Eyam

Eyam (pronounced as if Eem), a village in North Derbyshire, 5 miles N. of Bakewell, with a population of 1038, chiefly engaged in lead-mining. Here broke out in September 1665, in its most virulent form, the plague which was then raging in London, and which had been carried hither in a box of clothes and tailor's patterns. William Mompesson, the rector of the parish, aided by Thomas Stanley, who had been ejected in 1662, devoted himself to the care of the dying with the most heroic courage. The plague lingered till the middle of October 1666, and as many as 260 out of a population of 350 perished. Another rector of Eyam achieved a less honourable eminence by living in his vestry for years to evade the consequences of a breach of promise case. Here he defied the law until his death in 1705. See W. Wood's History of Eyam (4th ed. 1865).