Tuesday 1 July 1662

To the office, and there we sat till past noon, and then Captain Cuttance and I by water to Deptford, where the Royal James (in which my Lord went out the last voyage, though [he] came back in the Charles) was paying off by Sir W. Batten and Sir W. Pen.

So to dinner, where I had Mr. Sheply to dine with us, and from thence I sent to my Lord to know whether she should be a first rate, as the men would have her, or a second. He answered that we should forbear paying the officers and such whose pay differed upon the rate of the ship, till he could speak with his Royal Highness.

To the Pay again after dinner, and seeing of Cooper, the mate of the ship, whom I knew in the Charles, I spoke to him about teaching the mathematiques, and do please myself in my thoughts of learning of him, and bade him come to me in a day or two.

Towards evening I left them, and to Redriffe by land, Mr. Cowly, the Clerk of the Cheque, with me, discoursing concerning the abuses of the yard, in which he did give me much light. So by water home, and after half an hour sitting talking with my wife, who was afeard I did intend to go with my Lord to fetch the Queen mother over, in which I did clear her doubts, I went to bed by daylight, in order to my rising early to-morrow.


18 Annotations

First Reading

Cumgranissalis  •  Link

Another entry showing Sam's growth in asking and observing and questioning the status quo.

dirk  •  Link

"fetch the Queen mother over"

Phil's link refers to Henrietta-Maria. Wouldn't this make more sense if it referred to Luisa, Catherine's mother in Portugal? If so, that might explain Liz's fear that here husband might sail to Portugal on one of the ships sent to bring her over.

A. De Araujo  •  Link

"fetch the Queen mother"
Dirk,I don't think so; Dona Luisa de Gusmão was the Regent in Portugal at the time because her son the King was a dumkopf,doido,dumb;I dont think she would leave the Country,particularly with the Spanish around.

Australian Susan  •  Link

Elizabeth doesn't want Sam going on even a short trip to France! Yet, spending time with "My Lord" might well be good for his career. Although this would mean time away from the office, leaving the Sir Williams to ease themselves back in the saddle and nudge Sam out. Also, he is having such a splendidly righteous time uncovering "abuses" and setting them right.

Alan Bedford  •  Link

Had not Henrietta Maria returned to England in 1660?

Jeannine  •  Link

"Fetch the Queen Mother over" refers to Charles Mother Henrietta Maria. She is returning to England after her exile in France. I believe (from reading elsewhere) that she will be living at her dowager home ~~Somerset House (~~ and that there may be remodeling/redecorating activity in process there to prepare it for her return). Also, I don't think that Sam is a very sea worthy sort so I am thinking that in addition to relieving his wife of concern that he could be leaving for France that he's also relieved himself to be remaining on solid ground.

Pauline  •  Link

She is returning to England after her exile in France
I'm having no luck with our search capabilites to come up with the information, but I recall that the Queen Mother came after the restoration as Alan Bedford says, but then returned to France. This will be her second coming.

Australian Susan  •  Link

Here is a history of Somerset House, but it is unclear on the very detail we seek - good otherwise though and nice portrait of HM.
http://www.somerset-house.org.uk/…

Pauline  •  Link

The Queen Mother
November 2, 1660, arrived in London after 19 years in exile.

November 22, 1660, Elizabeth gets to watch her eat:
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

November 25, 1660, Sam gets a letter from Sandwich to get a ship ready to carry the Queen to France.

December 24, 1660, her daughter Mary, Princess of Orange, dies of small-pox.

January 2, 1661, she and Princess Henrietta are packed and ready to set off for Portsmouth to sail for France. Princess Henrietta gets the measles and they don't sail, but stay on board the ship at Portsmouth.

January 27, 1661. Sam gets a letter from Portsmouth that the princess is well and that Sandwich set sail with her and the Queen the day before for France.

March 31, 1661, Princess Marietta marries Phillipe, Duke of Orleans, in Paris.

[Looks like she returned to France for her daughter's marriage and is now returning to England.]

Pauline  •  Link

Princess Marietta!!??
You know I mean Princess Henrietta.

Alan Bedford  •  Link

Thanks to Pauline and Australian Susan!

Your research has resolved our temorary group confusion, and demonstrated once again the value of the Annotations, and the annotators.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Seems like a rather fast payoff for the Royal James compared to some of the fleet, though I suppose the crew's pay may have been in arrears since well before the Portugal trip.

Our Bess is worried for our Sam...

Unless, of course she just doesn't want him running around in Paris or the Channel ports.

JWB  •  Link

"the mathematiques"
The "the" affectation has worn off mathematics. Would that same apply to the recently(last 20 yrs.) re-affectated "the calculus".

Pedro  •  Link

The Queen mother.

She is coming with the purpose of welcoming the new Queen, Catherine, and to make her acquaintance. (Davidson)

Incidentally, Ollards says that Sam's Lord married Jemima, daughter of a prominent Parliamentarian. His own father was a staunch Royalist who had twice entertained the Queen Mother (along with her husband) at Hinchingbrooke.

Jeannine  •  Link

"She is returning to England after her exile in France." Sorry to all for the choice of words and the wild chase I put the ladies on to correct me-- my intention was to answer Dirk's question about which queen was coming over, and "return from exile" wasn't intended in the literal sense, but more general. I'll be well aware to be more careful in the future! As Pedro has stated--the reason she is coming over is to meet her new daughter-in-law, Queen Catherine.

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

The Clerk of the Cheque,

The senior official of each dockyard was the commissioner, who was supported by senior officers including:

clerk of cheque and storekeeper -responsible for finance and administration
master shipwright -responsible for building and repairs
master attendants and boatswain -supervised yard craft and boats in ordinary (on reserve)
master ropemaker -responsible for the ropeyard

Clerks and foremen, known as inferior officers, supported the senior officers.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.u…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"I sent to my Lord to know whether she should be a first rate, as the men would have her, or a second."

L&M note she was now rated as a 2nd-rate, The dividing-line between 1st- and 2nd-rate ships (fixed by size and fighting power in most cases) was often narrow until the introduction of new rules in 1677. Both rates if ships were three-deckers. Pay for most officers was higher in 1st-rates; for others (e.g. lieutenants and bosuns' mates), there was nno difference. The prevalent rating system -- establishing six rates of ship -- appears to have been introdued in 1633. The Duke of York on 1 September 1662 ordered a new establishment, with a Table of the Officers.

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