Civil War and Samuel Pepys
The status of the Company was enhanced in 1607 by the admission of its first royal Freeman, King James I. Thereafter several members of the Royal Court were admitted as Freemen.
The political troubles of the time made things hard for the Livery Companies. In 1643 The Clothworkers' Company was forced to sell most of its Plate to pay its debts. During the Civil War, the City sided with Parliament against King Charles I. In 1652-3 the Master was Alderman Sir John Ireton, brother of Henry Ireton, Oliver Cromwell's regicide son-in-law.
Nevertheless, when King Charles II re-entered London in 1660, the Company took great pains to greet him with appropriate pomp.
Given the importance of currying favour at Court, it might have seemed useful to elect as Master in 1677 Samuel Pepys, then best known as a senior naval civil servant.
Although Pepys's diary terminates before he served as Master, it mentions events which must have had great impact on the Company. He noted that the 1665 Plague was particularly virulent in the vicinity of Clothworkers' Hall. And in 1666, he described the effect of the Great Fire of London on the building: 'But strange it was to see Cloathworkers-hall on fire these three days and nights in one body of Flame'
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