The Verneys: A True Story of Love, War, and Madness in Seventeenth-Century England

by Adrian Tinniswood

Traces the story of the seventeenth-century English family as drawn from their personal letters and other documents, discussing how their experiences reflected the realities of period gentry life, in an account that includes coverage of their relationships with Parliament and the royal family.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, 17th Century, British Literature, Historical, English Civil War

570 pages, Hardcover

First published May 10, 1986

About the author

Adrian John Tinniswood OBE FSA (born 11 October 1954) is an English writer and historian. He is currently Professor of English Social History at the University of Buckingham.

Tinniswood studied English and Philosophy at Southampton University and was awarded an MPhil at Leicester University.

Tinniswood has often acted as a consultant to the National Trust, and has lectured at several universities including the University of Oxford and the University of California, Berkeley.

He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Reviews

[Breck Baumann · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Verneys is an epic genealogy of an English family through the late 16th and 17th centuries. Superbly researched, Tinniswood uses the most provocative and engrossing details to document the journey of each family member in chronological order. In saving each and every letter and journal for posterity, historians owe the Verney family a massive debt of gratitude, and Tinniswood without a doubt does them justice through his rich and engrossing account of their ancestors. With most of the setting taking place in the Restoration Era, the reader will no doubt find themselves struggling to decide which side of the English Civil War was more justified—and the Verney family come out in full force to continue the debate.

Brothers, sisters, parents and offspring collide, while family allegiance becomes untangled in relation to those for Parliament, and those for Crown. From a modern perspective, it’s both a revealing and tragic account of familial drama and strife, complete with both the unfamiliar and altogether relatable: bankruptcies, meaningless war, black sheep and rival hood, marriages for love (and alas, power), piracy, travel and exile, redemption, and political polarization. Tinniswood’s style brings out the best and worst of his subjects, with the narrative time and again coming back to the nagging and self-pitying attitude of Tom Verney:

By now he was a master of the begging letter, which he had elevated to an art form—a perfect blend of misery and righteous indignation, blame and contrition: I take God to witness [he told Roades] I have lived upon bread and beer and nothing else for Thursday, Friday and Saturday last, and a Sunday all day nothing, till night, then a man out of charity gave me…meat.

With a span of locations ranging from Aleppo to Jamestown and Barbados, and a cast of characters that almost everyone can find some unique similarities and intrigue with, Tinniswood has delivered a masterpiece on a complex family whom might have gone overlooked. The book provides a Map of the British Isles, portraits of each of the Verneys discussed, as well as an extremely useful Family Tree.

['Aussie Rick' · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable and interesting book following a family through the period of the English Civil War and Restoration. The narrative is compelling and the book is hard to put down. The author provides the reader with not only a fascinating social history and a powerful family saga but also offers a meticulous and well researched biography. Overall this is a very interesting and easy to read historical account.

[Karyl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to LOVE this book. I really did like it, but it was far drier than I expected it to be. The Verneys were a 17th-century family who were members of the gentry, and who were all prolific letter-writers. Amazingly, a huge quantity of letters have survived to this late date, and Tinniswood drew from these letters to write his book on the family. As another reviewer pointed out, however, there wasn't nearly as much reference to the primary sources as I would have expected. The section on the English Civil War was also very, very dry, and I felt the book would have been better served with a shorter summary of what had gone on. The parts I enjoyed most featured the experiences of the actual family, describing how they lived and engaged with one another, rather than the large segments that set the stage for the world in which they lived. It is interesting to note that there really is nothing new under the sun; the Verneys struggled with marital infidelity, premarital sex, unwed mothers, mental instability, and severe illness. However, many more family members died in infancy, as children, and even as young adults, than would have suffered in modern times. Thank goodness for modern medicine. Also, as another reviewer pointed out, it was very difficult to keep track of the family members, aside from the male heads of family. Those who wandered in and out of the main subject matter were nearly impossible to recall a few hundred pages later. In general, this is a wonderful resource if one is curious about the English Civil War and the events that led up to it, as well as what life was like under Cromwell and after the Restoration.

[Adi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Obviously a lot of work has been put in this book, however unless you are a seventeenth century British history die-hard fan, I don't see how you can fully enjoy it.

[Simon Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Satisfying

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Blood and Roses: One Family's Struggle and Triumph during the War of the Roses" similarly uses a collection of family letters to bring to life a 15th century British family, the Pastons, who struggle to keep their estate and their recently achieved social prominence. This book, The Verneys, interprets a similarly in tact collection of family papers to draw a portrait of a family from the landed class 200 years later.

Through these families, we learn about the daily life of the gentry of their respective times. In the 15th century, the Paston's number one son loses his birthright in a dubious deathbed testament. This change in fortune wreaks havoc on him and his nuclear family. For the Varneys of the 17th century, the system of primogeniture plays out to the unhappiness of its presumed beneficiary. Sir Ralph inherits the responsibity of preserving the estate, paying debts and managing a never-ending parade of requests for assistance from most of the other disinherited relatives.

In both books, property is a major issue. (Could it be because there are supporting legal documents that survive, or because this is the major preoccupation of the families?) In both times, ownership is vulnerable to the whims of the crown; however, by the 17th century, the rule of law has evolved such that there seems to be a more defined process for claims and no pitched battles of gentry v. gentry to try take land by force.

The Verney sons who do not inherit have some options, whereas if John Paston has any, he does not recognize them. Second sons of the 17th century can seek fortune in colonizing Barbados or in trading in the Ottoman Empire and/or seek wealthy brides on their own.

The women in either century have no legal options. Considerable time and resources are spent treating them as commodities. As noted at the end, many of Verney women, who seem to support the system, defy it. The issue of the imagery of women, and their actual behavior is certainly worth a wider study.

Tinniswood gives more interpretation than Castor and does not quote the original letters to the extent that Castor did to tell or confirm the story. This makes The Verneys a smoother and more pleasurable read for the pleasure reader. Both books will be important for future researchers.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Narrative nonfiction history about a seventeenth century family living in Buckinghamshire. The story is made possible by the Verney’s collection of letters - not only did the head of the family keep all of the letters he received he also kept copies of all of the letters he sent, so historians have a complete two sided picture of the correspondence. This is somewhat like the Paston letters, if you are familiar with them. The author has written a compelling story of the lives of the Verneys through the turbulent seventeenth century - the first Stuart king, the death of his heir, the rule of Charles I, the Civil War, the Commonwealth, Cromwell, the Restoration of Charles II, James II, and finally the arrival of William and Mary. But this is not the story of those rulers, this is the story of a gentry family and only when the major events of the day had an impact on the members of the family do those rulers and events make an appearance. I’ve read many books on the rulers and events of the seventeenth century, this one is rewarding because it relates the concerns of ordinary people and manages to bring seventeenth century England to life through the lives of the Verneys. The book is not just copies of those letters, Tinniswood turns it into a family saga that reads like a novel. In most cases where he does quote directly from the letters he modernizes the spelling and grammar so the quotes are easy to read. As the subtitle indicates the Verney’s were an interesting family and you come to care about them, perhaps not like them very much but care. One of the early Verneys threw aside life as a country gentleman and became a Barbary pirate, two were killed in the Civil War and that Civil War split the family - father and son, aunts and cousins - between royalists and parliamentarians. They struggled to stay afloat during the Commonwealth and somewhat surprisingly for a Puritan leaning protestant family they supported James II, they did not look favorably on Monmouth’s rebellion and viewed with trepidation the arrival of the Prince of Orange. They had lived through the Civil War and did not want another one. The letters are about daily life, marriages, children, finances, the struggles of second sons who inherit practically nothing but have been raised to wealth and status. The Verneys spend some time sitting in Parliament, sometimes at court, sometimes becoming merchants of the Levant Company, sometimes at horse races, all the while writing to their relatives and friends in the days of no telephones, no text messaging and no social media. Recommended if you like this period in history. I thought it was wonderful.

[Sarah W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Verneys were a gentry family who preserved their letters and family papers, allowing for historians to recreate their family story in vivid detail. This volume is centered on the 17th century, during which the Verneys had unique adventures, which included an heir who became a pirate in the Mediterranean, a young wife who suffered from madness, and numerous troublesome sons and rebellious daughters. They were also part of the turbulent history of this period - family members served in the battles of the English Civil War, were exiled during Cromwell's rule, others were distraught be the Great Fire of London, and the head of the family lost a seat in Parliament after James II's overthrow. This history, drawing on such intimate sources, presents a highly realistic picture of family life that is at once relatable and distant.

[Rhona Arthur · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolutely fascinating review of history through the life and letters of the Verney family. All life is contained within- mad wives, traitors, fallen women, illegitimate children, death, taxes, and so on. It is a huge, exquisitely detailed book, so be prepared to take your time or skim over the detail if your head can’t do it. A tour de force!

[Claire Biggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

The lives of one family through the 17th Century are fascinating and how they are entwined with all the Aunts, Uncles and Cousins through all the major events that happened in the 1600's, well worth a read

[Dara · Rating 5 out of 5]

The engrossing and meticulously researched story of a prominent English family and their marks on history.

[Mary Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reads like a novel. Almost soap opera like story. Good information about the family and time period that they lived in.

[Lady B of house Sefer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an academic book pretending to be a novel.

[Ken Sampson · Rating 4 out of 5]

[2007] An interesting and informative read. If you love family, social and British history you will love this.

[Irene · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining, fascinating read, written with that dry wit the Brits do so well!

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A family history written on the basis of over 30,000 letters kept for hundreds of years. An interesting look at the 1600s.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Based on a treasure trove of personal correspondence and various written records kept by family patriarchs in the 1600-17-- and discovered in the 1800s, this author put together a fascinating look into the era and this English family dynasty. If I ever make it to England, I would love to visit Claydon House and Chapel.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was much drier than I expected. It's about the lives and scandals of one family living during the 17th century in England.

I had a difficult time keeping track of all the family members throughout the book so I think a lot of the "story" was lost on me. The author did a great job discussing how the women of the family did not fit into what we consider to be the mold for a woman of that time period--but it was at the end of the book and by the time I got to it, I had forgotten those tidbits or couldn't remember who those women were!

Interestingly, this book is based on research of some 30,000 pieces of personal correspondence that was saved/horded for literally centuries. Even more amazing, the head of the family saved his own draft responses to his letters, so the collection is very complete.

However, it still remained rather dry.

[Johanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cracking read - feuding squabbling gentry family through the period of the wars of the 3 kingdoms & the restoration. I don't suppose all noble families were like this but they'd be a fabulous basis for a novel; a pirate, a crook, a goodtime girl, a soldier & a horse racing fanatic & and that's only the more colourful members of the family. This book is based on a stash of family documents that were found in attic and Adrian Tinniswood does a really good job of bring the material together to produce an extremely readable book that not only tells of a particularly entertaining family but also shows the detail of what life was like in the 17th century generally and how the civil war created turmoil even for those not directly involved in it. Recommended even for non history geeks.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very skillful navigation of the history of several generations of this family, mainly during the periods of and before and after the English Civil War.

Unlike many other portrayals of the civil war the narrative brought out the many grey areas for individuals around their loyalties and the ambiguity of political belief vs family benefit. I also thought it managed to show some of the social permeability of the time (although I felt perhaps the author did so from the vantage point of assuming some rigid boundaries, whereas the evidence suggested otherwise).

Complicated people, relationships and the difficulties of social and financial security in a different age. Should definitely be on reading lists for anyone interested in finding out more about this period of history.

[Katharine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and readable account of the lives of the Verney family who were both participants in and spectators of many of the main events of 17th century English history. Their story encompasses a Barbary pirate, the King's standard bearer at Edgehill, an MP on the side of Parliament who put conscience before family, a woman who had to try and save the family fortunes, a mad wife, a Levant merchant and many others. The book is based on their letters and the author brings them to life so well, good characteristics and bad ones, that by the end of the story I was sad to say goodbye to them all.

[Katie Marek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am such an Anglophile and history fan that this book has kept me very satisfied for the last couple weeks.
The section on the English civil war was a little bit dry and hard to get through, but I now have a much better understanding of the events.
Most fascinating was the attention to personal details and all the ways that family behavior deviated from standards of the day, particularly the women, who had so little power in their lives.
I was really sad when this book ended.

[Brianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Verneys are a 17th century noble family with a cast of characters. This is their history, pieced together from the multitide of writings that were stored by the head of the family. I love that the women are represented in depth here, too.

A fascinating read and not only did I learn about the Verne family, but I also learned more about the English Civil War through their lives.

[Judy Hand · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly loved this book, and it held my interest throughout. The impact of the Civil War was really brought home to me with the description of the terrible effect it had on England's divided population.

[CLM]

A Christmas present for myself

[Sarah Strait · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love history now (in my old age)- and this is an exciting find!

[Mark Turnbull · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brings the people to life in a very personal way.

[CJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A interesting story based on the letters and replys that were saved by the family for hundreds of years. More interesting is finding the clothing of the people in this book described by Janet Arnold

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was just ok, nothing more to say.

[Catherine McClelland · Rating 3 out of 5]

For being such an interesting family, the book about the Verneys was very dry. I was disappointed by this.