Elizabeth Jekyll born Elizabeth Ward (1624 – 1653) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

diarist. She was married to John Jekyll who was a leading parliamentarian. Her diary is an insight into her life during the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

Life

Jekyll was probably born in London as she was baptised on 18 July 1624 at St Christopher's church which was in the parish of St Mary Woolchurch in London. Her parents were George and Elizabeth Ward who wrre well connected. She married John Jekyll who was the son of

Thomas Jekyll Thomas Jekyll (12 January 1570 – 1653) was an English antiquarian. Biography Jekyll was born in the parish of St. Helen, Bishopsgate, London, on 12 January 1570, was eldest son of John Stocker Jekyll of Newington, Middlesex, by Mary, daughter ...

sometime before 1643. Her husband was a leading parliamentarian, a freeman and a haberdasher. She came to notice because she started a diary when she married. Her diary records the births of seven children (five survived) and her husband's efforts on behalf of the parliamentarians. Her husband was arrested in Bristol as the "leading roundhead" and later released. Jekyll records her meditations on his arrest including her explanation that this was caused by her own sins. She records the progress of the civil war and family events. Besides the meditations the diary also includes some poetry and an account of the trial of the martyr or traitor

Christopher Love Christopher Love (1618, Cardiff, Wales – 22 August 1651, London) was a Wales, Welsh Presbyterian preacher and activist during the English Civil War. In 1651, he was executed by the English government for plotting with the exiled Stuart cou ...

Death and legacy

Jekyll died a week after the birth of her seventh child and she was buried in St Stephen Walbrook. Her husband married again and had five more children, but he chose to be buried next to his first wife and he left his money to his second wife and Thomas Jekyll who was his and Elizabeth's eldest child. Her diary survived her and at somepoint it was copied by someone unknown. This was after 1685 because other quotes are from a later date. The diary is now in the

Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library () is the rare book library and literary archive of the Yale University Library in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the largest buildings in the world dedicated to rare books and manuscripts and ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jekyll, Elizabeth 1624 births 1653 deaths Writers from London 17th-century English diarists Roundheads