Had a comment on another site from a friend — he was wondering about the size of Boston in the 1760s, where “The Tavern Fire” and the Thieftaker books are set. Boston was, by that time, the third largest city in North America, with a population of around 16,000. Twenty years before, it had been the largest city in the colonies, but due largely to economic circumstances and demographic changes brought on by the French and Indian War (or the Seven Year’s War, as it was known in Europe), it was overtaken at midcentury by Philadelphia and New York.
For more on the historical circumstances underlying the Thieftaker books, check out the Historical Notes page on the D.B. Jackson website. And if that doesn’t satisfy your curiosity, go to the Historical Sources page, for titles of books that might be of interest.