Two East Anglian Diaries, 1641-79: Isaac Archer and William Coe (Suffolk Records Society) Book

John Evelyn's diary of the great world is matched, in some engaging respects, by these two contemporary diaries of the small world of the Suffolk-Cambridgeshire borders: Archer, the Anglican minister of Mildenhall, and Coe, one of his better-off parishioners, shared Evelyn's religious tolerance, his `Providentialism', and his absolute dependence on the sacrament of holy communion. Observing the inner workings of these two minds, we realise we are watchingthe most elusive, and perhaps most fundamental, motive forces in the life of their times. [Supplied by Norman Scarfe; use in eccles. history context - showcards etc]This volume contains two fascinating and related diaries writtenin East Anglia spanning the period 1640-1730: those of Isaac Archer, an Anglican minister who served several parishes in east Cambridgeshire and west Suffolk, and William Coe, a gentleman-farmer and native of Mildenhall whose family derived their wealth from the Suffolk cloth trade. The two men knew each other when Archer was minister of Mildenhall from 1688 until his death in 1700, and Coe one of his more affluent parishioners. The diaries trace the verydifferent lives of cleric in straitened circumstances and comfortably-off gentry, describing events - child after child in the Archer family sickened and died, while most of Coe's large family survived -and inner thoughts of thediarists themselves. As well as affording a view of two rather different lives, the diaries provide a valuable and interesting record of provincial society at the time.Read More