Saturday 14 November 1663

Up and to the office, where we sat, and after we had almost done, Sir W. Batten desired to have the room cleared, and there he did acquaint the board how he was obliged to answer to something lately said which did reflect upon the Comptroller and him, and to that purpose told how the bargain for Winter’s timber did not prove so bad as I had reported to the board it would. After he had done I cleared the matter that I did not mention the business as a thing designed by me against them, but was led to it by Sir J. Minnes, and that I said nothing but what I was told by Mayers the surveyor as much as by Deane upon whom they laid all the fault, which I must confess did and do still trouble me, for they report him to be a fellow not fit to be employed, when in my conscience he deserves better than any officer in the yard. I thought it not convenient to vindicate him much now, but time will serve when I will do it, and I am bound to do it. I offered to proceed to examine and prove what I said if they please, but Mr. Coventry most discreetly advised not, it being to no purpose, and that he did believe that what I said did not by my manner of speaking it proceed from any design of reproaching them, and so it ended. But my great trouble is for poor Deane.

At noon home and dined with my wife, and after dinner Will told me if I pleased he was ready to remove his things, and so before my wife I did give him good counsel, and that his going should not abate my kindnesse for him, if he carried himself well, and so bid “God bless him,” and left him to remove his things, the poor lad weeping, but I am apt to think matters will be the better both for him and us.

So to the office and there late busy. In the evening Mr. Moore came to tell me that he had no opportunity of speaking his mind to my Lord yesterday, and so I am resolved to write to him very suddenly.

So after my business done I home, I having staid till 12 o’clock at night almost, making an end of a letter to Sir G. Carteret about the late contract for masts, wherein I have done myself right, and no wrong to Sir W. Batten.

This night I think is the first that I have lain without ever a man in my house besides myself, since I came to keep any. Will being this night gone to his lodging, and by the way I hear to-day that my boy Waynman has behaved himself so with Mr. Davis that they have got him put into a Barbadoes ship to be sent away, and though he sends to me to get a release for him I will not out of love to the boy, for I doubt to keep him here were to bring him to the gallows.

31 Annotations

First Reading

jeannine  •  Link

"I hear to-day that my boy Waynman has behaved himself so with Mr. Davis that they have got him put into a Barbadoes ship to be sent away, and though he sends to me to get a release for him I will not out of love to the boy, for I doubt to keep him here were to bring him to the gallows."
My guess is that he won't fare much better in the Barbadoes and will sadly end up dead there after not too long.
Spoiler Question-Does anyone know whatever happens to Wayneman? I suppose we could hear of him again via his sister?

Terry F  •  Link

"My guess is that he won't fare much better in the Barbadoes"

Wayneman is "put into a Barbadoes ship" as an indentured servant, say L&M - so he won't be released into the wild - or into a sugar-cane field.

Terry F  •  Link

Wayneman's new situation will subject him to more discipline and control than SP ever had time to exercise over him. Perhaps, reason Our Man, the boy will learn about consequences, and become a man.

Bradford  •  Link

It may prove otherwise; but in "The Shorter Pepys" this is the last we see of Wayneman.

JWB  •  Link

Barbadoed Birch

Terry, I think there is a good chance that he did end up in the sugar cane fields. Some 50,000 or so Irish did.

Terry F  •  Link

Wayneman in the cane with Irish?

JWB, it would be a shame if that were to happen. I checked the Wikipedia article on the History of Barbados and found no mention of Irish, but found this: "From the arrival of the first British settlers in 1627-1628 until independence in 1966, Barbados was under uninterrupted British control....As the sugar industry developed into the main commercial enterprise, Barbados was divided into large plantation estates which replaced the small holdings of the early British settlers....To work the plantations, slaves were brought from Africa;" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hist…

DrCari  •  Link

Wayneman's predicament will impose some pressure upon Sam's benevolence. More to come....

alanB  •  Link

Fear not for poor Deane. And if this is not too much of a spoiler (which is hard to believe at present) our Sam does eventually die: The background annotations show Deane to be a pall bearer at his funeral.

Pedro  •  Link

Wayneman is "put into a Barbadoes ship" as an indentured servant, say L&M - so he won't be released into the wild - or into a sugar-cane field.

Terry let's hope you are right. From the following summary from Pope's biography of Harry Morgan, the indentured system does not make happy reading up to around 1650.

In 1630 there were around 3,000 settlers in Barbados, and the trees and undergrowth had been cleared so that tobacco could be planted. Merchants held mortgages on the land, and for cheap labour sent out white servants using the indenturing system which sounded better for the servants in theory than it proved in practice.

Young men signed indentures in England binding them to their masters in Barbados, usually for a period of 4 to 7 years. At the end they were paid a sum of money, 5 to10 pounds, with which they were told would allow them to start on their own as settlers.

Usually recruited from the poorest classes, the indenture system seemed an excellent opportunity for large families to get rid of surplus sons, these apprentices went out with considerable enthusiasm because Barbados had the same romantic association as El Dorado and the Spanish Main...

In 1631 Sir Henry Colt was very critical of the state of the plantations and the conditions under which many of the indentured servants lived...By 1640 the tobacco crop had collapsed and smaller planters had sold out, the bigger plantations turning to sugar, requiring much more cheap labour. The planters within 5 years had brought in more than 5000 imported slaves from West Africa who worked far more effectively in the tropical heat than the indentured whites. The result was that many of the planters simply tore up the indentures of the whites not needed in the fields, saving the cost of feeding men who were comparatively useless compared with the slaves, and also to avoid paying the lump sums.

In 1645, of the 18,300 white men on the Island 6,000 were indentured servants, and were described by Charles Jeafferson "If Newgate and Bridewell should spew out their spawn into these islands it would meet with no less encouragement; for no goal bird can be so incorrigible but there is hope for his conformity here, as well as his preferment."


Pedro  •  Link

"and though he sends to me to get a release for him I will not out of love to the boy, for I doubt to keep him here were to bring him to the gallows."

Also from Pope's biography of Morgan he quotes Sir Josiah Child in his New Discourse of Trade published in 1668...

Talking of the first settlers in Virginia and Barbados...

"...had there been no English foreign plantations in the world, could probably never have lived at home to do service to their country, but must have come to be hanged, or starved, or died untimely of some miserable disease, that proceed from want or vice; or else have sold themselves for soldiers, to be knocked on the head or starved, in the quarrels of our neighbours..."

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"...but Mr. Coventry most discreetly advised not..." Apparently even the great Coventry has limits to his authority.

I don't suppose any of the "compensation for your trouble" that you're likely getting from Sir William Warren for shoving the deal through against Batten and Winter will find its way to poor Deane, Sam? No, I didn't think so.

***
"In the evening Mr. Moore came to tell me that he had no opportunity of speaking his mind to my Lord yesterday, and so I am resolved to write to him very suddenly."

That's the way...Take a big glup, think of poor Lady Jem and the kids, and write it at one gasp.

"Hewer? Where the devil's the letter I wrote last night? I left it on my desk here."

"Oh, the letter to my Lord Sandwich, sir? I posted it, seeing as it wouldn't have reached him before..."

"You blithering idiot! That was my venting test draft! It was never meant to be sent, you fool!! Oh, God...Dear Lord! I am dead! Dead!!! Wait? Oh, thank God."

"Sir?"

"I didn't sign it. He'll think it some bit of wretched rangling by some malcontent former Cromwellian. Oh, praise be, dear..."

"Uh, sir? I...Ummn...Noticed it lacked a signature. And as you've had me sign your letters in the past when you've been in haste..."

Hmmn... "You foul wretch to treat my poor lady so...Fornicating with such a slut so low that even your most loyal friends must hold their noses as you pass. Your honor lieth in the dirt, sir. I am ashamed to call you my lord and patron, let alone kinsman and cousin..." Sandwich reads.

"Oh, Creed..."

***
Hopefully Wayneman eventually became a Barbados success story...Though even that entails a certain degree of suffering especially on the part of his slaves and indentures. The fact that (spoiler)...

...we don't hear of his return in glory to his dear sis suggests a less happy fate. But we can hope.

Pedro  •  Link

The Indentured servant from 1660...

After 1660, the Caribbean saw fewer indentured servants coming over from Europe. On most of the islands African slaves now did all the hard fieldwork. Newly freed servant farmers that were given a few acres of land would not be able to make a living because sugar plantations had to be spread over hundreds of acres in order to be profitable. The landowners' reputation as cruel masters in dealing with the large slave populations became a deterrence to the potential indentured servant. Even the islands themselves had become deadly disease death traps for the white servants. Africans, on the other hand, were excellent workers: they often had experience of agriculture and keeping cattle, they were used to a tropical climate, resistant to tropical diseases, and they could be "worked very hard" on plantations or in mines. Yellow fever, malaria and the diseases that Europeans had brought over contributed to the fact that during the 17th century between 33 to 50 percent of the indentured servants died before they were freed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inde…

A. Hamilton  •  Link

"Mr. Moore came to tell me that he had no opportunity of speaking his mind to my Lord yesterday"

Is this a hint that among Sandwich's followers Sam is considered to be least at risk in confronting "my lord"?

On the other matter, I think Coventry's tact was an effort to avoid having to carry the quarrel to the Duke. Hard for me to read the relative political strengths of the board members from the Duke's perspective.

jeannine  •  Link

"Hard for me to read the relative political strengths of the board members from the Duke's perspective"
AH-Awhile ago I was looking for a book about James II and the Navy -trying to find something that overlapped the Diary and offered his perspective on the building of the Navy, the players, etc., but to no avail. If anyone can suggest something that may have his perspective it would be appreciated. I did find James' 'autobiography' which carried a nice introduction of his work in the Navy and the work that Sam did also. It has spoilers but for any interested the review is here
http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…

Terry F  •  Link

"Mr. Moore came to tell me that he had no opportunity of speaking his mind to my Lord yesterday"
"Is this a hint that among Sandwich's followers Sam is considered to be least at risk in confronting 'my lord'?"

Perhaps Sandwich was merely otherwise occupied or was "not within" when Mr. Moore dropped by - such a thing oft happens to Pepys.

Ruben  •  Link

my boy Waynman
was Jane's brother, that is from a low class. Not the same effort was to be invested in someone like Will Hewer, who comes from a family just like Pepys. The first was good (if!) for errands and the like. Hewer instead was growing to become someone like Pepys.

Terry F  •  Link

"This night I think is the first that I have lain without ever a man in my house besides myself, since I came to keep any."

So he will get himself undressed before he goes to bed, and get himself dressed when he is up in the morning - very lonely, that!

Andrew Hamilton  •  Link

Thanks, Jeannine.

Nix  •  Link

Wayneman's fate --

The new article on Pepys' servants in the Oxford DNB says nothing of Wayneman after his departure for Barbados. Lost in the mists of time, I guess.

Pedro  •  Link

Happy ending for Xmas.

Waynman meets young lady on ship to Barbadoes, falls in love, and lives happilly everafter?

Petition of Thomas Springham to the Duke of Ormond
Date: [circa 9 November] 1663
Shelfmark: MS. Carte 159, fol(s). 103
Document type: Copy

Recites the circumstances under which a daughter of the petitioner has been convicted, at the Assizes held at Drogheda, of theft; sentenced to death; but respited by the Judge. Prays that the sentence may not be executed, but that the offender may be transported to the Barbadoes.

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"they report [Deane] to be a fellow not fit to be employed, when in my conscience he deserves better than any officer in the yard."

In a note (19 June 1664) on Batten's part in this dispute (NWB, p. 49), Pepys wrote that whereas Anthony Deane had always been well-spoken of by Batten, 'so soon as he saw me to favour him [Deane], and that he did inform me of the truth in the business of Hornechurch timber, he could never endure him, but presently he and Sir J. Mennes cried out that he was a useless officer, that there was no need of such an office, and what do we do with him, and I know not what.' (L&M footnote)

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"Will told me if I pleased he was ready to remove his things...and so bid “God bless him,” and left him to remove his things, the poor lad weeping, but I am apt to think matters will be the better both for him and us. "

Cf. http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"San Diego Sarah on 13 Nov 2016• Flag http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Sadly "JWB on 16 Nov 2006 • Link • Flag

Barbadoed Irish: http://www.yale.edu/glc/tangledro…... "

has gone away. Fortunately JWB did post some information on the subject without this link, but if anyone knows where the information has gone, please post"

Many will never know what JWB posted under the link gone away: The Wikipedia page of Irish Immigratiom to Barbados tells the story:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iri…

And Irish Sugar Slaves of Barbados
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

See also A true & exact history of the island of Barbadoes : illustrated with a map of the island, as also the principal trees and plants there, set forth in their due proportions and shapes, drawn out by their several and respective scales. Together with the ingenio that makes the sugar, with the plots of the several houses, rooms, and other places, that are used in the whole process of sugar-making ... All cut in copper / by Richard Ligon, gent.
by Ligon, Richard; Guy, Thomas, 1645?-1725.; Peter Parker. bookseller.
Published 1673 https://archive.org/details/mobot…

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Thanks Terry -- it is tragic to think of all the unhappiness experienced in such a beautiful place.

Louise Hudson  •  Link

"I hear to-day that my boy Waynman has behaved himself so with Mr. Davis that they have got him put into a Barbadoes ship to be sent away, and though he sends to me to get a release for him I will not out of love to the boy . . ."

One can only wonder if Sam ever regretted ignoring Waynman's desperate pleas for help. What a horrible life and a death sentence for a poor boy, probably no more than 15 years old. As they say, with friends (or would-be protectors) like that, who needs enemies?

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

It's worth remembering how Wayneman came to be in his current condition. Against the advice of his own brother and sister Jane, the boy ran away because he was not prepared to accept normal discipline.. There is no evidence at all that Pepys was a harsh master by the standards of the day.

If Sam had signed a release for Wayneman, it would have meant keeping him under his roof and accepting responsibility for his good behaviour, which Pepys was no longer prepared to do. I doubt that Elizabeth wanted it either, or we'd have have known about it. Sam usually recorded their disagreements in the diary.

On 28th July, Jane asked Sam that, if he wouldn't take Wayneman back, could he send him to sea instead. Sam would have done this had there been an available ship.
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
But the discipline on any ship would be as harsh as for an indentured labourer. So now, this might *seem* like a good solution to everyone (except Wayneman) - and he *does* have a chance to make good, even if we *fear* it.

Part of the tragedy of Wayneman might have been that Pepys expected too much of him, not work/obedience-wise but aptitude. On the day he ran away, and one other entry, the entries make clear that Sam had been trying to teach Wayneman to write, possibly more. If he had taken to his lessons and worked at them, Wayneman too might have had a chance of a career, and a future. Alas it was not to be.

However, the epilogue is, as the diary will show, that this episode di not preven future good relations between the Pepyses and Jane.

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

Re: ‘ . . I am resolved to write to him very suddenly.’

‘suddenly, adv. (and adj. < Anglo-Norman . .
. . 2. Without delay, forthwith, promptly, immediately, directly, at once. Obs.
. . 1595 Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 iv. ii. 4 Speake suddenlie my Lords, are we all friends?
. . 1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. v. xiii. 85 Be sure when you have Fired the Fuse, suddenly to cast it [sc. the grenade] out of your hand . . ‘ (OED)

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