William Spurstowe, D.D. (1605?–1666), was a Calvinist puritan divine, son and heir of William Spurstowe, citizen and mercer of London, who was connected with the Spurstowes of Bunbury, Cheshire.
He was born in London about 1605. He was admitted a pensioner at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 1623, graduated B.A. 1626, M.A. 1630, and obtained a fellowship at Catharine Hall, which he resigned in 1637. He had been awarded a B.A. at Oxford on July 15, 1628.
His first preferment was the rectory of Great Hampden, Bucks., to which he was instituted June 30, 1638, although he signed the register as rector in August, 1637; he succeeded Egeon Askew who was buried on May 10, 1637.
His connection with the parliamentary leader John Hampden (1594–1643) probably provided his introduction to public life. He was one of the 5 divines [see Thomas Smith’s "Select Memoirs of the English and Scottish Divines on Edmund Calamy, the elder"] who wrote in 1641 as “Smectymnvvs” (the last 3 letters being his initials [VVS, or WS]). In 1642 he was chaplain to Hampden’s regiment of “green coats.”
With the other Smectymnuans he was included in the original summons (June 12, 1643) to the Westminster Assembly of divines, and took the “league and covenant” the following September.
He preached 4 times over the course of the Assembly to them on various subjects. Among these sermons were, “England’s Patterne and Duty” (1643), and “England’s Eminent Judgments” (1644).
On May 3, 1643 he succeeded Calybute Downing as vicar of Hackney, Middx.
On the deprivation (1645) of Ralph Brownrig he was put into the mastership of Catharine Hall, having been approved for it by the Westminster Assembly (May 12, 1645). He had previously been approved (Feb. 17) for the mastership of Clare College, but this was given to Ralph Cudworth.
He was a member of the provincial assembly of London, and at its first meeting (May 3, 1647) was placed on its committee.
Spurstowe was one of the clerical commissioners appointed to confer with King Charles in the Isle of Wight (Sept.–Nov., 1648).
Clarendon affirms that he and William Jenkyn told King Charles “if he did not consent to the total abolishing of episcopacy, he would be damned.” As it stands, the statement is not credible. Spurstowe was strongly opposed to the judicial proceedings against the King, and in Jan. 1649 signed the “Vindication” promoted by Cornelius Burges, D.D., protesting the trial.
In "The Spiritual Chemyst", his 26th meditation is titled “Upon the Royal Oak,” which gives expression to his loyalty.
In 1649 he was made D.D. He refused the engagement (Oct. 12, 1649) of allegiance to the existing government “without a king or a house of lords;” and, failing to take it by March 23, 1650, was deprived of his mastership of Catharine Hall, which, in Nov., was given to John Lightfoot (1602–1675).
I hope they remembered to discuss which ships Sandwich wants to take to pick up Queen Mother Henrietta Maria, or Pepys won't have anything to do tomorrow.
"After dinner to the Abbey, where I heard them read the church-service, but very ridiculously, that indeed I do not in myself like it at all."
I'm guessing he was at Evensong again, and had expected them to sing the service. Instead it was read, poorly -- after 15 years "in the wilderness" perhaps even CofE ministers were not that familiar with it, or the fellow mumbled?
"A poor cold sermon of Dr. Lamb’s, one of the prebends, in his habit, came afterwards,"
Pepys is looking for inspiration and an explanation of why the CofE is so much better than the nonconformist marathon sermons he's used to. They used to last for hours, and engaged the emotions. The word 'habit' again -- Pepys probably didn't know the word 'vestments'.
"and so all ended, and by my troth a pitiful sorry devotion that these men pay."
No singing, no emotion, no engagement, no answers, no spirit. Pepys know this standard of presentation won't win Puritan men's hearts away from their nonconformist ways.
"How did she know when to eat without him? Seems like sometimes he brings home dinner and sometimes not."
They used boys and notes, Annie. Wayneman Birch is Elizabeth's pair of extra legs. Will Hewer has been travelling with Pepys. It's so normal to them that Pepys rarely mentions it, just as you don't tell Dear Diary that you took your cell/mobile phone with you. If all else fails, there are boys on the street who, for a tip, will run errands, but since they owe no allegiance to the sender, that's more risky.
But I agree, whenever someone does something spontaneous, it can create a problem somewhere else.
But people did overcook, as feeding drop-in friends for tthe main meal at dinner/lunch time was taken for granted. You'll note how often Pepys mentions that someone sends him a pie or a roast or a box of oysters, so they shared excess with their friends. Also we noted with surprise a couple of months ago, how long a venison pie would still be edible. Leftovers would normally be eaten for supper.
Given Elizabeth's youth, beauty and history (she's about to turn 20), and Pepys' possessiveness, I'm also surprised how often he's out late drinking with his old friends from the Exchequor days. I think she must be getting truly miffed and bored by now, no matter how nice her house looks.
"I paid the great tax of poll money, levied for disbanding the army, till now kept up. "I paid as an Esquire 10/., and one shilling for every servant in my house."
Roger Boyle, Lord Broghill, 1st Earl of Orrery, 1621-1679 -- Before the monarchy was restored, Roger Boyle, Baron Broghill switched sides and backed Charles II. (His older brother, Richard, 2nd Earl of Cork, fought for the King, so Roger had been the right-hand man in Ireland to Cromwell, and between them they protecting the family estates.)
Now a court supporter, Roger Boyle, Lord Broghill MP was amply rewarded with the confirmation of the Irish lands which he had acquired during the Interregnum, and on 5 Sept. 1660 he was created the 1st Earl of Orrery by Charles II. He was also appointed a lord justice in Ireland and Lord High President of Munster, and although he did not leave England until after the dissolution of the Convention Parliament, he played no further part in its proceedings.
Back in Munster, Orrery set about building his court and Manor House in the central location around the present-day Charleville, which, he said, at that time, "bore the heathenish name of Rathgoggan". On May 29, 1661 the foundation stone was laid for the erection of Charleville Manor House. https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl… https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
Claude Lamoral, 3rd Prince of Ligne, the ambassador from Spain, had been in England for about a month, and is now going home. He did come with 16 coaches and the necessary black horses -- will they all fit into one ketch?
Emilio: "This is the ambassador for the Spanish Netherlands in 1660."
Which made sense to me since he was born there, and married, by dispensation, to his cousin Maria Clara of Nassau, widow of his brother Albert Henry, who had died without issue.
But we had a discussion about who the Prince was representing starting at https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… and it was SPAIN and not the Spanish Netherlands.
Claude Lamoral, 3rd Prince of Ligne had been in England for about a month by the time he went home.
You're going to have to get used to Pepys having angst about money. He is surrounded by poverty. There are disabled sailors and soldiers, and poor widows and orphans from the Civil Wars everywhere. Elizabeth's father was a nobleman in France, and he is reduced to -- well, Pepys never quite tells us that, but we gather it isn't good. His mother came from a good family, and his father is clearly connected, and while John Snr. has a business and a house large enough for a family, he clearly has nothing saved for 'retirement'. And who will they look to when things go downhill? Pepys. There's no social security net or national health care. You're on your own.
Plus the Restoration is far from a done deal -- the reestablishment of the Church of England is unpopular, having unemployed bands of soldiers who have no other skill than fighting roaming around, and heavy taxation combine to make England ripe for trouble still.
And so, yes, "Send him to fetch a bone, and he fairly slathers with anticipation" -- that's true. He needs to become competent and irreplaceable fast, and realizes there's hugh potential at the Navy Board if he can catch on quickly enough. Sandwich is his ticket to freedom.
And those two bags of silver are all he's got if the unemployed soldiers and their Puritan noble friends get the upper hand again. It's also all Elizabeth has if he dies suddenly from smallpox.
We don't normally live with these basic levels of insecurity these days. We take the peaceful transfer of power from administration to administration for granted. We take penicillin for granted. A couple of years of COVID and the January 6 uprising have given me an appreciation of the anxiety Pepys lived with all the time.
Sir Thomas Gresham lived from 1519 to 1579 and -- amongst other things -- wrote about the value and minting of coins while working as a financier.
Gresham's Law is a principle that states that "bad money drives out good." The law observes that legally overvalued currency will drive legally undervalued currency out of circulation.
The law observes the effects of currency debasement.
I base the above on L&M: "William Brewer's bills ... for 'divers painted workes' at the Navy Office and at several lodgings there including Pepys', ... amount to over £50. Pepys’ house was clear of the painters by Christmas Day.”
Thanks, RM. The polished walls must have been beautiful.
It must have been difficult to live in the building while this was going on. Between the plasterers and the painters, the Pepys couldn't touch a wall for several weeks, so their furniture and clothing must have been in the middle of the rooms, covered by drop cloths.
I'm surprised they aren't sleeping in the office at this point.
"... went home, and there by promise met with Robert Shaw and Jack Spicer, who came to see me, and by the way I met upon Tower Hill with Mr. Pierce the surgeon and his wife, and took them home and did give them good wine, ale, and anchovies, and staid them till night, and so adieu.
"Then to look upon my painters that are now at work in my house."
The Pepys by arrangement and spontaneously had 4 people over for supper while the painters are still in the house? How did they do that? Elizabeth, Jane and Wayneman must have been moving furniture and cleaning all day to get that organized.
And Pepys? He spent the day hobnobbing with relatives and friends, drinking and eating at pubs, and watching an unusual service at Westminster Abbey. I don't blame him for staying out of the way, but adding to the chaos is a bit much.
"I and Lieut. Lambert to Westminster Abbey, where we saw Dr. Frewen translated to the Archbishoprick of York."
Pepys' academic interest in the Church of England continues. Last Sunday, he went to "see" Vespers at Westminster Abbey. Today, he goes to see 5 Bishops in their "habits" translate another bishop into an Archbishop. The Church as theater, or is he trying to understand this new theology?
"But, Lord! at their going out, how people did most of them look upon them as strange creatures, and few with any kind of love or respect." So Pepys was far from alone. Were these on-lookers poor people sheltering from whatever mother nature is doing outside, or people like Pepys, curious about this strange new regime? Bishops had such a bad reputation, these men are going to have to do good deeds for a long time to regain the love of the people. Is that even possible, or has Henry VIII's Reformation gone beyond Anglicanism for ever?
By Act of Parliament on November 18, 1652 Bishop Accepted Frewen's estate was declared forfeited for treason against the state. Luckily, by mistake, the act named "Stephen" Frewen. Later, Cromwell offered £1,000 to anyone who would bring him dead or alive. Again he was named as "Stephen" Frewen, and was able to escape to France, where he remained until about 1660.
When he returned to England, Bishop Accepted Frewen kept a low profile, living alternately with his nephew Thomas Frewen at Fulham, or at Banstead, or Rippington, Hampshire.
On 22 September, 1660 Bishop Accepted Frewen was nominated to the archbishopric of York, confirmed on 4 October and enthroned by proxy on 11 October. (AH-HA -- these dates must be N.S. - SDS)
On 25 March, 1661, Archbishop Accepted Frewen was appointed with others to undertake a revision of the Book of Common Prayer. When the Savoy Conference commenced at the Savoy Hospital, London on 15 April, 1661, he was the nominal chairman, at which he was described as "a mild and peaceable man who took no active part in the proceedings".
The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Accepted Frewen died at his palace of Bishopthorpe, near York, England on 28 March 1664 aged 75.
He was buried under the east window of York Minster on 3 May, 1664, where a monument with Latin inscription was erected in his memory by his nephew Thomas Frewen of Brickwall, Sussex, in 1736.
When he died, it is believed that Accepted was worth near £30,000. In his will he requested to be buried in Nortiam Church, if his executors could conveniently arrange it. He bequeathed the avowson of the parish of Northiam and his personal library to his nephew, Thomas Frewen. He bequeathed £1,000 to Magdalen College "my mother, that gave me my breeding". He bequeathed money to his sister Mary Bigge and her two sons John and William Bigge. The bulk of the rest of his estate, an amount of £27,000 went to his younger brother, the real Stephen Frewen.
Accepted Frewen (1588 – 1664) was born at at Carriers Farmhouse, Northiam, Sussex, the oldest son of John Frewen who was the rector there. The unusual forename is an example of the type of Puritan name not uncommon in the area in the late 16th century; one of his brothers was named Thankful Frewen.
Accepted's early education was at the Free Grammar School of Canterbury, and from 1604, a student and soon after a demy of Magdalen College, Oxford at 16.
He completed a bachelor degree in Arts at Magdalen College in 1609, and a Masters degree in 1612. Showing great proficiency in logic and philosophy, he was elected probationary fellow. He entered into holy orders in the same year, 1612, becoming a frequent preacher. He became a fellow at Magdalen in 1613, a position he held until 1626.
In 1614 Dr. Accepted Frewen was appointed Moral Philosophy lecturer, and in 1619 became a Bachelor of Divinity.
In 1617 Dr. Accepted Frewen acted as chaplain to Sir John Digby, who visited Spain as ambassador. In 1621 He went to Germany as (the now) Lord Digby's chaplain. He travelled to Spain with Lord Digby (now Earl of Bristol) again in 1622, where he preached before Prince Charles in Madrid. Prince Charles was so impressed he gave Frewen a small miniature of himself. When Prince Charles ascended to the throne in 1625, Dr. Accepted Frewen was included on the list of royal chaplains by King Charles' own hand.
In 1625 Dr. Accepted Frewen was elected vice-president of Magdalen College, and made a prebendary of Canterbury on 1 Sept. On 24 Oct., 1626 he was unanimously elected president of Magdalen, and took his degree of Doctor of Divinity. During this period there was much refitting and embellishment of the chapel and walks, much undertaken at Dr. Frewen's own expense.
In 1628-29 Dr. Accepted Frewen was vice-chancellor of Oxford On 6 Oct., 1631 took oaths to be installed as the Dean of Gloucester, a position he held until 1643. In 1635 he obtained the rectories of Stanlake in Oxfordshire, and Warnford, Hampshire.
Dr. Frewen was again vice chancellor of Magdalen College in 1638-9.
In 1642 Dr. Frewen assisted in raising funds for King Charles via the university, even providing £500 from his own funds. As a result of this, Parliament issued a warrant for his arrest on July 12, 1642. Dr. Frewen went into hiding, and did not return to Oxford until after the Battle of Edgehill when King Charles returned later that year.
As a reward for his loyalty, Dr. Frewen was nominated to the bishopric of Lichfield and Coventry on 17 August 1643. He was consecrated in April 1644 at Magdalen College chapel by John William, Archbishop of York, and the bishops of Worcester, Oxford, Salisbury and Peterborough.
Bishop Accepted Frewen resigned as president of Magdalen College on 11 May, 1644.
"... after dinner did discourse an hour with me, and advise about some way to get himself some money to make up for all his great expenses, saying that he believed that he might have any thing that he would ask of the King." ... "the Duke speak of a great design that he and my Lord of Pembroke have, and a great many others, of sending a venture to some parts of Africa to dig for gold ore there." ... "But I do not find that my Lord do much like it."
Sandwich knew too much, and didn't want to be involved, is my guess.
100 years before, Drake and the Gilberts had sailed the seven seas for Queen Elizabeth, capturing as much Spanish and Portuguese galleons carrying gold as possible. Amongst the cargo they had been puzzled to find black prisoners. England was no longer ignorant about slavery and the transporting of Africans to South America and the Caribbean. It was a nasty, smelly, unpleasant job, and no fighting courtier/Admiral would want to be involved in that for years on end.
If James was sincere about just bringing back gold, then Sandwich would be called upon to defend the treasure ships. He probably didn't see that as being desirable either. He's a courtier and a fighting admiral with a house and family in the country, not a merchant marine man like his Parliamentary colleague Vice Admiral John Lawson.
So Sandwich and Pepys brain-storm about other useful and profitable things for him to do so he can dodge this African opportunity.
This is a guess: the problem with organizing the Winter Guard this year is that so few ships are ship-shape. Yes, the money has been raised to pay off the Commonwealth army and a navy, but I don't think they had budgetted for repairing any ships.
That the Seething Lane houses (from the painting invoice it appears they are ALL being overhauled) using Navy workmen shows that they are not working on ships -- not that Seething Lane needed ALL the Navy's carpenters and painters, obviously, but if a massive repair program was underway. they wouldn't be fixing Pepys' floors and plastering and painting the Batten's kitchen etc.
Also, Parliament has approved paying off the sailors. But not for paying loyal sailors sailing into the future.
Given these realities, how to defend the country and the merchant fleets must have presented a big problem, and one reason Pepys doesn't have much to do at the office.
We are told that one of the 5 brothers had drowed at sea by now, and that their mother, Lady Anne Baker Bendish, died of the plague before 1661 in Constantinople, and was buried at Steeple Bumstead, Essex.
None of the free geneology sites mention sons, but 2 daughters are mentioned on one site.
L&M: Sir Thomas Bendish, until 1660 ambassador at Constantinople; his aunt had married Pepys' great-uncle, John Pepys of Cottenham. He had 5 sons.
In 2007, Lisa Lillie told us that Thomas Bendish kept a journal which she believed is housed in the Essex Record Office (ERO). Other substantial documents pertaining to the Bendish family are kept at the James Ford Bell Library at the University of Minnesota. https://www.essexrecordofficeblog… I was unsuccessful searching for BENDISH, so if you have more luck, please post info about what you find. However, it looks like a rich site for general information which might belong in this Pepys blog.
Comments
Third Reading
About William Spurstow
San Diego Sarah • Link
William Spurstowe, D.D. (1605?–1666), was a Calvinist puritan divine, son and heir of William Spurstowe, citizen and mercer of London, who was connected with the Spurstowes of Bunbury, Cheshire.
He was born in London about 1605.
He was admitted a pensioner at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 1623, graduated B.A. 1626, M.A. 1630, and obtained a fellowship at Catharine Hall, which he resigned in 1637.
He had been awarded a B.A. at Oxford on July 15, 1628.
His first preferment was the rectory of Great Hampden, Bucks., to which he was instituted June 30, 1638, although he signed the register as rector in August, 1637; he succeeded Egeon Askew who was buried on May 10, 1637.
His connection with the parliamentary leader John Hampden (1594–1643) probably provided his introduction to public life.
He was one of the 5 divines [see Thomas Smith’s "Select Memoirs of the English and Scottish Divines on Edmund Calamy, the elder"] who wrote in 1641 as “Smectymnvvs” (the last 3 letters being his initials [VVS, or WS]).
In 1642 he was chaplain to Hampden’s regiment of “green coats.”
With the other Smectymnuans he was included in the original summons (June 12, 1643) to the Westminster Assembly of divines, and took the “league and covenant” the following September.
He preached 4 times over the course of the Assembly to them on various subjects. Among these sermons were, “England’s Patterne and Duty” (1643), and “England’s Eminent Judgments” (1644).
On May 3, 1643 he succeeded Calybute Downing as vicar of Hackney, Middx.
On the deprivation (1645) of Ralph Brownrig he was put into the mastership of Catharine Hall, having been approved for it by the Westminster Assembly (May 12, 1645).
He had previously been approved (Feb. 17) for the mastership of Clare College, but this was given to Ralph Cudworth.
He was a member of the provincial assembly of London, and at its first meeting (May 3, 1647) was placed on its committee.
Spurstowe was one of the clerical commissioners appointed to confer with King Charles in the Isle of Wight (Sept.–Nov., 1648).
Clarendon affirms that he and William Jenkyn told King Charles “if he did not consent to the total abolishing of episcopacy, he would be damned.”
As it stands, the statement is not credible.
Spurstowe was strongly opposed to the judicial proceedings against the King, and in Jan. 1649 signed the “Vindication” promoted by Cornelius Burges, D.D., protesting the trial.
In "The Spiritual Chemyst", his 26th meditation is titled “Upon the Royal Oak,” which gives expression to his loyalty.
In 1649 he was made D.D.
He refused the engagement (Oct. 12, 1649) of allegiance to the existing government “without a king or a house of lords;” and, failing to take it by March 23, 1650, was deprived of his mastership of Catharine Hall, which, in Nov., was given to John Lightfoot (1602–1675).
About Sunday 7 October 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
I hope they remembered to discuss which ships Sandwich wants to take to pick up Queen Mother Henrietta Maria, or Pepys won't have anything to do tomorrow.
About Sunday 7 October 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
"After dinner to the Abbey, where I heard them read the church-service, but very ridiculously, that indeed I do not in myself like it at all."
I'm guessing he was at Evensong again, and had expected them to sing the service. Instead it was read, poorly -- after 15 years "in the wilderness" perhaps even CofE ministers were not that familiar with it, or the fellow mumbled?
"A poor cold sermon of Dr. Lamb’s, one of the prebends, in his habit, came afterwards,"
Pepys is looking for inspiration and an explanation of why the CofE is so much better than the nonconformist marathon sermons he's used to. They used to last for hours, and engaged the emotions.
The word 'habit' again -- Pepys probably didn't know the word 'vestments'.
"and so all ended, and by my troth a pitiful sorry devotion that these men pay."
No singing, no emotion, no engagement, no answers, no spirit. Pepys know this standard of presentation won't win Puritan men's hearts away from their nonconformist ways.
About Saturday 6 October 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
"How did she know when to eat without him? Seems like sometimes he brings home dinner and sometimes not."
They used boys and notes, Annie. Wayneman Birch is Elizabeth's pair of extra legs. Will Hewer has been travelling with Pepys.
It's so normal to them that Pepys rarely mentions it, just as you don't tell Dear Diary that you took your cell/mobile phone with you.
If all else fails, there are boys on the street who, for a tip, will run errands, but since they owe no allegiance to the sender, that's more risky.
But I agree, whenever someone does something spontaneous, it can create a problem somewhere else.
But people did overcook, as feeding drop-in friends for tthe main meal at dinner/lunch time was taken for granted.
You'll note how often Pepys mentions that someone sends him a pie or a roast or a box of oysters, so they shared excess with their friends.
Also we noted with surprise a couple of months ago, how long a venison pie would still be edible.
Leftovers would normally be eaten for supper.
Given Elizabeth's youth, beauty and history (she's about to turn 20), and Pepys' possessiveness, I'm also surprised how often he's out late drinking with his old friends from the Exchequor days. I think she must be getting truly miffed and bored by now, no matter how nice her house looks.
About Saturday 6 October 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
My copy of Evelyn's Diary is clearer than Vincent's:
John Evelyn's Diary – he and Mary Browne Evelyn live at Saye's Court, Deptford.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4…
"I paid the great tax of poll money, levied for disbanding the army, till now kept up.
"I paid as an Esquire 10/., and one shilling for every servant in my house."
@@@
How much did he pay for Mrs. Evelyn?
About Saturday 6 October 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
Roger Boyle, Lord Broghill, 1st Earl of Orrery, 1621-1679 -- Before the monarchy was restored, Roger Boyle, Baron Broghill switched sides and backed Charles II. (His older brother, Richard, 2nd Earl of Cork, fought for the King, so Roger had been the right-hand man in Ireland to Cromwell, and between them they protecting the family estates.)
Now a court supporter, Roger Boyle, Lord Broghill MP was amply rewarded with the confirmation of the Irish lands which he had acquired during the Interregnum, and on 5 Sept. 1660 he was created the 1st Earl of Orrery by Charles II.
He was also appointed a lord justice in Ireland and Lord High President of Munster, and although he did not leave England until after the dissolution of the Convention Parliament, he played no further part in its proceedings.
Back in Munster, Orrery set about building his court and Manor House in the central location around the present-day Charleville, which, he said, at that time, "bore the heathenish name of Rathgoggan".
On May 29, 1661 the foundation stone was laid for the erection of Charleville Manor House.
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
About Saturday 6 October 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
Claude Lamoral, 3rd Prince of Ligne, the ambassador from Spain, had been in England for about a month, and is now going home. He did come with 16 coaches and the necessary black horses -- will they all fit into one ketch?
About Claude Lamoral (Prince de Ligne)
San Diego Sarah • Link
Emilio: "This is the ambassador for the Spanish Netherlands in 1660."
Which made sense to me since he was born there, and married, by dispensation, to his cousin Maria Clara of Nassau, widow of his brother Albert Henry, who had died without issue.
But we had a discussion about who the Prince was representing starting at
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
and it was SPAIN and not the Spanish Netherlands.
Claude Lamoral, 3rd Prince of Ligne had been in England for about a month by the time he went home.
About Monday 1 October 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
You're going to have to get used to Pepys having angst about money. He is surrounded by poverty.
There are disabled sailors and soldiers, and poor widows and orphans from the Civil Wars everywhere.
Elizabeth's father was a nobleman in France, and he is reduced to -- well, Pepys never quite tells us that, but we gather it isn't good.
His mother came from a good family, and his father is clearly connected, and while John Snr. has a business and a house large enough for a family, he clearly has nothing saved for 'retirement'.
And who will they look to when things go downhill? Pepys.
There's no social security net or national health care. You're on your own.
Plus the Restoration is far from a done deal -- the reestablishment of the Church of England is unpopular, having unemployed bands of soldiers who have no other skill than fighting roaming around, and heavy taxation combine to make England ripe for trouble still.
And so, yes, "Send him to fetch a bone, and he fairly slathers with anticipation" -- that's true. He needs to become competent and irreplaceable fast, and realizes there's hugh potential at the Navy Board if he can catch on quickly enough. Sandwich is his ticket to freedom.
And those two bags of silver are all he's got if the unemployed soldiers and their Puritan noble friends get the upper hand again.
It's also all Elizabeth has if he dies suddenly from smallpox.
We don't normally live with these basic levels of insecurity these days. We take the peaceful transfer of power from administration to administration for granted. We take penicillin for granted.
A couple of years of COVID and the January 6 uprising have given me an appreciation of the anxiety Pepys lived with all the time.
About Monday 1 October 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
Gresham's Law for us non-financial folk:
Sir Thomas Gresham lived from 1519 to 1579 and -- amongst other things -- wrote about the value and minting of coins while working as a financier.
Gresham's Law is a principle that states that "bad money drives out good."
The law observes that legally overvalued currency will drive legally undervalued currency out of circulation.
The law observes the effects of currency debasement.
Same man who started the Royal Exchange and Gresham College, which continues today providing free education to anyone who walks into a lecture, or looks them up on line:
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
About Thursday 4 October 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
I base the above on
L&M: "William Brewer's bills ... for 'divers painted workes' at the Navy Office and at several lodgings there including Pepys', ... amount to over £50. Pepys’ house was clear of the painters by Christmas Day.”
About Monday 1 October 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
Thanks, RM. The polished walls must have been beautiful.
It must have been difficult to live in the building while this was going on. Between the plasterers and the painters, the Pepys couldn't touch a wall for several weeks, so their furniture and clothing must have been in the middle of the rooms, covered by drop cloths.
I'm surprised they aren't sleeping in the office at this point.
About Thursday 4 October 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
"... went home, and there by promise met with Robert Shaw and Jack Spicer, who came to see me, and by the way I met upon Tower Hill with Mr. Pierce the surgeon and his wife, and took them home and did give them good wine, ale, and anchovies, and staid them till night, and so adieu.
"Then to look upon my painters that are now at work in my house."
The Pepys by arrangement and spontaneously had 4 people over for supper while the painters are still in the house? How did they do that? Elizabeth, Jane and Wayneman must have been moving furniture and cleaning all day to get that organized.
And Pepys? He spent the day hobnobbing with relatives and friends, drinking and eating at pubs, and watching an unusual service at Westminster Abbey.
I don't blame him for staying out of the way, but adding to the chaos is a bit much.
About Thursday 4 October 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
"I and Lieut. Lambert to Westminster Abbey, where we saw Dr. Frewen translated to the Archbishoprick of York."
Pepys' academic interest in the Church of England continues. Last Sunday, he went to "see" Vespers at Westminster Abbey. Today, he goes to see 5 Bishops in their "habits" translate another bishop into an Archbishop.
The Church as theater, or is he trying to understand this new theology?
"But, Lord! at their going out, how people did most of them look upon them as strange creatures, and few with any kind of love or respect."
So Pepys was far from alone. Were these on-lookers poor people sheltering from whatever mother nature is doing outside, or people like Pepys, curious about this strange new regime?
Bishops had such a bad reputation, these men are going to have to do good deeds for a long time to regain the love of the people. Is that even possible, or has Henry VIII's Reformation gone beyond Anglicanism for ever?
About Dr Frewen
San Diego Sarah • Link
PART 2
By Act of Parliament on November 18, 1652 Bishop Accepted Frewen's estate was declared forfeited for treason against the state. Luckily, by mistake, the act named "Stephen" Frewen.
Later, Cromwell offered £1,000 to anyone who would bring him dead or alive. Again he was named as "Stephen" Frewen, and was able to escape to France, where he remained until about 1660.
When he returned to England, Bishop Accepted Frewen kept a low profile, living alternately with his nephew Thomas Frewen at Fulham, or at Banstead, or Rippington, Hampshire.
On 22 September, 1660 Bishop Accepted Frewen was nominated to the archbishopric of York, confirmed on 4 October and enthroned by proxy on 11 October. (AH-HA -- these dates must be N.S. - SDS)
On 25 March, 1661, Archbishop Accepted Frewen was appointed with others to undertake a revision of the Book of Common Prayer.
When the Savoy Conference commenced at the Savoy Hospital, London on 15 April, 1661, he was the nominal chairman, at which he was described as "a mild and peaceable man who took no active part in the proceedings".
The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Accepted Frewen died at his palace of Bishopthorpe, near York, England on 28 March 1664 aged 75.
He was buried under the east window of York Minster on 3 May, 1664, where a monument with Latin inscription was erected in his memory by his nephew Thomas Frewen of Brickwall, Sussex, in 1736.
When he died, it is believed that Accepted was worth near £30,000.
In his will he requested to be buried in Nortiam Church, if his executors could conveniently arrange it.
He bequeathed the avowson of the parish of Northiam and his personal library to his nephew, Thomas Frewen.
He bequeathed £1,000 to Magdalen College "my mother, that gave me my breeding".
He bequeathed money to his sister Mary Bigge and her two sons John and William Bigge.
The bulk of the rest of his estate, an amount of £27,000 went to his younger brother, the real Stephen Frewen.
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Fre…
About Dr Frewen
San Diego Sarah • Link
Accepted Frewen (1588 – 1664) was born at at Carriers Farmhouse, Northiam, Sussex, the oldest son of John Frewen who was the rector there. The unusual forename is an example of the type of Puritan name not uncommon in the area in the late 16th century; one of his brothers was named Thankful Frewen.
Accepted's early education was at the Free Grammar School of Canterbury, and from 1604, a student and soon after a demy of Magdalen College, Oxford at 16.
He completed a bachelor degree in Arts at Magdalen College in 1609, and a Masters degree in 1612.
Showing great proficiency in logic and philosophy, he was elected probationary fellow. He entered into holy orders in the same year, 1612, becoming a frequent preacher.
He became a fellow at Magdalen in 1613, a position he held until 1626.
In 1614 Dr. Accepted Frewen was appointed Moral Philosophy lecturer, and in 1619 became a Bachelor of Divinity.
In 1617 Dr. Accepted Frewen acted as chaplain to Sir John Digby, who visited Spain as ambassador.
In 1621 He went to Germany as (the now) Lord Digby's chaplain.
He travelled to Spain with Lord Digby (now Earl of Bristol) again in 1622, where he preached before Prince Charles in Madrid. Prince Charles was so impressed he gave Frewen a small miniature of himself.
When Prince Charles ascended to the throne in 1625, Dr. Accepted Frewen was included on the list of royal chaplains by King Charles' own hand.
In 1625 Dr. Accepted Frewen was elected vice-president of Magdalen College, and made a prebendary of Canterbury on 1 Sept.
On 24 Oct., 1626 he was unanimously elected president of Magdalen, and took his degree of Doctor of Divinity. During this period there was much refitting and embellishment of the chapel and walks, much undertaken at Dr. Frewen's own expense.
In 1628-29 Dr. Accepted Frewen was vice-chancellor of Oxford
On 6 Oct., 1631 took oaths to be installed as the Dean of Gloucester, a position he held until 1643.
In 1635 he obtained the rectories of Stanlake in Oxfordshire, and Warnford, Hampshire.
Dr. Frewen was again vice chancellor of Magdalen College in 1638-9.
In 1642 Dr. Frewen assisted in raising funds for King Charles via the university, even providing £500 from his own funds. As a result of this, Parliament issued a warrant for his arrest on July 12, 1642.
Dr. Frewen went into hiding, and did not return to Oxford until after the Battle of Edgehill when King Charles returned later that year.
As a reward for his loyalty, Dr. Frewen was nominated to the bishopric of Lichfield and Coventry on 17 August 1643.
He was consecrated in April 1644 at Magdalen College chapel by John William, Archbishop of York, and the bishops of Worcester, Oxford, Salisbury and Peterborough.
Bishop Accepted Frewen resigned as president of Magdalen College on 11 May, 1644.
About Wednesday 3 October 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
"... after dinner did discourse an hour with me, and advise about some way to get himself some money to make up for all his great expenses, saying that he believed that he might have any thing that he would ask of the King." ...
"the Duke speak of a great design that he and my Lord of Pembroke have, and a great many others, of sending a venture to some parts of Africa to dig for gold ore there." ...
"But I do not find that my Lord do much like it."
Sandwich knew too much, and didn't want to be involved, is my guess.
100 years before, Drake and the Gilberts had sailed the seven seas for Queen Elizabeth, capturing as much Spanish and Portuguese galleons carrying gold as possible. Amongst the cargo they had been puzzled to find black prisoners.
England was no longer ignorant about slavery and the transporting of Africans to South America and the Caribbean.
It was a nasty, smelly, unpleasant job, and no fighting courtier/Admiral would want to be involved in that for years on end.
If James was sincere about just bringing back gold, then Sandwich would be called upon to defend the treasure ships. He probably didn't see that as being desirable either. He's a courtier and a fighting admiral with a house and family in the country, not a merchant marine man like his Parliamentary colleague Vice Admiral John Lawson.
So Sandwich and Pepys brain-storm about other useful and profitable things for him to do so he can dodge this African opportunity.
About Wednesday 3 October 1660
San Diego Sarah • Link
This is a guess: the problem with organizing the Winter Guard this year is that so few ships are ship-shape. Yes, the money has been raised to pay off the Commonwealth army and a navy, but I don't think they had budgetted for repairing any ships.
That the Seething Lane houses (from the painting invoice it appears they are ALL being overhauled) using Navy workmen shows that they are not working on ships -- not that Seething Lane needed ALL the Navy's carpenters and painters, obviously, but if a massive repair program was underway. they wouldn't be fixing Pepys' floors and plastering and painting the Batten's kitchen etc.
Also, Parliament has approved paying off the sailors. But not for paying loyal sailors sailing into the future.
Given these realities, how to defend the country and the merchant fleets must have presented a big problem, and one reason Pepys doesn't have much to do at the office.
About Thomas Bendish
San Diego Sarah • Link
L&M: Sir Thomas Bendish, until 1660 ambassador at Constantinople; his aunt had married Pepys' great-uncle, John Pepys of Cottenham. He had 5 sons.
Amb. Sir Thomas Bendish, 2nd Bart.'s biography is at
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
We are told that one of the 5 brothers had drowed at sea by now, and that their mother, Lady Anne Baker Bendish, died of the plague before 1661 in Constantinople, and was buried at Steeple Bumstead, Essex.
None of the free geneology sites mention sons, but 2 daughters are mentioned on one site.
About Sir Thomas Bendish (2nd Baronet)
San Diego Sarah • Link
L&M: Sir Thomas Bendish, until 1660 ambassador at Constantinople; his aunt had married Pepys' great-uncle, John Pepys of Cottenham. He had 5 sons.
In 2007, Lisa Lillie told us that Thomas Bendish kept a journal which she believed is housed in the Essex Record Office (ERO).
Other substantial documents pertaining to the Bendish family are kept at the James Ford Bell Library at the University of Minnesota.
https://www.essexrecordofficeblog…
I was unsuccessful searching for BENDISH, so if you have more luck, please post info about what you find.
However, it looks like a rich site for general information which might belong in this Pepys blog.