Samuel Pepys

Samuel Pepys (February 23, 1633 - May 26, 1703) (usually pronounced "peeps", although his modern relatives pronounce their name "pep-iss") was a 17th century English civil servant[?], 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.

Pepys was born in London in 1633, the son of a tailor[?]. He was educated at St Paul's School, London, and Magdalene College, Cambridge. In 1655 he married, and in the following year entered the household of his cousin Admiral Edward Montagu. On January 1, 1660 he started his diary. The same year he became Clerk of the Acts to the Navy Board. In May 1669 his diary was brought to a sudden conclusion, owing to the weak state of Pepys' eyes. His wife died the same year.

In 1672 he was appointed Secretary to the Admiralty, an appointment he held with one interruption of four years at the end of Charles II's reign until the Glorious Revolution when he retired from public life. As well as being one of the most important civil servants of his age, he was a widely cultivated man, taking a learned interest in books, music, the theatre and science. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1665 and later served as President. He died childless in 1703. His contemporary John Evelyn remembered him as "universally beloved, hospitable, generous, learned in many things".

When Pepys died his diaries were bequeathed to Magdalene College. The six volumes were written in a cipher based on shorthand. The books were first deciphered by a Mr. John Smith from 1819 to 1822. A shortened (and expurgated) publication appeared in 1825; the complete diary of more than 3800 pages appeared in 1893.

Samuel Pepys recorded his daily life for almost ten years in breathtaking honesty, his women, his friends, his dealings are all laid out. His diary reveals his jealousies, insecurities, trivial concerns, and his sad mistreatment of his wife. It is an important account of London in the 1660s. Included are his personal account of the restoration of the monarchy, the Great Plague of 1665, the Great Fire of London of 1666, and the arrival of the Dutch fleet, 1665-1667.

His job required that he meet with many people to dispense monies and make contracts. He often laments over how he "lost his labour" having gone to some appointment at a coffee house[?] or tavern[?] there to discover that the person he was seeking was not within. This was a constant frustration to Pepys.

On the other hand the diary gives a detailed account of Pepys' personal life. He liked wine and plays, and was a womanizer. He also spent a great deal of time evaluating his fortune and his place in the world. He was always curious and often acted on that curiosity, as he acted upon almost all his impulses.

Periodically he would resolve to cut down on drinking and womanizing and to devote more time to those endeavors where he thought his time should be spent. For example, this entry on New Year's Eve[?], 1661, "I have newly taken a solemn oath about abstaining from plays and wine..." The following months reveal his lapses to the reader as by February 17 "And here I drank wine upon necessity, being ill for the want of it."

The diary gives a detailed account of the pattern of Pepys' life. Reading it, one cannot help thinking how very much we must all be alike. His characteristic closing sentence was: "And so to bed."

External link:

• Samuel Pepys's diary online (http://www.pepysdiary.com/)
• Pepys library online (http://www.magd.cam.ac.uk/pepys/contents)