This source analysis covers Source Analysis Practice within The Great Plague for GCSE History. Revise The Great Plague in Medicine Through Time for GCSE History with 8 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. Use this page as part of a wider topic revision path rather than treating it as an isolated fact. It is section 7 of 13 in this topic. Use this source analysis to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
📜 Source Analysis Practice
Applying NOP Analysis:
Nature: Primary source — personal diary entry written on the day of the event
Origin: Samuel Pepys, senior naval administrator and diarist; an educated eyewitness living in central London at the start of the epidemic
Purpose: Private record, not intended for publication — Pepys wrote candidly for himself, with no motive to exaggerate or propagandise
Grade 9 Model Paragraph:
This source is useful for an enquiry into the government's response to the Great Plague of 1665 because it provides eyewitness evidence of the plague orders being enforced on the streets of London. Pepys's diary was a private record written the same day, meaning he had no reason to exaggerate, which increases its reliability. His reaction — "sad sight" and "much against my will" — reveals the genuine fear that marked public on the epidemic. However, its utility is limited because Pepys records only one street on one day, and as a wealthy administrator he was likely to flee London rather than experience the full horror of the epidemic's peak in September 1665, when over 7,000 were dying per week.
Practice questions for The Great Plague
Approximately how many people died in the Great Plague in London in 1665?
What were Bills of Mortality introduced during the Great Plague of 1665?