"What exactly was Sam’s “closet” in his office?" The closett was his office. They didn't hang up their clothes like we do; things were stored in chests of drawers.
The steeling of English sheep might have been more important than you imagine.
In 1566, in order to prevent other countries from breeding English sheep, which were famous for the quality of their wool, the statute 8 Eliz. c. 3. was passed, punishing those who exported sheep or lambs alive by the “forfeiture of goods, and imprisonment for a year, and that at the end of the year the left hand shall be cut off in some public market, and shall be there nailed up in the openest place.”
A second offense was considered a felony -- if you lived to tell the tale.
I suspect this law was no longer enforced, but as we know, William Prynne was working in the archives of the Tower of London right now, reading old texts and compiling what laws had been passed so he could distribute law books and everyone would know what the law of the land really was.
We know Pepys met Sir Edward Brett at least once. On October 12, 1660:
"Office day all the morning, and from thence with Sir W. Batten and the rest of the officers to a venison pasty of his at the Dolphin, where dined withal Col. Washington, Sir Edward Brett, and Major Norwood, very noble company."
"Vincent" at the time came up with the following background information: date of birth ? 1607/8 "... In May 1644, Captain Edward Brett's Troop evidently formed part of the force escorting the Queen to Exeter in July 1644 [Lostwithiel Campaign] ... Captain Brett was shot in the left arm ... ... King to immediately draw Captain Brett's sword upon his return, and knighted him Sir Edward Brett, while he was still on horseback. This occurred about midnight ... ... By September 1645, Captain Sir Edward Brett was made Major, and was now the commander of the Queen's Troop in the King's Lifeguard of Horse ..." "... The officers and men of King Charles I's Life Guard of Foot suffered varying fortunes in the years following the Civil War. Some officers and men did not live to see the Restoration, ... Others were more fortunate, and received some preferment when Charles II regained his throne. was in the military service of William of Orange, Sir Edward Brett Capt., His Majesty's Own Regiment of Horse, 1674 died, Feb. 12, 1682-3, aged 75. His tomb, with an elaborate epitaph, is at Bexley.
Sir Thomas Twisden was a Parliamentary MP in the 1640's, and then reelected for the short Convention Parliament at the start of 1660. However, he quickly transitioned onto the bench and became a judge of the Regicides. Charles II must have liked him because he was knighted in July 1660. (I have a feeling there is more to this story than the Commons website lets on.) He was a resident of Maidstone, hence this interest. For more https://www.historyofparliamenton…
Thomas Harlackenden's mother was Pauline, the daughter of Sir Thomas Colepeper of Leeds Castle, Kent, so the man who has rented the Castle to Evelyn is his cousin. Plus Harlackenden's first wife (who died before 1652) was Philippa, daughter of John Colepeper, 1st Baron Colepeper of Thoresway, whose side of the family owns Leeds Castle later on.
Harlackenden was an MP at the same time as Pepys, so later in life they would have met.
"How regular and reliable was the post in plague-ridden England?"
I'm guessing they did the best they could for most of the country. If the stage coach rolls, so does the mail.
But Pepys' mail isn't just any mail ... it goes to the King, the Duke of York, Coventry, Mennes, Carteret and Batten, all of whom are at the seat of power in Oxford. The government mail would be very reliable, and an express. Getting it across the Thames and to the General Letter Office (which was located in Clock Lane, Dowgate until 1666) might be one of his headaches.
Meanwhile, in Oxford the business of the nation drones on: the House of Commons form a Naturalization Committee, vote the Sum of Twelve hundred and Fifty thousand Pounds for the King, discuss the importing of cattle and fish, are against the embezzlement of Prize Goods, Sir William Batten is given leave to return to Greenwich on the King's business, a committee wants to encourage the growth of hemp and flax, and there is talk of combining of parishes.
I have been wondering why they say "the Sum of Twelve hundred and Fifty thousand Pounds," and it just occurred to me they didn't have the word MILLION in their vocabulary yet.
As Terry says, divorce continued to be rare, expensive and difficult for centuries.
I was reading up on the history of Nottingham today and found these stories:
"In 1779 a man sold his wife and children in the Market Place. The woman was aged 17 and she with her two children was put up for sale and sold for 27/6, but that is not the worst.
"In 1852 a similar sale took place. On April 25 a man named Stevenson living in Millstone Lane brought his wife into Nottingham Market Place with a new rope round her neck and standing near the sheep pens on Beastmarket Hill, offered her for sale: "Here is my wife for sale" he announced, "I shall put her up for 2/6, the rope is worth 6d."
"Ultimately she was bought for 1/- by a man named Burrows, and they all went to the Spread Eagle which was in the old Sheep Lane in the Market Street to sign the articles of agreement, the lady being the only member of the party who was able to sign her name ..."
Pepys initial fear that the Act would not work seems to have been overcome by 12 May, 1666:
“… to Westminster and White Hall about business and among other things met Sir G. Downing on White Hall bridge, and there walked half an hour, talking of the success of the late new Act; and indeed it is very much, that that hath stood really in the room of 800,000l. now since Christmas, being itself but 1,250,000l.. And so I do really take it to be a very considerable thing done by him; for the beginning, end, and every part of it, is to be imputed to him.”
"Axtell was among the veterans of the Good Old Cause who responded to Lambert's last desperate attempt to rally military opposition to the Restoration in April 1660. He escaped from the fight at Daventry during which Lambert was captured by Colonel Ingoldsby, but was himself arrested shortly afterwards. Arraigned for treason for his actions during the King's trial, Axtell's plea that he had only followed orders was unsuccessful. On 19 October 1660, he was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn and his head set up on Westminster Hall. He died bravely, declaring that he died for the Good Old Cause and praying for the conversion of King Charles II to a godly way of life."
"Pride cometh before the fall." -- I again contrast Pepys' casual attitude towards preparing for the impending fight with last year's preparations. That Brouncker is less than thrilled with him doesn't surprise me. At least he's not at the theater.
John Evelyn's 'cousin' was Edward Hales who married on 22 May 1656, Elizabeth Evelyn, the daughter of Sir John Evelyn MP of Lee Place, Godstone, Surrey. So technically it seems to be Mrs. Hales who is his cousin.
(Her father, Sir John MP, was a Presbyterian who reluctantly supported Parliament in the Civil War; but regarded Charles I as ‘the best of men’, so was secluded at Pride’s Purge. He was returned for Bletchingley in 1660, but he was not active in the Convention Parliament. He was elected repeatedly until he died. He was buried at Godstone on 18 Jan. 1664, leaving an estate of over £1,400 p.a. to his eldest son, who had been created a baronet at the Restoration.)
Chilston Park is a country house in Boughton Malherbe, near Maidstone, Kent. Started in the 15th century, it is a two-storey, red-brick building with an attic floor in the roof. It was begun in as a courtyard house and was altered in each of the subsequent three centuries.
The property belonged to the Hoese or Hussey family in the 13th century, who held it until 1545, when it was sold to John Parkhurst.
His descendant, Sir William Parkhurst, sold Chilston Park to Richard Northwood of Thanet, and it passed through several owners before becoming the property of Edward Hales in 1650.
Edward Hales [1630-1696] was briefly MP for Hythe in 1685 and 1689. When he died, his daughters sold Chilston Park in 1698 to Elizabeth Hamilton, widow of James Hamilton and mother of James Hamilton, 6th Earl of Abercorn.
Our John Evelyn's father's name was Richard, and I believe he had a brother named John Evelyn. Whether this is the connection I have not concluded in my poking around this evening.
Leeds Castle near Maidstone, Kent, has a long and rich history you can explore at your leisure. For our purposes:
Edward VI’s Protectors granted Leeds Castle to Sir Anthony St. Leger in recognition of his work in Ireland for Henry VIII. Princess Elizabeth was imprisoned there for a while before her coronation.
Sir Anthony St. Leger’s grandson, Sir Warham, was ruined by Raleigh’s El Dorado expedition and was forced to sell Leeds Castle to Sir Richard Smythe who made many improvements before selling it to Sir Thomas Culpepper of Hollingbourne in 1632.
Sir Thomas of Hollingbourne lived there with his eldest son Sir Cheney, who backed Parliament against King Charles and Leeds Castle was used as a prison and arsenal for Kent.
Sir Cheney died bankrupt and his second cousin, Thomas, 2nd Lord Culpepper of Thoresway, used his wealthy wife, Margaret van Hesse's dowry to buy it.
Sir John, 1st baron Culpepper of Thoresway was master of rolls under King Charles, and accompanied the royal family into exile at the end of the First Civil War. His loyalty was rewarded on September 18, 1649, when King Charles granted him and six others ownership of the Northern Neck, 5,000,000 acres of land between the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers in Virginia.
Although Parliament sold the Culpepper estates in 1651, the exiled Charles II offered to restore to the family what it had lost. Young Thomas lived with his father, Sir John, 1st baron Culpepper of Thoresway, in the Netherlands during most of the exile years, and on August 3, 1659, married Margaretta van Hesse, a wealthy Dutch heiress at The Hague.
In the Diary years Lady Margaretta van Hesse Culpepper lived at Leeds Castle while Sir Thomas, 2nd baron Culpepper of Thoresway lived openly on the Isle of Wight and in London with his mistress, Susanna Willis.
Sir John, 1st baron Culpepper of Thoresway, died a few months after the Restoration, but Charles II did not fulfill his promise to restore their estates, which Sir John valued at £12,000.
Sir Thomas, 2nd baron Culpepper of Thoresway enjoyed royal patronage. In July 1661 Charles II appointed him captain of the Isle of Wight, and in mid-1664 promoted him to governor of the Isle of Wight, a post he filled competently until 1668.
During the mid-1660s Thomas, 2nd Lord Culpepper of Thoresway leased part of Leeds Castle to John Evelyn to detain French and Dutch prisoners. Evelyn made renovations and refilled the moat to make it into a prison, but the prisoners succeed in setting fire to their buildings anyway.
I'm sure Lady Margaret enjoyed that a lot.
In 1680 Lord Thomas left Leeds Castle for America and, through his daughter, Catherine’s marriage to Thomas, 5th Lord Fairfax, the castle passed to the Fairfax family.
Queenborough is a small town on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, South East England.
It lies is two miles (3 km) south of Sheerness. It grew as a port near the Thames Estuary at the westward entrance to the Swale where it joins the River Medway.
Queenborough Harbor offers moorings between the Thames and Medway. It is possible to land there on any tide.
Matthias Falconer of Brabant established the first copperas factory in England at Queenborough in 1579.
King Charles I had the town reincorporated; at that time the population was chiefly employed in oyster fishery. However the medieval fort, having protected the Swale and Medway estuaries for 300 years, never realized its function as a garrison, and has no military history.
After being taken by Parliamentarians in 1650, after the Civil War, and being considered unsuitable for repair, being of "no practical use" it was demolished during the interregnum.
Charles II must have regretted this decision because in 1667, the Dutch captured the Sheerness fort then under construction, and invaded Queenborough. The occupation lasted only a few days. The Dutch caused widespread panic, but were unable to maintain their offensive, and withdrew after capturing the Royal Charles and burning many other ships in the Thames and Medway.
Following this raid, belated attention was paid to improving the naval defenses of the Medway, which at length helped strengthen the economy of Queenborough and Sheppey.
50 years later Daniel Defoe described Queenborough as "a miserable and dirty fishing town (with) the chief traders ... alehouse keepers and oyster catchers" because by then the fort and harbor had been completed at Sheerness, replacing Queenborough by being better positioned at the mouth of the Medway and better able to handle the larger ships of the 18th century.
However, this is where Nelson learned to sail as a child.
My guess is this was Queenborough, a small town on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, South East England.
Queenborough is two miles (3 km) south of Sheerness. It grew as a port near the Thames Estuary at the westward entrance to the Swale where it joins the River Medway.
Queenborough Harbour offers moorings between the Thames and Medway. It is possible to land at Queenborough on any tide.
Matthias Falconer of Brabant established the first copperas factory in England at Queenborough in 1579.
King Charles I had the town reincorporated; at that time the population was chiefly employed in oyster fishery. However the medieval fort, having protected the Swale and Medway estuaries for 300 years, never realized its function as a garrison, and has no military history.
After being taken by Parliamentarians in 1650, after the Civil War, and being considered unsuitable for repair, being of "no practical use" it was demolished during the interregnum.
Charles II must have regretted this decision
SPOILER
because in 1667, the Dutch captured the Sheerness fort then under construction, and invaded Queenborough. The occupation lasted only a few days. The Dutch caused widespread panic, but were unable to maintain their offensive, and withdrew after capturing the Royal Charles and burning many other ships in the Thames and Medway.
Following this raid, belated attention was paid to improving the naval defenses of the Medway, which at length helped strengthen the economy of Queenborough and Sheppey.
50 years later Daniel Defoe described Queenborough as "a miserable and dirty fishing town (with) the chief traders ... alehouse keepers and oyster catchers" because by then the fort and harbor had been completed at Sheerness, replacing Queenborough by being better positioned at the mouth of the Medway and better able to handle the larger ships of the 18th century.
However, this is where Nelson learned to sail as a child.
An anchor-smith: From "The Big Anchor Project": "16th-17th century anchors The earliest drawings of an anchor with details of its weight and dimensions appears in “Fragments of Ancient Shipwrightry” attributed to Matthew Baker, dated to the late 16th or early 17th Century.
Most anchors during this period had curved arms, but as larger anchors were required the straight arm anchor was introduced to English vessels. The flukes were generally the shape of equilateral triangles and half the length of the arms. The anchor ring was slightly smaller diameter than the fluke. The anchor stock was roughly the same length as the shank, made from timbers bound with iron hoops. Wooden pegs or treenails were used to secure the timbers in the stock, which was straight on the top and tapered on the other three sides.
In 1627 Captain John Smith published “A Sea Grammer" which provided a list of the different types of anchors carried by ships at that time. It listed: •The kedger anchor - the smallest of the anchors used in calm weather •The stream anchor – only a little larger used in an easy tide/stream •The bow anchor – larger - 4 in total •The sheet anchor – the largest and heaviest of all used in emergencies.
Anchor weight was in proportion to the size of the ship. A ship of 500 tons would have a sheet anchor weight 2000 pounds of 907 kg’s."
9 February, 1665. Dined at my Lord Treasurer's, the Earl of Southampton, in Bloomsbury, where he was building a noble square or piazza,* a little town; his own house stands too low, some noble rooms, a pretty cedar chapel, a naked garden to the north, but good air. I had much discourse with his Lordship, whom I found to be a person of extraordinary parts, but a valetudinarian.
* The Italians mean simply a square by their piazzas.
Southampton's name is perpetuated in Southampton Row and Southampton Street, Holborn, where his London residence stood.
Comments
Second Reading
About Monday 14 May 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
"What exactly was Sam’s “closet” in his office?" The closett was his office. They didn't hang up their clothes like we do; things were stored in chests of drawers.
For information about the Navy Office at Seething Lane, see https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
For the one in Greenwich see https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
For a description of Pepys house, see https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
Have fun with the Encyclopedia and the In Depth articles, because they will make his Diary "sing" to you.
About Monday 16 October 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
The steeling of English sheep might have been more important than you imagine.
In 1566, in order to prevent other countries from breeding English sheep, which were famous for the quality of their wool, the statute 8 Eliz. c. 3. was passed, punishing those who exported sheep or lambs alive by the “forfeiture of goods, and imprisonment for a year, and that at the end of the year the left hand shall be cut off in some public market, and shall be there nailed up in the openest place.”
A second offense was considered a felony -- if you lived to tell the tale.
I suspect this law was no longer enforced, but as we know, William Prynne was working in the archives of the Tower of London right now, reading old texts and compiling what laws had been passed so he could distribute law books and everyone would know what the law of the land really was.
About Thursday 19 October 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
We know Pepys met Sir Edward Brett at least once. On October 12, 1660:
"Office day all the morning, and from thence with Sir W. Batten and the rest of the officers to a venison pasty of his at the Dolphin, where dined withal Col. Washington, Sir Edward Brett, and Major Norwood, very noble company."
"Vincent" at the time came up with the following background information:
date of birth ? 1607/8
"... In May 1644, Captain Edward Brett's Troop evidently formed part of the force escorting the Queen to Exeter in July 1644 [Lostwithiel Campaign]
... Captain Brett was shot in the left arm ...
... King to immediately draw Captain Brett's sword upon his return, and knighted him Sir Edward Brett, while he was still on horseback. This occurred about midnight ...
... By September 1645, Captain Sir Edward Brett was made Major, and was now the commander of the Queen's Troop in the King's Lifeguard of Horse ..."
"... The officers and men of King Charles I's Life Guard of Foot suffered varying fortunes in the years following the Civil War. Some officers and men did not live to see the Restoration, ...
Others were more fortunate, and received some preferment when Charles II regained his throne.
was in the military service of William of Orange,
Sir Edward Brett Capt., His Majesty's Own Regiment of Horse, 1674
died, Feb. 12, 1682-3, aged 75.
His tomb, with an elaborate epitaph, is at Bexley.
But the links Vincent gave us are now both dead.
About Thursday 19 October 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
Sir Thomas Twisden was a Parliamentary MP in the 1640's, and then reelected for the short Convention Parliament at the start of 1660. However, he quickly transitioned onto the bench and became a judge of the Regicides. Charles II must have liked him because he was knighted in July 1660. (I have a feeling there is more to this story than the Commons website lets on.) He was a resident of Maidstone, hence this interest.
For more https://www.historyofparliamenton…
About Thursday 19 October 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
Thomas Harlackenden's mother was Pauline, the daughter of Sir Thomas Colepeper of Leeds Castle, Kent, so the man who has rented the Castle to Evelyn is his cousin. Plus Harlackenden's first wife (who died before 1652) was Philippa, daughter of John Colepeper, 1st Baron Colepeper of Thoresway, whose side of the family owns Leeds Castle later on.
Harlackenden was an MP at the same time as Pepys, so later in life they would have met.
See https://www.historyofparliamenton…
About Thursday 19 October 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
"How regular and reliable was the post in plague-ridden England?"
I'm guessing they did the best they could for most of the country. If the stage coach rolls, so does the mail.
But Pepys' mail isn't just any mail ... it goes to the King, the Duke of York, Coventry, Mennes, Carteret and Batten, all of whom are at the seat of power in Oxford.
The government mail would be very reliable, and an express. Getting it across the Thames and to the General Letter Office (which was located in Clock Lane, Dowgate until 1666) might be one of his headaches.
About Wednesday 18 October 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
Meanwhile, in Oxford the business of the nation drones on: the House of Commons form a Naturalization Committee, vote the Sum of Twelve hundred and Fifty thousand Pounds for the King, discuss the importing of cattle and fish, are against the embezzlement of Prize Goods, Sir William Batten is given leave to return to Greenwich on the King's business, a committee wants to encourage the growth of hemp and flax, and there is talk of combining of parishes.
I have been wondering why they say "the Sum of Twelve hundred and Fifty thousand Pounds," and it just occurred to me they didn't have the word MILLION in their vocabulary yet.
About Friday 4 January 1660/61
San Diego Sarah • Link
As Terry says, divorce continued to be rare, expensive and difficult for centuries.
I was reading up on the history of Nottingham today and found these stories:
"In 1779 a man sold his wife and children in the Market Place. The woman was aged 17 and she with her two children was put up for sale and sold for 27/6, but that is not the worst.
"In 1852 a similar sale took place. On April 25 a man named Stevenson living in Millstone Lane brought his wife into Nottingham Market Place with a new rope round her neck and standing near the sheep pens on Beastmarket Hill, offered her for sale: "Here is my wife for sale" he announced, "I shall put her up for 2/6, the rope is worth 6d."
"Ultimately she was bought for 1/- by a man named Burrows, and they all went to the Spread Eagle which was in the old Sheep Lane in the Market Street to sign the articles of agreement, the lady being the only member of the party who was able to sign her name ..."
HISTORY OF NOTTINGHAM BY James Neild, 1808
http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/ar…
About Saturday 12 May 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
The Additional Aid Act (1665) is annotated at
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
About Additional Aid Act (1665)
San Diego Sarah • Link
Pepys initial fear that the Act would not work seems to have been overcome by 12 May, 1666:
“… to Westminster and White Hall about business and among other things met Sir G. Downing on White Hall bridge, and there walked half an hour, talking of the success of the late new Act; and indeed it is very much, that that hath stood really in the room of 800,000l. now since Christmas, being itself but 1,250,000l.. And so I do really take it to be a very considerable thing done by him; for the beginning, end, and every part of it, is to be imputed to him.”
About Col. Daniel Axtel
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Axtell was among the veterans of the Good Old Cause who responded to Lambert's last desperate attempt to rally military opposition to the Restoration in April 1660. He escaped from the fight at Daventry during which Lambert was captured by Colonel Ingoldsby, but was himself arrested shortly afterwards. Arraigned for treason for his actions during the King's trial, Axtell's plea that he had only followed orders was unsuccessful. On 19 October 1660, he was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn and his head set up on Westminster Hall. He died bravely, declaring that he died for the Good Old Cause and praying for the conversion of King Charles II to a godly way of life."
For a summary of all his civil wars adventures, see
http://bcw-project.org/biography/…
About Friday 11 May 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Pride cometh before the fall." -- I again contrast Pepys' casual attitude towards preparing for the impending fight with last year's preparations. That Brouncker is less than thrilled with him doesn't surprise me. At least he's not at the theater.
About Small beer
San Diego Sarah • Link
"I do now remember the poor creature, small beer."
Shakespeare -- King Henry IV, Part II, Act II, Scene II.
About Tuesday 8 May 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
John Evelyn's 'cousin' was Edward Hales who married on 22 May 1656, Elizabeth Evelyn, the daughter of Sir John Evelyn MP of Lee Place, Godstone, Surrey. So technically it seems to be Mrs. Hales who is his cousin.
(Her father, Sir John MP, was a Presbyterian who reluctantly supported Parliament in the Civil War; but regarded Charles I as ‘the best of men’, so was secluded at Pride’s Purge. He was returned for Bletchingley in 1660, but he was not active in the Convention Parliament. He was elected repeatedly until he died. He was buried at Godstone on 18 Jan. 1664, leaving an estate of over £1,400 p.a. to his eldest son, who had been created a baronet at the Restoration.)
Chilston Park is a country house in Boughton Malherbe, near Maidstone, Kent. Started in the 15th century, it is a two-storey, red-brick building with an attic floor in the roof. It was begun in as a courtyard house and was altered in each of the subsequent three centuries.
The property belonged to the Hoese or Hussey family in the 13th century, who held it until 1545, when it was sold to John Parkhurst.
His descendant, Sir William Parkhurst, sold Chilston Park to Richard Northwood of Thanet, and it passed through several owners before becoming the property of Edward Hales in 1650.
Edward Hales [1630-1696] was briefly MP for Hythe in 1685 and 1689. When he died, his daughters sold Chilston Park in 1698 to Elizabeth Hamilton, widow of James Hamilton and mother of James Hamilton, 6th Earl of Abercorn.
Our John Evelyn's father's name was Richard, and I believe he had a brother named John Evelyn. Whether this is the connection I have not concluded in my poking around this evening.
From: https://www.historyofparliamenton…
and http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41…
and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi…
About Leeds Castle
San Diego Sarah • Link
Leeds Castle near Maidstone, Kent, has a long and rich history you can explore at your leisure. For our purposes:
Edward VI’s Protectors granted Leeds Castle to Sir Anthony St. Leger in recognition of his work in Ireland for Henry VIII. Princess Elizabeth was imprisoned there for a while before her coronation.
Sir Anthony St. Leger’s grandson, Sir Warham, was ruined by Raleigh’s El Dorado expedition and was forced to sell Leeds Castle to Sir Richard Smythe who made many improvements before selling it to Sir Thomas Culpepper of Hollingbourne in 1632.
Sir Thomas of Hollingbourne lived there with his eldest son Sir Cheney, who backed Parliament against King Charles and Leeds Castle was used as a prison and arsenal for Kent.
Sir Cheney died bankrupt and his second cousin, Thomas, 2nd Lord Culpepper of Thoresway, used his wealthy wife, Margaret van Hesse's dowry to buy it.
Sir John, 1st baron Culpepper of Thoresway was master of rolls under King Charles, and accompanied the royal family into exile at the end of the First Civil War. His loyalty was rewarded on September 18, 1649, when King Charles granted him and six others ownership of the Northern Neck, 5,000,000 acres of land between the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers in Virginia.
Although Parliament sold the Culpepper estates in 1651, the exiled Charles II offered to restore to the family what it had lost. Young Thomas lived with his father, Sir John, 1st baron Culpepper of Thoresway, in the Netherlands during most of the exile years, and on August 3, 1659, married Margaretta van Hesse, a wealthy Dutch heiress at The Hague.
In the Diary years Lady Margaretta van Hesse Culpepper lived at Leeds Castle while Sir Thomas, 2nd baron Culpepper of Thoresway lived openly on the Isle of Wight and in London with his mistress, Susanna Willis.
Sir John, 1st baron Culpepper of Thoresway, died a few months after the Restoration, but Charles II did not fulfill his promise to restore their estates, which Sir John valued at £12,000.
Sir Thomas, 2nd baron Culpepper of Thoresway enjoyed royal patronage. In July 1661 Charles II appointed him captain of the Isle of Wight, and in mid-1664 promoted him to governor of the Isle of Wight, a post he filled competently until 1668.
During the mid-1660s Thomas, 2nd Lord Culpepper of Thoresway leased part of Leeds Castle to John Evelyn to detain French and Dutch prisoners. Evelyn made renovations and refilled the moat to make it into a prison, but the prisoners succeed in setting fire to their buildings anyway.
I'm sure Lady Margaret enjoyed that a lot.
In 1680 Lord Thomas left Leeds Castle for America and, through his daughter, Catherine’s marriage to Thomas, 5th Lord Fairfax, the castle passed to the Fairfax family.
Mostly from http://www.encyclopediavirginia.o…
and http://www.leeds-castle.com/Visit…
About Queenborough, Kent
San Diego Sarah • Link
Queenborough is a small town on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, South East England.
It lies is two miles (3 km) south of Sheerness. It grew as a port near the Thames Estuary at the westward entrance to the Swale where it joins the River Medway.
Queenborough Harbor offers moorings between the Thames and Medway. It is possible to land there on any tide.
Matthias Falconer of Brabant established the first copperas factory in England at Queenborough in 1579.
King Charles I had the town reincorporated; at that time the population was chiefly employed in oyster fishery. However the medieval fort, having protected the Swale and Medway estuaries for 300 years, never realized its function as a garrison, and has no military history.
After being taken by Parliamentarians in 1650, after the Civil War, and being considered unsuitable for repair, being of "no practical use" it was demolished during the interregnum.
Charles II must have regretted this decision because in 1667, the Dutch captured the Sheerness fort then under construction, and invaded Queenborough. The occupation lasted only a few days. The Dutch caused widespread panic, but were unable to maintain their offensive, and withdrew after capturing the Royal Charles and burning many other ships in the Thames and Medway.
Following this raid, belated attention was paid to improving the naval defenses of the Medway, which at length helped strengthen the economy of Queenborough and Sheppey.
50 years later Daniel Defoe described Queenborough as "a miserable and dirty fishing town (with) the chief traders ... alehouse keepers and oyster catchers" because by then the fort and harbor had been completed at Sheerness, replacing Queenborough by being better positioned at the mouth of the Medway and better able to handle the larger ships of the 18th century.
However, this is where Nelson learned to sail as a child.
For more information, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Que…
About Tuesday 8 May 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
Queenborow
My guess is this was Queenborough, a small town on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, South East England.
Queenborough is two miles (3 km) south of Sheerness. It grew as a port near the Thames Estuary at the westward entrance to the Swale where it joins the River Medway.
Queenborough Harbour offers moorings between the Thames and Medway. It is possible to land at Queenborough on any tide.
Matthias Falconer of Brabant established the first copperas factory in England at Queenborough in 1579.
King Charles I had the town reincorporated; at that time the population was chiefly employed in oyster fishery. However the medieval fort, having protected the Swale and Medway estuaries for 300 years, never realized its function as a garrison, and has no military history.
After being taken by Parliamentarians in 1650, after the Civil War, and being considered unsuitable for repair, being of "no practical use" it was demolished during the interregnum.
Charles II must have regretted this decision
SPOILER
because in 1667, the Dutch captured the Sheerness fort then under construction, and invaded Queenborough. The occupation lasted only a few days. The Dutch caused widespread panic, but were unable to maintain their offensive, and withdrew after capturing the Royal Charles and burning many other ships in the Thames and Medway.
Following this raid, belated attention was paid to improving the naval defenses of the Medway, which at length helped strengthen the economy of Queenborough and Sheppey.
50 years later Daniel Defoe described Queenborough as "a miserable and dirty fishing town (with) the chief traders ... alehouse keepers and oyster catchers" because by then the fort and harbor had been completed at Sheerness, replacing Queenborough by being better positioned at the mouth of the Medway and better able to handle the larger ships of the 18th century.
However, this is where Nelson learned to sail as a child.
For more information, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Que…
About John Downing
San Diego Sarah • Link
An anchor-smith:
From "The Big Anchor Project":
"16th-17th century anchors
The earliest drawings of an anchor with details of its weight and dimensions appears in “Fragments of Ancient Shipwrightry” attributed to Matthew Baker, dated to the late 16th or early 17th Century.
Most anchors during this period had curved arms, but as larger anchors were required the straight arm anchor was introduced to English vessels. The flukes were generally the shape of equilateral triangles and half the length of the arms. The anchor ring was slightly smaller diameter than the fluke. The anchor stock was roughly the same length as the shank, made from timbers bound with iron hoops. Wooden pegs or treenails were used to secure the timbers in the stock, which was straight on the top and tapered on the other three sides.
In 1627 Captain John Smith published “A Sea Grammer" which provided a list of the different types of anchors carried by ships at that time. It listed:
•The kedger anchor - the smallest of the anchors used in calm weather
•The stream anchor – only a little larger used in an easy tide/stream
•The bow anchor – larger - 4 in total
•The sheet anchor – the largest and heaviest of all used in emergencies.
Anchor weight was in proportion to the size of the ship. A ship of 500 tons would have a sheet anchor weight 2000 pounds of 907 kg’s."
http://www.biganchorproject.com/i…...
About Thomas Wriothesley (4th Earl of Southampton, Lord Treasurer 1660-7)
San Diego Sarah • Link
THE DIARY OF JOHN EVELYN
http://brittlebooks.library.illin…
9 February, 1665. Dined at my Lord Treasurer's, the Earl of Southampton, in Bloomsbury, where he was building a noble square or piazza,* a little town; his own house stands too low, some noble rooms, a pretty cedar chapel, a naked garden to the north, but good air. I had much discourse with his Lordship, whom I found to be a person of extraordinary parts, but a valetudinarian.
* The Italians mean simply a square by their piazzas.
Southampton's name is perpetuated in Southampton Row and Southampton Street, Holborn, where his London residence stood.
About Monday 7 May 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
Information about dentistry is being collected at: https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
-- the Barber-Surgeons Company.
There's also some information on the page for the Barber-Surgeons Hall: https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…