Introduction

The vicissitudes of the manuscript of Teonge’s Diary, like that of many other manuscripts, are not without interest. It was first published by Charles Knight in 1825, and in an introduction to that edition it was stated that the manuscript had been “in the possession of a respectable Warwickshire family for more than a century,” and that “it had descended as part of an old library from one generation to another, without attracting any particular observation.” For many years after its publication the manuscript seems to have disappeared, and in consequence it is not surprising that the authenticity of the Diary as published in 1825 should have been questioned. A writer in the Mariner’s Mirror opened an interesting discussion on the subject in 1912. He pointed out that the Diary was not published until almost a century and a half after it was written, and “that the original manuscript is either not now in existence, or at least that its whereabouts is unknown.” “The objections,” he wrote, “seem to be two in number : First, that there is no record of the original manuscript ; second, that the book contains nothing that a clever forger could not have imagined.” ¹ It is only fair to add that the writer apparently did not share these views. Another correspondent in the same journal, however, fastened on the idea of “a clever forger,” and went to some pains to prove that such a forger in the person of William Henry Ireland, the author of the Shakespeare forgeries of 1795, was at the time of the publication of Teonge’s Diary in 1825, enjoying the friendship and hospitality of the publisher, Charles Knight. ² This drew forth a spirited reply from the author of the article on Teonge in the Dictionary of National Biography (the late Sir John Laughton), who stated that he personally had “never felt the slightest doubt as to the genuineness of the printed copy,” adding, that “in or about 1887,” it was seen “on board the Alexandra, where it had been sent to be shown to the Duke of Edinburgh.” ³ This prompted a further search, and in the pay-book of the Assistance the name of “Hen : Tongue, Minister,” was found, and also a receipt signed by the chaplain for his groats :—“Recv^d.. for my 4^ds.. lvii^li.” ⁴ This with other information was published in the Mariner’s Mirror by Mr W. G. Perrin, and although it proved the authenticity of the Diary, the existence of the manuscript was still uncertain. Since then, however, the manuscript has reappeared, and it is now possible to trace its descent. It is a small quarto volume, consisting of ninety-three leaves, ¹ and written in a neat hand throughout. From internal evidence, it can be definitely stated that it was written up by Teonge from a rough diary kept on board ship—the account of his first voyage being compiled during the period between the 17th November, 1676 (when he left the Assistance at Deptford), and the 25th July, 1678, when he left the Downs for his second voyage to the Mediterranean. After Teonge’s death in 1690, the manuscript evidently came into the possession of John Holyoake, whose signature is on the last page of the Diary. This John Holyoake is presumably the same person who was Mayor of Warwick (1699–1700), whose family owned considerable landed property in Warwickshire, and whose uncle, also John Holyoake, was possessed of an estate in Spernall, Teonge’s parish. Prior to coming into the possession of Charles Knight the publisher in 1824 or 1825, it was owned by Simon Walker of Birmingham, whose signature appears no less than five times in the manuscript, with the date 1823.