Sir Thomas Bloodworth - Lord Mayor of London

Sir Thomas Bloodworth was Lord Mayor of London from October 1665 to October 1666. He was greatly criticized for his inactivity during the Great Fire of 1666. Before his duty of mayor, he was a wealthy merchant. He was primarily a timber merchant. In 1663, he served as a sheriff of London. On September 2, 1666, a fire broke out in Thomas Farriner's house. The method of firefighting back then was to pull down the building that was on fire, so before asking Bloodworth, they figured it was permitted for them to pull the building down. Sir Thomas Bloodworth refused to let the demolition take place when he arrived. He was worried that the owners of the burning home would be upset if they "pulled unnecessary housing down". He showed lack of concern that the fire might spread, so he went home and went back to sleep. What he didn't know was the fire would spread wildly throughout the next three days and destroy over 75% of the city.