... was born in London in 1633, the fifth of eleven children of a tailor. He attended Magdalene College, Cambridge, as a sizar (a student who receives some assistance with costs); he graduated in 1654, and took up a position as Secretary to Edward Montagu. Montagu was the son of Sir Sidney Montagu, a member of parliament who had supported the Royalist cause in the Civil War. Sir Sidney's wife (Edward's mother) was Pepys's great–aunt – making Edward and Pepys first cousins once removed.
Edward Montagu had raised a regiment in the Parliamentary cause during the Civil War, and followed his father into Parliament in 1645. But he'd fallen out with the Parliamentary side over the execution of Charles I, and as the Protectorate descended into chaos he was one of the first men of influence to realise that the restoration of the monarchy was inevitable. He commanded the fleet that brought Charles Stuart back from Holland in May 1660, to be proclaimed as King Charles II.
Meanwhile, Pepys had begun writing his diary on 1 January 1660. Its early pages were filled with news of General George Monck's march on London, which had been a key factor in the Restoration.
Edward Montagu was rewarded for his services to the new king by being made an admiral, and in July 1660 he was made Earl of Sandwich and First Lord of the Admiralty. At the same time, Pepys was appointed Clerk of the Acts (Secretary) to the Navy Board, which gave him an annual salary of £350. He is known to have refused an offer of £1000 for the post – a sure sign of its importance.
Pepys was a very effective worker, and is credited with helping to modernise the Royal Navy as it stood then. In his diary he often criticises his superiors. He is equally frank in describing his marital infidelities, and the resultant quarrels with his wife. Pepys had married Elisabeth de St. Michel in 1655, when he was 22 and she was just 14. Her father was a French protestant who had converted to Protestantism; Elisabeth was second cousin, once removed, to the poet Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea.
Pepys stopped writing the diary in 1669, as he became increasingly concerned over his failing eyesight – which he was afraid might be the result of writing the diary in poor light. Elisabeth died of typhoid, later in the same year.
In 1673 Pepys was elected as MP for Castle Rising in Norfolk, and in the same year he was appointed Secretary to the Admiralty Commission; in 1676 he became Master of Trinity House. But his rise to power in the Admiralty had made him enemies. In May 1679 he was arrested and placed in the Tower of London, after being charged with treasonable activities – being engaged in correspondence with people in France. He was released after two months, but the charge was not dropped for almost another year.
Quiz setters often ask about Samuel Pepys's occupation, and the required answer is usually that he was Secretary to the Admiralty. It's true that he did rise to this post, but not until 13 years after he stopped writing his diary. For the great majority of the time that he was working on the diary, he was Secretary to the Navy Board, and he'd already started on the diary when he took up this job. Nevertherless, as we've already seen, it was a prestigious position, and his work did make him an important figure in public life, bringing him into contact with some very influential people. It's this, along with his affability and his gift for describing his experiences in words, that makes his diary such a valuable source for historians.
© Haydn Thompson 2017