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Samuel Pepys, FRS (23 February 1633 - 26 May 1703) was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament, who is now most famous for his diary. Although Pepys had no maritime experience, he rose by patronage, hard work and his talent for administration to be the Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under King James II. His influence was important in the early development of the British Civil Service. [ citation needed ] The detailed private diary that he kept during 1660 - 1669 was first published in the nineteenth century, and is one of the most important primary sources for the English Restoration period. It provides a combination of personal revelation and eyewitness accounts of great events, such as the Great Plague of London, the Second Dutch War and the Great Fire of London. His surname is usually pronounced /ˈpiːps/ (same as the English word peeps), although at the time it could have been pronounced either "peeps", "peps", or "peppis".
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