The Burgar/Burgess families in Shetland

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Plague in Shetland

In 1629, Shetland had an outbreak of a form of plague.  The Authorities in Scotland (The Privy Council) passed an order which virtually put Shetland and Orkney (and Bordeaux) into quarantine. 

To guard against "a great infection of the contagious sickenesse of the pest" (plague) occuring in Shetland, Orkney and Bordeaux, the Privy Council directed all provosts and baillies along the sea coast and the banks of the Forth & Tay to prevent landing of ships, crews and goods from these areas until they were examined and found free of the disease.

It must be presumed that a disease, which was sufficiently serious as to warrant this action, would have caused many deaths in Shetland.

This was about this time that the Burgar family was establishing itself in Dunrossness.  Whether they suffered in this epidemic is not known.

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