Monday 18 January 1668/69

Up by candlelight, and with W. Hewer walked to the Temple, and thence took coach and to Sir William Coventry’s, and there discoursed the business of my Treasurer’s place, at Tangier, wherein he consents to my desire, and concurs therein, which I am glad of, that I may not be accountable for a man so far off. And so I to my Lord Sandwich’s, and there walk with him through the garden, to White Hall, where he tells me what he had done about this Treasurer’s place, and I perceive the whole thing did proceed from him: that finding it would be best to have the Governor have nothing to do with the pay of the garrison, he did propose to the Duke of York alone that a pay-master should be there; and that being desirous to do a courtesy to Sir Charles Harbord, and to prevent the Duke of York’s looking out for any body else, he did name him to the Duke of York. That when he come the other day to move this to the Board of Tangier, the Duke of York, it seems, did readily reply, that it was fit to have Mr. Pepys satisfied therein first, and that it was not good to make places for persons. This my Lord in great confidence tells me, that he do take very ill from the Duke of York, though nobody knew the meaning of these words but him; and that he did take no notice of them, but bit his lip, being satisfied that the Duke of York’s care of me was as desirable to him, as it could be to have Sir Charles Harbord: and did seem industrious to let me see that he was glad that the Duke of York and he might come to contend who shall be the kindest to me, which I owned as his great love, and so I hope and believe it is, though my Lord did go a little too far in this business, to move it so far, without consulting me. But I took no notice of that, but was glad to see this competition come about, that my Lord Sandwich is apparently jealous of my thinking that the Duke of York do mean me more kindness than him. So we walked together, and I took this occasion to invite him to dinner one day to my house, and he readily appointed Friday next, which I shall be glad to have over to his content, he having never yet eat a bit of my bread. Thence to the Duke of York on the King’s side, with our Treasurers of the Navy, to discourse some business of the Navy, about the pay of the yards, and there I was taken notice of, many Lords being there in the room, of the Duke of York’s conference with me; and so away, and meeting Mr. Sidney Montagu and Sheres, a small invitation served their turn to carry them to London, where I paid Sheres his 100l., given him for his pains in drawing the plate of Tangier fortifications, &c., and so home to my house to dinner, where I had a pretty handsome sudden dinner, and all well pleased; and thence we three and my wife to the Duke of York’s playhouse, and there saw “The Witts,” a medley of things, but some similes mighty good, though ill mixed; and thence with my wife to the Exchange and bought some things, and so home, after I had been at White Hall, and there in the Queen’s withdrawing-room invited my Lord Peterborough to dine with me, with my Lord Sandwich, who readily accepted it. Thence back and took up my wife at the ’Change, and so home. This day at noon I went with my young gentlemen (thereby to get a little time while W. Hewer went home to bid them get a dinner ready) to the Pope’s Head tavern, there to see the fine painted room which Rogerson told me of, of his doing; but I do not like it at all, though it be good for such a publick room.

20 Annotations

First Reading

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Put not thy trust in princes, Sam...Either of them.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"I took this occasion to invite [ my Lord ] to dinner one day to my house, and he readily appointed Friday next " http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Pepys's house is now a point of pride and entertaining and feeding those of quality a new phase of Samuel's life -- and in that of the lovely Elizabeth Pepys.

GrahamT  •  Link

“Thence to the Duke of York on the King’s side “

Yesterday he referred to "the Queen's side" of Whitehall Palace.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

This is Pepys's first reference to "the King’s side “ of Whitehall. Evidently “the Queen’s side” is the happenin' part of the Palace.
(Sorry about the prior vague post.)

Click the link on the Site search and scroll down,

john  •  Link

"though my Lord did go a little too far in this business, to move it so far, without consulting me."

How far our Pepys has come.

Ruben  •  Link

"I took this occasion to invite him to dinner one day to my house,..., he having never yet eat a bit of my bread."
I like this "bit of bread". Bread was and is a very strong icon in the West. Not so in the East were they eat no bread.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"to the Pope’s Head tavern, there to see the fine painted room which Rogerson told me of, of his doing"

L&M note there is no painter by this name known. (A Google search confirms this by Pepys as the only reference to a "Rogerson.") .

L&M wonder whether Pepys means Robert Robinson (d. 1706) who specialized in decorative interior panels. His most important surviving series was removed from where it was painted, No. 5, Botolph Lane.
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

To be accurate: a Google search confirms this reference by Pepys as the only one to a “Rogerson” who's a 17th century painter.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"[My Lord Sandwich] did propose to the Duke of York alone that a pay-master should be there; and that being desirous to do a courtesy to Sir Charles Harbord"

Late last November Pepys complained about the futility of trying to see Lord Sandwich due to "the little he hath to say to me when I do see him, or to any body else, but his own idle people about him, Sir Charles Harbord, &c." http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Pepys's opinion prevailed: Harbord, note L&M, who had served in the Tangier garrison, was not appointed pay-master.

Jim  •  Link

" L&M wonder whether Pepys means Robert Robinson . . ."

The New York Times on 1/1/1995 published the column 'Connecticut Guide' by Eleanor Charles. In it she talked about an exhibit at Yale's Center for British Art, and the featured artist I believe is the one that Terry mentions.
"MEZZOTINTS AT YALE
Robert Robinson, a decorative painter and stage designer who lived from 1674 to 1706, is featured in an exhibition at the Yale Center for British Art through Jan. 29. It is called "Fancy Pieces: Genre Mezzotints by Robert Robinson and His Contemporaries." . . .
In an age when elaborate stage spectacles, grandiose historical paintings and grandiloquent speech prevailed, Robinson began producing works of informal charm and originality, drawing his inspiration from rustic landscapes, still life and an occasional architectural subject. The works became popularly known as fancy pieces."

In the paper 'Technical Theater During the Restoration Lighting and Scenic Design England 1660-1800." (123HelpMe.com. 19 Jan 2012) Robinson is again mentioned. Also mentioned is Pepys acquaintance Thomas Killigrew.
"There is very little information about the early scenic designers of the Restoration, probably because the concept was so new. Most often painters were employed based on artistic ability and commissioned to create particular scenes. From contract records it is known that John Webb worked exclusively for D'avenant. Killigrew employed Samuel Towers, Robert Robinson and Robert Streeter to paint many of his sets. "
This paper can found at >
http://www.123helpme.com/technica…

Paul Chapin  •  Link

If Jim, or rather the article he cites, has Robinson's dates right ("lived from 1674 to 1706"), then he clearly wasn't painting anything in 1668/69. Seems unlikely that L& M would make such an elementary mistake, though, so I suspect the error is in the article.

Australian Susan  •  Link

So, as RR was not yet born, we still don't know the artist whose work Sam did not like in the Pope's Head. Maybe it wasn't very good and that's why the name of the artist is not remembered anywhere.

Wonder if Harbord was an antecedent of the Harbord who was the 3rd officer on the Titanic?

Jim  •  Link

The NYT writer may have gotten her dates from a misreading of a source such as the National Portrait Gallery article on Robinson.
"Robert Robinson (active 1674-1706), Artist; painter-stainer and mezzotinter.
Artist associated with 22 portraits.
Robert Robinson was a painter and engraver. He became an apprentice-master of some standing and between 1675 and 1699 trained his own son and eight others, including the French portrait painter Charles d'Agar. The little of Robinson's work that survives indicates that he was a vigorous and highly inventive painter."
This article can be found at >
http://www.npg.org.uk/collections…

In a Wikipedia article on John Jakob Haid I found this regarding Robinson:
"He worked in England, and it has been suggested that he (Haid) borrowed from the work of Robert Robinson (c. 1651 – 1706), who was a popular English mezzotint engraver, painter, and stage designer."
A birth date of 1651 would support L&M.
The Haid article can be found at > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joha…

I am sorry for the confusion.

pepfie  •  Link

"... I paid Sheres his 100l., given him for his pains in drawing the plate of Tangier fortifications"

Severe pains, no doubt, in view of such ample compensation. Wenceslaus Hollar, the King's scenographer since 1667, was paid the same amount for topographical records of the area and its fortifications during Lord Howard's embassy in 1669.
The £100 were given out of the King's purse, not SP's, I suppose.
http://www.britishmuseum.org/rese…

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"... I paid Sheres his 100l., given him for his pains in drawing the plate of Tangier fortifications, &c."

L&M: Untraced: a 'Prospect of Tangier' was in the possession of the Pepys Cockerell family in 1824 (Harvard Houghton Lib ., b. MS, Eng. 991). He had been ordered to conduct a survey of the fortification and mole in the previous autumn: Sir H. Cholmley, Short account of . . . mole (? 1680), p. 3.

LKvM  •  Link

" . . . and meeting Mr. Sidney Montagu and Sheres . . . so home to my house to dinner, where I had a pretty handsome sudden dinner, . . . ."

No matter what her faults may be, Elizabeth Pepys is clearly an excellent manager of the Pepys's household. It's amazing that her servants are so well schooled that Elizabeth apparently has fine food ready to serve at any time ("a pretty handsome sudden dinner" for Lord Sandwich's son) and plenty of it, not to mention that she is able to trot off to the theater every day after dinner and Pepys can even opt to invite Lord Peterborough, Lord Sandwich, and the Duke of York(!) to come have a "bit of bread" at his house.
And we hear no more of "washing day" and lighting the fire under the cauldron in the wee hours, so the staff are presumably managing all that on their own.
Maybe this ability comes from her aristocratic French background, i.e, she was born to it.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"And we hear no more of "washing day" and lighting the fire under the cauldron in the wee hours, so the staff are presumably managing all that on their own."

Pepys has by and large stopped telling us about his servants, but it seems to me that there are more of them than there used to be. Having a bigger house may indicate there were more sleeping areas available for them, and a gentleman of his standing needed more help. In which case, Elizabeth would no longer be involved in helping with this multi-day chore.

Surely no lady who owns a coach and pair can also be the family washerwoman?

And on the laundry, last we heard they were taking it to the laundry fields across the river. How that works in the dead of winter, I can't imagine. Maybe they let it accummulate for three or four months? (Yuck)

"This week my people wash, over the water, and so I little company at home."
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

"... and then home to my chamber to sing and pipe till my wife comes home from her washing, which was nine at night, and a dark and rainy night, that I was troubled at her staying out so long."
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

A picture of a 17th century washing field:
https://www.historytoday.com/arch…

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"Up by candlelight, ..."

Pepys is getting soft:
7:45 AM Friday, January 28, 2022 (GMT)
Sunrise in London, UK

He must have been dressing by candlelight for many years, but now he aspires to be a gentleman such an imposition is worth noting.

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