A record of a 1748 fire in London's Cornhill

JEFFERYS, Thomas.

A Plan of all the Houses, destroyed & damaged by the Great Fire which begun in Exchange Alley Cornhill, on Friday March 25, 1748.
London: M. Payne, 1748. 340 x 310mm.

Splits in folds and small teara repaired.

A rare map depicting the damage caused by a serious fire that destroyed a number of buildings between Cornhill and Lombard Street, including all of Change Alley. An engraved description of events tells how the fire started in the 'Powdering Room at Mr Eldridge's Peruke [wig] maker near the Midle of Exchange Alley'.
What makes the map remarkable is the record of the businesses working from the buildings destroyed and damaged. Besides the London Insurance Office there were taverns (the Swan, Fleece, 3 Tuns and George & Vulture), coffee houses (Tom's, Rainbow, Garraway's, Jonathan's and the Jerusalem), publishers (George Strahan's Golden Ball, Thomas Astley & John Brotherton), as well as a watch maker, hosiers, a toy maker and barbers.
The map was published only a week after the fire, launching an appeal for aid for the owners of the destroyed businesses.

BARBER: Map Book p.204.
Stock ID : 19870