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People Have to Live Somewhere: Housing Stock and London's Population, 1640-60

During most of the seventeenth century, London's population steadily increased. Historians believe that London's population experienced an anomalous steep dip and subsequent steeper rise during and after the English Civil War. However, no severe plague was recorded, and the best estimate's methodology changed from calculating christenings to tabulating burials during the decade in question, thereby raising questions about its accuracy. The author uses an alternative method based on the implied changes in the housing stock to determine if the population estimates are accurate and links these changes to what is known about London's economy during this period. The result suggests (but cannot prove) that the dip was less steep than originally estimated and the rise likely occurred during a longer period.