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From Notes and Queries, 28 April 1951, p. 185. [The writer of the Brietzcke Diary (1759-1765)] was Charles Brietzcke (1738-1795), of Polish descent, son of Daniel Brietzcke who came to England early in the eighteenth century in the suite of Lord Wentworth and was confidential servant to the Duke of Grafton of the Lord Chamberlain. Daniel's wife and Charles mother was Elizabeth Deane, for about twenty-seven years Under Housekeeper or Wardrobe Keeper at Old Somerset House. Daniel and Elizabeth had seven or eight children, some of whom [are mentioned] in the Diary. From the age of eighteen until his death thirty-nine years later the Diarist was employed in the Secretary of State's Office. He started with a salary of £20 a year, but lived in the royal apartments at Old Somerset House with his grandmother, mother, three of his sisters and, for part of the time covered by his diary, his brother Jack, home on sick-leave from Guadeloupe. Charles kept his diary conscientiously; mentioning his work, all the people he met, where he went, and his difficulties at home. [For example,] his brothers George (a page at Court, with four children) and Jack (a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery) were a constant worry to him. They were frequently in debt, and expected the other members of the family to assist them and provide for the small nephews. [He also writes that] the office routine was tedious, the salary small, his superiors inconsiderate, his family trying, and his love affairs unpromising, He was romantically in love with a Miss Carson (Caperne), but for want of money he dare not propose to her, and it was not she but Kitty Ware whom he did eventually marry when he was thirty-one, after the diaries, so far as we have them, came to an end. From Notes and Queries, November, 1964, p. 410. Charles commenced work in the Secretary of State's Office on 29 April 1756, and remained there for forty years, rising to the position of Under Secretary. In 1769 he married Catherine (Kitty) Ware at St. Bride's Fleet Street. They lived in St. James's Place, where he died on 5 June 1795 aged 57. He and his wife were buried in a vault in the Churchyard of Old Marylebone Church. The following is copied from a Tablet which is now in the New Church.
Catherine died in 1830, aged 97, at Park Place, St. James. They had four children.
Somerset House was closed in 1775 and subsequently demolished. Charles's bothers had died - George in 1767 [this is not correct - 1777 is his actual death date], John in 1768, their grandmother Ann Dean in 1768 and mother in 1778, and were all buried at Old St. Marylebone Church. Of his sisters, Harriet died about 1787, Caroline in 1807 and Ann in 1810, the last two were buried in the Churchyard at New Brentford. I believe the family was in some way connected with New Brentford, and that Charles may have gone to a school at Hayes, Middlesex. With this preface we may begin our extracts, and very happily the first diary-entry introduces us to Miss Carson (Caperne), and we may follow that romance till it fades out. (A selection from the diary follows) From Notes and Queries, November, 1964, p. 407. "Sun. 8th [Dec. 8, 1765]. Sent for to the Office, sad usage, & Hopes of a Change soon, make it but just bearable--walked with Willis in the Park--Drank Tea with Mrs. Ware40 Richd & Tom have both been ill--he & his Sisr Kitty at Harefield went home & wrote 2 copies. Kitty Proctor there, who is a Spy.--I don't like such visitants."
REFERENCES: The surviving portions of Charles Brietzcke's Diary that have been transcribed by Elma Hailey and printed in Notes and Queries are listed below. These cover his life from April 23, 1759 to December 31, 1765, when he writes, "This is the last Book of my Journal that is written upon Quarto Paper the following ones being upon Large Twelves." Unfortunately, the diaries written on large twelves are lost. Also, some of the earlier volumes written on quarto paper have been lost as well, such that the entire year of 1763 is missing from the five extant volumes. Otherwise the narrative from April of 1759 through to December of 1762, and from the start of 1764 through to the end of December, 1765 is more or less complete.
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The Diary of Charles Brietzcke (1759-1765) 
