Editing Samuel Pepys (section)

====Great Plague====
{{Further|Great Plague of London}}
Outbreaks of plague were not unusual events in London; major epidemics had occurred in 1592, 1603, 1625 and 1636.{{sfnp|Tomalin|2002|p=167}} Furthermore, Pepys was not among the group of people who were most at risk. He did not live in cramped housing, he did not routinely mix with the poor, and he was not required to keep his family in London in the event of a crisis.{{sfnp|Tomalin|2002|p=168}} It was not until June 1665 that the unusual seriousness of the plague became apparent, so Pepys' activities in the first five months of 1665 were not significantly affected by it.{{sfnp|Tomalin|2002|p=168}} [[Claire Tomalin]] wrote that 1665 was, to Pepys, one of the happiest years of his life. He worked very hard that year, and the outcome was that he quadrupled his fortune.{{sfnp|Tomalin|2002|p=168}} In his annual summary on 31 December, he wrote, "I have never lived so merrily (besides that I never got so much) as I have done this plague time".<ref>{{ws |[[s:Diary of Samuel Pepys/1665/December#31st (Lord's day)|''Diary of Samuel Pepys'', Sunday, 31 December 1665]]}}</ref>

Nonetheless, Pepys was certainly concerned about the plague. On 16 August he wrote:
{{blockquote|But, Lord! how sad a sight it is to see the streets empty of people, and very few upon the 'Change. Jealous of every door that one sees shut up, lest it should be the plague; and about us two shops in three, if not more, generally shut up.| {{ws |[[s:Diary of Samuel Pepys/1665/August#16th|''Diary of Samuel Pepys'', Wednesday, 16 August 1665]]}}}}

He also chewed [[tobacco]] as a protection against infection, and worried that [[wig-makers]] might be using hair from the corpses as a raw material. Furthermore, it was Pepys who suggested that the Navy Office should evacuate to [[Greenwich]], although he did offer to remain in town himself. He later took great pride in his stoicism.{{sfnp|Tomalin|2002|pp=174–175}} Meanwhile, Elisabeth Pepys was sent to [[Woolwich]].{{sfnp|Knighton|2004}} She did not return to Seething Lane until January 1666 and was shocked by the sight of [[St Olave Hart Street|St Olave]]'s churchyard, where 300 people had been buried.{{sfnp|Tomalin|2002|pp=177–178}}