Home Sweet Huntingdon- Part 2

Huntingdonshire coat of arms.

The Latin phrase translates to

"Efforts are all in bloom."

     Hey kiddos! Back in Huntingdon for this entry! I've done a LOT of exploring in this little town and there are definitely two names that I've seen so often I'm surprised they haven't renamed the town after one of them. They are Oliver Cromwell and Samuel Pepys (pronounced "peeps"). They are the two most famous former residents of Huntingdon. They are so famous that just about every British school child and adult knows who they are, or at least knows they were important to the history of Britain. All over Huntingdonshire there are statues, plaques, pubs, even street signs commemorating them.

This is a picture of the Cromwell Museum. It's located on the same

street I live on, less than a 5 minute walk away.

     Let's start with Cromwell. He was born in Huntingdon a very long time ago in 1599. As a boy he attended a grammar school that is now home to the Cromwell Museum. He attended college at Cambridge only a few miles away from here then joined the Army and became a politician, representing this region in Parliament. He is most famous for his part in the English Civil War. Cromwell was against the monarchy and so with his military experience led anti-royalist forces to overthrow the government and had King Charles I beheaded.

Cromwell famously requested that portraits depict him as he truly

looked "warts and all," which is where we get that phrase.

     He then declared himself Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. The funny part is, he basically made himself the new king. He even named his son his heir to the title of Lord Protector. Sounds kinda fishy, right? But people in Britain (and especially Huntingdonshire) really seem to like this guy. He seems to have fought on the side of Parliament, and therefor the people, rather than fighting on the side of the royalty who thought they had divine right to rule and govern. Well he says he did anyway. Some people thought he was a tyrant while others thought he was a moral but ultimately flawed hero. Either way he helped to shape the Britain that exists today, which is probably why Huntingdon is proud to have monuments, plaques and a museum dedicated to him.

A photo of Jay in front of one of the many

monuments in Huntingdonshire of Cromwell.

     The second most famous resident of Huntingdon is Samuel Pepys. His name is also found all around Huntingdonshire. He was born in London just 35 years after Oliver Cromwell was born in Huntingdon. As a child Pepys was sent to the countryside of Huntingdonshire to protect him from The Plague which had killed thousands in the city, including some of his own family. He lived in Hitchingbrook, a town nearby, and was educated at the same grammar school Cromwell attended, which is now the Cromwell Museum. When Pepys grew up to attend the Magdalene College in Cambridge, and then returned to London where he became possibly the world's most famous secretary. Because his family had money and influence he was able to take positions as secretary to the most powerful people in Britain. He eventually became Chief Secretary of the Admiralty, the highest position a civilian can attain in the Navy at the time.

Cromwell might have been "warts and all" but Pepys was quite in to himself.

He obviously thought he was hot stuff because in his diary he writes about his

many girlfriends and love interests. I think he could have done with out the girly hair.

     But while his many accomplishments are impressive, the thing he's most famous for is his diary. Samuel Pepys kept what is one of the most important and extensive diaries ever. For ten years he wrote every day in his diary, everything from what he ate that day to his own eye witness accounts of history. He saw first hand the Great Plague of London, The English Civil War which lead to Cromwell's rise to power, The Restoration of the Monarchy after Cromwell was overthrown, and probably most famously The Great Fire of London which destroyed most the the center of London. 

One of the entries from his diary reads:

"I down to the water-side, and there got a boat and through bridge, and there saw a lamentable fire. Poor Michell's house, as far as the Old Swan, already burned that way, and the fire running further, that in a very little time it got as far as the Steeleyard, while I was there. Everybody endeavouring to remove their goods, and flinging into the river or bringing them into lighters that layoff; poor people staying in their houses as long as till the very fire touched them, and then running into boats, or clambering from one pair of stairs by the water-side to another." ~Diary of Samuel Pepys, Sunday, 2 September 1666

     His seriously massive diary isn't even just one diary. It's 6 large volumes, which he wrote in a code called shorhand so that no one could sneakily read his private thoughts. Upon his death, after a lengthy and successful career he donated his diaries to the Magdalene College Cambridge, where many years later someone uncovered and figured out his code, thus translating them. Pepys's diaries are some of Britain's most prized historical documents, which tell everything from how people lived back then, to government secrets and even his personal opinions of famous people (and he wasn't often flattering about them).

About 10 steps away from my apartment is this pub, named after the

town's famous former resident and where Pepys wrote portions of his diary.

 Well that's all I really know about Oliver Cromwell and Samuel Pepys, but I think they are perfect examples of how some of the most powerful and important people in the world can come from humble beginnings, like Huntingdon. There's even been a recent Prime Minister from Huntingdon, John Major, who held office from 1990 to 1997. But since there's no monuments in town I can pretty well guess that he isn't as beloved as Cromwell or Pepys.

Who knows, maybe some day there will be a plaque here saying "Lilja lived here in Huntingdon."

Okay, maybe not ;)

~Love Auntie~