London's Burning! Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1666

The Great Fire of London started on 2nd September 1666, shortly after midnight.
The nursery rhyme 'London's Burning' is about the fire, the tune is also used for the rhyme 'Campfire's Burning'.

Answer: Pudding Lane

The fire started downstairs; luckily the family were upstairs and managed to escape out of a window before trying to put the fire out. Unfortunately, their maid was too scared to leave and she was the first casualty of the fire. The official reports say only 6 people died due to the fire.

Answer: Bakery

Thomas Farriner was the name of the baker, and it is thought that he fell asleep and a small fire for business purposes grew out of control.
Lots of people wanted to claim that they started the fire including a man called Robert Hubert who was tried for the crime and executed before they discovered he had not even been in London until two days after the fire started.

Answer: 4

It started at just after midnight on the Sunday and raged throughout the city until the wind died down on Tuesday evening and was finally extinguished on Wednesday.
Over 13,000 homes were destroyed as well as 87 churches and various buildings including prisons, offices and a palace.

Answer: Wood

As it was cheap to build homes of wood and straw, this is what most homes were made from. These materials are very flammable, so the fire swept through the overcrowded city quickly.

Answer: King Charles II

Charles II was King from 1630 until his death in 1685.
The fire never reached King Charles II's home but he and his brother joined the effort to fight the fire.
It was thought originally that the fire was a plot against the King, but it was just an unfortunate accident.

Answer: Thomas Bloodworth

The silly mayor could have stopped the fire much earlier - he was called to Pudding Lane and asked if they could knock down the houses to stop the spread of the fire but he said it wasn't a very big fire and nothing was done until it was too late. When he finally realised how severe the situation was, he tried to do his best to co-ordinate the fire fighting and stop the destruction.
He was only mayor for another month following the fire.

Answer: Samuel Pepys

The other answers are also diarists, but in fiction!
Samuel Pepys wrote an eyewitness account of the fire; initially he thought it was not a very important matter and slept through the first night. In the morning he climbed a turret at the Tower of London to watch and later commissioned a boat to get as close to the fire as possible.
He was the first person to inform King Charles II of the fire and he spoke to the Lord Mayor to inform him of the King's advice to pull down the houses to stop the spread of fire.

Answer: Christopher Wren

Christopher Wren was born in 1632 and was only 33 when the fire destroyed most of London. He submitted a plan for the redevelopment of the whole city but this was not accepted. He also designed a monument to commemorate the Great Fire.

Answer: Bubonic Plague (Black Death)

The Bubonic Plague was responsible for the deaths of an estimated 80,000 people in London. The fire helped to stop the disease by burning the dirty houses as well as the rats and fleas which carried the disease.
The nursery rhyme 'Ring o' Roses' is supposed to be based on the disease but some people disagree!