John EvelynJohn Evelyn FRS (31 October 1620 – 27 February 1706) was a diarist, writer, landowner, gardener, courtier, and minor government figure from England. He was a Royal Society Fellow from its inception. The diary, or memoir, of John Evelyn spans his adul life from 1640, when he was a student, to 1706, the year he died. He did not always write on a daily basis. The several volumes provide insight into life and events prior to the creation of regular journals or newspapers, making diaries of greater relevance to modern historians than such writings could have been at earlier times. Evelyn's work includes the execution of Charles I, the rising and final natural death of Oliver Cromwell, the last Great Plague of London, and the Great Fire of London in 1666. The diary of John Evelyn was originally published posthumously in 1818, but it has since been overshadowed by that of Samuel Pepys. Pepys kept a different form of diary at the same time period, although for a considerably shorter period of time, 1660-1669, and in much greater detail. Gardening was one of the many topics Evelyn wrote about, and he left a massive manuscript on the subject that was not published until 2001. Read More Read Less