Samuel Pepys - Information, Featured Articles

Samuel Pepys

Samuel Pepys, diarist, womaniser, wife beater and politician, was born near Fleet Street in 1633. His family was not rich but he was very bright and managed to get a scholarship and earn a degree. Starting off his career as a government clerk he quickly gained promotion and by 1660 he had reached the high office of Clerk of the Acts to the Navy Board. It was in this year that he began to write his diary.

The diary was private and he never intended to publish it. Therefore the entries give a totally honest account of the times and also the man. Pepys was a complex character. Holding responsibility for issuing shipbuilding contracts, he frequently took bribes yet he prided himself on the fact that he never allowed himself to be corrupted by those bribes. Pepys was a rich man but he was disturbed by the poverty he saw around him.

He also remained married to the same woman all his life but that did not stop him from visiting prostitutes or accosting young ladies in church.

His poor wife had to put up with a great deal. Worst of all, he could be violent! He did as he pleased, but he was still extremely jealous of his wife.

It was only many years after his death that the diaries were published. The main diaries cover the years 1660-1669. In 1669 failing eyesight forced him to almost completely stop writing. However, his career continued and he became a Member of Parliament in 1685. He died in 1703 at the age of 70 and is buried in his favourite church, St Olave's.

Rather than being the dull memoirs of a grey old government official, these diaries are a surprisingly colourful and amusing description of London and the people and events of the 1660's. And what a time it was! There was the coronation of Charles II in 1661. He gives an on the spot account of The Great Plague of 1665, and also The Great Fire of London of 1666.

Pepys was a true Londoner and every page of his diary transports us on a tour around the great city. There is a small exhibition on Samuel Pepys in Prince Henry's Room.