The Diary of Bulstrode Whitelocke, 1605-1675

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).