The Diary of Samuel Pepys

As the year 1660 opens, Samuel Pepys is 26 years old and thankful to be in good health after a drastic operation to remove a “stone” (gallstone) two years previously in March 1658. He works as a clerk in the Exchequer (treasury department) and lives in Axe Yard in London with his wife Elizabeth (never named in the Diary), and their servant Jane. Pepys and his wife have been married for about two years as the Diary opens. Pepys’s boss at the Exchequer is George Downing (for whom Downing Street was later named), and he also serves Edward Montagu, the First Lord of the Admiralty, in his business affairs. Montagu, who is 35 years old as the Diary opens, will later be named as the first Earl of Sandwich. Pepys’s frequent references to “my Lord,” without any subsequent name, refer to Montagu.

Although considered by others to be well-off, Pepys considers himself to be “very poor” and his job to be “somewhat uncertain” due to the unstable political situation. The First Year of the Diary is set in the period between the Commonwealth (the republican government led by Oliver Cromwell) and the restoration of the monarchy, which will be described in the Second Year.

When he was 16 years old, Pepys witnessed the beheading of King Charles I, precipitated by the king’s abuse of power. Part of the broader English Civil War, this event led to the Commonwealth, in which for 11 years England was governed as a republic under the Puritan leader Cromwell. After the death of Cromwell in 1658, the English people as a whole were ready for the return of the monarchy in the form of King Charles II, who had been living in exile in France and Holland.

The first sections of the Diary introduce many of its regular recurring characters: Pepys himself, his wife, and his seemingly endless noblemen friends and associates. The opening months also establish the typical pattern of Pepys’s life throughout the book: rising early, working at his office in the mornings, going home or to noblemen friends for dinner, engaging in various social and leisure activities (which also intertwine with his business life), and eating supper and enjoying leisure back at home, all the while pursuing various cultural interests.

For example, on January 1 readers witness a scene that will be typical throughout the book: Pepys celebrates a holiday—in this case, New Year’s Day—at home with food and company after going to church, where the topic and quality of the sermon is noted (Pepys is a member of the Church of England, or Anglican Church). As was the custom at this time, “dinner” was the main meal of the day and was eaten at midday while “supper” was a lighter meal eaten in the evening. The Pepys family employs several servants and cooks to prepare meals, but Pepys tells us that his wife also participates in the food preparation. Food and alcoholic drink, enjoyed with friends and relatives and sometimes accompanied with singing and music, play an important role in Pepys’s life; on 2 January he writes that he received a dozen bottles of “sack” from Montagu to enjoy.

On January 8 Pepys hints at another recurrent theme of the Diary: money troubles. He writes he is “much troubled with thoughts how to get money” (2) to pay his debts and that his money is in his uncle’s hands.

Pepys celebrates his 27th birthday on February 23; he will make of note his birthday as well as the anniversary of his gallstone operation every year. His birthday and the year’s end often become occasions for a summing up of his situation in life and a thanksgiving to God for his blessings.

Pepys’s relatives figure prominently in the narrative. Toward the end of February, he prepares his younger brother John to begin college at Cambridge, including lending him money. Pepys also frequently helps his parents, especially with their health problems. We get a sense that Pepys’s world is marked by close-knit relationships between close and extended family, friends, and people whom he serves in his profession. Since most of these people lived in or near London, it is easy to visit them and maintain the various relationships. Pepys’s life seems to consist of a whirlwind of social visits, dinners, and gatherings.

The major event of the First Year is Pepys’s going off to sea on a naval campaign with Lord Montagu and other officials. This event is crucial because it will lead to Pepys’s promotion and to the return of King Charles II to England. In anticipation of the possible return of the king, Parliament dissolves on March 16. On March 13, Montagu tells Pepys that he is to become Secretary to the Fleet, an announcement that at first “troubles” Pepys. In effect, Pepys has risen overnight from being an ordinary clerk to being the Secretary of the Navy. Pepys writes that he is “very sad in mind to part with my wife, but God’s will be done” (16) and that he hopes “that this undertaking will be worth my pains” (17).

Thus, Pepys goes on the journey to secure a better future for him and Elizabeth. Pepys seals his will to Elizabeth in case he encounters danger at sea. During the sea voyage, Pepys will speak of his anxiety when he does not hear from Elizabeth for several days. During the voyage Pepys is anxious about making a good impression on his superior officers and on not being overfamiliar (22), showing the importance of social impressions and protocol in this society.

May 2 brings a momentous political turning point. King Charles sends a letter—the Act of Oblivion—announcing his intention to submit to Parliament. Parliament welcomes the king’s letter, and there is great rejoicing in London with “bonfires […] ringing of bells, and drinking of the King’s health” (24). In effect, the letter signals the reconciliation of the king and parliament and that the king can now return to the throne.

Still on his sea voyage, Pepys and company arrive in Holland, where they sightsee. At the Hague they meet the king, who boards the ship to return to England. The company arrives back in London on June 9.

Still more momentous changes come to Pepys’s life: On June 29, he is promoted to Clerk of the Acts, another position in the Navy, and on July 23 he becomes one of the members of the Privy Seal. Pepys is rising in the world of the English government, yet he feels a bit lost in his new station since he is “a stranger to public affairs” (46) and knows little about Parliament’s affairs. He feels he received his new job “by chance” and the generosity of Lord Montagu. Moreover, Pepys feels unable to keep up with his personal affairs and correspondence as before because of the time-consuming nature of his new job.

In October, another professional venture is announced that will affect Pepys for the future. The Duke of York and some other lords decide to send a team to Africa to dig for gold, a venture in which they will invest as a company. This will become the Tangier Commission, which will figure later in the Diary.

Also in October, Pepys witnesses the hanging of Major General Harrison, who signed the warrant for King Charles I’s execution. Pepys reflects on the fact that he witnessed both the king’s beheading ten years before and now the hanging of one of his executioners (53). The aftermath of Charles I’s hanging and all the events of the English Civil War and Commonwealth now seem to be coming full circle.

On October 24 readers get a foretaste of the friction between Pepys and his wife. Pepys is “angry” with Elizabeth for storing away some money then forgetting where she put it. However, “we were friends again as we are always” (54), a frequent pattern throughout the Diary, in which a disagreement or quarrel is followed by a reconciliation.

In November, Pepys and his wife have an audience with the queen, the Princess of Orange, and Princess Henrietta, where his wife has a seat close to the royalty. Pepys remarks that Elizabeth is prettier than the queen and princesses (59). Throughout the book, Pepys treats his closeness to the royal family with nonchalance and views the royals as ordinary people; he describes them candidly and without extraordinary reverence.

At the end of the year, Pepys is living in a house belonging to the Navy Office, and some servants have been added to his household: Will Hewer and Wayneman. In addition, he plans to have his sister, Paulina (“Pall”) come to live with them. Pepys is grateful to God for being an a “most handsome and thriving condition” (63) with all his debts paid and enough money for himself and his family. By the end of the First Year, Pepys has established most of the major patterns and themes of the Diary, most notably his climb up the ladder of British government, his curiosity and zest for life, and the complex dynamics of his marriage with Elizabeth.