Diary of Bulstrode Whitelocke, 1605 - 1675

Summary

The Diary of Bulstrode Whitelocke covers his whole life, from his birth in 1605, until shortly before his death in 1675. Whitelocke was a distinguished lawyer and Member of Parliament, a keen musician and scholar, a bon viveur, and a family man who had three wives and seventeen children. His Diary provides descriptions of life at school, university and the inns of court, details of marriages and marriage settlements, his property dealings, salaries and pensions, the management and improvement of his estates, and his relations with tenants, builders and servants.

Whitelocke knew most of the leading characters of the period personally. He held high offices as Keeper of the Great Seal, temporary Speaker of the House of Commons, and Lord President of the Council, and reveals in his Diary short insights into public affairs, notably during the Civil Wars and Interregnum.

The volume is complemented by the publication of Miss Spalding's Contemporaries of Bulstrode Whitelocke, 1605-1675 (RSEH Vol XIV).

Additional text

His diary provides a major new source for the study of 17th-century politics and takes its place alongside the diaries of Samuel Pepys, John Evelyn and Ralph Josselin as a fascinating 'private history' and self-portrait.

Product details

• Authors: Ruth Spalding, Ruth Whitelocke Spalding, Spalding Ruth, Bulstrode Whitelocke, WHITELOCKE BULSTRODE
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 27.09.1990
• EAN: 9780197260807
• ISBN: 978-0-19-726080-7
• No. of pages: 918
• Series: Records of Social and Economic History (New Series); Records of Social and Economic History (New Series)
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Business > General, dictionaries; BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / General, Social & cultural history, Economic history, United Kingdom, Great Britain, 17th century, c 1600 to c 1699, HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain / General, Social and cultural history, British Isles, C 1600 To C 1700