Wednesday 1 August 1660

Up very early, and by water to Whitehall to my Lord’s, and there up to my Lord’s lodging (Wm. Howe being now ill of the gout at Mr. Pierce’s), and there talked with him about the affairs of the Navy, and how I was now to wait today at the Privy Seal. Commissioner Pett went with me, whom I desired to make my excuse at the office for my absence this day. Hence to the Privy Seal Office, where I got (by Mr. Mathews’ means) possession of the books and table, but with some expectation of Baron’s bringing of a warrant from the King to have this month. Nothing done this morning, Baron having spoke to Mr. Woodson and Groome (clerks to Mr. Trumbull of the Signet) to keep all work in their hands till the afternoon, at which time he expected to have his warrant from the King for this month.¹ I took at noon Mr. Harper to the Leg in King Street, and did give him his dinner, who did still advise me much to act wholly myself at the Privy Seal, but I told him that I could not, because I had other business to take up my time. In the afternoon at, the office again, where we had many things to sign; and I went to the Council Chamber, and there got my Lord to sign the first bill, and the rest all myself; but received no money today. After I had signed all, I went with Dick Scobell and Luellin to drink at a bottle beer house in the Strand, and after staying there a while (had sent W. Hewer home before), I took boat and homewards went, and in Fish Street bought a Lobster, and as I had bought it I met with Winter and Mr. Delabarr, and there with a piece of sturgeon of theirs we went to the Sun Tavern in the street and ate them. Late home and to bed.

The clerks of the Privy Seal took the duty of attendance for a month by turns.

2 Aug 166031 Jul 1660

Temperature: 16°C / 61°F (Aug 1660 avg.)

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In Earls Colne, Essex

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- Paul Brewster on Fri 1 Aug 2003, 11:29pm. Flag this

Mr. Harper -> Mr. Hooper
per L&M: Mr. Hooper was an official of the Privy Seal.
- Tim Bray on Sat 2 Aug 2003, 12:00am. Flag this

“Bottle beer house?” Any insight on that?
- Paul Brewster on Sat 2 Aug 2003, 03:33am. Flag this

Bottle Beer House
Not much information on the location but …
From a site we’ve referenced before:
http://www.shu.ac.uk/schools/cs/teaching/sle/Book/dates.htm
“1630 Late 1630s, arrival of the beer bottle as viable”

The OED includes this quote:
“1641 French Distill. v. (1651) 122 It will tast as quick as bottle beer.”
- gerry on Sat 2 Aug 2003, 04:22pm. Flag this

L&M have Hooper for Harper and the Companion identifies him as William Hooper, a minor canon of Westminster Abbey.
- Paul Brewster on Sat 2 Aug 2003, 10:06pm

Diary entry: Mr. Harper (Wheatley) -> Mr. Hooper (L&M)
L&M Footnote to this entry says “An official of the Privy Seal”

On December 29th, 1661 Wheatley will introduce us to Mr. Hooper for the first and only time in the following context “I to the Abbey, and there meeting with Mr. Hooper, he took me in among the quire, and there I sang with them their service.”

I think the L&M Companion (“William Hooper, a minor canon of Westminster Abbey.”) may point to this other appearance. Without the index and/or the 1661 Volume of L&M to help me, I can’t get much further. I cannot tell if L&M believes these are two folks with the same last name (only one of which is mentioned in the L&M Companion) or a single individual with two different jobs (one of which is not mentioned in the companion entry).
- gerry on Sat 2 Aug 2003, 10:51pm. Flag this

Paul, I checked 12/29/61 and (its hardly a spoiler) Sam talks about meeting Mr. Hooper and going with him to the “Quire”.From the context I guess it could be taken either way i.e. meeting someone he knew or meeting someone for the first time.
- Mary on Sun 3 Aug 2003, 05:22am. Flag this

The OED reference to bottle beer
is intriguing. If one takes ‘quick’ to mean ‘alive, lively’, this could mean that bottle(d) beer retained a bit more effervescence than the normal sort that was drawn from the keg. As any home-brewer will know, any beer bottled slightly too early can be very lively indeed … sometimes dangerously so!
- vincent on Sun 3 Aug 2003, 06:39am. Flag this

Reading this again I do find it strange that poor Liz does not get to enjoy the finer foods:
Quire I presumed is a choir where the warbling is done, Now that the High Church is the Rage, Singing and c(H)anting is allowed. The change in attitudes are remarkable?
Maybe Beer in a bottle is made very local?, may be in the back yard (beyond the Privy) there fore no cask needed.
- Mary on Sun 3 Aug 2003, 08:26am. Flag this

Bottle beer again.
My impression is that Pepys is here making a distinction between the ordinary ale- or beer-house and this one, which serves bottle beer. As for brewing habits, see useful background information under food/drink/beer.
- Glyn on Mon 4 Aug 2003, 05:55pm. Flag this

Does this mean that Mr Woodson and Mr Groome were finishing their month’s work, and could have handed it over to Pepys that morning, but were asked by their friend Baron to delay things until the afternoon so he could get his hands on the warrant and that month’s job? If so, it doesn’t seemed to have worked. If it had succeeded, then presumably Pepys would have had no work there for at least a month.
- Paul Brewster on Mon 4 Aug 2003, 07:47pm

Does this mean that Mr Woodson and Mr Groome were finishing their month’s work?
I don’t think so. My surmise (and it’s just that) is that the Signet and the Privy Seal were two steps in a multi-step process. Baron was trying to get W and G (SP specifically identifies them as belonging to the Signet Office) to hold up any work they would have normally passed on to the office of Privy Seal until he (Baron) had an opportunity to get his hands on the Privy Seal itself and thus get all the revenue that would normally have come to the clerk for an entire month. What seems clear is that this tactic, if it was even tried, didn’t seem to have any mentioned impact on SP’s revenue.
- vincent on Mon 4 Aug 2003, 09:02pm. Flag this

The Signet is in the hands of the Chancellor and you need the signet ring to get the impression on the wax for validity and of course that has a value.