The London bills, which are the only continuous series of figures, show the following annual mortalities by smallpox from 1761 to the end of the century:
Smallpox Mortality in London, 1761-1800.
| Year | Smallpox deaths | All deaths | ||
| 1761 | 1,525 | 21,063 | ||
| 1762 | 2,743 | 26,326 | ||
| 1763 | 3,582 | 26,148 | ||
| 1764 | 2,382 | 23,202 | ||
| 1765 | 2,498 | 23,230 | ||
| 1766 | 2,334 | 23,911 | ||
| 1767 | 2,188 | 22,612 | ||
| 1768 | 3,028 | 23,639 | ||
| 1769 | 1,968 | 21,847 | ||
| 1770 | 1,986 | 22,434 | ||
| 1771 | 1,660 | 21,780 | ||
| 1772 | 3,992 | 26,053 | ||
| 1773 | 1,039 | 21,656 | ||
| 1774 | 2,479 | 20,884 | ||
| 1775 | 2,669 | 20,514 | ||
| 1776 | 1,728 | 19,048 | ||
| 1777 | 2,567 | 23,334 | ||
| 1778 | 1,425 | 20,399 | ||
| 1779 | 2,493 | 20,420 | ||
| 1780 | 871 | 20,517 | ||
| 1781 | 3,500 | 20,709 | ||
| 1782 | 636 | 17,918 | ||
| 1783 | 1,550 | 19,029 | ||
| 1784 | 1,759 | 17,828 | ||
| 1785 | 1,999 | 18,919 | ||
| 1786 | 1,210 | 20,454 | ||
| 1787 | 2,418 | 19,349 | ||
| 1788 | 1,101 | 19,697 | ||
| 1789 | 2,077 | 20,749 | ||
| 1790 | 1,617 | 18,038 | ||
| 1791 | 1,747 | 18,760 | ||
| 1792 | 1,568 | 20,213 | ||
| 1793 | 2,382 | 21,749 | ||
| 1794 | 1,913 | 19,241 | ||
| 1795 | 1,040 | 21,179 | ||
| 1796 | 3,548 | 19,288 | ||
| 1797 | 522 | 17,014 | ||
| 1798 | 2,237 | 18,155 | ||
| 1799 | 1,111 | 18,134 | ||
| 1800 | 2,409 | 23,068 |
The last twenty years of the century show a decrease in the annual averages of smallpox deaths, along with a decrease of deaths from all causes. The health of the capital had undoubtedly improved since the reign of George II., especially in the saving of infant life. But it is not worth while instituting a statistical comparison, for the reason that some large parishes, containing poor and unwholesome quarters, had become populous in the latter part of the century, but were not included in the bills, while some of the old parishes, including those of the City, were probably become less populous owing to the conversion of dwelling-houses into business premises of various kinds. The decrease of fever-deaths in the bills is closely parallel with the decrease of smallpox, and it is probable that both were real; but as there is an element of uncertainty in the data it would be unprofitable to abstract statistical ratios from them, or to aim at demonstrating numerically what can only be in a measure probable. Perhaps the safest generality from these London figures is that smallpox once more fluctuates a good deal from year to year, seldom, indeed, falling below a thousand deaths, but showing a considerable drop for several years after some greater epidemic, as in the earlier history. This becomes most obvious by exhibiting the mortality in a graphic tracing.
Manchester, which was a healthier place than the capital, having an excess of births over deaths, had a smallpox mortality for six successive years, 1769-1774, as follows, the population, exclusive of Salford, having been 22,481 by a careful survey in 1773[1019]:
Smallpox Deaths in Manchester.
| Year | All deaths | Smallpox deaths | ||
| 1769 | 549 | 74 | ||
| 1770 | 689 | 41 | ||
| 1771 | 678 | 182 | ||
| 1772 | 608 | 66 | ||
| 1773 | 648 | 139 | ||
| 1774 | 635 | 87 | ||
| 3,807 | 589 | |||
Between a seventh and a sixth part of all the deaths in Manchester (15·3 per cent.) were from smallpox. All but one were under the age of ten years:
| All deaths by smallpox | Under One year | One to Two | Two to Three | Three to Five | Five to Ten | Ten to Twenty | ||||||
| 589 | 140 | 216 | 110 | 93 | 29 | 1 |
Manchester was one of the towns that had smallpox continuously from year to year at this period. It had a rapidly growing population, and an excess of births over deaths which was in great part due to the very large number of new families settling in it. It was probably this rapid increase of children that explained the great height of the smallpox mortality in 1781, namely, 344, rising from three deaths in January and falling to thirteen in December, the maximum being in the third quarter of the year[1020].