In January 1, 1660, Samuel Pepys started writing his diary. He began by recording his daily experiences. But as the days wore on, it became more than a personal revelation. In fact, it was an eyewitness account of important events like the Great Plague of London, the Second Dutch War, the Great Fire of London and more.
Pepys was born in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street London on February 23, 1633. His father was a tailor and his mother, the daughter of a butcher. However, he did not let his background hamper his progress. He rose to become a naval administrator and Member of Parliament. Although he had no maritime experience he rose by patronage and hard work to become Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under both King Charles II and King James II.
Pepys is now known for his diary, which he kept for almost a decade. The diary was written in shorthand as he did not want people he knew to read it.
Among the interesting incidents he has made a note of he mentions his surprise at a watch with an alarm. He recalls taking his watch out often to check time and show off.
In another anecdote he says, one night the cat woke Pepys by meowing and jumping on his bed. Unable to get back to sleep, he heard the night-watchman walk by outside, calling ‘Past one of the clock and a cold and frosty, windy morning’.
First hand information
In1665 that the Great Plague broke out. A contagious disease, it spread quickly and many people died. Pepys’s writes in detail of the people dying, how people carried flowers — a ‘pocket full of posies’ to keep the ring of small spots, known as ‘Ring- o’-Roses’ away. He also wrote about how people killed stray dogs and cats thinking they were the carriers of the disease not knowing that the fleas on black rats was the cause.
In 1666, soon after the Plague the Great Fire broke. He writes that the many houses in London built of wood and close to each other were soon consumed. On September 2, the fire started on Pudding Lane and spread quickly. People tried to fight the fires with water. But with flames being too hot, the only way left to stop the fire was blow up houses, so that the fire would not jump from street to street. The fire lasted four days, and 13,000 houses were destroyed. But, only a few people were killed. According to Pepys people escaped in boats on the Thames. When Pepys saw the fire burn down his house, he immediately dug a hole and buried his cheese! It was an expensive Parmesan cheese from Italy!
His wife died in 1669, and Pepys stopped writing his diary. His eyesight was so poor and even the green-tinted glasses did not help him. He feared he might go blind.
Samuel Pepys died in Clapham in 1703. His diaries were decoded long after his death, and published in 1825. He is known as the greatest diarist of all time. His diaries can be found on the internet.
http://www.pepysdiary.com/
