Samuel Pepys, Diarist
Who was Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys was born in 1633, in London. He grew up during the calm after the storm which was the Protectorate followed by the the Restoration. Although he spent much of his working life in the Royal Navy, he is best remembered today for a diary that he kept for a mere decade of his 70 years.
The Diary
Pepys began keeping a diary when he was 26, on New Year's day, 1660. At this point in his life he had finished school, married, and started work in the British exchequer. He had also had surgery to remove a painful stone in his bladder; a brave and interesting choice in this era of health care.
Under the course of the diary, Pepys chronicled major events in British history (as well as intimate personal details). He wrote about his fortunes during the Great Plague of 1665, a time during which he prospered.
The diary includes very private details - Pepys covers his infidelities - to the great events of seventeenth century England. He notes the events of the Great Fire of London and Charles II's coronation - as well as some of the key figures of the era, including Sir Christopher Wren and Sir Isaac Newton. Fear of losing his eyesight prompted Pepys to stop writing the diary in 1669. He never did go blind, finally dying in 1703, at the age of 70.