Receipt for Fire Relief Fund: 1666

Receipt for the fire relief. After the fire, King Charles II declared a national day of fast on Sunday 10 October 1666. Money was collected at churches across the country and given to the Lord Mayor to distribute to destitute Londoners. This receipt is from Cowfold in Sussex, a village which contributed 53 shillings and nine pence to the fund. The total raised was only £12,794, though the cost of the fire was an estimated £10 million. It seems that the country was suffering 'donation fatigue' as only the year before it had been asked for money to help London recover from the Great Plague. People were also poor after the recent plague and civil unrest. Matters were not helped by the Lord Mayor, Sir William Bolton, embezzling large sums from the fund.