Sir John Denham
Surveyor-General of the King's buildings, better known as the poet of Cooper's Hill, who led Pepys's party into Westminster Abbey for the coronation of 1661.
A diary for every day of the year
Samuel Pepys, from his diary (London, 1660–1669), in the edition of Henry B. Wheatley (London, 1893–99) · January 1660 to June 1669, written day by day (modern calendar)
About 4 I rose and got to the Abbey, where I followed Sir J. Denham, the Surveyor, with some company that he was leading in. And with much ado, by the favour of Mr. Cooper, his man, did get up into a great scaffold across the North end of the Abbey, where with a great deal of patience I sat from past 4 till 11 before the King came in. And a great pleasure it was to see the Abbey raised in the middle, all covered with red, and a throne (that is a chair) and footstool on the top of it; and all the officers of all kinds, so much as the very fidlers, in red vests. At last comes in the Dean and Prebends of Westminster, with the Bishops (many of them in cloth of gold copes), and after them the Nobility, all in their Parliament robes, which was a most magnificent sight.
About four I rose and got to the Abbey, where I followed Sir J. Denham, the Surveyor, with some company that he was leading in. And with much trouble, thanks to Mr. Cooper, his man, [I] got up onto a great scaffold across the north end of the Abbey, where with a great deal of patience I sat from past four till eleven before the King came in. And it was a great pleasure to see the Abbey raised in the middle, all covered with red, and a throne (that is, a chair) and footstool on top of it; and all the officers of every kind, even the very fiddlers, in red vests. At last in came the Dean and Prebends of Westminster, with the Bishops (many of them in copes of cloth of gold), and after them the Nobility, all in their Parliament robes, which was a most magnificent sight.