Sasha Clarkson

Annotations and comments

Sasha Clarkson has posted 752 annotations/comments since 16 February 2013.

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Second Reading

About Friday 16 January 1662/63

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Yes Pauline: I noticed that on January 4th too, and thought it a rather dubious gambit in the marital chess game. :)

There must have been considerable discussions, and indeed marital negotiations, before Pall came to live with Sam and Bess the first time. These were only briefly discussed in the diary, but Sam's entry "I went to my father’s and staid late talking with my father about my sister Pall’s coming to live with me if she would come and be as a servant (which my wife did seem to be pretty willing to do to-day)" hints that Bess was not too keen on having Pall under her roof, and certainly not as an equal. This is hardly surprising, as she and Pall were the same age (both born 1640), and Bess did not want her position as mistress of the household to be undermined.

http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

So, it was resolved that she should come as a servant. Things at home were bad enough, or Pall's prospects there poor enough, for Pall to jump at the chance of escaping from Fleet Street, even under these, somewhat humilating, conditions.

"I told her plainly what my mind was, to have her come not as a sister in any respect, but as a servant, which she promised me that she would, and with many thanks did weep for joy, which did give me and my wife some content and satisfaction"

http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Whatever the truth of Sam's view of Pall's (ill) nature, this was not a situation conducive to domestic harmony, and by July next year, Sam was "Troubled to hear how proud and idle Pall is grown, that I am resolved not to keep her." The question is, to hear from whom? In my opinion, it can only have been Bess, telling Sam that she didn't like Pall's attitude.

http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Poor Bess, but even more, poor Pall. In any conflict with Bess, there was no doubt who would win. But it's hardly surprising now that neither Bess nor Sam really want her back!

About Tuesday 13 January 1662/63

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

I find it very interesting to observe that people read the diary, read anachronistically between the lines, and then use their speculations to grind their own, modern, axe without regard the to the social realities of the time.

Firstly, today is a good day for "Poor" Bess. She has some company of her own class, four ladies, and a chance to show off to them in her own home and even her own chamber. If you look at the links, you will find that both of the male guests were employed as Doctors in the Royal Household, which means that they were both high status, and sources of Royal gossip: no doubt their wives were too. A successful dinner party would greatly enhance Bess's social opportunities: well worth getting up early for, to ensure that the food from the market was fresh and of the highest quality. After all "poor" Sam is often up at the crack of dawn because of his job. The alternative, for both of them, is a much lower standard of life: I don't recall Bess ever pleading with him, in 17th century terms, to give up the rat race and find a way for them to live a simpler life. (Nor would I expect it in their reality.)

"Poor" Bess is not a drudge: all she has to do today is supervise and entertain. Others do the dirty work. Bess is not a member of an oppressed class, except in to the extent that all woman of her day were. She is a member of the ruling and oppressing class, and what we have seen of her attitudes to the servants reflects that. Her desire for Sam to spend money on a companion is not to relieve her of drudgery, but to enhance her status, and so she can keep a "proper" distance from her maids etc, rather than rely on them for company.

Some annotators have written that it's a pity that Bess didn't leave a diary herself. Personally, if I could conjure up another diary, it would be that of Jane: she seems both intelligent and spirited, and we would get both her view of Sam, Bess and all their upper and middle class relatives and contemporaries, as well as her own family - not to speak of a much more realistic view of the street life of London - and maybe at least a little of its seamier side.

None of my comments are a judgement of any of the characters: Pepys diary is a record of people's lives, and inevitably of some of their attitudes: it is NOT a morality play!

About Hugh Cholmley

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Sir Hugh Cholmley would eventually have a family connection with Pepys, via his cousin Jane. Her eldest son, Charles Turner (brother of the precocious Theophila), married Cholmley's niece Margaret. Their eldest son, Cholmley Turner, became the heir of his great uncle, Alderman Sir William Turner, Lord Mayor of London (1668-69) who died without issue in 1693.
(Sir William, Jane's brother-in-law, was first mentioned in the diaries as "Mr Turner the draper".)

http://www.historyofparliamentonl…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wil…

To my knowledge, Sam never mentions his kinship with William Turner in the diary, but it's a matter of public record that John, Jane's husband, was his brother. The connection is easily traceable because both were born at Kirkleatham in North Yorkshire.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kir…

About Monday 12 January 1662/63

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Mr Cholmley, mentioned by Terry, would eventually have a family connection with Pepys, via his cousin Jane. Her eldest son, Charles Turner (brother of the precocious Theophila), married Hugh Cholmley's niece Margaret. Their eldest son, Cholmley Turner, became the heir of his great uncle, Alderman Sir William Turner, Lord Mayor of London (1668-69) who died without issue in 1693.
(Sir William, Jane's brother-in-law, has been mentioned before in these diaries as "Mr Turner the draper".)

http://www.historyofparliamentonl…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wil…

To my knowledge, Sam never mentions his kinship with William Turner in the diary, but it's a matter of public record that John, Jane's husband, was his brother. The connection is easily traceable because both were born at Kirkleatham in North Yorkshire.

My own interest in this is serendipitous: Sir William Turner's school in Redcar, was one of the great rivals of my own school at Acklam Hall in Middlesbrough. Mining the web for connections to "Mr Turner the Draper" opened an unexpectedly rich seam of information.

About Sunday 11 January 1662/63

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

"Want Ads"? There weren't even newspapers! (Not in the modern sense anyway) :)

There were occasional official bulletins, and unofficial propaganda sheets, sometimes illegal and printed abroad to avoid suppression.

The first English newspaper with advertising was 'The Daily Courant', founded in 1702, just before Pepys' death, founded by businesslady Elizabeth Mallet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His…

About Sunday 11 January 1662/63

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

"One day he despises Sir William Batten,next he is his drinking buddy!"

Not at all. The Pepys' policy is to avoid the Battens socially, but this is business, as it it with Minnes and Carteret. The officers meet at the Sir Williams' because, even if their influence is waning, they are senior and wealthier: Perhaps their apartments are more suitable for entertaining too?

Which brings us to the causes of Elizabeth's loneliness: problems with status and pecking order. Pepys has the confidence, or bravado, to socialise with his colleagues as equals: although they are wealthy knights, he has a better education and family connections with the aristocracy, which they do not. Things started well enough with Lady Batten, In 1660 Pepys records: "Home, there hear that my Lady Batten had given my wife a visit (the first that ever she made her), which pleased me exceedingly."

http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

However, by the following summer relations had soured, because Lady B insisted on treating Bess as a social inferior. "I found my Lady Batten and her daughter to look something askew upon my wife, because my wife do not buckle to them, and is not solicitous for their acquaintance ..."

http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Thenceforward relations deteriorate and Bess, it seems, chooses not to be present at social occasions involving the Battens. This is especially understandable if Lady B is condescending in a way that Lady Sandwich, who has much higher status, is not. Unfortunately Lady Penn is managing the estates in Ireland and Pepys; parents are now in the country as is Lady Sandwich. So Bess has no social equals with whom she is happy to spend time, and she feels it necessary keep the servants in their place: another cause of domestic unhappiness and friction with Sam.

Today one might be tempted to regard social status might be an empty vanity, but in this era, especially for non-working women, it was a major component of self-worth!

Lady Penn seems to be a much more down-to-earth person, and when does appear in a couple of years' time, Bess spends a fair amount of time with Sam in her company.

About Monday 5 January 1662/63

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

"So home (Blah) to my Lord’s lodgings again, "

This was NOT going home to Seething lane, as the link in the text implies, nor, as some think, was it Sandwich's apartment in the King's Great Wardrobe* (which Lady S, seems to have made her own city pad.) The lodging referred to was Sandwich's grace and favour apartment in Whitehall Palace, which he acquired during the Commonwealth and retained after the restoration. In Lord S's absence, Pepys is using it as a temporary pad himself, and entertaining friends and colleagues.

* http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…

About Friday 26 December 1662

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Why did Sam object to 'Hudibras'?

I think it was too one-sidedly partisan for his taste. Sam has respected friends and acquaintances amongst the former Commonwealth/Protectorate men, and the excesses of the new Court are attracting unfavourable attention and criticism, even amongst some former Cavaliers in Parliament.

It's not, I think, that Sam hankers after the old regime: he is a new man, and he sees that the well-being of the country, and and his own prospects, depend upon old enmities being buried.

Dissatisfaction with the lifestyle of the courtiers may well have had a part in Parliament's passing of an Act against "deceitful, disorderly, and excessive Gaming" during 1663.

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…

About Wednesday 24 December 1662

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Crew, Sandwich's father in law, was a pessimistic old puritan who, in his heart, probably never abandoned "The Good Old Cause". The fact that Pepys repeats his views may not mean that he agrees with them: Sam seems to have been a good listener, and interested in what the factions were saying and thinking.

It's fortunate that the restored monarchy was NOT a police state: Sam's recorded conversations would have been very interesting to a restoration Walsingham!

About Tuesday 23 December 1662

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

The house was what is now known as a "Grace & Favour" government residence, which went with the job, as was the Wardrobe for Lord Sandwich.

The other residents were more wealthy than Pepys, and had homes of their own too. Pepys of course had the expectation of Brampton, and whatever he might be able to afford from his gifts and business ventures. However, that he was currently dependent upon his job for his home played, I imagine, a part in his anxiety not to overspend, or compete with his wealthier neighbours. Accumulation of a little pot was a vital safety net in what were still uncertain times.

About Tuesday 16 December 1662

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Being from a prosperous family, Will Hewer might well have had 50s to lend Bess.

He was placed by with Pepys for his personal development, and as an entrée from members of the old regime (Will's uncle Blackborne & associates) to the new.