Shippen visits numerous coffee houses and attends many lectures, including religious sermons. During his stay in London, he dines with William Franklin on at least one occasion (1/18/1760) and attends a sermon by George Whitefield (8/26/1759). In his medical training, he records his treatment of smallpox patients (9/26/1759). Perhaps most notably, Shippen regularly recounts news of the Seven Years' War. He celebrates Prince Ferdinand's victory on 8/8/1759 and also writes that he is "pleased with News of taking Quebec" on 10/18/1759.

The William Shippen journal offers an account of his daily activities in London with anecdotes pertaining to education. This bound volume, which spans 7/19/1759-1/22/1760, also includes a journal Shippen kept while pursuing medical training (obstetrics) in London. With entries related to medical lectures, sermons, and contemporaneous news from Philadelphia, this diary may interest scholars researching eighteenth-century medicine, religion, and the Seven Years' War.
 
Shippen visits numerous coffee houses and attends many lectures, including religious sermons. During his stay in London, he dines with William Franklin on at least one occasion (1/18/1760) and attends a sermon by George Whitefield (8/26/1759). In his medical training, he records his treatment of smallpox patients (9/26/1759). Perhaps most notably, Shippen regularly recounts news of the Seven Years' War. He celebrates Prince Ferdinand's victory on 8/8/1759 and also writes that he is "pleased with News of taking Quebec" on 10/18/1759.