Ricadus
Annotations and comments
Ricadus has posted eight annotations/comments since 23 November 2019.
The most recent first…
Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
Ricadus has posted eight annotations/comments since 23 November 2019.
The most recent first…
Comments
Third Reading
About Tuesday 8 May 1660
Ricadus • Link
9 shillings not so much lost as an invested for future prosperity.
Second Reading
About Thursday 21 November 1667
Ricadus • Link
The probable location of the taverne in St. Clement’s Churchyard, as well as interesting information on the use of tokens for low denomination coinage.
https://c17thlondontokens.com/201…
Apparently there was an acute shortage of base metal coins for use in everyday transaction (such as paying for a drink) so local tradesmen resorted to issuing their own coins
This problem is described in the front page of the blog — the 1660s were the peak period for this — and helped me understand more why the Navy office might have resorted to tickets to pay their wages to sailors and boatyard men:
https://c17thlondontokens.com/
About Sunday 1 September 1667
Ricadus • Link
Mention of the Old Swan Tavern reminded me of this recent blog post about “Doggett’s Coat and Badge” race, an annual boat race held in late summer that had it’s starting line at the Old Swan.
https://knowyourlondon.wordpress.…
In its early years contestants apparently raced against the outgoing tide, so that the event could take hours to be completed. Presumably this also enabled spectators to walk along the riverside and shout encouragements and to reach the endpoint — the Swan Inn at Chelsea — in time to see the finish.
The event began just a few years after Pepys’s lifetime, in 1715, and apparently continues to this day, making it the oldest boat race in the world, although it is not nearly as famous as the annual University Boat Race held further upstream at Putney
About Christopher Pett
Ricadus • Link
The Pett family owned a large area of land in what is now suburban Southeast London called Petts Wood. The woodland, which still exists, was leased for the production of timber.
About Thursday 14 February 1666/67
Ricadus • Link
Don’t write him off... Wait for tomorrow’s shenanigans.
About Mary Mercer
Ricadus • Link
She and her brother both died young, in their twenties.
About Saturday 9 February 1666/67
Ricadus • Link
Keeping up with the Penns and Battens, I suspect.
About Thursday 22 November 1666
Ricadus • Link
“..some bottles of new French wine of this year, mighty good...”
An early reference to the Beaujolais Nouveaux? Nowadays marked in France on the third Thursday of November and celebrated with fireworks and festivals in that region.