Londres, Angleterre.

Though London is not a part of France, we did have one ancestor who originated from the English city and made her way to Québec as a fille du roi, that is, she was sponsored by the king of France.

The King of England, Scotland, and Ireland was Charles II whose reign lasted for 55 years from 1630 to 1685, a tumultuous period for England.

The Great Plague of London ravaged the town in 1665 when our ancestor was about 11, at its peak killing up to 7,000 per week. The wealthy fled the city in droves to escape all but certain death as health care providers' efforts were ineffective in containing the spread of the bubonic plague which claimed over 100,000 souls. Residents desperately eliminated dogs and cats, unwittingly aiding the population of rats that more directly disseminated the disease.

The homes of the afflicted were marked with a red cross to isolate the other members of the household for forty days. (Thus the word "quarantine" from the Italian quaranta giorni or "space of forty days", entered the language). The dead were buried in pits. These plague pits continued to be unearthed hundreds of years later as construction occurred around the city.

The next wave of devastation came the following September of 1666 with the Great Fire of London. Though it started in a bakery on Pudding Lane, the fire which destroyed over 13,000 homes as well as businesses and churches was blamed on a Catholic conspiracy.

With London destroyed Parliament passed the Rebuilding of London Act in 1666. Over the next decade stone was used in place of wood to build churches and businesses along wider streets that would better resist the ravages of fire.

Our ancestors who emigrated from London are listed below. The dates reflect the year they arrived in Canada if known, otherwise it is the date of their earliest appearances in the records there:

• Catherine Lalore (1671) of London.