Samuel Pepys

In 1655, Pepys married Elisabeth de St Michel, a 14-year-old girl, descendant of French Huguenot immigrants. The couple had no children.

In 1657, Pepys underwent surgery and the stone was successfully removed. However, there were long-term effects from the operation and the incision on his bladder broke open again late in his life.

Samuel Pepys was born on February 23, 1633, in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street, London, to John Pepys, a tailor, and his wife, Margaret Pepys, daughter of a Whitechapel butcher.

Pepys was the fifth of eleven children but because of high child mortality rate, he soon became the oldest survivor in his family. He was baptized at St Bride's Church and went to Huntingdon Grammar School before attending St Paul's School, London.

In 1650, he was enrolled at Cambridge University and was later admitted as a sizar to Magdalene College. In 1654, he completed his graduation with Bachelor of Arts degree.

In 1655, Samuel Pepys was appointed as drudge in the Whitehall lodgings of his father’s cousin, Sir Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich.

In mid-1658, Pepys worked as a teller in the Exchequer under Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet.

With Montagu’s influence at court, Pepys was appointed the clerk of the Acts to the Navy Board and was provided an official residence in the navy office. While working there, Pepys started writing his diary on January 1, 1660, at the age of 26.

He served in the Royal Navy with full devotion and dedication which became realized during the years of Second Dutch War. He remained at his post throughout the plague of 1665, and saved the navy office in the Great Fire. His diaries are most famous for his eyewitness accounts of major events such as the Great Plague, the Second Dutch War, and the Great Fire of London.

Throughout the period of the diary, Pepys's health suffered from the long hours he worked. He wrote his last entry on May 31, 1669, where he reluctantly concluded that, for the sake of his eyes, he could no longer keep his diary.

He carefully nurtured his large collection of books, manuscripts, and prints all his life. After his death, there were more than 3000 volumes, including his diary, all carefully catalogued and indexed which form one of the most important surviving 17th century private libraries.