Thursday 10 November 1664

Up, and not finding my things ready, I was so angry with Besse as to bid my wife for good and all to bid her provide herself a place, for though she be very good-natured, she hath no care nor memory of her business at all.

So to the office, where vexed at the malice of Sir W. Batten and folly of Sir J. Minnes against Sir W. Warren, but I prevented, and shall do, though to my own disquiet and trouble.

At noon dined with Sir W. Batten and the Auditors of the Exchequer at the Dolphin by Mr. Wayth’s desire, and after dinner fell to business relating to Sir G. Carteret’s account, and so home to the office, where Sir W. Batten begins, too fast, to shew his knavish tricks in giving what price he pleases for commodities.

So abroad, intending to have spoke with my Lord Chancellor about the old business of his wood at Clarendon, but could not, and so home again, and late at my office, and then home to supper and bed.

My little girle Susan is fallen sicke of the meazles, we fear, or, at least, of a scarlett feavour.

10 Annotations

First Reading

Patricia  •  Link

Ooh! Sounds like Mr. Pepys got up on the wrong side of bed today: angry at Besse, vexed at his co-workers. Not getting enough sleep, I'll bet.

Terry F  •  Link

For Dirk, who is on hiatus, 2 Carte Calendar entries

Certificate of Thomas May, a mariner, in reference to the refusal of a Passage, in the ship Anne of London, to seven Quakers who had been sentenced to be banished to the Plantations

Date: 10 November 1664

Shelfmark: MS. Carte 81, fol(s). 255

----------------------

Mr Hamilton to Ormond
Written from: Portsmouth

Date: 10 November 1664

Shelfmark: MS. Carte 215, fol(s). 102
Document type: Holograph [without signature & without address]

Reports the presence at Portsmouth, in good health, of the Earl of Arran, and of Lord Jones. Adds some notice of the state of the fortifications there and the need of improvement.
http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/s…

jeannine  •  Link

(Note: See the Nov 8th annotations for the first complaint of Batten’s “carriage and cunning” – I loaded that annotation a day late. There are 2 notations in the Navy book today –Sam must have been on a roll!)

“The Navy White Book” from “Samuel Pepys and the Second Dutch War” (transcribed by Matthews and Knighton, edited by Latham)

Nov. 10. And his abusing of Sir W. Warren’s. And yet could not hinder Sir W.B. this day, being alone with me in the office, to offer his son 2s more. But he will not take less than 4£ 15s and I know will get it at last –though at this time of dearth of work in the town, there is nobody can buy them of him but us.

Knavery of purveyors in Sir W. Warren’s knees. But above all is observable, his cunning to raise an inquiry after some ill-looked knees at this very time of Sir W. W.’s, and in my conscience did get some bad ones to be brought thither on purpose, and now to make complaint of them, that by their being seen they might raise value of his son’s goods – and will have the fault laid upon Sir W.W., though the contract says he is to serve none but what our people mark, and his people will swear that these very knees were marked by the King’s own purveyor [Robert Mayer, timber purveyor, Woolwich] upon this contract, and all the remedy the purveyor [has] is to say that he never marked these, but they are brought by Sir W.W. without their choice (which Sir W.W. will bring all his people to answer the contrary) and the timber-measurer, who now says they were not received into the yard, did when I was there lately inquiring and finding fault with them, say that he had measured and received them, but that they were first chosen by Mr Meres, and said that where the timber is very much too rough upon them, he did make abatement for it, which did satisfy me then.

[And then another entry follows on that day]

Nov. 10. 1664. Sir W. Batten’s knavish course in carrying on a contract that he hath a mind to. And particularly in some good of Mr. Wood’s. He will when Sir J. Mennes or I alone are with him at the buying of any provisions that he hath a mind to buy, he will bid and then raise the price by great steps (as this day in some timber bought of on Monday), as by 2 or 3 s. in a load, without any reason or consideration of ours, or whether we agree, and so impose upon us the denying to consent to what he so openly offers at the Board. And thus he did the other day on Tuesday last with Mr Wood, when I said I would give no more, he would give more and offered it. And when at last I told him that I would not give a farthing more, Wood went away; and being gone, he told me that we should lose this bargain, it being of Dram timber – and some deals and pieces of fire timber [timber used for fuel in the ship’s galleys] of 10 ft in a piece (which he would never have heard of any other man’s), and that it being at Harwich it were good to have them: when I told him there was no necessity, for at the very time we had a whole and greater ship’s loading of the same goods and better, and masts unlading of Sir W. Warren’s there. Yet he told me he would not lose it, and by God would send to him that we would have it – when he knows that his ship was put in, being almost shipwrecked there, and if we had not the goods must have landed them and put them off there, for the ship was rendered highly uncapable of going to sea. This is so, and this he knows.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"...where vexed at the malice of Sir W. Batten and folly of Sir J. Minnes against Sir W. Warren, but I prevented, and shall do, though to my own disquiet and trouble."

Interesting...So Minnes took Batten's part against Warren and Sam pushed hard enough for his dear friend (oh, to lose those nice occasional boxes of 100Ls) to risk questions being asked. One wonders what might have happened had Sir Will Penn been around to throw his weight into the balance. Still, it seem unlikely so sharp a fox as "Turncoat Will" Batten wouldn't already be well aware of Sam's close ties to Warren.

Likewise interesting, thanks to Jeannine's info that Batten's son is heavily involved in contracts.

JWB  •  Link

"This is so, and this he knows."

Great last sentence.

jeannine  •  Link

"My little girle Susan is fallen sicke of the meazles, we fear, or, at least, of a scarlett feavour."

When the servants get sick like this, is it common for them to stay in their Master's house or return home for care? Granted she may be too ill to travel, but I'd be curious if Elizabeth is caring for her, other staff, etc. and what the norm would be.

Second Reading

Louise Hudson  •  Link

Jeannine:
When the servants get sick like this, is it common for them to stay in their Master's house or return home for care? Granted she may be too ill to travel, but I'd be curious if Elizabeth is caring for her, other staff, etc. and what the norm would be.

I suspect she stayed at the Pepys’. I think he would have said if she was taken away. Most likely it was Bess’s woman or another servant who took care of her rather than Bess. herself. Just basing this on my sense of how things probably were then.

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