John Evelyn I, Oliver Cromwell's rise and eventual natural death, the last Great Plague of London, and the Great Fire of London in 1666. Evelyn's posthumously "rival" diarist, Samuel Pepys, wrote a different kind of diary, covering a much shorter period, 1660–1669, but in much greater depth, within the same era. Over the years, Evelyn's Diary has been overshadowed by Pepys's chronicles of 17th-century life. Born into a family whose wealth was largely founded on gunpowder production, John Evelyn was born in Wotton, Surrey and grew up in Lewes, Sussex. While living in Lewes, in Southover Grange, he was educated at Lewes
Elisabeth Pepys me with therewith, after a voyage so full of health and content, could have forced me to so long a neglect of my private concernments." Following her death, Samuel Pepys' continuing affection towards Elisabeth has been suggested through his succeeding relationship with Mary Skinner and his decision to not marry despite, as evidenced in Pepys' letters to John Evelyn, having acted as his wife in all but name. Similarly, when he himself died in 1703, regardless of his long-term relationship with Mary Skinner, he was placed to rest next to his wife on his own orders. In 1991 Dale Spender