4 Annotations

First Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

FYGE, Valentine

Co Co Farringdon Without (St Bride), 1660, 1662 (1) St Bride, 1660, 1662 (2) APO, appr, 1618, to William Noke, fr, 1626, W, 1662 (3) f Peter Fyge of Winslow, Bucks, m Elizabeth, da of Rev Richard Edmondson of Shenley, Bucks, mar 1626, Margaret Blake of Christ Church (4) ? Apothecary Presbyterian Ruling Elder of 5th Classis of London Province, Nov 1655- Aug 1660 Member of Grand Committee of Provincial Assembly, 1655 (5) Father of Thomas FYGE http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…

Second Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

This page is about the Fyge family. I've cut it down to highlights on the part about Valentine and his immediate family:

Valentine Fyge was an apothecary, and it was through this work he became one of Samuel Pepys’ major sources of information on London politics.

On 5 January 1660 Pepys wrote, I ‘went myself with my lanthorn to Mr. Fage to consult concerning my nose, who told me it was nothing but cold; and after that, we did discourse concerning public business, and he told me that it is true the City hath not time enough to do much, but they are resolved to shake off the soldier[s]; and that unless there be a free Parliament chosen, he doth believe there are half the Common Council will not levy any money by order of this Parliament.’

On 5 December 1659 there had been an Apprentices’ Riot which agitated for a free parliament, and as result soldiers had occupied the City of London ever since.

The two men knew each other because Valentine Fage was Common-Councilman for the ward Farringdon Without where Pepys’ father lived.

The Fyge family originated in North Buckinghamshire. Valentine’s father was Peter Fyge of Winslow, and his mother was Elizabeth Edmondson, the daughter of the Rev. Richard Edmondson of Shenley. The Fyges were a notable family in Winslow. When Sir John Fortescue acquired the Manor in the village, he started a survey in 1600 to find out what he owned. There are three entries concerning the Fyge family:

We know of none that hold any estate of this Manor by indenture for life, or lives, or term of years from the Lord, but only Peter Ffige, who holdeth the Mote Hall in Winselowe. ...

So we can deduce that they were fairly well-to-do.

Valentine was born in the early 1600s because in 1618 he became an apprentice apothecary to William Noke in London. In 1626 he married Margaret Blake of Christ Church. He was obviously successful, and achieved standing in his local community.

As well as being a Common-Councilman for Farringdon Without twice, in 1660 and 1662, he was also a Ruling Elder of the 5th Classis of London Province from November 1655 to August 1660, and Member of the Grand Committee of the Provincial Assembly in 1655.

Valentine Fyge’s son, Thomas, followed in his father’s footsteps. In 1649 he was apprenticed to the apothecaries, becoming the servant of Nicholas Brett of Bishopsgate in 1661, and Master of the Society of Apothecaries in 1690. He was a Common-Councilman for Bishopsgate Without from 1681 to 1683, and again from 1688 to 1696, and Deputy Alderman from 1699 to 1705. He married Mary, the daughter of the Rev. Josia Beacham of Seaton, Rutland, and the family lived at the sign of the “Sugar Loaf” in a busy commercial area in Bishopsgate. He received his physician’s certificate in December 1661. He died in March 1705 leaving an estate worth £9,279.

For more info about the family, see https://klukey2.wordpress.com/201…

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Eric the Bish found this on a random WordPress website – link below:

“Pothecary, Potticary — Middle English: apotecarie, ultimately from Latin apothecarius “store-keeper” (specifically of spices and drugs — only later came to mean some-one who prepared drugs, an apothecary).”
https://namenookdotcom.wordpress.…

Third Reading

EyeOnMadisonStreet  •  Link

Whew, many an alley and lane to get lost in reading about the Fyge family! I followed your link and read about Valentine's granddaughter the poetess Sarah Fyge. And followed her to a couple of excellent sounding satires: "Love Given O're" and "Satyr's Revenge"; and the dueling polemics "Advice To A Son" and "Advice To A Daughter". Then I just had to take a look see at Mary Pix, and who do I find there but one John Locke. If I keep this up, it will be next century before I get out of the 17th!

Log in to post an annotation.

If you don't have an account, then register here.

References

Chart showing the number of references in each month of the diary’s entries.

1660