Ralph Josselin
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Ralph Josselin (26 January 1616[1] – August 1683)[a] was the vicar of Earls Colne in Essex from 1640 until his death in 1683. His diary records intimate details of everyday farming life, family and kinship in a small, isolated rural community, and is often studied by researchers interested in the period, alongside other similar diaries like that of Samuel Pepys.[2]
Josselin had previously (and briefly) been incumbent of Cranham, Essex.[3] Like many clergy, Josselin also taught a school (at Upminster).[4] It appears Josselin did not enjoy good health at Cranham, and the rectory was, in any case, eventually restored to its previous, sequestered incumbent. He was also offered a more lucrative position at Hornchurch,[4] presumably by New College, Oxford (whose perpetual curate holds that living). Josselin had relatives living at Cranham, whom he visited occasionally, long after the move to Earl's Colne.[3]
