Richard Evelyn 1622-1670

Paternal Family Tree: Evelyn

On 27th January 1614 [his father] Richard Evelyn of Wotton [aged 27] and [his mother] Eleanor Stansfield [aged 15] were married.

On 9th November 1622 Richard Evelyn was born to Richard Evelyn of Wotton [aged 35] and Eleanor Stansfield [aged 23].

John Evelyn's Diary. 1623. The very first thing that I can call to memory, and from which time forward I began to observe, was this year (1623) my youngest brother, being in his nurse's arms, who, being then two days and nine months younger than myself, was the last child of my dear parents.

John Evelyn's Diary. 1635. But my dear mother [aged 36] being now dangerously sick, I was, on the 3d of September following, sent for to Wotton, Surrey [Map]. Whom I found so far spent, that, all human assistance failing, she in a most heavenly manner departed this life upon the 29th of the same month, about eight in the evening of Michaelmas-day. It was a malignant fever which took her away, about the 37th of her age, and 22d of her marriage, to our irreparable loss and the regret of all that knew her. Certain it is, that the visible cause of her indisposition proceeded from grief upon the loss of her daughter, and the infant that followed it; and it is as certain, that when she perceived the peril whereto its excess had engaged her, she strove to compose herself and allay it; but it was too late, and she was forced to succumb. Therefore summoning all her children then living (I shall never forget it), she expressed herself in a manner so heavenly, with instructions so pious and Christian, as made us strangely sensible of the extraordinary loss then imminent; after which, embracing every one of us she gave to each a ring with her blessing and dismissed us. Then, taking my father [aged 48] by the hand, she recommended us to his care; and, because she was extremely zealous for the education of my younger brother [aged 12], she requested my father that he might be sent with me to Lewes [Map]; and so having importuned him that what he designed to bestow on her funeral, he would rather dispose among the poor, she labored to compose herself for the blessed change which she now expected. There was not a servant in the house whom she did not expressly send for, advise, and infinitely affect with her counsel. Thus she continued to employ her intervals, either instructing her relations, or preparing of herself.

On 29th September 1635 [his mother] Eleanor Stansfield [aged 36] died. On 3rd October 1635 she was buried at St John's Church, Wotton.

John Evelyn's Diary. 3rd November 1635. It was the 3d of the ensuing November, after my brother George [aged 18] was gone back to Oxford, ere I returned to Lewes [Map], when I made way, according to instructions received of my father [aged 48], for my brother Richard [aged 12], who was sent the 12th after.

John Evelyn's Diary. 21st January 1640. Came my brother, Richard [aged 17], from school, to be my chamber-fellow at the University. He was admitted the next day and matriculated the 31st.

John Evelyn's Diary. 10th June 1640. I repaired with my brother [aged 17] to the term, to go into our new lodgings (that were formerly in Essex-court), being a very handsome apartment just over against the Hall-court, but four pair of stairs high, which gave us the advantage of the fairer prospect; but did not much contribute to the love of that impolished study, to which (I suppose) my father [aged 53] had designed me, when he paid £145 to purchase our present lives, and assignments afterward.

On 24th December 1640 [his father] Richard Evelyn of Wotton [aged 53] died.

Before 10th September 1647 [his brother] John Evelyn [aged 26] and [his sister-in-law] Mary Browne [aged 12] were married by Bishop John Earle [aged 46] at Paris [Map]. She is first mentioned in his diary John Evelyn's Diary on 10th September 1647.

Jean de Waurin's Chronicle of England Volume 6 Books 3-6: The Wars of the Roses

Jean de Waurin was a French Chronicler, from the Artois region, who was born around 1400, and died around 1474. Waurin’s Chronicle of England, Volume 6, covering the period 1450 to 1471, from which we have selected and translated Chapters relating to the Wars of the Roses, provides a vivid, original, contemporary description of key events some of which he witnessed first-hand, some of which he was told by the key people involved with whom Waurin had a personal relationship.

Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.

John Evelyn's Diary. 14th January 1648. From London I went to Wotton, Surrey [Map] to see my young nephew; and thence to Baynards [in Ewhurst], to visit my brother Richard [aged 25].

John Evelyn's Diary. 16th August 1648. I went to Woodcote (in Epsom) to the wedding of my brother, Richard [aged 25], who married the [his wife] daughter [aged 19] and coheir of Esquire Minn [aged 67], lately deceased; by which he had a great estate both in land and money on the death of a brother. The coach in which the bride and bridegroom were, was overturned in coming home; but no harm was done.

On 16th August 1648 Richard Evelyn [aged 25] and Elizabeth Mynne [aged 19] were married.

John Evelyn's Diary. 1st January 1655. Having with my family performed the public offices of the day, and begged a blessing on the year I was now entering, I went to keep the rest of Christmas at my brother's, R. Evelyn [aged 32], at Woodcot.

John Evelyn's Diary. 5th May 1657. I went with my cousin, George Tuke, to see Baynard, in Surrey, a house of my brother Richard's [aged 34], which he would have hired. This is a very fair, noble residence, built in a park, and having one of the goodliest avenues of oaks up to it that ever I saw: there is a pond of 60 acres near it; the windows of the chief rooms are of very fine painted glass. The situation is excessively dirty and melancholy.

John Evelyn's Diary. 9th August 1664. Went with my brother Richard [aged 41] to Wotton, Surrey [Map], to visit and comfort my disconsolate brother [aged 47]; and on the 13th saw my friend, Mr. Charles Howard, at Dipden, near Dorking.

John Evelyn's Diary. 8th November 1668. Being at dinner, my sister Evelyn sent for me to come up to London to my continuing sick brother [aged 45].

John Evelyn's Diary. 14th November 1668. My poor brother [aged 46] continuing ill, I went not from him till the 17th, when, dining at the Groom Porters, I heard Sir Edward Sutton play excellently on the Irish harp; he performs genteelly, but not approaching my worthy friend, Mr. Clark, a gentleman of Northumberland, who makes it execute lute, viol, and all the harmony an instrument is capable of; pity it is that it is not more in use; but, indeed, to play well, takes up the whole man, as Mr. Clark has assured me, who, though a gentleman of quality and parts, was yet brought up to that instrument from five years old, as I remember he told me.

John Evelyn's Diary. 10th June 1669. Came my Lord Cornbury, Sir William Pulteney [aged 45], and others to visit me. I went this evening to London, to carry Mr. Pepys [aged 36] to my brother Richard [aged 46], now exceedingly afflicted with the stone, who had been successfully cut, and carried the stone as big as a tennis ball to show him, and encourage his resolution to go through the operation.

John Evelyn's Diary. 26th October 1669. My dear brother [aged 46] continued extremely full of pain, the Lord be gracious to him!

Adam Murimuth's Continuation and Robert of Avesbury’s 'The Wonderful Deeds of King Edward III'

This volume brings together two of the most important contemporary chronicles for the reign of Edward III and the opening phases of the Hundred Years’ War. Written in Latin by English clerical observers, these texts provide a vivid and authoritative window into the political, diplomatic, and military history of fourteenth-century England and its continental ambitions. Adam Murimuth Continuatio's Chronicarum continues an earlier chronicle into the mid-fourteenth century, offering concise but valuable notices on royal policy, foreign relations, and ecclesiastical affairs. Its annalistic structure makes it especially useful for establishing chronology and tracing the development of events year by year. Complementing it, Robert of Avesbury’s De gestis mirabilibus regis Edwardi tertii is a rich documentary chronicle preserving letters, treaties, and official records alongside narrative passages. It is an indispensable source for understanding Edward III’s claim to the French crown, the conduct of war, and the mechanisms of medieval diplomacy. Together, these works offer scholars, students, and enthusiasts a reliable and unembellished account of a transformative period in English and European history. Essential for anyone interested in medieval chronicles, the Hundred Years’ War, or the reign of Edward III.

Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.

John Evelyn's Diary. 3rd March 1670. Finding my brother [aged 47] in such exceeding torture, and that he now began to fall into convulsion-fits, I solemnly set the next day apart to beg of God to mitigate his sufferings, and prosper the only means which yet remained for his recovery, he being not only much wasted, but exceedingly and all along averse from being cut (for the stone); but, when he at last consented, and it came to the operation, and all things prepared, his spirit and resolution failed.

John Evelyn's Diary. 6th March 1670. Dr. Patrick preached in Covent Garden Church. I participated of the Blessed Sacrament, recommending to God the deplorable condition of my dear brother [aged 47], who was almost in the last agonies of death. I watched late with him this night. It pleased God to deliver him out of this miserable life, toward five o'clock this Monday morning, to my unspeakable grief. He was a brother whom I most dearly loved, for his many virtues; but two years younger than myself, a sober, prudent, worthy gentleman. He had married a great fortune, and left one only daughter, and a noble seat at Woodcot, near Epsom. His body was opened, and a stone taken out of his bladder, not much bigger than a nutmeg. I returned home on the 8th, full of sadness, and to bemoan my loss.

On 7th March 1670 Richard Evelyn [aged 47] died.

John Evelyn's Diary. 21st March 1670. We all accompanied the corpse of my dear brother [deceased] to Epsom Church, where he was decently interred in the chapel belonging to Woodcot House. A great number of friends and gentlemen of the country attended, about twenty coaches and six horses, and innumerable people.

John Evelyn's Diary. 29th June 1670. To London, in order to my niece's marriage, Mary, daughter to my late brother Richard, of Woodcot, with the eldest son of Mr. Attorney Montague, which was celebrated at Southampton-House chapel, after which a magnificent entertainment, feast, and dancing, dinner and supper, in the great room there; but the bride was bedded at my sister's lodging, in Drury-Lane.

On 29th January 1692 [his former wife] Elizabeth Mynne [aged 63] died.

[his daughter] Mary Evelyn was born to Richard Evelyn and Elizabeth Mynne.

Ancestors of Richard Evelyn 1622-1670

Great x 1 Grandfather: John Evelyn of Kingston

Grandfather: George Evelyn of Long Ditton

father: Richard Evelyn of Wotton

Grandmother: Joan Stint

Richard Evelyn

Grandfather: John Stansfield

mother: Eleanor Stansfield

Grandmother: Eleanor Comber