How Norwich Fought Against the Plague: Lessons from the Past, Frank Meeres, Poppyland Publishing, 2021, 138p, £9.95. ISBN 9781909796898

The importance of this book has already been acknowledged at a regional level by having been awarded the 2021 East Anglia Book Award for History and Tradition. What Frank Meeres has provided, however, has a much wider significance. His meticulous scholarship has unearthed such a substantial level of material for Norwich and Norfolk that this book can fulfil several further roles.

This is demonstrably a local study but Frank Meeres has managed to offer a template for the consideration of the progress and effect of pandemic on other towns. Admittedly at the commencement of this research, Norwich was England’s second city but his account of what was experienced can guide other scholars into exploring what might be observed in other provincial centres. Essentially his method provides a picture of the urban health challenge in England between 1349 and 1666.

Amongst the extraordinarily useful elements of this book are his summary of the scientific explanation of plague and how it manifested itself; and the statistical enormity of the death-rate, with his example of parish clergy mortality in 1349-50 as being basically fifty percent, matched by a similar death-rate amongst the Cathedral’s monks in that same year.

Plague visited Norwich periodically after 1349-50 but the outbreak of 1579 was extremely devastating, with perhaps forty per cent of the population dieing within a few months. Understanding how people dealt with plague at a local level is part of the appeal of this book and explains its wider applicability. For example, Norwich applied the seventeen 1579-80 Privy Council orders for dealing with plague – some are hauntingly familiar, such as that the JPs should appoint persons to take food and necessities to the sick, wearing a mask and carrying rods to identify themselves.

Another incident reminiscent of our times occurred in 1637. A shortage of salt needed by various processes in Norwich had occurred. Usually, the salt came from Newcastle-upon-Tyne but it was considered too plague-ridden for its vessels to be permitted to bring the necessary salt to Great Yarmouth ready for local trans-shipment. Local business interests began to consider alternative sources of supply and decided to import salt from Europe. They sent Alderman Horth to negotiate with the Privy Council for a licence to permit this variation and he managed to secure it in his own name, rather than the borough. Initially he made huge profits but eventually he was deprived of his office as a punishment. Self-interest in the midst of a health crisis is clearly not just an experience of modern times!

This book is a treasure trove for anyone interested in the effects of bubonic plague on provincial England.