On Monday, 2 November 2015 09:19:05 UTC, eve via wrote: > > On Tuesday, 27 October 2015 20:35:20 UTC, Ian Goddard wrote: > > > On 27/10/15 13:07, Chris Dickinson wrote: > > > > I mentioned the 1623 famine because that is traditionally seen as the last major famine in England. One way that you might be able to determine its severity in your area is by looking at your local probate index and counting the annual quantity. I did this a while back for West Cumberland, not expecting to see any hike (as I was assuming famine would hit the poor more than will-making yeomanry), but got this: > > > > > > > > 1619 44 > > > > 1620 49 > > > > 1621 3 > > > > 1622 54 > > > > 1623 158 > > > > 1624 6 > > > > 1625 4 > > > > 1626 35 > > > > 1627 52 > > > > > > That's a very impressive series of figures there, Chris. > > I remember many years ago that Colin Rogers gave a lecture on the > 'Lancashire famine' of 1623, which he had identified. There was also a > couple of bad dearth years in )approx) 1715-17, which affected the more > southerly areas at least - and in Bucks, the housewives got together and > ambushed a waggon bringing in what little corn there was, which Mr X > intended to sell a a huge profit. The magistartes were sympathtic for once - > X wasn't a popular character. > EVE > > Author of The McLaughlin Guides for Family Historians > Secretary, Bucks Genealogical Society Thank you, Eve. I'm strongly tempted to do some proper research (maybe in a couple of years time) on the West Cumberland famine; and that would involve reading about 1623 experiences elsewhere. So I'll have a look then for any written record of Colin Rogers' work. Chris