"... and no sooner in the coach but something broke, that we were fain there to stay till a smith could be fetched, which was above an hour, and then it costing me 6s. to mend. Away round by the wall and Cow Lane, for fear it should break again; ..."
"Also of note: the coach breaks down and Pepys has to pay for the repairs?"
Presumably this is still Penn's coach. Six shillings would have been a lot of money for a private coachman to be carrying. A hackney carriage driver might have that much change on hand by this time at night, but a gentleman's coachman? -- I think it's reasonable for the 'gentleman' in the coach to take care of the bill and ask Penn to reimburse him later.
Chauffeurs today probably have a business credit card which the owners pay so the need to find cash at the time of the breakdown does not arise.
I don't know about islanders specifically, but it is the mind-set of sitting ducks, awaiting the arrival of the siege engines at a doomed castle, or Londoners living near the docks in WWII knowing that Hitler loved blitzkreigs.
One way to fight a defeatist mind-set is to stay busy doing constructive physical things ... but for Pepys with an empty treasury there was nothing constructive for a gentleman to do. Perhaps that's why his lady conquests have become more dangerous lately? (It's a shame he can't pick up a hammer and build a shelter, or dig out a basement.) I'm proud of him for not taking to gambling, which was what they were doing at Court. When he was alone at Greenwich during the plague he took to drinking too much again. I don’t see that now – maybe yet is a better word to use?
Sadly there's nothing in Anne Fanshawe's memoirs about the French footmen wearing vests, although she did spend time in Paris before returning to London with her brood of children and Ambassador Richard Fanshawe's body.
According to The MEMOIRS OF LADY FANSHAWE WIFE OF SIR RICHARD FANSHAWE, BT. AMBASSADOR FROM CHARLES II TO THE COURTS OF PORTUGAL & MADRID WRITTEN BY HERSELF, CONTAINING EXTRACTS FROM THE CORRESPONDENCE OF SIR RICHARD FANSHAWE (EDITED) WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY BEATRICE MARSHALL http://www.gutenberg.org/files/60…
The family embarked at Calais in a French man-of-war on 11 November, 1666 and landed at Tower Wharf at midnight the next day. The family over-nighted at her father's house on Tower Hill.
On 13 November they moved to their own house on the north side of Lincoln's Inn Fields; and the body of Ambassador Richard Fanshawe arrived.
On Saturday, 16 November, Lady Anne Harrison Fanshawe sent Sir Richard's body to be laid in the Harrison family vault in All Hallows Church, Hertford: noone accompanied the hearse but his own 7 gentlemen who had accompanied his body from Madrid to London.
On 18 November, Henry Bennet, Lord Arlington visited, proffered friendship, said he was procuring the arrears of Sir Richard's pay, which was 2,000l., and reimbursement of the 5,815l. he had laid out in his Majesty's service.
Lady Fanshawe also received many of the nobility and gentry, and all her local relations.
Finally on November 23, Lady Fanshawe waited on Charles II, and delivered her whole accounts (I think this means a vebal report, not bookkeeping). He was pleased to receive her very graciously, and promised she should be paid, and that he would take care of the Fanshawe family. Then she delivered the letters she had brought from Queen-Mother Henrietta Maria in Paris.
After that Lady Fanshawe did her duty to the Queen, who condoled her on her loss, after which she delivered the Queen-Mother's letter. After staying two hours in her Majesty's bed-chamber, Lady Fanshawe waited on James, Duke of York who, having condoled her on her loss, promised to send a ship for her goods and servants to Bilbao.
Then she waited on the Duchess of York, who received her with great grace and favour, and having been with her Highness about an hour, and delivered a letter from the Queen-Mother, Lady Fanshawe took her leave.
That wasn't enough. The widow who hadn't been paid for 2 years gave the King, Queen, Duke of York and Duke of Cambridge two dozen amber skins, and six dozen gloves. She gave Lord Arlington amber skins, gloves and chocolate, and a copy of a Titian picture valued at 100ls; and made presents to Sir William Coventry and several other people in office.
What is 2-year-old James Stuart, Duke of Cambridge going to do with gloves? Oh well, they all live on credit ... I suspect it will be years before the back pay and expenses are reimbursed.
"Here was Betty Michell with her mother. I would have carried her home, but her father intends to go with her, so I lost my hopes."
I think Pepys would have taken Betty to Shadwell. But I see no mention of "her new husband" being there. This would have been another grooming opportunity for Pepys, probably leading to groping and slobbering. Back seat of a taxi action.
In January 1660 Dr. James Sharp and 5 other ministers were sent to London by the leading Resolutioner ministers to share the views of their party with Gen. George Monck.
Dr. Sharp stayed in London until May 4, 1660 when Monck sent him to Breda to ask for Charles II’s agreement to this settlement of ecclesiastical affairs in Scotland.
Dr. Sharp returned to London on May 26, 1660 and stayed until the middle of August, talking with the leading persons there while staying in close contact with the Presbyterian clergy of Scotland, who placed their entire confidence in him. (His letters are in the university of Glasgow library and in Wodrow’s History.)
When Dr. Sharp returned to Scotland he delivered a letter from Charles II to the presbytery of Edinburgh. Charles declared he would protect and preserve the government of the Church of Scotland as “settled by law,” a phrase which blinded the Scots clergy to Charles' and Dr. Sharp's plans. Sharp had been won over to the introduction of Episcopal prelacy.
The English Parliament subverted the Presbyterian Church in August 1661, and Charles II’s pledge was thus transferred to the Episcopacy (which had been overthrown in 1638).
During his time in England, Dr. Sharp had been elected professor of divinity in St. Mary’s college, St. Andrews, and he was also appointed Charles II’s chaplain for Scotland.
When Parliament rose, Sharp returned to London, and was nominated archbishop of St. Andrews, He was consecrated at Westminster on December 15, 1661.
In April, 1662 Archbishop James Sharp and his coadjutors, Fairfoul, bishop of Glasgow, and Hamilton, bishop of Galloway, entered Edinburgh in great state.
On 15 April 1661, Sharp proceeded to Lesley House. His cousin, John Leslie, 7th Earl of Rothes had prepared a triumphal progress for him, with people meeting them at points along the route, so the cavalcade swelled to more than 700 horsemen. But only two ministers joined in.
In May 1662 Archbishop Sharp, Bishop Fairfoul, and Robert Leighton, bishop of Dunblane, consecrated the 10 other bishops of Scotland, the parliament having delayed meeting until the bishops could take their seats.
The persecution of the Covenanters which followed Sharp’s elevation to the primacy of Scotland increased the hatred with which he was held, from the common belief he had betrayed the Presbyterian church.
On July 9, 1668, Archbishop Sharp narrowly escaped assassination by being shot at in the High Street of Edinburgh.
In turning from Presbyterianism to Episcopacy, James Sharp acted the same as Archbishop Robert Leighton of Glasgow. The difference was that Leighton was devoted to his Episcopal duties, while Sharp was more political than religious. His party took the lead in persecuting the Covenanters.
Vengeance occurred on May 3, 1679 when Archbishop Sharp was hacked to death in front of his daughter on Magus Moor.
The port of Leith serves Edinburgh, and it was one supposedly targeted by the Dutch and French for their joint invasion of 1666.
Lord High Treasurer John Leslie, 7th Earl of Rothes was instructed to reinforce it, but he was so busy pursuing Conventicalists that he later was accused of being over-zealous in his persecution of Covenanters and the Pentland Rising participants and insufficiently attentive to the defense of Leith against attack.[3] 3. Thomson, Oliver (2018), Zealots: How a Group of Scottish Conspirators Unleashed Half a Century of War in Britain, Amberley, pp.196-197
Queen Catherine of Braganza followed the history of her country with keen interest. Her mother's death, although long kept from her, affected her profoundly (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1665-6, p. 342; cf. Hatton Correspondence, i. 49).
Maria Luisa Francisca de Guzman, Dowager Queen of Portugal, died on February 27, 1666 at the age of 52.
"Here we walked to and again till one dropped away after another, and so I took coach ..." 'So the courtiers drift away, leaving Sam alone. Is this a sign that his great letter is not going to be well received, as foretold by Carteret?'
This group was probably discussing the situation in Tangier, for which Pepys prepared yesterday. They drifted away because there is no money to solve the problems, so much as they want to do things, reality dictates that they cannot. And it's November in London ... dark and windy and cold by 3 p.m.-ish. That hasn't changed in the last 350 years.
Henry Robinson’s brief biography correctly says that the profit generated by the patent for the Post Office originally went to the Rt. Hon. Charles, Lord Stanhope, who assigned the patent to King Charles I’s friend, Endymion Porter, Esq. and his son, Lt. Gen. George Porter, who subsequently fought on both sides of the Civil Wars. (After the Restoration George Porter became a Gent. of the Bedchamber to Queen Catherine. He dies in the 1680’s, with no mention of the post office in any of his bios. that I’ve read).
This is a simplified version of what happened, and misses out several major contributors to the development of the post office including a Mr. Thurloe. If you’re interested, go to http://www.gbps.org.uk/informatio… , starting on page 35.
At the Restoration all of the previous office holders or their heirs reappear claiming the same position. Henry Bishop happened to be the current Parliamentary office holder, and Charles II appointed him the first Postmaster General for seven years “at a rent of” 21,500l. a year. And in January 1661 PMG Bishop developed the first handstamp for use by Post Offices to show when letters were received into their offices. Mr. Bishop was corrupt and hated, and a clerk, Mr. Hicks, under O’Neile ran things until the Post Office was taken over by Lord Arlington in 1667.
Henry Robinson's claim comes from the time of the Porters. Sadly THE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH POST OFFICE by J. C. HEMMEON, Ph.D., published by CAMBRIDGE HARVARD UNIVERSITY in 1912 (linked above) doesn't explain it any further than that.
My guess is that the Commons is looking for ways to make up Charles II’s loss of income from giving up the Hearth/Chimney Tax to fund the war effort (see 15 October, 1666 https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… ). The Post Office may be part of that revenue stream? I don’t know that – we shall see.
Maybe it's a different Henry Robinson since this one apparently died 2 years ago? Not that I have a nominee. Google gives me no hints. No possible Robinsons serving as an MP. hhhmmmm.
Also in the Lord today, an incredible example of privileged thinking was observed. Yes please, send us 20,000 head of Irish cattle to feed the hordes of London as a charitable gift. But no, we're not importing any cattle.
Sadly Pepys isn't privy to a drama playing out in the House of Lords today.
Members of the extended Montagu family are trying to find a way to divorce ... the first in generations. John Manners, Lord Roos MP (who loathed London and his wife) had returned from a trip abroad to find his wife, Anne Pierrepoint Manners, Lady Roos, pregnant. The ecclesiastical courts had given him a separation earlier this year, and now there was a bill before the Lords to make her children illegitimate.
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham was an unexpected supporter of the idea ... but then, he occasionally urged Charles II to divorce Queen Catherine. Pepys' friend, Sir William Coventry MP, was against it because he thought adultery should always be grounds for divorce. Unfortunately Coventry lost, and divorce was only by consent of Parliament for another 250 years.
"L&M: Cs. Lord Herbert to Lady Herbert, London, 17 November: 'Never saw greater bravery ... a hundred vests that at the least costs a hundred pounds. Some were adorned with jewels above a thousand. ... The ladies much richer than the men. ... the goriousest assembly everybody said that has been in England since the King's return except the Coronacion.' (HNC, Beaufort, p. 55)."
No wonder the House of Commons is unwilling to tax the people to pay for this war. On the other hand, I suppose this display of conspicuous consumption represents a lot of work for the tailors and jewelers at a time when they need employment more than usual. Now to get the gentry to pay their bills.
'If such proceedings go further, they will force Ireland "into the hands of the French or of the Dutch"'
It wasn't just the Irish feeling the sharp heel of Church of England oppression. Three years of anti-Conventical enforcement in Scotland had provoked an army of insurgents to march from Galloway to Edinburgh. At its height 3,000 men marched ... but by now they had dwindled to about 1,000.
Realizing the folly of their protest, the Convenanters turned away from the capital towards the Pentland Hills. But it was too late: Gen. Tam Dalziel / Dalyell, the governor of Edinburgh, at the head of a hastily-mustered body of 3,000 regulars, had been sent out to intercept the Covenanters, and came upon them at Rullion Green on the evening of 13 November, 1666. A sharp engagement followed.
Twice success seemed to favor the insurgents, but in the end the military training and the superior weapons of the government prevailed, and the Covenanters were scattered in headlong flight.
Of the soldiers, only 5 fell. On the other side there were about 40 killed and a 130 taken.
The Pentland Rising prisoners were marched into Edinburgh the next day. They might have saved their lives if they had renounced the Covenant; their refusal to do so was severely punished.
Comments
Second Reading
About Sunday 2 December 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
"... and no sooner in the coach but something broke, that we were fain there to stay till a smith could be fetched, which was above an hour, and then it costing me 6s. to mend. Away round by the wall and Cow Lane, for fear it should break again; ..."
"Also of note: the coach breaks down and Pepys has to pay for the repairs?"
Presumably this is still Penn's coach. Six shillings would have been a lot of money for a private coachman to be carrying. A hackney carriage driver might have that much change on hand by this time at night, but a gentleman's coachman? -- I think it's reasonable for the 'gentleman' in the coach to take care of the bill and ask Penn to reimburse him later.
Chauffeurs today probably have a business credit card which the owners pay so the need to find cash at the time of the breakdown does not arise.
About Sunday 2 December 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Is this mind-set of islanders?"
I don't know about islanders specifically, but it is the mind-set of sitting ducks, awaiting the arrival of the siege engines at a doomed castle, or Londoners living near the docks in WWII knowing that Hitler loved blitzkreigs.
One way to fight a defeatist mind-set is to stay busy doing constructive physical things ... but for Pepys with an empty treasury there was nothing constructive for a gentleman to do. Perhaps that's why his lady conquests have become more dangerous lately? (It's a shame he can't pick up a hammer and build a shelter, or dig out a basement.) I'm proud of him for not taking to gambling, which was what they were doing at Court. When he was alone at Greenwich during the plague he took to drinking too much again. I don’t see that now – maybe yet is a better word to use?
About Saturday 1 December 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
"I left him at White Hall, he giving 6d. towards the boat, ..."
Curious Pepys includes this detail. Does anyone know how much the trip cost? Perhaps sixpence was very cheap of the Lord Mayor?
About Saturday 1 December 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
"which doth much rejoice my Lord Landesdale"
PRESUMABLY Secretary of State for Scotland, John Maitland, Earl of Lauderdale
About Wednesday 28 November 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
"What was our boy Pepys thinking?"
I suspect thinking does not enter into this. Clearly a suicidal piece of stupidity on his part.
About Thursday 22 November 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
Reading this over I realize Lady Anne didn't say they hadn't been paid in 2 years. She said she was owed 2,000l. Sorry,
About Thursday 22 November 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
Sadly there's nothing in Anne Fanshawe's memoirs about the French footmen wearing vests, although she did spend time in Paris before returning to London with her brood of children and Ambassador Richard Fanshawe's body.
According to The MEMOIRS OF LADY FANSHAWE
WIFE OF SIR RICHARD FANSHAWE, BT. AMBASSADOR FROM CHARLES II TO THE COURTS OF PORTUGAL & MADRID
WRITTEN BY HERSELF, CONTAINING EXTRACTS FROM THE CORRESPONDENCE OF SIR RICHARD FANSHAWE (EDITED)
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY BEATRICE MARSHALL
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/60…
The family embarked at Calais in a French man-of-war on 11 November, 1666 and landed at Tower Wharf at midnight the next day. The family over-nighted at her father's house on Tower Hill.
On 13 November they moved to their own house on the north side of Lincoln's Inn Fields; and the body of Ambassador Richard Fanshawe arrived.
On Saturday, 16 November, Lady Anne Harrison Fanshawe sent Sir Richard's body to be laid in the Harrison family vault in All Hallows Church, Hertford: noone accompanied the hearse but his own 7 gentlemen who had accompanied his body from Madrid to London.
On 18 November, Henry Bennet, Lord Arlington visited, proffered friendship, said he was procuring the arrears of Sir Richard's pay, which was 2,000l., and reimbursement of the 5,815l. he had laid out in his Majesty's service.
Lady Fanshawe also received many of the nobility and gentry, and all her local relations.
Finally on November 23, Lady Fanshawe waited on Charles II, and delivered her whole accounts (I think this means a vebal report, not bookkeeping). He was pleased to receive her very graciously, and promised she should be paid, and that he would take care of the Fanshawe family. Then she delivered the letters she had brought from Queen-Mother Henrietta Maria in Paris.
After that Lady Fanshawe did her duty to the Queen, who condoled her on her loss, after which she delivered the Queen-Mother's letter. After staying two hours in her Majesty's bed-chamber, Lady Fanshawe waited on James, Duke of York who, having condoled her on her loss, promised to send a ship for her goods and servants to Bilbao.
Then she waited on the Duchess of York, who received her with great grace and favour, and having been with her Highness about an hour, and delivered a letter from the Queen-Mother, Lady Fanshawe took her leave.
That wasn't enough. The widow who hadn't been paid for 2 years gave the King, Queen, Duke of York and Duke of Cambridge two dozen amber skins, and six dozen gloves. She gave Lord Arlington amber skins, gloves and chocolate, and a copy of a Titian picture valued at 100ls; and made presents to Sir William Coventry and several other people in office.
What is 2-year-old James Stuart, Duke of Cambridge going to do with gloves? Oh well, they all live on credit ... I suspect it will be years before the back pay and expenses are reimbursed.
About Wednesday 21 November 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Here was Betty Michell with her mother. I would have carried her home, but her father intends to go with her, so I lost my hopes."
I think Pepys would have taken Betty to Shadwell. But I see no mention of "her new husband" being there. This would have been another grooming opportunity for Pepys, probably leading to groping and slobbering. Back seat of a taxi action.
About James Sharp (Archbishop of St Andrews 1661-79)
San Diego Sarah • Link
In January 1660 Dr. James Sharp and 5 other ministers were sent to London by the leading Resolutioner ministers to share the views of their party with Gen. George Monck.
Dr. Sharp stayed in London until May 4, 1660 when Monck sent him to Breda to ask for Charles II’s agreement to this settlement of ecclesiastical affairs in Scotland.
Dr. Sharp returned to London on May 26, 1660 and stayed until the middle of August, talking with the leading persons there while staying in close contact with the Presbyterian clergy of Scotland, who placed their entire confidence in him. (His letters are in the university of Glasgow library and in Wodrow’s History.)
When Dr. Sharp returned to Scotland he delivered a letter from Charles II to the presbytery of Edinburgh. Charles declared he would protect and preserve the government of the Church of Scotland as “settled by law,” a phrase which blinded the Scots clergy to Charles' and Dr. Sharp's plans. Sharp had been won over to the introduction of Episcopal prelacy.
The English Parliament subverted the Presbyterian Church in August 1661, and Charles II’s pledge was thus transferred to the Episcopacy (which had been overthrown in 1638).
During his time in England, Dr. Sharp had been elected professor of divinity in St. Mary’s college, St. Andrews, and he was also appointed Charles II’s chaplain for Scotland.
When Parliament rose, Sharp returned to London, and was nominated archbishop of St. Andrews, He was consecrated at Westminster on December 15, 1661.
In April, 1662 Archbishop James Sharp and his coadjutors, Fairfoul, bishop of Glasgow, and Hamilton, bishop of Galloway, entered Edinburgh in great state.
On 15 April 1661, Sharp proceeded to Lesley House. His cousin, John Leslie, 7th Earl of Rothes had prepared a triumphal progress for him, with people meeting them at points along the route, so the cavalcade swelled to more than 700 horsemen. But only two ministers joined in.
In May 1662 Archbishop Sharp, Bishop Fairfoul, and Robert Leighton, bishop of Dunblane, consecrated the 10 other bishops of Scotland, the parliament having delayed meeting until the bishops could take their seats.
The persecution of the Covenanters which followed Sharp’s elevation to the primacy of Scotland increased the hatred with which he was held, from the common belief he had betrayed the Presbyterian church.
On July 9, 1668, Archbishop Sharp narrowly escaped assassination by being shot at in the High Street of Edinburgh.
In turning from Presbyterianism to Episcopacy, James Sharp acted the same as Archbishop Robert Leighton of Glasgow. The difference was that Leighton was devoted to his Episcopal duties, while Sharp was more political than religious. His party took the lead in persecuting the Covenanters.
Vengeance occurred on May 3, 1679 when Archbishop Sharp was hacked to death in front of his daughter on Magus Moor.
http://www.electricscotland.com/h…
About Leith, Scotland
San Diego Sarah • Link
The port of Leith serves Edinburgh, and it was one supposedly targeted by the Dutch and French for their joint invasion of 1666.
Lord High Treasurer John Leslie, 7th Earl of Rothes was instructed to reinforce it, but he was so busy pursuing Conventicalists that he later was accused of being over-zealous in his persecution of Covenanters and the Pentland Rising participants and insufficiently attentive to the defense of Leith against attack.[3]
3. Thomson, Oliver (2018), Zealots: How a Group of Scottish Conspirators Unleashed Half a Century of War in Britain, Amberley, pp.196-197
About Luisa de Guzmán (Queen-Mother)
San Diego Sarah • Link
Queen Catherine of Braganza followed the history of her country with keen interest. Her mother's death, although long kept from her, affected her profoundly (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1665-6, p. 342; cf. Hatton Correspondence, i. 49).
Maria Luisa Francisca de Guzman, Dowager Queen of Portugal, died on February 27, 1666 at the age of 52.
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ca…
Pepys says the English court was in mourning in November 1666. That's a long time to keep her death a secret.
About Monday 19 November 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
Of course, it was this morning that he prepared for the Tangier meeting. Sorry.
About Monday 19 November 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Here we walked to and again till one dropped away after another, and so I took coach ..."
'So the courtiers drift away, leaving Sam alone. Is this a sign that his great letter is not going to be well received, as foretold by Carteret?'
This group was probably discussing the situation in Tangier, for which Pepys prepared yesterday. They drifted away because there is no money to solve the problems, so much as they want to do things, reality dictates that they cannot. And it's November in London ... dark and windy and cold by 3 p.m.-ish. That hasn't changed in the last 350 years.
About Post Office
San Diego Sarah • Link
For a comprehensive description of the development of the Post Office I found a free book on line:
THE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH POST OFFICE by J. C. HEMMEON, Ph.D., published by CAMBRIDGE HARVARD UNIVERSITY in 1912
http://www.gbps.org.uk/informatio…
The first two chapters cover the early years and Pepys' times.
About Monday 19 November 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
Henry Robinson’s brief biography correctly says that the profit generated by the patent for the Post Office originally went to the Rt. Hon. Charles, Lord Stanhope, who assigned the patent to King Charles I’s friend, Endymion Porter, Esq. and his son, Lt. Gen. George Porter, who subsequently fought on both sides of the Civil Wars. (After the Restoration George Porter became a Gent. of the Bedchamber to Queen Catherine. He dies in the 1680’s, with no mention of the post office in any of his bios. that I’ve read).
This is a simplified version of what happened, and misses out several major contributors to the development of the post office including a Mr. Thurloe. If you’re interested, go to http://www.gbps.org.uk/informatio… , starting on page 35.
At the Restoration all of the previous office holders or their heirs reappear claiming the same position. Henry Bishop happened to be the current Parliamentary office holder, and Charles II appointed him the first Postmaster General for seven years “at a rent of” 21,500l. a year. And in January 1661 PMG Bishop developed the first handstamp for use by Post Offices to show when letters were received into their offices. Mr. Bishop was corrupt and hated, and a clerk, Mr. Hicks, under O’Neile ran things until the Post Office was taken over by Lord Arlington in 1667.
Henry Robinson's claim comes from the time of the Porters. Sadly THE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH POST OFFICE by J. C. HEMMEON, Ph.D., published by CAMBRIDGE HARVARD UNIVERSITY in 1912 (linked above) doesn't explain it any further than that.
My guess is that the Commons is looking for ways to make up Charles II’s loss of income from giving up the Hearth/Chimney Tax to fund the war effort (see 15 October, 1666 https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… ). The Post Office may be part of that revenue stream? I don’t know that – we shall see.
About Henry Robinson
San Diego Sarah • Link
Maybe it's a different Henry Robinson since this one apparently died 2 years ago? Not that I have a nominee. Google gives me no hints. No possible Robinsons serving as an MP. hhhmmmm.
About Saturday 17 November 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
Also in the Lord today, an incredible example of privileged thinking was observed. Yes please, send us 20,000 head of Irish cattle to feed the hordes of London as a charitable gift. But no, we're not importing any cattle.
https://www.british-history.ac.uk…
About Saturday 17 November 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
Sadly Pepys isn't privy to a drama playing out in the House of Lords today.
Members of the extended Montagu family are trying to find a way to divorce ... the first in generations. John Manners, Lord Roos MP (who loathed London and his wife) had returned from a trip abroad to find his wife, Anne Pierrepoint Manners, Lady Roos, pregnant. The ecclesiastical courts had given him a separation earlier this year, and now there was a bill before the Lords to make her children illegitimate.
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham was an unexpected supporter of the idea ... but then, he occasionally urged Charles II to divorce Queen Catherine. Pepys' friend, Sir William Coventry MP, was against it because he thought adultery should always be grounds for divorce. Unfortunately Coventry lost, and divorce was only by consent of Parliament for another 250 years.
See https://www.historyofparliamenton…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann…
About Thursday 15 November 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
"L&M: Cs. Lord Herbert to Lady Herbert, London, 17 November: 'Never saw greater bravery ... a hundred vests that at the least costs a hundred pounds. Some were adorned with jewels above a thousand. ... The ladies much richer than the men. ... the goriousest assembly everybody said that has been in England since the King's return except the Coronacion.' (HNC, Beaufort, p. 55)."
No wonder the House of Commons is unwilling to tax the people to pay for this war. On the other hand, I suppose this display of conspicuous consumption represents a lot of work for the tailors and jewelers at a time when they need employment more than usual. Now to get the gentry to pay their bills.
About Tuesday 13 November 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
'If such proceedings go further, they will force Ireland "into the hands of the French or of the Dutch"'
It wasn't just the Irish feeling the sharp heel of Church of England oppression. Three years of anti-Conventical enforcement in Scotland had provoked an army of insurgents to march from Galloway to Edinburgh. At its height 3,000 men marched ... but by now they had dwindled to about 1,000.
Realizing the folly of their protest, the Convenanters turned away from the capital towards the Pentland Hills. But it was too late: Gen. Tam Dalziel / Dalyell, the governor of Edinburgh, at the head of a hastily-mustered body of 3,000 regulars, had been sent out to intercept the Covenanters, and came upon them at Rullion Green on the evening of 13 November, 1666. A sharp engagement followed.
Twice success seemed to favor the insurgents, but in the end the military training and the superior weapons of the government prevailed, and the Covenanters were scattered in headlong flight.
Of the soldiers, only 5 fell. On the other side there were about 40 killed and a 130 taken.
The Pentland Rising prisoners were marched into Edinburgh the next day. They might have saved their lives if they had renounced the Covenant; their refusal to do so was severely punished.
Gleaned from
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.c…
and VISCOUNT DUNDEE -- Author: Louis A. Barbé
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/49…
FAMOUS SCOTS SERIES
PUBLISHED BY OLIPHANT ANDERSON & FERRIER,
EDINBURGH AND LONDON