Mens cujusque is est Quisque

The Samuel Pepys Club is a private club founded in 1903 which exists to do honour to the memory of Samuel Pepys.

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About the Club

The Club’s President, The Lady Jemima Montagu, is a direct descendant of Pepys’s cousin and patron, the 1st Earl of Sandwich, and sister of the current 12th Earl.

Our main events each year are the formal Dinner, the Commemoration Service at St Olave's Church (where Pepys is buried), a Lecture given by a distinguished guest speaker and the AGM. In between we aim to offer members a variety of talks, lunches and excursions on an ad hoc basis.

The Club also supports the Pepys House Trust, an ongoing project to develop and broaden access to Pepys's House in Brampton; and the biennial Samuel Pepys Award given for a publication considered to have made the greatest contribution to the understanding of Pepys and his time.

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Origin

On 26 May 1903, at the Garrick Club in London, a group of four men met together over dinner to celebrate the exact bicentenary of the death of Samuel Pepys. They were Sir Frederick Bridge, organist of Westminster Abbey and author of Samuel Pepys, Lover of Musique; Sir D’Arcy Power, surgeon and author of The Medical History of Mr and Mrs Samuel Pepys published in The Lancet 1895; George Whale, solicitor and bibliophile; and Henry B. Wheatley, indexer and editor of the third edition of Pepys’s Diary published between 1894 and 1899.

They resolved to found a club to honour the memory of Pepys, to dine annually and to hold meetings at which they would hear readings from the Diary, listen to music of his era and give papers on various aspects of his life. The response of admirers of Pepys was enthusiastic, and the first dinner was held on 1st December 1903 at Clothworkers’ Hall, in memory of Pepys’s Mastership (1677–8).

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Membership

We welcome applications from those with a genuine interest in Samuel Pepys and his world.

Members are drawn from all walks of life and are invited to participate in a range of activities from the annual Dinner and Commemoration Service at St Olave’s church and annual Lecture, to occasional talks, lunches and excursions.

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Events, Journals & more

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The Samuel Pepys Award

This biennial prize, established by the Club in 2001, is given for a publication that, in the opinion of the judges, makes the greatest contribution to the understanding of Samuel Pepys, his time or his contemporaries.

Winners are presented with £2,000 and a specially commissioned medal in memory of Robert Latham, co-editor of the definitive 11volume edition of Pepys’s diary.

We welcome submissions from publishers and authors.

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