Sunday 4 April 1669

(Lord’s day). Up, and to church, where Alderman Backewell’s wife, by my invitation with my head, come up with her mother, and sat with us, and after sermon I did walk with them home, and there left them, and home to dinner, and after dinner with Sir J. Minnes and T. Middleton to White Hall, by appointment; and at my Lord Arlington’s the Office did attend the King and Cabal, to discourse the further quantity of victuals fit to be declared for, which was 2,000 men for six months; and so without more ado or stay, there, hearing no news but that Sir Thomas Allen is to be expected every hour at home with his fleete, or news of his being gone back to Algier, and so home, where got my wife to read to me; and so after supper to bed. The Queen-Mother hath been of late mighty ill, and some fears of her death.


14 Annotations

First Reading

Paul Chapin  •  Link

"my invitation with my head"
I take this to mean that Sam made eye contact with her, then jerked his head back slightly in a "come here" gesture.

Also, I doubt (in the modern sense) that Mrs. Backwell's mother was also named Mrs. Backwell, as the rollover suggests.

Jenny  •  Link

"invitation with my head" - another example which brings history to life. 400 (doing the math and not sure I have it right lol) years ago Sam made a motion with his head which we all still make today.

Allen Appel  •  Link

I've noticed a number of times that Sam routinely does business on a Sunday. Was this common throughout society? And was there a specific time when businesses and certainly government offices shut down on a Sunday?

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"400 (doing the math and not sure I have it right lol) years ag"

Jenny, it's 343 years ago every day (e.g. 4 April, 343 years ago today BST).

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"The Queen-Mother hath been of late mighty ill, and some fears of her death."

"She had intended to remain in England for the rest of her life, but by 1665 was suffering badly from bronchitis, which she blamed on the damp British weather. Henrietta travelled back to France the same year, taking residence at the Hôtel de la Bazinière, the present Hôtel de Chimay in Paris. In August 1669, she saw the birth of her granddaughter Anne Marie d'Orléans; Anne Marie was the maternal grandmother of Louis XV making Henrietta Maria an ancestor of most of today's royal families. Shortly afterwards, she died at the château de Colombes, near Paris, having taken an excessive quantity of opiates as a painkiller. " http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"Sam routinely does business on a Sunday. Was this common throughout society? And was there a specific time when businesses and certainly government offices shut down on a Sunday?"

Puzzling matters for sure; see this discussion of the work week and weekend:
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
.

Allen Appel  •  Link

I had to laugh. Check out Terry's diary link in reference to my question, it shows the usual brilliance of the Pepys commenters. What am I I gonna do for fascinating, intelligent input every day of the week when Sam's poor eyes cause him to hang up his pen. I'm doomed!

nix  •  Link

The Oxford DNB says that Backwell's second wife -- "the one who appears in Pepys' Diary -- was the daughter of Richard Leigh or Lyse, so I assume that her mother would have gone by that name.

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

It was 343 years from the date of Pepys's entries to their posting the first time on pepysdiary.com; it's 353 years after his entries this second time around, .

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"did attend the King and Cabal, to discourse the further quantity of victuals fit to be declared for, which was 2,000 men for six months;"

The supplies were for the fleet which was now preparing for a voyage to the Mediterranean. On 5 April the Council directed the Duke of York to order thee victuals from Gauden, and the Board to prepare an estimate. (Per L&M note)

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"The Queen-Mother hath been of late mighty ill, and some fears of her death."

Henrietta-Maria was at Colombe, near Paris, where she died on 21/31 August of this year. (L&M note)

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

In the spring of 1669, Cosmo, the future Grand Duke of Turin, is travelling towards London, and today goes from Basingstoke to Egham .

I've standardized the spelling of names I know, corrected scanning errors I could figure out, and increased the number of paragraphs. I apologize if they are wrong:

The morning of 4/14 April, 1669, which was Palm Sunday, his highness attended at the Benediction, and after he had privately heard mass with his suite, everything was arranged for his departure for Egham.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

PART 2

The whole troop was in readiness to march with his highness, but he accepted only the same convoy as before, which was useful for the security of the baggage, refusing all the rest as serving no other purpose than to display the formality of a public reception. They insisted upon accompanying him out of the district, where they took leave after two salutes.

We travelled 14 miles through a country nearly level and entirely open, devoted to pasturage, as is all the rest of Hampshire, through which we passed, and dined at Okested, a small village.

In the evening we reached Egham; this is rather a village than a town.

159

Before we arrived we met, 3 miles off, 2 carriages and 4 coming from London, in one was Terriesi and Ferroni, and in the other the son of Peter Vandeput, a Flemish merchant. They paid their respects to his highness at the door of his carriage, and re-entering their own, followed in his train.

A mile farther on we met my Lord Howard of Norfolk in an equipage with 6 horses, along with his brothers, Edward and Bernard. His highness alighted, and, having received their compliments, re-entered his coach and continued his journey, followed by the noblemen, who took into their carriage those gentlemen of his highness' suite who were not in his own.

Having reached his quarters at an early hour, he talked a long time with the Messrs. Howard, Henry Neville, and Somerset, who was appointed gentleman of the bedchamber to the grand duke, and Wiborne, his cousin, both of whom came along with the resident, Salvetti.

Having thus passed the day and part of the evening, they all withdrew; his highness retiring as usual after supper, and all the noblemen and the gentlemen of his retinue.

Terriesi alone, and those who came with him, returned to London the same evening.

@@@

This was Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford’s regiment. He was made Col. of the Royal Regiment of Horse in 1661: See
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…

Egham:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egh…

Baron Henry Howard of Norfolk, https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…

Hon. Edward and Hon. Bernard Howard, https://royaldescent.blogspot.com…

Henry Neville,
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

Giovanni Salvetti Antelminelli, Tuscan resident in London: https://www.euronewsproject.org/t…

From:
TRAVELS OF COSMO THE THIRD, GRAND DUKE OF TUSCANY,
THROUGH ENGLAND,
DURING THE REIGN OF KING CHARLES THE SECOND (1669)
TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN MANUSCRIPT
https://archive.org/stream/travel…

His highness, Cosmo, was only a traveler. Under his direction, the writer of record was Count Lorenzo Magalotti, later Secretary to the Academy del Cimento, and one of the most learned people in the court of Ferdinand II.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"Messrs. Howard, Henry Neville, and Somerset, who was appointed gentleman of the bedchamber to the grand duke, ..."

Henry Neville had stayed with the de Medici family, the ducal power in Florence, Tuscony, while he was abroad during the Interregnum. This note indicates he was more than a guest to Cosmo's father, Ferdinand II, Duke of Tuscony.

Log in to post an annotation.

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