(PEPYS SAMUEL) MATTHEW WREN Autograph Letter Signed M Wren t

Sale 2674 - Lot 107

Unsold

Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000

CONCERNING THE IMPRESSMENT OF A GOLDSMITH'S WORKMEN (PEPYS, SAMUEL.) MATTHEW WREN. Autograph Letter Signed, "M. Wren," to Samuel Pepys, requesting that at least six of Robert Vyner's workmen be released from compelled service to the Royal Navy. 1 page, 4to, with integral address leaf addressed in holograph; faint scattered foxing, some minor contemporary smudging to list of Vyner's workmen, remnants of mounting to address leaf along center vertical fold, docketing on address leaf in unknown hand. Np, "Friday night"

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"Since I saw You I received a Letter from Sr Rob: Vyner wherein he tels Me al[l] his Carpenters, nine in number, are prest from his house in Lombard street. I can not think that those imployed to press are discreet Men to sweep al the Workmen from the House of so considerable a Person in the City, & by way of Revenge, I desire they may be al releast; But if the Necessity of the Publique Service, & good Example, wil not permit that, I pray let the first six be immediately discharged, that being the least We can do for a Gentleman of so much worth, & so good a friend."
Matthew Wren (1629-1672) was the eldest son of the Bishop of Ely and Member of Parliament for St. Michael's from 1661 until his death; he also served as secretary to Lord Clarendon between 1600 and 1667 and later to the Duke of York until his death.
Robert Vyner (1631-1688) was a goldsmith and banker who served a term as Lord Mayor of London in 1674.
Beginning in the 1660s and employed throughout the 18th century, in order to meet the demand for sailors to run warships engaged in various conflicts including especially the Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy forcibly conscripted sailors and sufficiently able laborers with the help of "press gangs" in the coastal cities of Great Britain--a practice called "impressment."