Accidents and response: sudden violent death in the early modern city, 1650–1750 Craig G. Spence Royal Holloway College University of London PhD 2013 DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I Craig G. Spence hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. SIGNED : ___ Craig Spence ____ DATE :_____31 SEPTEMBER 2013_________ 2 ABSTRACT Between 1654 and 1735 as many as 15,529 Londoners suffered sudden violent deaths. This figure includes 3,135 who were murdered or committed suicide, however the majority of the fatalities (12,394) resulted from unexplained violent deaths or accidents. Accidents were therefore a regular feature of urban life during the early modern period. This study reviews the occurrence and circumstances of accidental death as recorded in the weekly London Bills of Mortality , parish burial registers and other related documents. It is clear that the most frequently occurring form of accidental death during this period was drowning, followed closely by fatal falls and incidents involving animals and vehicles. A wide range of other violent agencies resulted in sudden death, though in lesser numbers, including stabbing and shooting, fires and explosions, scalding and suffocation. Such fatalities were considered by contemporaries as disorderly deaths and as such a variety of actions were taken to counteract the disturbing effect such events might have. The formal mechanism of the coroner’s inquest, supported by London’s ‘searchers’, was paramount in explaining the how of such deaths whilst religious and intellectual endeavours were occasionally directed at the why . There is some evidence to suggest a move across the period from purely providential explanations to a more didactic imposition of human agency to prevent such events through the increasing exercise of authority and regulation. Sudden violent deaths caused emotional, psychological and social trauma to both individuals and communities and a range of contemporary documents shed light on responses and attitudes to the accident as an event. Especially important are the early newspapers of the eighteenth century which repeatedly print stories of accidents and their outcomes. Through a careful reading of such documents the present study delineates the position of the accident within early modern metropolitan mentalities. 3 CONTENTS List of figures 6 List of tables 8 Acknowledgements 9 List of abbreviations 10 Chapter 1 Introduction Section 1.1 Introduction 11 Section 1.2 Research aims, questions and methodology 11 Section 1.3 Accidents and the historian 15 Section 1.3 Methods and sources 21 Chapter 2 The administration of sudden violent death Section 2.1 Local and national interest in sudden violent death 27 Section 2.2 Parochial administration: the searchers, parish clerks and the Bills of Mortality 29 Section 2.3 Legal structures: Coroners, inquests and judicial response 38 Chapter 3 Sudden violent death: how, when and where Section 3.1 Sudden violent death: a quantitative approach 46 Section 3.2 Drowning 56 Section 3.3 Falls 72 Section 3.4 ‘Found dead’ 81 Section 3.5 ‘Killed’ 84 Section 3.6 Struck by objects or materials 89 Section 3.7 Killed by vehicles 100 Section 3.8 Killed by animals 108 Section 3.9 Burnt 116 Section 3.10 Asphyxiation 127 Section 3.11 Stabbed and ‘Wounded’ 135 Section 3.12 Scalded 142 Section 3.13 Other causes of sudden violent death 146 Section 3.14 Sudden violent death over time 158 4 Chapter 4 Responding to accident events Section 4.1 Social and medical response to accident events 165 Section 4.2 Hazard recognition and regulatory response 182 Chapter 5 ‘Accident event narratives’ and early modern mentalities Section 5.1 Constructing early modern accident events 197 Section 5.2 Private recording: diaries and journals 198 Section 5.3 Public reporting: telling stories and printing news 202 Chapter 6 Conclusion Section 6.1 Aims, objectives and outcomes 226 Section 6.2 Enumerating sudden violent death in the early modern city 226 Section 6.3 Experiencing accident events in the early modern city 228 Section 6.4 Mentalities of the unexpected: some final thoughts 231 APPENDICES I Bills of Mortality database structure II a ‘Parishes’ that comprised the area of the Bills of Mortality 1654–1735 grouped as printed in the weekly Bills of Mortality II b ‘Parishes’ that comprised the area of the Bills of Mortality 1654–1735 grouped according to the ‘Metropolitan Areas’ used for geographical analysis III Additions to the list of ‘Parishes’ printed in the weekly Bills of Mortality through acts of accretion, amalgamation or division between 1660–1746 IV Cases from the Old Bailey Sessions Papers which refer to ‘accidental’ deaths, 1676– 1754 BIBLIOGRAPHY 5 LIST OF FIGURES 1.1 Boundaries of metropolitan areas used for geographical analysis 25 2.1 Weekly Bill of Mortality for week commencing 25 April 1665 35 2.2 Weekly Bill of Mortality for week commencing 12 December 1644 37 3.1 Number of reported murders per year and ten-year moving average in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 48 3.2 Number of reported suicides per year and ten-year moving average in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 50 3.3 Annual totals of ‘casualties’ in metropolitan London, 1654–1735; also showing ten-year moving average 53 3.4 Relative seasonality of sudden violent death in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 55 3.5 Detail from The Thames at Horseferry c.1706–10, after Jan Griffier the Elder 63 3.6 Water-courses, ponds and drainage systems in the metropolitan London area during the early eighteenth century 67 3.7 Seasonality of drowning in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 68 3.8 Seasonality of fatal falls in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 77 3.9 Seasonality of those ‘found dead’ in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 83 3.10 Seasonality of those reported as ‘killed’ in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 87 3.11 Detail from Prospect of London and Westminster 1682, Morgan 96 3.12 Seasonality of striking fatalities in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 98 3.13 Seasonality of vehicle-related fatalities in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 105 3.14 Seasonality of animal-related fatalities in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 114 3.15 Seasonality of burning-related fatalities in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 125 3.16 Seasonality of asphyxiation fatalities in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 133 3.17 Seasonality of stabbing and wounding fatalities in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 139 3.18 Seasonality of fatal scalding in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 145 3.19 The industrious ‘prentice Lord Mayor of London by William Hogarth (1747) 151 3.20 Mean annual number of accidental and undefined ‘casualties’ in metropolitan London, 1665–1734, by quinquennia; also showing ten-year moving average 159 3.21 Annual totals of undefined and accidental drowning in metropolitan London between 1654 and 1735; also showing ten-year moving average 160 3.22 Annual totals of undefined and accidental drowning in metropolitan London between 1654 and 1735; also showing ten-year moving average with periods of warfare and peaks in English overseas trade 161 3.23 Annual totals of fatal falls in metropolitan London between 1654–1735; also showing ten-year moving average and price index for consumer goods 162 3.24 Annual totals of land transport fatalities in metropolitan London between 1654– 1735; also showing five-year moving average and price index for consumer goods 163 6 4.1 Coloured aquatint showing two men [porters?] conveying a sick woman to a hospital, 1812 169 4.2 Engraving illustrating the injuries received by Samuel Wood in August 1737 180 5.1 A Sad and true relation of a great fire or two … (1662) 207 5.2 The Ballad of the strange and wonderful storm of hail … (1680) 211 5.3 A Sad and terrible relation of two dreadful earthquakes … (1692) 213 5.4 Front page of the 1670 publication Inquest after blood … 216 5.5 Front page of the 1670 publication A Continuation of the Inquest after blood … 217 5.6 Extracts from the Original Weekly Journal of 9 January 1720 218 5.7 Extract from the Gloucester Journal of 10 September 1728 219 5.8 Gin Lane by William Hogarth (1751) 223 5.9 The second stage of cruelty by William Hogarth (1751) 224 7 LIST OF TABLES 3.1 Sudden violent death in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 46 3.2 Causes of accidental death in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 52 3.3 Seasonality of sudden violent death in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 54 3.4 Geographical distribution of drowning in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 71 3.5 Seasonality of fatal falls by occupational sector in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 78 3.6 Geographical distribution of fatal falls in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 80 3.7 Geographical distribution of those ‘found dead’ in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 84 3.8 Geographical distribution of those reported as ‘killed’ in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 88 3.9 Geographical distribution of striking fatalities in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 99 3.10 Vehicle-related fatalities by vehicle type in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 101 3.11 Seasonality of vehicle-related fatalities by vehicle type in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 106 3.12 Geographical distribution of vehicle-related fatalities in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 107 3.13 Geographical distribution animal-related fatalities in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 115 3.14 Geographical distribution of burning-related fatalities in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 126 3.15 Geographical distribution of asphyxiation fatalities in metropolitan London, 1654–1735 134 3.16 Seasonality