Memory Aids: Lock In the Key Facts
Part of The Great Plague — GCSE History
This memory aid covers Memory Aids: Lock In the Key Facts within The Great Plague for GCSE History. Revise The Great Plague in Medicine Through Time for GCSE History with 8 exam-style questions and 5 flashcards. This topic appears less often, but it can still be a useful differentiator on mixed-topic papers. It is section 11 of 13 in this topic. Use it for quick recall, then test yourself straight afterwards so the memory aid becomes usable in an answer.
Topic position
Section 11 of 13
Practice
8 questions
Recall
5 flashcards
🧠 Memory Aids: Lock In the Key Facts
Continuity vs Change — "TCGT" framework:
- Theories — NO CHANGE: still miasma, God, humours (same as 1348)
- Cures — NO CHANGE: still bleeding, purging, theriac, prayer
- Government — CHANGE: plague orders, Bills of Mortality, systematic quarantine
- Tracking — CHANGE: Bills of Mortality = first systematic death recording
Key numbers to know:
- 1665 — year of the Great Plague
- 7,000+ — Londoners dying per week at the epidemic's peak (September 1665)
- 100,000 — total London deaths
- 15-20% — proportion of London's population killed
- 40 days — quarantine period for infected houses
- Compare: Black Death killed 30-50% nationally in 1348
Samuel Pepys — your primary source witness: The diarist Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) lived in London during the Great Plague and recorded it in his diary. Key diary entries describe: seeing the first red cross on a door in Drury Lane (June 1665), the mass exodus of the wealthy from London, the terror of hearing the death cart at night. Pepys is a useful source for exam questions about what life was like during the plague — he was an educated eyewitness who described both official responses and popular fears. He also recorded the Great Fire of 1666 — giving you a single witness across both events.
The "same theory, better organisation" summary: The Great Plague was handled with the same wrong theory but better logistics. Imagine a fire brigade that still believes water makes fires worse (wrong theory) but now has better maps of the city, fire watchers on every street, and a communication system (better organisation). The theory is still wrong, so the core response is still wrong — but the organisation means damage is slightly more contained. This is the Great Plague in one analogy.