Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1641/2-1698 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
10 production units.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Samuel Pepys was born in 1633 in London. His father was a tailor, but had good family connections including a landed uncle in Huntingdonshire and an aunt with an advantageous marriage. Pepys attended Saint Paul's School and Cambridge, after which he became the private secretary of his cousin Edward Mountagu (later the Earl of Sandwich). In 1659 he began his 30 years of service to the Navy when Mountagu was made general at sea. In 1660 Pepys was given a job at the Navy Board, and was part of the group sent to bring Charles II back to England to begin his reign. In the same year he began his diary, which has made him famous and which provides an insight into the life and customs of his day, as well as giving accounts of major events such as the plague and the Great Fire of London in 1666. Pepys ended the diary in 1669, concerned that his eyesight was failing. His career continued to be successful, and he became Secretary to the Admiralty Commission in 1672. He died in 1703 and was buried at Saint Olave, Hart Street.
Information from: C ] S Knighton, Pepys, Samuel (1633-1703), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21906, accessed 16 June 2011].
Repository
Archival history
GB 0074 CLC/489 1641/2-1698 Collection 10 production units. Pepys , Samuel , 1633-1703 , naval official and diarist
Samuel Pepys was born in 1633 in London. His father was a tailor, but had good family connections including a landed uncle in Huntingdonshire and an aunt with an advantageous marriage. Pepys attended Saint Paul's School and Cambridge, after which he became the private secretary of his cousin Edward Mountagu (later the Earl of Sandwich). In 1659 he began his 30 years of service to the Navy when Mountagu was made general at sea. In 1660 Pepys was given a job at the Navy Board, and was part of the group sent to bring Charles II back to England to begin his reign. In the same year he began his diary, which has made him famous and which provides an insight into the life and customs of his day, as well as giving accounts of major events such as the plague and the Great Fire of London in 1666. Pepys ended the diary in 1669, concerned that his eyesight was failing. His career continued to be successful, and he became Secretary to the Admiralty Commission in 1672. He died in 1703 and was buried at Saint Olave, Hart Street.
Information from: C ] S Knighton, Pepys, Samuel (1633-1703), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21906, accessed 16 June 2011].
The manuscripts, which were assembled from a number of sources over many years, were presented to Guildhall Library in 1987 by Lieutenant Colonel C.D L. Pepys, an eighth generation descendant of Richard Pepys. They were catalogued in the same year by a member of Guildhall Library staff. The Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section merged with the London Metropolitan Archives in 2009.
Letters and papers relating chiefly to Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) in his work at the Navy Office 1660-73 and at the Admiralty 1673-9 and 1684-9, and also to the family of Richard Pepys (c 1589-1659), first cousin to the diarist's father, 1642-1689.
Records arranged by MS number, assigned during cataloguing at the Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section.
Access only to holders of a History Card. Please see staff if you require a card.
Copyright to this collection rests with the City of London.
English
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
See the National Register of Archives (available on the website of The National Archives) for a full listing of archive repositories which hold material relating to Samuel Pepys.
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Records prepared May to September 2011. Government Public administration Central government Government departments Admiralty Family archives Organizations Military organizations Information sources Documents Primary documents Personal papers Family records Personal archives Archives Civil servants Civil service Navy Armed forces State security Family correspondence Pepys , Samuel , 1633-1703 , naval official and diarist People by occupation People
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
The manuscripts, which were assembled from a number of sources over many years, were presented to Guildhall Library in 1987 by Lieutenant Colonel C.D L. Pepys, an eighth generation descendant of Richard Pepys. They were catalogued in the same year by a member of Guildhall Library staff. The Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section merged with the London Metropolitan Archives in 2009.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Letters and papers relating chiefly to Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) in his work at the Navy Office 1660-73 and at the Admiralty 1673-9 and 1684-9, and also to the family of Richard Pepys (c 1589-1659), first cousin to the diarist's father, 1642-1689.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Records arranged by MS number, assigned during cataloguing at the Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Access only to holders of a History Card. Please see staff if you require a card.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright to this collection rests with the City of London.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
See the National Register of Archives (available on the website of The National Archives) for a full listing of archive repositories which hold material relating to Samuel Pepys.
Finding aids
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
- Government
- Government » Public administration
- Government » Public administration » Central government
- Government » Public administration » Central government » Government departments
- Organizations
- Information sources
- Documents
- Documents » Primary documents
- Archives
- Government » Public administration » Central government » Civil service » Civil servants
- Government » Public administration » Central government » Civil service
- State security » Armed forces
- State security
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English