Life
Born on 12 May 1598, he was the tenth child of John Wallington (d. 1641), a turner of St. Leonard's, Eastcheap, by his wife Elizabeth (d. 1603), daughter of Anthony Hall (d. 1597), a citizen and skinner of London. :s:Wallington, Nehemiah (DNB00) He recorded his ten suicide attempts of 1618–19; trying poison, hanging, and even contemplating drowning and cutting open his own throat– all because he took his lustful feelings as a sign of reprobation.Christopher Haigh, ‘The Taming of Reformation: Preachers, Pastors and Parishioners in Elizabethan and Early Stuart England’ in The Journal of the Historical Association: History. (Vol. 85, No.280, October 2000). p580 A little before 1620 Nehemiah entered into business on his own account as a turner, and took a house in Little Eastcheap, between Pudding Lane and Fish-street Hill. There he passed the remainder of an uneventful life. In 1639 he and his brother John were summoned before the court of Star-chamber on the charge of possessing prohibited books. He acknowledged that he had possessedWorks
Wallington left three compilations of contemporary events. # In 1630 he commenced his ''Historical Notes and Meditations, 1583–1649''. It consists of classified extracts from contemporary journals and pamphlets, which he enlarged with hearsay knowledge and enriched with pious reflections. The work is chiefly occupied with political affairs. The latest event recorded is the execution of Charles I. # In December 1630 he commenced a record of his private affairs, under the title ''Wallington's Journals'', in a quarto volume. It was formerly in the possession of William Upcott, who indexed its contents. # In 1632 he commenced a third quarto, in which be recorded numerous strange portents which had occurred in various parts of England, taking notice of "Gods iudgments upon Sabbath breakers and on Drunkards." It contains many extracts from his ''Historical Notes''. Wallington's ''Historical Notes'' were published in 1869 (London, 2 vols. 8vo) under the editorship of Miss R. Webb, with the title ''Historical Notices of Events occurring chiefly in the Reign of Charles I''.Further reading
* Paul Seaver, ''Wallington's World: A Puritan Artisan in Seventeenth-Century London'' (Stanford University Press, 1985). * David Booy, ''The Selected Writings of Nehemiah Wallington: The Thoughts and Considerations of a London Puritan and Wood-Turner, 1618–1654'' (Ashgate, 2007).References
;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallington, Nehemiah 1598 births 1658 deaths English diarists British artisans 17th-century English Puritans 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers