Deb Willet

Who was Deb Willet?

Deborah "Deb" Willet was a young maid employed by Samuel Pepys, an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament. She and Pepys, about 20 years her senior, engaged in extramarital liaisons that were chronicled in his famous diary. When Pepys's diary first was published in the late nineteenth century, the more explicit parts describing the author's affair with Deb Willet were not printed. They only appeared in the most-recent version of the diary.

Deb Willet was the third of seven children born to the Bristol merchant Robert Willet and his wife Elizabeth. She was baptised in December 1650. In late September 1667 Pepys was introduced to Willet, and she was employed as a companion for Pepys's wife, Elisabeth, from 1 October 1667 with whom she attended the theatre. In late October 1668 Willet began an intimate relationship with Samuel Pepys. Elisabeth Pepys soon discovered her husband with Willet, and after a few weeks the maid was dismissed. Pepys later gave Willet money, sought her out at her new home, and kissed her. His wife threatened to attack the "girle" on learning this, and Pepys was forced to renounce Willet in writing.

Deb Willet was not the only personal servant with whom Pepys was intimate, but she appears to have been the one with whom he was most smitten. In the next-to-last sentence of Pepys's 10-year diary one reads, "my amours to Deb are past."