Samuel Pepys

Samuel Pepys, (23 February 1633 - 26 May 1703) was a leading 17th century English civil servant, latterly famous for his diary. The diary is a fascinating combination of personal revelation and eyewitness accounts of great events, such as the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London.

Chronology

Pepys was born in London in 1633, the son of a tailor. He was educated at St Paul's School, London, between about 1646 and 1650. In 1649 he attended the execution of Charles I. He went up to Magdalene College, Cambridge in 1651 and took his BA in 1654. Some time later that year or early in 1655, he entered the household of his distant cousin, Edward Montagu. On December 1, 1655 he married Elisabeth St Michel in St Margaret's, Westminster.

Related Topics:
London - 1633 - St Paul's School - 1646 - 1650 - 1649 - Charles I - Magdalene College, Cambridge - 1651 - BA - 1654 - 1655 - Household - Edward Montagu - December 1 - Elisabeth St Michel - St Margaret's, Westminster

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On 1 January 1660 he started to keep a diary, apparently as a New Year resolution. In April and May in the same year he accompanied Montagu's fleet to Holland to bring back Charles II from exile. At the end of June he was appointed Clerk of the Acts to the Navy Board. He spent the next few years learning the business of naval administration, and gradually became an important and influential member of the establishment.

Related Topics:
1 January - 1660 - New Year resolution - Charles II - Clerk of the Acts - Navy Board

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He lived and worked — and wrote his diary — through a number of significant historical events including the Second Dutch War of 1665-1667, the Great Plague of 1665, and the Great Fire of London of 1666. On several occasions in 1667 and 1668 he appeared before a select committee of Parliament to defend the record of the Navy Board and to argue for sufficient funds to maintain the fleet.

Related Topics:
Second Dutch War - 1665 - 1667 - Great Plague - Great Fire of London - 1666 - 1668 - Select committee

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Throughout the diary period his health, particularly his eyesight, had suffered from the long hours he worked. At the end of May 1669 he reluctantly concluded that for the sake of his eyes he should stop writing completely, and henceforth only dictate to his clerks. This meant that he could no longer keep his diary.

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He and his wife took a holiday to France and the Low Countries from June to October 1669, but on their return Elisabeth fell ill and died on 10 November 1669. Pepys erected a monument to her in the church of St Olave's, Hart Street in London.

Related Topics:
France - Low Countries - 1669 - 10 November - St Olave's, Hart Street

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In 1673 he was promoted to Secretary to the Admiralty Commission and elected M.P. for Castle Rising, Norfolk. In 1676 he was elected as Master of Trinity House. At the beginning of 1679 was elected as M.P. for Harwich. By May of that year, however, he was under attack from his political enemies. He resigned as Secretary to the Admiralty and was imprisoned in the Tower of London on suspicion of treasonable correspondence with France. He was released in July, but proceedings against him were not dropped until the following summer (June 1680).

Related Topics:
1673 - M.P. - Castle Rising, Norfolk - 1676 - Trinity House - 1679 - Harwich - Tower of London

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In 1683 he was sent out to Tangier to assist Lord Dartmouth evacuate the British colony there. After six months service he travelled back through Spain, returning to England on 30 March 1684. In June 1684, back in favour once more, he was appointed King's Secretary for the affairs of the Admiralty, a post he retained after the death of Charles II in February 1685 and the accession of James II. From 1685 to 1688 he was active not only as Secretary for the Admiralty, but also as M.P. for Harwich. He was a loyal supporter of James II. When James fled the country at the end of 1688, Pepys' career also came to an end. In January 1689 he was defeated in the parliamentary election at Harwich; and in February, one week after the accession of William and Mary, he resigned his Secretaryship.

Related Topics:
1683 - Tangier - Lord Dartmouth - 30 March - 1684 - Admiralty - James II - 1685 - 1688 - 1689 - William and Mary

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From May to July 1689, and again in June 1690, he was imprisoned on suspicion of Jacobitism; but no charges were ever successfully brought against him. After his release, aged 57, he retired from public life. Ten years later, in 1701, he moved out of London to a house in the country at Clapham, where he lived until his death on 26 May 1703. He had no children but bequeathed his estate to his nephew, John Jackson.

Related Topics:
1689 - 1690 - Jacobitism - 1701 - Clapham - 26 May - 1703

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