FEATURE Could you be the next Samuel
On January 1st, 1660 Samuel Pepys began to write his diary. He had no idea that it would become one of the most important documents for historians studying the English Restoration period, which coincidentally also began in 1660.
Pepys’ diaries are special because he recorded every day mundane events. He was also socially well connected because his cousin, Edward Montagu, was a high-ranking naval officer who found a position for Pepys at the Navy Office in the City of London. Pepys was talented and worked hard so was promoted quickly, being invited to important events, all of which he recorded in his meticulous shorthand.
For example, Pepys was aboard one of the ships which sailed to Holland to bring Charles II back to England and he attended the coronation. He recorded everything in his diary, giving vivid accounts of the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London. Through his entries we are also able to relive the theatre of the period, as well as fashion and popular food and drink. His diary has been of invaluable assistance to historians and has given much pleasure to its many readers
If you were given a diary this year, or have a desire to start a blog in 2021, what would you want readers in 2391 (360 years in the future) to know? What would they find interesting, or odd? Would they want to know about our own Great Plague? Maybe one day you will be as famous as Pepys!
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