Pepys, Samuel (1633-1703)

English naval administrator and diarist. His Diary (1660-69) is a unique record of the daily life of the period, the historical events of the Restoration, the manners and scandals of the court, naval administration, and Pepys's own interests, weaknesses, and intimate feelings. Written in shorthand, it was not deciphered until 1825. Highlights include his accounts of the Great Plague of London in 1665, the Fire of London in 1666, and the sailing up the Thames of the Dutch fleet in 1667.

Pepys was born in London, the son of John Pepys, a tailor. References in his Diary show that he was educated at St Paul's School, London, and Magdalene College, Cambridge. Pepys entered the Navy Office in 1660 and was secretary to the Admiralty 1672-79. He was imprisoned in 1679 in the Tower of London on suspicion of being connected with the Popish Plot (see Titus Oates). He was reinstated as secretary to the Admiralty in 1684, but was finally deprived of his post after the 1688 Revolution. He published Memoires of the Navy in 1690. Pepys abandoned writing his diary because he believed, mistakenly, that his eyesight was about to fail - in fact, it continued to serve him for 30 or more years of active life.

The original manuscript of the Diary, preserved in Cambridge together with other papers, is in six volumes, containing more than 3,000 pages. It is closely written in cipher (a form of shorthand), which Pepys probably used in case his journal should fall into unfriendly hands during his life or be rashly published after his death.

In 1659, through the influence of his father's cousin, Sir Edward Montagu (later Earl of Sandwich), he entered the Exchequer as a clerk, becoming clerk of the council the same year. In 1660 he became a clerk of the Privy Seal and ‘clerk of the King's ships’. As secretary of the Admiralty 1672-79, he carried out drastic and far-reaching reforms. He also became a member of Parliament for Castle Rising in 1673, exchanging his constituency for that of Harwich in 1679.

Pepys and Sir Anthony Deane, his friend and former commissioner of the navy, had become involved in the Duke of York's unpopularity and were accused of being Papists, arrested, and imprisoned in the Tower in 1679. They were acquitted, but after their release had the mortification of watching while the navy, in Deane's words, ‘went to ruin’. To Pepys a ruined navy meant a ruined England. From the 76 ships and 12,000 men of 1679 the navy dwindled to 24 ships and 3,000 men by 1684, with empty yards, depleted stores, and sailors on the point of mutiny because they had been defrauded of their pay. Pepys urged both Charles II and James II to approve a special commission for the recovery of the navy. James agreed, and Pepys overcame many obstacles, reinstated Sir Anthony Deane, and in less than three years the navy's effective strength was increased by 92 ships and the spirit and discipline of its men restored. An Admiralty minute of 1805 spoke of Pepys as ‘a man of extraordinary knowledge, of great talent and the most indefatigable in industry’. In 1689 a new charge of selling information to France led to his retirement.