Sunday 19 August 1660

(Lord’s day). In the morning my wife tells me that the bitch has whelped four young ones and is very well after it, my wife having had a great fear that she would die thereof, the dog that got them being very big.

This morning Sir W. Batten, Pen, and myself, went to church to the churchwardens, to demand a pew, which at present could not be given us, but we are resolved to have one built. So we staid and heard Mr. Mills, a very, good minister.

Home to dinner, where my wife had on her new petticoat that she bought yesterday, which indeed is a very fine cloth and a fine lace; but that being of a light colour, and the lace all silver, it makes no great show.

Mr. Creed and my brother Tom dined with me. After dinner my wife went and fetched the little puppies to us, which are very pretty ones. After they were gone, I went up to put my papers in order, and finding my wife’s clothes lie carelessly laid up, I was angry with her, which I was troubled for. After that my wife and I went and walked in the garden, and so home to bed.


19 Annotations

First Reading

Glyn  •  Link

At the moment, anyway, Pepys and Creed seem to be good friends. This is the third day in a row that they have socialized together, as well as their drinking session last Monday.

Glynn  •  Link

I was angry with her, which I was troubled for.

Does this mean that Sam was unhappy that he got angry with his wife or that it was a disturbance that he could have done without? It doesn't seem that they fell out over it as they went for a walk together.

m.stolzenbach  •  Link

Puppies and Petticoats

Everybody understands "the dog that got them," right? here it's the same sense as Biblical "begetting."

Pepys continues to become more pretentious in his new prosperity; five pounds for a petticoat (but it's not showy enough), and now he demands his own pew! La!

chip  •  Link

L&M mention this is St. Olave's Hart St., the Navy Office's parish church. As for the pew, they refer to the 24th of this month. The gallery contained two pews and was used for the first time on the following 11 November. It was built on the s. side of the nave and was approached from the churchyard by a covered staircase of which a view is given in A. Povah, St. Olave, Hart St, p 102. It was removed in 1853, a tablet now marking the position of the outside staircase, and the memorial to Pepys (1884) that of the gallery itself. Payments for the work, October-December 1660 (entered under 'Extra Service on the Seas') are in PRO, Adm. 20/1 pp.135, 193, 298. Both material and workmen came form Deptford yard.
Besides all that, they mention that Daniel Milles was rector since April 1657.

I see Pepys' anger as pent up from his inability to get ired the day before at the extravagance of the cloth. It comes out when he sees what he considers abuse of something dear that he has been forced to pay for. I wonder if he was forced to stand during service or did he just sit in a common pew?

vincent  •  Link

the Petticoat : Hope the dog/dogs are trained. Those poor seamstresses all hand done too,had to work veddy veddy 'ard, Wot service. We been told the cost of Material, I guess the Labo(u)r was for now't.

Arbor  •  Link

The Pew. For a man of his standing, even this early, convention dictated his own pew. I feel we are all too often guilty of looking at Restoration London as one would 21st century London, or New York or ... or...

'Ghastly Grim...' as it was know in Dickens is worth a visit [as are most of the City's Churches]. Hard by Pepys Street and Seething Lane, a morning hop, skip and jump from his new home.

David A. Smith  •  Link

"I was angry with her, which I was troubled for"
I'm with Arbor; Pepys is in an entirely new position and status, one in which the accoutrements of status *are* status (old Washington DC maxim: "in politics, perception IS reality"). He is managing a new job, new standing, new lodging, hangers-on and favor-seekers from all sides -- and most significantly, a brave new world (the Restoration) that has such people in it!
As Chip observes, his patience reservoir is going rapidly to drain, and at day's end he's going occasionally to take it out on his wife (about the only person, other than his diary, where he can vent unobserved; such is the lot of a spouse). At least he regrets it and walks with her in the park, trying non-verbally to make amends.
Of course, he *could* still prove vain, licentious, duplicitous, grasping, corrupt ... but judge him as a 17th century man, not a 21st, and I think you will cut him some slack.

Holt Parker  •  Link

Aug. 19th
9th Sunday after Trinity

Hmmmm, the Parable of the Unjust Steward. How appropriate for the worldly-wise.

The rest available here:

http://justus.anglican.org/resour…

The Gospel. Luke xvi.
JESUS sayd unto his disciples; There was a certaine riche man, which had a Steward, and the same was accused unto him, that he had wasted his goodes. And he called him, and sayed unto him; howe is it that I heare this of thee? Geve accomptes of thy stewardship, for thou maiest be no longer Steward. The Steward sayd within himself e: what shal I do? For my Maister taketh away from me the Stewardshippe. I cannot digge, and to begge I am ashamed. I wote [=know] what to doe, that when I am put out of the Stewardshippe, they may receyve me into their houses.

cheska  •  Link

For all things on Elizabeth Pepy's be sure and check out her information in the People's link here by just clicking on 'my wife' above; it will take you directly to the many annotations, references, quotes, etc that will explain SP's behaviour towards her.

Barbara  •  Link

The pew was not for his personal use but for all the officers of the Navy Office, and their ladies

kim oliver  •  Link

I have been loving this diary, and reading faithfully, however, this is my first annotation.

Sam's rise in status does not seem to have changed Elizabeth's status greatly.
Yes there is that new petticoat, however, new servants, or household help are
never mentioned. Who lugged the water, slopped the slop, did the dishes (if
they did them at all?), tidied up, etc. Surely her one servant couldn't have
done it all. (Sam did get his own servant, but did he have household chores too? Her status seems not to
have improved greatly.

Glyn  •  Link

Where there's a Will

Kim Oliver makes a good point - just how many servants do the Pepys currently have? A year ago they had only Jane. Now they seem to have Jane and Will Hewer; but don't they also have another younger boy as well, who is also called Will? (Monday washing days don't seem to get any mention at all - unlike the full day they seemed to take back in January.)

Second Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Mr. Mills apparently did not tax his flock with weighty things like discussing The Thirty-Nine Articles ... John Evelyn wasn't so lucky:

John Evelyn's Diary – he and Mary Browne Evelyn live at Saye's Court, Deptford.

http://brittlebooks.library.illin…

@@@

19 August, 1660.

Our vicar read the Thirty-nine Articles to the congregation, the national assemblies beginning now to settle, and wanting instruction.

@@@

The Thirty-Nine Articles (of faith). The Google Librarian has failed me in finding what the 1660 version was, which was revised and reissued in 1662. But this will give you an idea of what the clergy were talking about:
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/m…

Third Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

I think Pepys was upset with Elizabeth because "... my wife had on her new petticoat that she bought yesterday, which indeed is a very fine cloth and a fine lace; but that being of a light colour, and the lace all silver, it makes no great show."

She hadn't spent her money wisely. But he holds his tongue until he goes to their bedroom and finds "my wife’s clothes lie carelessly laid up".

I don't find this unreasonable: I used to get mad at my honey when I went into our room and found his underwear left on the floor for me to pick up. The laundry basket was right there. So I don't see this as a big blow-out, just one of those "WTF" moments.

P.S. Pepys -- you are out drinking nearly every night with your pals, leaving Elizabeth surrounded by pre-teens. She might be trying to get your attention.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"Sir W. Batten, Pen, and myself, went to church to the churchwardens, to demand a pew, which at present could not be given us, but we are resolved to have one built."

Were the previous Navy Commissioners not church-goers?
Were they more egalitarian, and liked to sit with friends rather than colleagues?
Had the churchwardens sold the Navy Pew to someone else, and counted on the new commissioners expanding the seating at the expense of the Navy? The solution seemed to be agreed upon very quickly.

No mention of Lady Batten, Lady Penn or Elizabeth being in church today. Were they all home cooking dinner like good little wives?

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Poor Rev. Ralph, the strain of not knowing whether or not he can keep his living is causing a crisis of faith. That must have been happening all over the country -- Parliament better get on with the Act of General Pardon, Indemnity, and Oblivion; it's not just Charles II who needs it taken care of.

God's covenant with Noah was a commitment to maintain the inherent relationship between Creator and creation; his relationship with the natural order -– implicit in the act of creation -– whereby he promised never again to destroy the earth with a flood.

Josselin keeps telling us what a good harvest he's having, and he hasn't mentioned rain recently. Maybe this was a (1)666 millennial worry? As a Presbyterian could he fear Charles II is the anti-Christ? Apparently, some did: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo…

I hope God's covenant with Noah holds true today: San Diego is under threat of a Tropical Storm -- down from a stage 3 hurricane this morning. We haven't had one of those come on shore since 1936. It doesn't rain in August here!

MartinVT  •  Link

"No mention of Lady Batten, Lady Penn or Elizabeth being in church today. Were they all home cooking dinner like good little wives?"

Sam is a pretty regular churchgoer, but doesn't mention the Mrs. coming along very often. Sometimes to the afternoon service. There is often a good Sundat lunch at home, so maybe she did spend the morning cooking. Or maybe she generally worships elsewhere, someplace more in keeping with her Huguenot background.

(Also, today she had to get dressed in that petticoat!)

Plan B  •  Link

"San Diego is under threat of a Tropical Storm"
Our thoughts are with you Sarah. Thanks for your great annotations - keep them up!

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Thanks Plan B -- great pseudonym, by the way -- so far our first Tropical Storm in 90 years is boring. It's been drizzling big, warm drops for hours. The unofficial pool measurement is an inch so far. My plants are very happy. However, I live on the coastal plain and the eye is coming my way, so who knows what the midnight hours will bring.
It's a very different story in the mountains and deserts where they are subject to landslides, and the winds and rains are blowing around the eye.
For instance, I understand Las Vegas has lost power -- and they are 350 miles away.

As with so many things in life, throughout history -- bad news happens somewhere, but for the vast majority of people, nothing much happens.
Also, the people in the eye of the storm feel the least -- it's people caught up on the fringes who suffer the biggest whiplash. (The scheming of Charles II is the eye, and he never misses a meal -- it's the [often un{der}paid] sailors fighting his wars who reap the whiplash, etc.)

As for annotations, I expect to be annotating my own humble first tries shortly. Hang out here for 9 years and you can't help but learn a lot.

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