Merriam-Webster: Definition of scrivener -- noun pronounced: scriv·en·er \ˈskriv-nər, ˈskri-və-\ 1: a professional or public copyist or writer: scribe 2: notary public
"Then to my Lord’s lodgings and set out a barrel of soap to be carried to Mrs. Ann."
Do we know where Mrs. Ann and Lady Jem are living? I had assumed they had a few rooms in Montagu's apartments in the Palace of Westminster (where the Pepys' had their bash the other night). But here is Pepys getting some soap out of storage, so it can be delivered to them. Edward Shipley/Shepley, Montagu's steward went back to Hinchingbrooke last week, so I now assume these lodgings are empty.
Lady Jem isn't living with her grandparents in Lincoln's Inn Fields -- the Crews would never allow her to get intoxicated working with the servants, even if her nurse is sick with a fever upstairs. Plus Pepys wouldn't be able to drop by for a quick game of cards at night if she were there, so it must be close to Axe Yard. At 13 she's young to have her own establishment, even if for a few months whilst seeing the doctor.
"Born at Llanbedr, Merioneth, in north Wales, John Jones went to London and served an apprenticeship in the Grocers' Company, becoming a freeman of the Company in 1633. He enlisted for Parliament on the outbreak of the First Civil War and served in Wales as a captain of foot under Sir Thomas Myddelton. By 1646, he was colonel of a cavalry regiment." ...
"After Richard Cromwell succeeded as Protector in 1658, Jones reverted to his opposition to the Protectorate and supported the republican officers determined to restore the Commonwealth. In July 1659, he accompanied Edmund Ludlow to Ireland and remained as commander-in-chief of the army in Ireland when Ludlow returned to England in October. Jones declared his support for General Lambert when he forcibly dissolved Parliament on 13 October 1659, but officers loyal to Parliament seized Dublin Castle in December and arrested Jones. He was impeached before Parliament along with Ludlow and other commissioners for Ireland early in 1660. After appearing before Parliament, he was released on parole.
"Jones made no attempt to escape at the Restoration. He was arrested as a regicide in June 1660 and confessed his complicity in the execution of Charles I when brought to trial. He was hanged, drawn and quartered on 17 October 1660, conducting himself bravely at his execution." For more information, see http://bcw-project.org/biography/…
"So here we have it in his own words, he earns 12l. 10s. 0d a quarter or £50 a year, though he then has to pay out 12l. 17s. 6d to Captn. Dick Matthews. One wonders how he “do find myself to be worth 40l. and more” when his outgoings exceed his income! Presumably this was just a bad quarter, although he seems happy enough in the rest of the entry."
I've checked the other two entries for Capt. Dick, and none of them support the idea that Pepys has bought his position from Matthews. Unless someone knows something to support this, I think we should discount the idea.
Adam Dant has created a map of Hackney which shows where interesting historical sites are located. The map goes on sale in June 2018. However, a free version is available here, along with a list of many buildings Pepys' followers will recognize:
Charing Cross Stairs became known as the Hungerford Stairs, according to The London Encyclopedia. Hungerford Market was built in 1682 in the gardens of the house of Sir Edward Hungerford, which had burnt down in 1669.
"In the middle of our dinner a messenger from Mr. Downing came to fetch me to him, ..."
http://www.historyofparliamentonl… says that George Downing lived at St. Stephen's Court, Westminster. Whether or not that was so in 1660, I do not know.
Apparently Tom Newton and George Montagu didn't have any substantial gossip to convey to the Admiral this evening. All you can do is prod ... sometimes there is nothing there.
The Hon. George Montagu MP was a half-brother of Gen. Edward Montagu, Earl of Manchester, and well-known to his cousin, Admiral Edward Montagu. For more information, see http://www.historyofparliamentonl…
There were 14 Montagus in Parliament between 1660 and 1690, and the biographer admits there is some confusion in the official records as to which Montagu said and did what.
"(It does make me wonder though whether the diary is teeming with 17th C humour that is simply invisible to us.)"
I noticed puns up until about a year ago; I think this long ego battle with Elizabeth and the preparations for war have him in a rather humourless place.
I'm fascinated by why Pepys throws this lavish party for 13 at Montagu's Whitehall apartments. Last week he had no coal and insufficient funds for the rent, and his job is in jeopardy. Afterwards he sits by the light of the warm log fire to work on Downing's cipher, which indicates to me there still may be little or no coal at home. It's too late for 12th night ... it's nobody's birthday ... March 26 is the anniversary of the stone operation ... he doesn't mention giving tours of the rich cousin's home to the poor relatives ... Mr. Shepley went back to Hinchingbrooke on January 20. Perhaps he left a larder full of spoiling food? It didn't sound that way yesterday, but I can't think of anything else.
Perhaps people in Pepys time called ciphers "characters" because:
The History of Shorthand by Anita Kreitzman (excerpted) -- National Court Reporters Association "Modern Times ... [in] 1588 a revival of shorthand occurred with the publication in London of Dr. Timothie Bright's Characterie. An Arte of Shorte, Swifte, and Secrete Writing by Character. ... Bright's system was not an alphabet, but rather a list of 500 arbitrary signs to be used in place of words. It was John Willis who first published an alphabet shorthand in 1602."
So having established the idea of characters substituting for words, Hebrew characters would be as good as any if you were writing code as Pepys appears to have been doing in January of 1660.
We can trace English interest in Hebrew back to Henry VIII: In 1529 Henry employed apostate Jewish scholar Marco Raphael to garner scriptural support for his divorce. This Royal act sparked an expansion in Hebraic studies; in 1530 at St. John's College, Cambridge, Hebrew joined Latin and Greek as the only permissible languages for conversation in Hall. In 1540 Regius chairs in Hebrew were established at Oxford and Cambridge. Apostate Jewish scholars would appear periodically in these universities, such as P. Ferdinand, J. Wolfgang and Regius Professor J. I. Tremellius.
English scholars seeking to emulate these Jews made use of the various Latin Hebrew grammars becoming available through a healthy academic trade with the continent. The first of many English language Hebrew Grammars was produced by John Udall in 1593. These, in addition to imported Rabbinic commentaries, proved of vital service in the production of the greatest fruit of these developments, the Authorized Bible, published to much acclaim in 1611. For more, see http://www.readmissionofthejews.b…
Supporting this concern, during the early 17th century many Oxford colleges emulated the example of Laurence Humfrey who, in about 1566 established a public Hebrew lectureship at Magdalen College. At New College, Oxford, Warden Arthur Lake endowed such a lectureship in 1616, allocating to its incumbent a stipend of £5 a year.
Skip forward a few decades, and many during the Civil Wars lived in expectation of the end of the world. Millennial rumors were widespread, Christ's return being anticipated by many, including Oliver Cromwell and John Milton. Both Charles II during his exile and Oliver Cromwell consequently took money from, and promised protection to, Jews in Amsterdam and Bruges. For more information, see https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1…
Rabbi, scholar, printer and diplomat, Menasseh ben Israel (1604-1657) of Amsterdam was one of the most influential personalities in modern Jewish history and around 1655 he spent time in London negotiating for a safe return for his people. Presbyterian zeal made this difficult, of course. For more information, see http://www.jewishgen.org/jcr-uk/e…
Over in the Holy Land in 1666 there was a man named Shabbetai Zvi who was a false Messiah -- claiming to be Jesus -- which caused quite a stir everywhere. Source: Abraham J. Karp, From the Ends of the Earth: Judaic Treasures of the Library of Congress, (DC: Library of Congress, 1991).
John Maitland, Earl of Lauderdale, captured after Worcester and imprisoned in Windsor Castle, passed the time studying the Cabala, Hebrew, and what we today call Freemasonry.
Pepys and his fellows were very serious about learning Hebrew, so they could understand the Bible from its source materials.
Sadly the skyhook website seems to be inoperative, but I did find this:
Although Col. John Hewson opposed Parliament's offer of the crown to Cromwell in February 1657, he accepted a seat in the controversial Upper House in January 1658, where he sat as Lord Hewson. The Earl of Warwick and other aristocrats refused to recognize the Upper House because of Hewson's lowly birth (he was a London shoemaker who enlisted in the Parliamentarian army and served under the Earls of Essex and Manchester during the first English Civil War). During the political chaos following the collapse of the Protectorate, Hewson made himself hated in London when in December 1659 he led his troops to suppress a demonstration calling for a free Parliament, during which several demonstrators were killed. In May 1660, with the Restoration imminent, Hewson fled to the Continent. His date and place of death are unknown.
I wish we had a "like" button, because so often I see things on the site which I want to endorse without writing a duplicating screed. That Phil deserves official commendation for such a labor of love is still true. THANK YOU.
The House of Commons making Army appointments seems prudent to me. And Rev. Josselin starting the Spring ploughing seems prudent too. Not being a country girl, I had no idea ploughing began in January -- yesterday he said it was cold and snowy. A hard life all round.
"Of course they went to church -- there wasn't anything else to do!" -- uh, no. We know Pepys went twice, but there is no mention of Elizabeth going in the afternoon and he specifically says she did not go in the morning. What was she doing? Not cooking lunch, that we know.
My current theory about Pepys' church going is that he wanted to see who went to Anglican and who to Presbyterian services. Intelligence is important when you have no idea whether or not war is about to break out again -- or who is probably going to win. Parliament and the Lord Mayor of London are currently not working together. Monck could attack at any time, and Lawson lies still in the Thames.
Comments
Second Reading
About Godfrey Austin
San Diego Sarah • Link
Merriam-Webster: Definition of scrivener -- noun
pronounced: scriv·en·er \ˈskriv-nər, ˈskri-və-\
1: a professional or public copyist or writer: scribe
2: notary public
About Godfrey Austin
San Diego Sarah • Link
SCRIVENER -- the person who handwrites formal legal documents (calligraphy not printing) often on vellum or parchment.
About Tuesday 31 January 1659/60
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Then to my Lord’s lodgings and set out a barrel of soap to be carried to Mrs. Ann."
Do we know where Mrs. Ann and Lady Jem are living? I had assumed they had a few rooms in Montagu's apartments in the Palace of Westminster (where the Pepys' had their bash the other night). But here is Pepys getting some soap out of storage, so it can be delivered to them. Edward Shipley/Shepley, Montagu's steward went back to Hinchingbrooke last week, so I now assume these lodgings are empty.
Lady Jem isn't living with her grandparents in Lincoln's Inn Fields -- the Crews would never allow her to get intoxicated working with the servants, even if her nurse is sick with a fever upstairs. Plus Pepys wouldn't be able to drop by for a quick game of cards at night if she were there, so it must be close to Axe Yard. At 13 she's young to have her own establishment, even if for a few months whilst seeing the doctor.
About Col. John Jones
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Born at Llanbedr, Merioneth, in north Wales, John Jones went to London and served an apprenticeship in the Grocers' Company, becoming a freeman of the Company in 1633. He enlisted for Parliament on the outbreak of the First Civil War and served in Wales as a captain of foot under Sir Thomas Myddelton. By 1646, he was colonel of a cavalry regiment." ...
"After Richard Cromwell succeeded as Protector in 1658, Jones reverted to his opposition to the Protectorate and supported the republican officers determined to restore the Commonwealth. In July 1659, he accompanied Edmund Ludlow to Ireland and remained as commander-in-chief of the army in Ireland when Ludlow returned to England in October. Jones declared his support for General Lambert when he forcibly dissolved Parliament on 13 October 1659, but officers loyal to Parliament seized Dublin Castle in December and arrested Jones. He was impeached before Parliament along with Ludlow and other commissioners for Ireland early in 1660. After appearing before Parliament, he was released on parole.
"Jones made no attempt to escape at the Restoration. He was arrested as a regicide in June 1660 and confessed his complicity in the execution of Charles I when brought to trial. He was hanged, drawn and quartered on 17 October 1660, conducting himself bravely at his execution."
For more information, see http://bcw-project.org/biography/…
About Monday 30 January 1659/60
San Diego Sarah • Link
"So here we have it in his own words, he earns 12l. 10s. 0d a quarter or £50 a year, though he then has to pay out 12l. 17s. 6d to Captn. Dick Matthews. One wonders how he “do find myself to be worth 40l. and more” when his outgoings exceed his income! Presumably this was just a bad quarter, although he seems happy enough in the rest of the entry."
I've checked the other two entries for Capt. Dick, and none of them support the idea that Pepys has bought his position from Matthews. Unless someone knows something to support this, I think we should discount the idea.
About Sunday 29 January 1659/60
San Diego Sarah • Link
"So pubs and taverns were not closed all day on Sunday, but were open for at least part of the day."
Pubs had to close when Church services were being held. And those times changed according to the time of year. Daylight was essential.
About Hackney
San Diego Sarah • Link
Adam Dant has created a map of Hackney which shows where interesting historical sites are located. The map goes on sale in June 2018. However, a free version is available here, along with a list of many buildings Pepys' followers will recognize:
http://spitalfieldslife.com/2018/…
About Charing Cross Stairs
San Diego Sarah • Link
Charing Cross Stairs became known as the Hungerford Stairs, according to The London Encyclopedia. Hungerford Market was built in 1682 in the gardens of the house of Sir Edward Hungerford, which had burnt down in 1669.
About Saturday 7 January 1659/60
San Diego Sarah • Link
"In the middle of our dinner a messenger from Mr. Downing came to fetch me to him, ..."
http://www.historyofparliamentonl…
says that George Downing lived at St. Stephen's Court, Westminster. Whether or not that was so in 1660, I do not know.
About Friday 27 January 1659/60
San Diego Sarah • Link
The L&M Companion note for Richard Sherwin MP says he may have been the Westminster magistrate who conducted Pepys' marriage ceremony in Jan. 1655.
Maybe the big family bash last night was to celebrate the Pepys' fifth anniversary. That makes sense.
About Friday 27 January 1659/60
San Diego Sarah • Link
Apparently Tom Newton and George Montagu didn't have any substantial gossip to convey to the Admiral this evening. All you can do is prod ... sometimes there is nothing there.
About George Mountagu
San Diego Sarah • Link
The Hon. George Montagu MP was a half-brother of Gen. Edward Montagu, Earl of Manchester, and well-known to his cousin, Admiral Edward Montagu. For more information, see
http://www.historyofparliamentonl…
There were 14 Montagus in Parliament between 1660 and 1690, and the biographer admits there is some confusion in the official records as to which Montagu said and did what.
About Wednesday 12 April 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
"(It does make me wonder though whether the diary is teeming with 17th C humour that is simply invisible to us.)"
I noticed puns up until about a year ago; I think this long ego battle with Elizabeth and the preparations for war have him in a rather humourless place.
About Thursday 26 January 1659/60
San Diego Sarah • Link
I'm fascinated by why Pepys throws this lavish party for 13 at Montagu's Whitehall apartments. Last week he had no coal and insufficient funds for the rent, and his job is in jeopardy. Afterwards he sits by the light of the warm log fire to work on Downing's cipher, which indicates to me there still may be little or no coal at home. It's too late for 12th night ... it's nobody's birthday ... March 26 is the anniversary of the stone operation ... he doesn't mention giving tours of the rich cousin's home to the poor relatives ... Mr. Shepley went back to Hinchingbrooke on January 20. Perhaps he left a larder full of spoiling food? It didn't sound that way yesterday, but I can't think of anything else.
About Codes and ciphers
San Diego Sarah • Link
Perhaps people in Pepys time called ciphers "characters" because:
The History of Shorthand by Anita Kreitzman (excerpted) -- National Court Reporters Association
"Modern Times
... [in] 1588 a revival of shorthand occurred with the publication in London of Dr. Timothie Bright's Characterie. An Arte of Shorte, Swifte, and Secrete Writing by Character. ... Bright's system was not an alphabet, but rather a list of 500 arbitrary signs to be used in place of words. It was John Willis who first published an alphabet shorthand in 1602."
So having established the idea of characters substituting for words, Hebrew characters would be as good as any if you were writing code as Pepys appears to have been doing in January of 1660.
About Buxtorf's 'Thesaurus Grammaticus Linguae Sanctae Hebraeae'
San Diego Sarah • Link
We can trace English interest in Hebrew back to Henry VIII: In 1529 Henry employed apostate Jewish scholar Marco Raphael to garner scriptural support for his divorce. This Royal act sparked an expansion in Hebraic studies; in 1530 at St. John's College, Cambridge, Hebrew joined Latin and Greek as the only permissible languages for conversation in Hall. In 1540 Regius chairs in Hebrew were established at Oxford and Cambridge. Apostate Jewish scholars would appear periodically in these universities, such as P. Ferdinand, J. Wolfgang and Regius Professor J. I. Tremellius.
English scholars seeking to emulate these Jews made use of the various Latin Hebrew grammars becoming available through a healthy academic trade with the continent. The first of many English language Hebrew Grammars was produced by John Udall in 1593. These, in addition to imported Rabbinic commentaries, proved of vital service in the production of the greatest fruit of these developments, the Authorized Bible, published to much acclaim in 1611.
For more, see http://www.readmissionofthejews.b…
Supporting this concern, during the early 17th century many Oxford colleges emulated the example of Laurence Humfrey who, in about 1566 established a public Hebrew lectureship at Magdalen College. At New College, Oxford, Warden Arthur Lake endowed such a lectureship in 1616, allocating to its incumbent a stipend of £5 a year.
Skip forward a few decades, and many during the Civil Wars lived in expectation of the end of the world. Millennial rumors were widespread, Christ's return being anticipated by many, including Oliver Cromwell and John Milton. Both Charles II during his exile and Oliver Cromwell consequently took money from, and promised protection to, Jews in Amsterdam and Bruges.
For more information, see https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1…
Rabbi, scholar, printer and diplomat, Menasseh ben Israel (1604-1657) of Amsterdam was one of the most influential personalities in modern Jewish history and around 1655 he spent time in London negotiating for a safe return for his people. Presbyterian zeal made this difficult, of course. For more information, see http://www.jewishgen.org/jcr-uk/e…
Over in the Holy Land in 1666 there was a man named Shabbetai Zvi who was a false Messiah -- claiming to be Jesus -- which caused quite a stir everywhere. Source: Abraham J. Karp, From the Ends of the Earth: Judaic Treasures of the Library of Congress, (DC: Library of Congress, 1991).
John Maitland, Earl of Lauderdale, captured after Worcester and imprisoned in Windsor Castle, passed the time studying the Cabala, Hebrew, and what we today call Freemasonry.
Pepys and his fellows were very serious about learning Hebrew, so they could understand the Bible from its source materials.
About John Hewson
San Diego Sarah • Link
Sadly the skyhook website seems to be inoperative, but I did find this:
Although Col. John Hewson opposed Parliament's offer of the crown to Cromwell in February 1657, he accepted a seat in the controversial Upper House in January 1658, where he sat as Lord Hewson. The Earl of Warwick and other aristocrats refused to recognize the Upper House because of Hewson's lowly birth (he was a London shoemaker who enlisted in the Parliamentarian army and served under the Earls of Essex and Manchester during the first English Civil War). During the political chaos following the collapse of the Protectorate, Hewson made himself hated in London when in December 1659 he led his troops to suppress a demonstration calling for a free Parliament, during which several demonstrators were killed. In May 1660, with the Restoration imminent, Hewson fled to the Continent. His date and place of death are unknown.
For more info, see http://bcw-project.org/biography/… .
About Site statistics 2012
San Diego Sarah • Link
I wish we had a "like" button, because so often I see things on the site which I want to endorse without writing a duplicating screed. That Phil deserves official commendation for such a labor of love is still true. THANK YOU.
About Monday 23 January 1659/60
San Diego Sarah • Link
The House of Commons making Army appointments seems prudent to me. And Rev. Josselin starting the Spring ploughing seems prudent too. Not being a country girl, I had no idea ploughing began in January -- yesterday he said it was cold and snowy. A hard life all round.
About Sunday 22 January 1659/60
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Of course they went to church -- there wasn't anything else to do!" -- uh, no. We know Pepys went twice, but there is no mention of Elizabeth going in the afternoon and he specifically says she did not go in the morning. What was she doing? Not cooking lunch, that we know.
My current theory about Pepys' church going is that he wanted to see who went to Anglican and who to Presbyterian services. Intelligence is important when you have no idea whether or not war is about to break out again -- or who is probably going to win. Parliament and the Lord Mayor of London are currently not working together. Monck could attack at any time, and Lawson lies still in the Thames.