reception of the sick was opened, and many perished within it’s walls. To add to the horror, two principal surgeons, William Cox and Nicholas Bennett died at the time, though not of the plague. In the last week of August, nineteen victims were buried in one day, the mortality rate was seventy, for that month. In September 106 deaths were recorded, October 110, November 24 and December 32. In total inn1666, 347 lives were lost to the plague and another 136 from other causes. The plague last attacked Maidstone in the summer of 1667, there were 33 deaths in June, 42 in July, 30 in August, 12 in September, 14 in October, 2 in November and 3 in December, 154 in total. There was great distress in the town and the Archbishop of Canterbury sent £20 to John Davis, incumbent of All Saints; for the “poor and afflicted of Maidstone”.Home