I recall someone sending me some family history information, I think on the Paine's, and they were mentioning the fact that almost the entire population of Woodchurch was lost to the plague, I think in the 1700's. Does anyone know anything about this? I'll have to try and track down the note I was sent, but I was just curious if anyone else had information on it. Gillian _________________________________________________________________ Put Your Face In Your Space with Windows Live Spaces http://spaces.live.com/?mkt=en-ca

Hi, I submitted the Paine family-tree but made no mention of a plaque wipe-out, but this story would be of interest to me obviously. Was this a second-coming of plaque as the first was 1348 (I think). P To: eng-ken-woodchurch@rootsweb.com Subject: [ENG-KEN-WOODCHURCH] Plague I recall someone sending me some family history information, I think on the Paine's, and they were mentioning the fact that almost the entire population of Woodchurch was lost to the plague, I think in the 1700's. Does anyone know anything about this? I'll have to try and track down the note I was sent, but I was just curious if anyone else had information on it. Gillian

Hi Gillian, At first glance, this seems very unlikely. A catastrophic event on this scale would doubtless appear in the historiography of the village, perhaps even the county, but there is no mention of anything like this in the several published accounts of the village and church. Moreover, the parish records show a consistent pattern of births, marriages and deaths throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Interestingly, the village population at the beginning of the nineteenth century was 698, roughly half of what it would be for the remainder of the century and for much of the next, but I doubt this low figure in the early 1800s is attributable to a significant number of plaque deaths in the 1700s, or earlier. How the village fared during the outbreak of Black Death in the mid 1300s, which really did thin out the population on a global scale, is not known. If you do come across the note again please do post it to the list. All the best Gary Samson Canterbury, Kent NOW Available Online! 'A Stroll Around the Green' www.goldbern.co.uk/woodchurch/stroll.htm Gillian Floyd said the following on 26.08.2007 14:22: > I recall someone sending me some family history information, I think on the > Paine's, and they were mentioning the fact that almost the entire population > of Woodchurch was lost to the plague, I think in the 1700's. Does anyone > know anything about this? > I'll have to try and track down the note I was sent, but I was just curious > if anyone else had information on it. > Gillian