Paul Miller on 11 Feb 2003  •  Link

"Mr. Swan, who took me to the Court of Wards," The Court of Wards was abolished officially by Charles II in 1660 but I believe the Long Parliament had really ended it a few years earlier. So I wonder at Pepys being there.

Eric Walla on 11 Feb 2003  •  Link

So do we have Squib to thank ...

... for Downing Street? Having lost his house and office Downing had to have some place to hang his hat. Do we have a Downing Street timeline ... (oops, just checked. Built in 1684).

David Quidnunc on 11 Feb 2003  •  Link

People

According to Robert Latham's index volume (11) to the Latham & Matthews edition of the diary:

SCOBELL, Henry -- clerk of the Parliament. He was mentioned in 9 January in a story about some members of Parliament criticizing him, this time the rough handling is by . . .

FOUNTAINE, John -- a commissioner of the Great Seal.

MOORE, Henry -- both a lawyer and Montagu's "man of business." Pepys sees quite a lot of him. (This is the only Moore in the diary for the first two years.)

language hat on 11 Feb 2003  •  Link

Court of Wards (OED):
A court established by Hen. VIII for the trial of causes relating to wardships; subsequently called Court of Wards and Liveries; abolished by Stat. 12 Car. II. cap. 24 (1660).
[Seems to have been functioning the year before:]
1659 Burton's Diary (1828) IV. 438 The Committee thought it reasonable to..adjourn to the Inner Court of Wards, he being scandalized to stand at that bar where he had been judge of the Court.

Pauline on 11 Feb 2003  •  Link

"...what Monk had done in the City.."
For a timeline of these times of transition:

http://www.skyhook.co.uk/civwar/t…

I think this has already been offered, so let me also introduce you to a consortium of independent booksellers from every corner of the English-speaking world--for books such as Liza Picard's "Restoration London":

abebooks.com

George Feldan on 11 Feb 2003  •  Link

There is also a Downing Street in New York City's Greenwich Village and George Downing is possibly the eponym. "The Street Book, an Encyclopedia of Manhattan's Street Names and Their Origins" by Henry Moscow (1978) says that one candidate was an oyster house named "Downing's". It then continues: "Another possible namesake is the Sir George Downing whom London's Downing Street commemorates....His possible claim to immortalization here--in the naming of Downing Street--is based on the fact that he was Britain's envoy in the Netherlands when the Dutch handed over New Orange (New Amsterdam) to the British in 1674 in exchange for Surinam. Although he was not the chief negotiator of the deal, historians suspect that he played an influential part."

David Quidnunc on 11 Feb 2003  •  Link

"From rotten members preserve our wives!
From the mercy of a Rump, our estates and our lives!
For they must needs go whom the Devil drives,
Which nobody can deny."

-- last stanza of "A New-Year's Gift For The Rump" a Cavalier ballad, apparently written for New Year's Day 1659/60. By this point, regular readers of this website should actually understand most of the references in the ballad. Full text here:

http://www.acronet.net/~robokopp/…

Derek on 11 Feb 2003  •  Link

Thanks for the ballad reference, David! It's wonderfully robust in the expression of its sentiments (albeit sadly Royalist!) and repays reading in its entirety.

Jenny Doughty on 11 Feb 2003  •  Link

'the foreman of the jury brought in 10l. damages, which the whole Court cried shame of, and so he cried 12d'
Was it normal procedure in a trial in those days for the jury to set damages? And to change them according to the response of people in the court? It's a long way down from £10 to 12d!

Keith Wright on 11 Feb 2003  •  Link

Perhaps it was a token judgment? Even now one hears of cases where the plaintiff wins, and is awarded $1 damages---either because the suit was brought to make a point and made it, money not being the issue; or as if to say, "Yes, you made your point, but we don't think much of it"?

gerry on 11 Feb 2003  •  Link

A fairly recent case of token damages occured when the author Leon Uris was sued over references in one of his books to a doctor who had supposedly worked in a concentration camp.(My memory is a bit hazy). The plaintiff was awarded a farthing in damages by the jury.

Paul Miller on 11 Feb 2003  •  Link

The Court of Wards was a financial institution, responsible for collecting these feudal revenues. However, it also had to cope with the practical and legal consequences arising from wardship and livery. When feudal tenures were abolished by the Long Parliament in 1645, the Court also came to an end. The abolition of the Court was confirmed by Charles II in 1660 (12 Charles II c. 24). ---- UK Public Record Office Online

Derek on 11 Feb 2003  •  Link

Today's entry deals with two separate entities in the complex English legal system. Sam attends first the Court of Wards - simply as an observer. As Language Hat has noted, this was set up by Henry VIII. Its function was not dissimilar to the current courts of Probate:

"Until 1660, when a landholder died, his heir, if of age, had to pay a fee called livery to the Crown before taking possession of the land. If under age, the heir became a ward of the Crown. Crown jurisdiction was determined by an inquisition post mortem. Records of inquisitions may list heirs, their relationships to the deceased, and land holdings. The practice of selling the Crown’s guardianship to a third party led to the Court of Wards and Liveries, which was a source of funds for the government."
http://www.ramsdale.org/probater.…

Then Sam goes (twice) to the Exchequer to deputise for his employer Mr Downing in the case against Squibb. This is one of the three royal courts established in Westminster by Edward I c. 1278:

"The Court of Exchequer, presided over by the Barons, dealt principally with matters pertaining to the royal revenues but also handled some civil issues
* The Court of King's (or Queen's) Bench, presided over by Chief Justices or Judges, handled cases in which the King was deemed to have an interest
* The Court of Common Pleas, presided over by Chief Justices or Judges, handled civil cases

There were also other courts, for example, the Court of Chancery (i.e. the Court of the Lord Chancellor) which was supposed to provide some kind of alternative to the harshness of common law - to provide what was known as "Equity" - but became the bureaucratic nightmare that Dickens depicts in "Bleak House".

Sam is angry when the judgement goes against Downing but it is indeed a remarkable adjustment in damages from £10 to 1 shilling!

Nix on 11 Feb 2003  •  Link

The point of "wardship" --

and hence of the Court of Wards -- was, of course, money. The guardian got the income from the ward's estate until the ward reached the age of majority; the only cost was supporting the ward as one more member of his household. We may presume that, in the case of a wealthy ward, the guardian also got something extra to marry the ward off to a grateful and grasping family.

j.simmons on 11 Feb 2003  •  Link

Thank you David for the ballad and Derek for that thorough listing of the various courts...very interesting. But Derek, don't repine re the ballad, Cavaliers are suppose to have more fun!

steve h on 11 Feb 2003  •  Link

puisne barons

Why are the judges of the court of the exchqeuer called barons, I wondered, thinking they couldn't be real barons in 1660?

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica to the rescue.
"the upper exchequer, which was a court sitting twice a year to settle accounts ... The constitution of the court was that of the normal Frankish curia. The king was the nominal president, and the court consisted of his great officers of state and his barons, or tenants-in-chief, and it is doubtless due to the fact that the exchequer was originally the curia itself sitting for a special purpose that its unofficial judges retained the name of 'barons' until recent times. "

According to the 1913 Webster's Dictionary, online, "The judges of this court were one chief and four puisne barons, so styled ." Puisne is related to puny, but meant lesser in rank, junior (not undersized, but it's tempting to think of them as weaklings). Isn't English a great language?

The Webster unabridged 1913, another top online resource, is at:

http://humanities.uchicago.edu/fo…

steve h on 11 Feb 2003  •  Link

More on Monk's entry into London

The suspense about what Monk would do next is palpable. This is seconded by this passage from Macaulay's masterful history of England, another great online resource.
"In the mean time Monk was advancing towards London. Wherever he came, the gentry flocked round him, imploring him to use his power for the purpose of restoring peace and liberty to the distracted nation. The General, coldblooded, taciturn, zealous for no polity and for no religion, maintained an impenetrable reserve. What were at this time his plans, and whether he had any plan, may well be doubted. His great object, apparently, was to keep himself, as long as possible, free to choose between several lines of action. Such, indeed, is commonly the policy of men who are, like him, distinguished rather by wariness than by farsightedness. It was probably not till he had been some days in the capital that he had made up his mind. The cry of the whole people was for a free Parliament; and there could be no doubt that a Parliament really free would instantly restore the exiled family. The Rump and the soldiers were still hostile to the House of Stuart. But the Rump was universally detested and despised. The power of the soldiers was indeed still formidable, but had been greatly diminished by discord. They had no head. They had recently been, in many parts of the country, arrayed against each other. On the very day before Monk reached London, there was a fight in the Strand between the cavalry and the infantry. An united army had long kept down a divided nation; but the nation was now united, and the army was divided."

You can read more (plot spoilers if you don't want to know what happens next):

http://www.strecorsoc.org/macaula…
"

Pauline on 11 Feb 2003  •  Link

...the exchequer was originally the curia itself sitting for a special purpose...

From the same dictionery link; a curia is "The court of a sovereign or of a feudal lord." And clear in context.

"Frankish curia" must mean that the setup was an import from the Franks (germanic, extending to The Netherlands and down the Rhine valley).

Thanks, Steve, for the Monck annotation. The more I understand what Monck is doing, the more I understand what Sam is seeing and hearing during these days.

Derek on 12 Feb 2003  •  Link

'"Frankish curia" must mean that the setup was an import from the Franks…’
That’s right, Pauline. For more on development of English systems of justice, see for instance the 1911 Brittanica’s entry on the role of Chancellor:

’..The barbarian kingdoms which arose on the ruin of the empire in the West copied more or less intelligently the Roman model in all their judicial and financial administration. Under the Frankish kings of the Merovingian dynasty the cancellarii were subordinates of the great officer of state called the referendarius, who was the predecessor of the more modern chancellor…The model of the Carolingian court was followed by the medieval states of Western Europe.’
http://30.1911encyclopedia.org/C/…

michael f vincent on 12 Feb 2003  •  Link

Name of the game, from a cynic .
Which team to be on.

language hat on 12 Feb 2003  •  Link

"1911 Encyclopedia Britannica to the rescue"
Indeed! What a great reference book. Thanks, steve h. and Derek, for the timely quotations; they add greatly to understanding of what's going on.

Bob Gregory on 15 Nov 2003  •  Link

I beleive the Squibb referred to is a Lawrence Squibb, a teller for the Royal Exchequer. Does anyone know anything about Mr. Squibb's background and history as I am doing some research related to him.

Terry Foreman on 26 Dec 2016  •  Link

"In the morning I went to Mr. Swan, who took me to the Court of Wards, where I saw the three Lords Commissioners sitting upon some cause where Mr. Scobell was concerned, and my Lord Fountaine took him up very roughly about some things that he said."

L&M note this was a Chancery case: the Commissioners of the Great Seal sat in what had been ntil 1646 the Court of Wards by Westminster Hall.

The Court of Wards and Liveries was a court established during the reign of Henry VIII in England. Its purpose was to administer a system of feudal dues; but as well as the revenue collection, the court was also responsible for wardship and livery issues....In February 1646 (New Style), during the English Civil War, the Court of Wards and Liveries lost its principal function, due to the abolition by the Long Parliament of feudal tenure. The court was formally abolished soon after the Restoration of the monarchy by the Tenures Abolition Act 1660 (12 Charles II c. 24). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cou…

Terry Foreman on 17 Mar 2017  •  Link

"I beleive the Squibb referred to is a Lawrence Squibb, a teller for the Royal Exchequer. Does anyone know anything about Mr. Squibb's background and history as I am doing some research related to him."

L&M say National Archives records show this is not the Squibb you seek. The case concerned possession of a house in Westminster owned by Arthur Squibb (once Teller of the Exchequer) and occupied by William wan. William Beaver, Squibb's tenant, brought an action of trespass and ejection: PRO, E13/637, m.25; E 12/19, p.21.

Terry Foreman on 21 Mar 2017  •  Link

"A NEW-YEARS-GIFT FOR THE RUMP."

English Broadside Ballad Archive
https://ebba.english.ucsb.edu/bal…

San Diego Sarah on 22 Jun 2018  •  Link

OH ... "The case concerned possession of a house in Westminster owned by Arthur Squibb (once Teller of the Exchequer) and occupied by William wan. William Beaver, Squibb's tenant, brought an action of trespass and ejection"

Arthur Squibb/William Beaver have repossessed the house and office PREMISES from Downing, not taken Downing's job.

I suspect there's going to be a lot more cases about who owns which house shortly!

Terry Foreman on 31 May 2021  •  Link

"and [Mt, Moore] also told me what Monk had done in the City, how he had pulled down the most part of the gates and chains that they could break down, and that he was now gone back to White Hall."

L&M: [Squibb] went back on the evening of this day, against parliament's wishes. His officers and men had refused to complete the work of destroying the city's defenses.

Terry Foreman on 31 May 2021  •  Link

"how he had pulled down the most part of the gates and chains that they could break down, and that he was now gone back to White Hall."

L&M: This order was made not on the 10th, but on the afternoon of the 9th: CJ, vii. 838.

San Diego Sarah on 18 Jun 2022  •  Link

http://brittlebooks.library.illin…

John Evelyn's Diary – he and Mary Browne Evelyn live at Saye's Court, Deptford.

@@@

10 February, 1660.
Now were the gates of the city broken down by Gen. Monck; which exceedingly exasperated the city, the soldiers marching up and down as triumphing over it, and all the old army of the fanatics put out of their posts and sent out of town.

@@@

Gen. George Monck
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…

Sarah C on 11 Feb 2023  •  Link

I've just read through the annotations and I see no explanation of the 'cancer in my mouth' comment. Any thoughts anyone?

Stephane Chenard on 11 Feb 2023  •  Link

So "the City look mighty blank, and cannot tell what in the world to do". Seems an opportune day for taking care of that canker, while all in Westminster are in suspended animation (and by the way Sam, we know you're a hypochondriac but we googled "mouth ulcers" and found alcohol only makes them worse, OK?)

A quick look at the State Papers convinces us that things are really starting to fall apart. Viz, three successive orders to colonels in Stafford, and York, and Norfolk, re "several meetings tending to the disturbance of the peace", all the way to humble towns like Lynn. Aye, red lights are blinking all over the map of England in the Council of State's Situation Room.

And Monk, what of him? Mercurius Politicus says he spent the night at Whitehall, but, having digested yesterday's events and the public reaction thereto, this morning "first giveinge notis to his
head officers" - the French Gazette says he reviewed the troops - then "hee thought fitt to returne againe into the Citty with his whole army, for that action don in the Citty was only in obedence to the Parliment, but that hee was ashamed that they should act so hight". In other words, he's having his own conversations "in the Citty", and he's openly breaking off to his own agenda. Oooh, can't wait to see what happens tomorrow.

Ensign Tom on 11 Feb 2023  •  Link

Responding to Sarah C. above -- Check out the annotations for the previous day, February 9th, for more info on Sam's canker sore.

Ensign Tom on 11 Feb 2023  •  Link

“Thence I went home … and there I found Mr. Moore … At home I found Mr. Hunt …”

One of the things that strikes me in reading the Diary is how people—Londoners, anyway—in Pepys’ time seem to have had a habit of just dropping in to visit their friends, neighbours, and business associates. Sam doesn’t seem at all surprised or annoyed that Mr. Moore and Mr. Hunt feel free to show up at his door apparently unannounced. There are numerous other incidents throughout the Diary where Sam describes people arriving at his house at almost any hour of the day expecting to visit, be entertained, enjoy a musical interlude, share a meal, and even stay overnight.

Occasionally, one reads of Sam receiving a note or a messenger telling him of someone wanting to see him at home, but for the most part it appears that people—Sam included—simply showed up at their friends’ homes taking their chances on whether or not the person they wanted to see would be present or willing to receive them. Perhaps it’s just me, but I would find that irksome.

Of course, the 17th century lacked telephones and other modern communications, and I don’t claim to be an authority on the evolution of social practices, but it does seem as if in Sam’s time the present concept of the private home hadn't fully developed, and the family home was still, in some ways, a community arena.

San Diego Sarah on 12 Feb 2023  •  Link

I blame TV, Ensign Tom. Most of us have a closer fantasy connection with the daily news readers and talk radio hosts than we have with our neighbors. There is constant noise so our brains have little time for meditating, problem solving or form a desire to play an instrument, or committing to annotate the diary of a long-dead bureaucrat for 9-1/2 years.

As you say, Pepys lived in a more communal way: They took their roast to the bake shop because their home stove couldn't handle it. Someone went shopping every day, and brought home the news from the market. When someone died, everyone went to the church funeral to support the bereft family. There were no public conveniences (toilets) so if you had to go, preferably you visited someone's house that you knew. News was passed verbally; newsletters were read aloud and discussed. Doing the monthly wash was an enormous chore, so local women were hired to help out. People had a tailor or dressmaker. If you played music, you sought out a band. Outside influence was everywhere.

The single family unit we know was an invention by our income tax codes, which require people to be profit centers capable of being self-sustaining. Until 1913 no such idea existed.
The tax codes were based on the number of windows in your house, and tariffs on imports.

I don't blame radio for breaking the community spirit: people sat on their front porch or steps and listened while watching children play and acknowledging the neighbors walking by. If you heard something interesting while out, you could stop and share the moment with the neighbor.
It is these passing connections which add color, flavor and meaning to our lives, and which fill Pepys' diary.

So I think it's addiction to TV and video games that has us locked in the house with the curtains drawn, fearful that the people next door will mow their lawn, and spoil our enjoyment of the latest episode of QAnon. (The Popish Plot enables me to believe that this latest global insanity will be exposed and debunked in good time.) All we have to do is call a restaurant and dinner will be delivered. We don't even have to say "thank you" -- the food is left on the doorstep and a text says it's here.

Human beings are not designed for this. Community is one reason people who have been in the military often remember it as being the high point of their lives. They had to lean on and support their fellow recruits. Everyone had a part to play, and everyone was essential.

That is also the attraction of gangs and communes. Everyone counts. Everyone is seen and heard. Everyone is important.

Pepys experienced that village and community cohesion, and knew it on a cellular level, which we largely do not know. It's one reason he knew the Navy had to change. Wealthy captains can't mistreat an impressed crew and then expect to have an effective, unified fighting force.

Plan B on 12 Feb 2023  •  Link

So true SDS. My wife and I were just talking about how in the communities we grew up in - and her family more so in East Africa - the women would be in and out of each others houses in the day time while the men were at work in their own social world of business and industry. Will we ever get back to the society we had in the past? Sadly not, I fear

Ensign Tom on 12 Feb 2023  •  Link

Thanks, San Diego Sarah, for your thoughtful response to my comment from February 11th. I agree with your opinion of the pernicious influence of TV and other modern technology. I don't have a bank card as I prefer to do all my banking face-to-face. For the same reason, I avoid the self check-out lanes at the grocery store. But at the same time, without the internet we wouldn't be able to share our interest in the life and times of Samuel Pepys with other people around the world. I guess it all confirms the truth of the old saying that "There's no free lunch" and that everything comes with a trade-off.

Phil Gyford on 14 Feb 2023  •  Link

Just a little nudge about annotations… while it is often useful to compare Pepys' life and world to our own, this isn't the place for discussions of the modern world and our opinions of it. Annotations are for discussing and making sense of what Pepys writes, for readers today and in the future. Thanks.

Stephane Chenard on 15 Feb 2023  •  Link

The weekly dispatches of Venetian ambassador Giavarina reach us only now (at https://www.british-history.ac.uk…) the mails being disturbed. In his dated February 20th (new style; today, old style) he agrees with our earlier comment, "Oooh, can't wait to see what happens tomorrow".

But his tone is darker: "It will be interesting to see what follows and it is much to be feared that in the end London will be put to the sack. The soldiers long for it and make this known everywhere, and certainly if it is granted them they will find incalculable wealth."

The soldiers in question being the mutinous ones that Monk is now trying to push to the countryside and replacing with his own. Note the codicil, "if it is granted" - sacking London perhaps being something that requires permission from, well, someone. It puts in context other reports of folks offering them money.