Emily Pepys
Emily Pepys (9 August 1833 – 12 September 1877) was an English child diarist,[1] whose account of six months of her life provides a vivid insight into a wealthy bishop's family.
Her father, Henry Pepys (this branch of the family pronounced the name "peppis", not "peeps", 1783–1860), was created the Anglican Bishop of Sodor and Man in 1840 and translated only a year later to Worcester.
Her mother, Maria Pepys (1786–1885), was the daughter of John Sullivan, a privy councillor[3] and a commissioner of the Board of Control.
Emily was the youngest of the four children who survived to adulthood, the others being Philip Henry (1824–1886), later registrar of the London Court of Bankruptcy, Maria Louisa (1827–1924),[4] who would marry a well-connected Worcestershire parson, the Rev.
His niece, Lucy Lyttelton, then aged 13 and surprised at the news, described Emily in her diary as "charitable, young (21), amiable, humble, good-looking...".
[13] Emily is vocal and intelligent beyond her years; her journal is coherent and frank, giving a glimpse of busy life in a wealthy clerical family.
Emily observes the courting behaviour of her elders and fancies herself in love with a cousin, Teddy Tyler, although he does not answer her letters.
Her cousins Harriet and Katey are more to her liking, except that "they spoilt my Harmonicon,[15] and when I mended it, they would not leave off, so I was obliged to hide it" (30 July).
When she yields to her less sociable brother Herbert and they do not go to a county cricket match where she could meet her cousins, she is disappointed at getting no credit from her mother: "I am sorry to say I do a great many more things for the praise of Mama than for the love of God" (28 August).
The longest entry in the journal describes a fire in the small hours of Christmas Day, which has the family huddling in the hall in nightshirts and cloaks.
[17] This may depict the diarist, or possibly her namesake and cousin, Lady Emily Harriet Pepys (1829–1891), author of a pair of tales for young people.
