Posted on Tuesday 17 October 2006
Documents discovered in the Oxford Bodleian Library show how a certain Deb Willet had married a person named Jeremiah Wells in 1670; research confirmed that this in fact was the same Deb Willet that Pepys had written about canoodling with in 1688.
According to Samuel Pepy’s diary Mrs Pepys discovered the couple’s passionate but unconsummated relationship when they were caught embracing on a coach on November 8th 1866. She threatened to cut the girl’s nose off and threatened Pepys with a pair of hot tongs. Having subsequently gotten rid of the girl, it seems Pepys continued to track her location around London.
A series of letters between Pepys and Wells revealed how Pepys obtained a job as ship’s Chaplain for Wells, perhaps to ensure the financial well-being of his former mistress.
Samuel Pepy’s diaries have continued to provide the modern world with incomparable insight into life in late 17th century England. This recent discovery gives us insight into his private life well beyond his diaries.