The Johnes of Glasgow: Searching, Plague and Early Modern Municipal Power

Abstract

Abstract Recent scholarship highlights the importance of public health policy in the early modern era. Long before the arrival of the plague, municipal governments instituted a range of policies to protect the health of the commonweal. In the last quarter of the sixteenth century, town councils in both Glasgow and London approved searching during outbreaks. Searchers could view residents for signs of sickness, and tabulate infections and cause of death. Previous studies describe the unique position of female searchers in London, who enjoyed increased economic security without commensurate legal or political power. Glasgow’s burgh records reveal a different model of searching, first recorded in 1574, conducted by men of economic and political influence who were imbued with significant legal power. Searchers were vital to ongoing municipal efforts to slow plague outbreaks in the British Isles, but the nature of their work and the extent of their power was a matter of gender.