During the reign of King Charles I, one of his Gentlemen opened a school. The curriculum is impressive:
"The Museum Minervæ was an academy instituted by Sir Francis Kynaston, Esquire of the body to King Charles, 1635, in which year the king granted his letters-patent, whereby a house in Covent Garden, which Sir Francis had purchased, and furnished with books, manuscripts, musical and mathematical instruments, paintings, statues, antiques, &c. was appropriated for ever as a college for the education of the young nobility and others, under the name of the Museum Minervæ.
"Sir Francis Kynaston was made the governor under the title of Regent; Edward May, Thomas Hunt, Nicholas Phiske, John Spidell, Walter Salter, Michael Mason, fellows and professors of philosophy and medicine, music, astronomy, geometry, languages, &c.
"They had power to elect professors also of horsemanship, dancing, painting, engraving, &c.; were made a body corporate, were permitted to use a common seal, and to possess goods and lands in mortmain. Pat. 11 Car. pt. 8. No. 14.
"Sir Francis Kynaston published the Constitutions of the Museum Minervæ."
The Brits are getting ready to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims sailing to the New World. A do-it-yourself Pilgrim's Tour has been organized with a very informative website attached. Lots of stories.
The major supplier of pitch and tar to the English market was Sweden Finland. Before the first Anglo-Dutch War, England's share of the tar trade was negligible, but by 1660 it was half the total volume of Swedish tar exports.
English merchants used aggressive trading tactics, which soon clashed with Sweden's desire to control and direct the trade through a monopoly company.
This tar monopoly was called a 'considerable' grievance by the Eastland Company in a petition to the English Council of Trade in 1661, and the Council opined that any future trade treaty with Sweden should provide either for the abolition of the monopoly or for free and unhindered trade between English merchants and the factors of the Tar Company.
The trade treaty concluded later in 1661 between England and Sweden did not contain any specific reference to the tar monopoly.
Anglo-Swedish commercial relations underwent a few crises towards the end of the 17th century, culminating in the expulsion of some English factors in 1695 as a result of the implementation of the 1673 Ordinance strictly limiting the period of residence for foreigners in Sweden.
The Swedes took this step to bring pressure on the English government to pay compensation for Swedish ships seized as prizes during the war with France.
The consequent trade disruption highlighted England's dependence on Sweden for naval stores, and gave further impetus to traders who provided such stores from "the Colonies."
Pamphleteers were quick to seize on the disadvantages of the permanently unfavorable balance of trade with Sweden, and to laud the benefits to English shipping and industry that a thriving colonial trade would bring.
Information from the introduction to David Kirby's 1974 article, "The Royal Navy's quest for pitch and tar during the reign of Queen Anne," published in the Scandinavian Economic History Review, 22:2, 97-116, DOI: 10.1080/03585522.1974.10407788
"It was at Bethnall House that Samuel Pepys brought his famous Diary for safe keeping whilst the Great Fire of London was raging."
Or maybe not ... In the late 18th century a History of London was written, and had this to say about the Blind Beggar of Bethnal-Green and the history of Sir William Ryder's home:
"The well-known ballad of the Beggar of Bethnal-Green was written in the reign of Queen Elizabeth: the legend is told of the reign of Henry III; and Henry de Montfort (son of the Earl of Leicester), who was supposed to have fallen at the battle of Evesham, is the hero. Although it is probable that the author might have fixed upon any other spot with equal propriety for the residence of his beggar, the story nevertheless seems to have gained much credit in the village, where it decorates not only the sign-posts of the publicans, but the staff of the parish beadle; and so convinced are some of the inhabitants of its truth, that they shew an ancient house upon the Green as the palace of the blind beggar; and point out two turrets at the extremities of the court wall as the places where he deposited his gains.
"Kirby Castle. "The old mansion above-mentioned, called in the survey of 1703 Bethnal-Green-house, was built in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, by John Kirby, citizen of London. Fleetwood, the recorder of London, in a letter to the lord treasurer (about the year 1578), mentions the death of "John Kirby, who built the fair house upon Bethnal Green, which house, lofty like a castle, occasioned certain rhimes abusive of him and some other city builders of great houses, who had prejudiced themselves thereby; viz. Kirby's Castle, and Fisher's Folly; Spinola's Pleasure, and Meggs's Glory."
"This house was afterwards the residence of Sir Hugh Platt, Knt. author of "the Garden of Eden," "the Jewell-house of Art and Nature," and other works.
"Sir William Ryder, Knt. died there in 1669, it being then his property ... It is still called in the writings Kirby Castle."
Lots more old history about who lived there, like Sir Richard Gresham.
The settlement was recorded as Blithehale in the 13th century, when a hamlet began to grow around the site of the present tube station. In an early reference to the locality, the medieval ballad of the Blind Beggar of Bednall Green tells of a poor man whose daughter marries a knight for a dowry of £3,000 in gold. The ballad may have been written in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, although it was subsequently much revised.
By the 16th century merchants and noblemen were building large houses in the fields and Bethnal Green remained a pleasant country retreat on the outskirts of London until about 1700. Thereafter, houses began to line Dog Row (now Cambridge Heath Road) and Bethnal Green soon developed into one of the first manufacturing districts in the East End, becoming a separate parish in 1743. https://hidden-london.com/gazette…
We are told the district was almost entirely rural and the farmlands were so fertile that they could yield two crops a year. The change from an agricultural parish into an overcrowded slum began when a large number of Huguenots, fleeing from the religious persecution in France, introduced the art of silk weaving into Spitalfields and the south-west portion of Bethnal Green.
The origin of the name is not clear, although one thing is certain, and that is that it has not always been Bethnal Green. It has at different times been Blithehale, Blythenhale, Bleten Hall and Bednal Green.
It was at Bethnall House that Samuel Pepys brought his famous Diary for safe keeping whilst the Great Fire of London was raging. https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/…
Imported from Persia by King James in the 17th century, the Bethnal Green Mulberry is more than 400 years old and its leaves were intended to feed silkworms cultivated by weavers.
Gamely supported by struts that have become absorbed into the fibre of the tree over the years, it was heartening to see this ancient organism in spring, coming into leaf once more and renewing itself again after five centuries. The Bethnal Green Mulberry has seen palaces and hospitals come and go, but it continues to bear fruit every summer regardless. http://spitalfieldslife.com/2017/…
"The Navy grew considerably during the global struggle with France that started in 1690 and culminated in the Napoleonic Wars, a time when the practice of fighting under sail was developed to its highest point."
The moment Britain had a full-time navy with purpose-built ships, then training, exams, formalized ranks etc. came along. The Navy became a career; by the end of the century the swapping of ranks as we've seen between the Gentlemen Captains during this war no longer happen.
"At the start of the Restoration, Parliament listed 40 ships of the Royal Navy with a complement of 3,695 sailors.
"The administration of the navy was greatly improved by Sir William Coventry and Samuel Pepys, both of whom began their service in 1660 with the Restoration. While it was Pepys' diary that made him famous, his nearly 30 years of administration were crucial in replacing the ad hoc processes of years past with regular programs of supply, construction, pay, etc.
"In 1664 the English captured New Amsterdam resulting in the Second Dutch War. In 1666 the Four Days Battle was a defeat for the English but the Dutch fleet was crushed a month later off Orfordness. In 1667 the Dutch mounted the Raid on the Medway, which resulted in the most humiliating defeat in the Royal Navy's history. The English were also defeated at Solebay in 1672.
"The experience of large-scale battle was instructive to the Navy; the Articles of War regularizing the conduct of officers and seaman, and the "Fighting Instructions" establishing the line of battle, both date from this period.
"Pepys was responsible for introducing the "Navy List" which fixed the order of promotion. In 1683 the "Victualling Board" was organized the ration scales. The reforms of Pepys under both Charles II and James II, were important in the professionalization of the Royal Navy.
"The Glorious Revolution of 1688 rearranged the political map of Europe, and led to wars with France that lasted for over a century. This was the age of sail. The ships evolved in minor ways, but technique and tactics were honed to a high degree. The battles of the Napoleonic Wars entailed feats impossible for 17th century fleets.
"The landing of William III and the Glorious Revolution was a gigantic effort involving 100 warships and 400 transports carrying 11,000 infantry and 4,000 horses.
"Louis XIV declared war days later, a conflict known as the War of the Grand Alliance. The English defeat at the Battle of Beachy Head of 1690 led to an improved version of the Fighting Instructions, and subsequent operations against French ports proved more successful, leading to decisive victory at La Hougue in 1692.
But by then Pepys was out of it. He and William were not friends.
"So I ... walked to the Tower, and there got up upon one of the high places, Sir J. Robinson’s little son going up with me; and there I did see the houses at that end of the bridge all on fire, and an infinite great fire on this and the other side the end of the bridge; which, among other people, did trouble me for poor little Michell and our Sarah on the bridge. So down, with my heart full of trouble, to the Lieutenant of the Tower, who tells me that it begun this morning in the King’s baker’s house in Pudding-lane, and that it hath burned St. Magnus’s Church and most part of Fish-street already."
I wonder if this "our Sarah" is this Sarah ... Pepys seemed very fond of her in an innocent way, for once. And in 1666 he had no relationships with any other Sarah.
My impression is that this closett is his old bedroom ... I'm wondering where he's sleeping now; in a room opened up by the new extension? Also, although we know the dimensions of his bookshelves when he died, but I see no evidence that the ones he's just built are the same ones given to Cambridge. Also he's not told us if he had 2 or 6 or 10 presses built. He's going to collect books for 30 more years ... I doubt he built extra bookshelves to accommodate 30 years of acquisitions. There are just too many unknowns to answer the question of how big his closett is now; it's a converted Elizabethan mansion, so some of the rooms could have been quite generous.
"Spoiler ... (Enter the heroic Admiral Sir Will Penn...Man of action...)"
St. Olave Hart Street Church, built in circa 1450, was miraculously saved from the Great Fire by Admiral Sir William Penn, who asked his men from the nearby naval yard to demolish the houses surrounding the church in order to create a firebreak.
Pepys seems to be back to the work in the morning and at night, and take the afternoons off schedule when he can get away with it. Since money is short, beyond taking care of emergencies, there's probably not much he can initiate.
1666 September -- It took more than a week for the news of the Great Fire to reach Paris.
Publicly Louis IV said publicly that he would not have "any rejoicings about it, being such a deplorable accident involving injury to so many unhappy people" and offered his condolences to Madame Henrietta Anne --- AKA Minette -- his sister-in-law.
He offered to send aid, food and other disaster relief. Privately he was thrilled at his stroke of good fortune. He had made a mess of his summer campaign, and the French fleet was in no position to fight. He believed the English maritime supplies and magazines had been destroyed, which would force the English to retire from the War.
More information see 1666: Plague, War and Hellfire by Rebecca Rideal -- St. Martin' Press, New York -- 2016 -- ISBN 978-1-250-09707-2 (hard back) -- page 199
1666 -- end of August -- The Generals-at-Sea, Prince Rupert and the Duke of Albemarle, were anxious to score one last victory during the fighting season. The ships were repaired and victualed, and went cruising off the Dutch coast.
By the end of August the duc de Beaufort and the French fleet has progressed as far as the Bay of Biscay. They were further away than even the Dutch appreciated. Their plan was to join the two fleets and attack the English fleet by stealth and by numbers.
Following some skirmishes the English fleet, anticipating the combined fleets, by the beginning of September was staying close to Portsmouth, with several ships needing repairs.
Then on September 5, the Duke of Albemarle received a letter from Secretary of State Sir William Morrice telling him that Charles II needed him back in London because "God had visited the city with a heavy calamity." He surrendered control of the fleet to Prince Rupert and began his 75-mile return to London the next morning.
More information see 1666: Plague, War and Hellfire by Rebecca Rideal -- St. Martin' Press, New York -- 2016 -- ISBN 978-1-250-09707-2 (hard back) -- page 165-166
1666 -- On May 14 secret intelligence was received by Charles II that the French fleet had been seen at Belle Isle, just south of Brittany. The decision was made to split the fleet. In reality the French fleet was at Lisbon, a week's sail away.
The Venetian ambassador to France, Alvise Sagredo, writing a report from Paris at the beginning of June, said: "It was agreed between France and Holland these last weeks that the most sure and certain way to bring the English to reason was that of time and not of arms and that the best way to conquer them was to tire them out." The Ambassador continued that this split in warships was what the French Admiral, the duc de Beaufort, had intended.
Perhaps Louis IV also wanted to avoid the 1666 fighting, so the Dutch and the English would exhaust themselves while leaving the French Navy free to pick off their maritime vessels, and his captains and admiral gain experience in seamanship.
More information see 1666: Plague, War and Hellfire by Rebecca Rideal -- St. Martin' Press, New York -- 2016 -- ISBN 978-1-250-09707-2 (hard back) -- page 118-119
1665 -- When Philip IV of Spain died on 17 September 1665, their heir, Carlos, was 3 years old. Mariana of Austria, Queen of Spain, acted as regent for him, and she would continue to do so for most of his life, due to his illnesses. Carlos remained weak, by the age of six he could stand alone, but he still could not walk.
The question of who would inherit the Spanish territories was in question. Louis XIV wanted Dutch agreement on his planned expansion into the Spanish Netherlands. Louis knew that by honoring the treaty he would receive their agreement.
Charles II's desire to be a European power-broker made England more of a threat at a time when Spanish power was weakened. French and English warships challenged each other over salutes, and captured each other's merchant ships looking for Dutch merchandise.
If England won the second Anglo-Dutch War, overthrowing the States-General and the de Witt regime, the young Prince William of Orange would be in power, turning the Dutch Republic effectively into an English protectorate.
Consequently German princes were courted, the Swedish were purchased, and the Danes were pressured.
Meanwhile the English Court, exiled by the plague in Oxford, partied on.
More information see 1666: Plague, War and Hellfire by Rebecca Rideal -St. Martin' Press, New York - 2016 - ISBN 978-1-250-09707-1 (e-book) -- page 84-87
1662 -- the balance of power in western Europe rocked between the French and the Spanish. The Spanish held the Netherlands, and young King Louis XIV looked on that holding as a challenge to his northern border.
Technically a Treaty signed in 1662 between France and the Dutch Republic (the de Witts' faction was in charge) obligated France to aid the Dutch should war break out with England. This was a Cardinal Mazarin policy conceived in Cromwell's time which Louis inherited, and avoided acting on.
While hatred of the French ran deep in the English psyche, many of Louis' court objected to a war with England on principle. England was ruled by his cousin, an apparently pliable and penniless monarch, while the Dutch Republic was -- a Republic. Also there was no French navy to speak of, so a rapid building program was introduced, but it was no match for the English.
More information see 1666: Plague, War and Hellfire by Rebecca Rideal -St. Martin' Press, New York - 2016 - ISBN 978-1-250-09707-1 (e-book) -- page 83
"Sir W. Pen telling me that Mr. Norton, that married Sir J. Lawson’s daughter, is dead. She left 800l. a year jointure, a son to inherit the whole estate. She freed from her father-in-law’s tyranny, and is in condition to helpe her mother, who needs it; of which I am glad, the young lady being very pretty."
Sir John Lawson must have loved his oldest daughter, Isabella. She was a baby when the Lawsons fled from their home during the first Civil War in the middle of the night and they had to leave her at an Inn, hoping to reclaim her later ... which they did. Anyways, Lawson astounded people by turning half his estate into her dowry so she could marry Daniel Norton ... here's Pepys' take on it:
"... among other discourse, the rashness of Sir John Lawson, for breeding up his daughter so high and proud, refusing a man of great interest, Sir W. Barkeley, to match her with a melancholy fellow, Colonell Norton’s son, of no interest nor good nature nor generosity at all, giving her 6000l., when the other would have taken her with two; when he himself knew that he was not worth the money himself in all the world, he did give her that portion, and is since dead, and left his wife and two daughters beggars, and the other gone away with 6000l., and no content in it, through the ill qualities of her father-in-law and husband, who, it seems, though a pretty woman, contracted for her as if he had been buying a horse; and, worst of all, is now of no use to serve the mother and two little sisters in any stead at Court, whereas the other might have done what he would for her: so here is an end of this family’s pride, which, with good care, might have been what they would, and done well. "Thence, weary of this discourse, as the act of the greatest rashness that ever I heard of in all my little conversation, we parted"
Before the civil wars broke out, Capt. John Lawson married Isabella, daughter of William Jefferson of Whitby, who survived him, with three daughters, Isabella, Elizabeth, and Anna, and a son, Samuel Lawson, who was a merchant.
During her father's life, Isabella married Daniel Norton of Southwick, Hampshire. Sir John must have loved her, because he liquidated about half of his estate to pay her dowry. Obviously, he expected to live longer and have time to enlarge his estate again, but that was not to be.
Daughters Elizabeth and Anna were minors at the time of Adm. Lawson's death. In his will (in Somerset House), dated 19 April 1664, he desires his pension of 500l. to be settled if possible on his two younger daughters. To Elizabeth he leaves 'a gold chain that was given me in Portugal in 1663.' for her eldest son; and to Isabella 'a gold chain that was given me in the Dutch war, 1653.'
From LAWSON LIES STILL IN THE THAMES by Gill Blanchard, Amberley Publishing 2017, ISBN 978 1 4456 6123 and https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/La…
The British year is divided into calendar “terms” by tradition. Little is left beside the names. We even recite the terms in a different order.
From the Middle Ages to Early Modern times, the first and foremost term of the legal year was Michaelmas Term. Most local governments held elections at the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels on 29 September. New Aldermen paraded through the streets to begin St. Michael’s festivities by sharing a toast at the outgoing mayor's home.
In London the county sheriffs presented their accounting books and amounts due to the king from county revenues at the Exchequer. If they could not pay, they were held until it was paid in cash on the barrel head. In parallel, new sheriffs were selected by the king and Exchequer for the year-long duty starting in the Hilary Term.
The feast was a celebration before the nightmare of the Office of the Exchequer. The Michaelmas Term began by law within the first 8 days after the feast. The business of the Exchequer took so much prep. that it opened its term within the first 15 days after the feast.
As revenues came in, the Exchequer paid out the King's annuities. Annual annuities were usually paid at Michaelmas. Annuities awarded half every 6 months were paid at Michaelmas and Easter Terms.
Rent owed for lands in fief or copyhold paid annually, semi-annually or quarterly at the start of the terms. At Michaelmas, everyone tallied their credits and debits and entered them in the official records.
This occurred because the terms were law terms. All the courts, from the smallest to Parliament, opened their doors, receiving and issuing legal process, and hearing cases.
The second Term chronologically was Hilary, calculated from the feast day of St. Hilary of Poitiers, on 14 January.
The second in importance and third chronologically was Easter Term. This began within the 8 days after the 15th day after Easter.
Last in importance and chronology was Trinity Term. The Feast of the Trinity fell on the first Sunday after Pentecost — Trinity Sunday. The term began as early as the Monday after.
Edward the Confessor's statutes established the Term schedule, but did not mention a Trinity Term. All terms, except for Trinity, end with the start of a major religious season. People moved logically from the king’s purposes to the church’s.
Michaelmas ended with Advent. Hilary ended with Lent. Easter ended with Pentecost. Trinity ended when the harvest made any other business impractical. After harvest came harvest festivals, after which came the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels and the start of the new legal year.
This court terms system has worked for 1,000 years with a few variations. Trinity varied widely. Hilary varied substantially. Changes to Michaelmas and Easter Terms were rare and minor.
Comments
Second Reading
About Sunday 1 November 1663
San Diego Sarah • Link
During the reign of King Charles I, one of his Gentlemen opened a school. The curriculum is impressive:
"The Museum Minervæ was an academy instituted by Sir Francis Kynaston, Esquire of the body to King Charles, 1635, in which year the king granted his letters-patent, whereby a house in Covent Garden, which Sir Francis had purchased, and furnished with books, manuscripts, musical and mathematical instruments, paintings, statues, antiques, &c. was appropriated for ever as a college for the education of the young nobility and others, under the name of the Museum Minervæ.
"Sir Francis Kynaston was made the governor under the title of Regent; Edward May, Thomas Hunt, Nicholas Phiske, John Spidell, Walter Salter, Michael Mason, fellows and professors of philosophy and medicine, music, astronomy, geometry, languages, &c.
"They had power to elect professors also of horsemanship, dancing, painting, engraving, &c.; were made a body corporate, were permitted to use a common seal, and to possess goods and lands in mortmain. Pat. 11 Car. pt. 8. No. 14.
"Sir Francis Kynaston published the Constitutions of the Museum Minervæ."
https://www.british-history.ac.uk…
About Friday 19 September 1662
San Diego Sarah • Link
The Brits are getting ready to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims sailing to the New World. A do-it-yourself Pilgrim's Tour has been organized with a very informative website attached. Lots of stories.
https://www.mayflower400uk.org/ed…
About Tar
San Diego Sarah • Link
The major supplier of pitch and tar to the English market was Sweden Finland. Before the first Anglo-Dutch War, England's share of the tar trade was negligible, but by 1660 it was half the total volume of Swedish tar exports.
English merchants used aggressive trading tactics, which soon clashed with Sweden's desire to control and direct the trade through a monopoly company.
This tar monopoly was called a 'considerable' grievance by the Eastland Company in a petition to the English Council of Trade in 1661, and the Council opined that any future trade treaty with Sweden should provide either for the abolition of the monopoly or for free and unhindered trade between English merchants and the factors of the Tar Company.
The trade treaty concluded later in 1661 between England and Sweden did not contain any specific reference to the tar monopoly.
Anglo-Swedish commercial relations underwent a few crises towards the end of the 17th century, culminating in the expulsion of some English factors in 1695 as a result of the implementation of the 1673 Ordinance strictly limiting the period of residence for foreigners in Sweden.
The Swedes took this step to bring pressure on the English government to pay compensation for Swedish ships seized as prizes during the war with France.
The consequent trade disruption highlighted England's dependence on Sweden for naval stores, and gave further impetus to traders who provided such stores from "the Colonies."
Pamphleteers were quick to seize on the disadvantages of the permanently unfavorable balance of trade with Sweden, and to laud the benefits to English shipping and industry that a thriving colonial trade would bring.
Information from the introduction to David Kirby's 1974 article, "The Royal Navy's quest for pitch and tar during the reign of Queen Anne," published in the Scandinavian Economic History Review, 22:2, 97-116, DOI: 10.1080/03585522.1974.10407788
https://doi.org/10.1080/03585522.…
About Bethnal Green
San Diego Sarah • Link
"It was at Bethnall House that Samuel Pepys brought his famous Diary for safe keeping whilst the Great Fire of London was raging."
Or maybe not ... In the late 18th century a History of London was written, and had this to say about the Blind Beggar of Bethnal-Green and the history of Sir William Ryder's home:
"The well-known ballad of the Beggar of Bethnal-Green was written in the reign of Queen Elizabeth: the legend is told of the reign of Henry III; and Henry de Montfort (son of the Earl of Leicester), who was supposed to have fallen at the battle of Evesham, is the hero. Although it is probable that the author might have fixed upon any other spot with equal propriety for the residence of his beggar, the story nevertheless seems to have gained much credit in the village, where it decorates not only the sign-posts of the publicans, but the staff of the parish beadle; and so convinced are some of the inhabitants of its truth, that they shew an ancient house upon the Green as the palace of the blind beggar; and point out two turrets at the extremities of the court wall as the places where he deposited his gains.
"Kirby Castle.
"The old mansion above-mentioned, called in the survey of 1703 Bethnal-Green-house, was built in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, by John Kirby, citizen of London. Fleetwood, the recorder of London, in a letter to the lord treasurer (about the year 1578), mentions the death of "John Kirby, who built the fair house upon Bethnal Green, which house, lofty like a castle, occasioned certain rhimes abusive of him and some other city builders of great houses, who had prejudiced themselves thereby; viz. Kirby's Castle, and Fisher's Folly; Spinola's Pleasure, and Meggs's Glory."
"This house was afterwards the residence of Sir Hugh Platt, Knt. author of "the Garden of Eden," "the Jewell-house of Art and Nature," and other works.
"Sir William Ryder, Knt. died there in 1669, it being then his property ... It is still called in the writings Kirby Castle."
Lots more old history about who lived there, like Sir Richard Gresham.
https://www.british-history.ac.uk…
About Bethnal Green
San Diego Sarah • Link
The settlement was recorded as Blithehale in the 13th century, when a hamlet began to grow around the site of the present tube station. In an early reference to the locality, the medieval ballad of the Blind Beggar of Bednall Green tells of a poor man whose daughter marries a knight for a dowry of £3,000 in gold. The ballad may have been written in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, although it was subsequently much revised.
By the 16th century merchants and noblemen were building large houses in the fields and Bethnal Green remained a pleasant country retreat on the outskirts of London until about 1700. Thereafter, houses began to line Dog Row (now Cambridge Heath Road) and Bethnal Green soon developed into one of the first manufacturing districts in the East End, becoming a separate parish in 1743.
https://hidden-london.com/gazette…
We are told the district was almost entirely rural and the farmlands were so fertile that they could yield two crops a year. The change from an agricultural parish into an overcrowded slum began when a large number of Huguenots, fleeing from the religious persecution in France, introduced the art of silk weaving into Spitalfields and the south-west portion of Bethnal Green.
The origin of the name is not clear, although one thing is certain, and that is that it has not always been Bethnal Green. It has at different times been Blithehale, Blythenhale, Bleten Hall and Bednal Green.
It was at Bethnall House that Samuel Pepys brought his famous Diary for safe keeping whilst the Great Fire of London was raging.
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/…
Imported from Persia by King James in the 17th century, the Bethnal Green Mulberry is more than 400 years old and its leaves were intended to feed silkworms cultivated by weavers.
Gamely supported by struts that have become absorbed into the fibre of the tree over the years, it was heartening to see this ancient organism in spring, coming into leaf once more and renewing itself again after five centuries. The Bethnal Green Mulberry has seen palaces and hospitals come and go, but it continues to bear fruit every summer regardless.
http://spitalfieldslife.com/2017/…
About Tuesday 28 August 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
"I wonder at what point we lost the "gentlemen officer" and switched to a purely professional force."
According to Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His…:
"The Navy grew considerably during the global struggle with France that started in 1690 and culminated in the Napoleonic Wars, a time when the practice of fighting under sail was developed to its highest point."
The moment Britain had a full-time navy with purpose-built ships, then training, exams, formalized ranks etc. came along. The Navy became a career; by the end of the century the swapping of ranks as we've seen between the Gentlemen Captains during this war no longer happen.
"At the start of the Restoration, Parliament listed 40 ships of the Royal Navy with a complement of 3,695 sailors.
"The administration of the navy was greatly improved by Sir William Coventry and Samuel Pepys, both of whom began their service in 1660 with the Restoration. While it was Pepys' diary that made him famous, his nearly 30 years of administration were crucial in replacing the ad hoc processes of years past with regular programs of supply, construction, pay, etc.
"In 1664 the English captured New Amsterdam resulting in the Second Dutch War. In 1666 the Four Days Battle was a defeat for the English but the Dutch fleet was crushed a month later off Orfordness. In 1667 the Dutch mounted the Raid on the Medway, which resulted in the most humiliating defeat in the Royal Navy's history. The English were also defeated at Solebay in 1672.
"The experience of large-scale battle was instructive to the Navy; the Articles of War regularizing the conduct of officers and seaman, and the "Fighting Instructions" establishing the line of battle, both date from this period.
"Pepys was responsible for introducing the "Navy List" which fixed the order of promotion. In 1683 the "Victualling Board" was organized the ration scales. The reforms of Pepys under both Charles II and James II, were important in the professionalization of the Royal Navy.
"The Glorious Revolution of 1688 rearranged the political map of Europe, and led to wars with France that lasted for over a century. This was the age of sail. The ships evolved in minor ways, but technique and tactics were honed to a high degree. The battles of the Napoleonic Wars entailed feats impossible for 17th century fleets.
"The landing of William III and the Glorious Revolution was a gigantic effort involving 100 warships and 400 transports carrying 11,000 infantry and 4,000 horses.
"Louis XIV declared war days later, a conflict known as the War of the Grand Alliance. The English defeat at the Battle of Beachy Head of 1690 led to an improved version of the Fighting Instructions, and subsequent operations against French ports proved more successful, leading to decisive victory at La Hougue in 1692.
But by then Pepys was out of it. He and William were not friends.
About Friday 24 August 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
Thanks, Bryan ... real information is always helpful.
About Sarah (Pepys' maid)
San Diego Sarah • Link
During the Great Fire, Pepys says:
"So I ... walked to the Tower, and there got up upon one of the high places, Sir J. Robinson’s little son going up with me; and there I did see the houses at that end of the bridge all on fire, and an infinite great fire on this and the other side the end of the bridge; which, among other people, did trouble me for poor little Michell and our Sarah on the bridge. So down, with my heart full of trouble, to the Lieutenant of the Tower, who tells me that it begun this morning in the King’s baker’s house in Pudding-lane, and that it hath burned St. Magnus’s Church and most part of Fish-street already."
I wonder if this "our Sarah" is this Sarah ... Pepys seemed very fond of her in an innocent way, for once. And in 1666 he had no relationships with any other Sarah.
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
About Friday 24 August 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
My impression is that this closett is his old bedroom ... I'm wondering where he's sleeping now; in a room opened up by the new extension? Also, although we know the dimensions of his bookshelves when he died, but I see no evidence that the ones he's just built are the same ones given to Cambridge. Also he's not told us if he had 2 or 6 or 10 presses built. He's going to collect books for 30 more years ... I doubt he built extra bookshelves to accommodate 30 years of acquisitions. There are just too many unknowns to answer the question of how big his closett is now; it's a converted Elizabethan mansion, so some of the rooms could have been quite generous.
About Sunday 2 September 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Spoiler ... (Enter the heroic Admiral Sir Will Penn...Man of action...)"
St. Olave Hart Street Church, built in circa 1450, was miraculously saved from the Great Fire by Admiral Sir William Penn, who asked his men from the nearby naval yard to demolish the houses surrounding the church in order to create a firebreak.
http://www.historic-uk.com/Histor…
About Saturday 1 September 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
Pepys seems to be back to the work in the morning and at night, and take the afternoons off schedule when he can get away with it.
Since money is short, beyond taking care of emergencies, there's probably not much he can initiate.
About François de Vendôme (Duc de Beaufort)
San Diego Sarah • Link
1666 September -- It took more than a week for the news of the Great Fire to reach Paris.
Publicly Louis IV said publicly that he would not have "any rejoicings about it, being such a deplorable accident involving injury to so many unhappy people" and offered his condolences to Madame Henrietta Anne --- AKA Minette -- his sister-in-law.
He offered to send aid, food and other disaster relief. Privately he was thrilled at his stroke of good fortune. He had made a mess of his summer campaign, and the French fleet was in no position to fight. He believed the English maritime supplies and magazines had been destroyed, which would force the English to retire from the War.
More information see 1666: Plague, War and Hellfire by Rebecca Rideal -- St. Martin' Press, New York -- 2016 -- ISBN 978-1-250-09707-2 (hard back) -- page 199
About Louis XIV (King of France, 1643-1715)
San Diego Sarah • Link
CORRECTION TO SEPT 1666:
"and offered his condolences to Dowager Queen Henrietta Maria, his aunt".
According to the book, this should read Madame Henrietta Anne -- AKA Minette -- Charles II's sister, and Louis IV's sister-in-law and adviser.
But I suspect Louis said the same thing to Dowager Queen Henrietta Maria when he saw her, or sent his condolences to her house at Colombes.
About François de Vendôme (Duc de Beaufort)
San Diego Sarah • Link
1666 -- end of August -- The Generals-at-Sea, Prince Rupert and the Duke of Albemarle, were anxious to score one last victory during the fighting season.
The ships were repaired and victualed, and went cruising off the Dutch coast.
By the end of August the duc de Beaufort and the French fleet has progressed as far as the Bay of Biscay. They were further away than even the Dutch appreciated. Their plan was to join the two fleets and attack the English fleet by stealth and by numbers.
Following some skirmishes the English fleet, anticipating the combined fleets, by the beginning of September was staying close to Portsmouth, with several ships needing repairs.
Then on September 5, the Duke of Albemarle received a letter from Secretary of State Sir William Morrice telling him that Charles II needed him back in London because "God had visited the city with a heavy calamity." He surrendered control of the fleet to Prince Rupert and began his 75-mile return to London the next morning.
More information see 1666: Plague, War and Hellfire by Rebecca Rideal -- St. Martin' Press, New York -- 2016 -- ISBN 978-1-250-09707-2 (hard back) -- page 165-166
About François de Vendôme (Duc de Beaufort)
San Diego Sarah • Link
1666 -- On May 14 secret intelligence was received by Charles II that the French fleet had been seen at Belle Isle, just south of Brittany. The decision was made to split the fleet. In reality the French fleet was at Lisbon, a week's sail away.
The Venetian ambassador to France, Alvise Sagredo, writing a report from Paris at the beginning of June, said:
"It was agreed between France and Holland these last weeks that the most sure and certain way to bring the English to reason was that of time and not of arms and that the best way to conquer them was to tire them out."
The Ambassador continued that this split in warships was what the French Admiral, the duc de Beaufort, had intended.
Perhaps Louis IV also wanted to avoid the 1666 fighting, so the Dutch and the English would exhaust themselves while leaving the French Navy free to pick off their maritime vessels, and his captains and admiral gain experience in seamanship.
More information see 1666: Plague, War and Hellfire by Rebecca Rideal -- St. Martin' Press, New York -- 2016 -- ISBN 978-1-250-09707-2 (hard back) -- page 118-119
About François de Vendôme (Duc de Beaufort)
San Diego Sarah • Link
1665 -- When Philip IV of Spain died on 17 September 1665, their heir, Carlos, was 3 years old. Mariana of Austria, Queen of Spain, acted as regent for him, and she would continue to do so for most of his life, due to his illnesses. Carlos remained weak, by the age of six he could stand alone, but he still could not walk.
The question of who would inherit the Spanish territories was in question. Louis XIV wanted Dutch agreement on his planned expansion into the Spanish Netherlands. Louis knew that by honoring the treaty he would receive their agreement.
Charles II's desire to be a European power-broker made England more of a threat at a time when Spanish power was weakened. French and English warships challenged each other over salutes, and captured each other's merchant ships looking for Dutch merchandise.
If England won the second Anglo-Dutch War, overthrowing the States-General and the de Witt regime, the young Prince William of Orange would be in power, turning the Dutch Republic effectively into an English protectorate.
Consequently German princes were courted, the Swedish were purchased, and the Danes were pressured.
Meanwhile the English Court, exiled by the plague in Oxford, partied on.
More information see 1666: Plague, War and Hellfire by Rebecca Rideal -St. Martin' Press, New York - 2016 - ISBN 978-1-250-09707-1 (e-book) -- page 84-87
About François de Vendôme (Duc de Beaufort)
San Diego Sarah • Link
1662 -- the balance of power in western Europe rocked between the French and the Spanish. The Spanish held the Netherlands, and young King Louis XIV looked on that holding as a challenge to his northern border.
Technically a Treaty signed in 1662 between France and the Dutch Republic (the de Witts' faction was in charge) obligated France to aid the Dutch should war break out with England. This was a Cardinal Mazarin policy conceived in Cromwell's time which Louis inherited, and avoided acting on.
While hatred of the French ran deep in the English psyche, many of Louis' court objected to a war with England on principle. England was ruled by his cousin, an apparently pliable and penniless monarch, while the Dutch Republic was -- a Republic.
Also there was no French navy to speak of, so a rapid building program was introduced, but it was no match for the English.
More information see 1666: Plague, War and Hellfire by Rebecca Rideal -St. Martin' Press, New York - 2016 - ISBN 978-1-250-09707-1 (e-book) -- page 83
About Wednesday 29 August 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Sir W. Pen telling me that Mr. Norton, that married Sir J. Lawson’s daughter, is dead. She left 800l. a year jointure, a son to inherit the whole estate. She freed from her father-in-law’s tyranny, and is in condition to helpe her mother, who needs it; of which I am glad, the young lady being very pretty."
Sir John Lawson must have loved his oldest daughter, Isabella. She was a baby when the Lawsons fled from their home during the first Civil War in the middle of the night and they had to leave her at an Inn, hoping to reclaim her later ... which they did. Anyways, Lawson astounded people by turning half his estate into her dowry so she could marry Daniel Norton ... here's Pepys' take on it:
"... among other discourse, the rashness of Sir John Lawson, for breeding up his daughter so high and proud, refusing a man of great interest, Sir W. Barkeley, to match her with a melancholy fellow, Colonell Norton’s son, of no interest nor good nature nor generosity at all, giving her 6000l., when the other would have taken her with two; when he himself knew that he was not worth the money himself in all the world, he did give her that portion, and is since dead, and left his wife and two daughters beggars, and the other gone away with 6000l., and no content in it, through the ill qualities of her father-in-law and husband, who, it seems, though a pretty woman, contracted for her as if he had been buying a horse; and, worst of all, is now of no use to serve the mother and two little sisters in any stead at Court, whereas the other might have done what he would for her: so here is an end of this family’s pride, which, with good care, might have been what they would, and done well.
"Thence, weary of this discourse, as the act of the greatest rashness that ever I heard of in all my little conversation, we parted"
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
Daniel's death seems to have liberated Isabella Lawson Norton to find a kinder match (which she does, SPOILER).
About Sir John Lawson
San Diego Sarah • Link
Before the civil wars broke out, Capt. John Lawson married Isabella, daughter of William Jefferson of Whitby, who survived him, with three daughters, Isabella, Elizabeth, and Anna, and a son, Samuel Lawson, who was a merchant.
During her father's life, Isabella married Daniel Norton of Southwick, Hampshire. Sir John must have loved her, because he liquidated about half of his estate to pay her dowry. Obviously, he expected to live longer and have time to enlarge his estate again, but that was not to be.
Daughters Elizabeth and Anna were minors at the time of Adm. Lawson's death. In his will (in Somerset House), dated 19 April 1664, he desires his pension of 500l. to be settled if possible on his two younger daughters. To Elizabeth he leaves 'a gold chain that was given me in Portugal in 1663.' for her eldest son; and to Isabella 'a gold chain that was given me in the Dutch war, 1653.'
From LAWSON LIES STILL IN THE THAMES by Gill Blanchard, Amberley Publishing 2017, ISBN 978 1 4456 6123 and https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/La…
About Term (Legal period)
San Diego Sarah • Link
The British year is divided into calendar “terms” by tradition. Little is left beside the names. We even recite the terms in a different order.
From the Middle Ages to Early Modern times, the first and foremost term of the legal year was Michaelmas Term. Most local governments held elections at the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels on 29 September. New Aldermen paraded through the streets to begin St. Michael’s festivities by sharing a toast at the outgoing mayor's home.
In London the county sheriffs presented their accounting books and amounts due to the king from county revenues at the Exchequer. If they could not pay, they were held until it was paid in cash on the barrel head. In parallel, new sheriffs were selected by the king and Exchequer for the year-long duty starting in the Hilary Term.
The feast was a celebration before the nightmare of the Office of the Exchequer. The Michaelmas Term began by law within the first 8 days after the feast. The business of the Exchequer took so much prep. that it opened its term within the first 15 days after the feast.
As revenues came in, the Exchequer paid out the King's annuities. Annual annuities were usually paid at Michaelmas. Annuities awarded half every 6 months were paid at Michaelmas and Easter Terms.
Rent owed for lands in fief or copyhold paid annually, semi-annually or quarterly at the start of the terms. At Michaelmas, everyone tallied their credits and debits and entered them in the official records.
This occurred because the terms were law terms. All the courts, from the smallest to Parliament, opened their doors, receiving and issuing legal process, and hearing cases.
The second Term chronologically was Hilary, calculated from the feast day of St. Hilary of Poitiers, on 14 January.
The second in importance and third chronologically was Easter Term. This began within the 8 days after the 15th day after Easter.
Last in importance and chronology was Trinity Term. The Feast of the Trinity fell on the first Sunday after Pentecost — Trinity Sunday. The term began as early as the Monday after.
Edward the Confessor's statutes established the Term schedule, but did not mention a Trinity Term. All terms, except for Trinity, end with the start of a major religious season. People moved logically from the king’s purposes to the church’s.
Michaelmas ended with Advent.
Hilary ended with Lent.
Easter ended with Pentecost.
Trinity ended when the harvest made any other business impractical. After harvest came harvest festivals, after which came the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels and the start of the new legal year.
This court terms system has worked for 1,000 years with a few variations. Trinity varied widely. Hilary varied substantially. Changes to Michaelmas and Easter Terms were rare and minor.
For more on this see https://gilbertwesleypurdy.blogsp…