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San Diego Sarah has posted 9,410 annotations/comments since 6 August 2015.

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Second Reading

About Friday 24 July 1663

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"... Interesting to ponder how Samuel Pepys is comforted by what Mr. Joseph Hill, of Cambridge, has to say about the likely fate of Nonconformists like himself - wherefore he'd been deprived of his Fellowship at Magdalene (where Pepys had been ubder his tutelage) - and elso Will Hewer, and the likes of others he's admired -- Sir Harry Vane and Dr. William Bates...."

Terry ... I find no mention of Will Hewer going to university in his biography. Isn't that why Pepys is coaching him with his Latin? Did you confuse Will with another student, or is the biography incomplete?

About Friday 24 July 1663

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"So to Westminster Hall, and there at Mrs. Michell’s shop sent for beer and sugar and drink, and made great cheer with it among her and Mrs. Howlett, her neighbour, and their daughters, especially Mrs. Howlett’s daughter, Betty, which is a pretty girl, and one I have long called wife, being, I formerly thought, like my own wife."

I surprised Sam flirts and drinks in Westminster Hall. There must have been many stalls and vendors so he wouldn't stand out to the Members of Parliament and Lords passing through ... but it still seems a risky place to be . Remember how much effort he spent last Christmas avoiding Carteret when he was out socializing with Elizabeth and they were sleeping over in Sandwich's bed.

"I do to give them occasion of speaking well and commending me in some company that now and then I know comes to their shop," this seems a bit lame as justification to me.

About Wednesday 22 July 1663

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Today is the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, and therefore the Brampton Feast. But the Sandwichs' are staying with the Crews so they can be at the Christening. Pepys' dinner idea didn't happen.

"I found by his words that my Lord Sandwich finds some pleasure in the country where he now is, whether he means one of the daughters of the house or no I know not, but hope the contrary, that he thinks he is very well pleased with staying there, but yet upon breaking up of the Parliament, which the King by a message to-day says shall be on Monday next, he resolves to go."

This is the first time Pepys notes there may be trouble in the country (presumably Chelsea). Maybe this is why Lord Crew was quiet at dinner.
I think the "he resolves to go" means Sandwich will be off to Hinchingbrooke after next Monday.

About Wednesday 22 July 1663

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

George Villiers (later the 2nd Duke of Buckingham) was born at Wallingford House, in the parish of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, on 30 January, 1627. (The Admiralty now stands on the site of the mansion in which he first saw the light.)

About Tuesday 21 July 1663

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"At noon, by my Lady Batten’s desire, I went over the water to Mr. Castle’s, who brings his wife home to his own house today, where I found a great many good old women, and my Lady, Sir W. Batten, and Sir J. Minnes."

Martha Batten Castle, aged 26, was married to William Castle of Redereth Wall, Surrey, shipwright, widower, aged 34, on Sunday, July 5, 1663 in Walthemstow. I suppose this is a welcome-to-my-house-after-the-honeymoon party. I wonder where they went. Southend-on-Sea?

About Tuesday 21 July 1663

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"... the feast at Brampton, and have my Lady and the family, ...' To be paid out of the £50 allowance?"

No, Sam sent supplies last week:

Thursday 16 July 1663

"Up and dispatched things into the country and to my father’s, and two keggs of Sturgeon and a dozen bottles of wine to Cambridge for my cozen Roger Pepys, which I give him."

He just didn't tell us the things to his father were for the annual Brampton Feast on July 22.

About Friday 17 July 1663

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Tuesday, June 30, 1663: "and then I by water to Deptford to see Sir W. Penn, who lies ill at Captain Rooth’s," I speculate that the route from the Redriffe landing to Capt. Rooth's in Deptford went passed Mrs. Bagwell's door ... maybe this is another reason why Pepys has been so good about going to see Sir W. Penn recently? Or perhaps Sir W. has moved his digs. Both Bagwell and Rooth live in Deptford, so why else would Sam be walking to Redriffe in the mud?

About Sunday 12 July 1663

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Mennes went to bed, and Sam takes off on his night adventures. Important to remember that Samuel Pepys is 35 years younger then the oldest man he works with (Carteret) and 12 years younger that the youngest man he works with (Pett).

About Wednesday 22 July 1663

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

I was researching Richmond Palace, and found this story:

"In 1662 Queen Henrietta Maria was back again in England, and her son, who did not care to have her at Court, where her silent disapproval would have been a check upon his reckless dissipation, assigned Richmond Palace, which as a matter of fact was already her own property, to her as a residence, and she lived there in great seclusion until 1665, ...

"The story goes that when the unfortunate Queen Henrietta Maria was at Richmond Palace this last time she was one day suddenly intruded on by the notorious Lady Castlemaine, who had run away from London in a fit of temper with the King, and, in spite of the cold reception she received from her lover's mother, insisted upon remaining for the night at the Palace.

'The next morning Charles II himself appeared upon the scene, eager for reconciliation with his beloved mistress and regardless of the remonstrances of Henrietta, who must indeed have wondered that his early troubles had taught him nothing, he achieved his purpose, the reconciled pair, after a somewhat stormy interview, going off happily together."

So much for the uncle story!

From THE ROYAL MANOR OR RICHMOND, WITH PETERSHAM HAM AND KEW by Mrs. Arthur G. Bell, 1907

About Thursday 16 July 1663

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"... I was at Thames Street about some pitch, and there meeting Anthony Joyce, I took him and Mr. Stacy, the Tarr merchant, ..."

Pitch -- a black or dark viscous substance obtained as a residue in the distillation of organic materials and especially tars -- Merriam Webster Dictionary

About Sturgeon

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Sturgeons are long-lived, late maturing fishes. Their average lifespan is 50 to 60 years, and their first spawn does not occur until they are around 15 to 20 years old. Sturgeons are broadcast spawners, and do not spawn every year because they require specific conditions.

Sturgeon range from subtropical to subarctic waters in North America and Eurasia. In North America, they range along the Atlantic Coast from the Gulf of Mexico to Newfoundland, including the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence, Missouri, and Mississippi Rivers, as well as along the West Coast in major rivers from California and Idaho to British Columbia. They occur along the European Atlantic coast, including the Mediterranean basin, especially in the Adriatic Sea and the rivers of North Italy; in the rivers that flow into the Black, Azov, and Caspian Seas (Danube, Dnepr, Volga and Don); the north-flowing rivers of Russia that feed the Arctic Ocean (Ob, Yenisei, Lena, Kolyma); in the rivers of Central Asia (Amu Darya and Syr Darya) and Lake Baikal. In the Pacific Ocean, they are found in the Amur River along the Russian-Chinese border, on Sakhalin Island, and in the Yangtze and other rivers in northeast China.

Many sturgeon leap completely out the water, usually making a loud splash which can be heard half a mile away on the surface and probably further under water. It is not known why they do this, but suggested functions include group communication to maintain group cohesion, catching airborne prey, courtship display, or to help shed eggs during spawning. Other plausible explanations include escape from predators, shedding parasites, or to gulp or expel air. Another explanation is that it "simply feels good".

More information at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stu…

About Thursday 16 July 1663

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"... I went to Sir W. Batten’s, where my Lady and I [had] some high words about emptying our house of office, where I did tell her my mind, and at last agreed that it should be done through my office, and so all well. "

I read this as the Pepys' and the Battens' vats of effluent are co-located in Pepys' cellar, as we know from previous posts. Lady Batten wanted to maintain control over their vats (and therefore the timing of costs to empty them), but Pepys wins the argument: in future he will call the Night Soil Men so there will be no overflows as in 1661, or inconvenient scheduling as last week. Presumably they will split the bill, or whatever. "... and so all well." is his pat on the back for winning the heated conversation.

About Aldersgate Street

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

'We find in this interesting book [... a pamphlet printed in 1637, called The Carrier's Cosmography, or a Brief Relation of the Inns, Ordinaries, Hostelries and other Lodgings in and near London where the Carrier's Waggons, Foot posts and Higglers do usually come up, etc. John Taylor, the author of this forerunner of Bradshaw's Guide, met, like all reformers, with great opposition to his project.]:
"that the carriers of Bedford do lodge at the 'Three Horseshoes' in Aldersgate Street. They come on Thursdays." The carriers of Crawley in Bedfordshire also come on the same day. In 1653 Thursday was evidently their day for leaving London.'

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/…

About Sunday 12 July 1663

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"Sir J. Minnes being gone to bed, I took Mr. Whitfield, one of the clerks, and walked to the Dock about eleven at night, and there got a boat and a crew, and rowed down to the guard-ships, ..." Yes, Pepys, that's what old Captains do. You are the youngster, and that's why you are there -- to wake people up. Much better than cooling your heels in the office.

About Sunday 12 July 1663

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

The Hill House, Chatham -- Located just north of Chatham Church overlooking the dockyard. It was rented by the navy for the use of its senior officers, Pepys included, when visiting the dockyard. Hill House remained in use as the pay office for the dockyard and is included in Dummer’s great survey of the late 17th century.

About Ratcliff

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"Redclif, Ratcliff, Ratcliffe: it’s not just the spelling of London’s first port that is hard to pin down. Before the great, enclosed docks of the 19th century were hollowed out of Limehouse, Rotherhithe and the Isle of Dogs, ships docked at Thameside wharves.

"The most sheltered place on the river was in the crook of the bend at Limehouse, at a place called Radcliffe or Sailor Town. Ratcliffe was one of the original Tower Hamlets, named after a lost cliff of red earth, shovelled away as ballast for the great ships that left its quays. These were London’s earliest docks, where Tudor expeditions led by adventurers like Sir Hugh Willoughby set sail for the Arctic.

"The 19th century saw Ratcliffe eclipsed by its neighbours, and although it is marked on maps few know of its existence."

http://londonist.com/2016/07/secr…