London after the Plague and the Great Fire

[peter nicholl]

A boy born in Barking, Essex in 1662 became a London apprentice in 1678. While the age of 16 may not stop someone starting an apprenticeship, it was not a typical start age. So, I thought about what was going on while he was growing up. 1665 and the Plague, then 1666 and the Great Fire. They would upset the apple cart and it would take some time to recover. As an indicator, I used FMP to see how many London apprenticeships were taken up each year from his birth until 1680. It was no surprise that the number fell from over 500 per year down to 236 in 1665 with a slight increase to 368 in 1666. Then the numbers showed a trend back to the mid to high 500s. However, in1678 the numbers rose to over700 and in 1680 there were 860.
While the 1678 increase indicates why an “older” boy could be taken on, my question is “What was the reason(s) for the increase itself?”.

[Lesley Robertson]

Availability of Masters? It must have taken a while to qualify replacements for Fire victims.

[helachau]

"Leaving Home and Entering Service. The Age of Apprenticeship in Early Modern London

http://www.lse.ac.uk/Economic-Histor...2009/WP125.pdf

Haven't checked contents - stats leave me cold.