Pepys Letters Reveal Obscured 1675 Enslaved Boy Bribe

New academic research says Samuel Pepys, a leading English naval administrator and famous diarist, reshaped his own paper trail to downplay an April 1675 offer involving an enslaved boy.

The findings come from Cambridge University historian Dr. Michael Edwards, whose study argues that Pepys later managed how the episode appeared in his preserved correspondence, reducing it to language that suggested a routine gift rather than a human being offered as leverage.

What the research says

Edwards’ article, published in The Historical Journal , reports that naval officer John Howe offered Pepys an enslaved boy in April 1675 as a bribe.

Edwards writes that Pepys refused the offer, but then curated his archive so the incident could be read as a “gratuity” or “reward,” with the enslaved boy’s presence effectively removed from the official record.

How the evidence was assembled

The study, titled “Samuel Pepys, the African Companies, and the Archives of Slavery, 1660–1689” , draws on hundreds of documents held at the Pepys Library, The National Archives, and the Bodleian Library.

Based on that material, Edwards argues that the later presentation of the correspondence was not accidental, but part of a deliberate effort to control how Pepys’ conduct would be interpreted by others.

Motives, context, and what is not known

Edwards contends that Pepys’ refusal was shaped primarily by reputational risk and fear of being accused of corruption, rather than opposition to slavery itself.

As Secretary to the Admiralty, Pepys had major responsibilities tied to naval finance and oversight, which increased his political exposure and the potential consequences of any perceived impropriety.

The research also states that Pepys’ clerk, William Hewer, indexed and arranged correspondence in ways that supported Pepys’ appearance of innocence. The source material does not specify the full extent of Hewer’s role beyond this reported organizing and indexing.

Links to the slave trade

The 1675 episode is presented against a wider backdrop of Pepys’ involvement in arranging naval vessels for the Royal African Company’s trade in enslaved people.

Edwards notes additional archival references in which Pepys discussed connections to enslavement without evident shame, including an instance in 1679 when Pepys arranged the sale of an enslaved man.

Why it matters now

The study adds to ongoing reassessments of how prominent officials and institutions documented— and sometimes obscured— ties to slavery, shaping what later generations could easily see in the historical record.

For universities, libraries, and archives with globally used collections, the findings underscore how cataloging choices and curated correspondence can influence scholarship, public memory, and institutional debates about historical links to slavery.