I tried it this morning, wanting to post a link to pictures of tokens used at a coaching inn near Bedlam in Bishopsgate (never mentioned by Pepys). What I got was a long list of dates (but no clue to the info for each date), and no link to the Encyclopedia, until I specified that and reran the search -- which was where I ended up (Currency Units and Bishopsgate). In this case the Google integrated system would have been quicker and easier. I know we have discussed tokens at length somewhere ... ???
Ah -- Nell was beyond being an orange girl now. By November 1664, Nell Gwyn was on the stage at the Theater Royal in Drury Lane, and she was a famous household name by March 1665. It's thought she went to Oxford with the King's Players during the plague. SPOILER: However, it wasn't until March 1667 that George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham decided to use Nell to wean Charles away from Lady Castlemaine (George's cousin, no less -- so much for family loyalty).
One of the sad things about Pepys' vows and the war largely keeping him away from the theater is that he missed all this. Personally, I'd rather be reading about the theater and plays than hemp negotiations and accounting, but it is what it is.
Tokens from Inns: The White Hart (1246-2015) issued them
This article is about the 2011 permission, granted by the City of London, to demolish all but the facade of old coaching inn, The White Hart of Bishopsgate, redesigned in 1610 by Inigo Jones. It stood close to Bedlam, which was featured on the reverse of its tokens.
In 2015 the pub shut for the last time to permit the construction of a nine storey cylindrical office block of questionable design, developed by Sir Alan Sugar’s company Amsprop. Thus passed The White Hart after more than seven centuries in Bishopsgate.
For pictures of the 17th century tokens, cellars, and Inigo Jones' 1610 plans, plus photos of the brick tunnel through which the coaches ran, see http://spitalfieldslife.com/2019/…...
The White Hart (1246-2015) -- In 2011, permission was granted by the City of London to demolish all but the facade of old coaching inn, The White Hart of Bishopsgate, redesigned in 1610 by Inigo Jones.
In 2015 the pub shut for the last time to permit the construction of a nine storey cylindrical office block of questionable design, developed by Sir Alan Sugar’s company Amsprop. Thus passed The White Hart after more than seven centuries in Bishopsgate.
For pictures of the 17th century cellars and Inigo Jones' plans and photos of the brick tunnel through which the coaches ran, see http://spitalfieldslife.com/2019/…
For a book about the Knights of St. John and their famous defense of Malta which changed the region's history for decades:
The Great Siege, Malta 1565: Clash of Cultures: Christian Knights Defend Western Civilization Against the Moslem Tide -- by Ernle Bradford https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J48F…
From THE LIFE OF JOHN DRYDEN by REV. GEORGE GILFILLAN
In 1657, aged about 26, John Dryden moved to London, "clad in homely drugget," and with more projects in his head than money in his pocket.
He employed by his relative, Sir Gilbert Pickering -- called the "Fiery Pickering" from his Roundhead zeal -- as a clerk or secretary. Here he met Oliver Cromwell and saw those great qualities of sagacity, determination, courage, statesmanship, insight and genuine godliness, which made him, next to Alfred the Great, the first English monarch to sit on the English throne.
When Cromwell died, Dryden wrote and published his Heroic Stanzas.
When Richard Cromwell resigned, John Dryden and most of the nation saw the cause was lost, and took his talents to the winning side. But he never retracted the praise he gave to Oliver Cromwell. In "Absalom and Achitophel" he sneers at Richard Cromwell as Ishbosheth, but says nothing against the deceased giant Saul.
Dryden’s desertion was at first his loss: he lost their favor (should a reaction come), and he lost his position and the shelter of Sir Gilbert Pickering's princely mansion.
John Dryden went to live in the obscure house of a Mr. Herringman, a bookseller in the New Exchange, and became a professional author.
Dryden's poem on the “Coronation of Charles” was designed to wipe away the stain of Cromwellism, and to attract the new King's eye, whose glory he sang with more zeal than truth. He was considered consequential enough to be elected a member of the Royal Society in 1662.
From THE LIFE OF JOHN DRYDEN by REV. GEORGE GILFILLAN
In 1657, aged about 26, John Dryden moved to London, "clad in homely drugget," and with more projects in his head than money in his pocket.
He employed by his relative, Sir Gilbert Pickering -- called the "Fiery Pickering" from his Roundhead zeal -- as a secretary. Here he met Oliver Cromwell and saw those great qualities of sagacity, determination, courage, statesmanship, insight and genuine godliness, which made him, next to Alfred the Great, the first English monarch to sit on the English throne.
When Cromwell died, Dryden wrote and published his Heroic Stanzas.
When Richard Cromwell resigned, John Dryden and most of the nation saw the cause was lost, and took his talents to the winning side. But he never retracted the praise he gave to Oliver Cromwell. In "Absalom and Achitophel" he sneers at Richard Cromwell as Ishbosheth, but says nothing against the deceased giant Saul.
Dryden’s desertion was at first his loss: he lost their favor (should a reaction come), and he lost his position and the shelter of Sir Gilbert Pickering's princely mansion.
John Dryden went to live in the obscure house of Herringman, a bookseller in the New Exchange, and became a professional author.
His poem on the “Coronation of Charles” was designed to wipe away the stain of Cromwellism, and to attract the new King's eye, whose glory he sang with more zeal than truth. He was considered consequential enough to be elected a member of the Royal Society in 1662.
Herringman introduced Dryden to Sir Robert Howard, son of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire. They became friends, the poet assisting the knight in his literary compositions, particularly his play, "The Indian Queen".
Sir Robert Howard invited Dryden to the family seat at Charlton, where Dryden met his future wife, Lady Elizabeth Howard, Sir Robert's sister.
On 1 December, 1663, in St. Swithin's, London, with the consent of the Earl of Berkshire (who settled £60 a-year on his daughter) this unhappy union took place. Lady Elizabeth Howard had none of the qualities to command Dryden's respect or regard, and is described as a woman of violent temper and weak understanding.
Much of the bitterness of Dryden's satire, the coarse licentiousness of his plays, and his sarcasms at matrimony scattered throughout his works come from his domestic unhappiness.
The match briefly ended some licentious connections Dryden had formed, particularly one with Mrs. Reeves the actress, with whom he used to eat tarts at Mulberry Gardens, wearing "a sword and a Chadreux wig."
It secured Dryden an income of about £100-a-year – which, on the death of his mother in 1666, was increased by £20. So he was protected against the meaner necessities of the literary man, under which many of his rivals were crushed. If he could not always command luxuries, he was always sure of bread.
"How can any man feel sure which kid is their own?"
Before DNA testing, no one could. That's why children legally belonged to the husband, even if they were out of town and/or paternity was impossible to establish.
One example of the legal confusion this led to is the story of William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury, whose wife, Elizabeth Howard, was nearly 40 years his junior. Improbably she was the mother of two sons, Edward (1627–1645) and Nicholas (1631–1674), whose paternity gave rise to much dispute since they resembled her ex-fiance, Edward Vaux, 4th Lord Vaux, in whose house they were born. Neither son was mentioned in the earl's will.
The widowed Countess of Banbury quickly married Lord Vaux after her bereavement.
In 1641 the law courts ruled that Edward Knollys was the 2nd Earl of Banbury, and when he was killed in June 1645 his brother Nicholas Knollys took the title.
In the Convention Parliament of 1660 objection was taken to Nicholas Knollys, 3rd Earl of Banbury sitting in the House of Lords, and in 1661 he was not summoned to parliament; he had not succeeded in obtaining his writ of summons when he died on 14 March 1674.
The 3rd Earl's son, Charles Knollys (1662–1740), had not been summoned to parliament when in 1692 he killed Captain Philip Lawson in a duel. This raised the question of his rank. Was he, or was he not, entitled to trial by the peers?
The House of Lords declared Charles Knollys, 4th Earl of Banbury was not a peer and therefore not so entitled, but the Court of King's Bench released him from prison on the ground that he was the earl of Banbury and not Charles Knollys a commoner.
Nevertheless, the House of Lords refused to move from its position, and William Knollys, Earl of Banbury had not received a writ of summons when he died in April 1740. Successively titular Earls of Banbury have taken no steps to prove their title.
The Lord and Lady Vaux, a star-crossed, middle-aged couple, lived happily ever after, leaving the legal quagmire surrounding the Banbury title to their heirs and generations of students of English Common Law who struggle with the principles of Adulterine Bastardy debated in the Banbury Case. This effected a California paternity case as recently as the 1990's.
A treatise on the Law of Adulterine Bastardy as reported in the Banbury Case, by Sir Harris Nicholas is available as a free Google ebook, courtesy of Standford University School of Law.
No, I haven't looked it up, but would love to hear your analysis if you do.
Mary Bagot (1645–79) was the daughter of Colonel Hervey Bagot, third son of Sir Hervey Bagot, Bart., and Dorothea Arde, of the Ardens of Park Hall, Warwickshire, who died in 1649, leaving only Mary, an infant.
Col. Bagot soon married Elizabeth Rotheram, who made an good step-mother. All the Bagots supported King Charles, and suffered in the royal cause. Col. Bagot particularly distinguished himself in the defense of Lichfield: his service was not overlooked.
On the Restoration, Col. Bagot became one of the Gentlemen-pensioners of Charles II, and daughter Mary was appointed Maid of Honor to Anne Hyde, Duchess of York.
The praises of De Grammont are valuable from their rarity. In his observations on the new Court, and the merits of the fair faces around him, "Miss Bagot was the only one who was really possessed of virtue and beauty among these maids of honor: she had beautiful and regular features, and that sort of brown complexion, which, when in perfection, is so particularly fascinating, and more especially in England, where it is uncommon. There was an involuntary blush almost continually upon her cheek, without having anything to blush for."
In 1664 Mary Bagot married Charles Berkeley, Earl of Falmouth (1630–65), who was killed the following year by a cannon shot during the battle of Lowestoft.
After the death of Anne Hyde, Duchess of York, in 1673, Mary Bagot was suggested as a possible bride for the Duke of York, but in 1674 she secretly married Charles Sackville (1643–1706), later 6th Earl of Dorset and 1st Earl of Middlesex.
"L&M note Pepys immediately sent £500 to Portsmouth by a letter of credit from Edward Backwell drawn on Hugh Salisbury of Portsmouth."
These financial instruments are still widely used throughout the world.
The first version issued that I have heard about was by King John who wanted some Italian marble. He gave money or property to his local chapter of the Crusaders, who passed along the information to the Italian branch, who bough and shipped the marble to King John, with written information about the costs. The English Crusaders returned to King John what money wasn't needed for these costs plus their mark up. If they needed more money, they hung onto the marble until John coughed up. At the end of the year all the branches of the Crusaders settled up, so that a minimum of cash ever got shipped very far (which was dangerous because of robbers).
Today the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris is responsible for writing the rules. The most important recent version is called the eUCP2002 which outlined how documents can be exchanged on the internet, bypassing the banks -- which is where we came in, and how Pepys did this transaction in 1668. Goldsmith to goldsmith. No central clearing house required.
(Now you know what my day job is.)
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
London June 2019 — A recently discovered banking ledger kept by Edward Backwell, whose banking business in the second half of the 17th century was the immediate forerunner to the Bank of England, leads Bonhams Fine Books and Manuscripts sale in London on Wednesday 26 June. It is estimated at £100,000-150,000.
COURTESY OF BONHAMS: Nine of Edward Backwell’s customer ledgers were already known to exist and are considered so important that they are included in the UK section of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) ‘Memory of the World’ register. UNESCO describes them as “uniquely significant in documenting the finances of Restoration England and the birth of modern banking,” and calls Backwell, “one of the financial giants of his age.”
The ledger offered by Bonhams is earlier than those listed on the UNESCO register and is different in three significant respects:
• it was compiled under the personal supervision of Backwell, and signed by him in a number of places • it is a working document – unlike the nine later ledgers which were copies made by scribes – and bears the signatures of the people who received the money or their agents. • it confirms that Backwell acted as banker to the government; and was performing some of the functions of a central bank fully three decades before the establishment of the Bank of England.
This ledger covers the period August - March 1660 shows Edward Backwell administering the finances of the Excise which collected duty on home-produced goods such as alcohol and imported commodities e.g. tobacco. This involved paying the salaries and expenses of tax-collectors, making Backwell the HMRC of his day.
The ledger also shows that he acted as paymaster to the House of Commons, paying the wages of its staff.
Additionally, at the order of the Commons, he paid stipends to the great officers of state. These included George Monck (the soldier who played a key role in the restoration of the monarchy), and James, Duke of York.
When the Bank of England was established in 1694, Backwell’s cashier general Thomas Speed was appointed its Chief Cashier and was the first person authorized to issue bank notes. The newly-established central bank provided the resources to rebuild Britain’s navy. The consequent drive to develop new materials and manufacturing techniques acted as the catalyst for the Industrial Revolution and the founding of the modern economy.
Consultant Felix Pryor, who cataloged the ledger for Bonhams, said, “This ... document is an extraordinary and major discovery. It sheds new light on the crucial role of banking in the making of the modern state, and provides a deeper understanding of the origins of Great Britain’s global economic dominance during the 18th and 19th centuries.”
Sir Francis Prujean MD was married twice: first to Margaret Leggatt (died 1661), and secondly, on 13 February 1664, to Margaret, the widow of Sir Thomas Fleming, and daughter of Edward Gorges, 1st Baron Gorges of Dundalk.
Samuel Pepys records that his second wife brought him a great fortune. By his first wife he had an only son, Thomas Prujean, who graduated M.D. at Cambridge in 1649.
Thomas Gresham was arguably the first true wizard of global finance. He rose through the mercantile worlds of London and Antwerp to become the hidden power behind three out of the five Tudor monarchs.
Today his name is remembered in economic doctrines, in the institutions he founded (the Royal Exchange, Gresham College) and in the City of London's position at the economic center of the world.
Without Gresham, England truly might have become a vassal state. His maneuvering released Queen Elizabeth from a crushing burden of debt and allowed for vital military preparations during the wars of religion that set Europe ablaze.
Yet his deepest loyalties have remained enigmatic, until now. Drawing on vast new research and several startling discoveries, the great Tudor historian John Guy recreates Gresham's life and singular personality with astonishing intimacy. He reveals a survivor, flexible enough to do business with merchants and potentates no matter their religious or ideological convictions. His mind was a calculating engine. Yet his personal relationships were disturbingly transactional. Smuggler and arms dealer, extortioner backed by royal authority, he was a figure of cold sentimentality, even to members of his own family.
Elizabeth, England's steely young queen, found herself at odds with Gresham's ambitions. In their collisions and wary accommodations, we see our own conflicts between national sovereignty and global capital foreshadowed. A story of adventure and jeopardy, greed and cunning, loyalties divided, mistaken or betrayed, this is a biography fit for a merchant prince.
Five hundred years after Gresham's birth, now is the time to reckon up his legacy. Publisher: Profile Books Ltd ISBN: 9781788162364 Number of pages: 320 Weight: 640 g Dimensions: 240 x 162 x 31 mm Edition: Main
An absorbing biography ... meticulously researched... scholarly and intriguing. -- Peter Ackroyd * The Times *
The Charterhouse, Clerkenwell, London Set in the heart of Clerkenwell, the Charterhouse has been living the Nation's history since 1348. Initially a Black Death burial ground, the site became home to the largest Carthusian monastery in the world until it was brutally dissolved in 1537 when 16 monks became proto-martyrs of the Reformation.
A grand Tudor mansion replaced the monastery. Elizabeth I spent the first days of her reign at the Charterhouse and James I (of England) created 133 Barons in the Great Chamber prior to his coronation.
In 1611 Thomas Sutton acquired the mansion and site to house his new Charity, an almshouse and school. (The school separated and moved out of London in 1872 but the almhouse thrives to this day amidst the medieval, Tudor, Jacobean and later architecture that makes the site so fascinating.)
Thomas More studied at the Charterhouse when it was a Carthusian monastery and considered joining the order. Elizabeth I spent the first five days of her reign as a guest of Lord North at the Charterhouse. Governors of the Charterhouse include all Monarchs including and after James I. Oliver Cromwell was also Governor. Other Governors include the 1st Duke of Wellington, Judge Jeffries, Dr. John Dunne, the Duke of Monmouth and Robert Peel. John Wesley, William Makepeace Thackeray and Robert Baden-Powell were all pupils of the school when it was based at the Charterhouse. The Association Football offside rule was invented at the Charterhouse.
Museum, chapel and shop free to visit for everyone. Historic Houses members can go on the extensive estate tours for free, but cannot book in advance. Tours cost £15 for the house and £20 for the garden (non-members) and take place on Tues-Thurs and weekends until October.
Parting with Henry Peters and Juliana Coningsby near Salisbury, Charles II, with Colonel Robert Phelips of Montacute only reached Heale House at dusk.
Their hostess, Mrs. Hyde, had been born a Tichborne, and was the widow of one of Chancellor Hyde's cousins, but she had not, as yet, been informed of the rank of the refugee whom she had consented to receive.
Once before, seven years earlier, Mrs. Hyde had seen young Prince Charles when he marched through Salisbury with his father, and now she recognized him instantly as he alighted at her door. Being gifted with discretion, she made no sign, but welcomed him as a friend of Phelips, and led them both in to supper.
Mrs. Hyde’s sister, who lived with her, her brother-in-law, Frederick Hyde, and Dr. Humphrey Henchman were present at the meal, and, during its progress, 'the good gentlewoman had much ado to overcome herself.' Mrs. Hyde did violence to her feelings in not helping Charles II first, but she 'could not refrain from drinking a glass of wine to him, or from giving him two larks when others had but one.'
Charles II perceived that he was known, and took the first opportunity, after supper, to declare himself, not only to Mrs. Hyde, but also to her brother-in-law, who had expressed astonishment at the conversational gifts of one 'whose habit spoke him but of mean degree.'
Mrs. Hyde professed her willingness to take charge of Charles II, saying she had a safe hiding-place. She could not, however, trust her servants, and she therefore desired the King to depart openly with Colonel Robert Phelips of Montacute next morning, and return towards night, when she, having sent out all her servants, would admit him secretly at the back door.
Charles II then retired to his room, where he held a long conference with Dr. Humphrey Henchman ere he slept.
On the next morning Charles II took a formal leave of Mrs. Hyde, as directed, and set out with Colonel Robert Phelips of Montacute, as though to continue his journey.
All day the two rode about the Downs, counting and recounting the stones of Stonehenge in order to pass the time
Colonel Robert Phelips of Montacute records that 'the King's arithmetic gave to the fabulous tale that those stones cannot be told twice alike.'
At evening they returned to Heale House, and Colonel Robert Phelips of Montacute, having delivered up Charles II to Mrs. Hyde, departed with the horses to Newton Tony. ### This story took place during the escape after Worcester, in case you didn't guess.
The fourth side of Eton College's School Yard, the west, was added by Provost Allestree in 1665, so it was new when Pepys visited. However, it had to be rebuilt 1689–1694 because it became unsafe. Its main feature is the Upper School on the first floor, Eton’s second and largest classroom.
Eton is an historic town and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, but within the historic boundaries of Buckinghamshire, lying on the opposite bank of the River Thames to Windsor and connected to it by Windsor Bridge.
The land that is now Eton once belonged to the manor of Queen Edith, wife of Edward the Confessor. The main road between Windsor and London went through there so a hamlet sprang up amid pasture meadows to maintain the road and the bridge.
In 1440, Henry VI chose Eton as the location for his new college, Eton College. Workmen were moved into Eton to build the college. All of the land immediately around the hamlet was granted to the college, which stopped further growth. The new college chapel made the village a pilgrimage point, and inns were set up along the high street.
During the English Civil War, after Windsor Castle was captured by parliamentarian forces, the Royalist army moved into Eton and attempted to retake the town, occupying the college. Efforts to retake Windsor were unsuccessful and the royalists eventually fled.
The college sometimes leased small plots of land to the village as an act of charity, leading to the construction of houses near the bridge. Scholars at the college also used to collect "salt" (money) from the inns of Eton High Street. This practice continued until 1845 when a scholar refused to associate with the inns because they were a "temptation" to Eton students.
William Oughtred (1574–1660), mathematician and cleric, was born here.
On the 20th Pepys told us that pops was leaving on the 21st. Didn't happen, apparently.
And I agree with what I think Terry says about L&M's reading: Everyone went out for a balmy night cruise on the Thames, came home and went to bed. However, Mercer was at her mother's, came home even later and was unable to contact the guard. She probably sees his candlelight and throws stones at his window to get him to come down and let her in, which vexes him. She goes to bed. Pepys finishes his accounting and goes to bed after midnight.
And it's not even the end of the month. He must be really worried about Coventry's bad mood, plus Rupert's complaints to Charles II and the Duke of York.
Comments
Second Reading
About New search page
San Diego Sarah • Link
I tried it this morning, wanting to post a link to pictures of tokens used at a coaching inn near Bedlam in Bishopsgate (never mentioned by Pepys). What I got was a long list of dates (but no clue to the info for each date), and no link to the Encyclopedia, until I specified that and reran the search -- which was where I ended up (Currency Units and Bishopsgate). In this case the Google integrated system would have been quicker and easier. I know we have discussed tokens at length somewhere ... ???
About Monday 25 June 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
Ah -- Nell was beyond being an orange girl now.
By November 1664, Nell Gwyn was on the stage at the Theater Royal in Drury Lane, and she was a famous household name by March 1665. It's thought she went to Oxford with the King's Players during the plague. SPOILER: However, it wasn't until March 1667 that George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham decided to use Nell to wean Charles away from Lady Castlemaine (George's cousin, no less -- so much for family loyalty).
One of the sad things about Pepys' vows and the war largely keeping him away from the theater is that he missed all this. Personally, I'd rather be reading about the theater and plays than hemp negotiations and accounting, but it is what it is.
About Currency units
San Diego Sarah • Link
Tokens from Inns: The White Hart (1246-2015) issued them
This article is about the 2011 permission, granted by the City of London, to demolish all but the facade of old coaching inn, The White Hart of Bishopsgate, redesigned in 1610 by Inigo Jones. It stood close to Bedlam, which was featured on the reverse of its tokens.
In 2015 the pub shut for the last time to permit the construction of a nine storey cylindrical office block of questionable design, developed by Sir Alan Sugar’s company Amsprop. Thus passed The White Hart after more than seven centuries in Bishopsgate.
For pictures of the 17th century tokens, cellars, and Inigo Jones' 1610 plans, plus photos of the brick tunnel through which the coaches ran, see
http://spitalfieldslife.com/2019/…...
About Bishopsgate Street
San Diego Sarah • Link
The White Hart (1246-2015) -- In 2011, permission was granted by the City of London to demolish all but the facade of old coaching inn, The White Hart of Bishopsgate, redesigned in 1610 by Inigo Jones.
In 2015 the pub shut for the last time to permit the construction of a nine storey cylindrical office block of questionable design, developed by Sir Alan Sugar’s company Amsprop. Thus passed The White Hart after more than seven centuries in Bishopsgate.
For pictures of the 17th century cellars and Inigo Jones' plans and photos of the brick tunnel through which the coaches ran, see
http://spitalfieldslife.com/2019/…
About Mediterranean (The Straits)
San Diego Sarah • Link
For a book about the Knights of St. John and their famous defense of Malta which changed the region's history for decades:
The Great Siege, Malta 1565: Clash of Cultures: Christian Knights Defend Western Civilization Against the Moslem Tide -- by Ernle Bradford
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J48F…
Kindle edition
About Thursday 22 November 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
Mary Beale and two other almost-forgotten 17th century female painters are getting this own exhibition this summer:
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/b…
About Sir Gilbert Pickering
San Diego Sarah • Link
From THE LIFE OF JOHN DRYDEN by REV. GEORGE GILFILLAN
In 1657, aged about 26, John Dryden moved to London, "clad in homely drugget," and with more projects in his head than money in his pocket.
He employed by his relative, Sir Gilbert Pickering -- called the "Fiery Pickering" from his Roundhead zeal -- as a clerk or secretary. Here he met Oliver Cromwell and saw those great qualities of sagacity, determination, courage, statesmanship, insight and genuine godliness, which made him, next to Alfred the Great, the first English monarch to sit on the English throne.
When Cromwell died, Dryden wrote and published his Heroic Stanzas.
When Richard Cromwell resigned, John Dryden and most of the nation saw the cause was lost, and took his talents to the winning side. But he never retracted the praise he gave to Oliver Cromwell. In "Absalom and Achitophel" he sneers at Richard Cromwell as Ishbosheth, but says nothing against the deceased giant Saul.
Dryden’s desertion was at first his loss: he lost their favor (should a reaction come), and he lost his position and the shelter of Sir Gilbert Pickering's princely mansion.
John Dryden went to live in the obscure house of a Mr. Herringman, a bookseller in the New Exchange, and became a professional author.
Dryden's poem on the “Coronation of Charles” was designed to wipe away the stain of Cromwellism, and to attract the new King's eye, whose glory he sang with more zeal than truth. He was considered consequential enough to be elected a member of the Royal Society in 1662.
Lots more about Dryden but nothing more about Pickering at https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/d/…
About John Dryden
San Diego Sarah • Link
From THE LIFE OF JOHN DRYDEN by REV. GEORGE GILFILLAN
In 1657, aged about 26, John Dryden moved to London, "clad in homely drugget," and with more projects in his head than money in his pocket.
He employed by his relative, Sir Gilbert Pickering -- called the "Fiery Pickering" from his Roundhead zeal -- as a secretary. Here he met Oliver Cromwell and saw those great qualities of sagacity, determination, courage, statesmanship, insight and genuine godliness, which made him, next to Alfred the Great, the first English monarch to sit on the English throne.
When Cromwell died, Dryden wrote and published his Heroic Stanzas.
When Richard Cromwell resigned, John Dryden and most of the nation saw the cause was lost, and took his talents to the winning side. But he never retracted the praise he gave to Oliver Cromwell. In "Absalom and Achitophel" he sneers at Richard Cromwell as Ishbosheth, but says nothing against the deceased giant Saul.
Dryden’s desertion was at first his loss: he lost their favor (should a reaction come), and he lost his position and the shelter of Sir Gilbert Pickering's princely mansion.
John Dryden went to live in the obscure house of Herringman, a bookseller in the New Exchange, and became a professional author.
His poem on the “Coronation of Charles” was designed to wipe away the stain of Cromwellism, and to attract the new King's eye, whose glory he sang with more zeal than truth. He was considered consequential enough to be elected a member of the Royal Society in 1662.
Herringman introduced Dryden to Sir Robert Howard, son of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire. They became friends, the poet assisting the knight in his literary compositions, particularly his play, "The Indian Queen".
Sir Robert Howard invited Dryden to the family seat at Charlton, where Dryden met his future wife, Lady Elizabeth Howard, Sir Robert's sister.
On 1 December, 1663, in St. Swithin's, London, with the consent of the Earl of Berkshire (who settled £60 a-year on his daughter) this unhappy union took place. Lady Elizabeth Howard had none of the qualities to command Dryden's respect or regard, and is described as a woman of violent temper and weak understanding.
Much of the bitterness of Dryden's satire, the coarse licentiousness of his plays, and his sarcasms at matrimony scattered throughout his works come from his domestic unhappiness.
The match briefly ended some licentious connections Dryden had formed, particularly one with Mrs. Reeves the actress, with whom he used to eat tarts at Mulberry Gardens, wearing "a sword and a Chadreux wig."
It secured Dryden an income of about £100-a-year – which, on the death of his mother in 1666, was increased by £20. So he was protected against the meaner necessities of the literary man, under which many of his rivals were crushed. If he could not always command luxuries, he was always sure of bread.
https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/d/…
About Thursday 21 June 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
"How can any man feel sure which kid is their own?"
Before DNA testing, no one could. That's why children legally belonged to the husband, even if they were out of town and/or paternity was impossible to establish.
One example of the legal confusion this led to is the story of William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury, whose wife, Elizabeth Howard, was nearly 40 years his junior. Improbably she was the mother of two sons, Edward (1627–1645) and Nicholas (1631–1674), whose paternity gave rise to much dispute since they resembled her ex-fiance, Edward Vaux, 4th Lord Vaux, in whose house they were born. Neither son was mentioned in the earl's will.
The widowed Countess of Banbury quickly married Lord Vaux after her bereavement.
In 1641 the law courts ruled that Edward Knollys was the 2nd Earl of Banbury, and when he was killed in June 1645 his brother Nicholas Knollys took the title.
In the Convention Parliament of 1660 objection was taken to Nicholas Knollys, 3rd Earl of Banbury sitting in the House of Lords, and in 1661 he was not summoned to parliament; he had not succeeded in obtaining his writ of summons when he died on 14 March 1674.
The 3rd Earl's son, Charles Knollys (1662–1740), had not been summoned to parliament when in 1692 he killed Captain Philip Lawson in a duel. This raised the question of his rank. Was he, or was he not, entitled to trial by the peers?
The House of Lords declared Charles Knollys, 4th Earl of Banbury was not a peer and therefore not so entitled, but the Court of King's Bench released him from prison on the ground that he was the earl of Banbury and not Charles Knollys a commoner.
Nevertheless, the House of Lords refused to move from its position, and William Knollys, Earl of Banbury had not received a writ of summons when he died in April 1740. Successively titular Earls of Banbury have taken no steps to prove their title.
The Lord and Lady Vaux, a star-crossed, middle-aged couple, lived happily ever after, leaving the legal quagmire surrounding the Banbury title to their heirs and generations of students of English Common Law who struggle with the principles of Adulterine Bastardy debated in the Banbury Case. This effected a California paternity case as recently as the 1990's.
A treatise on the Law of Adulterine Bastardy as reported in the Banbury Case, by Sir Harris Nicholas is available as a free Google ebook, courtesy of Standford University School of Law.
No, I haven't looked it up, but would love to hear your analysis if you do.
For more info http://englishhistoryauthors.blog…
About Mary Berkeley (Countess of Falmouth)
San Diego Sarah • Link
Mary Bagot (1645–79) was the daughter of Colonel Hervey Bagot, third son of Sir Hervey Bagot, Bart., and Dorothea Arde, of the Ardens of Park Hall, Warwickshire, who died in 1649, leaving only Mary, an infant.
Col. Bagot soon married Elizabeth Rotheram, who made an good step-mother. All the Bagots supported King Charles, and suffered in the royal cause. Col. Bagot particularly distinguished himself in the defense of Lichfield: his service was not overlooked.
On the Restoration, Col. Bagot became one of the Gentlemen-pensioners of Charles II, and daughter Mary was appointed Maid of Honor to Anne Hyde, Duchess of York.
The praises of De Grammont are valuable from their rarity. In his observations on the new Court, and the merits of the fair faces around him, "Miss Bagot was the only one who was really possessed of virtue and beauty among these maids of honor: she had beautiful and regular features, and that sort of brown complexion, which, when in perfection, is so particularly fascinating, and more especially in England, where it is uncommon. There was an involuntary blush almost continually upon her cheek, without having anything to blush for."
In 1664 Mary Bagot married Charles Berkeley, Earl of Falmouth (1630–65), who was killed the following year by a cannon shot during the battle of Lowestoft.
After the death of Anne Hyde, Duchess of York, in 1673, Mary Bagot was suggested as a possible bride for the Duke of York, but in 1674 she secretly married Charles Sackville (1643–1706), later 6th Earl of Dorset and 1st Earl of Middlesex.
She died in childbirth five years later.
Her portrait hangs at Althorpe.
https://www.rct.uk/collection/404…
About Monday 28 September 1668
San Diego Sarah • Link
"L&M note Pepys immediately sent £500 to Portsmouth by a letter of credit from Edward Backwell drawn on Hugh Salisbury of Portsmouth."
These financial instruments are still widely used throughout the world.
The first version issued that I have heard about was by King John who wanted some Italian marble. He gave money or property to his local chapter of the Crusaders, who passed along the information to the Italian branch, who bough and shipped the marble to King John, with written information about the costs. The English Crusaders returned to King John what money wasn't needed for these costs plus their mark up. If they needed more money, they hung onto the marble until John coughed up. At the end of the year all the branches of the Crusaders settled up, so that a minimum of cash ever got shipped very far (which was dangerous because of robbers).
Today the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris is responsible for writing the rules. The most important recent version is called the eUCP2002 which outlined how documents can be exchanged on the internet, bypassing the banks -- which is where we came in, and how Pepys did this transaction in 1668. Goldsmith to goldsmith. No central clearing house required.
(Now you know what my day job is.)
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
About Ald. Edward Backwell
San Diego Sarah • Link
London June 2019 — A recently discovered banking ledger kept by Edward Backwell, whose banking business in the second half of the 17th century was the immediate forerunner to the Bank of England, leads Bonhams Fine Books and Manuscripts sale in London on Wednesday 26 June. It is estimated at £100,000-150,000.
COURTESY OF BONHAMS:
Nine of Edward Backwell’s customer ledgers were already known to exist and are considered so important that they are included in the UK section of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) ‘Memory of the World’ register. UNESCO describes them as “uniquely significant in documenting the finances of Restoration England and the birth of modern banking,” and calls Backwell, “one of the financial giants of his age.”
The ledger offered by Bonhams is earlier than those listed on the UNESCO register and is different in three significant respects:
• it was compiled under the personal supervision of Backwell, and signed by him in a number of places
• it is a working document – unlike the nine later ledgers which were copies made by scribes – and bears the signatures of the people who received the money or their agents.
• it confirms that Backwell acted as banker to the government; and was performing some of the functions of a central bank fully three decades before the establishment of the Bank of England.
This ledger covers the period August - March 1660 shows Edward Backwell administering the finances of the Excise which collected duty on home-produced goods such as alcohol and imported commodities e.g. tobacco.
This involved paying the salaries and expenses of tax-collectors, making Backwell the HMRC of his day.
The ledger also shows that he acted as paymaster to the House of Commons, paying the wages of its staff.
Additionally, at the order of the Commons, he paid stipends to the great officers of state. These included George Monck (the soldier who played a key role in the restoration of the monarchy), and James, Duke of York.
When the Bank of England was established in 1694, Backwell’s cashier general Thomas Speed was appointed its Chief Cashier and was the first person authorized to issue bank notes. The newly-established central bank provided the resources to rebuild Britain’s navy. The consequent drive to develop new materials and manufacturing techniques acted as the catalyst for the Industrial Revolution and the founding of the modern economy.
Consultant Felix Pryor, who cataloged the ledger for Bonhams, said, “This ... document is an extraordinary and major discovery. It sheds new light on the crucial role of banking in the making of the modern state, and provides a deeper understanding of the origins of Great Britain’s global economic dominance during the 18th and 19th centuries.”
https://www.finebooksmagazine.com…
About Sir Francis Prujean
San Diego Sarah • Link
Sir Francis Prujean MD now has his own Wikipedia page
https://www.google.com/search?q=f…
About Sunday 24 June 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
Sir Francis Prujean MD was married twice:
first to Margaret Leggatt (died 1661),
and secondly, on 13 February 1664, to Margaret, the widow of Sir Thomas Fleming, and daughter of Edward Gorges, 1st Baron Gorges of Dundalk.
Samuel Pepys records that his second wife brought him a great fortune. By his first wife he had an only son, Thomas Prujean, who graduated M.D. at Cambridge in 1649.
For more see https://wikivisually.com/wiki/Fra…
About Sir Thomas Gresham
San Diego Sarah • Link
Thomas Gresham was arguably the first true wizard of global finance. He rose through the mercantile worlds of London and Antwerp to become the hidden power behind three out of the five Tudor monarchs.
Today his name is remembered in economic doctrines, in the institutions he founded (the Royal Exchange, Gresham College) and in the City of London's position at the economic center of the world.
Without Gresham, England truly might have become a vassal state. His maneuvering released Queen Elizabeth from a crushing burden of debt and allowed for vital military preparations during the wars of religion that set Europe ablaze.
Yet his deepest loyalties have remained enigmatic, until now. Drawing on vast new research and several startling discoveries, the great Tudor historian John Guy recreates Gresham's life and singular personality with astonishing intimacy. He reveals a survivor, flexible enough to do business with merchants and potentates no matter their religious or ideological convictions. His mind was a calculating engine. Yet his personal relationships were disturbingly transactional. Smuggler and arms dealer, extortioner backed by royal authority, he was a figure of cold sentimentality, even to members of his own family.
Elizabeth, England's steely young queen, found herself at odds with Gresham's ambitions. In their collisions and wary accommodations, we see our own conflicts between national sovereignty and global capital foreshadowed. A story of adventure and jeopardy, greed and cunning, loyalties divided, mistaken or betrayed, this is a biography fit for a merchant prince.
Five hundred years after Gresham's birth, now is the time to reckon up his legacy.
Publisher: Profile Books Ltd
ISBN: 9781788162364
Number of pages: 320
Weight: 640 g
Dimensions: 240 x 162 x 31 mm
Edition: Main
An absorbing biography ... meticulously researched... scholarly and intriguing. -- Peter Ackroyd * The Times *
https://www.waterstones.com/book/…
About Charterhouse Yard/Square
San Diego Sarah • Link
The Charterhouse, Clerkenwell, London
Set in the heart of Clerkenwell, the Charterhouse has been living the Nation's history since 1348. Initially a Black Death burial ground, the site became home to the largest Carthusian monastery in the world until it was brutally dissolved in 1537 when 16 monks became proto-martyrs of the Reformation.
A grand Tudor mansion replaced the monastery. Elizabeth I spent the first days of her reign at the Charterhouse and James I (of England) created 133 Barons in the Great Chamber prior to his coronation.
In 1611 Thomas Sutton acquired the mansion and site to house his new Charity, an almshouse and school.
(The school separated and moved out of London in 1872 but the almhouse thrives to this day amidst the medieval, Tudor, Jacobean and later architecture that makes the site so fascinating.)
Thomas More studied at the Charterhouse when it was a Carthusian monastery and considered joining the order.
Elizabeth I spent the first five days of her reign as a guest of Lord North at the Charterhouse.
Governors of the Charterhouse include all Monarchs including and after James I. Oliver Cromwell was also Governor. Other Governors include the 1st Duke of Wellington, Judge Jeffries, Dr. John Dunne, the Duke of Monmouth and Robert Peel.
John Wesley, William Makepeace Thackeray and Robert Baden-Powell were all pupils of the school when it was based at the Charterhouse.
The Association Football offside rule was invented at the Charterhouse.
Museum, chapel and shop free to visit for everyone. Historic Houses members can go on the extensive estate tours for free, but cannot book in advance. Tours cost £15 for the house and £20 for the garden (non-members) and take place on Tues-Thurs and weekends until October.
for lovely photos and more info, see https://www.historichouses.org/ho…
About Stonehenge
San Diego Sarah • Link
https://books.google.com/books?pg…
268 THE KING IN EXILE -- October 7-17 1651
Parting with Henry Peters and Juliana Coningsby near Salisbury, Charles II, with Colonel Robert Phelips of Montacute only reached Heale House at dusk.
Their hostess, Mrs. Hyde, had been born a Tichborne, and was the widow of one of Chancellor Hyde's cousins, but she had not, as yet, been informed of the rank of the refugee whom she had consented to receive.
Once before, seven years earlier, Mrs. Hyde had seen young Prince Charles when he marched through Salisbury with his father, and now she recognized him instantly as he alighted at her door. Being gifted with discretion, she made no sign, but welcomed him as a friend of Phelips, and led them both in to supper.
Mrs. Hyde’s sister, who lived with her, her brother-in-law, Frederick Hyde, and
Dr. Humphrey Henchman were present at the meal, and, during its progress, 'the good gentlewoman had much ado to overcome herself.' Mrs. Hyde did violence to her feelings in not helping Charles II first, but she 'could not refrain from drinking a glass of wine to him, or from giving him two larks when others had but one.'
Charles II perceived that he was known, and took the first opportunity, after supper, to declare himself, not only to Mrs. Hyde, but also to her brother-in-law, who had expressed astonishment at the conversational gifts of one 'whose habit spoke him but of mean degree.'
Mrs. Hyde professed her willingness to take charge of Charles II, saying she had a safe hiding-place. She could not, however, trust her servants, and she therefore desired the King to depart openly with Colonel Robert Phelips of Montacute next morning, and return towards night, when she, having sent out all her servants, would admit him secretly at the back door.
Charles II then retired to his room, where he held a long conference with Dr.
Humphrey Henchman ere he slept.
On the next morning Charles II took a formal leave of Mrs. Hyde, as directed, and set out with Colonel Robert Phelips of Montacute, as though to continue his journey.
All day the two rode about the Downs, counting and recounting the stones of
Stonehenge in order to pass the time
Colonel Robert Phelips of Montacute records that 'the King's arithmetic gave to the fabulous tale that those stones cannot be told twice alike.'
At evening they returned to Heale House, and Colonel Robert Phelips of Montacute, having delivered up Charles II to Mrs. Hyde, departed with the horses to Newton Tony.
###
This story took place during the escape after Worcester, in case you didn't guess.
About Eton College
San Diego Sarah • Link
The fourth side of Eton College's School Yard, the west, was added by Provost Allestree in 1665, so it was new when Pepys visited. However, it had to be rebuilt 1689–1694 because it became unsafe. Its main feature is the Upper School on the first floor, Eton’s second and largest classroom.
For more, see:
https://www.etoncollege.com/brief…
About Eton, Berkshire
San Diego Sarah • Link
Eton is an historic town and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, but within the historic boundaries of Buckinghamshire, lying on the opposite bank of the River Thames to Windsor and connected to it by Windsor Bridge.
The land that is now Eton once belonged to the manor of Queen Edith, wife of Edward the Confessor. The main road between Windsor and London went through there so a hamlet sprang up amid pasture meadows to maintain the road and the bridge.
In 1440, Henry VI chose Eton as the location for his new college, Eton College. Workmen were moved into Eton to build the college. All of the land immediately around the hamlet was granted to the college, which stopped further growth. The new college chapel made the village a pilgrimage point, and inns were set up along the high street.
During the English Civil War, after Windsor Castle was captured by parliamentarian forces, the Royalist army moved into Eton and attempted to retake the town, occupying the college. Efforts to retake Windsor were unsuccessful and the royalists eventually fled.
The college sometimes leased small plots of land to the village as an act of charity, leading to the construction of houses near the bridge. Scholars at the college also used to collect "salt" (money) from the inns of Eton High Street. This practice continued until 1845 when a scholar refused to associate with the inns because they were a "temptation" to Eton students.
William Oughtred (1574–1660), mathematician and cleric, was born here.
For more, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eto…
And just what sort of "temptation" might that be?
About Friday 22 June 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
On the 20th Pepys told us that pops was leaving on the 21st. Didn't happen, apparently.
And I agree with what I think Terry says about L&M's reading:
Everyone went out for a balmy night cruise on the Thames, came home and went to bed. However, Mercer was at her mother's, came home even later and was unable to contact the guard. She probably sees his candlelight and throws stones at his window to get him to come down and let her in, which vexes him. She goes to bed. Pepys finishes his accounting and goes to bed after midnight.
And it's not even the end of the month. He must be really worried about Coventry's bad mood, plus Rupert's complaints to Charles II and the Duke of York.