"Thence Jenings and I into London ... to show our bills of return ..."
Anyone know what a bill of return is.
My guess is that Jennings as a Quartermaster, and Pepys (who has been paying soldiers at the Exchequer) have to account for the coins distributed in order to receive more money from someone in London -- maybe at the Mint or a goldsmith (who acted as bankers at the time). He says "show" the bills, but he must mean "deliver", or he would have had to take it/them back to the office. They couldn't be bulky, or Pepys would have noted that they took a coach.
"Thence I went home and wrote a letter, and went to Harper’s, and staid there till Tom carried it to the postboy at Whitehall."
So Pepys picked up enough information to warrant another letter to Montagu tonight. The appointment of Thomas Scott as the head of intelligence was probably worthy of note.
And how interesting the Palace of Whitehall had its own postboy. I suppose he collected everyone's letters and took them to the post office for sorting and to go out first thing in the morning. Maybe it gave the letters some sort of diplomatic immunity from inspection. Which would be why Montagu's boy would have to hand it in, and not Sam.
I just realized that was probably why Pepys went to an Anglican service on Sunday -- to see who else was there.
Sir William Pulteney (25 March 1624 - 6 September 1691). Knighted 4 June 1660. MP for Westminster, February 1679 to March 1681 and then from January 1689 until his death. During the 1st Civil War he was a Capt. of foot until 1646. No note of what he was up to after that. Wealthy hereditary landowner in St. James’s. He also enjoyed connections among the City’s legal fraternity, continuing an involvement with his inn of court, the Inner Temple. Married 23 Apr. 1655, Grace, daughter of Sir John Corbet, 1st Bt., of Stoke, Shropshire, 4 sons, 2 daughters. For more information, see http://www.historyofparliamentonl…
(My guess is his knighthood was in thanks for financing past adventures.)
Why was there a shortage of coal from Newcastle in London?
In LAWSON LIES STILL IN THE THAMES by Gill Blanchard, he states that Admiral John Lawson is strangely ignored in the documentation of the time, and he left no documentation. We know it took Monck a month to march south from Scotland. There was confusion in London about what to do, which led to “ill effects” on trade. And there was Lawson and his part of the fleet, moored in the Thames. No one knew why – and no one wanted to find out. By February 1660 a Royalist spy, John Heath, tells Chancellor Hyde that it appears Lawson will declare for the King.
“… it was John [Lawson]’s decisive action in positioning his fleet in the Thames that forced the army to yield in 1659, while Monck was hundreds of miles away. While the domino effect this created was not something John ever wanted or anticipated, he was ultimately as responsible for the restoration as” [Edward Montagu and George Monck].
And that’s why Elizabeth and Samuel are very cold. As are many Londoners.
The only problem with David Gurliacci's theory is that Pepys says he sent his letter to Sandwich by the mail. His old mentor, Samuel Morland at the Post Office, is busy reading the mail for spy-master John Thurloe. They must have used an innocent-looking code not to excite interest. Now, if it had gone by private messenger, it would have been a different story.
With the tension in London and the country, it's interesting the mail was still that reliable.
Francis Quarles (1592-1644) an attorney who took up writing to help support his 18 children. Politically he was a royalist, but the Puritans were especially fond of his poetry. His Emblems (1635) was a best-seller. http://www.luminarium.org/sevenli…...
Shakespeare used current events to spice up his plays. This article gives the political background to what kind of Moor Othello was, and why Venice was his city:
I'm uncertain of the writer's history. My reading is that in 1660 Henrietta Maria stayed at Whitehall (since the Protectorate had used Somerset House, perhaps it wasn't up to her standards as a residence???). When she returned in 1662 they had done some renovations, and she stayed there from then on.
William Lily (or Lilye) was the first headmaster of St. Paul's school, who lived from 1468-1522. Pepys refers to the Latin grammar attributed to him, which served as the standard Latin grammar in English schools for over 300 years. Shakespeare learned Latin from it, and refers to it in three plays. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will…
Rev. Ralph Josselin of Earls Colne, Essex, writes his first diary entry for the year:
Jan: 6: God good to me and mine in manifold outward mercies for which my soul praises him, this lords day morning a troop of horse marched by. gods worship is nothing with them I fear, lord settle truth and peace in this nation. god was good to me in the word, though my heart very dead and unprepared to meet with and follow him, the lord accept me and do me good. my dear wife ill with a pain in her side, which put me in fear, but I hope in god its only a wind that troubles her to quicken us in the sense of our weakness.
&&&
Cryssa Bazos has published an article which explains why the good Rev. Ralph's observations during the coming years are important, which I highly recommend:
Phil had some complicated questions on 15 Apr 2008: 1. “Are we to understand from this passage that the Tangier funding from the Parliament was paid directly to Povy's personal accounts?” – I don’t think so.
The Tangier Committee has funds stashed somewhere … there were no banks. Povy, as Treasurer, is responsible for doling out the cash, reimbursing people for authorized expenditures, and keeping an accounting for new funds received verses payments, with supporting documentation approved by other people. We have had examples of Pepys needing a second signature and he had to find a Navy Board member at lunch for that purpose. Povy appears to have kept all this paperwork in their version of shoe boxes.
2. “this is part the plot hatched with Creed, i.e. if the Commissioners issue such a formal order for Povy to give Sam Tangier monies (whether Povy has it or not) then there is a formal political document implying complete support of Samuel's position as Treasurer of Tangier.”
I read this entry as saying that Povy doesn’t want to be Treasurer, even though Pepys graciously offered to let him do that based on the Povy version of their contract. At lunch Creed says this may not be Povy’s decision. There may be reasons Anthony Ashley-Cooper wants Povy to clean up his own mess.
3. “I'm not sure if their plan is trying to address the rumor of Povy returning as Treasurer of Tangier, or if Sam is trying to make sure he isn't blamed for the confused mess of the Tangier account.” I don’t think it’s either of these thoughts.
Pepys says on Wednesday 12 April 1665: “Up, and to White Hall to a Committee of Tangier, where, contrary to all expectation, my Lord Ashly, being vexed with Povy’s accounts, did propose it as necessary that Povy should be still continued Treasurer of Tangier till he had made up his accounts; and with such arguments as, I confess, I was not prepared to answer …”
Pepys’ distress over this delay probably comes from: Monday 27 March 1665: “Up betimes to Mr. Povy’s, and there did sign and seal my agreement with him about my place of being Treasurer for Tangier, it being the greatest part of it drawn out of a draught of his own drawing up, only I have added something here and there in favor of myself.”
Pepys doesn’t want other people seeing this agreement, because Povy happily signed it. All that could change, and Pepys’ reputation for being a straight-shooter ruined, if more canny eyes and brains question Pepys’ ‘enhanced’ terms.
“when the company begun to dance, I came away lest I should be taken out;”
I think Pepys’ self-image is of a musician, not a dancer, at this time. I recall at a fund-raiser years ago someone paid for the musicians to dance one dance, and we found out that none of them had a clue, and absolutely no rhythm.
In the period August 31, 1663 through January 29, 1666, when Roger Le Strange was the editor of both The Intelligencer and The Newes news-books, both were semi-official government publications. He was notorious for the strictness of his censorship, and enthusiasm for suppressing clandestine printing and enforcing orthodoxy. He maintained an active group of informers, and often led raids on unlicensed presses with an almost unseemly enthusiasm. Restoration news-books could be compared to Pravda rather than anything we understand as newspapers today. The Restoration press was far from 'free.'
On November 22, 1664 Pepys wrote, "Captain Cocke is made Steward for sick and wounded seamen." -- i.e. Treasurer to the Commission for the Sick and Wounded Mariners and Prisoners of War, which was appointed for the duration of the Second Dutch War on October 25, 1665.
Details of John Evelyn's work as the Southeast Commissioner for the Sick and Wounded Mariners and Prisoners of War in general, and designing a hospital for their care in particular, see on this site the 24 letters Evelyn and Pepys exchanged during 1665-1666: http://www.pepysdiary.com/letters/
Terry -- does L&M give us any information explaining why Phil linked this reference to an Edward Deering, 2nd Bart MP and not our usual Baltic merchant employer of the great Peter Llewellyn?
I've always thought of John Evelyn being of a higher class than Pepys ... but on bathing they agree:
The courtier and diarist, John Evelyn, wrote in 1653 that he was resolved to wash, but only once a year.
… regular changes of underclothes and the liberal application of perfumes and powders in an attempt to mask any unpleasant smells … [even so] social gatherings at the royal palaces resulted in ‘sweating and stinking in abundance. Rather than a disregard for personal hygiene, this unwillingness to bath was partly for health reasons. Doctors and scientists of the day argued that bathing would allow unclean waters and miasmas to enter the body and upset the equilibrium of the natural humors.
On a very practical level, it was also quite a challenge to fill a bath tub in an age when piped water in the home was available only to the privileged few. So instead, cleanliness was achieved by rubbing the body with linen towels, regular changes of underclothes and the liberal application of perfumes and powders in an attempt to mask any unpleasant smells. Unsurprisingly, the result of this cleansing treatment was not always successful.
As the courtier Lord Hervey remarked, even social gatherings at the royal palaces resulted in ‘sweating and stinking in abundance’.
Comments
Second Reading
About Thursday 23 February 1664/65
San Diego Sarah • Link
I'm not so sure about Pepys' French. I suspect he spoke it better than he writes it.
About Beer
San Diego Sarah • Link
All that coal from Newcastle was changing the way the beer tasted in the 17th century.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/arti…
About Tuesday 10 January 1659/60
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Thence Jenings and I into London ... to show our bills of return ..."
Anyone know what a bill of return is.
My guess is that Jennings as a Quartermaster, and Pepys (who has been paying soldiers at the Exchequer) have to account for the coins distributed in order to receive more money from someone in London -- maybe at the Mint or a goldsmith (who acted as bankers at the time). He says "show" the bills, but he must mean "deliver", or he would have had to take it/them back to the office. They couldn't be bulky, or Pepys would have noted that they took a coach.
About Tuesday 10 January 1659/60
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Thence I went home and wrote a letter, and went to Harper’s, and staid there till Tom carried it to the postboy at Whitehall."
So Pepys picked up enough information to warrant another letter to Montagu tonight. The appointment of Thomas Scott as the head of intelligence was probably worthy of note.
And how interesting the Palace of Whitehall had its own postboy. I suppose he collected everyone's letters and took them to the post office for sorting and to go out first thing in the morning. Maybe it gave the letters some sort of diplomatic immunity from inspection. Which would be why Montagu's boy would have to hand it in, and not Sam.
I just realized that was probably why Pepys went to an Anglican service on Sunday -- to see who else was there.
About Sir William Pulteney
San Diego Sarah • Link
Sir William Pulteney (25 March 1624 - 6 September 1691). Knighted 4 June 1660. MP for Westminster, February 1679 to March 1681 and then from January 1689 until his death. During the 1st Civil War he was a Capt. of foot until 1646. No note of what he was up to after that. Wealthy hereditary landowner in St. James’s. He also enjoyed connections among the City’s legal fraternity, continuing an involvement with his inn of court, the Inner Temple. Married 23 Apr. 1655, Grace, daughter of Sir John Corbet, 1st Bt., of Stoke, Shropshire, 4 sons, 2 daughters. For more information, see http://www.historyofparliamentonl…
(My guess is his knighthood was in thanks for financing past adventures.)
About Sunday 8 January 1659/60
San Diego Sarah • Link
Why was there a shortage of coal from Newcastle in London?
In LAWSON LIES STILL IN THE THAMES by Gill Blanchard, he states that Admiral John Lawson is strangely ignored in the documentation of the time, and he left no documentation. We know it took Monck a month to march south from Scotland. There was confusion in London about what to do, which led to “ill effects” on trade. And there was Lawson and his part of the fleet, moored in the Thames. No one knew why – and no one wanted to find out. By February 1660 a Royalist spy, John Heath, tells Chancellor Hyde that it appears Lawson will declare for the King.
“… it was John [Lawson]’s decisive action in positioning his fleet in the Thames that forced the army to yield in 1659, while Monck was hundreds of miles away. While the domino effect this created was not something John ever wanted or anticipated, he was ultimately as responsible for the restoration as” [Edward Montagu and George Monck].
And that’s why Elizabeth and Samuel are very cold. As are many Londoners.
About Saturday 7 January 1659/60
San Diego Sarah • Link
The only problem with David Gurliacci's theory is that Pepys says he sent his letter to Sandwich by the mail. His old mentor, Samuel Morland at the Post Office, is busy reading the mail for spy-master John Thurloe. They must have used an innocent-looking code not to excite interest. Now, if it had gone by private messenger, it would have been a different story.
With the tension in London and the country, it's interesting the mail was still that reliable.
About Francis Quarles
San Diego Sarah • Link
Francis Quarles (1592-1644) an attorney who took up writing to help support his 18 children. Politically he was a royalist, but the Puritans were especially fond of his poetry. His Emblems (1635) was a best-seller. http://www.luminarium.org/sevenli…...
About Levant (Turkey) Company
San Diego Sarah • Link
For a general background on all things Barbary, Turkish and trade, as organized by Good Queen Bess, give this a quick read:
https://www.historyextra.com/peri…
About Othello ('The Moor of Venice') (William Shakespeare)
San Diego Sarah • Link
Shakespeare used current events to spice up his plays. This article gives the political background to what kind of Moor Othello was, and why Venice was his city:
https://www.historyextra.com/peri…
About Somerset House
San Diego Sarah • Link
I just found some pictures of Somerset House, and a painting of it at the time of Henrietta Maria:
https://lostcityoflondon.co.uk/20…
I'm uncertain of the writer's history. My reading is that in 1660 Henrietta Maria stayed at Whitehall (since the Protectorate had used Somerset House, perhaps it wasn't up to her standards as a residence???). When she returned in 1662 they had done some renovations, and she stayed there from then on.
About William Lily
San Diego Sarah • Link
William Lily (or Lilye) was the first headmaster of St. Paul's school, who lived from 1468-1522. Pepys refers to the Latin grammar attributed to him, which served as the standard Latin grammar in English schools for over 300 years. Shakespeare learned Latin from it, and refers to it in three plays. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will…
About Sunday 6 January 1660/61
San Diego Sarah • Link
Rev. Ralph Josselin of Earls Colne, Essex, writes his first diary entry for the year:
Jan: 6: God good to me and mine in manifold outward mercies for which my soul praises him, this lords day morning a troop of horse marched by. gods worship is nothing with them I fear, lord settle truth and peace in this nation. god was good to me in the word, though my heart very dead and unprepared to meet with and follow him, the lord accept me and do me good. my dear wife ill with a pain in her side, which put me in fear, but I hope in god its only a wind that troubles her to quicken us in the sense of our weakness.
&&&
Cryssa Bazos has published an article which explains why the good Rev. Ralph's observations during the coming years are important, which I highly recommend:
https://englishhistoryauthors.blo…
About Friday 14 April 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
Phil had some complicated questions on 15 Apr 2008:
1. “Are we to understand from this passage that the Tangier funding from the Parliament was paid directly to Povy's personal accounts?” – I don’t think so.
The Tangier Committee has funds stashed somewhere … there were no banks. Povy, as Treasurer, is responsible for doling out the cash, reimbursing people for authorized expenditures, and keeping an accounting for new funds received verses payments, with supporting documentation approved by other people. We have had examples of Pepys needing a second signature and he had to find a Navy Board member at lunch for that purpose. Povy appears to have kept all this paperwork in their version of shoe boxes.
2. “this is part the plot hatched with Creed, i.e. if the Commissioners issue such a formal order for Povy to give Sam Tangier monies (whether Povy has it or not) then there is a formal political document implying complete support of Samuel's position as Treasurer of Tangier.”
I read this entry as saying that Povy doesn’t want to be Treasurer, even though Pepys graciously offered to let him do that based on the Povy version of their contract. At lunch Creed says this may not be Povy’s decision. There may be reasons Anthony Ashley-Cooper wants Povy to clean up his own mess.
3. “I'm not sure if their plan is trying to address the rumor of Povy returning as Treasurer of Tangier, or if Sam is trying to make sure he isn't blamed for the confused mess of the Tangier account.” I don’t think it’s either of these thoughts.
Pepys says on Wednesday 12 April 1665: “Up, and to White Hall to a Committee of Tangier, where, contrary to all expectation, my Lord Ashly, being vexed with Povy’s accounts, did propose it as necessary that Povy should be still continued Treasurer of Tangier till he had made up his accounts; and with such arguments as, I confess, I was not prepared to answer …”
Pepys’ distress over this delay probably comes from: Monday 27 March 1665:
“Up betimes to Mr. Povy’s, and there did sign and seal my agreement with him about my place of being Treasurer for Tangier, it being the greatest part of it drawn out of a draught of his own drawing up, only I have added something here and there in favor of myself.”
Pepys doesn’t want other people seeing this agreement, because Povy happily signed it. All that could change, and Pepys’ reputation for being a straight-shooter ruined, if more canny eyes and brains question Pepys’ ‘enhanced’ terms.
About Thursday 13 April 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
“when the company begun to dance, I came away lest I should be taken out;”
I think Pepys’ self-image is of a musician, not a dancer, at this time. I recall at a fund-raiser years ago someone paid for the musicians to dance one dance, and we found out that none of them had a clue, and absolutely no rhythm.
About Tuesday 11 April 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
In the period August 31, 1663 through January 29, 1666, when Roger Le Strange was the editor of both The Intelligencer and The Newes news-books, both were semi-official government publications. He was notorious for the strictness of his censorship, and enthusiasm for suppressing clandestine printing and enforcing orthodoxy. He maintained an active group of informers, and often led raids on unlicensed presses with an almost unseemly enthusiasm. Restoration news-books could be compared to Pravda rather than anything we understand as newspapers today. The Restoration press was far from 'free.'
About Tuesday 11 April 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
On November 22, 1664 Pepys wrote, "Captain Cocke is made Steward for sick and wounded seamen." -- i.e. Treasurer to the Commission for the Sick and Wounded Mariners and Prisoners of War, which was appointed for the duration of the Second Dutch War on October 25, 1665.
Details of John Evelyn's work as the Southeast Commissioner for the Sick and Wounded Mariners and Prisoners of War in general, and designing a hospital for their care in particular, see on this site the 24 letters Evelyn and Pepys exchanged during 1665-1666: http://www.pepysdiary.com/letters/
About Tuesday 11 April 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
Terry -- does L&M give us any information explaining why Phil linked this reference to an Edward Deering, 2nd Bart MP and not our usual Baltic merchant employer of the great Peter Llewellyn?
About Tuesday 21 February 1664/65
San Diego Sarah • Link
I've always thought of John Evelyn being of a higher class than Pepys ... but on bathing they agree:
The courtier and diarist, John Evelyn, wrote in 1653 that he was resolved to wash, but only once a year.
… regular changes of underclothes and the liberal application of perfumes and powders in an attempt to mask any unpleasant smells … [even so] social gatherings at the royal palaces resulted in ‘sweating and stinking in abundance. Rather than a disregard for personal hygiene, this unwillingness to bath was partly for health reasons. Doctors and scientists of the day argued that bathing would allow unclean waters and miasmas to enter the body and upset the equilibrium of the natural humors.
On a very practical level, it was also quite a challenge to fill a bath tub in an age when piped water in the home was available only to the privileged few. So instead, cleanliness was achieved by rubbing the body with linen towels, regular changes of underclothes and the liberal application of perfumes and powders in an attempt to mask any unpleasant smells. Unsurprisingly, the result of this cleansing treatment was not always successful.
As the courtier Lord Hervey remarked, even social gatherings at the royal palaces resulted in ‘sweating and stinking in abundance’.
About Tuesday 21 February 1664/65
San Diego Sarah • Link
Great mental picture, Gerald. Where was this consensual outside exhibition of Spring?