Thursday 26 July 1660

Early to White Hall, thinking to have a meeting of my Lord and the principal officers, but my Lord could not, it being the day that he was to go and be admitted in the House of Lords, his patent being done, which he presented upon his knees to the Speaker; and so it was read in the House, and he took his place. I at the Privy Seal Office with Mr. Hooker, who brought me acquainted with Mr. Crofts of the Signet, and I invited them to a dish of meat at the Leg in King Street, and so we dined there and I paid for all and had very good light given me as to my employment there. Afterwards to Mr. Pierces, where I should have dined but I could not, but found Mr. Sheply and W. Howe there. After we had drunk hard we parted, and I went away and met Dr. Castle, who is one of the Clerks of the Privy Seal, and told him how things were with my Lord and me, which he received very gladly. I was this day told how Baron against all expectation and law has got the place of Bickerstaffe, and so I question whether he will not lay claim to wait the next month, but my Lord tells me that he will stand for it. In the evening I met with T. Doling, who carried me to St. James’s Fair, and there meeting with W. Symons and his wife, and Luellin, and D. Scobell’s wife and cousin, we went to Wood’s at the Pell Mell¹ (our old house for clubbing), and there we spent till 10 at night, at which time I sent to my Lord’s for my clerk Will to come to me, and so by link home to bed. Where I found Commissioner Willoughby had sent for all his things away out of my bedchamber, which is a little disappointment, but it is better than pay too dear for them.

This is one of the earliest references to Pall Mall as an inhabited street, and also one of the earliest uses of the word clubbing.

27 Jul 166025 Jul 1660

Temperature: 15°C / 59°F (Jul 1660 avg.)

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- john lauer on Sun 27 Jul 2003, 02:07am. Flag this

“…so by link home to bed.”
So is this “link” “A torch formerly used for lighting one’s way in the streets.”? -Am. Heritage Dict., 3rd, 1992
- Paul Miller on Sun 27 Jul 2003, 02:17am

“we went to Wood’s at the Pell Mell”
In a few years Pepys writes of seeing the game Pell Mell played.
“Afterwards to St James’s Park, seeing people play at Pell Mell, where it pleased me mightily to hear a gallant, lately come from France, swear at one of his companions for suffering his man (a spruce blade) to be so saucy as to strike a ball while his master was playing on the Mall.”
- chip on Sun 27 Jul 2003, 04:49am. Flag this

If you remember Willoughby had the house that Pepys now has. Obviously his furniture is still in Pepys’ bedroom and he (Pepys) has taken a shine to it. But Willoughby is asking too much. Sam appears the new frat boy in this entry (and recent ones), treating everyone to dinner and drinks no doubt (‘and had very good light given me’). He is learning his post. I found the notes on the pall mall fascinating. And John Lauer if you type ‘link’ in the upper right corner and search, you will see that Glyn in the first entry of the second date mentions steve h who explains clearly that your suspicion is correct.
- Mary on Sun 27 Jul 2003, 06:32am. Flag this

so by link home…
From time to time annotators comment on Pepys’ unhealthy diet (no veg. to speak of, plenty of meat and drink, fruit never yet mentioned) but here is one clue to his well-being. After a very long day of work, negotiations, briefings interspersed with hard drinking and what looks like a thoroughly convivial supper, he now walks the approx. 3 miles home. This on top of all the tripping about that he has done during the day. He always gets his exercise.
- Larry Bunce on Sun 27 Jul 2003, 03:48pm. Flag this

I have heard that London streets were not safe after dark until the Bobbies were organized in the 1840’s. It occurs to me that Sam walks home late on a regular basis, and so far has not written about any unpleasant incidents.
- Mary on Sun 27 Jul 2003, 05:29pm. Flag this

Safety in the streets.
According to Liza Picard (Restoration London) pick-pocketing was the most common street crime and burglary/house-breaking the commonest domestic crime. There were constables appointed by each parish (3 or 4 per parish) but this was a poorly paid job and unpopular, though obligatory to accept such an appointment once it was made.

The threat of really violent crime seems to have been strongest outside the city limits, where highwaymen could hope to make a reliable getaway into the darkenss of the countryside … a useful resource when the theft of any property above 12 pence in value automatically qualified for the death penalty.

Pepys doesn’t seem nervous about walking home with just the linkboy as escort, does he? Using main streets, he seems to have felt reasonably secure, so the situation can’t have been too bad and, in theory at least, householders were bound to light their own little patch of street during the hours of darkness (a discussion that came up back in January).
- Paul Brewster on Sun 27 Jul 2003, 08:43pm. Flag this

whether he will not lay claim to wait the next month
According to an L&M footnote “the clerks of the Privy Seal took duty for a month at a time.”
- Paul Brewster on Sun 27 Jul 2003, 08:55pm. Flag this

our old house for clubbing
L&M footnotes this as “A weekly meeting of young government clerks which Pepys and his friends held ‘in Cromwell’s time’.”
- Glyn on Sun 27 Jul 2003, 10:02pm. Flag this

“and had very good light given me as to my employment there”

I think he means that he was being given “inside information” about how to do his new job, office politics etc - being given the benefit of these more senior people’s experience and knowledge. So they were showing aspects of his job in a new light.

Part of Pepys job as a “personal assistant” to Montagu has been to get all the relevant news while Montagu is out of London - now he is doing it for himself.
- Paul Brewster on Sun 27 Jul 2003, 10:42pm. Flag this

Signet vs Privy Seal
Earlier Montagu appeared to be confused about the office that he held in reversion. SP recorded that the Earl remembered it as the Clerk of the Signet but we now know that it was Clerk of the Privy Seal.
http://www.pepysdiary.com/archive/1660/06/06/index.php
http://www.pepysdiary.com/archive/1660/05/04/index.php
Now I to am puzzled about the distinction between the two offices since they seem to be closely tied in the persons of Mr. Hooker and Mr. Crofts in this entry.
I found a list of office-holders (our old friend Samuel Morland seems to be the last recorded incumbent) but no discussion of the Signet office or its function at the following site:
http://www.history.ac.uk/office/signet.html