The Life of Samuel Pepys (1633-1703)

On May 26, 1703, Samuel Pepys, English navy administrator and Member of Parliament famous for his Diary during the English Restoration period, died at the age of 70. A short excerpt:

" entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1650, but shortly transferred to Magdalene College, Cambridge, graduating B.A. in 1653.
In 1654, Pepys became secretary to Sir Edward Montagu, later Earl of Sandwich, a distant relative. Soon after, Pepys became a clerk of the Exchequer, and married Elizabeth St. Michel in 1655. In 1660, Pepys was made Clerk of the King's Ships to the Navy Board.
On January 1, 1660, at the age of 27, Pepys began his Diary. It was written in the shorthand system established by Thomas Shelton, and covered nine years not only of Pepys' life, but of London events. The passages on the Plague (1665-1666), The Great Fire of London (1666), and the arrival of the Dutch fleet (1665-1667) are invaluable firsthand accounts to historians."