Samuel Pepys (1633–1703)

Timeline

  • Birth of Samuel Pepys

    Samuel Pepys is born in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street, to John Pepys, tailor, and his wife, Margaret (née Kite), daughter of a Whitechapel butcher.

  • Baptism

    Samuel is baptized in St. Bride's Church by James Palmer.

  • Huntingdon grammar school

    Pepys is living with relations in Huntingdonshire, probably at Brampton, attending Huntingdon grammar school.

  • School at St. Paul's

    Attends St. Paul’s School, London.

  • Execution of Charles I

    Witnesses the execution of Charles I at Whitehall.

  • Attends Cambridge

    Pepys is awarded a leaving exhibition to Cambridge and enters his name at Trinity Hall.

  • Admitted to Magdalene College

    Pepys is admitted as a sizar to Magdalene College and moves there 5 March.

  • Bachelor of Arts

    Takes his B.A. after being elected to a Smith scholarship 4 October 1653.

  • Marriage of Samuel and Elisabeth

    Pepys, aged twenty-two, marries Elisabeth de St. Michel, aged fifteen, in a civil ceremony in St. Margaret's, Westminster.

  • Surgery

    Undergoes a potentially lethal surgery for removal of a large and painful kidney stone.

  • Move to Axe Yard

    By end of August the Pepyses have moved into a house of their own in Axe Yard, Westminster.

  • Teller in the exchequer

    Acquires a part-time position as teller in the exchequer under George Downing.

  • Begins his diary

    Pepys begins his diary:

    Blessed be God, at the end of the last year I was in very good health, without any sense of my old pain but upon taking of cold.

    I lived in Axe=Yard, having my wife and servant Jane, and no more in family then us three.

    My wife, after the absencee of her terms for seven weeks, gave me hopes of her being wiith child, but on the last day of the year she hath them again. The condition of the State was thus. Viz. the Rump, after being disturbed by my Lord Lambert, was lately returned to sit again. The officers of the army all forced to yield. Lawson lie[s] still in the River and Monke is with his army in Scotland. Only my Lord Lambert is not yet come in to the Parliament; nor is it expected that he will, without being forced to it. ...

  • Travels to the Netherlands to return King Charles II to the throne

    Boards the Swiftsure as secretary to his cousin Admiral Edward Montagu, later 1st earl of Sandwich, on the journey to the Netherlands to bring Charles II back to England.

  • Clerk of the Acts

    Takes office as Clerk of the Acts to the Navy Board. The same year he is appointed Clerk of the Privy Seal.

  • Master of Arts

  • Becomes a shareholder in the Royal Adventurers into Africa

    By its charter issued in 1660 the Royal Adventures into Africa had been granted a monopoly over English trade along the west coast of Africa, principally to search for gold. In 1663 a new charter also mentions the trade in slaves.

  • Appointed Surveyor-General of the Victualling

  • Great Plague of London

    Following an order from the king, Pepys and his staff are evacuated to Greenwich.

  • Great Fire

    Pepys observes and records the Great Fire of London.

  • Ends his diary

    Fearing his imminent blindness (mistakenly), Pepys ends his diary and does not resume it.

  • Death of Elisabeth Pepys

    In June 1669 Pepys and Elisabeth go on a tour of northern France and the Netherlands where she contracts a fever, probably typhoid. She dies, age 29, at Seething Lane and is buried on 13 November beneath the chancel of St. Olave's Church, Hart Street.

  • Temporary move to Winchester Lane

    Fire destroys the Navy Office and Pepys is forced to take temporary lodgings in Winchester Lane, which backed onto Mark Lane.

  • Secretary to the Admiralty commission

    Pepys is promoted as secretary to the Admiralty commission.

  • Move to Derby House

    Moves to Derby House in Channel Row, which becomes the Admiralty's first dedicated premises.

  • Governor of Christ's Hospital

    Pepys is made a governor of Christ's Hospital, where he will help to support the Royal Mathematical School as an academy for seamen.

  • Elected master of Trinity House

  • Elected master of the Clothworkers' Company

  • Sent to the Tower

    Pepys and shipwright Sir Anthony Deane are charged with leaking naval secrets to the French. Pepys is also accused of popery. Pepys resigns his secretaryship on the 21st and on the 22nd he and Deane are sent to the Tower. They are bailed on 9 July and discharged almost a year later on 30 June 1680.

  • Moves to York Buildings

    Out of work and living off his savings, Pepys moves to lodgings with lifelong friend Will Hewer in Buckingham Street, York Buildings, off the Strand. He takes the tenancy in his own name in 1685.

  • Service in Tangier as secretary to Dartmouth

    Pepys embarks with a fleet to Tangier in Lord Dartmouth's fleet, and as Dartmouth's secretary he assigns compensation for abandoned property.

  • Secretary for the Affairs of the Admiralty of England

    After the king revokes the Admiralty commission on 19 May 1684, Pepys is returned to office as secretary for the affairs of the Admiralty of England. The post has been created for him and he is the only holder.

  • President of the Royal Society

    Elected president of the Royal Society, a post he holds for two years.

  • Revolution of 1688

    Dutch ruler William III, prince of Orange, stadholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and husband of Mary II daughter of King James II, lands at Brixham with an invasion force and proceeds to march on London. Pepys is among those who witness the James's will at Whitehall on 17 November, and arranges for the escape of the queen and the prince of Wales. William arrives in London on 18 December, resulting in the deposition of James II and the accession of William and Mary. On 19 December the prince of Orange sends for Pepys and asks him to stay in his post, to which he agrees.

  • Resignation

    Pepys resigns and concludes his office business on 22 February.

  • Arrest on suspicion of treason

    A king's messenger detains Pepys along with Will Hewer and Sir Anthony Deane on suspicion of giving information to the French and committing treason against the new government. Pepys is imprisoned in the Westminster gatehouse 25 June 1690. He is released on medical grounds in July.

  • Move to Clapham

    From 1701 Pepys lives permanently at Clapham.

  • Death of Samuel Pepys

    Pepys dies at Clapham, and on 4 June he is buried at St Olave. The nonjuring bishop of Thetford, George Hickes, officiates.