Share of total deaths due to smallpox in Glasgow 1783-1800

Between 1783 and 1800 in Glasgow, smallpox was responsible for an average of nineteen percent of all deaths per year. Relatively severe epidemics were responsible for over a quarter of all deaths in 1784 and 1791, and, as is usually the case following an epidemic, the share of smallpox deaths dropped significantly the following year. When compared with another major British city, such as London, the death rate due to smallpox was almost doubled in Glasgow during these years; scientists are not sure if this was actually the case, or if the recorded data was inaccurate in Glasgow or in the other cities (or in both).