ABSTRACT
This is an extract from the diary of Samuel Pepys dated 26 November 16631 and as Pepys was Clerk of the Acts to the Navy Board he is a reliable source. Indeed, the Oxford English Dictionary cites this extract as its first reference to the word quarantine. But it would be wrong to assume that maritime quarantine in England began in 1663. What Pepys appears to be saying is that this was the first instance of quarantine at Hole Haven, which is the estuary of an Essex creek where it meets the Thames by Canvey Island. It would also seem that this was the first occasion when the word quarantine was used in any Order or Proclamation in England; Pepys does not spell this out, but the novelty of the term is partly the reason for the lengthy parenthesis.
