The “Perfect Occurrences of Parliament” were written by Henry Walker and printed by Andrew and Jane Coe of London.
The original is in the British Library in the Burney Collection.
Henry Walker was a seventeenth-century ironmonger, bookseller, pamphleteer and newsbook editor By 1641 he was also becoming well-known as an Independent “tub preacher” – in other words, a preacher without a living. He produced a “newspaper” called “The Perfect Occurrences of Parliament”. This described what was happening during the Civil War from a “Parliamentarian” point of view.
The printers, Andrew and Jane Coe, appear in the records in the parish registers of St Giles Cripplegate, where Andrew had set up business. Cripplegate was a parish just outside the City walls, and had a high concentration of printers and booksellers. Grub Street, soon to become synonymous with a certain kind of printed book, is within the parish boundaries. Many of its parishioners also seem to have had Puritan leanings.
After Andrew’s death, Jane continued to print the same kind of books that the press had already become known for. Between 1644 and 1647 she was involved in the production of several newsbooks, including Perfect Occurrences, The Moderate Messenger, and The Kingdomes Scout.
The following is part of the “Perfect Occurrences” for June 1645 during the siege of Taunton. The position of Goring and the other Royalist Generals beseiging Taunton would appear to be correct, so perhaps Prince Charles was briefly in Stoke St Mary.
