Emily Pepys (9 August 1833 – 12 September 1877) was an English child diarist, whose account of six months of her life provides a vivid insight into a wealthy bishop's family. She was a
collateral descendant
A lineal descendant, in legal usage, is a blood relative in the direct line of descent – the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. of a person. In a legal procedure sense, lineal descent refers to the acquisition of estate by i ...
of the diarist
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...
.
Biography
Emily was born on 9 August 1833 at
Westmill
Westmill is an English village and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, with an area of 1036 hectares. A population of 264 was recorded in the 2001 National Census. It lies just to the south of Buntingford, beside ...
, Hertfordshire, where her father was rector at that time.
Her father,
Henry Pepys (this branch of the family pronounced the name "peppis", not "peeps", 1783–1860), was created the Anglican Bishop of
Sodor and Man
The Diocese of Sodor and Man is a diocese of the Church of England. Originally much larger, today it covers just the Isle of Man and its adjacent islets. Today, the bishop's office is in Douglas and the cathedral is in Peel. The diocese is ''not ...
in 1840 and translated only a year later to
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Engla ...
. He played a minor political role as a
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
in the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
. Her mother, Maria Pepys (1786–1885), was the daughter of John Sullivan, a
privy councillor
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
and a commissioner of the
Board of Control.
Emily was the youngest of the four children who survived to adulthood, the others being Philip Henry (1824–1886), later registrar of the
London Court of Bankruptcy, Maria Louisa (1827–1924), who would marry a well-connected Worcestershire parson, the Rev. Edward Winnington-Ingram, and Herbert George (1830–1918), who became vicar of the new parish of
Hallow, Worcestershire
Hallow is a village and civil parish beside the River Severn, about north-west of Worcester in Worcestershire. The village is on the A443 road that links Worcester with Holt Heath.
Hallow has a public house, a post office and a Church of Engl ...
.
Emily Pepys married the Hon. and Rev.
William Henry Lyttelton (1820–1884)
The Reverend William Henry Lyttelton (1820 – 24 July 1884) was a priest in the Church of England from the Lyttelton family. He was the English translator of a number of works by the Swiss Protestant theologians Frédéric Louis Godet and Félix ...
, rector of
Hagley
Hagley is a large village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It is on the boundary of the West Midlands and Worcestershire counties between the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley and Kidderminster. Its estimated population was 7,162 in 20 ...
, Worcestershire, and son of
William Lyttelton, 3rd Baron Lyttelton
William Henry Lyttelton, 3rd Baron Lyttelton MP (3 April 1782 – 30 April 1837) was an English Whig politician from the Lyttelton family.
Early life and education
Born on 3 April 1782, William Lyttelton was the son of William Henry Lyttelt ...
, on 28 September 1854. His niece,
Lucy Lyttelton, then aged 13 and surprised at the news, described Emily in her diary as "charitable, young (21), amiable, humble, good-looking...".
Emily died without issue on 12 September 1877, probably at Hagley Rectory. Under her husband's will, a Lady Emily Lyttelton Fund was set up in 1884 in her memory for local nursing purposes. She was a collateral descendant of the diarist
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...
and the niece of
Charles Christopher Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham
Charles Christopher Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham, (; 29 April 178129 April 1851) was an English lawyer, judge and politician. He was twice Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.
Background and education
Cottenham was born in London, the second ...
.
Journal
''The Journal of Emily Pepys'' itself takes up 60 printed pages – two pages of the manuscript are missing – and covers six months of 1844–1845 spent in the family home,
Hartlebury Castle
Hartlebury Castle, a Grade I listed building, near Hartlebury in Worcestershire, central England, was built in the mid-13th century as a fortified manor house, on manorial land earlier given to the Bishop of Worcester by King Burgred of Mercia ...
, the official residence of the Bishop of Worcester. It was written when Emily was ten. It found its way into the possession of a family called Nutt, but it is not known how. There it was discovered on a shelf in the family house by a 14-year-old girl, later Dee Cooper, who instigated its publication. As
Gillian Avery
Gillian Elise Avery (30 September 1926 – 31 January 2016) was a British children's novelist, and a historian of childhood education and children's literature.
She won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 1972, for ''A Likely Lad.'' It w ...
points out in her introduction, it is all the more interesting and informative because it was not an assignment given by an adult, but a private diary containing "all the matters that are usually forgotten by the time the mature adult adult comes to write memoirs." The journal also featured in a 1991 American anthology of female English diary writings.
Emily is vocal and intelligent beyond her years; her journal is coherent and frank, giving a glimpse of busy life in a wealthy clerical family. Like many at that time, Emily was much concerned with moral values and matters of obedience and self-improvement. She is impressed by
Charlotte Anley's popular didactic novel ''Influence...'': "I think it did me a lot of good, the 'Ellen' there was so like me... Since I read that I have felt much happier" (15 July). She goes on to admit how she "began speaking crossly" when told she had to go to bed earlier. Other reading matter around that time included ''
Martin Chuzzlewit
''The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit'' (commonly known as ''Martin Chuzzlewit'') is a novel by Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels. It was originally serialised between 1842 and 1844. While he was writing it ...
'', which was appearing in parts (18 July), and a ghost story called "
White Lady
A White Lady (or woman in white) is a type of female ghost. She has long straight hair, typically dressed in a white dress or similar garment, reportedly seen in rural areas and associated with local legends of tragedy. White Lady legends a ...
", while out in the park with her sister Louisa (20 July). Later she chose ''
The Pickwick Papers
''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was Charles Dickens's first novel. Because of his success with ''Sketches by Boz'' published in 1836, Dickens was asked by the publisher Chapman & Hall to s ...
'' from a box of books that arrived from Cawthorn's
circulating library A circulating library (also known as lending libraries and rental libraries) lent books to subscribers, and was first and foremost a business venture. The intention was to profit from lending books to the public for a fee.
Overview
Circulating li ...
, "as I know I may read that, and the others I may not read until Mama comes home."
Emily observes the courting behaviour of her elders and fancies herself in love with a cousin, Teddy Tyler, although he does not answer her letters. Two of Teddy's sisters come to stay again, but not the three boys: "In the evening Tiny (alias Maria) said, 'The boys send their love Emy, and hope you will write soon', though it is their turn over and over. I should like very much to have a little private letter from Teddy to show me his heart, and also I should like to see him again to revive my love" (7 August). Her cousins Harriet and Katey are more to her liking, except that "they spoilt my Harmonicon, and when I mended it, they would not leave off, so I was obliged to hide it" (30 July). The next day, as they leave: "I remember saying to Harriet, what fun it would be if Katey and
mily's older brotherHerbert were to get in love though I do not think there is much chance on Herbert's side" (31 July).
Archery
Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...
is a popular pursuit, but dancing is a mixed blessing: Robert (an older brother) "always makes me dance with those horrid Mr. Leas, who certainly do smell most dreadfully of
snuff
Snuff may refer to:
Tobacco
* Snuff (tobacco), fine-ground tobacco, sniffed into the nose
** Moist snuff or dipping tobacco
** Creamy snuff, an Indian tobacco paste
Media and entertainment
* Snuff film, a type of film that shows a murder
Literat ...
and tobacco. I danced a
quadrille
The quadrille is a dance that was fashionable in late 18th- and 19th-century Europe and its colonies. The quadrille consists of a chain of four to six '' contredanses''. Latterly the quadrille was frequently danced to a medley of opera melodie ...
with young Percival, a very stupid long legged dull man. (I have just remembered that it was another dance I danced with Percival...) The second dance was a
Polka
Polka is a dance and genre of dance music originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though associated with Czech culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the Americas.
History
Etymology
The term ...
, which I did not dance as Mama does not like us to dance it with gentlemen except brothers and cousins, though I do not see more harm in it than in a
Galop
In dance, the galop, named after the fastest running gait of a horse (see Gallop), a shortened version of the original term galoppade, is a lively country dance, introduced in the late 1820s to Parisian society by the Duchesse de Berry and popul ...
" (21 August). She goes to some trouble to avoid being taken into supper by a leering, teasing Mr Talbot, but finds herself sitting next to him nonetheless.
Emily has regular lessons: "At present I do French exercises for ¾ hour, Maps 1 hour, Music 1¼, read French and English, ¾ hour, write French copy ½ hour. I like doing Maps very much; they are traced out, and one only has to put the names in and paint it. I have made this description in case I get married and have children it may be useful to them" (26 August), but alas, she was to die childless. She is amazed at how few books her mother had as a child. She accompanies her mother to the village school and on charitable visits to the poor. "I should very much like to buy something more for the poor people, but as I have not got a halfpenny at present it is impossible" (26 August). When she yields to her less sociable brother Herbert and they do not go to a county cricket match where she could meet her cousins, she is disappointed at getting no credit from her mother: "I am sorry to say I do a great many more things for the praise of Mama than for the love of God" (28 August).
The longest entry in the journal describes a fire in the small hours of Christmas Day, which has the family huddling in the hall in nightshirts and cloaks. "Fortunately the fire kept in the Schoolroom and so the Engines soon put it out. Papa went into the room... and nearly fell into the cellar or under the Schoolroom, as there had been a hole made in the floor, which he did not see, but somebody got him out as he was hanging by his hands... I never was in a house on fire before, and hope I never shall be again."
There is no explanation as to why the diary breaks off on 26 January, three days before her parents were due to dine and stay the night at nearby
Witley Court
Witley Court, Great Witley, Worcestershire, England is a ruined Italianate mansion. Built for the Foleys in the seventeenth century on the site of a former manor house, it was enormously expanded in the early nineteenth century by the architect ...
with the
Queen Dowager, Adelaide, and on the next day move up to their London house for the season. The Preface mentions that blank pages in the notebook had been left, and used later by a certain Arthur Nutt to write punishment lines ("Arthur Nutt is a good boy. A good boy is happy."), and by Dee Cooper's grandmother's great aunt, Polly Nutt, for shopping lists and diary entries of her own.
External resource
There is a fine photograph of a lady named Emily Pepys on the website of a London gallery. This may depict the diarist, or possibly her namesake and cousin, Lady Emily Harriet Pepys (1829–1891), author of a pair of tales for young people. She appears as an older girl named Emy or Emie in the diary.
[''Neighbourly Love; exemplified in two juvenile tales. Edited by Lady E. Pepys'' (London: Routledge, 1867).]
Further reading
''Journal of Emily Pepys'' by Emily Pepys, ed. Gillian Avery (London: Prospect, October 1984)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pepys, Emily
1833 births
1877 deaths
19th-century English women writers
British child writers
English diarists
Lyttelton family
Writers from Worcestershire
Emily
Victorian women writers
Women diarists
19th-century diarists