Career
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.
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.
Pepys later gave Willet money, sought her out at her new home, and kissed her. 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"
In 2006 Kate Loveman reported that Deb Willet remained in London after leaving the Pepys household, marrying a theology graduate named Jeremiah Wells in 1670.
Pepys later helped Wells obtain a position as a ship"s chaplain. The couple had two daughters, Deborah (b 1670) and Elizabeth (b 1672).