Just over a century ago Spanish Flu spread over the world and killed millions of people. The exact number who died is estimated to be between 50 and 100 million deaths, or about 3% to 5% of the world’s population. Such a high death rate should have had an impact on Benfleet but there is nothing in the newspapers or records to support this. This series of articles explores what happened in the Rochford Registration District which included Benfleet.