People   (Re-unions, trace old friends and relatives.)

In 1831 there were 245 burials at St. Thomas the Martyr and 85 in the first quarter of 1832. Assuming everbody who died in Upholland at this terrible time was buried in the one church it represents a death rate of 8% in 1831 and 11% for the first quarter of 1832. That is the equivalent of 24,000 burials a year (1831 figure} or 8300 in three months (1832 figure) for the Wigan MBC area today. In the latter case 630 burials per week non stop for thirteen weeks or in the 1831 equivalent 450 burials per week non stop for a year.
It gives you some idea of the scale of the tragedy and why the disease was such a frightening prospect in those days of poor or non existent sanitation.