Born in the Staffordshire Moorlands of yeoman parents, Roger Morrice studied at Cambridge, and was vicar of Duffield in Derbyshire under Cromwell. Ejected from the church at the Restoration, he afterwards served in London as chaplain in turn to Lord Holles and Sir John Maynard, working as the eyes and ears for leading Puritan Whig politicians. Strongly anti-Catholic and anti-Tory, Morrice was a Whig, committed to the defeat of absolutism and the defence of the reformed church. He lived in real fear of popish plots and a counter-reformation, as well as of the power of the Stuart state and established Church.

With his close links to some of the great political and religious leaders of the day, he was extraordinarily well-connected. At a time when parliamentary proceedings were supposed to be secret, Morrice was privy to a great deal of detailed inside information and acted as an ‘intelligencer’, collecting, recording and transmitting information, opinions and gossip on the momentous events of a turbulent time.

One subject remained almost untouched: Morrice himself. He reveals little about his personal life and only detective work shows that he lived in Covent Garden. Just as Morrice is a radically different personality than Pepys, so the England he describes, two decades on from Pepys, is very different, now a place of fear and crisis. After putting down his pen, Morrice left London around 1698 for Leek in Staffordshire, where he died in 1702.
 

See also: The History of Parliament: the House of Commons, 1660-1690
These volumes cover the turbulent second half of the seventeenth century with essential information about Commons Members, how they were elected and what part they played in the House. This 3-volume set costs £72.00, but if you buy it with The Entring Book we'll only charge you £50.00/US$95.00 for it.