Why London Covered Up the Great Fire Deaths

In September 1666, London burned for four days. More than 13,000 houses, 87 churches and St Paul's Cathedral were destroyed, and around 70,000 people lost their homes. The official death toll? Just six. How is that even possible? Live the Great Fire of London hour by hour through the eyes of Ned, a 15-year-old baker's apprentice from Pudding Lane — from the first spark in the king's bakery to the last smoking cellar. 🔥 In this video: • Why a city of wooden houses was a disaster waiting to happen • The bakery on Pudding Lane where it all began — and the maid whose name was never written down • The Lord Mayor who looked at the flames and went back to bed • Leather buckets, brass "squirts" and fire hooks: how Londoners fought fire in 1666 • Samuel Pepys burying his wine, his papers… and his Parmesan cheese • King Charles II passing buckets in the smoke • Houses blown up with gunpowder to stop the flames • St Paul's Cathedral burning, with melted lead pouring down the streets • The innocent Frenchman who was hanged for the fire • The real answer to the mystery: why only six deaths were recorded • How London was rebuilt in brick — and how fire insurance was born 📜 Real facts from the video: • The fire began around 1 a.m. on Sunday, 2 September 1666, in Thomas Farriner's bakery on Pudding Lane. • It burned until Wednesday, 5 September, destroying about four-fifths of the City of London. • About 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, St Paul's Cathedral, the Guildhall and the Royal Exchange were lost. • Only six deaths were officially recorded, but the poor and servants were often never counted. Historians still argue about the real number. • Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn both described the fire in their diaries; Evelyn wrote that the glow could be seen 40 miles away. • Robert Hubert confessed to starting the fire and was hanged in October 1666 — it later turned out he had arrived in London after the fire began. • The Monument is 202 feet tall and stands 202 feet from the site of the bakery. • London's first fire insurance offices opened in the 1680s; a public fire brigade came only in 1866. Ned and his family are fictional, but their world and everyone else in the story are real. Disputed numbers are marked as estimates. What would YOU save if your street caught fire? Tell us in the comments! 👇 ⏱ Chapters: 0:00 The Strangest Number 0:37 London, Summer 1666 1:28 The Baker's Boy 2:10 What Londoners Ate 2:44 The Plague Year 3:18 A Morning On Pudding Lane 4:14 One In The Morning 5:00 The Mayor Goes Back To Bed 5:37 London Had Burned Before 5:55 Inside A London House 6:33 The East Wind 7:15 The Bridge That Saved The South 7:48 Buckets And Hooks 8:30 Finding His Family 8:57 A City On The Run 9:27 What Would You Save? 9:54 Women In The Fire 10:16 What Londoners Wore 10:40 Thieves In The Smoke 10:55 Mr Pepys And His Cheese 11:29 The Arch Of Fire 11:54 The Bells Ring Backwards 12:12 The Fire Makes Its Own Wind 12:32 The King Takes Charge 13:12 Where Is Bess? 13:49 A Child In 1666 14:15 A Slow Fire 14:50 Gold, Bankers And Statues 15:15 Blowing Up London 15:49 St Paul's Cathedral 16:25 A Night In The Fields 16:58 The Fire Crosses The River 17:23 The Tower In Danger 17:41 The Wind Drops 18:10 Panic: An Invasion? 18:30 The King Speaks To The Crowd 18:47 Living In The Fields 19:24 Church In A Tent 19:43 Ned Meets The Baker Again 20:24 How The News Spread 20:43 The Other Diary 21:01 Searching The Ruins 21:36 The Cat In The Chimney 22:01 What Survived 22:23 Lost Treasures 22:47 The Man Who Confessed 23:29 So Why Only Six? 24:24 Who Owns The Ashes? 24:50 The Price Of A Roof 25:13 Wren's Dream City 25:43 Who Paid For It? 26:09 A City Of Builders 26:32 A City Of Brick 26:54 New Streets 27:16 The Birth Of Fire Insurance 27:43 London's Firefighters 28:06 Fire Myths 28:34 A New Cathedral 28:52 The Monument 29:21 The Baker's Last Years 29:38 What Happened To Ned 29:57 The Fire In Numbers 30:14 London Today 30:34 So, What Really Happened? 📚 Sources: Samuel Pepys, Diary (September 1666) John Evelyn, Diary (September 1666) Great Fire of London — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_F... Thomas Farriner — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_... Robert Hubert — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_... Monument to the Great Fire of London — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monumen... Great Fire of London (New World Encyclopedia) — https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/... #GreatFireOfLondon #History #London