On this day in far-off Boston, Mass., a small boy from Hampshire first landed in his Promised Lane. He grew up to be Judge Samuel Sewell of Salem Witch trials fame. He lived long enough to apologize for that miscarriage of justice.
Sam Sewell kept a Diary for 60-odd years, and also wrote down his life story for his son. This except comes from that letter which is part of the Introduction:
"I remember being at Bishop Stoke and Badesly, April 23, 1661, the day of the Coronation of Charles II the Thunder and Lightening of it.
"Quickly after my Mother went to Winchester with 5 small Children, Hannah, Samuel, John, Stephen and Jane; and John Nash and Mary Hobs her Servants, there to be in a readiness for the Pool Waggons.
"At this place her near Relations, especially my very worthy and pious Uncle Mr. Stephen Dummer took leave with Tears. Capt. Dummer of Swathling treated us with Raisins and Almonds.
"My Mother lodged in Pumpyard, London, waiting for the going of the Ship, the Prudent Mary, Capt. Isaac Woodgreen, Commander. Went by water to Gravesend where the Ship lay. Took in Sheep at Dover.
"Passengers in the Ship at the same time were Major Brown, a young brisk Merchant and a considerable Freighter; Mr. Gilbert and his wife, He was Minister at Topsfield; Madam Bradstreet, then Gardener; Mrs Martha, Mr. Pitkin’s Sister, who died lately at Windsor, and many others.
"We were about 8 weeks at Sea, where we had nothing to see but Water and the Sky; so that I began to fear I should never get to Shore again; only I thought the Capt. and Mariners would not have ventured themselves if they had not hopes of getting to Land again.
"Capt. Woodgreen arrived here [BOSTON, MASS.] on Saturday. I was overjoyed to see Land again, especially being so near it as in the Narrows. 'Twas so late by that time we got to the Castle, that our men held a discourse with them whether they should fire or no, and reckoned 't was agreed not to do it. But presently after the Castle fired; which much displeased the Ship's Company; and then they fired.
"On the Lord’s day my Mother kept aboard; but I went ashore, the Boat grounded, and I was carried out in arms July 6, 1661." [MINUS 8 WEEKS MEANS THEY LEFT ENGLAND AROUND MAY 11.]
Please ignore my castigation of Mr. Pepys for being a bad husband and leaving his wife to do all the unpacking -- they have not moved! They are roughing it tonight in Axe Yard -- so I think Elizabeth could liberate an outdoor dress from the boxes as she will need it. She can't move house on several carts wearing her night shift.
In April 1660 Christina heard Carl X Gustav had died in February. His son, Charles XI, was 5 years old. That summer she went to Sweden, as she had left the throne to her cousin and his descendant, so if Charles XI died, she would take the throne again. As she was a Catholic, this was impossible.
Christina left Stockholm and went to Norrköping. Eventually she submitted to a second renunciation of the throne, and spent a year in Hamburg to get her finances in order on her way back to Rome.
In the summer of 1662, she arrived in Rome for the third time, where she stayed fairly quietly until 1666, when a variety of complaints made her decide to return to Sweden.
She reached Norrköping where she received a decree that she was only allowed to live in Swedish Pomerania. Christina decided to go back to Hamburg. There she was informed that Alexander VII, her tormentor, had died in May 1667. The new pope, Clement IX, was a friend, and a regular guest.
Delighted at his election, she threw a party at her lodgings in Hamburg, with illuminations and wine in the fountain outside. The party enraged the Lutheran populace, and the party ended with a shooting, an attempt to seize the ex-Queen, and her escape in disguise through a back door.
On 16 September 1668, John II Casimir abdicated the Polish–Lithuanian throne and left for France. The Polish monarchy was elective and Christina -- as a member of the House of Vasa -- put herself forward as a candidate. She recommended herself as a Catholic, and an old maid. She had Pope Clement IX's support. Her failure almost pleased her as this meant she could return to her beloved Cardinal Azzolino. She left Hamburg on 20 October, 1668.
Ex-Queen Christina's last entry in Rome was on 22 November, 1668. Clement IX often visited her; they shared interest in plays. Christina organized meetings of the Accademia in the Great Hall which had ‘a platform for singers and players’. When the pope suffered a stroke, she was one of the few he wanted at his deathbed.
In 1671, Christina established Rome's first public theatre in a former jail. The new pope, Clement X, worried about the influence of theatre on public morals.
When Innocent XI became pope, things became difficult; he turned Christina's theatre into a grain storeroom, although he had been a frequent guest in her royal box with other cardinals. He also forbade women to perform in song or acting, and the wearing of decolleté dresses. Christina thought this nonsense, and let women perform in her palace.
Queen Christina died in her palace in 1689 aged 62, and she is one of the few women buried in the Vatican grotto.
Fr. Le Bel was told to have him buried inside the church, and Christina paid an abbey to say some Masses for his soul. She "was sorry that she had been forced to undertake this execution," but claimed justice had been carried out for his crime and betrayal.
Mazarin advised Christina to blame it on a brawl among courtiers, but she insisted she alone was responsible. She wrote to Louis XIV, who 2 weeks later paid her a friendly visit without mentioning it.
In Rome, people felt differently; Monaldeschi had been an Italian nobleman, murdered by a foreign barbarian. The letters proving his guilt are gone; Christina left them with Le Bel and only he confirmed that they existed. Christina never revealed what was in the letters, but according to Le Bel, they concerned her amours, either with Monaldeschi or another person. She wrote her own version of the story for circulation in Europe.
The killing of Monaldeschi in a French palace was legal, since Christina had judicial rights over the members of her court. As her contemporaries saw it, Christina as queen had to emphasize right and wrong, and her sense of duty was strong. She regarded herself as a queen regnant all her life. But Louis XIV and Queen Regent Anne of Austria asked her to leave France anyways.
Previously, Rome and the Pope had considered her conversion and residency a great blessing.
This time Pope Alexander VII remained in his summer residence and wanted no visits from her. He described Christina as 'a woman born of a barbarian, barbarously brought up and living with barbarous thoughts ... with a ferocious and almost intolerable pride'. Christina stayed at the Palazzo Rospigliosi, which belonged to Cardinal Mazarin, situated close to the Quirinal Palace.
The pope was greatly relieved when in July 1659, she moved to Trastevere to live in Palazzo Riario, below the Janiculum. It was her favorite Cardinal Azzolino, her "bookkeeper," who signed the contract, as well as provided her with new servants.
The Riario Palace was her home for the rest of her life. She decorated the walls with tapestries by Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi and paintings, mainly from the Venetian School and Renaissance; and almost no paintings from northern European painters, except Holbein, Van Dyck and Rubens.
Later, Pope Alexander VII described Christina as "a queen without a realm, a Christian without faith, and a woman without shame." She successfully annoyed 5 Popes. She also collected paintings, played a leading part in the theatrical and musical communities, and protected many Baroque artists, composers, and musicians, supported Scarlatti and Corelli and Giovanni Bernini, and helped to found the Academia dell’ Arcadia for literature and philosophy.
After 3 years of dropping comments that she, being but a weak woman, was perhaps not capable of being a regent queen, she abdicated. First she had to convince the council, which took a couple of years. The abdication on June 6, 1654 was almost as magnificent a ceremony as her coronation had been – Christina liked the theatrical.
By August, 1654 Queen Christina was rumored to be desperately in love with Charles II. This was based on the fact she had sent him a jewel, always wore his portrait, and frequently drank his health, but since she had abdicated her throne and joined the Roman Communion, Charles did not repay her devotion. They even met for a few days in Germany where the rich and famous went to the mineral spas for their health -- and a vacation.
In September 1655 the 27-year-old former Queen rode off towards Rome, dressed as a man, adequately endowed with land and riches, leaving her dear cousin as king: Carl X Gustav – a man’s man! She took a year to get there. On her travels, Queen Christina used her influence with Swedes, Spaniards, Germans and Jews to build support for Charles II, amongst other things.
Sweden was relieved. A good conclusion to an unorthodox situation, and it was better to have rotund Carl X Gustav on the throne, a true leader of men, with the benefit of really being one.
On 3 November 1655, Sweden and the Protestant world were shocked when the former queen officially converted to Catholicism. Not that Christina cared.
In the summer of 1656 Queen Christina left Rome and travelled to France, where she secretly deliberated with Cardinal Mazarin on a war against Naples.
On 15 October 1657 an extraordinary event happened: apartments were assigned to the ex-Queen Christina at the Palace of Fontainebleau, where she committed an action that has stained her memory: the execution of marchese Gian Rinaldo Monaldeschi, her master of the horse and formerly leader of the French party in Rome. For 2 months she had suspected Monaldeschi of disloyalty; she secretly seized his correspondence, which revealed he had betrayed her interests. Christina gave 3 packages of letters to Le Bel, a priest, to keep them for her in custody. Three days later, she summoned Monaldeschi to discuss the matter and letters. He insisted betrayal should be punished with death. She believed he had pronounced his own death sentence. After a couple of hours, Le Bel arrived and heard his confession. Both Le Bel and Monaldeschi pleaded for mercy, but he was stabbed by her guards. Wearing a coat of mail to protected himself, he was chased around an adjacent room before they finally succeeded in dealing him a fatal wound in his throat. In the end, he died, confessing his infamy.
Christina wasn’t interested. She developed a crush on one of her ladies in waiting, Ebba Sparre, lauding her for her intelligence and charm, her bodily perfection and cheery nature. They shared a bed together, they spent their days together, and were now and then seen holding hands. (Was Christina a lesbian? Not necessarily; in the 17th century people shared beds, and for two young women to demonstrate affection might have been nothing more than a demonstration of adolescent friendship.)
Whatever the case, Ebba was soon married off to one of the richer men in Sweden, and had 14 children.
Christina now had no parents; no cousin to love; no Ebba with whom to spend happy times. Yes, she did participate/meddle in the governing of Sweden once she became of age, but most of the work and the decisions were taken by her council, so without Ebba, so Christina was left with an emotional vacuum.
Christina’s agile mind found a new passion: Religion. But Christina was the queen of Sweden, the nation that under her father, Gustavus Adolphus, had led the Protestant factions in the Thirty Years’ War.
In Sweden, not being a Protestant was difficult. The few Catholics in Stockholm were treated with mistrust and pity, as everyone knew the poor papist would ultimately spend eternity in hell.
As queen, Christina was expected to be the most Protestant, and great care had been taken to ensure she was brought up that way. Care had also been taken to give Christina a broad education, so she had been taught about all other relevant religions – mostly as a deterrent.
Being bright, curious and bored, Queen Christina developed an interest in Catholicism. She found ways to correspond with Jesuits through diplomatic channels, and one day a Spaniard named Antonio Pimentel de Prado appeared, officially on a mission from the Spanish king Philip IV, but unofficially to guide the young queen towards the Catholic faith.
Queen Christina also invited Rene Descartes, the French philosopher famous for “Cogito, ergo sum“, to Stockholm, officially to discuss philosophy, but as Descartes was a devout Catholic, during the hours they spent closeted together, who knows what they pondered. Sadly the elderly Descartes died after a short stay in Stockholm.
Queen Christina was now well over 20. Pressure was brought to bear: She must marry. It was her duty by her country. She must produce babies. She must marry. Christina didn’t want to. A husband – and sons – would reduce her to being a royal brood mare, her position and safely reduced as her husband (and son) grew into power. She had read a biography of Queen Elizabeth of England. More to the point, Queen Christina was tired of being a state institution instead of a person.
We are led to believe that, on December 18, 1626, the people of Stockholm were treated to a full royal salute. The auspicious stars led the population to expect a male heir for their glorious warrior king, Gustavus Adolphus. The child was received with joy; sturdy, hairy and lusty, it bawled loudly at birth. ”A boy, a boy!” cried the midwives.
It wasn’t easy for Christina to live down these events surrounding her birth. Obviously, something had to be “wrong”, or why did the midwives make such a mistake?
As she grew, Christina was reported to be rather male, with a deep voice and strong features, far removed from the feminine ideals of the age. To further develop her masculine sides, Christina was educated to be a KING.
King Gustavus Adolphus left strict instructions about her education, having reconciled himself to the fact that his wife would give him no more children -- or maybe he didn’t want to try? Gustavus Adolphus was married to Maria Eleonora, and although pretty, she had an unattractive hysterical side. Queen Maria Eleonora disposition was proved after her husband’s death: for over a year she refused to have him buried, sneaking in at odd times to peer into his casket and chat with the decomposing king.
Christina became queen – king? – at 6. During her minority, the country was managed by Axel Oxenstierna, one of Sweden’s more able regents. Axel had loved Gustavus Adolphus, but is a known to have detested the queen dowager, and as Maria Eleonora was considered a destabilizing influence, Axel removed her from court.
Christina now had no parents, and her life was controlled by a man whose duty was to raise a sovereign, not a human being. As Christina said: ”A child that is born to the throne belongs to the state”.
Christina did have family: an aunt and her two cousins, Carl Gustav and Katarina. Christina fell in love with Carl Gustav (they were secretly engaged when she was 16, and he was 19); Axel ended that by sending Carl Gustav off on successive military missions. Consequently, Carl Gustav became a warrior, while Christina was left pining – or not. She had a voracious intellectual appetite, so she comforted herself with books. Between books, she’d write. She corresponded with people all over Europe, she wrote her autobiography, she wrote about politics and martial history. Christina was also taught to ride and fence and dance and converse; her days must have been exhausting. But no matter her wit and healthy physique; Christina had a major flaw: She was female. Axel's solution was simple; marry her off and hope she begat at least one healthy son.
Christina had a hard act to follow, no matter how hard her father tried to make her:
"Gustavus Adolphus: A History of the Art of War from Its Revival After the Middle Ages to the End of the Spanish Succession War, With a Detailed Account of the Campaigns of the Great Swede" – by Lars Ericson Wolke.
The little-known story of the Swedish king and military commander who conquered much of Germany in the early seventeenth century.
As one of the foremost military commanders of the early seventeenth century, Gustavus Adophus, king of Sweden, played a vital role in defending the Protestant cause during the Thirty Years War. Between 1630 and 1632 he turned the course of the war, winning a decisive victory at the Battle of Breitenfeld and conquering large parts of Germany. remarkably little has been written about him in English, and no full account of his extraordinary career has been published in recent times. That is why this perceptive and scholarly study is of such value.
The book sets Gustavus in the context of Swedish and European dynastic politics and religious conflict in the early 17th century, and describes in detail Swedish military organization and Gustavus’s reforms. His intervention in the Thirty Years War is covered in graphic detail — the decision to intervene, his alliance with France, his campaigns across the breadth of Germany, and his generalship at the two major battles he fought there.
His exceptional skill as a battlefield commander transformed the fortunes of the Protestant side in the conflict, and he had established himself as a major European figure before his death on the battlefield.
Lars Ericson Wolke, one of the leading experts on the military history of the Baltic and the Thirty Years War, offers a fascinating insight into Gustavus the man and the soldier. https://www.amazon.com/Gustavus-A…
"My wife at home all the day, she having no clothes out, all being packed up yesterday."
Pepys shows his chauvenistic side today. How does he help with the move? First he stays in bed because he's tired. Then he gets dressed -- presumably his boy has unpacked his things for him, and he saunters off to places where his family won't see him. Why? because he doesn't want to do dear old dad a favor. He lunches -- alone -- with Sandwich (now officially an Earl, I presume) -- he could have dropped a casual aside about pop wanting to work on the King's clothes, and maybe Sandwich would think it a good idea, or maybe he wouldn't. Then he gets guilty about not keeping up with the news, for not speaking up for dear old dad, for oogling Mrs. Butler, and for spending so much money on obtaining this position. Not one thought for Elizabeth and arranging the furniture and hanging the pictures and making the beds -- besides noting the fact she isn't dolled up like the Queen of Sheba today. He is too much!
Paul Miller kindly transcribed a description of the chapel as written by Washington Irving in his Sketchbook in 1820: https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
On July 11, 1660 we had a conversation about the production of foolscap paper, and how "The earliest example of such paper was made in Germany in 1479. Unsubstantiated anecdotes suggest that this watermark was introduced to England in 1580 by John Spilman, a German who established a papermill at Dartford, Kent."
The Google librarian tells me: "According to one story, during the time of Henry VIII, paper was printed in 17″ x 22” sheets because this was the largest size of mold that papermakers could carry. These large sheets were known as foolscap. Legend has it that lawyers would simply cut the foolscap in half and use the sheets for official documents."
I also think I think Pepys has been given his first assignment as the "office manager", and he doesn't know who the English paper manufacturers are. Bringing in French products and expertise is fashionable right now, so when the Captain knows of a deal, Pepys takes it.
Paper production took place all over Europe. Being a Devonian, I know it was made at Exeter: "The earliest record of a mill at Countess Wear is from 1638, and by 1656 the age of paper making had arrived in Exeter. The Chinese had been perfecting the process for centuries but once Exeter got the hang it, paper mills sprung up everywhere along the Exe and its tributaries. Peter Trenchard, a paper maker of St. Thomas, states that he served an apprenticeship under Abraham Langdon at ‘Wear Paper Mills’ in about 1656, according to Exeter Memories. By the end of the 18th century, Exeter had 30 of the country’s 425 paper mills, mostly concentrated in buildings around Countess Wear.
"Paper making wasn't glamorous work. In fact, it was smelly and unhygienic, with rats, and the damp and the cloying heat. The mills at Countess Wear made their produce from recycling wastepaper and rags, imported from Holland. The process involved fermenting the rags and placing them in water laden troughs. Water wheels in the leat [another word for river] powered hammers which would bash the mush. A worker, called a vatman, placed the pulp into a mould and the paper would form into the desired shape. The final stage drew away the water and let the paper dry. What started with old rags became a high-quality product. In the 18th and 19th centuries the Countess Wear mills produced top-of-the-range white writing paper and all the newsprint for the Times of India. They also made superior paper for 5/.s notes for private banks. But, like much of working life in centuries past, it was also a hazardous business. The mill was destroyed several times by fire, ... Coal was also needed. In 1855 in a 2 month period, 800 tonnes was landed by barge."
Maybe we do need a page for Lady Frances Vane Honywood -- according to one response to this article she was associated in the 1640's with the Hartlib Circle for the reform of something (probably education, but they wanted to reform a lot of things) about which we have recently been introduced through the marriage of Samuel Hartlib Snr,'s daughter's wedding.
I doubt we will hear of Lady Honywood (1613-1687) again, so she probably doesn't need her own encyclopedia page -- but we do know who she was:
On 3 April, 1631, at the Vane family home at Shipbourne, Kent, Sir Robert Honywood married Frances Vane, daughter of Sir Henry Vane Snr., later to be named secretary of state to King Charles.
According to their memorial inscription, they had 16 children: 9 sons and 7 daughters. However, it seems only the names of 8 children have been found recorded in the parish registers of England, so many may have been born abroad. All, with the possible exception of a daughter, Frances, predeceased their parents.
The loss of her children wasn't the only heartbreak Lady Vane Honywood experienced -- her brother was Sir Henry Vane (1613 – 1662), often referred to as Harry Vane or Henry Vane the Younger. We will hear more about him later (there, I avoided a spoiler). https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
Sir Robert Honywood MP was one of a family of 20 children, with about 100 cousins, so it was inevitable there would be members on both sides -- all sides -- of the Civil Wars. I doubt Lady Frances was the only Parliamentarian.
The work of the envoys went well, and was well-received by the restored royalist government, and promptly agreed to pay the Commissioners' substantial expenses. Good relations between Sir Robert Honywood and Charles II improved "when the said Sir Robert Honywood caused his Majesty's Plate and Household-stuff to be delivered at Whitehall". His primary loyalty seems to have been to the English state, not any party.
Sir Robert Honywood, like his uncle Sir (no longer Lord) Thomas, did not continue in public service. This may be because of the execution, on 14 June 1662, of his brother-in-law, Sir Henry Vane, whom Charles II considered "too dangerous to let live."
Sir Robert's cause was hurt further by his eldest son Robert, then in the service of the United Providences, when he refused the order to return to England during the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1666. The younger Honywood's estate was forfeited.
In his retirement, Sir Robert Honywood translated Venetian diplomat Giovanni Battista Nani's 1662 work "The History of the Affairs of Europe in this Present Age". He dedicated the book to his brother-in-law (Dear Brother) Sir Walter Vane, writing "I began it in the Circumstances of an uncomfortable old Age and ruined Fortune, brought upon me, rather by publick Calamity than private Vice, or domestick Prodigality. And I undertook it to divert the melancholy hours, arising from the consideration of either".
Sir Robert Honywood died on 15 April, 1686, and was buried at the church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Charing. By his will, dated 10 December, 1672, he left all his possessions to his wife. She died on 17 February, 1688, and was buried with her husband. Their memorial inscription reads: "Sir Robert HONYWOOD knight, heir to his ancestors Estate at Petts near Charing in this County of Kent having passed all his youth in ye Court and Camp and some of his Elder years in ye Publique Service of his Countrey his latest in a Private Life tooke care in his life time to be Lay’d here and that his only and only Beloved wife Frances VANE, a Pious Exemplary woman in her generation should be layd by him. He died on ye 15th of Aprill 1686 in the 85th year of his age Shee died ye 17th February 1687 in the 74th year of her age. They had nine sons and seaven daughters of whose education they took great care. Walter Honywood Esquire, Eldest son of Robert Honywood Esquire, Eldest son of the said Sir Robert Honywood died 15th July 1686 in ye 22nd year of his age and is layed here also."
Some sources claim that, in her Will, Frances Honywood named a surviving daughter Frances as her executor. (A surviving Frances should not be confused with a son Francis who was baptised 24 September, 1637, and died the next year.) The other children may have been born overseas and their names gone unrecorded or lost. Of the sons, only two - Robert and Charles - are known to have had children, and daughter Elizabeth Moore. Others can be assumed to have died either young or unmarried.
Known children are:
Robert - bp. 18 May 1632 at St. Margaret's, Westminster (Shipbourne, Kent); m. Margaret; d. abt 1673 Henry - bp. 19 September 1633 at Charing, Kent Goring - bur. 19 October 1637 at Charing Kent Francis - bp 24 September 1637 at Charing Kent; bur. 7 May 1638 at Charing Kent Anne - m. 26 October 1664 Thomas Hooke of Chester, Cheshire Edward - bp. 3 October 1645 at Shipbourne Kent Charles - bur. 1 October 1676 at Charing Kent Elizabeth - m. John Moore of Ireland, son of Arthur Moore
Sir Robert Honywood's allegiance during the first civil war between King Charles and Parliament was strained. Apparently he still maintained good relations with the king's sister, Elizabeth of Bohemia, and with his brothers, Sir Philip Honywood, who was a royalist agent. On the other hand, his in-laws Sir Henry Vane, father and son, were high in the leadership of Parliament until the institution of the Protectorate.
Sir Robert's uncle, Sir Thomas Honywood, was also an active parliamentarian, who was raised to the Cromwellian House of Lords in 1657. In 1659, Sir Thomas was influential in securing Sir Robert a place on the Council of State.
In June 1659, Sir Robert Honywood, Algernon Sidney, Edward Montagu, and Thomas Boone were chosen as Commissioners Plenipotentiary to negotiate a peace between the kings of Sweden and Denmark. He remained in Denmark until after the fall of the parliamentarian commonwealth and restoration of the monarchy, bringing the peace treaty to a successful conclusion on 27 May 1660. Sir Robert Honywood was among the signatories, after which he returned to England. Samuel Pepys, newly raised to the place of Clerk of the Acts in the Royal Navy, signed an order for a ship to bring him home in August.
Sir Robert Honywood was the oldest surviving son, second of 20 children born to Sir Robert Honywood of Petts Court, Charing, Kent, and his wife Alice, daughter of Sir Martin Barnham of Hollingbourne, Kent.
The two Sir Roberts have frequently been confused (including by several of the sources cited here); the father was knighted by King Charles at Canterbury on 15 June, 1625.
The younger, who was also styled as "of Petts Court," received the same honour at Oakfields on 7 July 1627, when he was described as ‘servant to the Queen [Elizabeth] of Bohemia’.
This Robert Honywood was born on 3 August, 1601 at his mother's family seat at Hollingbourne.
He attended Hart Hall, Oxford, in 1618, and in 1620 was admitted to the Middle Temple.
As a young man, he fought at the rank of colonel in the wars of the Palatinate, the futile attempt to restore the lands taken by the Hapsburgs from the Elector Palatine Frederick and his wife Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James. It was during this adventure that he was knighted. At some point, he entered the personal service of Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia, who described him as honest and faithful, and thus suitable to be trusted with confidential information. It is clear that "Robin Honywood" was a confidential correspondent between Elizabeth and the highest levels of the English government.
As of 3 July, 1646, he still held this position, called officially "Superintendant of the Queen of Bohemia's Affairs," with the support of Parliament, which gave him a pass to transport himself and family into Holland on that business.
This was when he acquired his facility with languages. It is also likely that this is when he met Sir Walter Vane, an English soldier in the service of Holland, who became his brother-in-law.
On 3 April 1631, at her family home at Shipbourne, Kent, Sir Robert Honywood married Frances Vane, daughter of Sir Henry Vane, later to be named secretary of state to King Charles. According their memorial inscription, they had 16 children: 9 sons and 7 daughters. However, it seems only the names of 8 children have been found recorded in the parish registers of England. All, with the possible exception of a daughter Frances, predeceased their parents.
Sir Robert Honywood (3 August 1601 – 15 April 1686), also spelt Honeywood, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1659. He was a member of the English Council of State.
Honywood was the son of Sir Robert Honywood of Pett's Court, Charing, Kent and Alice Barnham, daughter of Sir Martin Barnham of Hollingbourne. Sir Thomas Honywood was his half-brother.
He matriculated at Hart Hall, Oxford on 30 October 1618, aged about 17. In 1620 he became a student of Middle Temple. He was knighted on 15 June 1625. He spent several years in the household of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, who referred to him as her "steward". In 1659, he was elected Member of Parliament for New Romney.
During the First English Civil War his marriage into the republican Vane family put him at the heart of the Parliamentary cause (his brother Thomas was also a strong Parliamentarian).
After Parliament's victory in the war he sat in the Third Protectorate Parliament and on the Council of State.
He was chosen with Algernon Sidney and Edward Montagu, later the 1st Earl of Sandwich, as one of the English plenipotentiaries sent in 1659 to negotiate a peace between Sweden and Denmark. At the same time, he maintained friendly relations with the Queen of Bohemia, and perhaps on this account no action was taken against him at the Restoration of Charles II (her nephew) despite the fact that Sir Henry Vane the Younger, executed for treason in 1662, was his brother-in-law.
He retired into private life, and was mainly occupied in his later years with writing a history of Venice, which was published in 1673.
Sir Robert Honywood MP died in 1686 at the age of about 85, leaving all his property to his wife.
He married, in 1631, Frances Vane, daughter of Sir Henry Vane the Elder and Frances Darcy. She died in 1688.
They had a very numerous family, many of whom died young. Robert, Charles Ludovic, Elizabeth and Frances are known to have reached adulthood; only Frances is definitely known to have outlived both her parents. Charles Ludovic married Mary Clement and was the father of several children, including Sir Philip Honywood; he died shortly after his father. Elizabeth married John Moore, son of the Irish writer Dorothy Durie (née King) and her first husband, Arthur Moore, fifth son of Garret Moore, 1st Viscount Moore and Mary Colley, and had issue. She died before 1688.
"I'm a little disappointed with SP after reading the Hawly trackbacks: on jan 21 59/ 60 "...in came Mr. Hawly newly come from shipboard from his master , and brought me a letter of direction what to do in his lawsuit with Squib about his house and office..." "...This day I should have been at Guildhall to have borne witness for my brother Hawly against Black Collar, but I could not, at which I was troubled..." july 13th:"
This prompted me to do a deep dive on the Squibb/Downing case in January and February, 1659/60, and I do not see a linkage between these two entries. https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
Sadly Vincent is no longer with us, so I can't ask about the basis of his conclusion.
Now for a deep dive on Jack Hawley, and hope to discover what this case was all about, and a theory about the Black Collar.
Comments
Third Reading
About Saturday 6 July 1661
San Diego Sarah • Link
On this day in far-off Boston, Mass., a small boy from Hampshire first landed in his Promised Lane. He grew up to be Judge Samuel Sewell of Salem Witch trials fame. He lived long enough to apologize for that miscarriage of justice.
Sam Sewell kept a Diary for 60-odd years, and also wrote down his life story for his son. This except comes from that letter which is part of the Introduction:
"I remember being at Bishop Stoke and Badesly, April 23, 1661, the day of the Coronation of Charles II the Thunder and Lightening of it.
"Quickly after my Mother went to Winchester with 5 small Children, Hannah, Samuel, John, Stephen and Jane; and John Nash and Mary Hobs her Servants, there to be in a readiness for the Pool Waggons.
"At this place her near Relations, especially my very worthy and pious Uncle
Mr. Stephen Dummer took leave with Tears. Capt. Dummer of Swathling treated us with Raisins and Almonds.
"My Mother lodged in Pumpyard, London, waiting for the going of the Ship, the Prudent Mary, Capt. Isaac Woodgreen, Commander. Went by water to Gravesend where the Ship lay.
Took in Sheep at Dover.
"Passengers in the Ship at the same time were Major Brown, a young brisk Merchant and a considerable Freighter; Mr. Gilbert and his wife, He was Minister at Topsfield; Madam Bradstreet, then Gardener; Mrs Martha, Mr. Pitkin’s Sister, who died lately at Windsor, and many others.
"We were about 8 weeks at Sea, where we had nothing to see but Water and the Sky; so that I began to fear I should never get to Shore again; only I thought the Capt. and Mariners would not have ventured themselves if they had not hopes of getting to Land again.
"Capt. Woodgreen arrived here [BOSTON, MASS.] on Saturday. I was overjoyed to see Land again, especially being so near it as in the Narrows. 'Twas so late by that time we got to the Castle, that our men held a discourse with them whether they should fire or no, and reckoned 't was agreed not to do it.
But presently after the Castle fired; which much displeased the Ship's Company; and then they fired.
"On the Lord’s day my Mother kept aboard; but I went ashore, the Boat
grounded, and I was carried out in arms July 6, 1661."
[MINUS 8 WEEKS MEANS THEY LEFT ENGLAND AROUND MAY 11.]
DIARY OF SAMUEL SEWALL. 1674-1729.
Vol. I. -- 1674-1700.
https://ia800908.us.archive.org/2…
About Sunday 15 July 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
Please ignore my castigation of Mr. Pepys for being a bad husband and leaving his wife to do all the unpacking -- they have not moved! They are roughing it tonight in Axe Yard -- so I think Elizabeth could liberate an outdoor dress from the boxes as she will need it.
She can't move house on several carts wearing her night shift.
About Christina of Sweden (Queen of Sweden, 1632-1654)
San Diego Sarah • Link
PART 5
In April 1660 Christina heard Carl X Gustav had died in February.
His son, Charles XI, was 5 years old.
That summer she went to Sweden, as she had left the throne to her cousin and his descendant, so if Charles XI died, she would take the throne again.
As she was a Catholic, this was impossible.
Christina left Stockholm and went to Norrköping.
Eventually she submitted to a second renunciation of the throne, and spent a year in Hamburg to get her finances in order on her way back to Rome.
In the summer of 1662, she arrived in Rome for the third time, where she stayed fairly quietly until 1666, when a variety of complaints made her decide to return to Sweden.
She reached Norrköping where she received a decree that she was only allowed to live in Swedish Pomerania.
Christina decided to go back to Hamburg.
There she was informed that Alexander VII, her tormentor, had died in May 1667. The new pope, Clement IX, was a friend, and a regular guest.
Delighted at his election, she threw a party at her lodgings in Hamburg, with illuminations and wine in the fountain outside.
The party enraged the Lutheran populace, and the party ended with a shooting, an attempt to seize the ex-Queen, and her escape in disguise through a back door.
On 16 September 1668, John II Casimir abdicated the Polish–Lithuanian throne and left for France. The Polish monarchy was elective and Christina -- as a member of the House of Vasa -- put herself forward as a candidate. She recommended herself as a Catholic, and an old maid. She had Pope Clement IX's support.
Her failure almost pleased her as this meant she could return to her beloved Cardinal Azzolino. She left Hamburg on 20 October, 1668.
Ex-Queen Christina's last entry in Rome was on 22 November, 1668.
Clement IX often visited her; they shared interest in plays. Christina organized meetings of the Accademia in the Great Hall which had ‘a platform for singers and players’. When the pope suffered a stroke, she was one of the few he wanted at his deathbed.
In 1671, Christina established Rome's first public theatre in a former jail. The new pope, Clement X, worried about the influence of theatre on public morals.
When Innocent XI became pope, things became difficult; he turned Christina's theatre into a grain storeroom, although he had been a frequent guest in her royal box with other cardinals. He also forbade women to perform in song or acting, and the wearing of decolleté dresses. Christina thought this nonsense, and let women perform in her palace.
Queen Christina died in her palace in 1689 aged 62, and she is one of the few women buried in the Vatican grotto.
Information gathered from lots of places, including
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chr…
http://www.annabelfrage.com/2013/…
http://www.historyofroyalwomen.co…
About Christina of Sweden (Queen of Sweden, 1632-1654)
San Diego Sarah • Link
PART 4
Fr. Le Bel was told to have him buried inside the church, and Christina paid an abbey to say some Masses for his soul. She "was sorry that she had been forced to undertake this execution," but claimed justice had been carried out for his crime and betrayal.
Mazarin advised Christina to blame it on a brawl among courtiers, but she insisted she alone was responsible. She wrote to Louis XIV, who 2 weeks later paid her a friendly visit without mentioning it.
In Rome, people felt differently; Monaldeschi had been an Italian nobleman, murdered by a foreign barbarian. The letters proving his guilt are gone; Christina left them with Le Bel and only he confirmed that they existed. Christina never revealed what was in the letters, but according to Le Bel, they concerned her amours, either with Monaldeschi or another person. She wrote her own version of the story for circulation in Europe.
The killing of Monaldeschi in a French palace was legal, since Christina had judicial rights over the members of her court. As her contemporaries saw it, Christina as queen had to emphasize right and wrong, and her sense of duty was strong. She regarded herself as a queen regnant all her life. But Louis XIV and Queen Regent Anne of Austria asked her to leave France anyways.
Previously, Rome and the Pope had considered her conversion and residency a great blessing.
This time Pope Alexander VII remained in his summer residence and wanted no visits from her. He described Christina as 'a woman born of a barbarian, barbarously brought up and living with barbarous thoughts ... with a ferocious and almost intolerable pride'.
Christina stayed at the Palazzo Rospigliosi, which belonged to Cardinal Mazarin, situated close to the Quirinal Palace.
The pope was greatly relieved when in July 1659, she moved to Trastevere to live in Palazzo Riario, below the Janiculum. It was her favorite Cardinal Azzolino, her "bookkeeper," who signed the contract, as well as provided her with new servants.
The Riario Palace was her home for the rest of her life. She decorated the walls with tapestries by Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi and paintings, mainly from the Venetian School and Renaissance; and almost no paintings from northern European painters, except Holbein, Van Dyck and Rubens.
Later, Pope Alexander VII described Christina as "a queen without a realm, a Christian without faith, and a woman without shame."
She successfully annoyed 5 Popes. She also collected paintings, played a leading part in the theatrical and musical communities, and protected many Baroque artists, composers, and musicians, supported Scarlatti and Corelli and Giovanni Bernini, and helped to found the Academia dell’ Arcadia for literature and philosophy.
About Christina of Sweden (Queen of Sweden, 1632-1654)
San Diego Sarah • Link
PART 3
After 3 years of dropping comments that she, being but a weak woman, was perhaps not capable of being a regent queen, she abdicated.
First she had to convince the council, which took a couple of years.
The abdication on June 6, 1654 was almost as magnificent a ceremony as her coronation had been – Christina liked the theatrical.
By August, 1654 Queen Christina was rumored to be desperately in love with Charles II. This was based on the fact she had sent him a jewel, always wore his portrait, and frequently drank his health, but since she had abdicated her throne and joined the Roman Communion, Charles did not repay her devotion.
They even met for a few days in Germany where the rich and famous went to the mineral spas for their health -- and a vacation.
In September 1655 the 27-year-old former Queen rode off towards Rome, dressed as a man, adequately endowed with land and riches, leaving her dear cousin as king: Carl X Gustav – a man’s man! She took a year to get there.
On her travels, Queen Christina used her influence with Swedes, Spaniards, Germans and Jews to build support for Charles II, amongst other things.
Sweden was relieved. A good conclusion to an unorthodox situation, and it was better to have rotund Carl X Gustav on the throne, a true leader of men, with the benefit of really being one.
On 3 November 1655, Sweden and the Protestant world were shocked when the former queen officially converted to Catholicism. Not that Christina cared.
In the summer of 1656 Queen Christina left Rome and travelled to France, where she secretly deliberated with Cardinal Mazarin on a war against Naples.
On 15 October 1657 an extraordinary event happened: apartments were assigned to the ex-Queen Christina at the Palace of Fontainebleau, where she committed an action that has stained her memory: the execution of marchese Gian Rinaldo Monaldeschi, her master of the horse and formerly leader of the French party in Rome.
For 2 months she had suspected Monaldeschi of disloyalty; she secretly seized his correspondence, which revealed he had betrayed her interests. Christina gave 3 packages of letters to Le Bel, a priest, to keep them for her in custody.
Three days later, she summoned Monaldeschi to discuss the matter and letters. He insisted betrayal should be punished with death. She believed he had pronounced his own death sentence.
After a couple of hours, Le Bel arrived and heard his confession. Both Le Bel and Monaldeschi pleaded for mercy, but he was stabbed by her guards. Wearing a coat of mail to protected himself, he was chased around an adjacent room before they finally succeeded in dealing him a fatal wound in his throat. In the end, he died, confessing his infamy.
About Christina of Sweden (Queen of Sweden, 1632-1654)
San Diego Sarah • Link
PART 2
Christina wasn’t interested. She developed a crush on one of her ladies in waiting, Ebba Sparre, lauding her for her intelligence and charm, her bodily perfection and cheery nature.
They shared a bed together, they spent their days together, and were now and then seen holding hands.
(Was Christina a lesbian? Not necessarily; in the 17th century people shared beds, and for two young women to demonstrate affection might have been nothing more than a demonstration of adolescent friendship.)
Whatever the case, Ebba was soon married off to one of the richer men in Sweden, and had 14 children.
Christina now had no parents; no cousin to love; no Ebba with whom to spend happy times.
Yes, she did participate/meddle in the governing of Sweden once she became of age, but most of the work and the decisions were taken by her council, so without Ebba, so Christina was left with an emotional vacuum.
Christina’s agile mind found a new passion: Religion. But Christina was the queen of Sweden, the nation that under her father, Gustavus Adolphus, had led the Protestant factions in the Thirty Years’ War.
In Sweden, not being a Protestant was difficult. The few Catholics in Stockholm were treated with mistrust and pity, as everyone knew the poor papist would ultimately spend eternity in hell.
As queen, Christina was expected to be the most Protestant, and great care had been taken to ensure she was brought up that way. Care had also been taken to give Christina a broad education, so she had been taught about all other relevant religions – mostly as a deterrent.
Being bright, curious and bored, Queen Christina developed an interest in Catholicism. She found ways to correspond with Jesuits through diplomatic channels, and one day a Spaniard named Antonio Pimentel de Prado appeared, officially on a mission from the Spanish king Philip IV, but unofficially to guide the young queen towards the Catholic faith.
Queen Christina also invited Rene Descartes, the French philosopher famous for “Cogito, ergo sum“, to Stockholm, officially to discuss philosophy, but as Descartes was a devout Catholic, during the hours they spent closeted together, who knows what they pondered. Sadly the elderly Descartes died after a short stay in Stockholm.
Queen Christina was now well over 20. Pressure was brought to bear: She must marry. It was her duty by her country. She must produce babies. She must marry.
Christina didn’t want to. A husband – and sons – would reduce her to being a royal brood mare, her position and safely reduced as her husband (and son) grew into power. She had read a biography of Queen Elizabeth of England.
More to the point, Queen Christina was tired of being a state institution instead of a person.
About Christina of Sweden (Queen of Sweden, 1632-1654)
San Diego Sarah • Link
We are led to believe that, on December 18, 1626, the people of Stockholm were treated to a full royal salute. The auspicious stars led the population to expect a male heir for their glorious warrior king, Gustavus Adolphus.
The child was received with joy; sturdy, hairy and lusty, it bawled loudly at birth.
”A boy, a boy!” cried the midwives.
It wasn’t easy for Christina to live down these events surrounding her birth. Obviously, something had to be “wrong”, or why did the midwives make such a mistake?
As she grew, Christina was reported to be rather male, with a deep voice and strong features, far removed from the feminine ideals of the age. To further develop her masculine sides, Christina was educated to be a KING.
King Gustavus Adolphus left strict instructions about her education, having reconciled himself to the fact that his wife would give him no more children -- or maybe he didn’t want to try? Gustavus Adolphus was married to Maria Eleonora, and although pretty, she had an unattractive hysterical side. Queen Maria Eleonora disposition was proved after her husband’s death: for over a year she refused to have him buried, sneaking in at odd times to peer into his casket and chat with the decomposing king.
Christina became queen – king? – at 6. During her minority, the country was managed by Axel Oxenstierna, one of Sweden’s more able regents. Axel had loved Gustavus Adolphus, but is a known to have detested the queen dowager, and as Maria Eleonora was considered a destabilizing influence, Axel removed her from court.
Christina now had no parents, and her life was controlled by a man whose duty was to raise a sovereign, not a human being. As Christina said: ”A child that is born to the throne belongs to the state”.
Christina did have family: an aunt and her two cousins, Carl Gustav and Katarina.
Christina fell in love with Carl Gustav (they were secretly engaged when she was 16, and he was 19); Axel ended that by sending Carl Gustav off on successive military missions. Consequently, Carl Gustav became a warrior, while Christina was left pining – or not.
She had a voracious intellectual appetite, so she comforted herself with books. Between books, she’d write. She corresponded with people all over Europe, she wrote her autobiography, she wrote about politics and martial history.
Christina was also taught to ride and fence and dance and converse; her days must have been exhausting.
But no matter her wit and healthy physique; Christina had a major flaw: She was female.
Axel's solution was simple; marry her off and hope she begat at least one healthy son.
About Christina of Sweden (Queen of Sweden, 1632-1654)
San Diego Sarah • Link
Christina had a hard act to follow, no matter how hard her father tried to make her:
"Gustavus Adolphus: A History of the Art of War from Its Revival After the Middle Ages to the End of the Spanish Succession War, With a Detailed Account of the Campaigns of the Great Swede" – by Lars Ericson Wolke.
The little-known story of the Swedish king and military commander who conquered much of Germany in the early seventeenth century.
As one of the foremost military commanders of the early seventeenth century, Gustavus Adophus, king of Sweden, played a vital role in defending the Protestant cause during the Thirty Years War. Between 1630 and 1632 he turned the course of the war, winning a decisive victory at the Battle of Breitenfeld and conquering large parts of Germany. remarkably little has been written about him in English, and no full account of his extraordinary career has been published in recent times. That is why this perceptive and scholarly study is of such value.
The book sets Gustavus in the context of Swedish and European dynastic politics and religious conflict in the early 17th century, and describes in detail Swedish military organization and Gustavus’s reforms. His intervention in the Thirty Years War is covered in graphic detail — the decision to intervene, his alliance with France, his campaigns across the breadth of Germany, and his generalship at the two major battles he fought there.
His exceptional skill as a battlefield commander transformed the fortunes of the Protestant side in the conflict, and he had established himself as a major European figure before his death on the battlefield.
Lars Ericson Wolke, one of the leading experts on the military history of the Baltic and the Thirty Years War, offers a fascinating insight into Gustavus the man and the soldier.
https://www.amazon.com/Gustavus-A…
About Sunday 15 July 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
"My wife at home all the day, she having no clothes out, all being packed up yesterday."
Pepys shows his chauvenistic side today. How does he help with the move? First he stays in bed because he's tired. Then he gets dressed -- presumably his boy has unpacked his things for him, and he saunters off to places where his family won't see him. Why? because he doesn't want to do dear old dad a favor.
He lunches -- alone -- with Sandwich (now officially an Earl, I presume) -- he could have dropped a casual aside about pop wanting to work on the King's clothes, and maybe Sandwich would think it a good idea, or maybe he wouldn't.
Then he gets guilty about not keeping up with the news, for not speaking up for dear old dad, for oogling Mrs. Butler, and for spending so much money on obtaining this position.
Not one thought for Elizabeth and arranging the furniture and hanging the pictures and making the beds -- besides noting the fact she isn't dolled up like the Queen of Sheba today.
He is too much!
About Henry VII Chapel (Westminster Abbey)
San Diego Sarah • Link
Paul Miller kindly transcribed a description of the chapel as written by Washington Irving in his Sketchbook in 1820:
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
About Sunday 15 July 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
On July 11, 1660 we had a conversation about the production of foolscap paper, and how
"The earliest example of such paper was made in Germany in 1479. Unsubstantiated anecdotes suggest that this watermark was introduced to England in 1580 by John Spilman, a German who established a papermill at Dartford, Kent."
The Google librarian tells me:
"According to one story, during the time of Henry VIII, paper was printed in 17″ x 22” sheets because this was the largest size of mold that papermakers could carry. These large sheets were known as foolscap. Legend has it that lawyers would simply cut the foolscap in half and use the sheets for official documents."
This article is about watermarks:
https://alembicrarebooks.com/blog…
About Sunday 15 July 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
I also think I think Pepys has been given his first assignment as the "office manager", and he doesn't know who the English paper manufacturers are. Bringing in French products and expertise is fashionable right now, so when the Captain knows of a deal, Pepys takes it.
Paper production took place all over Europe. Being a Devonian, I know it was made at Exeter:
"The earliest record of a mill at Countess Wear is from 1638, and by 1656 the age of paper making had arrived in Exeter. The Chinese had been perfecting the process for centuries but once Exeter got the hang it, paper mills sprung up everywhere along the Exe and its tributaries.
Peter Trenchard, a paper maker of St. Thomas, states that he served an apprenticeship under Abraham Langdon at ‘Wear Paper Mills’ in about 1656, according to Exeter Memories.
By the end of the 18th century, Exeter had 30 of the country’s 425 paper mills, mostly concentrated in buildings around Countess Wear.
"Paper making wasn't glamorous work. In fact, it was smelly and unhygienic, with rats, and the damp and the cloying heat. The mills at Countess Wear made their produce from recycling wastepaper and rags, imported from Holland.
The process involved fermenting the rags and placing them in water laden troughs. Water wheels in the leat [another word for river] powered hammers which would bash the mush. A worker, called a vatman, placed the pulp into a mould and the paper would form into the desired shape. The final stage drew away the water and let the paper dry.
What started with old rags became a high-quality product. In the 18th and 19th centuries the Countess Wear mills produced top-of-the-range white writing paper and all the newsprint for the Times of India. They also made superior paper for 5/.s notes for private banks.
But, like much of working life in centuries past, it was also a hazardous business. The mill was destroyed several times by fire, ... Coal was also needed. In 1855 in a 2 month period, 800 tonnes was landed by barge."
More, plus pictures of the ruins and river at:
https://www.devonlive.com/news/de…
About Friday 13 July 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
Maybe we do need a page for Lady Frances Vane Honywood -- according to one response to this article she was associated in the 1640's with the Hartlib Circle for the reform of something (probably education, but they wanted to reform a lot of things) about which we have recently been introduced through the marriage of Samuel Hartlib Snr,'s daughter's wedding.
If this is Lady Francis, then she was a friend of Lady Johanna St.John -- the compiler of a famous 1680's recipe book which has a item dedicated to Lady Honywood's cancer.
https://recipes.hypotheses.org/82…
https://www.thelydiardarchives.or…
About Friday 13 July 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
I doubt we will hear of Lady Honywood (1613-1687) again, so she probably doesn't need her own encyclopedia page -- but we do know who she was:
On 3 April, 1631, at the Vane family home at Shipbourne, Kent, Sir Robert Honywood married Frances Vane, daughter of Sir Henry Vane Snr., later to be named secretary of state to King Charles.
According to their memorial inscription, they had 16 children: 9 sons and 7 daughters. However, it seems only the names of 8 children have been found recorded in the parish registers of England, so many may have been born abroad. All, with the possible exception of a daughter, Frances, predeceased their parents.
The loss of her children wasn't the only heartbreak Lady Vane Honywood experienced -- her brother was Sir Henry Vane (1613 – 1662), often referred to as Harry Vane or Henry Vane the Younger. We will hear more about him later (there, I avoided a spoiler).
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
Sir Robert Honywood MP was one of a family of 20 children, with about 100 cousins, so it was inevitable there would be members on both sides -- all sides -- of the Civil Wars. I doubt Lady Frances was the only Parliamentarian.
About Sir Robert Honywood (MP New Romney, Kent)
San Diego Sarah • Link
PART 3
The work of the envoys went well, and was well-received by the restored royalist government, and promptly agreed to pay the Commissioners' substantial expenses.
Good relations between Sir Robert Honywood and Charles II improved "when the said Sir Robert Honywood caused his Majesty's Plate and Household-stuff to be delivered at Whitehall".
His primary loyalty seems to have been to the English state, not any party.
Sir Robert Honywood, like his uncle Sir (no longer Lord) Thomas, did not continue in public service. This may be because of the execution, on 14 June 1662, of his brother-in-law, Sir Henry Vane, whom Charles II considered "too dangerous to let live."
Sir Robert's cause was hurt further by his eldest son Robert, then in the service of the United Providences, when he refused the order to return to England during the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1666.
The younger Honywood's estate was forfeited.
In his retirement, Sir Robert Honywood translated Venetian diplomat Giovanni Battista Nani's 1662 work "The History of the Affairs of Europe in this Present Age".
He dedicated the book to his brother-in-law (Dear Brother) Sir Walter Vane, writing "I began it in the Circumstances of an uncomfortable old Age and ruined Fortune, brought upon me, rather by publick Calamity than private Vice, or domestick Prodigality. And I undertook it to divert the melancholy hours, arising from the consideration of either".
Sir Robert Honywood died on 15 April, 1686, and was buried at the church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Charing.
By his will, dated 10 December, 1672, he left all his possessions to his wife. She died on 17 February, 1688, and was buried with her husband.
Their memorial inscription reads:
"Sir Robert HONYWOOD knight, heir to his ancestors Estate at Petts near Charing in this County of Kent having passed all his youth in ye Court and Camp and some of his Elder years in ye Publique Service of his Countrey his latest in a Private Life tooke care in his life time to be Lay’d here and that his only and only Beloved wife Frances VANE, a Pious Exemplary woman in her generation should be layd by him. He died on ye 15th of Aprill 1686 in the 85th year of his age Shee died ye 17th February 1687 in the 74th year of her age. They had nine sons and seaven daughters of whose education they took great care. Walter Honywood Esquire, Eldest son of Robert Honywood Esquire, Eldest son of the said Sir Robert Honywood died 15th July 1686 in ye 22nd year of his age and is layed here also."
For citations see
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hon…
About Sir Robert Honywood (MP New Romney, Kent)
San Diego Sarah • Link
PART 2
Some sources claim that, in her Will, Frances Honywood named a surviving daughter Frances as her executor. (A surviving Frances should not be confused with a son Francis who was baptised 24 September, 1637, and died the next year.)
The other children may have been born overseas and their names gone unrecorded or lost.
Of the sons, only two - Robert and Charles - are known to have had children, and daughter Elizabeth Moore. Others can be assumed to have died either young or unmarried.
Known children are:
Robert - bp. 18 May 1632 at St. Margaret's, Westminster (Shipbourne, Kent); m. Margaret; d. abt 1673
Henry - bp. 19 September 1633 at Charing, Kent
Goring - bur. 19 October 1637 at Charing Kent
Francis - bp 24 September 1637 at Charing Kent; bur. 7 May 1638 at Charing Kent
Anne - m. 26 October 1664 Thomas Hooke of Chester, Cheshire
Edward - bp. 3 October 1645 at Shipbourne Kent
Charles - bur. 1 October 1676 at Charing Kent
Elizabeth - m. John Moore of Ireland, son of Arthur Moore
Sir Robert Honywood's allegiance during the first civil war between King Charles and Parliament was strained.
Apparently he still maintained good relations with the king's sister, Elizabeth of Bohemia, and with his brothers, Sir Philip Honywood, who was a royalist agent.
On the other hand, his in-laws Sir Henry Vane, father and son, were high in the leadership of Parliament until the institution of the Protectorate.
Sir Robert's uncle, Sir Thomas Honywood, was also an active parliamentarian, who was raised to the Cromwellian House of Lords in 1657.
In 1659, Sir Thomas was influential in securing Sir Robert a place on the Council of State.
In June 1659, Sir Robert Honywood, Algernon Sidney, Edward Montagu, and Thomas Boone were chosen as Commissioners Plenipotentiary to negotiate a peace between the kings of Sweden and Denmark.
He remained in Denmark until after the fall of the parliamentarian commonwealth and restoration of the monarchy, bringing the peace treaty to a successful conclusion on 27 May 1660.
Sir Robert Honywood was among the signatories, after which he returned to England.
Samuel Pepys, newly raised to the place of Clerk of the Acts in the Royal Navy, signed an order for a ship to bring him home in August.
About Sir Robert Honywood (MP New Romney, Kent)
San Diego Sarah • Link
Sir Robert Honywood was the oldest surviving son, second of 20 children born to Sir Robert Honywood of Petts Court, Charing, Kent, and his wife Alice, daughter of Sir Martin Barnham of Hollingbourne, Kent.
The two Sir Roberts have frequently been confused (including by several of the sources cited here); the father was knighted by King Charles at Canterbury on 15 June, 1625.
The younger, who was also styled as "of Petts Court," received the same honour at Oakfields on 7 July 1627, when he was described as ‘servant to the Queen [Elizabeth] of Bohemia’.
This Robert Honywood was born on 3 August, 1601 at his mother's family seat at Hollingbourne.
He attended Hart Hall, Oxford, in 1618,
and in 1620 was admitted to the Middle Temple.
As a young man, he fought at the rank of colonel in the wars of the Palatinate, the futile attempt to restore the lands taken by the Hapsburgs from the Elector Palatine Frederick and his wife Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James.
It was during this adventure that he was knighted.
At some point, he entered the personal service of Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia, who described him as honest and faithful, and thus suitable to be trusted with confidential information.
It is clear that "Robin Honywood" was a confidential correspondent between Elizabeth and the highest levels of the English government.
As of 3 July, 1646, he still held this position, called officially "Superintendant of the Queen of Bohemia's Affairs," with the support of Parliament, which gave him a pass to transport himself and family into Holland on that business.
This was when he acquired his facility with languages. It is also likely that this is when he met Sir Walter Vane, an English soldier in the service of Holland, who became his brother-in-law.
On 3 April 1631, at her family home at Shipbourne, Kent, Sir Robert Honywood married Frances Vane, daughter of Sir Henry Vane, later to be named secretary of state to King Charles.
According their memorial inscription, they had 16 children: 9 sons and 7 daughters.
However, it seems only the names of 8 children have been found recorded in the parish registers of England. All, with the possible exception of a daughter Frances, predeceased their parents.
About Sir Robert Honywood (MP New Romney, Kent)
San Diego Sarah • Link
Sir Robert Honywood (3 August 1601 – 15 April 1686), also spelt Honeywood, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1659. He was a member of the English Council of State.
Honywood was the son of Sir Robert Honywood of Pett's Court, Charing, Kent and Alice Barnham, daughter of Sir Martin Barnham of Hollingbourne. Sir Thomas Honywood was his half-brother.
He matriculated at Hart Hall, Oxford on 30 October 1618, aged about 17.
In 1620 he became a student of Middle Temple.
He was knighted on 15 June 1625.
He spent several years in the household of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, who referred to him as her "steward".
In 1659, he was elected Member of Parliament for New Romney.
During the First English Civil War his marriage into the republican Vane family put him at the heart of the Parliamentary cause (his brother Thomas was also a strong Parliamentarian).
After Parliament's victory in the war he sat in the Third Protectorate Parliament and on the Council of State.
He was chosen with Algernon Sidney and Edward Montagu, later the 1st Earl of Sandwich, as one of the English plenipotentiaries sent in 1659 to negotiate a peace between Sweden and Denmark.
At the same time, he maintained friendly relations with the Queen of Bohemia, and perhaps on this account no action was taken against him at the Restoration of Charles II (her nephew) despite the fact that Sir Henry Vane the Younger, executed for treason in 1662, was his brother-in-law.
He retired into private life, and was mainly occupied in his later years with writing a history of Venice, which was published in 1673.
Sir Robert Honywood MP died in 1686 at the age of about 85, leaving all his property to his wife.
He married, in 1631, Frances Vane, daughter of Sir Henry Vane the Elder and Frances Darcy. She died in 1688.
They had a very numerous family, many of whom died young.
Robert, Charles Ludovic, Elizabeth and Frances are known to have reached adulthood; only Frances is definitely known to have outlived both her parents.
Charles Ludovic married Mary Clement and was the father of several children, including Sir Philip Honywood; he died shortly after his father.
Elizabeth married John Moore, son of the Irish writer Dorothy Durie (née King) and her first husband, Arthur Moore, fifth son of Garret Moore, 1st Viscount Moore and Mary Colley, and had issue. She died before 1688.
For citations, see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob…
About John Hawley
San Diego Sarah • Link
Two hours, and a review of all entries in 1660 mentioning Jack Hawly, I find no clues about a law suit or anything to do with black collars.
Just goes to show Pepys doesn't tell us EVERYTHING in his Diary.
About John Hawley
San Diego Sarah • Link
"I'm a little disappointed with SP after reading the Hawly trackbacks:
on jan 21 59/ 60 "...in came Mr. Hawly newly come from shipboard from his master , and brought me a letter of direction what to do in his lawsuit with Squib about his house and office..."
"...This day I should have been at Guildhall to have borne witness for my brother Hawly against Black Collar, but I could not, at which I was troubled..."
july 13th:"
This prompted me to do a deep dive on the Squibb/Downing case in January and February, 1659/60, and I do not see a linkage between these two entries.
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
Sadly Vincent is no longer with us, so I can't ask about the basis of his conclusion.
Now for a deep dive on Jack Hawley, and hope to discover what this case was all about, and a theory about the Black Collar.