Deb Willet

Deborah "Deb" Willet (1650–1678) was a young maid employed by Samuel Pepys (1633–1703), an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament. She and Pepys, about 20 years her senior, engaged in extramarital liaisons that were chronicled in his famous diary. When Pepys's diary first was published in the late nineteenth century, the more explicit parts describing the author's affair with Deb Willet were not printed. They only appeared in the most-recent version of the diary.[1]

Deb Willet was the third of seven children born to the Bristol merchant Robert Willet and his wife Elizabeth. She was baptised in December 1650.[2] In late September 1667 Pepys was introduced to Willet[3] and she was employed as a companion for Pepys's wife, Elisabeth, from 1 October 1667,[4] with whom she attended the theatre. In late October 1668 Willet began an intimate relationship with Samuel Pepys. Elisabeth Pepys soon discovered her husband with Willet and after a few weeks the maid was dismissed. Pepys later gave Willet money, sought her out at her new home, and kissed her. His wife threatened to attack the "girle" on learning this, and Pepys was forced to renounce Willet in writing.

Deb Willet was not the only personal servant with whom Pepys was intimate, but she appears to have been the one with whom he was most smitten. In the next-to-last sentence of Pepys's 10-year diary one reads, "my amours to Deb are past."[5]

In 2006 Kate Loveman reported that Deb Willet remained in London after leaving the Pepys household, marrying a theology graduate named Jeremiah Wells in 1670.[6] Pepys later helped Wells obtain a position as a ship's chaplain. The couple had two daughters, Deborah (b. 1670) and Elizabeth (b. 1672).[7]

Mrs Wells died in 1678 and her husband followed a year and a half later.

References

  1. ↑ See a discussion in Tomalin, Claire (2002). Samuel Pepys, The Unequalled Self. Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-375-41143-7.
  2. ↑ Loveman, Kate (2011). "Further Information on Samuel Pepys and Deb Willet after the Diary". Notes & Queries. 58 (3): 388–390. doi:10.1093/notesj/gjr118.
  3. ↑ See diary entry for 27 September 1667
  4. ↑ See diary entry for 1 October 1667
  5. ↑ See diary entry for 31 May 1669.
  6. ↑ Loveman, Kate (2006). "Samuel Pepys and Deb Willet after the Diary". The History Journal 49: 893–901. doi:10.1017/S0018246X06005565.
  7. ↑ Loveman (2011), 388

Further reading

External links

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