"At noon, all of us to dinner to Sir W. Penn’s, ... Sir J. Lawson among others, and his lady and his daughter, a very pretty lady and of good deportment, with looking upon whom I was greatly pleased, ..." Twelfth Night lunch, January 6, 1663/64
"... and indeed it was in an extraordinary good method, and such as (at least out of design to keep them employed) I do persuade Sir J. Minnes to go upon, which will at least do as much good it may be to keep them for want of something to do from envying those that do something."
I follow the thread up to the point where Pepys says it is a very good method. And then keeping people employed was a good idea, and he persuaded Sir John Mennes to go along with something -- rather than envying people who do something. Any help from L&M on this riddle?
I'm guessing this was a straight razor like my father used to use, and sharpened on a length of leather (as I recall -- doesn't seem likely) which was hung on the wall?
I hope Pepys had some good soap to use.
Perhaps Will Hewer had been doing that in the recent past? Now Will was no longer living with Pepys it was complicated getting a shave in every day? Ahhhh, more questions never to be answered.
Is the Navy Board part of the Admiralty? Was there an Admiralty? What did they do for a living?
Our encyclopedia says, "In 1628, Charles I put the office of Lord High Admiral into commission and control of the Royal Navy passed to a committee in the form of the Board of Admiralty. The office of Lord High Admiral passed a number of times in and out of commission until 1709 ..." and I know James, Duke of York was Lord High Admiral in 1663, with Coventry, Monck and Sandwich as advisers (at least as of 1660).
I just checked my notes, and there are FOUR Navy Board members and three Commissioners -- that makes 21 people to prepare for a war, unless there was a functioning Admiralty office as well that I am not aware of.
"... where my head being willing to take in all business whatever, I am afraid I shall over clogg myself with it. But however, it is my desire to do my duty and shall the willinger bear it. ... I to my office, where busy till late at night, that through my room being over confounded in business I could stay there no longer, but went home, "
Should that be [al]"though my room being over confounded in business" instead of through?
I was wondering when this was going to hit. He has been warned there is going to be another war with the Dutch ... Holmes is out there provoking it right now ... the Navy hasn't paid off the debt left them by Cromwell and Co. even though his boss lied last year when he told them it was paid off ... and Charles II is giving way too much money to Barbara Villiers Palmer, Duchess of Castlemaine. How do you prepare for war with no money?
The Navy Board members have two clerks each. The three Commissioners have two clerks each. That's 24 people to build an entire Navy on a war footing.
No wonder Sam was worried about Barrow quitting. A man of high standards in the dockyard was key to success.
So burnout? I don't think so, not yet ... more like panic and fear. Next we'll be hearing he can't sleep.
I think Sam used his diary in a number of ways. In this case he is confronting a number of moral dilemmas not covered in his ethics class at Cambridge, and the diary is a safe way of making himself think through the situation to make sure it meets "the smell test".
This situation is a bit like the doctor's oath: First, do no harm. No one was harmed here. Whether or not the patient was helped is a whole other question.
Now Pepys has fallen out with Creed by returning the dress as being an insufficient "thank you" for putting in hours of work and jeopardizing his position to push through those dicey accounts, Pepys doesn't have a BFF with whom to discuss the slippery slope.
The amount of psychic energy Pepys has devoted to this transaction makes me believe he was not generally "on the take" up until now. Yes, the occasional statue and dress came his way -- but they were clearly "thank you's" and not for resale. How his net worth grew so dramatically last month is still an open question for me.
"... but will wherein I can faithfully endeavor to see him have the privilege of his Patent as the King’s merchant." I'm guessing that's the same tradition as we have today, when you see an official sign in a business window saying that they are purveyors to the Queen.
When I was little we had a newly-designed fireplace that threw the heat out into the living room instead of letting it mostly go up the chimney. In the winter my mother always put my school clothes in front of the fire so they would be warm to put on, instead of damp (like everything is in England in the winter before central heating -- which many buildings were not designed for). A nice memory, especially hearing Pepys liked to do that too.
Anne Hyde, Duchess of York, was diagnosed with measles on December 28, 1663 -- having been infectious over Christmas. Interesting James, Duke of York did not have his own bedroom suite at St. James' Palace.
"This evening Sir W. Pen came to invite me against next Wednesday, being Twelfth day, to his usual feast, his wedding day." Ah, caught Pepys in a mistake! It's not The Penn's wedding anniversary.
"On 6 June 1643 William Penn married Margaret Jasper, a daughter of a wealthy Dutch merchant from Rotterdam. They had three children: Margaret (Pegg, who married Anthony Lowther), Richard and William."
In 2007 Ruben asked: "Did they sleep in different rooms? Did they have a common bedroom and one more bed in their own chamber?"
In 1663/64 Elizabeth and Sam have their own rooms, with double beds in both. When Elizabeth had a companion, the companion had Elizabeth's room. From time to time they had a male guest stay over, and Sam and the male visitor stayed in his room. In those cases Elizabeth slept with her companion. Recently Elizabeth seems to be staying in her bed a lot to keep warm, while recovering from her ulcer and tooth ache.
I recall Sam in 1662 being very proud that he had a "guest bed" available. It was a sign of status.
An improvement in 1663 was the addition of a closett (office/personal room) for Elizabeth. I don't know where that was.
The three maids also have one bedroom on this floor. And when Will Hewer lived with them, there was a room for him downstairs. He had a room upstairs for a while, which upset the maids. Where that was, I don't know ... a garrett?
In "Sunday Lunch with Mr. and Mrs. Pepys" http://www.pepysdiary.com/indepth… Sue Nicholson gives a tour of Pepys' house (after the Great Fire of 1666) while they wait for Sunday dinner. You'll find it a delightful way to imagine their home.
Poking around today I came across a long article about clocks. The relevant piece for us (at the beginning of 1664) seems to be: Robert Hooke and the Royal Society were interested in pendulum clocks at this time, for navigational purposes.
Robert Hooke was at his best when his mind was jumping freely from one idea to the next. At the time he was working on the air pump he was thinking about clocks, and how they could be used in determining the longitude at sea. Realizing the weakness of the pendulum clock in keeping time on a pitching ship, he wondered about the: "... use of springs instead of gravity for making a body vibrate in any posture."
Instead of the balance wheel being controlled by a pendulum which operates from gravity, Robert Hooke observed that controlling the balance wheel with a spring would be better for a portable timekeeper which someone might carry around -- or one which would have to continue to keep the correct time on a ship.
Around 1658 Robert Hook began experiments and he had made two significant steps by 1660, namely the use of a balance-controlled by a spiral spring, and an improved escapement which he called the anchor escapement.
In 1660 Robert Hooke discovered an instance of what became known as Hooke's Law while designing the balance springs of clocks. But Hooke only announced the general law of elasticity in his lecture Of Spring given in 1678.
A strange event happened in 1660 regarding Robert Hooke's spring-controlled clocks. He was backed by Sir Christopher Wren, Sir Robert Moray and William, 2nd Viscount Brouncker in his design of a spring-controlled clock, and a patent was drawn up. It could have made him a fortune, but when he realized the patent allowed anyone who improved the design to receive the royalties, he refused to continue with the patent.
Robert Hooke and the Royal Society were interested in pendulum clocks during the 1660's for navigational purposes.
Robert Hooke was at his best when his mind was jumping freely from one idea to the next. At the time he was working on the air pump he was thinking about clocks, and how they could be used in determining the longitude at sea. Realizing the weakness of the pendulum clock in keeping time on a pitching ship, he wondered about the: "... use of springs instead of gravity for making a body vibrate in any posture."
Instead of the balance wheel being controlled by a pendulum which operates from gravity, Robert Hooke observed that controlling the balance wheel with a spring would be better for a portable timekeeper which someone might carry around -- or one which would have to continue to keep the correct time on a ship.
Around 1658 Robert Hook began experiments and he made two significant steps by 1660, namely the use of a balance-controlled by a spiral spring, and an improved escapement which he called the anchor escapement.
In 1660 Robert Hooke discovered an instance of what became known as Hooke's Law while designing the balance springs of clocks. But Hooke only announced the general law of elasticity in his lecture Of Spring given in 1678.
A strange event happened in 1660 regarding Robert Hooke's spring-controlled clocks. He was backed by Sir Christopher Wren, Sir Robert Moray and William, and 2nd Viscount Brouncker in his design of a spring-controlled clock, and a patent was drawn up. It could have made him a fortune, but when he realized the patent allowed anyone who improved the design to receive the royalties, he refused to continue with the patent.
Happy New Year, Stan and David ... and as to clocks, they were tricky. Face glass hadn't been "invented", and the minute hand was in the process of being added. Mostly they listened to church bells. I don't recall Sam saying he owned one -- since he's into home improvement and status, maybe it's a mechanism he will invest in next year?
CORRECTION: Henry Jowles, naval lieutenant; of Chatham -- "A coxcomb" -- married Rebecca Alleyn, spinster (about 18), daughter of John Alleyn, to Henry Jowles, of Chatham, Kent, bachelor (about 24), in August, 1662 (Chester's "London Marriage Licences," ed. Foster, col. 779) -- Wheatley, 1904.
So Jowles is Capt. John and Mrs. Allen's son-in-law.
Henry Jowles, naval lieutenant; of Chatham -- considered "a coxcomb" -- married Rebecca Allen, spinster (about 18), daughter of John Allen, to Henry Jowles, of Chatham, Kent, bachelor (about 24), in August, 1662 (Chester's "London Marriage Licences," ed. Foster, col. 779) -- Wheatley, 1904.
Comments
Second Reading
About Isabella Norton (b. Lawson)
San Diego Sarah • Link
"At noon, all of us to dinner to Sir W. Penn’s, ... Sir J. Lawson among others, and his lady and his daughter, a very pretty lady and of good deportment, with looking upon whom I was greatly pleased, ..." Twelfth Night lunch, January 6, 1663/64
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
About Thursday 7 January 1663/64
San Diego Sarah • Link
Thank you, Terry. That makes perfect sense. I hadn't thought about Mennes still having a learning curve in his job.
About Thursday 7 January 1663/64
San Diego Sarah • Link
"... and indeed it was in an extraordinary good method, and such as (at least out of design to keep them employed) I do persuade Sir J. Minnes to go upon, which will at least do as much good it may be to keep them for want of something to do from envying those that do something."
I follow the thread up to the point where Pepys says it is a very good method. And then keeping people employed was a good idea, and he persuaded Sir John Mennes to go along with something -- rather than envying people who do something. Any help from L&M on this riddle?
About Wednesday 6 January 1663/64
San Diego Sarah • Link
"to trimme myself with a razer:"
I'm guessing this was a straight razor like my father used to use, and sharpened on a length of leather (as I recall -- doesn't seem likely) which was hung on the wall?
I hope Pepys had some good soap to use.
Perhaps Will Hewer had been doing that in the recent past? Now Will was no longer living with Pepys it was complicated getting a shave in every day? Ahhhh, more questions never to be answered.
About Tuesday 5 January 1663/64
San Diego Sarah • Link
Is the Navy Board part of the Admiralty? Was there an Admiralty? What did they do for a living?
Our encyclopedia says, "In 1628, Charles I put the office of Lord High Admiral into commission and control of the Royal Navy passed to a committee in the form of the Board of Admiralty. The office of Lord High Admiral passed a number of times in and out of commission until 1709 ..." and I know James, Duke of York was Lord High Admiral in 1663, with Coventry, Monck and Sandwich as advisers (at least as of 1660).
I just checked my notes, and there are FOUR Navy Board members and three Commissioners -- that makes 21 people to prepare for a war, unless there was a functioning Admiralty office as well that I am not aware of.
Pepys' penny just dropped.
About Tuesday 5 January 1663/64
San Diego Sarah • Link
"... where my head being willing to take in all business whatever, I am afraid I shall over clogg myself with it. But however, it is my desire to do my duty and shall the willinger bear it. ... I to my office, where busy till late at night, that through my room being over confounded in business I could stay there no longer, but went home, "
Should that be [al]"though my room being over confounded in business" instead of through?
I was wondering when this was going to hit. He has been warned there is going to be another war with the Dutch ... Holmes is out there provoking it right now ... the Navy hasn't paid off the debt left them by Cromwell and Co. even though his boss lied last year when he told them it was paid off ... and Charles II is giving way too much money to Barbara Villiers Palmer, Duchess of Castlemaine. How do you prepare for war with no money?
The Navy Board members have two clerks each. The three Commissioners have two clerks each. That's 24 people to build an entire Navy on a war footing.
No wonder Sam was worried about Barrow quitting. A man of high standards in the dockyard was key to success.
So burnout? I don't think so, not yet ... more like panic and fear. Next we'll be hearing he can't sleep.
About Tuesday 5 January 1663/64
San Diego Sarah • Link
I think Sam used his diary in a number of ways. In this case he is confronting a number of moral dilemmas not covered in his ethics class at Cambridge, and the diary is a safe way of making himself think through the situation to make sure it meets "the smell test".
This situation is a bit like the doctor's oath: First, do no harm. No one was harmed here. Whether or not the patient was helped is a whole other question.
Now Pepys has fallen out with Creed by returning the dress as being an insufficient "thank you" for putting in hours of work and jeopardizing his position to push through those dicey accounts, Pepys doesn't have a BFF with whom to discuss the slippery slope.
The amount of psychic energy Pepys has devoted to this transaction makes me believe he was not generally "on the take" up until now. Yes, the occasional statue and dress came his way -- but they were clearly "thank you's" and not for resale. How his net worth grew so dramatically last month is still an open question for me.
About Tuesday 5 January 1663/64
San Diego Sarah • Link
"... but will wherein I can faithfully endeavor to see him have the privilege of his Patent as the King’s merchant." I'm guessing that's the same tradition as we have today, when you see an official sign in a business window saying that they are purveyors to the Queen.
About Sunday 3 January 1663/64
San Diego Sarah • Link
When I was little we had a newly-designed fireplace that threw the heat out into the living room instead of letting it mostly go up the chimney. In the winter my mother always put my school clothes in front of the fire so they would be warm to put on, instead of damp (like everything is in England in the winter before central heating -- which many buildings were not designed for). A nice memory, especially hearing Pepys liked to do that too.
About Monday 4 January 1663/64
San Diego Sarah • Link
Anne Hyde, Duchess of York, was diagnosed with measles on December 28, 1663 -- having been infectious over Christmas. Interesting James, Duke of York did not have his own bedroom suite at St. James' Palace.
About Sunday 3 January 1663/64
San Diego Sarah • Link
It occurs to me that Elizabeth's closett probably was in Will Hewer's old room. So there were four possible bedrooms on that floor.
About Sunday 3 January 1663/64
San Diego Sarah • Link
"This evening Sir W. Pen came to invite me against next Wednesday, being Twelfth day, to his usual feast, his wedding day." Ah, caught Pepys in a mistake! It's not The Penn's wedding anniversary.
From our own encyclopedia: http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…
"On 6 June 1643 William Penn married Margaret Jasper, a daughter of a wealthy Dutch merchant from Rotterdam. They had three children: Margaret (Pegg, who married Anthony Lowther), Richard and William."
About Sunday 3 January 1663/64
San Diego Sarah • Link
In 2007 Ruben asked: "Did they sleep in different rooms? Did they have a common bedroom and one more bed in their own chamber?"
In 1663/64 Elizabeth and Sam have their own rooms, with double beds in both. When Elizabeth had a companion, the companion had Elizabeth's room. From time to time they had a male guest stay over, and Sam and the male visitor stayed in his room. In those cases Elizabeth slept with her companion. Recently Elizabeth seems to be staying in her bed a lot to keep warm, while recovering from her ulcer and tooth ache.
I recall Sam in 1662 being very proud that he had a "guest bed" available. It was a sign of status.
An improvement in 1663 was the addition of a closett (office/personal room) for Elizabeth. I don't know where that was.
The three maids also have one bedroom on this floor. And when Will Hewer lived with them, there was a room for him downstairs. He had a room upstairs for a while, which upset the maids. Where that was, I don't know ... a garrett?
In "Sunday Lunch with Mr. and Mrs. Pepys" http://www.pepysdiary.com/indepth… Sue Nicholson gives a tour of Pepys' house (after the Great Fire of 1666) while they wait for Sunday dinner. You'll find it a delightful way to imagine their home.
About Thursday 31 December 1663
San Diego Sarah • Link
Second try at the Robert Hooke link: http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.u…
About Thursday 31 December 1663
San Diego Sarah • Link
Happy New Year, Edith. Please keep on reading Pepys and give us your point-of-view for many more years. You're a challenge to the rest of us to match!
About Thursday 31 December 1663
San Diego Sarah • Link
Poking around today I came across a long article about clocks. The relevant piece for us (at the beginning of 1664) seems to be:
Robert Hooke and the Royal Society were interested in pendulum clocks at this time, for navigational purposes.
Robert Hooke was at his best when his mind was jumping freely from one idea to the next. At the time he was working on the air pump he was thinking about clocks, and how they could be used in determining the longitude at sea. Realizing the weakness of the pendulum clock in keeping time on a pitching ship, he wondered about the: "... use of springs instead of gravity for making a body vibrate in any posture."
Instead of the balance wheel being controlled by a pendulum which operates from gravity, Robert Hooke observed that controlling the balance wheel with a spring would be better for a portable timekeeper which someone might carry around -- or one which would have to continue to keep the correct time on a ship.
Around 1658 Robert Hook began experiments and he had made two significant steps by 1660, namely the use of a balance-controlled by a spiral spring, and an improved escapement which he called the anchor escapement.
In 1660 Robert Hooke discovered an instance of what became known as Hooke's Law while designing the balance springs of clocks. But Hooke only announced the general law of elasticity in his lecture Of Spring given in 1678.
A strange event happened in 1660 regarding Robert Hooke's spring-controlled clocks. He was backed by Sir Christopher Wren, Sir Robert Moray and William, 2nd Viscount Brouncker in his design of a spring-controlled clock, and a patent was drawn up. It could have made him a fortune, but when he realized the patent allowed anyone who improved the design to receive the royalties, he refused to continue with the patent.
For more about this see: http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.u…...
About Clocks and watches
San Diego Sarah • Link
Robert Hooke and the Royal Society were interested in pendulum clocks during the 1660's for navigational purposes.
Robert Hooke was at his best when his mind was jumping freely from one idea to the next. At the time he was working on the air pump he was thinking about clocks, and how they could be used in determining the longitude at sea. Realizing the weakness of the pendulum clock in keeping time on a pitching ship, he wondered about the: "... use of springs instead of gravity for making a body vibrate in any posture."
Instead of the balance wheel being controlled by a pendulum which operates from gravity, Robert Hooke observed that controlling the balance wheel with a spring would be better for a portable timekeeper which someone might carry around -- or one which would have to continue to keep the correct time on a ship.
Around 1658 Robert Hook began experiments and he made two significant steps by 1660, namely the use of a balance-controlled by a spiral spring, and an improved escapement which he called the anchor escapement.
In 1660 Robert Hooke discovered an instance of what became known as Hooke's Law while designing the balance springs of clocks. But Hooke only announced the general law of elasticity in his lecture Of Spring given in 1678.
A strange event happened in 1660 regarding Robert Hooke's spring-controlled clocks. He was backed by Sir Christopher Wren, Sir Robert Moray and William, and 2nd Viscount Brouncker in his design of a spring-controlled clock, and a patent was drawn up. It could have made him a fortune, but when he realized the patent allowed anyone who improved the design to receive the royalties, he refused to continue with the patent.
For more about this see: http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.u…
About Thursday 31 December 1663
San Diego Sarah • Link
Happy New Year, Stan and David ... and as to clocks, they were tricky. Face glass hadn't been "invented", and the minute hand was in the process of being added. Mostly they listened to church bells. I don't recall Sam saying he owned one -- since he's into home improvement and status, maybe it's a mechanism he will invest in next year?
About Capt. John Allen
San Diego Sarah • Link
CORRECTION: Henry Jowles, naval lieutenant; of Chatham -- "A coxcomb" -- married Rebecca Alleyn, spinster (about 18), daughter of John Alleyn, to Henry Jowles, of Chatham, Kent, bachelor (about 24), in August, 1662 (Chester's "London Marriage Licences," ed. Foster, col. 779) -- Wheatley, 1904.
So Jowles is Capt. John and Mrs. Allen's son-in-law.
About Henry Jowles
San Diego Sarah • Link
Henry Jowles, naval lieutenant; of Chatham -- considered "a coxcomb" -- married Rebecca Allen, spinster (about 18), daughter of John Allen, to Henry Jowles, of Chatham, Kent, bachelor (about 24), in August, 1662 (Chester's "London Marriage Licences," ed. Foster, col. 779) -- Wheatley, 1904.
So he is Capt. John and Mrs. Allen's son-in-law.