Evelyn's Diary. I was born at Wotton, Surrey [Map], in the County of Surrey, about twenty minutes past two in the morning, being on Tuesday the 31st and last of October, 1620, after my father (age 33) had been married about seven years, and that my mother (age 21) had borne him three children; viz, two daughters and one son, about the 33d year of his age, and the 23d of my mother's.

Evelyn's Diary. 1632. My eldest sister (age 17) was married to Edward Darcy, Esq, who little deserved so excellent a person, a woman of so rare virtue. I was not present at the nuptials; but I was soon afterward sent for into Surrey, and my father (age 45) would willingly have weaned me from my fondness of my too indulgent grandmother, intending to have placed me at Eton College [Map]; but, not being so provident for my own benefit, and unreasonably terrified with the report of the severe discipline there, I was sent back to Lewes [Map]; which perverseness of mine I have since a thousand times deplored. This was the first time that ever my parents had seen all their children together in prosperity. While I was now trifling at home, I saw London, where I lay one night only. The next day, I dined at Beddington, Surrey, where I was much delighted with the gardens and curiosities. Thence, we returned to the Baroness Darcy's (age 17), at Sutton; thence to Wotton, Surrey [Map]; and, on the 16th of August following, 1633, back to Lewes [Map].

Evelyn's Diary. 1635. But my dear mother (age 36) being now dangerously sick, I was, on the 3d of September following, sent for to Wotton, Surrey [Map]. Whom I found so far spent, that, all human assistance failing, she in a most heavenly manner departed this life upon the 29th of the same month, about eight in the evening of Michaelmas-day. It was a malignant fever which took her away, about the 37th of her age, and 22d of her marriage, to our irreparable loss and the regret of all that knew her. Certain it is, that the visible cause of her indisposition proceeded from grief upon the loss of her daughter, and the infant that followed it; and it is as certain, that when she perceived the peril whereto its excess had engaged her, she strove to compose herself and allay it; but it was too late, and she was forced to succumb. Therefore summoning all her children then living (I shall never forget it), she expressed herself in a manner so heavenly, with instructions so pious and Christian, as made us strangely sensible of the extraordinary loss then imminent; after which, embracing every one of us she gave to each a ring with her blessing and dismissed us. Then, taking my father (age 48) by the hand, she recommended us to his care; and, because she was extremely zealous for the education of my younger brother (age 12), she requested my father (age 48) that he might be sent with me to Lewes [Map]; and so having importuned him that what he designed to bestow on her funeral, he would rather dispose among the poor, she labored to compose herself for the blessed change which she now expected. There was not a servant in the house whom she did not expressly send for, advise, and infinitely affect with her counsel. Thus she continued to employ her intervals, either instructing her relations, or preparing of herself.

Evelyn's Diary. 18 Jul 1637. I accompanied my eldest brother (age 20), who then quitted Oxford, into the country; and, on the 9th of August, went to visit my friends at Lewes [Map], whence I returned the 12th to Wotton, Surrey [Map]. On the 17th of September, I received the blessed Sacrament at Wotton church, and 23d of October went back to Oxford.

Evelyn's Diary. 30 Dec 1640. But my father (deceased) being by this time entered into a dropsy, an indisposition the most unsuspected, being a person so exemplarily temperate, and of admirable regimen, hastened me back to Wotton, Surrey [Map], December the 12th; where, the 24th following, between twelve and one o'clock at noon, departed this life that excellent man and indulgent parent, retaining his senses and piety to the last, which he most tenderly expressed in blessing us, whom he now left to the world and the worst of times, while he was taken from the evil to come.

Evelyn's Diary. 16 Oct 1641. I went to see my brother at Wotton, Surrey [Map]. On the 31st of that month (unfortunate for the Irish Rebellion, which broke out on the 23d), I was one and twenty years of age.

Evelyn's Diary. 15 Dec 1641. I was elected one of the Comptrollers of the Middle Temple revellers, as the fashion of the young students and gentlemen was, the Christmas being kept this year with great solemnity; but, being desirous to pass it in the country, I got leave to resign my staff of office, and went with my brother Richard to Wotton, Surrey [Map].

Evelyn's Diary. 07 Dec 1642. I went from Wotton, Surrey [Map] to London, to see the so much celebrated line of communication, and on the 10th returned to Wotton, Surrey [Map], nobody knowing of my having been in his Majesty's army.

Evelyn's Diary. 02 May 1643. I went from Wotton, Surrey [Map] to London, where I saw the furious and zealous people demolish that stately Cross in Cheapside [Map].

Evelyn's Diary. 04 May 1643. On the 4th I returned, with no little regret, for the confusion that threatened us. Resolving to possess myself in some quiet, if it might be, in a time of so great jealousy, I built by my brother's permission, a study, made a fish-pond, an island, and some other solitudes and retirements at Wotton, Surrey [Map]; which gave the first occasion of improving them to those waterworks and gardens which afterward succeeded them, and became at that time the most famous of England.

Evelyn's Diary. 23 Jul 1643. The Covenant being pressed, I absented myself; but, finding it impossible to evade the doing very unhandsome things, and which had been a great cause of my perpetual motions hitherto between Wotton, Surrey [Map] and London, October the 2d, I obtained a license of his Majesty (age 42), dated at Oxford and signed by the King, to travel again.

Evelyn's Diary. 06 Nov 1643. Lying by the way from Wotton, Surrey [Map] at Sir Ralph Whitfield's, at Blechingley [Map] (whither both my brothers had conducted me), I arrived at London on the 7th, and two days after took boat at the Tower-wharf, which carried me as far as Sittingbourne, Kent [Map], though not without danger, I being only in a pair of oars, exposed to a hideous storm: but it pleased God that we got in before the peril was considerable. From thence, I went by post to Dover, Kent [Map], accompanied with one Mr. Thicknesse, a very dear friend of mine.

Evelyn's Diary. 05 Oct 1647. I came to Wotton, Surrey [Map], the place of my birth, to my brother (age 30), and on the 10th to Hampton Court [Map] where I had the honor to kiss his Majesty's (age 46) hand, and give him an account of several things I had in charge, he being now in the power of those execrable villains who not long after murdered him. I lay at my cousin, Sergeant Hatton's at Thames Ditton, Surrey [Map], whence, on the 13th, I went to London.

Evelyn's Diary. 14 Jan 1648. From London I went to Wotton, Surrey [Map] to see my young nephew; and thence to Baynards [in Ewhurst], to visit my brother Richard (age 25).

Evelyn's Diary. 28 Sep 1648. I went to Albury, to visit the Countess of Arundel (age 38), and returned to Wotton, Surrey [Map].

Evelyn's Diary. 26 Feb 1649. Came to see me Captain George Evelyn, my kinsman, the great traveler, and one who believed himself a better architect than really he was; witness the portico in the Garden at Wotton, Surrey [Map]; yet the great room at Albury is somewhat better understood. He had a large mind, but over-built everything.

Evelyn's Diary. 02 Jul 1649. I went from Wotton, Surrey [Map] to Godstone, Surrey (the residence of Sir John Evelyn (age 58)), where was also Sir John Evelyn of Wilts. (age 47), when I took leave of both Sir Johns and their ladies. Mem. the prodigious memory of Sir John of Wilts' (age 47) daughter, since married to Mr. W. Pierrepont [Note. Mr R Pierrepoint], and mother of the present Earl of Kingston. I returned to Sayes Court, Deptford [Map] this night.

Evelyn's Diary. 25 Jul 1650. I went by Epsom to Wotton, Surrey [Map], saluting Sir Robert Cook and my sister Glanville; the country was now much molested by soldiers, who took away gentlemen's horses for the service of the state, as then called.

Evelyn's Diary. 01 Jan 1651. I wrote to my brother (age 33) at Wotton, Surrey [Map], about his garden and fountains. After evening prayer, Mr. Wainsford called on me: he had long been Consul at Aleppo, and told me many strange things of those countries, the Arabs especially.

Evelyn's Diary. 10 Oct 1654. To my brother (age 37) at Wotton, Surrey [Map], who had been sick.

Evelyn's Diary. 21 Aug 1655. I went to Ryegate [Map], to visit Mrs. Cary, at my Lady Peterborough's (age 33), in an ancient monastery well in repair, but the park much defaced; the house is nobly furnished. The chimney-piece in the great chamber, carved in wood, was of Henry VIII., and was taken from a house of his in Bletchingley. At Ryegate, was now the Archbishop of Armagh, the learned James Usher (age 74), whom I went to visit. He received me exceeding kindly. In discourse with him, he told me how great the loss of time was to study much the Eastern languages; that, excepting Hebrew, there was little fruit to be gathered of exceeding labor; that, besides some mathematical books, the Arabic itself had little considerable; that the best text was the Hebrew Bible; that the Septuagint was finished in seventy days, but full of errors, about which he was then writing; that St. Hierome's was to be valued next the Hebrew; also that the seventy translated the Pentateuch only, the rest was finished by others; that the Italians at present understood but little Greek, and Kircher was a mountebank; that Mr. Selden's best book was his "Titles of Honor"; that the church would be destroyed by sectaries, who would in all likelihood bring in Popery. In conclusion he recommended to me the study of philology, above all human studies; and so, with his blessing, I took my leave of this excellent person, and returned to Wotton, Surrey [Map].

Evelyn's Diary. 28 Aug 1655. Came that renowned mathematician, Mr. Oughtred (age 81), to see me, I sending my coach to bring him to Wotton, Surrey [Map], being now very aged. Among other discourse, he told me he thought water to be the philosopher's first matter, and that he was well persuaded of the possibility of their elixir; he believed the sun to be a material fire, the moon a continent, as appears by the late selenographers; he had strong apprehensions of some extraordinary event to happen the following year, from the calculation of coincidence with the diluvian period; and added that it might possibly be to convert the Jews by our Savior's visible appearance, or to judge the world; and therefore, his word was, "Parate in occursum"; he said original sin was not met with in the Greek Fathers, yet he believed the thing; this was from some discourse on Dr. Taylor's (age 42) late book, which I had lent him.

Evelyn's Diary. 05 Aug 1658. We went to Squirries to visit my Cousin Leech, daughter to Sir John; a pretty, finely wooded, well watered seat, the stables good, the house old, but convenient. 6th. Returned to Wotton, Surrey [Map].

Evelyn's Diary. 11 Feb 1660. During this sickness came divers of my relations and friends to visit me, and it retarded my going into the country longer than I intended; however, I wrote and printed a letter in defense of his Majesty (age 29), against a wicked forged paper, pretended to be sent from Brussels to defame his Majesty's (age 29) person and virtues and render him odious, now when everybody was in hope and expectation of the General (age 51) and Parliament recalling him, and establishing the Government on its ancient and right basis. The doing this toward the decline of my sickness, and sitting up long in my bed, had caused a small relapse, out of which it yet pleased God also to free me, so as by the 14th I was able to go into the country, which I did to my sweet and native air at Wotton, Surrey [Map].

Evelyn's Diary. 09 Aug 1664. Went with my brother Richard (age 41) to Wotton, Surrey [Map], to visit and comfort my disconsolate brother (age 47); and on the 13th saw my friend, Mr. Charles Howard, at Dipden, near Dorking.

Evelyn's Diary. 22 Aug 1664. I went from London to Wotton, Surrey [Map], to assist at the funeral of my sister-in-law, the Lady Cotton, buried in our dormitory there, she being put up in lead. Dr. Owen made a profitable and pathetic discourse, concluding with an eulogy of that virtuous, pious, and deserving lady. It was a very solemn funeral, with about fifty mourners. I came back next day with my wife (age 29) to London.

Evelyn's Diary. 04 Aug 1665. I went to Wotton, Surrey [Map] with my Son and his tutor, Mr. Bohun, Fellow of New College (recommended to me by Dr. Wilkins (age 51), and the President of New College, Oxford), for fear of the pestilence, still increasing in London and its environs. On my return, I called at Durdans, where I found Dr. Wilkins (age 51), Sir William Petty (age 42), and Mr. Hooke (age 30), contriving chariots, new rigging for ships, a wheel for one to run races in, and other mechanical inventions; perhaps three such persons together were not to be found elsewhere in Europe, for parts and ingenuity.

Evelyn's Diary. 05 Aug 1665. The manufacture of gunpowder was carried on at Godstone, Surrey as well as at Long Ditton, Surrey; but it does not appear that there ever was any mill at Wotton, Surrey [Map], or that the purchase of that place was made with such a view.

Evelyn's Diary. 14 Sep 1665. I went to Wotton, Surrey [Map]; and on 16th September, to visit old Secretary Nicholas (age 72), being now at his new purchase of West Horsley, once mortgaged to me by Lord Viscount Montague (age 55): a pretty dry seat on the Down. Returned to Wotton, Surrey [Map].

Evelyn's Diary. 01 Oct 1665. This afternoon, while at evening prayers, tidings were brought me of the birth of a daughter at Wotton, Surrey [Map], after six sons, in the same chamber I had first taken breath in, and at the first day of that month, as I was on the last, forty-five years before.

Evelyn's Diary. 25 Dec 1665. Kept Christmas with my hospitable brother (age 48), at Wotton, Surrey [Map].

Evelyn's Diary. 12 Jan 1666. After much, and indeed extraordinary mirth and cheer, all my brothers, our wives, and children, being together, and after much sorrow and trouble during this contagion, which separated our families as well as others, I returned to my house, but my wife (age 31) went back to Wotton [Map]. I, not as yet willing to adventure her, the contagion, though exceedingly abated, not as yet wholly extinguished among us.

Evelyn's Diary. 16 Jul 1677. I went to Wotton, Surrey [Map]. 22d. Mr. Evans, curate of Abinger, preached an excellent sermon on Matt. v. 12. In the afternoon, Mr. Higham at Wotton catechised.

Evelyn's Diary. 23 Aug 1681. I went to Wotton, Surrey [Map], and, on the following day, was invited to Mr. Denzil Onslow's (age 39) at his seat at Purford, where was much company, and such an extraordinary feast, as I had hardly seen at any country gentleman's table. What made it more remarkable was, that there was not anything save what his estate about it did afford; as venison, rabbits, hares, pheasants, partridges, pigeons, quails, poultry, all sorts of fowl in season from his own decoy near his house, and all sorts of fresh fish. After dinner we went to see sport at the decoy, where I never saw so many herons.

Evelyn's Diary. 30 Aug 1681. From Wotton, Surrey [Map] I went to see Mr. Hussey (at Sutton in Shere), who has a very pretty seat well watered, near my brother's. He is the neatest husband for curious ordering his domestic and field accommodations, and what pertains to husbandry, that I have ever seen, as to his granaries, tacklings, tools, and utensils, plows, carts, stables, wood piles, wood houses, even to hen roosts and hog troughs. Methought, I saw old Cato, or Varro, in him; all substantial, all in exact order. The sole inconvenience he lies under, is the great quantity of sand which the stream brings along with it, and fills his canals and receptacles for fish too soon. The rest of my time of stay at Wotton was spent in walking about the grounds and goodly woods, where I have in my youth so often entertained my solitude; and so, on the 2d of September, I once more returned to my home.

Evelyn's Diary. 28 Jul 1691. I went to Wotton, Surrey [Map].

Evelyn's Diary. 04 May 1694. I went this day with my wife (age 59) and four servants from Sayes Court [Map], removing much furniture of all sorts, books, pictures, hangings, bedding, etc., to furnish the apartment my brother (age 76) assigned me, and now, after more than forty years, to spend the rest of my days with him at Wotton, Surrey [Map], where I was born; leaving my house at Deptford, Kent [Map] full furnished, and three servants, to my son-in-law Draper, to pass the summer in, and such longer time as he should think fit to make use of it.

Evelyn's Diary. 05 May 1695. I came to Deptford, Kent [Map] from Wotton, Surrey [Map], in order to the first meeting of the Commissioners for endowing an hospital [Map] for seamen at Greenwich; it was at the Guildhall [Map], London. Present, the Archbishop of Canterbury (age 58), Lord Keeper, Lord Privy Seal, Lord Godolphin (age 49), Duke of Shrewsbury (age 34), Duke of Leeds (age 63), Earls of Dorset (age 52) and Monmouth (age 37), Commissioners of the Admiralty and Navy, Sir Robert Clayton, Sir Christopher Wren (age 71), and several more. The Commission was read by Mr. Lowndes, Secretary to the Lords of the Treasury, Surveyor-General.

Evelyn's Diary. 06 Sep 1696. I went to congratulate the marriage of a daughter of Mr. Boscawen to the son (age 24) of Sir Philip Meadows; she is niece to my Lord Godolphin (age 51), married at Lambeth [Map] by the Archbishop (age 59), 30th of August. After above six months' stay in London about Greenwich Hospital, I returned to Wotton, Surrey [Map].

Evelyn's Diary. 17 Aug 1697. I came to Wotton, Surrey [Map] after three months' absence.

Evelyn's Diary. 23 Dec 1697. I returned to Wotton, Surrey [Map].

Evelyn's Diary. 25 Jan 1700. I went to Wotton, Surrey [Map], the first time after my brother's funeral, to furnish the house with necessaries, Lady Wych and my nephew Glanville, the executors having sold and disposed of what goods were there of my brother's. The weather was now altering into sharp and hard frost.

Evelyn's Diary. 24 May 1700. I went from Dover street to Wotton, Surrey [Map], for the rest of the summer, and removed thither the rest of my goods from Sayes Court [Map].

Evelyn's Diary. 19 Jan 1701. Severe frost, and such a tempest as threw down many chimneys, and did great spoil at sea, and blew down above twenty trees of mine at Wotton, Surrey [Map].

Evelyn's Diary. 12 Apr 1702. My steward at Wotton, Surrey [Map] gave a very honest account of what he had laid out on repairs, amounting to £1,900.

Evelyn's Diary. 27 Jun 1702. I went to Wotton, Surrey [Map] with my family for the rest of the summer, and my son-in-law, Draper, with his family, came to stay with us, his house at Addiscombe being new-building, so that my family was above thirty. Most of the new Parliament were chosen of Church of England principles, against the peevish party. The Queen (age 37) was magnificently entertained at Oxford and all the towns she passed through on her way to Bath, Somerset [Map].

Evelyn's Diary. The place of my birth was Wotton, Surrey [Map], in the parish of Wotton, or Blackheath, in the county of Surrey, the then mansion-house of my father, left him by my grandfather, afterward and now my eldest brother's. It is situated in the most southern part of the shire; and, though in a valley, yet really upon part of Leith Hill, one of the most eminent in England for the prodigious prospect to be seen from its summit, though by few observed. From it may be discerned twelve or thirteen counties, with part of the sea on the coast of Sussex, in a serene day. The house is large and ancient, suitable to those hospitable times, and so sweetly environed with those delicious streams and venerable woods, as in the judgment of strangers as well as Englishmen it may be compared to one of the most pleasant seats in the nation, and most tempting for a great person and a wanton purse to render it conspicuous. It has rising grounds, meadows, woods, and water, in abundance.