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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH

FROM THE

earliest pertoH to tfje present Cime.

BY

R. N. WORTH, F.G.S.,
AUTHOR OF THE
'History of Devon;' 'History of Devonport;' 'Tavistock Parish Records i
ETC., ETC.

' 'Tis a notable old town.'— Longfellow.

PLYMOUTH :
WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON, GEORGE STREET.
1890.

PREFACE.

THE first edition of this work, issued in 1872, was the
first published history of Plymouth. Having for some
time been out of print, a new issue has been called for ; and
in the course of preparation that new issue has become
essentially a new work. Partly as the result of the
appearance of a complete history of the old town; partly
in consequence of continued research; and partly owing to
fortunate accidents which have brought to light sources of
information lost for centuries, the materials for the history
of Plymouth are far bulkier and more trustworthy now
than they were twenty years ago. Moreover, the Archives
of the Corporation, which ¦ are and must remain the most
important of our authorities, have been systematically
examined and arranged, and are more easily accessible.
Hence floods of light have been thrown upon some of the
most obscure points of local history, correcting many errors
due to imperfect information, and filling in the details of
many a picture hitherto sketched in faintest outline.
For nearly a quarter of a century the author has been
engaged in the elucidation of the local record. The subject
has been continuously before him. And whether from
the Municipal Archives ; from the State Papers of various
classes ; from deeds and other documents in private hands ;
or from works of reference tested by material facts; he
has been constantly adding to his historical data.
The result is given in the present volume, mainly re
written, twice the size of its predecessor. It would have
A 2

IV PREFACE.
been more easy to have made it much larger: but there is
such a thing as historical proportion ; and to enlarge upon
topics of minor importance simply because more information
is available concerning them, or because they seem to bulk
more largely in a nearer view, would be out of place in
dealing with a civic life of centuries.
"Wherever possible the statements made are based upon
original and contemporary documents ; and Local Records
are the authority for three-fourths of the following pages.
Many an error in assertion or inference would have been
avoided could these Eecords have been examined fully and
accurately half a century ago ; and their recent accessibility
has made correction a plain duty.
As a rule, proper names are spelt as in the authorities
cited; and a little repetition has been found desirable to
maintain historic connection in different sections of the
narrative. With few exceptions the numerous additional illustrations
are reproductions of original drawings by the author's son,
Mr. E. Hansford "Worth, o.E., prepared specially for this
work. Where such a multiplicity of details is dealt with
absolute accuracy is unattainable; but it is hoped that
present errors will be both few and unimportant ; and that
the main points in the history of Plymouth may at length
be regarded as resting on secure foundations.
Christmas, 1890.

CONTENTS.

PAGE
Preface . . . . ... iii
List of Illustrations . . ... vii
CHAPTER I.
Beginnings of History . . ... 1
CHAPTER II.
Domesday : The Suttons . . . . . 17
CHAPTER III.
Rising Fame and Fortunes . . ... 26
CHAPTER IV.
The Days of Good Qoeen Bess . . 39
CHAPTER V.
The Plymouth Company . . ... 63
CHAPTER VI.
The Siege . . . ... 88
CHAPTER VII.
Development, 1650-1890 . . ... 136
CHAPTER VIII.
Parliamentary Representation . ... 155
CHAPTER IX.
Local Government . . . • . . 171

VI CONTENTS.
CHAPTER X. PAGE
Religion . . . ... 226
CHAPTER XI.
Education . . . ... 269
CHAPTER XII.
Charity and Philanthropy . . ... 286
CHAPTER XIII.
Trade, Commerce, and Manufacture . ... 317
CHAPTER XIV.
The Town : Its Growth and Buildings . . . 362
CHAPTER XV.
Fortifications . . . ... 402
CHAPTER XVI.
The Borough Water Works . . ... 429
CHAPTER XVII.
Literature, Science, and Art . ... 457

Index . ' . . . ... 481
List of Subscribers . . . ... 495

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE
Guildhall and St. Andrew Tower , . . Frontispiece

Flint Nodule, Cattedown Cave

6

Palaeolithic Plymouthians — Cattedown Cave

6

Deer-horn Pick, Keyham .

7
Stillman Street Kistvaen .
8
British Coins
9
Mirror, Stamford
9
Figure of Mercury, Hooe .
12
Plan of Burial-place, Stonehouse
13
Section of „ „
. 13
Plymouth, temp. Henry VIII.
. 37
„ „ Elizabeth
41
Statue of Sir Francis Drake
. 54
' Trve Mapp ' of Plymouth at the Siege
. 99
Victualling Office'
. 139
Winstanley's Eddystone Lighthouse .
. 147
Rudyard's „ „
. 147
Smeaton's „ „
. 148
Douglass's „
. 149
Seal of Sutton
. 195
Original Seal of Plymouth .
. 196
Original Mayor's Seal
. 196
Adapted Arms of Plymouth
. 197
Correct Arms of Plymouth
. 198
Sparke's Gateway at Friary
. 228
Friary Court in 1830
. 229
' Resurrection ' Carving
. 231
Vlll

ILLTJSTKATIONS.

' Prysten House,' The
St. Katharine Chapel
Old Building on Mewstone .
Chancel, Charles Church .
Entrance of the Orphans Aid
Seal of Orphans Aid
Hospital of Poor's Portion .
Seal of Poor's Portion
Semi-Norman Arch
Church Alley and Almshouse, 1860
Entrance of Catharine Lane from Bedford Street, 1837
Gateway of Jory's Almshouses
Lanyon's Exchange
Stonehouse Bridge and Ferry House, 1774
Old Custom House, Parade
A Corner of Sutton Pool .
Plymouth China Marks
' Rose and Crown,' Old Town Street
Plan of Plymouth in 1762 .
Old House, Notte Street .
St. Andrew Street
Turk's Head
Palace Court
Pins Lane
Royal Hotel, Theatre, and Clock Tower
Entrance to Church Alley from Whitnple Street, 1800
Jacobean Guildhall
Guildhall, Southern Block
Castle
Gateway of Castle, 1887
Bear's Head
Hoe Gate
Old Town Gate
Batten Tower
Citadel Gate
Old Town Conduit

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

CHAPTEE I.
BEGINNINGS OF HISTORY.
The ghost of ages dim. — Howitt.
LIKE the history of most nations, but unlike that of
most towns, the history of Plymouth begins in the
region of myth and legend. There is no certain record of
its existence much before the Norman Conquest; but
tradition, in connection with its most prominent physical
feature, the Hoe, would carry us back to extremely remote
antiquity. Brutus the Trojan.
To Geoffrey of Monmouth, least trustworthy of the old
chroniclers, we owe the story of the settlement of Britain
by Brute or Brutus, the Trojan, somewhere about 1200 B.C.
Brutus and his companions are said to have landed at
Totnes, then included in the kingdom of Cornwall ; and to
have found the country so pleasant that, despite its giant
dwellers, they determined to make it their abode. One day,
when Brutus and his friends were holding a festival to the
gods, they were attacked by the giants in force. After a
terrible struggle the Trojans got the upper hand, and killed
all their assailants except the leader, Goemagot, who was
preserved for a combat with Corinaeus, one of the chiefs of
the Trojan party. Goemagot was ' twelve cubits high, and
of such strength that with one stroke he pulled up an oak
as it had been a hazel wand.' Nevertheless Corinseus,
'holding it a diversion to encounter giants,' met him
manfully. Goemagot broke three of his opponent's ribs,
and this so enraged Corinseus, that, taking the giant upon his
B

2 HISTOEY OF PLYMOUTH.
shoulders, he ran with him to the shore, and 'getting upon
the top of a high rock, hurled down the savage monster into
the sea, where, falling on the sides of craggy rocks he was
torn to pieces, and coloured the waves with his blood. Inis
high rock was the Hoe, thence called Lam-Goemagot or
' Goemagot's Leap.' There is, however, a version that the
struggle took place at Dover.
Drayton quaintly rhymes the legend in his Polyolbion :
Then, forraging this He, long pronris'd them before,
Amongst the ragged Cleeues those monstrous Giants sought :
Who (of their dreadful kind) t' appall the Troians, brought
Great Gogmagog, an Oake that by the roots could teare :
So mightie were (that time) the men who liued there :
But, for the vse of Armes he did not vnderstand,
(Except some rock or tree, that comming next to hand
Hee raz'd out of the earth to execute his rage)
Hee challenge makes for strength, and offereth there his gage,
Which Corin taketh vp, to answer by and by,
Vpon this sonne of Earth his vtmost power to try.
All doubtful to which part the victorie would goe,
Vpon that loftie place at Plinmouth, call'd the Hoe,
Those mightie Wrastlers met ; with many an irefull looke
Who threatned, as the one hold of the other tooke :
But, grapled, glowing fire shines in their sparkling eyes.
Arid, whilst at length of arme one from the other lyes,
Their lusty sinewes swell like cables, as they striue :
Their feet such trampling make, as though they forc't to driue
A thunder out of earth ; which stagger'd with the weight :
Thus, eithers vtmost force vrg'd to the greatest height.
Whilst one vpon his hip the other seekes to lift,
And th' adverse (by a turne) doth from his cunning shift,
Their short-fetcht troubled breath a hollow noise doth make,
Like bellowes of a Forge. Then Gorin vp doth take
The Giant twixt the grayns ; and voyding of his hould
(Before his combrous feet he well recouer could)
Pitcht head-long from the hill ; as when a man doth throw
An Axtree, that with sleight deliured from the toe
Bootes vp the yeelding earth : so that his violent fall,
Strooke Neptune with such strength, as shouldred him withall ;
That where the monstrous waues like Mountaines late did stand,
They leap't out of the place, and left the bared sand
To gaze vpon wide heauen : so great a blowe it gaue.
For which, the conquering Brute, on Gorineus braue
This home of land bestow'd, and markt it with his name ;
Of Gorin, Cornwall call'd, to his imniortall fame.1
And so' Spencer in the Faerie Queene :
That well can witness yet unto this day
The Western Hogh, besprinkled with the gore
Of mighty Goemot.
1 Th? tw,°, fig^0 ,fiSur6s £n the Guildhall of the city of London,
popularly called Gog and Magog, really present Corinseus and Goemagot.

BRUTUS THE TROJAN. • 3
Few in the present day will contend for the truth of this
story. Once it was a cardinal point of historical belief, and
strengthened by arguments which somewhat remind us of
the citation of the bricks laid by Jack Cade's father in the
chimney of Smith's house, for proof of Cade's royal descent.
Carew,2 who nevertheless had his doubts about the whole
business, backs up the claims of Plymouth as the scene of
this ' wrastling pull ' against Dover. The statements that
Brutus landed at Totnes in Cornwall, and that Cornwall
was the province bestowed upon Corinseus, he holds to imply
that ' this wrastling was likely to have chaunced ther sooner
than elsewhere.' He considers also that the great activity
of Devon and Cornishmen in the faculty of wrestling seems
' to derive them a speciall pedigree from that grand wrastler
Corinoeus.' He adds — and here we first light upon fact in
connection with the story — 'Moreover upon the Hawe at
Plymmouth, there is cut out in the ground the pourtrayture
of two men, the one bigger, the other lesser, with clubbes in
their hands (whom they terme Gog Magog), and (as I have
learned) it is renewed by order of the Townesmen when
cause requireth, which should inferre the same to be a
monument of some moment.' The Corporation records
confirm this, containing entries referring to the re-cutting
and renewal of these figures as early as 1494. The effigies
were incised in the turf, after the fashion of the famous
White Horse in Berkshire, whose 'scouring' Tom Brown
celebrates. Westcote (1630), also mentions their existence. 'Here
[the Hoe] the townsmen pass their time of leisure in
walking, bowling, and other pleasant pastimes, in the side
whereof is cut the portraiture of two men of the largest
volume, yet the one surpassing the other every way ; these
they name to be Corinseus and Gogmagog ; intimating the
wrestling to be here between these two champions ; and the
steep rocky cliff affording aptitude for such a cast.'3
This interesting memorial of antiquity was destroyed
when the Citadel was erected, about the year 1671.
It is not easy to define the exact connection between
the figures and the story; but whether they sprung out
of the legend or the legend' out of them, they are un
doubtedly traceable to remote antiquity. Inasmuch, however,
as Geoffrey himself makes no allusion to them, it must be
assumed, either that he did not know of their existence,
or that they did not then exist. The latter being the more
3 Survey of Cornwall, 2. s View of Devon, 383.
b 2

4 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
reasonable supposition, it may with some confidence be
concluded that they were first cut soon after Geoffreys
Chronicle became current; unless, as is possible, they had
a different origin, and were associated with the wrestling
story in later days. The name given to the giant — Goemagot
— is conclusive testimony that the legend, as we have it,
is not so old as the introduction of Christianity into this
country; or — if the story were indeed taken by Geoffrey
from Armorican manuscripts — into Brittany. There is just
one morsel of evidence which possibly connects the legend
with very early times. Geoffrey states that the place
whence the giant was precipitated was called Lam-Goemagot
= 'Goemagot's Leap.' Now Lambhay Hill4 is the traditional
scene of the occurrence, and lam in old Cornish being 'leap,'
Lamhay might mean the 'leap-field' or close.5 So too an
ancient name of the Hoe (Saxon = hou, a ' hill'; heah, ' high ')
was Wynrigg, and Wynrigg might be derived from the
Saxon winnan, to ' struggle,' and hric, ' ridge '
Of course neither Lamhay nor Wynrigg compel belief in
the legend, even if thus interpreted correctly, any more than
the Devil's 'gaps' and 'leaps,' so common in mountainous
districts, are still supposed to have anything to do with
that personage. But the coincidence is curious ; and were
it safe to raise any superstructure upon such very slight
foundations, we might venture on the following suggestion :
— That the legend in the first place did refer to something
that occurred at or near the Hoe ; that it was carried to
Brittany; that in Brittany, under the mingled influences
of half -understood classical history and of religious sentiment
working through the monastic mind, it developed into the
full-blown myth of Brutus the Trojan; and that when it
returned to England, and was made known under the
auspices of Geoffrey of Monmouth, the Plymouthians per
petuated the memory of what they undoubtedly believed to
be sterling fact, by cutting the figures of the two champions
on the greensward. This however is purely hypothetical,
and is put forward simply as an effort to arrive at whatever
kernel of truth there may be in the first event recorded
in connection with Plymouth. Moreover, it assumes that
Geoffrey's authority was Armorican, whereas it is perfectly
clear that he mainly depended on the Welsh Bruts.
4 An ancient chart in the British Museum places the 'Lammy' on the
extreme south-eastern point of the Hoe, at Fishers Nose
» The Rev. W. Beal derived Lamhay from 'Lamhl* the hand or arm,
in memorial of the reputed strength of Corinseus.

BRUTUS THE TROJAN. 5
The Chronicle of Geoffrey cannot be accepted as sober
history ; but he certainly did not invent the story of Brutus,
and it may be one of the few grains of wheat to be winnowed
from his huge pile of chaff. ' Stripped of the dress in which
it was decked out by Geoffrey, improving on his predecessors ;
deprived of its false lustre of classicism; cleared from the
religious associations of a later day — the myth of Brutus
the Trojan loses personality, but becomes the traditionary
record of the earliest invasion of this land by an historic
people, who, in their assumed superiority, dubbed the less
cultivated possessors of the soil whose rights they invaded,
"giants," and extirpated them as speedily as they knew
how.' The local bearing of another allusion in Geoffrey's
Chronicle, has been lost by the absurd identification of
' Hamo's Port,' either by Geoffrey or by his mediaeval editor,
with Southampton, after ' a crafty Boman named Hamo.'
But Hamo's Port is clearly the estuary of the Tamar — the
modern ' Hamoaze.' Made by Geoffrey ' the fitting centre of
some of the most stirring scenes in the traditional national
life, the Hamoaze best suits the reference.' The statement
that Maximian, the senator, when invited by Caradoc, Duke
of Cornwall, to be king of Britain, lands at Hamo's Port,
leads to the inference that it was on Cornish territory. So
the Armoricans sent to the help of Arthur, land at Hamo's
Port ; and it is from Hamo's Port that Arthur sets sail on his
expedition against the Eomans — a fabulous story indeed, but
still helping to indicate the commodiousness and importance
of the harbour intended. The port of Plymouth was well
known to the Armorican Britons as the Hamoaze, in the
troublous times that followed the departure of the Bomans ;
and it may well have been that the independence retained
by the Dunmonii (otherwise Danmonii, Domnonii, Damnonii,
and Dumnonii) during the Boman occupation placed them
in a position of leadership.
When we turn from legend to history we find the earliest
reference to the locality in Ptolemy's citation of the Tamar
river. There is no allusion to Plymouth or its site before the
Norman Conquest, though the Saxon monastery of Plympton
is mentioned in a deed circa 904. By this Eadward of Wessex
(Eadward the Elder, son of iElfred the Great) granted to
Asser, Bishop of Sherborne, and the convent at that place,
three properties: Wellington (Somerset), consisting of six
manors ; Buckland (West), and Lidiard (Bishops), consisting
together of twelve manors — by way of exchange for the

6 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
monastery, 'which in the Saxon tongue is called Plymentun'
(Plympton), to be held on either side by the grantee ana nis
successors in perpetuity. Prehistoric Times.
But we are not dependent upon record to show that from
very remote antiquity the shores of Plymouth Sound nave
been the seat of human occupation ; and that long betore
Plymouth itself was founded there were settlements of
importance in the neighbourhood. The discovery in 1887,
of remains of human beings in a cave at Cattedown, in
association with the bones of rhinoceros, lion, hyena, and
other extinct British mammalia with ashes of their fires,

Flint Nodulk, OATTEDOvra Cave.

and a rudely-chipped flint nodule, carries back the residence
of man on the site of Plymouth itself to palaeolithic times.6
Mr. F. Brent, f.s.a., has found on Staddon and Maker
Heights 'many specimens of flint, consisting of almost all
the varieties of the smaller implements, with a number of
unwrought pebbles, and many fragments or pieces.'7 Flakes
and cores have been -yielded by the Hoe, with a beautifully-
shaped arrow head, discovered by Mr. Brent. A large and
6 Trans. Plyin. Inst. x. 10-38. 7 Trans. Dev. Assoc, xvii. 72.

PREHISTORIC TIMES.

finely-polished chert axe, now in the Museum of the
Plymouth Institution, was unearthed at Houndiscombe in
1887. The head of a deer-horn pick was found in the mud
in excavating for the Key ham Docks.8

Deeb-hobn Pick, Keyham.

Belonging to the Stone Age also, but now associated with
relics of later date, are the remains of a very extensive
kitchen midden on the isthmus at Mount Batten. Marine
shells, chiefly of the littoral type, are the most prominent
feature — the limpet and periwinkle predominating. But
there is evidence of a wider range of diet in the presence of
bones of fish, long-fronted ox, deer, pig, and dog. Fragments
of rude pottery, and portions of funeral urns, have likewise
been found.
More direct illustrations of early interment have been
yielded by Plymouth itself. Mr. Henry Woollcombe recorded
the discovery in 1815, near the old turnpike gate between
Stonehouse and Plymouth, which stood at the corner of
Phoenix Street, of a kistvaen. It was of an early type —
six slabs of stone forming a chamber three feet six inches
long, two feet two inches wide, and two feet three inches
deep ; and it contained some fragments of bones, and a rude
urn of baked clay holding a quantity of ashes.
Mr. F. Brent in 18819 described a kistvaen containing an
urn, found beneath an old house in Stillman Street. The
kist was very peculiar — eighteen inches deep, two feet wide,
and three feet long, excavated in the rock, lined with slabs
of dunstone, and roofed gable fashion with two other stones,
the ends being closed in. The urn was of black ware, finer
8 Trans. Bev. Assoc, xvii. 73. * Trans. Bev. Assoc, xiii. 99.

8 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
than ordinary British, and contained ashes. Shells were
scattered through the adjacent soil— mostly oyster, peri
winkle, cockle, and mussel.

Stillman Street Kistvaen.

Stadio Duentia.
Eelics of the Bronze Age are so numerous and important
as to indicate the presence of a comparatively large and
active population, eventually attaining the highest stage of
British pre-Boman civilisation.
In 1868 a hoard of bronze weapons — sixteen celts, a
chisel, three daggers, and a spear head — was discovered
near Pomphlett.
In 1884 three implements of similar character — two
palstaves and a socketed celt — were found at Torr Lane,
Weston Peverel, on the line of the ancient British road to
the passage of the Tamar at Saltash.
But the focal remains of the Bronze Age to which chief
importance attaches were disinterred on the eastern shores
of Plymouth Sound, in the angle next the Cattewater. In
March, 1832, a quarryman found in a crevice of the rock
at Mount Batten, five gold and eight silver coins, which
Col. Hamilton Smith, F.R.S., pronounced to be British of
the earliest type. Since then similar coins have been found
near the same spot ; and the date may be regarded as fixed
by Mr. J. Evans, f.r.s., who has conclusively shown that
there was a British coinage at least 150 years B.C. Some of

STADIO DUENTIA.

these coins were placed in the Museum of the Plymouth
Institution, but long since passed into private hands.

No feature however in the early archaeology of Plymouth
has such interest as the Bronze Age Cemetery, opened in
1864, between Fort Stamford and Mount* Batten, and
investigated and described by Mr. C. Spence Bate, F.R.S.1
Here, on the slope facing Cattewater, a number of graves
were found, which con
tained numerous articles
in bronze, earthenware,
glass, a few of iron; and
particularly a couple of
bronze mirrors. These,
with other matters
thence, are now in the
Museum of the Ply
mouth Institution ; and
in character and orna
ment are all but unique.
In most localities
such remains,continuing
from the Bronze into the
Iron Age, would suggest
a post-Boman origin.
The earlier culture of
the West of England
renders that conclusion
here unnecessary. Some
what similar graves MlKK0B- s"*™">-
were found in 1833 at Trelan, St. Keverne, one of which
contained a bronze mirror of kindred type; and all the
characters are Keltic, not Eoman. These relics are really
the latest and most perfect developments of the vanishing
Age of Bronze. Instead of being Eomano-British, they
are the final types of an older pre-Boman civilization—
though not necessarily of supreme antiquity, nor free from
foreign influence. 1 Archoeologia, xl. 500-10.

10 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
The existence of a great cemetery is conclusive proof of
the presence or contiguity of a large population ; and "these
graves were naturally thought to afford a clue to the site
of Ptolemy's Tamara. The solution of the problem was nearer
at hand. The Stadio Duentia of the Anonymous Choro-
grapher of Bavenna, twelfth on his list of British civitates
et castra, is simply an inflected form of Staddon {i.e. Stad-io
Duen-tia,). The ancient community must have survived in
some form until after the Saxon occupation, though lost
so long that, but for opening up the Cemetery, this identi
fication, in the absence of material relics of tne Eavennat's
city, would have seemed idle.
The Roman Period.
History is silent on the presence of the Eomans in the
chief harbour of the West. Not many years since there
was no more evidence for their visits, than for the hypothesis
of Phoenician trade in the waters of the Tamar and the
Plym. Mr. J. C. Bellamy, indeed, recorded that the remains
of a Eoman galley had been found in excavating in
Newnham Park2 but with no proof of identification (another
account— more reasonably — calls the vessel a canoe); and
it was commonly believed that the Eomans had something
to do with the old Ridge Eoad, whence Eidgeway takes its
name — that ancient British track of which Mr. E. J. King
wrote : —
The Ridge Road ran from Totnes to the Tamar, and so onward
into Cornwall. It was for many centuries the main line of road
eastward from Plymouth, and in how many stirring events and
'passages' must it not have borne its part. Roman spears and
helmets have glittered there in the sun. Pierce Saxons and
fiercer Danes; the destrier of the Norman knight, and the
Benedictine abbot's ambling mule, alike have passed along it.
There rode the captive King of France with the Black Prince at
his side when after Poictiers he landed at Plymouth, and
proceeded thence to London, feasted by all the great towns in his
way. There the Princess Katharine of Arragon looked for the
first time on English fields and orchards as she passed onward to
meet her chequered destiny. There King Charles has ridden both
triumphant and despairing, and there fled 'the most worne and
weak pitiful creature in the world,' the poor Queen Henrietta,
after the troops of Essex had all but prevented her escape from
Exeter. The spurs of Fairfax and his bands, the plumes of
2 Nat. Hist. South Devon, 116.

THE ROMAN PERIOD. 11
Hopton and his Cavaliers, alike have jingled and fluttered there.
What hopes and what fears — what changes and chances — has not
that forgotten road-line witnessed. The cloud shadows that
sweep along it, or the lights stealing through the boughs that
overhang it, are scarcely more varied or more countless.3
Until 1888 — setting aside this more than doubtful galley
— the only distinct traces of the Eomans in the neighbour
hood, were the casual occurrence - of a few coins ; and of
some fragments of pottery, found while the Stamford
Cemetery was explored, and identified as Eoman by Mr. A.
W. Franks, F.R.S. The coins had been mainly found adjacent
to the ancient shore line ; they sufficed to shew presence and
intercourse, but in themselves could not fairly be held to
indicate occupation.
They included examples (single unless others are specified)
of Alexander Severus, found at Mount Batten and
Cattedown ; Antoninus Pius, Mount Batten and Cattedown ;
•Cams, Milibay; Constantine, Mannamead, Prospect Street,
Prince Eock ; Constans, Mount Batten ; Domitian, Mount
Batten, Battery Hill ; Faustina, Hoe ; Hadrian (two)
Cattedown ; Magnentius, Milibay ; Nero, Mount Batten,
Prospect Street; Probus, Devonport Park; Trajan Decius,
Mount Batten ; Vespasian, Mount Batten ; Victorinus,
Staddon; three undetermined, Prospect Street; two ditto,
Plympton ; several, no particulars, Milibay and Prince Eock,
and some at Torr. A silver denarius of Hadrian is also said
to have been found in George Street.
In April, 1888, however, a Eoman bronze was dug up in a
garden at Hooe, Plymstock — a figure of Mercury — god of
merchandise and patron of merchants. It is two and one-
eighth inches in height, and one and a quarter inches in
extreme breadth over the extensions of the hands; and
the thickest part of the body just a quarter of an inch.
Light for its size, it weighs precisely two- thirds of an ounce.
The right foot has been long lost, but with that exception
it is perfect. The modelling is somewhat rude, yet, so far
as the attitude goes, vigorous, and not without merit. The
left arm slopes outwards and downwards, the hand holding
the emblematic purse. The right arm is extended outwards
and upwards, with the hand raised, and the fingers as in
benediction. The left wing on the cap is much larger than the right.
3 Bartmoor and its Borders, x. xi. But the references to King John of
France and Queen Henrietta are not historical.

12

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

The right leg is straight, the left bent as m motion, and
the feet-wings are fixed on the outer sides of the calves
immediately above the ankles. The figure is for the most
part, thickly patinated. Some of the mould-marks are
visible, but it appears to have been carefully trimmed after
it was cast. There is full reason to believe that this figure
was one of the gods of a Eoman merchant ; and the little
landlocked harbour of Hooe at once suggests itself as
admirably adapted for a trading post.

R.rt.w
Figure of Mercury, Hooe.

In 1888, also, there came to light, through the energy and
investigations of Mr. Stenteford of Hooe, certain facts
attending the destruction in 1882 of an ancient burial-place
in Newport Street, Stonehouse. While excavating for the
erection of four cottages, there was found on the southern
shore of Stonehouse Creek, between the ancient limestone
cliff and the water, less than six feet above high-tide level,
essentially on the beach, an area brokenly paved with pebbles
(at least fifty feet square), with a pavement of slate slabs
bounding it on the north. In one corner of this area was a
group of little tombs of brick and stone, arranged in rows.
Upon this pebble pavement, and covering these tombs, there
lay, under ordinary made ground, a heap of ashes containing
an enormous quantity of infra-human bones, and the usual
broken pottery and other constituents of a later refuse
heap, some of the contents of which dated themselves the
early part of the seventeenth century.

THE ROMAN PERIOD.

13

The tombs were built of thin tile bricks, and covered with
slate slabs. They averaged four feet to four feet six inches
in length ; two to two and a half feet in height ; were two
and a half feet in width; and ran lengthwise north and
south. Fourteen or fifteen in all were found, grouped in one
corner of the area, after the following plan :

Plan of Burial-place, Stonehouse.

A section of the ground excavated, which had long been
used as a garden, gave these details.

Slate.

Section of Burial-place, Stonehouse.

14 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
The fact that the tombs ran north and south is not
unusual in Eoman interments, while wholly at variance with
Christian practice. Another important point is that they
were mere kistvaens, not big enough for interment by
ordinary inhumation ; and showing in their construction an
approach to Eoman characteristics. The evidence is thus
against Christian interment; while the- structural detail
of the tombs forbids an earlier date than that of Eoman
intercourse. In the unavoidable absence of personal
investigation, it would be unwise to give positive judgment ;
but there is nothing to militate against the possibility of
having here the remains of a late Roman ustrinum. These
ustrinae were simply places where bodies were burnt and
interred. They were not large, averaging about 300 feet in
compass, and the Stonehouse area certainly exceeded 200.
If this were a Eoman burial-place, it gives the first distinct
evidence of Roman residence in the Three Towns' area, and
supplies a clue to the very remarkable distinctive name of
Stonehouse, the occurrence of which, so early as Domesday,
shows that the spot must have had an edifice far in advance
of neighbouring manors. The remains of a Roman dwelling
would supply an adequate interpretation.4
Saxon Settlement.
Plymouth does not find place in any contemporary Saxon
record ; and beyond the Plympton deed already cited, there
is no definite Saxon reference to the locality. We have
indeed an incidental proof of the insignificance of any
settlement that may have then existed, in the statement of
the Saxon Chronicle, that in 997 the Danes sailed up the
Tamar, assailing Lydford, and burning the minster at
Tavistock. Had there been opportunity for special ravage
on the way it would hardly fail to have been recorded. The
only associated historical fact of the Saxon period is the
defeat of the Danes in 851 at Wicganbeorge. If we
identify this place with Wembury, the ' Viking's earthwork '
seems fairly acceptable as a rendering of the name in
its original form, and thus affords additional witness to
the event. But Okenbury and Wickaborough are also
claimants. Where information is so scanty we gladly welcome light
from any quarter, however faint the rays; and somewhat
may be gleaned from the evidence afforded in place-names,
4 See further the chapter on ' The Town.'

SAXON SETTLEMENT. 15
and surviving customs, of the conditions of the earlier
Saxon settlements.
The names of all the rivers in the district, and of many
of the smaller streams, are Keltic: and the fact that they
have been handed down proves lengthened intercourse
between Kelt and Saxon, and continued intercourse from
Keltic times. But the names of local manors (and manors
were at first merely the homesteads or clearings of the
individual or the family) are nearly all Saxon. Either,
then, the population in Keltic times was very small, the
country comparatively unsettled, or most of the Keltic sites
must have been abandoned and their names and memory
lost. The latter hypothesis cannot be accepted to the
extent required to explain the disappearance of so many
traces of a numerous Keltic race.
We conclude therefore that it was not until Saxon times
the locality commenced, to assume a fully settled aspect ;
and that the majority of the tuns, hams, leys, stocks, and
worthys are of direct Saxon origin and date. Making the
fullest allowance for the substitution of new names for old,
the district, at the Norman Conquest, must thus have been
far more populous than in Keltic days. And a fact to be
specially borne in mind is the great preponderance of names
of a peaceful class — the simple enclosure of the 'tun'
largely predominates, and the more defensible 'stocks' are
few and far between. Probably the ' stocks ' represent the
earlier settlements, when the need of defence was greater,
and thus afford some clue to the sites where the Saxon first
planted himself. The distribution of the places so named
somewhat favours this idea ; and it may be that Plymstock
became the Saxon continuant of the ancient and important
pre-historic, thence Keltic, settlement on the eastern shores
of the Sound.
No corner of Devon yields so many distinct general Saxon
place-names; and the traces of Norse influence if few are
unmistakeable, as in the familiar ness, and the less frequent
hangr ( = ' mound.') All points to a wide immigration from
many sources.
Vestiges of the old Teutonic tenure of the ' mark ' favour
also the inference that this South- West Devon was the scene
of active Saxon colonization from the sea, long before the
county passed into Saxon hands. These vestiges were first
noted in the examination of a number of deeds belonging to
the Plymouth Corporation. References were found to fields
'lying in landscore' and to 'landscore land,' and further

16 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
enquiry shewed that these landscores were portions of
undivided fields. Some such properties retained a mixed
and complicated ownership to very recent days.5
There is thus evidence of the occupation by man of
the shores of Plymouth Sound, so far back as the days of
the cave-dwellers; and fair presumptive proof that this
occupation has been continuous to the present day.
5 One of the most interesting references is in a lease of 1604, by which
George Whyte grants Nicholas Dymond 'all those his parts p'plies &
porcons (to weete) the third pte of one peice or pcell of land . . . scituate
& lyinge in Lanscowre wthin a close there called the Thissell pke on
the westr syde . . ' . And also fyve pte of some other third pte of the
same peice or pcell of Lanscowre land.' What was known in Plymouth
by the name of landscore was a strip of unenclosed land ; and a tenement
which lay in landscore consisted of a series of these unenclosed scores or
shares. Such tenements are traceable in every quarter of the borough.
One which was enclosed in the latter part of the seventeenth century
went by the name of 'Roper's piece.' Of a landscore by the Laira the
dimensions are given. It consisted of 136 yards of land at 36 feet the
yard.

CHAPTER II.
DOMESDAY: THE SVTTONS.
The King sent his men over all England into every shire, and caused to
be ascertained, what or how much each man had who was a holder of land
in England, in land or in cattle, and how much money it might be worth.
So very narrowly he caused it to be traced out, that there was not one
single hide, nor one yard of land, nor even — it is shame to tell, though
it seemed to him no shame to do — an ox, nor a cow, nor a swine was left
- that was not set down in his writ. — Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
TJie Domesday Record.
IN opening Domesday Book we for the first time feel, in
relation to Plymouth, that we tread upon firm historical
ground. There is, indeed, a statement by Eisdon,1 that, in
the life of St. Indractus, Plymouth is named Tamarworth;
but this rests upon no sound authority, and in any event has
little significance. Tamarworth may fairly be interpreted
the 'island of the Tamar' — island being one of the usual
renderings of many-meaninged ' worth ' ; and in such a case
would by no means imply the existence of a town of that
name. Moreover, had there been such a settlement, how
can we account for its total disappearance at the Norman
Conquest ?
Plymouth appears in Domesday under the name of
Svdtone = Sutton ; belonging to the Conqueror in succession
to the Confessor; and appendant with Macretone (Maker),
and Tanbretone (Kings Tamerton) to the manor of
Walchentone (Walkhampton), the original head of the
hundred long known as Eoborough. 2
The translation of the Exchequer entry runs : —
The king holds Svdtone. In the iime of king Edward it
paid geld for one virgate of land. There is land for six ploughs.
In demesne is half a plough with one serf, and there are four
1 Chorographical Bescription of Bevon, 201.
2 The other Svtone given in the Bevon Bomesday, has nothing to do
with Plymouth. C

18 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
villeins and two hordars, with five ploughs. There are two acres
of meadow and twenty acres of pasture. It renders twenty
shillings by weight.
The Exeter Book supplies the additional facts that the
king had half a virgate and half a plough in demesne;
the villeins half a virgate with their five ploughs ; and that
there were fifteen sheep.
Since the area here given is 742 acres only, it is clear that
Svdtone did not comprise the whole of modern Plymouth —
even when every allowance is made for land reclaimed from
the sea on the borders of Sutton Pool, and in the inner
reach of Milibay, long known as Surpool, which extended
along the Plymouth section of Union Street eastwards, and
to the rising ground beyond King Street northwards. The
remainder of the municipal area must be sought chiefly in the
two manors of Lisistone (Lipson) and Leuricestone. Lisistone
had belonged to Godwin, but had passed to the Count of
Mortain, half-brother of the Conqueror, and was held under
him by the most important Norman ' tenant ' in the district,
Eeginald of Valletort. It had gelded for half a hide, but
contained three plough lands, one virgate of pasture, an acre
of meadow, and six acres of coppice. The enumerated
population was one serf, three villeins, and four bordars, who
had one plough team. The live stock totalled five head of
cattle, twenty-eight sheep, and thirty goats ; and the value
had fallen from twenty shillings a year to ten shillings.
Leuricestone had belonged to Saulf, but had passed to the
great Norman baron, Judhel or Joel of Totnes. It had
gelded for one virgate, consisted of two plough lands, with
three acres of meadow and eight acres of wood; had an
enumerated population of one serf and two villeins ; no live
stock beyond two plough teams ; and remained of the same
value in 1086 as in 1066 — ten shillings a year.
If we add the 487 acres of Lisistone and the 251 of
Leuricestone to the 742 of Sutton, the total of 1480 comes
very near to the 1394 acres of the municipal borough. It
may be suggested that as there are two Lipsons — Higher and
Lower — Leuricestone has merged in the one and Lisistone in
the other; but part of Lipson is not within the corporate
limits ; nor is part of the ancient Sutton. And in any case
Sutton alone is not of sufficient area for the modern town.
The Domesday manors bordering Plymouth were Stone
house (Stanehvs) on the west, which had passed from
Alwyn the Saxon to Eobert the Bastard; Stoches on the

THE DOMESDAY RECORD. 19
north, which still retains in its distinctive suffix as Stoke
Damerel, the name of its Norman lord, Eobert of Albemarle,
who had succeeded the Saxon Brismar ; the two little manors
of Modlei (Mutley) on the north-east, held by Judhel in
succession to the Saxons Godwin and Alwyn; Contone
(Compton Gifford) on the east, which had passed from Osulf
to Judhel; and finally on the south-east a corner of
Bocheland, another possession of Judhel, which still
preserves in its distinctive prefix, as Egg Buckland, the
memory of its dispossessed Saxon owner, Heche.
We can fix the position of Sutton with some precision.
The southern boundary was the Sound, the northern the
inlet now known as Stonehouse Creek and Deadlake ; but of
old time in its upper waters, from Pennycomequick down
wards, as Stoke Damarel Fleet. West and east the line is
not so clear. There are fair grounds for believing that the
Stonehouse of Domesday did not comprise the portion of the
township north of the line of High Street; and that the
bulk of the land now occupied by the Royal Naval Hospital
formed part of the old manor of Sutton. The Charter of
Incorporation expressly excludes a parcel of the hamlet of
Sutton Vawter or Valletort ; and there are deeds in existence
which mention 'The Vawters' as being in the neighbour
hood of what is now Noplace.
On the east the bounds are yet more uncertain. Sutton
extended to Sutton Pool ; but there is nothing to shew that
it went beyond. The position of Lisistone is fairly indicated
by the modern Lipson ; but Leuricestone is lost to our
nomenclature. There is just this suggestion to be made. It
may have included the Cattedown district. The first syllable
unquestionably gives us the Bar of Lary (now Laira) and
the remainder hints the old name of Cattedown; namely,
Hingstone.3 And there was a distinct manor between the modern
Lipson and Sutton so late as the middle of the seventeenth
century, associated with Lipson, and in its name of Lulyetts
Fee quaintly if faintly recalling the long-lost Leuricestone.
Among the muniments of the Plymouth Corporation is a
book recording the courts leet and courts baron of John
Giffard and Alice Giffard, his widow, for the manor of
3 Cattewater in the Act-Charter is 'the Catte [cp. Cattegat] to Hingstone1;
and in a sixteenth-century map the southernmost angle of Cattedown is
Hingston Point, a name continuing into the seventeenth century. Hingstone,
as elsewhere, possibly indicates the former existence of a hanging stone or
cromlech. (Cp. Stonehenge.)

20 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
' Uletts ffee als Lulytts Sparke als Luletts See,' with a parcell
of the manor of Lypston or Lipson. The first court recorded
was held 16th July, 1st James I. (1603), and the last 13th
Charles I. (1638). Uletts Fee certainly reached from
Bilbury Street to North Hill, and so far east by Briton
Side as the Whitefriars. The Headlands, otherwise described
as a close by the Maudlyn, was part of the manor; so
was Hampton Shute or close ('als Gilwell parke'), on part
of which Charles Church stands; and so was a certain
unnamed close in the occupation of Thomazine Gibbons
(Gibbons Fields), and which, as the rent paid to the lord
averaged 3s. 6d. an acre, may be taken as about four acres
in extent. Probably the manor had been to a certain' extent
dismembered; for besides Bilbury Street and East Cross
Street there is mention of a tenement in Looe Street.
Moreover the list of free tenants in 1603 reaches a total
of thirty-six, all but three of whom are entered as heirs
of former tenants, while in subsequent years they do not
muster a fourth of that number. In the same year there
are recorded six conventionary and customary tenants for
Uletts Fee, and six conventionary tenants for Lipson.
Domesday thus gives no colour to the idea that Plymouth
existed as a town, in the modern sense, before the Conquest.
The total enumerated population of the three manors is
but eighteen. It also disposes of the pretence accepted by
Leland in his statement — 'The church and much of the
ground whereon Sutton now caullid Plimmouth was builded
was longing to one of the Prebendes titulo S. Petri and
Pauli of Plympton, a collegiate chirch, alias Capella libera
dni. Regis, before the Conquest.'*
Domesday is utterly silent touching any such holding of
the Saxon college. Leland does not quote his authority;
but we may fairly assign it to the Priory. Monkish legends,
however, are not always to be trusted ; and monkish forgeries
of title deeds are not unknown.
Nor can we turn to Domesday for confirmation of the
finding of a jury empanelled by the Sheriff of Devon in
1318, who declared, as we shall see more at length hereafter,
that before the foundation of the town of Sutton there
was a place within its limits where the King's Courts were
held and tolls levied on fish offered for sale. This must
have been subsequent to the Great Survey ; unless the germ
of the story is the existence of the ordinary manorial
courts. 4 Itinerary, iii. 43.

THE VALLETORTS. 21
It would greatly help the elucidation of the earlier
history of Plymouth, if we could account for the name
Sutton = ' South town.' What more important place lay
immediately to the northward? Many suggestions have
been made— the legendary Tamarworth, the mythical Tamara,
among the number. The most feasible hypothesis assigns
the reference to Stoke, shown by its name to have been a
defenced ' strength,' and possessing at the time of the Survey
the unusually large enumerated population of twenty-five
— the virtual head of the immediate district. The occurrence
of the allied relative name Weston, at Weston Peveril,
strengthens this view. The Valletorts.
The Valletorts were the first to stimulate the fortunes of
Plymouth. Henry I. gave the manor of Sutton, with those
of Maker and Kings Tamerton, to Beginald of Valletort ; and
either Eeginald or his successors made it a place of residence.
This is set forth in a grant by Ealph of Valletort, who
mentions a way to Surpole by the corner of his garden of
Sutton, ' anglo gardini mei de Suthtona.' The actual site is
indicated in a couple of deeds among the muniments of the
Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, dated 1370 and 1373. In the
first of these James Vautort, lord of Sutton, releases in fee
to Stephen Durnford, ' Vautordispark atte Pole,'6 at the west
part of Churcherhull, the way from Sutton to Stonhous lying
north, the meadow of William Cole south, and the land of
Thomas Cok called Bomisbery west. By the second deed
John Vyncent and John Holcomb grant the same land to
Stephen and his wife Cecilia, the boundaries being the same,
with the important addition that the highway to Soure-
polemylle lay to the east. This enables us to fix the site
with absolute precision. Churcherhull is Church Hill— the
hill on which stands St. Andrew Church. The highway to
Stonehouse ran fairly along the line of what is now Bedford
Street, Frankfort Street, King Street (a little north to avoid
the edge of Surpool) to Fore Street, Stonehouse, where it
turned sharply south to the ferry at Cremill (now Devil's)
Point — then, as long after, the chief thoroughfare from this
part into Cornwall. Bomisbery indicates the existence of
an old earthwork, probably near the end of the Western Hoe ;
William Cole's meadow lay on the northern slope of the Hoe
adjacent. The highway to Sourepolemylle — Milibay — is
5 The variations in the spelling of proper names follow the documents
cited.

22 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
either that mentioned in various old deeds as running from
Sutton Pool thither, or a branch thereto from the Old
Town. The garden and park of the Valletorts thus lay in
the angle of the two roads; and the residence would be
nearly adjacent to the church.
Here, by the side of the mansion of its Valletort lords,
the germ of ancient Plymouth, for centuries distinctively
known as Old Town, was planted and grew. The day came
when Sutton Prior beat it in the race ; but the village of the
Valletorts was the real beginning of Plymouth town; and
its superior antiquity was visible at Leland's visit, when he
found it ' sore decayed.' ' Old Town ' has been fussily
modernised into ' Old Town Street ' ; but the memory of the
original site is happily preserved.
In process of time the original Sutton gave place to three
— Sutton Valletort, Vaward, or Vautier ; Sutton Prior ; and
Sutton Eaf or Ealf. Sutton Vautier lay on the north ;
Sutton Prior on the south, forming the ' middle and heart ' of
the growing town ; Sutton Eaf, later given as Eadcliff, on the
east. Sutton Vautier was the original from which Sutton
Prior, and probably Sutton Eaf, had been severed, though the
evidence on the latter head is not so clear as could be wished.
Sutton Prior became a distinct manor by the grants of the
Valletorts to the Priory of Plympton. The severance of
Sutton Ealf must have been a matter of family arrangement.
It is significant of the varying development of the three
that in 1440 we find them described as the town of Sutton
Prior, the hamlet of Sutton Vawtier, and the tithing of
Sutton Raf.
The grant of Sutton to the Valletorts was made within
fifty years of the compilation of Domesday, since Henry I.
died in 1135. Reginald of Valletort in 1086 had his chief
manor at Trematon, whence he exercised rights over the
waters of the Tamar ; and among his estates was the Cornish
Macreton, or Maker, which, with Trematon and many
others, he held under the Count of Mortain. He had a son
called Roger, who was father to a second Reginald, and a
second Roger was living in 1195. Whether the grant of
Sutton was made to the son or the grandson of the first
Reginald is uncertain; for both Roger and Reginald are
given as the name of the grantee. But other family
interests had been created in Sutton by the middle of the
twelfth century. In a deed, circa 1150, we find Philip of
Valletort holding lands here, and the names of the first
Plymouthians on record are given as witnesses — Eoger de

THE VALLETORTS. 23
Fletehenda, Gilbert cycharista, William pistore, John
Boscher, Eeginald de veifer.
The earliest grant to Plympton Priory now traceable was
by Eeginald of Valletort, of all his fishing rights, whether
in Tamar or in Lynher, with the waters belonging thereto —
' concurrentibus tractibus' — save and except the pool 'sub
aula de halton.' The copy of this grant in the Black Book
of the Corporation of Plymouth is undated ; 6 but it was
probably made not long after the manor passed into the
hands of the Valletort family.
Still greater benevolence was shown by Ralph of Valletort,
son and heir of Reginald, who granted to God and the
church of St. Peter and St. Paul of Plympton and the
canons there, in perpetual alms for the welfare of his soul
and the souls of his ancestors and successors, a convenient
place next Surepole, with right to erect a mill and mill dam,
and all the mill toll of his manor of Sutton, with a suitable
way thereto — that was to say, by the corner of his garden
of Sutton, as anciently they were accustomed to go to the
fishery of the canons at Surepole {'piscarium canonicorum
de Surepola ').
It is important to notice that by this grant the Priory
received distinct manorial rights", in connection with the
mills at Milibay (whence that inlet took its modern name,
Surpool being reserved for its inner reach) which thereafter
were appendant to the manor of Sutton Prior. The
reference to the length of time during which the canons had
held their fishery would appear to place the grant of
Reginald early in his ownership; for although there is an
undated grant by John or Joel of Stanhust (Stonehouse) to
the canons of free fishery 'per totam terram meam,' Surpool,
as an inlet from Milibay, has always been treated as part of
the Duchy rights under the honour of Trematon which the
Valletorts held. John or Joel of Stanhust, who may have
been a grandson of the Reginald of Domesday, in granting
the canons free fishery throughout his lands, attached a
condition about the division of the fish: ' qd si Batilli
nostri pprij cediuvire sibi obtenuerunt in piscando in terra
meo per equalis porcus captura piscum inter nos dividati.'
One other Valletort grant to the Priory is recorded — that by
Walter of Valletort of the island of St. Nicholas (cum
cuniculus) with the rabbits thereon.7
6 All the Valletort grants here cited are set forth in the Black Book of the
Corporation. 7 An ancient error in copying this record made it read ' cum camculus.

24 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Possibly there were others, but the final result was this
—that while in the reign of Henry I. the entire manor of
Sutton belonged to the Valletorts, in the reign of Edward I.
(1281) the 'ville of Sutton' was held by the Prior, who
claimed to have held it in the preceding reign. We shall
see in the chapter on Municipal Government that the manor
of Sutton Prior passed to the Corporation.
The descent of Sutton Vautier and of Sutton Raf is
undefined. The history of the Valletorts has yet to be
written; but Browne Willis was wrong in asserting that
the Valletort estates escheated to the Crown on the death
of Boger of Valletort in 1290 ; and there is no definite
corroboration of the tradition preserved by Leland, that
the greater part of their lands had been confiscated 'for a
rnurther done by one of them.'
From the Inquisitions Post Mortem, and from the
muniments of the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, enough can be
gathered to show that the family continued to the reign of
Henry VIII. ; dealing with property at Sutton long after their
assumed extinction. Eichard Vautort is mentioned as lord
of Maker, one of the manors granted to his ancestor with
Sutton, so late as 1426 ; and John Vautort leases lands in
South Millbrook in 1433.
The Nomina Villarum of 1314 mentions only the ' Burgus
de Sutton' as belonging to the Prior, and 'Sutton Eauff'
as the property of John de Dalecurta ( = Valletort). Sutton
Vautier is not named. Only three years later we find the
Prior claiming to be lord of two parts of Sutton, and two
Valletorts, both named John, of Clyst and of Modeton
(Moditonham) respectively, acting as joint-lords of the other
third. It is a fair assumption, therefore, that Sutton Vautier had
then ceased to be Valletort property. There is no suggestion
beyond the statement that the Prior held two-thirds of the
town that it belonged to the Priory ; but had it done so, and
continued an ecclesiastical possession, it must have gone with
Sutton Prior to the Corporation at the Incorporation of
1439-40. There is better reason to believe that it had passed
to the Courtenays,8 in the fact that Baldwin of the Isle, the
last Bedvers Eari of Devon, obtained a market grant for
Sutton in 1257 (42 Henry III.) with certain manorial
powers; and that Courtenay rights were saved under the
charter of Henry VI.
After this uncertain interval we find Sutton Vautier in the
8 Leland's statement may suggest the explanation why.

THE VALLETORTS. 25
Nereys family; while about the middle of the fourteenth
century it was sold to William Cole. On his death it
remained for some years in the hands of feoffees; the
Specotts subsequently becoming the owners. In the thirty-
fourth year of Henry VIII. Sir Hugh Pollard sold it to
William Hawkins, father of the celebrated Admiral, for
1,000 marks.
In 1637 it was purchased by the Corporation of John
Hawkins, his descendant, as is shown by the following entry
in the Beceivers' Accounts :
Itm for a prsent given Mr. Risdon to pcure out of his
hands such writinges as concerned Vauter's Fee, lately
bought by the Towne of Mr John Hawkyns, and a
' man and two horses two Journyes to fetch the sayd
writeinges . . . . . vu iiijB
When and why the Corporation parted with the manor
there is no trace ; but it is said that in the reign of James II.
it had become the property of Edward Spoure, of whom it
was purchased by Thomas Bewes. It has remained in the
Bewes family ever since. As a manor it has long been
extinct, and of late years most of the land has been sold in
lots for building purposes.
Sutton Eaf yields somewhat better history. The
distinctive title is the name of the first Valletort lord under
whom it came into separate existence; and it appears to
have been included among the properties transferred by
James Vautort, lord of Sutton, to Stephen Durnford, circa
1370. As the manor of Eadclyffe it came with the heiress
of the Durnfords to the Edgcumbes, in the reign of Henry
VII. The position is practically shown by the mention of
Little Saltram as one of the tenements. Down to within the
present century the reputed manor of Sutton Pill ( = Pool),
including portions, if not the whole of Cattedown, appeared
in part to continue the succession. No manorial rights have
now been exercised in Plymouth, however, for many years,
beyond those of the Duchy of Cornwall in foreshore and
fundus ; and those of the Corporation in the market.

CHAPTEE III.
RISING FAME AND FORTUNES.
Some achieve greatness. — Shakspere.
THE general history of Plymouth may be divided into
three sections : {a) Prehistoric and Legendary, extending
down to the compilation of Domesday ; (6) Uncertain and
Fragmentary, dating from Domesday down to the incorpora
tion of the existing borough by Act of Parliament in 1439 ;
and (c) Consecutive, from 1439 onward to the present time.
Of the second section, which covers 350 years, we know less
than of the history of any town in England of equal
importance, over so long a period. There is but one single
contemporary document among the Corporation archives
within its range, though there are copies of others, and must
once have been many. Probably the bulk perished when
the ' towne's evydence ' was destroyed by fire in the assault
of the Western Eebels in 1548. And yet during these three
centuries and a half Plymouth grew from a mere fishing
hamlet to a port so famous that it took a principal part in
the wars of the Edwards against France ; that it was the
rendezvous of a fleet of 325 ships in 1287 ; that it stood
third on the list of contributories to the Calais fleet in 1346 ;
and that in 1377 the poll tax returns assign it a taxable
inhabitancy of 4,837, and thus give it the rank of the fourth
town in the kingdom — London, York, and Bristol, alone
taking precedence.1 The Priory of Plympton.
The old couplet applied with variations to so many places
in the kingdom, and locally running :
Plympton was a borough town
"When Plymouth was a vuzzy down,
1 The chief authorities for this chapter are State Papers in the Record
Office, and the Municipal Archives.

THE PRIORY OF PLYMPTON. 27
is true so far as the relative antiquity of the two places
is concerned, although Plymouth had ceased to be a ' vuzzy
down' when Plympton was chartered by Baldwin of
Eedvers in 1241. Plympton at the time of the Conquest
had long been the head of the district; although we have
no mention of it, any more than of Sutton, in the record of
the defeat of the Danes at Wembury.
The importance of Plympton in early days centered in the
monastery, which, as we have seen, finds documentary notice
in the opening years of the tenth century. We have no
certain knowledge of its origin, but Domesday speaks of its
members as canons, and notes incidentally in connection
with Eobert Bastard that it was dedicated to St. Peter;
while the Exeter book states that the ecclesiastical land
there belonged to St. Peter of Plintona. There was a very
old tradition that the house was founded by King Eadgar,
and this was regarded as established in an early suit between
the Crown and the later Augustinian Priory. According to
the deed already cited, the community must have been in
existence long before Eadgar's time. It consisted of five
members — a dean and four prebendaries, and no doubt
Plympton was one of the prebends.
Cause has already been shown for discarding Leland's
further assertion, that another of the prebends was that
of Peter and Paul at Sutton.
Whenever begun, the Saxon house came to an end in
1121, being dissolved by Bishop Warelwast (who founded
the college at Boseham, in Sussex, in substitution), and re
placed by what afterwards became the famous Augustinian
Priory of the Blessed Mary and Saints Peter and Paul.
Leland states that the old house fell because the canons
would not 'leave their concubines'; in other words, would
not give up their wives; but this story smacks of later
origin. Within a very few years of the new foundation, the first
Valletort grant to the Priory was made ; and the connection
began which was to continue some three centuries. The
brethren soon felt their power, for when John of Valletort,
about the middle of the twelfth century, claimed to present
to the benefice of Sutton, the Prior successfully established
his right. This seems to have been their only quarrel
with the Valletorts.
The Priors continued lords of Sutton Prior until the
Act of Parliament Incorporation in 1439, and under their
government the community flourished. The Crown, however,

28 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
questioned their claim to certain privileges and immunities,
and at length, under an Exchequer writ, issued in the
year 1313, a jury was summoned to determine the points
in difference. By their decision the Prior, in consideration
of a fee farm rent, was confirmed in the exercise of various
powers — particularly those of granting leases of houses as
lord of the fee; having a view of frankpledge; an assize
of bread and beer; a ducking-stool and pillory; and the
right of fishery of the waters from the entrance of Catte-
water to the head of the Plym. In the reign of Edward
the Third, John of Eltham, as Earl of Cornwall, claimed
the fishery of the waters as ancient demesne. This claim
occasioned new disputes ; but on the declaration of a special
jury that the privileges enjoyed by the Prior and his tenants
were bestowed by a charter of Henry the Third, the decision
made in the time of Edward the Second was again confirmed.
After the earldom was erected into a duchy, and conferred
upon the Black Prince, there was another inquisition anent
Sutton Pool. The Prior claimed a share successfully; and
although the Pool proper remained until 1890 part of the
Duchy estate, the Corporation, as representatives of the
Priory, are the proprietors of certain quays.
The monks of Plympton appear to have been fully alive to
the value of their property at Sutton, and to have neglected
no opportunity of developing its resources. Leland re
marks : ' Al such as hath by continuance sins the Tyme
of Henry the Second builded houses in Sutton Prior, now
the greatest part of Plymouth, take Licence of the Priorie
of Plympton as of their chief Lord.' From other sources
we learn that by giving privileges, and by granting leases
at small fines, successive Priors did all they could to
encourage people to take up their residence in the growing
town. There was a ferry in the water of Plimmouth, between
Sutton and 'hole' (Hooe) so far back as 1281, worked by
a barge belonging to John Beaupre, the toll being a half
penny for horse or man.
Plymouth under the Edwards.
Sutton, or, as it had already come to be called, Plymouth,
began to make its mark in the history of England six
hundred years ago ; and the capabilities of its magnificent
harbour soon brought it into prominence. The first impor
tant historical fact connected with the town is the assembly

PLYMOUTH UNDER THE EDWARDS. 29
in 1287 of a large fleet of ships — 325 in number, under
the command of the Earl of Lancaster, brother of Edward
I., which sailed for Guienne. A few years later Plymouth
had attained such importance as to be called upon to
send deputies to Parliament. Since, according to Leland,
it was in the reign of Henry II. 'a mene thing as an
Inhabitation of Fischars,' it must therefore have made very
rapid progress.
There are a few traces left of the stages by which the
port became known ; such for example as the brief note
in the Annals of Tewkesbury that in 1230 the body of
Gilbert of Clare, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, who died
at Penhros, in Brittany, was landed at Plummue.
In 1348 the Sheriff of Devon was directed to assemble
thirty bowmen at Plummouth to conduct Johanna, the
King's daughter, to Gascony. This was in February. Forty
ships had been ordered to be pressed for the same purpose
in the previous December, and a further order to press
was made in March. In March, 1354, proclamation was
made that all ships, from London even unto Plimmouth,
were to assemble at the latter port to transport the Prince
of Wales and his followers to Gascony. In July, 1362,
orders were given to gather ships at Plymouth to convey
the Prince of Aquitaine and Wales to support the King's
right in Aquitaine; while in the month of August, Eobert
Monk and others were ordered to repair to Plymouth to
assist in passing over the King's ' beloved son, John, Duke
of Burgundy, to Brittany.'2
How many times Plymouth was attacked by the French
and Bretons is uncertain — the Black Book of the Corporation
says that it was burnt by them three times — in 1377, 1400,
and 1403, but the first recorded descent was in 1339, in
retaliation for the advance of the claims of Edward III.
to the French throne. The French then did very consider
able damage, destroying great part of the town; but were
eventually repulsed by the men of Devon under their Earl.
A few years passed and the gallant seamen of Plymouth
had their revenge. To the siege of Calais in 1346 Plymouth
sent 26 ships, manned by 603 men;3 Millbrook 1, with
12 men; Hooe 2, with 24; and Yealm 2, with 47. In
2 Several writs to the bailiffs and other officials are cited in the chapter
on Early Municipal History.
3 Fowey sent the greatest number of any port in the kingdom, 47, with
770 men. Yarmouth came next ; and Dartmouth next, with 31 ships
and 757 men. London only sent 25 vessels ; Bristol 22 ships and 608
men.

30 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
1350 the French again returned to the charge, after having
burnt Teignmouth, but according to Stow4 found the place
so well defended that they were only able to destroy ' some
farms and fair places ' in the neighbourhood.5
Edward the Black Prince made Plymouth the head-quarters
of his operations against France. He landed in the port in
1348, and honoured the Prior with his presence at dinner.
In 1355 it became the rendezvous of the English fleet.
'Heere [says Carew] the never inough commended black
Prince, attended by the Earles of Warwick, Suffolk, Sarisbury,
and Oxford, the Lord Chandos and others, committed himself
to the sea, with a navy of 300. bottoms for landing and
maintayning his fathers right in France ; and hither after
his glorious battell at Poictiers he returned, with the captiue
French King and his nobles.' Other accounts make the
Prince land at Sandwich. Yet Izaacke6 repeats the story
thus : ' Prince Edward brought over into England John, the
French King, and sundry of his Noblemen, all as Prisoners,
who landed at Plymouth, and from thence came to this
City [Exeter], where they were honourably received, and so
conveyed to London.'
The Black Prince was detained at Plymouth before he set
sail upon this expedition forty days by contrary winds. A
highly interesting document at Mount Edgcumbe, contains a
record of the first acts done by him as Duke of Cornwall.
Many of these are noted to have been done at Plympton
Priory or at Plymouth, during the forty days of detention.
There then existed an officer called the havener, acting for
the Duchy ; and the Duchy rights and dues were by no
means of an unremunerative character. Thus early, therefore,
the commerce of Plymouth was of some importance. A
couple of amusing entries relate to the ferries. One is a
grant to a follower of the Prince of the ferry at Asche
(Saltash), in consideration of his services and his disfigure
ment by the loss of an eye in battle. The other is the
complaint of the master of a foreign trader — a Hamburgher
— that his boat had been taken for the use of the ferry at
Cremill, while the Cremill boat had been taken for Saltash,
whilst the Saltash boat was under repair ; and his grievance
appears to have been, not so much that the boat was taken,
as that he had not received the tolls during its use. The
4 AnnaU.
8 Perhaps this was the occasion when West Stonehouse, a hamlet at Mount
Edgcumbe, was destroyed. Carew says the ruins were to be seen in his time.
6 Antiquities of Exeter, 54.

DESCENTS AND REPRISALS. 31
same document contains the record of a grant by the Prince
to certain ' poor brothers ' at Plymouth.
A subsequent entry by Izaacke records in 1371 : 'Edward
the Black Prince returns sick from France with the Princess
his Lady, and Richard their son (who was afterwards King
of England by the name of Richard the Second), and
arrived at Plymouth.' And this was undoubtedly so.
Plymouth received important privileges from Eichard II.
In 1384 it was named as one of the places at which
passports to depart the realm might be had. In 1389, it
was ordered that with the exception of known merchants
and soldiers, and others going to Ireland, no persons should
without license depart the realm elsewhere than at Dover or
Plymouth. These two ports, moreover, were named as the
only legal places of transit for pilgrims to cross the Channel.
Descents and Reprisals.
In the opening years of the fifteenth century Plymouth
was attacked on sundry occasions by the French and Bretons,
and much damage done. But the accounts are confused
and contradictory. An attempt to fire the town in 1399
is said to have been repulsed, with a loss of 500 men, by
the inhabitants. And then it is stated that in the following
year a French fleet, under James of Bourbon, Count de la
Marche, put into Plymouth on its way to Wales, and
destroyed a considerable portion of the town, but that a
gale wrecked some of his largest ships, while the rest escaped
with difficulty.
This is, however, an inaccurate version of an event set
forth in detail in Wylie's Henry IV. It was in 1403 that
Bourbon came over with his brothers Louis, Count of Ven-
dome, and John, Lord of Clarency. They chased seven
trading vessels, which tried to make Plymouth in vain, and
were abandoned, the crews escaping. ' The people crowded
into the town in wild alarm,' and the Plymouth folk, by
doubling the price of provisions for outsiders, drove them
out again, but did nothing else. The attack was made on
the afternoon of Lammas-day, August 10, when large bodies
of Bretons, under the Sieur du Chastel, Lord of Chateau
Neuf, near St. Malo, landed about a mile from the town,
which they entered at the ' bak haf,' and burned and
plundered at will until ten the next morning. Upwards
of 600 houses were burnt at the spot thence called Briton
Side (now part of Exeter Street), but the castle and the

32 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
higher parts of the town (Old Town) held out ; and many
of Chastel's men were killed or mutilated, while others
were captured.
Eeprisals quickly followed. Sir William Wilford, 'born
nigh Plymouth, a valiant and successful seaman,' with a fleet
drawn from Plymouth, Dartmouth, and Bristol . . . 'took
forty ships on the coast of the Britains, and burnt as many
at Penarch, repaying the Monsieurs in their own coin.'
The presence of the Dartmouth contingent so incensed
Du Chastel, that he in turn retaliated by a descent upon
that town in 1404, but found unexpected resistance. The
townsfolk and the country people joined their forces, and
' the women like Amazons, by hurling of flints and pebbles,
and such -like artillery, did greatly advance their husbands'
and kinsfolks' victory.' Du Chastel and many others were
slain; but three lords and twenty knights of note were
saved, as many more might have been had not ignorance
of the language confounded the cries alike of indignation
and pity. The King gave the captors much ' golden coyn '
for their captives. Thus Speed.
The destruction of 600 houses in this descent of the
Bretons helps us to accept the statement of the Subsidy
Eoll touching the populousness of the town in 1377. It
shows further that the townsmen had good ground for the
plea in their petition for incorporation, that they had been
' nyghtly and dayly spoyled.'
Not that they themselves were by any means blameless.
We find, in January, 1403, one Henry Don, of Plymouth,
summoned to appear before the Privy Council to answer
a charge of piracy. Was this the Henry Don whom Owen
Glendower called upon to join him ?
However some steps had been taken for local as well as
national defence. An undated paper in the Eecord Office
of about this period sets forth a list of ships and barges
in ports in the South and West of England under the
Admiralty : — Otymouth, 1 barge ; Exon, 2 ; Teignmouth,
2 ; Brixton (Brixham), 2 ; Dartmouth, 7 ships and barges ;
Portlhmouth, 7 ships and barges (not . Portsmouth, which
is only down for one barge) ; Yealm, 1 barge ; Plymouth,
10 ships and barges; Saltash, 2 barges; Looe, 1; Fowey,
probably a barge ; Lostwithiel, 2 ships and barges ; Falmouth,
2 ships and barges; Padstow, 1 barge; Barnstaple, 6 ships
and barges.
In 1442 it was decided to have upon the sea continually
eight ships from Candlemas to Martinmas, one with another

EARLY COMMERCE. 33
150 men each. Every ship was to have a barge and
balynger attending her. At Plymouth was to be procured a
barge called the Mangeleke in the water of Saltash ; and at
Saltash itself a barge called the Slugge barge. Dartmouth
had to furnish two ships. Early Commerce.
The proceedings and ordinances of the Privy Council
during the fifteenth century contain numerous references to
Plymouth, which supply some indication of its importance
at that period. Thus we find Henry Beaufort, Bishop of
Lincoln, with the Earls of Somerset and Worcester, who had
been sent to escort the second wife of Henry IV, Joan of
Navarre, to England, writing from Plymouth in December,
1402, to say that they had been driven back from the coast
of Brittany by stress of weather. Subsequently we find the
same bishop, then on his way to the Holy Land, writing
from Bruges to the Bishop of Durham, as Lord Chancellor,
concerning a grievance of the burgomaster and echevins of
that city. Certain goods belonging to them had been seized
on board a Genoese carrack at Plymouth, and Beaufort asks
that these might be restored, remarking that if they were
not, ten times their value would be taken.
The port at this time was frequented by vessels of all
maritime nations, and of some that were hardly considered
maritime until a much later period. Thus we have in 1417
a memorandum to speak to the king about the release of a
Prussian ship lying there.
Under 1419 there is a most amusing entry. The King
has learnt that Thomas ap Eeece, and other merchants
of Bristol, have 'taken to the port of Plymouth certain
carracks and other vessels charged with good merchandise of
Janevois (Genoese) and others our enemies'; and having a
fancy for certain of the goods he asks that they may be sold
to him, promising that he will most faithfully pay.
In 1423 the Mayor of Plymouth, in conjunction with the
Mayors of London, Bristol, Hull, Lynn, and Yarmouth, is
ordered to proclaim to all persons who may wish to buy
certain great ships, that they are for sale at Southampton.
The date of this entry, being sixteen years antecedent to
the Act of Parliament Incorporation of the town, is one
proof among others that there existed a Corporation of some
kind before that period.
In 1433 we find the 'customers and comptrollers' of
D

34 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Plymouth and other ports ordered to appear at Westminster
with their accounts. The subsidies on wool were then 3s. a
ton, and 12d. in the pound. Customers and comptrollers
were not the only representatives of royalty at Plymouth
during this period. Henry VI. appointed John Hampton,
Esquire, water bailiff of Plymouth in 1434 ; the office, with
the rangership of the forest of Kingare, being valued at £5
annually. Entries which shew the prominence of the port in
national affairs at length become almost of yearly occurrence.
In 1451 'moustres' for Lord Lisle's expedition to Guienne
were directed to be made either at Plymouth or Dartmouth.
March 28th, 1452, it was ordered that as many ships as
possible from Plymouth and other ports should rendezvous
at Sandwich before the last day of the ensuing February,
which may be regarded as ample notice ; and yet in 1453 the
King, intending to despatch a ' great and notable armee ' to
France finds himself constrained to write to the ' mayors and
customers' of Dartmouth, Plymouth, and Fowey, 'preying
heretely that by all the weyes and menes possable unto you,
ye on our behalve sture, moeve, trete, and enduce all the
oweners and maisters of the shippes and vessailles that
belonge unto youre porte to be ready to go.'
York and Lancaster.
In the Wars of the Roses Plymouth leant somewhat to the
Lancastrian side. It was either at Plymouth or at Dart
mouth (authorities differ) that the Earl of Warwick, with
the Duke of Clarence and the Earls of Pembroke and Oxford,
landed in 1470 ; and commenced the revolt which caused the
temporary restoration of Henry VI. Proclaiming Henry at
Plymouth, they proceeded to London, and caused Edward to
fly into Burgundy within eleven days after Warwick had set
foot in England. And the claims of Plymouth have been
set up against Weymouth, as the port where Margaret of
Anjou landed in the following year with her son Edward,
and the French auxiliaries annihilated at Tewkesbury.
In later years Lancastrian feeling was no doubt stimulated
by the adherence of the town's most powerful neighbour, Sir
Richard Edgcumbe, to that side, though for the time the
Yorkists bore the sway.
Carew heard the inhabitants of Cawsand report ' that the
Earle of Richmond (afterwards Henry the seuenth), while
hee houered vpon the coast, here [Cawsand] by stealth

LANDING OF KATHARINE OF ARRAGON. 35
refreshed himselfe ; but being aduertised of streight watch,
kept for his surprising at Plymouth, he richly rewarded his
hoste, hyed speedily a shipboord, and escaped happily to a
better fortune.' The substantial accuracy of this statement
is borne out by a royal proclamation directed against Henry
in 1483, which sets forth that 'the said Henry callying
hymself Erie of Richemond, and Jasper, callying hymself
Erie of Pembroke, and their adherents, beying Enemyes to
oure said Soveraigne Lord, came falsely and traiterously with
a greate Navye and Armye of Straungiers' to Plymouth,
'and there falsly and traiterously to have arrived and
destroied our said Soveraigne Lord's most roiall p'sonne, his
true subgetts, and this his Reame.'
Towards the end of the year 1497 the Warbeckian
insurrection excited much commotion in the West. Ply
mouth does not appear to have been much concerned,
although 'Robert Warweke of Plymouth, yeoman,' subse
quently figures in a proclamation as one of the rebels. He
was a man of some means, having lands in Plymouth and
Exeter worth £5 16s. yearly. Warbeck landed at Whitsand
Bay, near the Land's End, not at Whitsand Bay, near
Plymouth, as from the identity of name has sometimes
wrongly been inferred.
There are a few entries concerning this matter in the
Receiver's Accounts of the Corporation for 1496-7.
Item pd to aman y* was send vnto Exetr when the Captyn
was at Exetr to Spy tydyngs . ij" vjd
Item delyvryd vnto viij me y' wer send by ye mayer to
my lord of devonshyr in Cornewalle to defende pkyn viij8 iiijd
They were dressed in 'Grene Jaketts,' which cost 8d.
the yard. It is curious to note 'defend' used here in the
sense of oppose, which has continued to the present day
in France. [So in 1598 money raised to defend the town
against Sir Ferdinando Gorges is said to be to 'defend
Gorges.'] Landing of Katharine of Arragon.
On the 2nd of October, 1501, amidst the heartiest
demonstrations of popular rejoicing, Katherine of Arragon,
landed at Plymouth Barbican on her way to wed Prince
Arthur. 'Had she been the Saviour of the world,' wrote
the Licentiate Alcares, she could not have had a more
enthusiastic welcome. The voyage had been boisterous and
uncomfortable, for the ship was laden with plate and jewels,
d 2

36 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
and crowded with the members of her household. Immediately
on landing she went to church in procession to return thanks
for her preservation. She was lodged in the ' goodly house
towards the Haven' of a rich merchant named Paynter,
which has been traditionally identified with the fine old
building of Palace Court, pulled down to give place to the
Palace Court Board Schools. Hither flocked, during her stay,
all the nobility and gentry of the neighbourhood, to pay her
homage, and look upon the veil which covered her features,
and which her duenna, Donna Elvira Manuel, persistently
kept down. That this did not damp the loyal enthusiasm of
the Corporation, the amount of their expenditure shows :
Itm pd to Richard Gewe for vj oxen the wich wer
psented to my lady prynces . . vju yjs viijd
Itm pd to Gelan Mellow Bocher for xx shepe the wich wer
psented to my lady princes . . xxxiij8 iiijd
Itm pd to Willm Chapyn for iiij shepe that wer psented
to my lady princs . . . viij8 viijd
Itm pd for ij hogeshedds of Gaston Wyne wich was
psented to my lady princs . . . xls
Itm pd to Mr. Yogge for a hogshed of clarett wyne
psented to my lady princs . . xvj8 viijd
Itm pd for a pipe of meskedell psented to my lady
pryncs . . . . xlvj8 viijd
Itm delyuryd to my lady pryncs ys amner [almoner] to
wryte oure supplicacion yn Spaynysch and in latyn
and to be owre salucyt' . ... Xs
Itm a. Reward to the pryncs ys mylstrells . . ij8
Itm to the Erie ys mylstrells of Spayne . . . xxd
Itm to the pryncs ys ij fotemen at his deptyng . . ij8
From Plymouth Katherine rode to London by way of
Exeter, being met by Lord Willoughby de Broke, Steward of
the Household, and curiously enough High Steward also of
Plymouth. Izaacke's note concerning her entertainment
in the ever-faithful city is too amusing to be omitted: —
' In the month of October, the Lady Katherine Prince Arthur's
Spouse arrived at Plymouth, unto whom forthwith resorted
the Gentry of the Country, and conducted her hither, and
lodged her in the Dean's House, and had such entertainment
as did belong to so honourable a Personage; whilst she
remained here the Weather proved stormy, and the Weather
cock on St. Marys Steeple, kept such a noise, that the Princess
could not sleep, which occasioned the taking down of the
said cock, which was erected again on her departure, and
shortly thereafter the whole Steeple was taken down.'

38 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
The Western Rebellion.
Some local references to the Western Rebellion for the
restoration of Catholicism will fittingly bring this chapter to
a close. There is a note by Carew that during this rising St.
Nicholas Island ' yeelded a safe protection to diuers dutyful
subiects, who there shrowded themselves,' and it is clear
from the statements in the local records that the attack
on Plymouth was serious.
The entry in the Black Book (1548-9) runs :
In this yere was a greatte insurrecyon throughoutte all the
Royalme of England and esspecially in the Counties of Devon
and Cornwall in wch tyme the Cytee of Excestre and the Castell
of Plymothe were valyently defended and kept from the Rebelles
vntyll the comyng of the Lord Russel . . . then was our stepell
burnt wtlx all the townes evydence in the same by Rebelles.
Plymouth followed up its defence by pursuing the
attacking force into Cornwall.
The following items in the Receiver's Accounts are clear
and grim enough. There is no clue to the identity of the
unlucky traitor :
Itm delyured to henry blase for hym & his companye
the viij411 of Aprell when they Rode w* Sir Richard
Eggecombe into Cornewall agaynst the Rebells there xxvj" viijd
Itm paid for a dowsen of bowestryngs for them . vd
Itm pd for a dowsen of faggots & a quart of rede for
doyng thexecucyon vpon the Traytor of Cornewall viijd
Itm for tymbre for the gallowes . . . xijd
Itm for makyng the gallowes & for workynge at the howe xiiijd
Itm paid to John Wylstrem for doyng execucyon vpon
the Traytr . . vjs
Itm to lands man for leadyng the horse when the traytr
was drawen to execucon . . . . iiijd
Itm for ij pooles to putt the hede & qrtr of the said
traytor vpon & for ij Crampys of Ieron for to staye
the pole vpon the gyldhall . xd
Itm pd for the dyn of the vndershyryff of Cornewall
beyng here when the trayter was putto execucyon . v8
Itm paid to John Mathewe for Caryng a quartr of the
traytor to Tavystoke . ... xijd
Itm paid to Wyllm Byckf ord for wyne at the Receyvyng
of the Traytr of Cornewall . . . ' . xvid
We also find that some of the town guns were taken to the
Maudlyn (North Hill), to repel the assailing force.

I

CHAPTER IV.
'THE DAYS OF GOOD QUEEN BESS.'
The brave old men of Devonshire 1
'T is worth a world to stand
As Devon's sons on Devon soil,
Though infants of the band,
And tell old England to her face,
If she is great in fame,
'T was stout old heart of Devon oak
That made her glorious name ! — Capern.
T was the Plymouth of the days of Elizabeth, Drayton
had in mind when he sang —
Upon the British coast, what ship yet ever came
That not of Plymouth heares ? where those brave Navies he,
From Canons' thund'ring throats that all the world defie ?
In the latter half of the sixteenth century Devonshire was
the foremost county in England ; and Plymouth its foremost
town. Even the old Edwardian fame was eclipsed.
Elizabeth called the men of Devonshire her right hand, and
so far carried her liking for matters Devonian, that one of
the earliest passports of Ralegh to her favour was the fact
that he talked the broadest dialect of the shire, and never
abandoned it for the affected speech current at court.
Contemporary writings abound with references to the note
of Elizabethan Plymouth. Camden says : ' The town is not
very large, but it's name and reputation is very great among
all nations ; and this, not so much for the convenience of the
harbour as for the valour and worth of the Inhabitants.' x
Pole remarks : ' Plymouth from a small town is now one
of the greatest.' 2
Carew soars far above the level of his quaint, shrewd,
gossiping style, in sounding its praises : ' Here, [says he]
mostly, haue the troops of aduenturers, made their Rendez vous
for attempting new discoueries or inhabitances : as, Tho.
1 Britannia (Gibson's ed.), i. 34. " Collections.

40 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Stukeleigh for Florida, Sir Humfrey Gilbert for Newfound-land,
Sir Rich. Greynuile for Virginia, Sir Martyn Frobisher, and
Master Dauies, for the North-west Passage, Sir Walter
Raleigh for Guiana, &c. Here Count Mongomery made forth,
with a more commendable meaning, then able meanes, or wel-
speeding effect for relieving the hard-besieged, and sore-
distressed Rochellers. Here, Sir Era. Drake first extended
the point of that liquid line wherewith (as an emulator of
the Sunnes glorie) he encompassed the world. Here, Master
Candish began to second him with a like heroicall spirit, and
fortunate successe. Here, Don Antonio, King of Portugal!3
the Earles of Cumberland, Essex, and Nottingham, the Lord
Warden of the Stanneries [Ralegh], Sir John Norrice, Sir
lohn Hawkins (and who elsewhere, and not here ?) haue euer
accustomed to cut sayle, in carrying defiance against the
imaginarie new Monarch [the King of Spain] ; and heere to
cast anker, vpon their returne with spoyle and honour. I
omit the infinite swarme of single ships, and pettie fleetes,
dayly heere manned out to the same effect. And here, in
eightie eight, the foreremembred Lord Admirall expected and
set forth, against that heauen-threatening Armado, which, to
bee tainted with the shamefuller disgrace, and to blaze our
renoume with the brighter lustre, termed itself Inuincible.'
Westcote, when another half-century had passed, declared,
'Whatever show it makes in description, it is far larger in
fame, and known to the farthest and the most remote parts
of the world. ... In a word, I think it second to no town
in England for worth every way ; yea, it is so esteemed of
our neighbours the Cornishmen, that they would by few very
slender reasons claim it from us as their own.'

Adventure and Discovery.
Plymouth attained this position by no accidental, no
sudden means. From the beginning of the century her
seamen had borne their part in the new work of Western
adventure and discovery. One at least, Martin Cockrem,
sailed with Sebastian Cabot, the discoverer in 1497, with
his father, of the mainland of America, and in after years
the explorer of the River Plate, whither Cockrem accom-
3 Izaacke's note on the arrival of Don Antonio at Plymouth in 1584 runs :
' In the month of September, Don Anthonio King of Portugal, being driven out
of his own Countrey by Philip King of Spain, arrived at Plymouth, and upon
St. Michael's Day came to this City [Exeter], who with his retinue (during
their abode here) were lodged in this Mayor's house [John Davy], and by him
very liberally entertained.'

42 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
panied him. And when another Plymouth worthy, old
William Hawkins (in the words of Hakluyt, 'a man for
his wisdome, value, experience, and skill in sea causes,
much esteemed and valued of K. Henry the 8,') became
the pioneer of English adventure in the South Seas, and
sailed in 1530 in the Paul of Plymouth, on one of his three
famous voyages to Brazil, Cockrem went also, and was left
in pledge with the natives for the safety of one of the
' savage kings,' whom Hawkins brought back with him to
England. Unhappily the poor Brazilian died ere he could
return ; but the natives believed in the good faith of the
English people, seeing that Hawkins had 'behaved wisely'
towards them, and restored Cockrem — the first Englishman
who ever dwelt in South America — to his friends. Cockrem
outlived his old captain, and was living still, the patriarch of
Plymouth seamen, the last link between the old times and
the new, long after his old captain's son, Sir John, had
proved a worthy inheritor of his father's skill and daring.
Advanced by such means, it is no exaggeration to say that,
during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Plymouth was the
foremost port in England. The history of the relations of
Elizabeth with Spain, and the general history of the town
during her reign, are so connected that the one includes the
other. If any person desired to see her English worthies,
Plymouth was the likeliest place to seek them. All were in
some fashion associated with the old town. These were days
when men were indifferent whether they fought upon land or
water; when the fact that a man was a good general was
considered the best of all reasons why he should be a good
admiral likewise. ' Per mare, per terram,' was the motto of
Elizabeth's ' true-born Englishmen,' and familiar and dear to
them was Plymouth — with its narrow streets, its dwarfish
quays, its broad waters, and its glorious Hoe.
The roll of Plymouth's naval heroes begins with the name
of 'Wyllm Hawkyns,' thus set down fifth on the oldest
extant list of Plymouth freeman. He was son of John
Hawkins,4 of Tavistock, and Joan, daughter of William
Amadas, of Tavistock or Launceston. His wife was Joan,
daughter of Roger Trelawny. His eldest son was another
William Hawkins ; his second Sir John Hawkins, the most
renowned of Plymouth worthies. These Hawkinses were a
remarkable race. ' Gentlemen ' as Prince 5 quaintly phrases,
4 The occurrence of the name in a rent roll of 1491 appears to show a
connection with Plymouth before Tavistock.
6 Worthies of Bevon.

ADVENTURE AND DISCOVERY. 43
'of worshipful extraction for several descents,' they were
made more worshipful by their deeds. For three generations
in succession they were the master spirits of Plymouth in its
most illustrious days — its leading merchants, its bravest
sailors, serving oft and well in the civic chair and the
Commons House of Parliament. For three generations they
were in the van of English seamanship, founders of England's
commerce in South and West and East, stout in fight, of
quenchless spirit in adventure — a family of merchant
statesmen and heroes to whom our country affords no
parallel. The early voyages of Sir John Hawkins were to the
Canary Isles. In October, 1562, he made his first expedition
in search of negroes to sell in Hispaniola, and his second
in October, 1564. While preparing for a voyage in 1567,
at which time he was admiral of the port, an amusing
incident occurred, which has found record in the pages
of Froude. As the tale is told by his son, Sir Richard,
Hawkins simply meant to teach politeness. A Spanish
vessel entered Plymouth waters without lowering her flag
or striking her topsails, and Hawkins gently reminded her
captain of his want of courtesy by sending a cannon ball
crashing through his galleon's sides. The other side of the
story may seem more to the purpose. The ship had entered
Cattewater with a number of Low- Country prisoners on
board. Hawkins 'imagined' she came with bad intentions,
fired upon her, and in the subsequent tumult the prisoners
got free. Another ship was boarded and prisoners released,
and a third driven away and lost. Of course the Spanish
ambassador complained; equally of course Elizabeth asked
Hawkins what he meant by such proceedings ; and Hawkins
in turn was mightily astonished she should be displeased
at the protection of the honour of her realm.
If we are to believe all that the Spanish ambassadors
had to say of Plymouth in the early part of the reign of
Elizabeth,' the port certainly had a very doubtful character.
That Hawkins fired upon the Spaniard was a small matter.
For nearly a century later even English vessels entering
Cattewater were fired at from the fort if they did not
salute ; but in 1631 this was forbidden, on the plea that the
ships .themselves were floating forts of the king.
William Hawkins, John's brother, had a vessel under
the commission of the Prince of Conde, one of a fleet of
Huguenot craft which made Plymouth their head-quarters,
and" scoured the Channel in search of Catholic ships. It

44 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
must be noted too that the Hawkinses had a private
grievance against France, since in 1556 the Peter of Plymouth,
belonging to them, had been taken by the French before
war was proclaimed. The ships captured by the Huguenot
cruisers were carried into Plymouth, and the spoil divided.
Flemish ships frequently met a like fate. In 1569, a French
ship commanded by M. de Bordela, plundered two hulks
in the sight of the whole town. Flemish ships were treated
as Spanish; but neither French nor English cruisers were
particular. So Francesco Diaz, captain of a Spanish treasure-
ship, found when he visited. Plymouth in 1568. William
Hawkins was mayor, and chief purchaser of the spoil as
it was brought in. He searched the Spanish and Flemish
vessels in the port, seized sixty-four chests of silver which
Diaz had, and placed them in the Guildhall — of course for
safety. All that the Spanish ambassador could do was to
protest, and that right, at least, was never denied him.
Sir John's voyage of 1567 was the 'most important ex
pedition that had ever been made by the English nation
beyond the coasts of Europe. ... It was the first occasion
on which English keels furrowed that hitherto unknown
sea, the Bay of Mexico.'
Of this voyage, the turning-point in Hawkins's career,
we have a brief narrative from his own pen. He left
Plymouth, October 2nd, 1567, with a fleet of six ships —
the Jesus of Lubeck, Mynion, William and John, Judith,
Angel, and Swallow. The Jesus and the Mynion were 'the
Queenes Maiesties,' the other four were Hawkins's private
venture; and the Judith is memorable from the fact that
she was commanded by Francis Drake.
The expedition ended in disaster. Treacherously assailed
in the port of San Juan de Ulloa, Hawkins lost all his
vessels save the Mynion and the Judith, and brought back
but a hundred of his men. When his brother William
heard of the disaster he begged Elizabeth to allow him.
to make reprisals on his own account; and when John
returned it may fairly be said that Plymouth declared war
against Spain. Hawkins and Drake thereafter never missed
a chance of making good their losses. The treachery of
San Juan de Ulloa was the moving cause of the series of
harassments which culminated in the destruction of the
Armada. For every English life then lost, for every pound
of English treasure then taken, Spain paid a hundred and
and a thousandfold. John Hawkins led the way with one
of the boldest acts of Machiavellian statesmanship on record.

ADVENTURE AND DISCOVERY. 45
The plaint, blunt sailor set his wits against those of King
Philip and all his Court, and bent them to his will like
puppets. With the full knowledge of Burghley, he pretended
treachery ; obtained the release of his captured seamen ;
pardon and titles for himself ; and what was of more account,
a large sum of money, which was immediately laid out in
works of defence.
In 1573 Hawkins was chosen by the Queen ' as the fittest
person in her dominions to manage her naval affairs'; and
for twenty-one years he ' toiled terribly ' as Treasurer of the
Queen's Marine Causes and Comptroller of the Navy. It
was he who prepared the Royal fleet which set forth against
the Armada. Faithful in the least, as well as in the greatest,
' when the moment of trial came he sent her ships to sea in
such a condition — hull, rigging, spars, and running rope —
that they had no match in the world.'6 The royai vessels
that sailed out of Plymouth Sound to beat the Armada
were perfectly equipped to the minutest detail, though
Hawkins bitterly felt the straits to which he had been
put. Sir John died in November, 1595, whilst employed in
the joint expedition with Drake to the West Indies, which
cost England the lives of both these great captains. His
sickness began upon the news of the taking of one of the
vessels, called the Francis ; and Drake's, as we shall see, was
caused in a similar manner.
Sir John Hawkins's elder brother William, the patriarch of
the port, was Mayor of the Armada year ; and in February
preceding the attempted invasion directed the preparations
at Plymouth, where several great ships were made ready
for sea. The work was ' very chargeable, being carried on by
torchlights and cressets in the midst of a gale of wind.'
Next to Sir John, however, the most prominent member of
the Hawkins family was his son Sir Richard, the ' complete
seaman,' who in 1593 sailed from Plymouth with five ships
on his memorable expedition to the South Seas, which, after
his rediscovery of the Falkland Isles — Hawkins's Maiden
Land, ended in his capture by the Spaniards. From various
causes the fleet was reduced to the single vessel, the Dainty,
which he himself commanded. Manned by seventy-five men
only, she was assailed by eight Spanish vessels with crews of
1300. Nevertheless this worthy son of a worthy sire kept
up the fight three days, and did not surrender until he had
himself been wounded six times, and then upon good terms,
which the Spaniards broke by sending their prisoners to
6 Fboude, History of England.

46 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Spain. Hawkins remained in captivity several years, being
ironed when he attempted to escape, and is one of several
Englishmen wrongly credited with being the hero of the
Would you know a Spanish lady,
How she wooed an Englishman.
Sir John in terse nervous English penned an account of
his disastrous voyage to San Juan de Ulloa; and we are
indebted to Sir Richard's Narrative of his Voyage to the
South Seas for a few graphic descriptive touches of the
manners and customs of Plymouth sailors in the olden time.
Before he could start on this expedition he and his friends
the justices had to spend two days in hunting up his
crew in lodgings, taverns, and other houses. When he
left, the most part of the inhabitants ' were gathered
together upon the Howe to show their grateful corres
pondency to the loue and zeal which I, my Father, and
Predecessors, have ever borne to that place as to our naturall
and mother Towne; and first with my noyse of Trumpets,
after with my waytes, and then with my other Musicke;
and lastly with the Artillery of my Shippes, I made the
best signification I could of a kinde farewell. This they
answered with the waytes of the Towne, and the Ordinance
on the shore, and with shouting of voyces: which with
the fayre evening and silence of the night were heard a
great distance off.'
A third William Hawkins, son of William the Armada
Mayor, and cousin of Sir Eichard, did yeoman service for
England in the East. As his grandfather established English
trade with the South Seas, and his uncle pioneered the way
into the Bay of Mexico, so he laid the foundation of our
Indian empire. Sailing in 1607 to the- East Indies in
command of the Hector, in the third East India Company's
voyage, in company with Capt. Keeling, in the Dragon, he
established a trading house or factory at Surat, and went on
to Agra as ambassador, attended by one Englishman —
Nicholas Ufflett — and a boy. Here he won favour with the
Great Mogul, the Emperor Jehangir, and at his desire
married the daughter of 'Mabarique Sha,' a Christian
Armenian. Then we have Drake, a Plyniouthian by adoption, though
not like the Hawkinses by birth, whom Camden calls ' with
out dispute the greatest captain of the age;' and who is
unquestionably the central figure of the sea life of these
times. A kinsman of Hawkins, he was associated with

ADVENTURE AND DISCOVERY. 47
him in several daring enterprises. There were many giants
in these days, but Drake with his bullet head, his dogged
determination, his unflinching pluck, was held the typical
Englishman of the age. Beloved at home, he was terrible
abroad ; and many a legend obtained ready credence among
the Spaniards — and for that matter the English also —
concerning his magical powers.'7
Camden says of Drake that he, ' first, to repair the losses
he had suffer'd from the Spaniards, . . . did as it were block up
the Bay of Mexico for two years together, with continual
defeats; and travell'd over the Straits of Darien ; whence
having descry'd the South-Sea, ... it made such impression on
his mind, that like Themistocles inflam'd with the trophies
of Miltiades, he thought he should be wanting to himself,
his country, and his own glory, if he did not complete the
discovery.' Drake was brought to the sea under Hawkins ; and
accompanied him on the voyage of 1567, which ended so
disastrously, Drake losing all he had. His first separate
expedition against his natural enemies the Spaniards was in
1572, in May of which year he set out, with the Pascha of
70 tons, and the Swan of 25, commanded by his brother
John, the joint crews numbering 73 men, on his memorable
expedition to Nombre de Dios. He returned on Sunday, the
9th of August, in the following year. The inhabitants were
engaged in worship at St. Andrew Church; but when the
news of Drake's arrival reached them, straightway the
congregation swarmed out to the Hoe to welcome their hero
home. Four years later Drake started on his famous voyage of
circumnavigation. His little fleet consisted of the Pelican
(afterwards the Golden Hind) 120 tons, Elizabeth 80, Swan 50,
Marygold 30, and Christopher 15 ; the crews mustering 164
men, all told.8 He sailed on the 15th of November, 1577,
giving out that he was proceeding on a voyage to Alexandria;
but was compelled to put back, and did not take his final
7 Thus it is said that he brought the leat into Plymouth by pronouncing
certain magical words over a Dartmoor spring, which caused it to follow the
heels of his horse back to the town. There are likewise traditions that he
made fire ships to destroy the Armada, by throwing chips of wood into the
water; and that to prevent his wife's marrying in his absence, thinking
him dead, he fired a cannon ball through the world which came up
between her and her intended at the- altar.
8 One of the most notable features of the English maritime expeditions of
those days is the smallness of the vessels. Hawkins, Drake, and their
fellows go voyages of discovery to the other hemisphere, and fight battles
too, in craft which a modern trawler would despise.

48 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
departure until the 13th of December following. Nearly
three years elapsed before he returned. Disaster and
disaffection had broken up the little fleet, but he persevered,
and on the 26th of September, 1580, brought the Pelican
safely back to Plymouth again; the first English captain
and the first English ship that had ploughed a furrow round
the world. Great was the rejoicing. Plymouth turned out,
headed by the Mayor and Corporation, to greet the dauntless
sailor ; the bells of St. Andrew rang merry peals the livelong
day ; and from far and near Devonshire men flocked to the
town to welcome and honour their brave brother. The
Pelican was crammed with treasure. Drake was allowed by
the Queen an opportunity of helping himself; after which
there remained on board, besides gold and plate, twenty tons
of silver.
The thenceforward historic bark was taken round to
Deptford, and on the following April Drake had the honour
of entertaining the Queen on board; when she, with that
rare appreciation of merit which she possessed, conferred
upon him the highest honour in her power to bestow, that of
knighthood. The Queen knew the value of these expeditions
as well as any one in her dominions. It was her custom to
make much of her seamen. Thus when Frobisher left the
Thames on one of his expeditions, she bade him farewell,
' shaking her hand at us out of the window.'
In 1585, Drake with a fleet of twenty-five sail, made
another expedition to the West Indies. His next exploit,
performed in 1587, was what he jocularly called ' singeing
the King of Spain's beard.' With his fleet he so ravaged
the coast of Spain as to delay the sailing of the Armada for
a year. In the account of this voyage the English are said
to have satisfied themselves that the ' carracks were no such
bugs, but they might be taken,' and that four ships 'made
no account of twenty gallies.'
In August, 1595, Drake and Hawkins sailed together
from the port to which they were never to return, with
a fleet of twenty-seven vessels. Two months after Hawkins
died {i.e., January, 1596) Drake died also, chagrin at the
failure of an attack upon Panama producing his illness.
' He used some speeches a little before his death, rising and
apparelling himself.'
Drake was a man of such activities, that when at home he
could not remain idle. He became Mayor of Plymouth, and
like Hawkins represented the town in Parliament. Moreover
he was a capable man of business. The esteem in which he

ADVENTURE AND DISCOVERY. 49
was held by his contemporaries, and especially by fellow
West-Countrymen, seems to have been unbounded. Witness
the lines inscribed beneath his portrait in the Plymouth
Guildhall: Sir Drake whom well the world's end knew,
Which thou didst compasse rounde,
And whom both poles of Heaven ons saw,
Which North and South doe bound :
The starrs above will make thee knowne,
If men here silent were ;
The Sunn himself cannot forgett
His fellow Traveller !
Great Drake, whose shippe about the worlde's wide waste
In three years did a golden girdle cast.
Who with fresh streams refresht this Towne that first,
Though kist with waters, yet did pine for thirst.
Who both a. Pilote and a Magistrate
Steered in his turne the Shippe of Plymouthe's state ;
This little table shewes his face whose worth
The worlde's wide table hardly can sett forth.
Prince describes Drake as low in stature, but set and
strong grown, a very religious man toward God and His
houses generally, sparing churches wherever he came, chaste
in his life, just in his dealings, true to his word.
Only second to Drake and Hawkins as a seaman was
Ealegh, the finished courtier, statesman, philosopher, and
soldier, the very epitome of the spirit of the age, fated to be
led away to the death to which the pedant tyrant James
had doomed him, from the town which he had so often
visited, and rarely without advantage to his country and
credit to himself. Then Grenville the undaunted, the Bayard
of his country and generation; the brothers Gilbert, with
their manly piety and grand projects; Candish, the daring
circumnavigator, who seems to have had local connections,
from the frequent occurrence of this unusual form of the
name in the South Hams in the sixteenth century; the
unfortunate Oxenham, a Plymouth freeman, who made the
marvellous overland march from Nombre de Dios to Panama,
but lost both life and treasure by the wrangling of his
company; 'loveable John Davis'; Frobisher, who ended his
adventurous life at Plymouth in 1594, and part of whose
remains were buried in St. Andrew Church ; Fenner ; and
many another man of mark in these stirring times — all
knew and loved Plymouth.
Such were the leaders, but we go deeper still. Hosts
of unrecorded heroes made up the maritime population

50 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
of the western ports in these days, and heartily followed
where the others led. A Drake, a Hawkins, a Gilbert, a
Grenville, never looked in vain to Plymouth, or Dartmouth,
or Bideford, for a crew. The twin spirit — love of adventure,
hatred of the Spaniard— pervaded the whole community.
There is a statement that Philip of Spain, husband of
Mary, once landed at Plymouth, and was entertained by
the Corporation at a cost of £300. But the records are
silent on this, and their silence is conclusive. In all
likelihood the tradition originated in an incident recorded
under 1505-6.
Itm pd to the purcevant for hryngyng of the kyngs lettr
when the Kyng of Castell landed here . ij8
This would presumably be Philip the Fair, who married
Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, and who, after
the death of the latter, succeeded in right of his wife.
Probably he put in on his way from the Netherlands to
Spain. The Defeat of the Armada.
Passing by for the time the records of discovery and
settlement in the far West, we come to the defeat of the
Armada, the most memorable event associated with the
history of Plymouth. Every one is familiar with Macaulay's
ringing fragment. Plymouth strikes the keynote.
It was about the glorious close of a warm summer's day,
There came a gallant merchant ship full sail to Plymouth Bay ;
Her crew had seen Castile's black fleet, beyond Aurigny's Isle,
At earliest twilight on the wave he heaving many a mile.
At sunrise she escaped their van, by God's especial grace,
And the tall Pinta till the noon had held her close in chase.
Forthwith a guard at every gun was placed along the wall ;
The beacon blazed upon the roof of Edgcumbe's lofty hall ;
Many a light fishing bark put out to pry along the coast ;
And with loose rein and bloody spur rode inland many a post.
With his white hair unbonnetted the stout old sheriff comes :
Behind him march the halberdiers, before him sound the drums.
His yeomen round the market cross make clear an ample space,
For there behoves him to set up the standard of her Grace.
And merrily the trumpets sound, and gaily dance the bells,
As slow upon the labouring wind the royal blazon swells.
Look 1 how the lion of the sea lifts up his ancient crown,
And underneath his deadly paw turns the gay lilies down.
So glared he when at Azincour in wrath he turned to bay,
And crushed and torn beneath his feet the princely hunters lay ;
So stalked he when he turned to flight on that famed Picard field
Bohemia's plume, Genoa's bow, and Csesar's eagle shield.

THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA. 51
The Armada consisted of 129 ships, most of them of great
size (the total tonnage being 60,000 tons), carrying 3165
guns, and manned by 32,000 soldiers, sailors, and volunteers.
A return by Sir John Hawkins, preserved among the Harleian
MSS. in the British Museum, places the total number of the
English fleet, including victuallers, at 190 ships, of 31,985
tons, and manned by 15,272 men. Of these the vessels of
'Her Majesty' numbered 34, of 12,190 tons, manned by 6,225
men. The largest ship was of 1100 tons, and was commanded
by Frobisher. Hawkins had the Victory, of 800 tons ; Drake
the Revenge, of 500. The Plymouth contingent was seven
ships and a fly-boat. Hawkins writes that the charge 'of
the army prepared against the Spaniard from the beginning
of November, 1587, to the last of September, 1588, above
the charges borne by the port townes throughout the realme,
the victual excepted,' was £35,100.9
The English fleet was under the command of Lord Howard
of Effingham as admiral, with Drake and Hawkins as vice
and rear admirals, whilst all the famous seamen of the time
held commands ; and there they lay in Cattewater, ' a paltry
squadron enough in modern eyes, the largest of them not
equal in size to a six and thirty gun frigate,'1 waiting the
approach of the most stupendous force then known. The
news that the Armada was off the coast was brought about
four o'clock on the afternoon of the 19th July, but the fleet
itself did not appear in sight of Plymouth until noon of the
following day. The English had almost given up expecting
the Spaniards, and consequently were somewhat unready.
Tradition has recorded that tidings of the approach of
the enemy came to the captains whilst they were playing
bowls on the Hoe. In language that makes the actors in
the great drama live and move before us Canon Kingsley,
though drawing largely on imagination for some of his
portraiture, has described the scene :
In the little terrace howling green behind the Pelican Inn, on
the afternoon of the 19th of July, chatting in groups or
lounging on the sea wall, which commanded a view of the Sound
and of the shipping far below, were gathered almost every notable
man of the Plymouth fleet, the whole posse comitatus of
England's forgotten worthies  See those five talking
9 Out of 10,000 'able men' in Devon 6200 were armed and 3660 trained ;
out of 7766 ' able men ' in Cornwall 3600 were armed and 1500 trained.
1 There was a dock in Sutton Pool on the site of what is now Smart's
Quay ; and there is a record that the Boebuck, one of these vessels, was
taken there subsequently to be ' amended.' E 2

52 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
earnestly in the centre of a ring, whom every one longs to
overhear, and yet is too respectful to approach close. The soft
long eyes and pointed chin you recognise already; they are
Walter Ralegh's. The fair young man in the flame-coloured
doublet, whose arm is round Ralegh's neck, is Lord Sheffield;
opposite them stands by the side of Sir Richard Grenville, a man
as stately even as he, Lord Sheffield's uncle, the Lord Charles
Howard of Effingham, Lord High Admiral of England ; next to
him is his son-in-law, Sir Robert Southwell, captain of the
Elizabeth Jonas: hut who is that short, sturdy, plainly dressed
man, who stands with legs a little apart, and hands behind his
back, looking up with keen grey eyes into the face of each
speaker ? His cap is in his hand, so you can see the bullet head
of crisp brown hair and the wrinkled forehead, as well as the
high cheek bones, the short square face, the broad temples, the
thick lips, which are yet firm as granite. A coarse plebeian stamp
of man : yet the whole figure and attitude are that of boundless
determination, self-possession, energy ; and when at last he speaks
a few blunt words, all eyes are turned respectfully upon him;
for his name is Francis Drake. A burly grizzled elder, in greasy
sea-stained garments, contrasting oddly with the huge gold chain
about his neck, waddles up, as if he had been born, and had lived
ever since, in a gale of wind at sea. The upper part of his sharp
dogged visage seems of brick -red leather, the lower of badger's
fur ; and as he claps Drake on the back, and with a broad Devon
twang shouts, 'Be you a coming to drink your wine, Francis
Drake, or he you not?' — saving your presence, my lord,' the Lord
High Admiral only laughs and bids Drake go and drink his wine ;
for John Hawkins, admiral of the port, is the patriarch of
Plymouth seamen if Drake be their hero, and says and does
pretty much what he likes in any company on earth ; not to
mention that to-day's prospect of an Armageddon fight has shaken
him altogether out of his usual crabbed reserve, and made him
overflow with loquacious good humour even to his rival Drake.
So they push through the crowd, wherein is many another man
whom one would gladly have spoken with face to face on earth.
Martin Frobisher and John Davis are sitting on that bench,
smoking tobacco from long silver pipes ; and by them are Eenton
and Withrington, who have both tried to follow Drake's path
round the world, and failed, though by no fault of their own.
The man who pledges them better luck next time is George
Fenner, known to the 'seven Portugals,' Leicester's pet, and
captain of the galleon which Elizabeth bought of him. That
short prim man in the huge yellow ruff, with sharp chin, minute
imperial, and self-satisfied smile, is Richard Hawkins, the
'complete seaman,' Admiral John's hereafter famous and hapless
son. The elder who is talking with him is his good uncle
William, whose monument still stands, or should stand, in

THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA. 53
Deptford Church ; for Admiral John set it up there but one year
after this time, and on it recorded how he was ' a worshipper of
the true religion, an especial benefactor of poor sailors, a most just
arbitrator in most difficult causes, and of a singular faith, piety,
and prudence.' That and the fact that he got creditably through
some sharp work at Porto Rico is all I know of William
Hawkins ; but if you or I, reader, can have as much, or half as
much, said of us when we have to follow him, we shall have no
reason to complain. There is John Drake, Sir Francis's brother,
ancestor of the present stock of Drakes ; and there is George his
nephew, a man not over wise, who has been round the world with
Amyas ; and there is Amyas himself, talking to one who answers
him with fierce curt sentences — Captain Barker, of Bristol.
And so our Devonshire prose epic goes on to recount how
the news of the approach of the Armada was brought by
Captain Fleming, and how it was received by Drake and
Hawkins, and the rest. The game of bowls was played out
the Spaniards notwithstanding, and tradition has assigned to
Drake the pithy sentence, ' There is time enough to play the
game out first, and thrash the Spaniards afterwards.'
The circumstances under which the Armada was destroyed
belong to the general history of the country, and need not
be recited here. To one point, however, reference must be
made. The only man of note among the English who fell,
one Captain Cocke, or Cock, Fuller's ' cock of the game,' was
a native of Plymouth. He was a volunteer, had fitted out a
ship on his own account, and having taken a Spanish vessel
died in the moment of victory.
In commemoration of the defeat of the Armada, it was
the custom for the bells of St. Andrew to ring a merry peal
annually on the Saturday night preceding the 25th of July.
On the Sunday the Corporation used to walk to church in
state. For more than two hundred years the anniversary
was thus celebrated in Plymouth. It was reserved for the
nineteenth century to put an end to this interesting
practice. On the other hand there has been recent compensation in
the erection of a fine statue of Sir Francis Drake on the
Hoe ; and the provision of a memorial in connection with a
celebration of the tercentenary of the Armada. The statue,
a noble figure in bronze by Boehm, a replica of that given
by the Duke of Bedford to Tavistock, was erected by
subscription, and inaugurated in the presence of an immense
gathering (February 14th, 1884) by Lady Fuller Drake,
wife of Sir Francis Fuller Drake, a representative in the

54

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

female line of Drake's brother Thomas. The features are
idealised. The foundation stone of the Armada Memorial was laid
on July 19th, 1888, by the Mayor, Mr. H. J. Waring, that
day being taken as the
anniversary of the first
sighting of the Armada
from the Hoe, which did
not occur, however, as
already noted, until the
20th. Excursion trains
were run and enormous
crowds were present at
the ceremony, and the
occasion was made a
public holiday, with a
banquet in the Guildhall.
The Memorial was in
augurated by the Duke of
Edinburgh October 21st,
1890, with full civic pomp
and imposing naval and
military demonstration
and ceremonial.
Mr. W. H. K Wright
was the originator and
energetic secretary of
both movements.
Another memorial of
these stirring days is the
fine historical picture by
Seymour Lucas of 'The
Game of Bowls'; itself
in Australia, but familiar
by its frequent reproductions. The bowling story rests wholly
on tradition, though old tradition; and while there is no
reason to doubt the event itself, there is strong ground for
believing that the Bowling Green, while near the Hoe, could
not have been upon it.
Fleming, who reported the advent of the Armada, seems to
have been subsequently employed in the port. In 1591 the
Dolphin, of Plymouth, commanded by one of that name,
carried despatches to Howard at the Azores, at a cost of
£200 12s. He impressed a pinnace laden for Eochelle, and
in twenty-four hours unladed and fitted her out.

Statue of Sib Francis Drake.

PLYMOUTH THE ELIZABETHAN RENDEZVOUS. 55
Plymouth the Elizabethan Rendezvous.
During the whole of Elizabeth's reign Plymouth continued
the rendezvous of the various expeditions sent out against
the Spaniard. It had been the resort of the ships of the
Royal Navy throughout the century. A list of 1513 contains
the names of the Trinity of Plymouth, of 50 tons and 183
men ; and the Jamys of Saltash, 80 tons and 122 men, John
Cornwallis captain. The Mary Holway, the property of
William Holway of Plymouth, serving against the French
in 1564, was no doubt one of these semi-piratical ventures
which made Plymouth so hated abroad.
The next important event to the defeat of the Armada
was the sailing of the expedition under Drake and Norris,
to place Don Antonio on the throne of Portugal. Don
Antonio is said to have visited Mount Edgcumbe in 1580,
but the records there only refer to the visit of Diego
Botelho, his ' Councillor of State and Chancellor of the
Exchequer.' As a result, Piers Edgcumbe — described in the
papers as ' Caualeiro Execom ' — fitted out a squadron of ten
ships in 1582, under letters of marque from Antonio, the
fate of which is unknown. Antonio, we are told, again
visited Plymouth in 1583 and 1584. The Corporation
books do not mention him ; but £4 is charged in 1581 for
entertaining Botelho; so that if Antonio also had visited
Plymouth some record might have been expected.
The expedition of Drake and Norris did considerable
damage to the enemy, but could not take Lisbon. Half of
the 20,000 volunteers who manned it perished by sickness,
famine, fatigue, or the sword.
Then in June, 1595, was despatched the memorable
expedition against Cadiz, of which Howard and Essex were
the chief commanders. So many knights were made at
Cadiz that the plentiful crop gave rise to the stanza —
A gentleman of Wales, a knight of Cales,
And a laird of the North countree ;
But a yeoman of Kent with his yearly rent,
Could buy them out all three.
The last of the knights of Cales, Sir Robert Dudley, was
knighted in the streets of Plymouth, as the Lords-General
'came from the sermon.' And we find from the Town
Records that Captain Parker had 'a shippe y* serued the
towne in the Cales action.'
These Records contain frequent references under the head

56 . HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
of expenditure to the great men and events of these days.
Thus we may cite :
1570-71 Itm payd for a bote & men to cary the procla
mation abord the prince of Orenge is shippes . . iij8
As already seen, Plymouth was a great resort for Con
tinental Protestant privateers ; and there are many allusions
to the visits of those of the Huguenots, or, as they are often
called, ' Rochellers,' and the Dunkirkers. This proclamation
was the order of Elizabeth prohibiting the supply of the
Dutch patriots with meat, bread, or beer.
1582-3 Itm pd for wyne gewen to the prince of Cundie
[Conde] . . . . . vB xd
Itm pd to the drumer to call the prince of Cundies company
aborde . . ... xviijd
Itm pd for the hire of a bote wch was sente to Cawson the
xxviijth of Auguste to knowe what the shippe was there ij8
Itm pd for victualls for the Bote wch was sente over into
Brittaine for the discoverie of the Spaunishe Fleete xxv8 idob
1586-7 Itm pd to certaine Laborers working at the diche
sente thither when the Brut [bruit = rumour] was of ye
Spanniards . . . . viij8 xid
The entries in the Armada year are not so numerous as
might be looked for, and no doubt there was a separate
account which has not been preserved ; as with some other
matters. We find :
Itm pd to Rohte Scarlette for goinge oute to discover the
Spaynish Fleet . . . . . yj8
Itm pd to John Gibbons and Henry Woode for watching at
Rame hedd iiij daies when the Spaynyerds were vppon
the Coaste . . . . . x8
Itm pd to Philipp Boyes in Consideracon of certayne Treasure
Trove . . . ... xxl;
Beyond this we have only some which refer to the ship
and pinnace found for the fleet by the town and district,
towards which Sir John Hawkins gave £20, while letters
were written to the justices touching ' monie wch we should
receue for fetting out of a shipp against the Spaniards.'
Itm paied to George Sterling for riding to Mr. Champnon
[Champernowne] of Modberie wth Sir Fraunces Drake
his Ire for staieng of the monies wch hath ben gathered
of Armenton hendred for fitting out of the Shippe . xviijd
Itm to John Jope bestowed upon the shipp and the
Pynnace that Srved vnder the Lo : admiral! . . iiiju

THE REVERSE OF THE PICTURE. 57
1588-9 Itm paied to Edward Hill for rowing up to Howe
to adurtise the Lo : Chamberlen of the Spaniard that
Cam into Bigberie Baie . . . . ijs
1589-90 Itm pd for Charges of Spanyardes brought in by
the Rawe Bucke & Gallion dudeley for theire dyett &
sendinge theym & for theire guyde . . . xxiiij"
This last entry does not seem to agree with a statement
that a number of Spanish prisoners were kept at Plymouth
a year and a half, until ransomed.
There are numerous ' items ' of feasting and entertainments
of various kinds to ' Sir Richard Grayneville,' Sir Humphry
Gilbert, the Earl of Bedford, Sir Walter Ralegh, ' my lord
admirall,' and others; while gifts were made and salutes
fired, e.g. :
Itm pd to Mr. Ric Hawkins for a Silver Cuppe wch was
geiven to the Lo Warden . ... xijh
Itm pd for iiiju of powder spente at the cominge in of Sr
Fraunces Drake . . . iiij8 yjd
Itm pd for 4 pounde of powder to shoutte of the pieces in
the Church yarde . . ... iiij8
Itm pd for 18 pound of powder that charged the 4 pieces
of ordyn'mce in the Castell at the landinge of Earle of
Essex ... ... xviij8
Some of the humours of the times are indicated in the
current phrase, ' a Plymouth cloak,' for a cudgel.
The Reverse of the Picture.
All this gives us the heroic side of Elizabethan Plymouth.
But there was a reverse to the picture. The town was ill
fortified; and the inhabitants had to see to their own
defence. Until the fort was built on the 'hawclifts' — the
old bulwarks being ' methodized into a fortification regular '
in 1591-2 — there was really nothing in the shape of a
military garrison. When the Queen contributed, moreover,
she exercised authority in the appointment of a captain of
' the fort and island,' and these officials were not always on
the best of terms with ' the Mayor and his brethren.' The
town lay so open to the enemy (though Sir Francis Drake
and the Mayor drew the long bow a little when they told
Elizabeth in 1590 that it was 'not defended by any fort or
rampier'); it was the natural object of so much Spanish
animosity ; and the almost constant absence of so many of
its stoutest sons at sea so weakened its personal means of
defence ;— that, when its ' captains ' were away, there ruled a

58 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
chronic state of alarm, by no means unreasonable. In 1586
it was found needful to fine the inhabitants who did not do
their duty or provide efficient substitutes for the day or
night watch ; and in the following year exceedingly stringent
measures were taken. The Corporation ordered that all who,
on any attack being offered by the enemy, should absent
themselves or any way withdraw themselves out of the town,
against their duty and allegiance, should forfeit all their
goods and chattels within the liberty, be utterly dis
franchised, never restored, and never allowed again to dwell
therein. Plymouth folk indeed were not all heroes, even in Armada
days ; and rumour had full sway in the concluding years of
the sixteenth century. Spies -were thought to be everywhere.
In July, 1591, Weston wrote to Francis Bacon that ten
seminary priests and Jesuits had been landed in a creek
near Plymouth by a London merchant, who had received £60.
In February, 1593, John Sparke wrote the Privy Council
that many of the inhabitants were leaving, because they
had heard the Spaniards intended to burn the town in the
summer. Naturally this alarm was held to be justified in July, 1595,
by the petty invasion at Mousehole, which resulted in the
Spaniards occupying Penzance, and in help being sought
from Plymouth, where Drake and Hawkins then lay with
their fleet bound to the West Indies. By the time the
English vessels had reached the Lizard the four Spanish
galleys were clear away.
In the following March fears were again aroused by the
daring of a Spanish pinnace with 25 men, which came
into Cawsand Bay, landed some of the crew, and set on
fire five houses and two boats. A force arriving the fire
was quenched, and at the discharge of the first musket the
invaders fled, leaving behind them a 'bridge barrel,' which
was sent to London. We trace the effects on the minds of
the Plymothians in the following entries of expenditure for
this year :
Itm to John Drummer for warninge all the Inhabitaunts to
be in aredynes w'h their armor . . . yjd
Afterwards they were ordered to ' muster on the hawe.'
Itm pd him [Edwards] for calling w*h his bell all saylors
before the presse master . ... iijd
Itm pd for erectinge of the barracathes and for other Chargs
layed out aboute the same . . clxxij11 vjs ijd

THE REVERSE OF THE PICTURE. 59
Some of the ' btKracathes ' were put up at Batten by Sir
E. Champernowne. \
In 1597 hearsay, became circumstantial. Traitors at
Plymouth had sold it to the Spaniards for £50,000. Eight
thousand men were to be disembarked from long boats to
the westward of Plymouth at peep-of-day, and a diversion
to be effected at Falmouth. Hence pinnaces were frequently
sent out to ' spy tidings.'
In the spring of 1599 a Spanish squadron captured vessels
in Plymouth Sound itself — fishing boats, and a small craft
belonging to Edward Cock. Whether any of the prisoners
then made entered the Spanish service is not stated ; but one
Thomas Griffin, of Plymouth, had done so a little earlier.
On the 25th of June, 1599, came a terrible scare. Edward
Doddington, captain of the fort in the absence of Sir Ferdi-
nando Gorges, sent off an express to London (which got there
on the 27th) that the Spaniards had come. He endorsed his
letter, ' For her Majesty's special use ; haste post haste for
life ; haste haste, post haste for life.' That night three
companies of the townsfolk kept under arms on the Hoe,
one in the town ; and Doddington complained that they
would not go into the fort. The Mayor retorted that they
knew better. If they had gone into the fort they would
not have been allowed out ; they were not going to abandon
the defence of their houses and property; and the best of
them would leave the town if it were sought to put them
under military command in any such way. The ' Spaniards '
turned out to be a fleet of friendly Flemings ! But this was
only one alarm of many ; and gates and barricades were again
put up at the cost of the inhabitants, who were then greatly
encouraged by the presence of 4000 men and some horse,
commanded by the Earl of Bath. The Black Book quaintly
notes that these remained ' about three weeks and were well
lodged and entertayned to the great comforte and encourage
ment of the Towne and country, who yf itt pleased God
that the enemye shoulde come were then readie and willinge
to fighte.'
The appearance of a strange fleet in July, 1601, aroused
fresh fears; and this time it was one Captain Gilbert who
complained that the Mayor and burgesses would not obey
his orders. They put themselves in arms without his
directions, and 'would not go into the fort.' They would
defend the town voluntarily, but in their own way. ' What
ever I bid to be done, they will do nothing till they have
called a council ! '

60 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Twenty-two chests of bulls and pardon were burnt this
year, but it is not said whence they carae.
Itm pd for calling in the Popes pdons and for making a tier
to burn them . . . . . v
We glean many interesting glimpses of the manners and
customs of seafaring Englishmen in these days. Sailors
have ever been less amenable to strict discipline than
soldiers; and three hundred years ago they were just as
fond of bolting from their vessels and going ' on the spree '
as since.
In one case we find 2s. 6d. paid for ' hue and crie made
after Sr Fraunces Drake's musitions.' Sometimes the reins
of discipline were held with a very tight hand. While the
expedition to Cadiz was in preparation two offenders were
executed at the local Tyburn, which has been the scene of
many such events — 'a little without the toune, in a very
fayre pleasant greene called the Ho'— one for mutiny, the
other for running away from his colours. William Meade
and Mychell Fenton were executed there in May, 1596. A
Dutchman who killed a comrade under the influence of
drink was tied to the dead body and thrown overboard;
and a lieutenant was, ' by sound of drumme, disgraced
in all the streets.'
Plymouth Expeditions under the Tudors.
This chapter may fittingly be concluded with a list of the
chief voyages from Plymouth under the Tudors.
1528 (!). First voyage of William Hawkins the elder to the South
Seas, in the Paul of Plymouth.
1530. Second voyage of William Hawkins the elder.
1532. Third voyage of William Hawkins the elder.
1562 (October). First voyage of John Hawkins to the West
Indies, in the Solomon, 120 tons ; Swallow, 100 ; Jonas,
40 — the crews numbering 100 men.
1564. Thomas Stukeley sailed on his pretended voyage to Florida.
1564. John Hawkins sailed, 18th October, on his second Guinea
and West Indian voyage, with the Jesus of Lubeck, 700
tons; Solomon, 140; Tiger, 50; Swallow, 30.
1566. Third West Indian voyage of Sir John Hawkins, of which
no detailed record exists.
1567. Fourth voyage of Sir John Hawkins to the West Indies,
sailing, October 2nd, with the Jesus of Lubeck, Mynion,
William and John, Judith, Angel, and Swallow. Ended
in the disaster of San Juan de Ulloa.

PLYMOUTH EXPEDITIONS UNDER THE TUDORS. 61
1572. Sir Francis Drake sailed on his expedition of war against
the King of Spain, with the Pascha of 70 tons, and the
Swan of 25, manned by 73 men. He took Nombre de
Dios, and first saw the Pacific.
1575. John Oxenham made his last famous voyage in a vessel of
140 tons and 70 men. He left his ship aground in the
Bay of Mexico, covered with boughs, crossed the
isthmus of Darien, built a pinnace, and was the first
Englishman who sailed on the Pacific. Being taken, he
was executed at Lima.
1577. Drake's famous voyage of circumnavigation. He sailed
first, November 15th, with 5 ships and 164 men; but,
driven back by a storm, did not make his final departure
until December 13th. Thomas Drake, his brother, went
with him; also John Drake. Returned September
26th, 1580. Vessels— Pelican or Golden Hind, 120
tons ; Elizabeth, 80 ; Swan, 50 ; Marigold, 30 ;
Christopher, 15.
1580 (?). William Hawkins the younger, brother of Sir John,
sailed to the West Indies, taking with him his nephew
Richard.
1583. Sir Humphry Gilbert sailed from 'Causet Bay neere vnto
Plimmouth' on his second voyage to Newfoundland —
in which he took possession of that country, and from
which he did not return.
1585. Sir Richard Grenville sailed, April 9th, with the Tyger,
Roebucke, Lyon, Elizabeth, Dorothie, and two small
pinnaces, containing Ralegh's earliest Virginian colony,
the first practical attempt of the English to colonize
North America. Settlement planted by Ralph Lane.
1585. September 14th. Sir Francis Drake sailed on the voyage
in which he took San Iago, San Domingo, Carthagena,
and San Augustine, in Florida. He had a fleet of 25
sail, with 2,300 soldiers and sailors, of whom 750 were
lost on the voyage, chiefly by disease. Frobisher was
vice-admiral, Thomas Drake captain of the Thomas,
Richard Hawkins of the galiot Duck.
1586. Thomas Candish, or Cavendish, sailed on his voyage of
circumnavigation July 21st, 1586, with the Desire, 120
tons ; Content, 60 ; Hugh, galiot, 40. Returned to
Plymouth, September 9th, 1588. William Stevens,
gunner, of Plymouth, was killed in a fight at Quintero.
1587. Ralegh's second Virginian colony, under John White,
sailed May 8th, in three vessels.
1587. Drake sailed, with twelve ships, on the 3rd of April to
" singe the king of Spain's beard."
1588. The English fleet under Howard, Drake, and Hawkins,
sailed July 21st, to meet the Armada.

62 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH,
1589. John Chudley sailed August 5th to the South Seas.
1589. Sir Francis Drake and Sir J. Norris sailed April 18th, 'to
restore the king of Portugal.'
1590. Sir Richard Hawkins granted commission to attack the
Spaniards on the South Seas.
1590. John White sailed March 20th with five vessels, with
supplies for Ralegh's Virginian colony.
1590. Sir John Hawkins and Frobisher sailed with fourteen ships
against the Spaniards.
1590. Commission issued to Richard Grenville, Piers Edgcumbe,
Arthur Basset, John Fitz, Edmund Tremayne, W.
Humphreys, Alexander Arundel, Thomas Digges,
Mortimer Dare, Dominick Chester, and others, to fit out
and equip a fleet for the discovery of land in the
Antarctic Sea, the special object of their search being
an approach to the dominions of the 'Great Cam of
Cathaia.'
1591. Candish sailed against the Spaniards August 26th, with
three ships and three barks.
1593. Sir Richard Hawkins sailed with five ships to the South
Seas, where he was taken prisoner.
1595. Sir Walter Ralegh sailed from Plymouth for Guiana
February 6th. He had Captain Whiddon with him,
and ' Butshead Gorges.'
1595. The expedition to Cadiz of Howard and the Earl of Essex.
1595. Drake and Hawkins went on their last voyage to the
Indies, with six Queen's ships and twenty-one others,
manned by 2,500 men and boys. They finally sailed
from 'Causon Bay' on Friday, August 29th. As they
left, the Hope struck the Eddystone, but soon cleared.
1596. 'Master William Parker of Plimmouth, gentleman,' fitted
out the Prudence, 120 tons, and the Adventure, 25, at
his own charges. Sailed in November, and sacked
Campeachy with 100 men on the following Easter even.
1601. Captain William Parker sailed (November) with the
Prudence, 100 tons (130 men) ; Pearl, 60 tons (60 men);
and a pinnace of 20 tons (18 men). The Pearl was
commanded by Captain Robert Rawlins. The pinnace
was lost with all but three men. In this expedition
Porto Bello was taken.

CHAPTER V.
THE PLYMOUTH COMPANY.
Have over the waters to Florida,
Farewell, good London, now ;
Through long delays, on lands and seas,
I 'm brought, I can't tell how,
In Plymouth town, in a threadbare gown,
And money never a deal.
Hey trixi trim ! go trixi trim !
And will not a wallet do well. — Old Ballad.
Wild was the day ; the wintry sea
Moaned sadly on New England's strand,
When first the thoughtful and the free ;
Our fathers ; trod the desert land. — Bryant.
CONSPICUOUS in the annals of English colonization in
North America is the name of the ' Plymouth Company.'
Yet there is no portion of our local history about which
information is more fragmentary. Plymouth herself yields
but one single trace in her records of the existence and
operations of this once notable organization, which undertook
and partially accomplished the settlement of New England ;
and for some of the leading facts of its career we must
cross the Atlantic.1
There was a time when Bristol seemed destined to lead
the van of Western adventure. Thence John and Sebastian
Cabot sailed on the famous voyage in which they discovered
the American mainland, nearly a year before Columbus.
Sebastian Cabot in subsequent expeditions explored the
coast of North America; several years later he visited
Brazil. Other voyages must have been made to the West,
probably from Bristol, which under the patent of Henry VII.
had a monopoly of the trade with the discoveries of the
1 The materials for this chapter are mainly drawn from the contemporary
narratives of voyages in Hakluyt and elsewhere, Captain John Smith's
writings, Prince's New England Annals, and the Transactions of the Maine
and Massachusetts Historical Societies.

64 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Cabots. North American Indians were exhibited in London
for a show as early as 1502, and within the first decade of
the sixteenth century the foundations of the Newfoundland
fishing trade were laid. Yet when Sebastian Cabot entered
the Spanish service, Bristol, notwithstanding its mercantile
status and reputation, ceased to take an active interest in
the work of discovery. Then Devonshire and Plymouth
came to the front.
Two Englishmen, 'somewhat learned in cosmographie,'
sailed with Sebastian Cabot in the Spanish expedition which
made the discovery of the river Plate, and it is a natural
conclusion that information thus obtained led to the first
systematic English trading expeditions to the Brazils, the
voyages of William Hawkins, in the Paul of Plymouth, in
the years 1528 (?), 1530, and 1532.
For nearly a century from the date of these Brazilian
voyages the work of Western and Southern discovery .and
settlement was carried on almost wholly by Devonshire men,
sailing from Devonshire ports; while from the waters of
Plymouth Sound more expeditions set forth than from all
the other harbours in the kingdom put together.
Early American Colonists.
The French were the first nation who definitely attempted
to colonise North America. Carrier's description of the St.
Lawrence, discovered by him in 1534, led to an unsuccessful
effort to plant a colony near what is now Quebec, by
Francis de la Roque, or Eoche, Lord of Eoberval, in 1542.
The French did effect a settlement on the coast of what is
now called Carolina, but was then known under the general
name of Florida, by John Eibault, as early as 1562. But
all came to grief, Eibault and his company being massacred
on a subsequent voyage by the Spaniards. The failure of
a colony under Eene Laudonniere, in 1565, brings into
honourable prominence the name of Hawkins. When the
Frenchmen were in great distress John Hawkins, with a
fleet of four vessels, put in to water, and ' being moued with
pitie,' gave them wine, provisions, shoes, and other necessaries.
He offered to take them back to France, but it was arranged
that he should sell them a ship, which he did at their own
valuation — 700 crowns — receiving guns and powder. M.
Laudonniere notes : ' We receiued as many courtesies of the
Generall as it was possible to receiue of any man liuing.'
The Frenchmen went back a month after Hawkins's visit.

EARLY AMERICAN COLONISTS. 65
In 1568 the massacre of Eibault was avenged by Dominic
de Gourges, who destroyed the Spanish settlement and
returned to France. And here the French attempts in
Florida came to an end.
Dartmouth was the first Devonshire pojt to send forth a
colonising expedition. Sir Humphry Gilbert wrote a dis
course to prove a passage by the North- West to Cathay and
the East Indies, and obtained a patent from Elizabeth,
empowering him to discover and settle in North America
any savage lands. His first voyage (1579) was unsuccessful.
In his second (1583), he took possession of Newfoundland,
which had long been a fishing station for various nations,
but was drowned before he could turn this formality to any
practical account. His brother Adrian next solicited a
patent for the search and discovery of the North- West
Passage. All the traffic of his new discoveries was to be
conducted either at London, Dartmouth, or Plymouth, where
the Queen's tenth was to be paid.
Plymouth became the headquarters of Ealegh's efforts to
colonise Virginia, or, as it was for a short time called, after
its intending founder, Ealeana. His patent was granted
March 25th, 1584; and his first expedition left the Thames
in the April following, under Captains Philip Amadas and
Arthur Barlowe. Virginia was then formally and feudally
taken possession of for him. Next Grenville sailed from
Plymouth, April 9th, 1585, with the Tyger, Roebucke, Lyon,
Elizabeth, Dorothie, and two small pinnaces, his biggest ship
being 140 tons. A settlement was planted by Ealph Lane,
and of the 107 who took part therein several by their names
were evidently from the West-Country. This first practical
effort by the English to colonise North America was, however,
of short duration. It continued only from August 17th,
1585, to June 18th, 1586, when Drake, cruising on the coast,
gave the colonists a ship to return home in. Ralegh had in
the meantime sent out a vessel for their relief, and Grenville,
visiting the deserted settlement of Roanoke shortly after
they had left, landed fifteen men there.
Another attempt was made in the following year (1587).
Ralegh again sent out a well-appointed party, under John
White as governor, and twelve assistants. The expedition
sailed from Plymouth May 8th, and consisted of three ships.
On arrival at Roanoke only the bones of one of the fifteen
were found. This second colony consisted of ninety-one men,
seventeen women, and nine children; and the chief point
connected with it is, that on the 18th August, at the ' City of
F

66 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Ralegh,' there was born Virginia Dare, whose parents were
Ananias Dare and Eleanor, daughter of Governor White, the
first American-born, child of English descent. This effort
was likewise doomed to failure. White, who had come home
for supplies, sailed from Plymouth March 20th, 1590, with
three ships and two shallops, and when he reached the
infant settlement found it destroyed.
All present hopes of settling Virginia were then abandoned.
Ealegh had done his best. His individual efforts cost him
£40,000. He formed a company under his patent, which
was no more fortunate than himself, but which became the
germ of the more notable Plymouth and London Companies.
Five times he searched for the missing colonists, whom
Indian tradition asserted to have been adopted in their
distress into the Hatteras tribe. The last search was made
by Bartholomew Gilbert, who sailed from Plymouth in May,
1603, and, with four of his men, was killed by the Indians
of Chesapeake Bay.
To Captain Bartholomew Gosnold belongs the honour of
the next colonising expedition. In March, 1602, he sailed
from Falmouth with thirty-two persons, coasted along the
shores of New' England, discovered Cape Cod, and built a
fort on Elizabeth Island, near Martha's Vineyard, returning
to Plymouth (or Exmouth) in the following July, as the
men who had gone out to settle refused to stay.
There was thus no English settlement on the North
American coast when, in November, 1603, Henri Quatre
granted the charter of Acadie, now Nova Scotia, to the
Huguenot du Mont, who, with Champlin and others, planted
a colony in 1604 at the mouth of the St. Croix. This was
the first permanent European settlement in North America.
Thence the French extended their plantations in various
directions. Dislodged from St. Croix in 1613 by the
English, they held tenaciously to their claims, and eventually
the English occupied the country as far east as the Kennebec,
the French as far west as the Penobscot, the intervening
territory being considered debateable.
Meanwhile English adventurers had been by no means
daunted. Captain George Weymouth, in 1605, coasting
New England, discovered the St. George's Eiver, and the
Penobscot — 'the most excellent and beneficyall riuer of
Sachadehoc' He brought back with him to Plymouth five
natives of Pemaquid, three of whom, Manida, Shetwarroes,
and Tisquantum, he gave to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, governor
of Plymouth Fort, who henceforward became one of the

FORMATION OF THE PLYMOUTH COMPANY. 67
most energetic promoters of North American adventure and
settlement. This voyage was the immediate occasion of the
formation of the Plymouth Company, and the direct result
of efforts made to follow up Ealegh's patent, which had
passed into various hands.
Formation of the Plymouth Company.
In April, 1606, James I. granted two charters for the
colonization of the North American coast, between Canada
and Florida, then known by the general name of Virginia. ;
Chief Justice Popham being the moving spirit of the
scheme. South Virginia, between the 34th and the 38th
degrees north latitude, was assigned to the London Company.
North Virginia, between the 41st and 45th degrees, to the
Western, or Plymouth Company. Each association had an
equal right in the intermediate district, but their colonies
were not to be planted within 100 miles of each other.
The Plymouth Company was composed of adventurers
not only of Plymouth, but of Bristol and Exeter. Its
earliest promoters were Thomas Hanham, Ealegh Gilbert,
William Parker, and George Popham. Sir John Popham
and Sir Ferdinando Gorges were also much concerned, and
in the same year (1606) sent out the Richard, from Plymouth,
under Captain Henry Challons. He was, however, taken
by the Spaniards, who still claimed the exclusive right of
navigation in American waters. Another vessel, sent from
Bristol to second Challons, under Thomas Hanham and
Martin Prinn, reached the coast safely, but not finding
Challons there, returned.
The first expedition to settle New England under the
auspices of the Plymouth Company set forth in 1607.
Lord Chief Justice Popham fitted out two vessels, which
sailed from Plymouth on the last day of May. Of this
expedition Captain George Popham was president; Captain
Ealegh Gilbert, admiral; Captain Edward Harlow, master
of the ordnance; Captain Eobert Davis, sergeant-major;
Captain Elis Best, marshal ; Mr. Seaman, secretary ; Captain
James Davis, captain of the fort; and Mr. Gome Carew,
chief searcher — these being members of the Council. Two
of the natives brought home by Weymouth were taken as
interpreters. The colonists came to land August 11, and
planted themselves at the mouth of the Kennebec. The
winter was so cold, and their provision so small, that all the
company were sent back but forty-five. Then George
F 2

68 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Popham died; and learning by the ships sent out with
supplies that the Chief Justice was dead, and also Sir John
Gilbert, whose lands the adventurers were to possess, and
thus 'finding nothing but extreme extremities,' all the rest
returned in 1608. The colonists erected a fort called St.
George, which stood on or near the site of the present
United States fortification, named, in memory of the first
active head of the Plymouth Company, Fort Popham. The.
225th anniversary of the landing was commemorated in
1862 by placing a memorial stone in its walls.
The only written record of the existence of the Plymouth
Company among the Plymouth Archives is a letter, dated
February 17, 1608, from the London Company to the Mayor
and Commonalty. The London Company say that they
had heard of the ill success of the attempt of the Plymouth
Company to plant a colony ; that they on the contrary had
been successful in their venture; that in the month of
March they intended to send a large supply of 800 men
under the Lord de la Warre [Delaware] ; and that, ' nothing
doubting that the one ill success hath quenched your
affections from so hopeful and goodly an action,' they still
hoped and desired that the Corporation should participate
in this new venture by individual investment for the fitting
out of a ship to join the new expedition. The shares were
£25 each, and all who were disposed to invest that sum
would come in on equal terms. The Earl of Pembroke, as
Warden of the Stannaries, had been asked to help in
providing one hundred labouring men.
The ardour of the Plymouth Company had indeed been
quenched. As an association it ceased for the time to do
anything beyond warning off foreign interlopers. Sir Ferdi
nando Gorges, it is true, had other views. He says, 'I
became an owner of a ship myself, fit for that employment,
and under cover of fishing and trade, I got a master and
company for her, to which I sent Vines and others, my own
servants, with their provisions for trade and discovery-,
appointing them to leave the ship and the ship's company
to follow their business in the usual place.'
The London Company meantime founded Jamestown, and
some of their trade was carried on by way of Plymouth.
Hence the western port became associated with the romantic
history of Poeahontas (' the nonpareil of Virginia,' daughter
of Powhattan), who saved the life of Captain John Smith,
and ever proved the firmest friend of the white man. ' The
Lady Eebecca,' as she was afterwards known, landed at

CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 69
Plymouth with her husband, John Eolfe, June 12, 1616.
She died at Gravesend, when about to return to her native
country, and her little child, Thomas Eolfe, was left at
Plymouth with Sir Lewis [Judas] Stukely. At Plymouth,
too, landed the envoy, Vetamatomakkin, whom crafty old'
Powhattan sent over to reckon the strength of the English.
When _ he landed the innocent savage got a large stick,
intending to cut thereon a notch for every Englishman he
saw, ' but,' as the chronicler naively notes, ' he was quickly
weary of that task.' Captain John Smith.
For some years after this no attempt was made at settle
ment; though vessels continued to be sent to the New
England coast for fishing and trading purposes, and there
were expeditions to discover mines of gold and copper.
Fish and fur, however, were the main objects of traffic,
and these proved very profitable to merchants of London,
Plymouth, the Isle of Wight, and elsewhere. The chief
undertakers in the business at this date were Sir F. Popham
and Sir Ferdinando Gorges. Nor did the course of trade
run smooth. The French were also in the field; and the
first expedition to New England in which Capt. John Smith
took part, in 1614, was marred by the conduct of one
Thomas Hunt, master of the second of the two ships of
which the little fleet consisted. Left behind by Smith to
fit with dry fish for Spain, he ' betrayed four and twenty of
those poor savages aboard his ship, and most dishonestly and
inhumanly for their kind usage of me and all our men,
carried them with him to Maligo, and there for a little
private gain sold those silly savages for rials of eight; but
this wild act kept him ever after from any more employment
to those parts.'
According to Smith, when he returned to Plymouth from
this voyage, the patent of the Plymouth Company was
virtually dead. He gave, however, such an account of the
resources of the district, which he was the first to name New
England, that he stirred the patentees to new life, and they
promised to fit out an expedition for a fresh plantation, and
put it in his charge. Meanwhile he went to London, and
thence, in consequence of his report, the London Company
sent out a fishing fleet of four vessels, under one Michael
Couper, master of Smith's vessel. When Smith came back
to Plymouth, however, he found nothing done.
Not long before Smith's return from New England, a bark

70 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
had sailed from Plymouth to discover a gold mine, which
Epenow, an Indian brought home by Captain Harlow, had
reported to exist. The object of the crafty red man was,
however, to get home. Exhibited as a giant, and resenting
his treatment, he contrived this fable of the gold mine to
secure his return. Thus the expedition was a failure, and
this being learnt while Smith was in London, the West-
Country folk were too much discouraged to make any of the
preparations promised.
But Smith was not so easily daunted. He had taken much
pains to get the Londoners and the Plymouth men to join
together, because the ' Londoners have most money, and the
Western men are more proper for fishing.' Besides, it was
'near as much trouble but much more danger, to sail from
London to Plymouth, than from Plymouth to New England !'
so that half the voyage would be saved by making Plymouth
the head-quarters. Both parties were too desirous to be
' lords of the fishing ' for this end to be accomplished.
Nevertheless Smith brought down with him from London
'two hundred pounds in cash for adventure, and six
gentlemen well furnished,' and Sir Ferdinando Gorges
persuaded Dr. Sutcliffe, Dean of Exeter, and several Western
merchants, ' to entertain this plantation.' Arrangements
were made that Smith should settle in New England with
sixteen companions; and in 1615 he set sail in a vessel of
two hundred tons, with a consort of fifty, to make a second
effort to plant a colony in the territory of the Plymouth
Company. Ill-fortune still dogged his efforts. A violent
storm so shattered his ship that he had to put back (his
'vice-admiral,' not knowing of this disaster, proceeding on
the voyage), and it was not until the 24th of June that he
could again sail, this time in a small bark of sixty tons only,
with but thirty men. Once more disaster. He was taken
by French pirates or privateers of Eochelle ; and though his
vessel and crew after a while returned safely to Plymouth,
he was kept captive by the Frenchmen, partly in consequence
of the mutiny of some of his men, until he could make his
escape to Eochelle, and thence to Plymouth, where he 'laid by
the heels' such 'chieftains of this mutiny' as could be found.
Thus ended abortively the second attempt to settle New
England. The efforts made were not, however, wholly
thrown away. ^ The four ships sent from London under
Couper, and Smith's vice-admiral, made good voyages. More
were sent in the following year, and this led, as in the case
of Newfoundland, to the establishment of small trading

CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 71
posts of a temporary character. There is reason to believe
that the first trading outposts, as distinct from settlements,
on the coast of New England were those formed by
Plymouth merchants. The regular traders were accustomed
to frequent the same harbours ; and Sir Francis Popham had
for years occupied one near the island of Monhegan. The
Trelawnys of Plymouth, too, must have been actively engaged
in the trade, even at this early date.
Smith still persevered. On his return from France he
raised £100 in London, and finding Plymouth ill-prepared
for another expedition at the moment, he spent the summer
of 1616 in visiting Bristol, Exeter, Barnstaple, Bodmin,
Penryn, Fowey, Millbrook, Saltash, Dartmouth, Absom, and
Totnes, and ' the most of the gentry in Cornwall and Devon
shire,' trying to enlist support for further efforts. Another
expedition was then projected, and the Plymouth Company
agreed that Smith should be Admiral of New England during
life, and that the profits should be equally divided between
the patentees and Smith and his associates. Again well-laid
plans came to nothing, and Smith remarks of the Company :
' I am not the first they have deceived.'
We need not wonder that Smith had little love for the
Plymouth Company. ' No man,' said he, ' will go from hence
to have less freedom there than here . . . and it is too well
known there have been so many undertakers of patents, and
such sharing of them, as hath bred no less discouragement
than wonder to hear such great promises and so little
performance ; in the interim you see the French and Dutch
already frequent it, and God forbid they in Virginia, or any
of his majesty's subjects, should not have as free liberty as
they.' Smith in his day was probably England's most energetic
and earnest advocate of colonization. He did his utmost,
by tongue and pen, to stir up his countrymen. Even the
' ever-living actions ' of the Portuguese and Spaniards ' will
testify with them our idleness and ingratitude to all posteri
ties, and the neglect of our duties in our piety and religion.
We owe our God, our king, and country, and want of charity
to those poor savages, whose country we challenge, use, and
possess ; except we be but made to use, and man, what our
forefathers made, or but only tell what they did, or esteem
ourselves too good to take the like pains.' Moreover, the
way had been prepared by Providence! 'God hath laid
this country open for us, and slain the most part of the
inhabitants by civil wars and a mortal disease.'

72 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Revival of the Plymouth Company.
In 1615 Sir Eichard Hawkins sailed with a commission
from the Council of Plymouth to do what he could in New
England. He found the natives at war, and passed along
the coast to Virginia. In the following year, however, four
ships from Plymouth and two from London made good
voyages. One of the former was sent out by Gorges, under
the charge of Eichard Vines. Other captains for Gorges
were Edmund Eocroft and Dermer, or Dormer, who in 1619
went out with Squanto, one of the Indians taken by Hunt
to Malaga, to act as interpreter. But the natives remained
irreconcileable, and the operations of the Company continued
to be confined to ordinary trade. This indeed grew to some
what important dimensions. In 1619-20 the merchants of
London and Plymouth had eight vessels trading to New
England; and the voyages were so profitable, that Smith
notes seamen working on shares being able to earn £17
in six months — or, say, £85. Meanwhile the Company did
all they could to keep the trade to themselves, and in 1618 a
French trader from Dieppe was seized by a vessel sent out
by Gorges.
This brings us to the revival of the Plymouth Company
on an enlarged basis, and with wider powers. Experience
had taught the promoters of New England colonization
some lessons from which they were not slow to profit. Sir
Ferdinando Gorges had become the moving spirit, and to
his experience of Western adventure and traffic, and his
influence at the Court, we may give the chief place among
the causes which led to the reconstruction of the Company.
On the 3rd November, 1620, James granted a new charter
to Lodowick Duke of Lennox, George Marquis of Bucking
ham and Hamilton, the Earls of Arundel and Warwick, Sir
Ferdinando Gorges, and thirty-four others, incorporated, as
being 'the first modern and present Council established at
Plymouth, in the county of Devon, for the planting, ruling,
and governing of New England, in America'; and the
patentees were 'to elect and choose others to the number
of forty persons, and no more, to be of that Council,' so
incorporated, 'by the name of the Council established at
Plymouth for the governing of New England, in America.'
The territory conferred on the patentees in absolute perpetuity,
with unlimited jurisdiction, the sole powers of legislation, the
appointment of all officers and all forms of government, extended,
in breadth, from the fortieth to the forty-eighth degree of north

REVIVAL OF THE PLYMOUTH COMPANY. 73
latitude, and, in length, from the Atlantic to the Pacific : that is
to say, nearly all the inhabited British possessions to the north of
the United States, all New England, New York, half of New
Jersey, very nearly all Pennsylvania, and the whole of the country
to the west of these States, comprising, and at the time believed
to comprise, much more than a million of square miles, were, by
a single signature of King James, given away to a corporation
within the realm, composed of but forty individuals. The grant
was absolute and exclusive ; it conceded the land and islands, the
rivers and the harbours, the mines and the fisheries. Without
the leave of the Council of Plymouth, not a ship might sail into
a harbour from Newfoundland to the latitude of Philadelphia;
not a skin might he purchased in the interior ; not a fish might
be caught on the coast; not an emigrant might tread the soil.
No regard was shown for the liberties of those who might become
inhabitants of the colony; they were to be ruled, without their
own consents, by the corporation in England. 2
But James and the Company overreached themselves ; so
huge a monopoly, even in these days, could not pass un
challenged. The pretensions of the patentees were laughed
to scorn and ignored. Their vast designs dwindled into a
scramble for individual interests and proprietorships. The
settlement of New England was effected without their
first knowledge or intervention. The ' Council of Plymouth '
does not fill a very important niche in history; but it
might have advanced the development of New England
at least half a century.
Before we proceed to trace the Company's brief career, its
second founder claims a few words of personal notice. Sir
Ferdinando Gorges was the youngest son of Edward Gorges,
of Wraxall, Somerset, probably born circa 1565-7. He
served with distinction in France, and was one of the
knights made by the Earl of Essex at the siege of Rouen,
in 1591. He was also sergeant-major to the earl in the
Cadiz expedition, and was imprisoned for his share in that
ill-fated nobleman's rebellion. * His direct connection with
Plymouth appears to have begun with his appointment as
o-overnor of the fort. He died at Long Ashton, and was
buried there May 14th, 1647. His last public service was
his participation as a Royalist in the defence of Bristol.
Though Sir Ferdinando Gorges was himself of a Somerset
shire stock, the name had long been connected with the
neighbourhood of Plymouth. A family of Gorges, giving
three gurges or whirlpools as their arms, was settled at
a Bancroft, Hist. United States.

74 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Warleigh for several descents. The estate came to them
(temp. Henry III.) by marriage with the heiress of the
Foliots, who gave the Tamerton parish in which Warleigh
is situate its distinctive suffix. From the Gorges it passed
by successive female heirs to the Bonvilles, Coplestones, and
Eadcliffes. But there was a much later settlement of the
Gorges family, and nearer Plymouth, before Sir Ferdinando's
day. Sir William Gorges married Winifred, daughter and
heiress of Eoger Budockshed,4 the last of the ancient house
which took its name from the ancestral seat at St. Budeaux,
and in her right succeeded to that estate in 1576. Elizabeth,
the daughter of Tristram Gorges, his son, became Sir
Ferdinando's third wife ; and Sir Ferdinando had a residence
at Kinterbury. The Pilgrim Fathers.
The special work of the Plymouth Company was taken
out of its hands by men and women who had nothing to do
with Plymouth, save a passing connection ; but whose names
are now indissolubly identified with the old town.
In the year 1608 a small body of Puritans had expatriated
themselves for conscience sake, and settled at Leyden. After
a residence there of eleven years some of them determined to
seek a home on the shores of the New World, and by the
aid of certain English merchants — who looked at the matter
from a strictly business point of view, and gave them hard
terms — they obtained powers to effect a settlement near the
mouth of the Hudson. These Puritans were the Pilgrim
Fathers. They chartered two vessels, one the ever-memorable
Mayflower, of 180 tons, and the other the ill-speeding
Speedwell, of 60.
Bancroft describes the parting of the Pilgrim pioneers
at Delfthaven from their friends who were to follow, and
their subsequent proceedings, ere they finally set sail for
their destination :
As morning dawned Carver, Bradford, and Winslow, Brewster,
the ruling elder, Allerton, and the brave and faithful Standish,
with their equal associates — a feeble band for a perilous enterprise
— bade farewell to Holland ; while Robinson kneeling in prayer
by the sea -side, gave to their embarkation the sanctity of a
religious rite. A prosperous wind soon wafts the vessel to
3 This name is of very ancient origin, and probably represents ' Budocks-
hide,' the title of the land dedicated to the British saint Budock, whence
the parish takes its designation. Budockshed preserves the old pronunciation,
' Budo ' being a comparatively modern vulgarism, of the same type as the
substitution of the fashionable Prido for the genuine Devonian Priddicks=
Prideaux.

THE PILGRIM FATHERS. 75
Southampton, and in a fortnight the Mayflower and the Speedwell
freighted with the first colony for New England, leave
Southampton for America. But they had not gone far upon the
Atlantic before the smaller vessel was found to need repair, and
they enter the port of Dartmouth. After the lapse of eight
precious days they again weigh anchor; the coast of England
recedes ; already they are unfurling their sails on the broad ocean,
when the captain of the Speedwell with his company, dismayed at
the dangers of the enterprise, once more pretend that his ship is
too weak for the service. They put back to Plymouth to dismiss
their treacherous companions, though the loss of the vessel was
very grievous and discouraging. The timid and the hesitating
were all freely allowed to abandon the expedition. Having thus
winnowed their number of the cowardly and disaffected, the little
band, not of resolute men only, but wives, some far gone in
pregnancy, children, infants, a floating village, yet in all but 101
souls, went on board the single ship which was hired only to
convey them across the Atlantic; and on the sixth day of
September, 1620, thirteen years after the first colonization of
Virginia, two months before the concession of the grand charter
of Plymouth, without any warrant from the sovereign of
England, without any useful charter from a corporate body, the
passengers in the Mayflower set sail for a New World.
The destination for which the Pilgrims sailed they were
fated never to reach. Whether by stress of storm, or whether
by the double dealing of their captain — none can now
tell— they were carried to a point far north of the Hudson,
in the centre of the depopulated territory of New England;
and there, without patent or authority, without any other
rights than their necessities, they built the town of Plymouth.4
There could be no more befitting name. Dear to them was the
last spot of the mother country which their wandering feet
had trod — dear to them if for that fact alone, but dearer still
for the many kindnesses received from certain Christians
there, having been ' kindly entertained and courteously used
by divers friends there dwelling.' They planted the first
settlement on the coast of New England. They drew up the
earliest American constitution, by which, before they left the
Mayflower (November 11th), they constituted themselves a
civil body politic.
* It has been held that the Pilgrims gave it that name ; but the place is
called Plymouth in Smith's First Account of New England, 1616 — four years
before the arrival of the Pilgrims, and probably, therefore, had been early
frequented by Plymouth ships. No one can say positively whether the
Pilgrims continued the old name or gave it anew ; but if, as Mr. Justin
Winsor believes, they had Smith's map with them, it must have been simply
a continuation. The descendants of- the Pilgrims retain an affectionate
regard for English Plymouth still.

76 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
There is a very general and mistaken belief that the
Pilgrim Fathers were Plymouth people. But not only were
no Plymouth folk in their ranks, several of the company
of the Mayflower were merely hired men or apprentices, so
small was the real New England germ. Only Winslow and
Standish were above the yeoman class. Not many years
after the settlement of Plymouth the Pilgrims and their
descendants drifted away until, shortly after the foundation
of the adjacent and favoured town of Duxbury, Bradford
was the only one of the first comers of consideration who
remained in the old town. At the present moment Duxbury
probably contains more Pilgrim blood than any other
locality in Massachusetts. And on the occasion of the
celebration, June 17th, 1887, of the two hundred and fiftieth
anniversary of the foundation of that town, Mr. Justin
Winsor, Librarian of Harvard, a son of Duxbury of approved
Pilgrim strain, in his commemorative address delivered the
last words which have been authoritatively spoken on the
subject of the landing. The Pilgrims, he said,
were hound under the patent which they had received from the
old Virginia Company to find land somewhere in the neighbour
hood of Hudson River, perhaps on the Connecticut, perhaps on
the Jersey coast ; and it is almost equally certain that they had
with them the map of the New England coast which John Smith
had made when he examined its bays and headlands six years
before, and had later published with the native names displaced
by the English ones marked by Prince Charles on the draught
which the engraver followed. So when at last they sighted land
they knew it by the description to be the sandhills of the point
which was called on Smith's map Cape James, after the Prince's
royal father, but which the mariners who had been on the coast
before — and they had such among the crew — told them was never
theless known by those who frequented the region for traffic with
the Indians by the designation which Captain Gosnold had given
it eighteen years before, when he was surprised at the numbers of
fish which he found thereabout, and called it Cape Cod. As soon
as it became evident where they were they turned to the south
to seek the place of their destination ; but before long getting
among the shoals off Nanset, and fearing that after all their
tribulations they were running too great hazard to proceed, they
turned once more northward, and rounding the head of the cape
came at last to anchor in the shelter of what we now know as
Province Town Harbour.
Finding that stress of weather and the lateness of the season
had rendered it necessary to cease the attempt to find a haven

PROGRESS OF COLONIZATION. 77
within the privileges of their patent, and that they were brought
beyond the pale of the delegated authority which that patent
vested in their leaders, on territory not within the bounds of
such necessary control, it was then that mutterings — at least from
some of these same hired men and apprentices, eager to make the
most of the freedom which chance had seemingly given them —
made it necessary to draft that immortal compact, wherein by the
subscription of all, this band of exiles in the very spirit of their
religious independence took upon themselves the power of a body
politic, fit to govern themselves, and compel the subjection of any
that were evil disposed.
The Huguenots were then at Port Royal or Annapolis
(founded 1604), the London Company at Jamestown (1607),
the Dutch at New York (1614).
Progress of Colonization.
The large concessions made by James soon provoked
hostility. The Plymouth Company were first assailed in
their attempt to limit the right of fishing. Coke declared
their charter void. Two years after it was granted there
were as many as thirty-five vessels from the West of England
fishing on the New England coasts. An appeal from the
Company to James procured a proclamation forbidding all
access to the 'northern coast of America, except with the
special leave of the Company of Plymouth, or of the Privy
Council.' It was alleged that the ' interlopers ' sold arms to
the natives and taught their use. In 1623 Francis West
was commissioned as Admiral of New England to put an
end to unlicensed fishing. His efforts failed, for the fisher
men were ' stubborn fellows,' too strong for him. Nor was
the appointment of Robert Gorges, son of Sir Ferdinando
(who had a grant made him in Massachusetts Bay), as
Lieutenant-General of New England, one whit more effectual.
Meanwhile the House of Commons took the matter up in
earnest, and a bill was passed declaring that fishing should
be free, Coke telling Gorges to his face, ' The ends of private
gain are concealed under cover of planting a colony.'
° This was much too near the truth to be pleasant. It had
been found far easier to trade than to settle. Nevertheless
settlement was encouraged, though the patentees took chief
care of themselves. The earliest grant traceable under the
Council of Plymouth is one made on June 21st, 1621, to
John Pierce, of London. A hundred acres of land were
allotted by the Company for every person Pierce took with
him and a grant of 1,500 more in consideration of Pierce

78 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
and his associates undertaking to build churches, hospitals,
and bridges. Pierce settled at Pemaquid, subsequently
joining with one John Brown, who on July 15th, 1625,
bought a tract of land there, eight miles by twenty-five, of
two Indian chiefs, for fifty skins. It was through Pierce, in
1622, that the patent was granted under which the Plymouth
Colony was formally chartered.
In the following year a patent was granted to Master
Weston for the first plantation in Boston Bay. Weymouth
was settled, but came to grief in less than a twelvemonth.
In 1623 another attempt was made at the same spot by
Eobert Gorges, but he did not find the state of things to
answer his quality, and returned to England.
Then two of the leading members of the Plymouth Council
proceeded conclusively to justify Coke's allegation of the
paramount influence of private gain. On the 10th of
August, 1622, Sir F. Gorges and Capt. John Mason obtained
a grant of all the lands between the sea, the St. Lawrence,
the Merrimac, and the Kennebec, extending back to the
great lakes and river of Canada. They commenced to settle
in the following year on the Piscataqua river, by David
Thompson, Edward and William Hilton, and others. This
patent either was, or in some way became, inoperative, in
whole or in part, but it was renewed in due form several
years later, and in 1634 the lands were divided. Gorges
took the lands east of the Piscataqua, the province of Maine,
or, as he called it, New Somersetshire ; Mason, the lands on
the west, to which he gave the name of New Hampshire.
The enlarged limits of the Plymouth charter included
the French territories. These, however, were granted, with
the consent of the Company, under the name of Nova
Scotia, to Sir William Alexander, afterwards Earl of Stirling,
September 10th, 1621. Alexander had a further grant
from the Company, immediately before the surrender of
its charter, of the land from St. Croix to Pemaquid and up
to the Kennebec, to be called the country of Canada. He
expelled the French, and they made reprisals.
There is not any complete record of the land grants made
by the Council of Plymouth, but they include the following :
1621. John Pierce, of London, liberty to settle — Pemaquid.
1622. Patent to Weston for Weymouth, the first plantation in
Boston harbour, abandoned in 1623.
1622 Sir F. Gorges and Capt. Mason, lands between the Merrimac
and Kennebec, inoperative wholly or in part, but after
wards confirmed.

PROGRESS OF COLONIZATION. 79
1623. Robert Gorges, lands in Massachusetts.
1623. Patent to John Pierce, for the Plymouth Colony. He
subsequently obtained another in his own favour, but
meeting with disaster, sold it for £500 to the ad
venturers who had set out the Plymouth Colony in
England.
1626. Grant of a tract on the Kennebec to the Plymouth ad
venturers, subsequently enlarged.
1628. Charter to the Massachusetts Company, the foundation of
the state of Massachusetts.
1629 (!) Alderman Aldsworth and Giles Elbridge, merchants of
Bristol, 12,000 acres at Pemaquid.
1630. William Bradford and his associates, new patent for the
Plymouth adventurers, intended to place Plymouth on
the same footing as Massachusetts, but failing con
firmation of the King.
1630. Thomas Lewis and Richard Bonython, four miles by eight
on the east side of the mouth of Saco river.
1630. John Oldham and Richard Vines, four miles by eight on
the west of the Saco.
1630. Sherley and Hatherly, of Bristol, Andrews and Beauchamp,
of London, lands at Penohscott.
1630. John Beauchamp, London, and Thomas Leverett, Boston,
ten leagues square on the west of the Penobscott.
1630. John Dy, Thomas Luke, Grace Harding, John Roach,
John Smith, Brian Brinks — most, if not all, of London
— the province of Ligonia, between Cape Porpus and
Cape Elizabeth, extending forty miles from the coast.
This is commonly known as the Plough Patent. An
unavailing attempt at settlement was made in the
following year.
1631. Sir F. Gorges, Capt. Mason, and others, a small tract on
both sides of the Piscataqua.
1631. Thomas Cammock, 1,500 acres, Black Point.
1631. Richard Bradshaw, 1,500 acres, claimed to be at Spurwink.
Bradshaw was said to have been settled there by Capt.
Walter Neele on behalf of the patentees.
1631. Robert Trelawny and Moses Goodyear, of Plymouth, a
tract between Spurwink river and Casco Bay.
1631. Walter Bagnall, Richmond Island, and 1,500 acres.
1631. John Stratton and his associates, 2,000 acres on the south
of Cape Porpus River.
1631. Edward Godfrey, a grant on the river Agamenticus, now
York.
1632. Robert Aldsworth and Giles Elbridge, an additional tract
on Pemaquid Point.
1632. George Way and Thomas Purchase, lands between the
Kennebec and Androscoggin rivers and Casco Bay.

80 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
1634. Edward Godfrey, Samuel Maverick, William Hooke, and
others, 12,000 acres north of the Agamenticus.
1634. Ferdinando Gorges (grandson of Sir Ferdinando), 12,500
acres west of the Agamenticus. (Grants were also
made to Thomas, William, and .Henry Gorges, Sir
Ferdinando's nephews.)
1635. Sir F. Gorges, the territory between the Piscataqua and
Kennebec.
1635. Capt. Mason, the lands between Kennebec and Pemaquid.
1635. Sir W. Alexander (Earl of Sterling), the territory between
the Pemaquid and St. Croix. The lands east of the
St. Croix and south of the St. Lawrence had been
relinquished in his favour under Royal grant in 1621.
Deriving from these grants, or some of them, a large
amount of property in New England is still held.
Massachusetts.
The most important work effected under the immediate
auspices of the Council of Plymouth was the foundation of
the Colony of Massachusetts. The first permanent plantation
in Massachusetts Bay was that of David Thompson, who
removed thither in 1624, the year after he had settled at
Piscataqua, and possessed a fruitful island and a very
desirable neck of land. He was a Scotchman, and was
speedily followed by the pioneers of the Massachusetts
Colony, who began a plantation at Cape Ann. White, a
Puritan minister of Dorchester, was the original promoter
of this undertaking. The Cape Ann patent belonged to
the Plymouth Colony, and the Dorchester plantation was at
first held of them, the Plymouth settlers having a fishing
work there also. But independent action was soon taken.
Differences arose at New Plymouth, and several persons
removed thence and settled at a Plymouth trading port at
Nantasket, at the entrance of the bay of Massachusetts.
Among these was one Roger Conant, a Devonshire man,
whom White and his co-adventurers chose to manage their
affairs at Cape Ann, where he with some companions settled
in 1625. In the same year another plantation was com
menced in the north of the Bay, at Braintree, by Captain
Wollaston and others. Among these was the afterwards
notorious Thomas Morton, who so sorely offended all the
Puritanism of New England by setting up a maypole at
Merry Mount, whence he and his comrades, Master Endicott's
rebuke failing, were subsequently ejected by the Plymouth
forces under Capt. Miles Standish. The great grievance

MASSACHUSETTS. 81
against Morton was less his merry doings than his selling
arms to the Indians, and making Mount Dagon, as the
Puritans called it, the refuge of all the colonial rascaldom.
Conant, after sundry removes, selected Salem as the most
fitting site for the Dorchester colony, which was in the end
to lead to the extinction of the Plymouth Company itself,
and become the germ whence sprung the wide liberties of
the New England States. The territory comprised under the
charter of the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay
included all the lands in the bottom of the Bay from three
miles north of the Merrimac to three miles south of the
Charles, and westerly to the Pacific. The original grantees
were Sir Henry Eosewell, Sir John Young, Thomas Southcoat,
John Humphrey, John Endicott, and Simon Whetcomb ; but
the interest of the first three was purchased by Winthrop
and the other leading Massachusets founders. Endicott
planted a colony at Salem in 1628, and a royal charter was
granted in 1629.
The Massachusetts Company prosecuted the work of
colonization with great activity, a large proportion of the
early colonists coming from Devon, Dorset, and Somerset.
Plymouth is specially associated with their operations by
an entry that early in 1630 ' a Congregational Church is, by
a pious People, gathered in the New Hospital at Plymouth
[i.e. the Hospital of the Poor's Portion], in England, when
they keep a Day of solemn Prayer and Fasting. That
worthy man of GOD, Master White, of Dorchester, being
present, preaches in the fore part of the day ; and in the
after part the People solemnly choose and call those godly
Ministers, the Eeverend Master John Warham, a famous
Preacher at Exeter ; and the Eeverend Master John Mave
rick, a Minister who lived forty miles from Exeter, to be their
Officers ; who, expressing their acceptance, are at the same
time Ordained their Ministers.' This party sailed from
Plymouth in the Mary and John, March 20th following.
Southampton was, however, the chief rendezvous of the
Massachusetts Company. Fifteen hundred colonists were
brought over in twelve ships in 1630 — five other vessels
arriving later in the same year — and Charlestown founded as
the capital. That year also Boston, Dorchester, and Water-
town were named and finally settled. Within the next two
or three years the work of settlement and forming new
plantations went rapidly on. Roxbury, Cambridge, Medford,
Ipswich, Marblehead, and other towns sprang up in Massa
chusetts; and Duxbury became the second town in the

82 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
district of the Plymouth Colony. Connecticut was first
settled by the English from New Plymouth at Windsor in
1632, after sundry trading voyages.
The charter of the Plymouth Company was surrendered
June 7th, 1635. Ferdinando Gorges, grandson of Sir Ferdi
nando, gives the reason as follows : ' The country proving
a receptacle for divers sorts of sects, the establishment in
England complained of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, and he was
taxed as the author of it,6 which brought him into some
discredit, whereupon he moved those lords to resign their
grand patent to the King, and pass particular patents to
themselves of such parts along the sea coast as might be
sufficient for them.'
Accordingly on the 3rd of February, 1635, the patentees
made such division as they desired by lot, finally settling
the grants on the 22nd April.
The reasons for the surrender of the Plymouth charter
were set forth at length by the Council at a meeting in
Whitehall, April 25th of the same year, three days after the
confirmation of the division. 'Forasmuch,' they say, 'as
we have found by a long experience, that the faithful
endeavours of some of us, that have sought the plantation
of New England, have not been without frequent and
inevitable troubles as companions to our undertakings, from
our first discovery of that coast to this present, by great
charges and necessary expenses; but also depriving us of
divers of our near friends and faithful servants employed in
that work abroad, whilst ourselves at home were assaulted
with sharp litigious questions both before the Privy Council
and the Parliament, having been presented as a grievance to
the Commonwealth . . . the affections of the multitude were
thereby disheartened . . . and so much the more by how
much it pleased God about this time to bereave us of the
most noble and principal props thereof, as the Duke of
Lennox, Marquis of Hamilton, and many other strong stayes
to this weak building . . . then followed the claim of the
French Ambassador, taking advantage of the divisions of the
sea-coast between ourselves, to whom we made a just and
satisfactory answer. . . . Nevertheless these crosses did not
draw upon us such a disheartened weakness till the end
5 The Massachusetts Company on their part charged Gorges, Mason, and
their associates with attempting to take away their liberties. A petition was
presented by Gorges and his friends against both the Massachusetts and
Plymouth Colonies to the Privy Council ; and much to their discomfiture,
determined in January, 1633, in favour of the settlers. English polities
made themselves felt on the further shore of the Atlantic as well as at home.

SETTLERS FROM THE WEST OF ENGLAND. 83
of the last parliament' — when the Massachusetts Company
obtained their charter, and afterwards thrust out the under
takers and tenants of some of the Council — 'withal riding
over the heads of those lords and others that had their
portions assigned to them in his late Majesty's presence.'
These and other things were too grievous to be borne, putting
the Council in 'so desperate a case' that they saw no
remedy for 'what was brought to ruin'; and so — 'After all
these troubles, and upon these considerations, it is now
resolved that the patent .shall be surrendered into his
Majesty.' Accordingly on the 7th June the charter was surrendered,
and the King somewhat spitefully urged to take away the
charter of Massachusetts, and appoint a general governor
for the whole territory, to be chosen among the lords
proprietors. Charles naturally agreed to this; but Puritan
Massachusetts and her sister colonies made such opposition
that ere the plan could be carried out the Civil War com
menced, and the affairs of New England had to give place
to nearer concerns. Ferdinando Gorges the grandson was
indeed appointed General Governor of New England in 1637,
but he never assumed the duties, and eventually sold his
rights in Maine for £1250.
Settlers from the West of England.
We have yet to trace the special personal relations of the
Western Counties to New England settlement. In Western
Maine, and the lower districts of Massachusetts, the
population to this day largely retains the characteristics of
the men of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, and Dorset, from
which it principally springs, and is spoken of as ' the pure
Eno-lish race.' 'The importation in the first instance was
made by the English proprietors, who sent the farmers,
mechanics, and adventurers, who lived in and about
Devonshire, to cultivate and improve their large and vacant ,
grants.6 Massachusetts generally drew from a much wider
field. As many as eighty emigrants left Plymouth in one
ship in 1622, Philemon Powell being purser.
Plymouth men played a prominent part in the work of
actual settlement. The little island of Monhegan, a place
of resort for fishermen at least as early as 1618, on which
Gorges had a plantation in 1621 or 1622, afterwards became
the property of Abraham Jennings, a Plymouth merchant,
» Willis. g 2

84 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
who in 1622 had the Abraham of Plymouth, and Nightingale
of Portsmouth, fishing there. He sold it, in 1626, to
Abraham Shurt, agent for Aldsworth and Elbridge, merchants
of Bristol; but in all probability continued to trade. A
daughter of Jennings married Moses Goodyear, another
Plymouth merchant trafficking to the New England coast ;
and Goodyear and Robert Trelawny, a third Plymouthian, in
1631 commenced the work of plantation, and led to the
foundation of the town of Portland. The Council of
Plymouth made them a grant of lands adjoining other lands
previously granted to Thomas Cammock, at one shilling a
year rent, ' because they and their associates had adventured
and expended large sums of money in the discovery of the
coasts and harbours of those parts, and were minded to
undergo further charge in setting a plantation.' Whether
Goodyear or Trelawny was leader in the scheme we do not
know ; but in the end it was carried on by the latter alone.
Robert Trelawny came of a good stock. In the days of
Elizabeth it was counted no degradation for Western men of
family to engage in trade. Country gentlemen were content
to live at home upon their estates, and farm for themselves ;
and if their families grew too rapidly, they planted some of
their children in the towns. Hence the very large
proportion of the issuers of the tradesmen's tokens of the
seventeenth century, who placed their family arms upon
their coins. To the changes that have taken place in our
national customs in this respect we owe the enormous
number of decayed manor and barton houses which have
fallen into ruin, or become degraded into mere tenanted
farms. The modest but sufficient properties of the sixteenth
century do not suit the larger wants of the nineteenth. An
illustration of the olden practice is afforded by the case of
Robert Trelawny, senior, father of the Robert with whom we
have to do. The record is still extant, which sets forth how,
in the mayoralty of George Maynard, 1578, 'Robert
Trelawney the son of Robert Trelawney of St. Germanes in
the county of Cornewall gent put himself apptice wth
George Burgoyne & Agneis his wief for vin from the date of
the same Indent to be enstructed in the trade of merchandize
& the said George and Agnes to kepe and maynteine the
said Robert a convenyent tyme in Spayne or Portugal! & in
France and to make hym free of the Company of fiske-
mongers of the cytye of London and in thence double
apparell.' This Robert Trelawny was Mayor in 1607-8,
1616-7, and 1627-8, dying before his last mayoralty was

SETTLERS FROM THE WEST OF ENGLAND. 85
iIm , Robert> fche New England planter, was Mayor in
1033-4 ; and was elected member in 1640. His Royalist
sympathies led to his downfall and death. He was expelled
from Parliament and imprisoned, on the charge of having
said the House of Commons had no power to appoint a
guard for themselves without the King's consent. In prison
he died.
John Winter, a Plymouth captain, was sent out, by Tre
lawny and Goodyear, to take possession of the lands granted
them between Spurwink river and Casco Bay. When he
arrived he found George Cleeves, another Plymouthian, and
Eichard Tucker, without doubt a Devonian, in possession,
having erected at Portland the first house built there by
European hands. Winter ejected them, and thus initiated
a controversy which lasted many years. Winter claimed
the land as Trelawny's ; Cleeves and Tucker insisted that it
was theirs. In an action between Cleeves and Winter in
1640, Cleeves stated that for more than seven years he had
possessed a neck of land in Casco Bay, called Machigonney,
taking it at first under a proclamation of James I., which
gave 150 acres to every person, for himself and those whom
he might transport to the colony ; and that after four years
he had had a lease of enlargement from Gorges. Winter
claimed that the land was included within the Trelawny
grant ; but the court ruled otherwise.
The disputes between Winter and Cleeves and their
respective parties greatly troubled the peace of the infant
settlements. Winter kept a store, and the fashion of his
dealings caused Cleeves and others to charge him with the
Dutchman's fault (according to Canning) of
Giving too little and taking too much ;
while Winter denounced Cleeves for scandalous conversation,
in saying that Winter's wife, who had been left behind at
Plymouth, was 'the veriest drunkenest whore in all that
town,' and further alleging that there were not ' four honest
women there.' However, a peace was patohed up, which
lasted until Winter's death.
Winter, described by Eoyalist Josselyn as 'a grave and
discreet man,' was entrusted by Trelawny with the entire
management of his affairs, and had a tenth of the patent
when it became Trelawny's sole property. For some years
a large trade was carried on by Trelawny with his New
England possessions, among the ships engaged being the
Agnes, Richmond, Hercules, and Margery. The cargoes

86 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
consisted chiefly of pipe-staves, beaver-skins, fish, and oil.
Winter made his first plantation, on behalf of Trelawny
and Goodyear, at Eichmond Island in July, 1632. Two
years later Eichmond was a place of such trade, that as
many as seventeen fishing ships are recorded to have visited
it and the Isle of Shoals as early as the 1st March. In
1638 Winter had sixty-one men engaged in fishing. In
this year Trelawny shipped wine to the plantation, and in
the course of trade some of his vessels used to take their
cargoes thence directly to Spain. Trelawny's family did not
benefit by his transatlantic estates — probably in consequence
of his early death in prison — and they eventually passed
into the hands of a certain Eev. Eobert Jordan, who married
Winter's daughter. Jordan, in all likelihood another
Devonshire man, went over to the Colony in the Richmond.
His business capacities are undoubted; for he obtained an
award of the Trelawny property in 1648 in satisfaction of
the claims for management put in by him on behalf of
Winter's estate, which he increased by charging a legacy
from Trelawny to Winter as a debt due to himself !
Cleeves became a man of great note in the infant colony.
Colonel Eigby, a staunch Eepublican, bought the 'Plough
Patent' in April, 1643. Cleeves, who is supposed to have
suggested this purchase, was appointed Eigby's first deputy.
Directly, however, he attempted to exercise authority his
rights were denied by Eichard Vines, as deputy for Gorges.
Both parties appealed to the authorities of Massachusetts,
without result. Vines was succeeded by Henry Jocelyn as
deputy-governor in 1645, and the dispute was settled by the
triumph of the Eepublican party in England, in favour of
Rigby and Cleeves. The social position of Cleeves is shown
by the fact that in a grant from Sir Ferdinando Gorges he
is described as ' esquire,' his partner, Tucker, being set down
as ' gentleman.'
Two other Plymouthians are named among the earlier
settlers — Richard Martyn, cousin of John Martyn, Mayor
in 1634-5 ; and Winthrop.
The letters of the Plymouth Trelawnys, published by the
Maine Historical Society, contain the names of many from
Plymouth or its vicinity, who either settled or worked in
New England, chiefly on the Trelawny patent. The usual
practice was for men to be bound to work in the colony for
three years, at wages of £6 to £8 a year. Most of those
whose places of abode are not given in the following list,
compiled from the Trelawny Papers, were from Plymouth :

SETTLERS FROM THE WEST OF ENGLAND. 87
Edward Andrews, Yealmpton; Thomas Algar, Newton
Ferrers ; John Amirrie, William Allen, Millbrook ; Ambrose
Bawden, Holbeton; Edmund Bake, Newton Ferrers; Thos.
Bone, Saltash ; Edward Best, Millbrook ; John Bellin, Josias
Bayly, George Bunt, Roger Bucknell, Priscilla Bickford
Nat. Cannage, Oliver Clarke, Anthony Clarke, Ellen Curkeet
Thos. Dustin, George Dearinge, Henry Edmunds, Millbrook
William Frythy, Sanders Frythy, Rd. Foxwell, Rd. Feild
Mark Gaud, St. Johns; Arthur Gill, Peter Gill, Peter Gullet^
William Gooch; Charles Hatch, Newton Ferrers; Arthur
Heard, John Hosken, Wm. Ham, Andrew Hoffer, Henry
Hancock, John Hempson, John Hole, Petronel Heamond,
Wm. Hearle, Philip Hingston, Narias Hawkins (master of a
vessel and a settler) ; Samson Jope, Reginald Jinkin ; Thos.
King, Stonehouse; Thos. Lissen, Stev. Lapthorne, Wm. Lucas,
John Libby, W. Lukes, J. Lukesley; Paul Michell, Sheviock;
Rd. Martin, Francis Martin, Nich. Mather, Michael Maddiver,
Wm. Mellin; Rd. Niles; Rd. Okers; Thos. Pomeroy (mariner),
Plymouth ; Clement Pennywell ; Nich. Rouse, Wembury ;
George Rogers, Wm. Rundell; Robt. Saunders; Ben. Stephens,
Landrake; John Simmons, Thos. Saunson, Tobias Shorte,
Roger Satterley, Thos. Shepperd, Stephen Sergeant; John
Taylor, Yealm; Ed. Trebie; Bennet Wills, Nich. White,
Roger Willing, Oliver Weeks.

CHAPTER VI.
THE SIEGE.
A fortress formed to Freedom's hands.
*****
And there the volleying thunders pour,
Till waves grow smoother at the roar.
The trench is dug, the cannon's breath
Wings the far-hissing globe of death ;
Fast whirl the fragments from the wall,
Which crumbles with the ponderous ball ;
And from that wall the foe replies
O'er dusty hills and smoky skies,
With fires that answer fast and well. — Byron.
PLYMOUTH won special distinction during the troubles
of the Civil War. But before dealing with the events
of that epoch, a few prior in time require reference.1
Piracy and Plague.
It is not to the credit of the men of Plymouth in the
early Stuart days, that they seemed unable to grapple with
the Algerine pirates, who infested the shores of Devon and
Cornwall in the opening years of the seventeenth century,
and singed the beards of James and Charles more effectually,
because more continuously, than Drake did that of Philip.
One wonders what had become of the pluck and seamanship
of Devon, when these corsairs were able, year after year,
with impunity to haunt our coasts, and to enter and plunder
not merely fishing-creeks, but such harbours as Plymouth.
Hundreds of Devonshire men were carried into captivity by
these rovers ; scores died there ; and from first to last
thousands of pounds were raised within this county alone
for their ransom.
1 Here is the entry 1605-6 of the first local Guy Fawkes day:
Itm pd for the Gunners for shooting of the Ordynance vppon the
tryvmphe for ye Joyful deliverance of ye King and State from
the Treason of Pircie & others . . . . ij»

PIRACY AND PLAGUE. 89
Our forefathers were not wholly helpless against pirates in
general, for in 1608 'Thomas Trontes and his company' were
tried at Plymouth for robbing Frenchmen, seven condemned
and one executed; but with the Moors they could not
themselves grapple, and they leant on a broken reed when
they appealed to the State.
The necessity of doing something in this direction was
felt early in the reign of James I., and in 1610 a patent was
granted to the Lord Admiral Nottingham to impress ships
and mariners for the suppression of pirates, under which he,
in 1613, made a grant to the Mayor, &c, of Exeter, to the
same effect. Four years later, March, 1617, the King brought
the matter before the Privy Council ; and this led to the
suggestion of united action on- the part of England with
Spain and other powers, and to steps being taken to levy
money for fitting out the English expedition.
Thus in July, 1617, the merchants of Exeter declared that
they were willing to pay any reasonable sum towards sup
pressing the pirates, of Algiers and Tunis ; and in the same
month Sir Ferdinando Gorges wrote from Plymouth to the
Privy Council, that the merchants of that town thought
a small fleet would effect little. Their trade was much
injured by the pirates, but it was injured still more by the
encroachments of the Londoners, whose proposal to give
£40,000 was none too liberal, considering that they engrossed
the commerce of the world. The best way to destroy the
pirates was to make war, both by sea and land, upon the
Turks. After this the scheme practically slept until February,
1619, on the seventh of which month letters were sent by
the Privy Council to several ports, demanding contributions
towards the fleet. The amounts required give a fair idea of
the relative importance of the shipping and commerce of the
respective places.
Thus the sum levied on Southampton was £300 ; on Hull,
£500 ; Weymouth, £450 ; Lyme Regis, £450 ; Pool, £100 ;
Bristol, £1000 (promised ; the demand was greater) ; Exeter,
£500 ; Barnstaple, £500 ; Cinque Ports, £400 ; Yarmouth,
£200 ; Newcastle, £300 ; Chester, including Carnarvon,
Liverpool, and Beaumaris, £100. Plymouth was assessed in
£1000. This had to be raised by the port and its members
of which Truro was one, and there is extant a very curious
correspondence between the Mayor of Plymouth, Thomas
Fownes, and the Corporation of Truro, who refused to pay.2
2 Trans. Bev. Assoc, xx. 312-331.

90 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
After many delays, the expedition sailed to Algiers under
the command of Sir Robert Mansell, 12th October, 1620.
Sir Richard Hawkins was Vice- Admiral. Mansell was duly
entertained at Plymouth :
Item given to Sr Robert Mansell Knight Generall of his
Mties Fleet agaynst the Pyrats of Algeir at his goeing
to sea two fat sheepe two sugar loafes, twelve capons
and six fat gennies . . . vu ij8 iiijd
Five years later (September, 1625) Charles and Henrietta
visited the town with their Court, to set forth an expedition
against Spain, which terminated in ' disgrace and disappoint
ment ' to the nation, and great sorrow to Plymouth. There
were just 100 ships, of 26,507 tons, manned by 5441 sailors
and 9983 soldiers. Charles remained at Plymouth ten days,
attended service in the church, and was most hospitably
entertained. The town gave him £150 in a purse costing
£3 6s. 8d., and his suite £33 3s. 4d. He reviewed the army
on Roborough Down. The expedition was under Sir Edward
Cecil, and Glanville, afterwards Recorder, was secretary.
Before it started there wis great distress. Using his best
endeavours the Mayor was unable to find billets for the
soldiers, who were only paid 2s. 6d. a week. When they
came back they brought the plague. In April, 1626, the
sickness had so increased that 14 or 15 died daily, and the
inhabitants fled into the country. In June all commerce
had ceased, the town was destitute of its best men, and the
infection had spread into all the parishes where the soldiers
were billeted. Early in July only two aldermen were left
resident; and there was no constable. 1600 in all died.
Temporary hospitals were erected at the cost of the town at
Lipson and Haw Start (Batten). One of the most curious
entries in the Accounts reads :
Itm pd for the charge of the setting vpp of the house in
the feilds out of the Towne wherein the Mayor was
chosen, being wholy occasioned by meanes of the plague
then in towne . ... xxviij8 xid
This was by no means the first visitation of the kind, or
caused in a similar way, but it was the most severe. There
had been a very fatal epidemic in 1570-71 ; and in 1580
' the plague was soe great in Plym" that this Mayor [Blithe-
man] was chosen on Catdown.' Six hundred are said to
have died then.
Again in 1590 there was much sickness caused by the

PIRACY AND PLAGUE. 91
congregation of soldiers for the expedition under Drake and
Norris. Sick soldiers lay in 'Vincent Scoble's barn;' 3d.
was laid out with John Gybbons for ' frankencense ' for
fumigation. Houses were shut up, infected goods burned,
and a cordon established.
Another failure was the expedition intended for the relief
of Rochelle in 1628 — a fleet of 60 vessels, but so ill found
that the sailors of the Lion, Adventure, and Vanguard, as
they lay in the harbour, robbed all that came near them from
sheer want of victuals ; and that we find the Corporation
spending money on powder and match ' for suppressing the
saylers when they were in a mutiny.' The result of the
expedition is recorded in the following entry :
News sent to the Lords of the Council upon the first intel
ligence of the Earle of Denbeighes departure from before
Rochell with the Fleete without relieving the said Towne xu
Plymouth had thus serious drawbacks as a residence in
the earlier years of the seventeenth century. If plague was
not ever present, pirates were always about. Thomas Ceely,
Mayor in 1625, on one occasion reported the appearance on
the coast of twenty sail of English, French, Dutch, and
Turkish rovers. In 1629 seven Dunkirkers were in the
Channel for a month, and took twenty sail, of which four
or five were Plymouthians. Most of their company were
English or Scots. Perhaps this was the reason why, in
April, 1639, all the Scotch ships at Plymouth were seized
and the men imprisoned. The Rochellers made Plymouth
their rendezvous ; and it cannot be said that the Plymouth
folk themselves were much better than their visitors. From
1625 to 1629 there were licensed in connection with the port
no fewer than 57 privateers ; while Stonehouse, Plympton,
Oreston, Saltash, and Millbrook had 21 more, ranging from
330 tons to 62.
We find among the owners of the Plymouth vessels Sir
James Bagge, Sir A. Hurton, Abraham Colmer, Nicholas
Sherwill, John Scoble, Wm. Dolbery, James Foran, Edward
Ameredith, John Smarte, Abraham Jennings, Nicholas Blake,
Nicholas Harris, John Pryn, William Pryn, Jerom Roch,
Henry Barnes, James Waddon, John White, John Hill, Mat.
Buroins, Robt. Trelawny, Bartholomew Nicholl, Nich. Opie,
David Brown, Moses Slany, Jelmer Tiebbes, Edward Cooke,
Thos. Ceely, Wm. Burch, John Jope, Gabriel Greene, Peter
Foran Peter Nean, Francis Amadas, Henry Gayer, Wm.
Rowe Henry Meath, Mat. Cassemarte, Rd. Donnell, Thomas

92 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Aumonere. Some of these, or members of their families,
commanded several of the ships.
Bagge claims a passing notice. Vice- Admiral of the south
of Cornwall, and holding other offices, he was the chief repre
sentative of the government at Plymouth during the earlier
part of the reign of the first Charles. The creature of the
favourite, one letter to him he signs as Buckingham's ' slave.'
From his greed, Sir John Eliot dubbed him ' that bottomlesse
Bagge.' He lived at Little Saltram. He was by no means
popular ; and we find him writing, in December, 1625, that
he had pressed so many the country cried out and thought
ill of him.
There were severe storms in 1624 and 1625. On October
4th, 1624, two Dutch and three English ships were cast
away in the Sound; while in November 16th, 1625, there
was a great snow, and many lives lost. ' Never such before
in memory of man' in Devon. Many ships were wrecked
then also. Opening of the Siege.
The Siege of Plymouth marks an epoch of the first im
portance in national as well as local history.3 Foremost in
defending the liberties of England in the sixteenth century,
when the haughty Armada was launched against our shores,
no town in the West of England — London excepted, none in
the whole kingdom — did more for the defence of these same
liberties in the seventeenth, when they were assailed from
within. In fact, as Mr. Gardner says, there was a time when
the whole fortunes of the Parliament turned on the retention
of Plymouth and Hull. There are places in the West that
have been besieged more often ; Plymouth alone claims the
proud title of a maiden town. Bristol, Exeter, Taunton,
have been attacked and have fallen, again and again. Ply
mouth endured a siege longer and fiercer than either of
theirs, and sustained it to the end.
When civil dudgeon first grew high
there were still among the elders of the borough many who
had known Drake, and Hawkins, and Ralegh, and Frobisher,
and Grenville, and Gilbert — some perchance who had sailed
with them ; many who had watched with kindling eye and
3 The chief authorities for this narrative are the Local Records, the con
temporary Siege Tracts, references in contemporary newspapers (these were
collected by Mr. R. Burnard, and published in the Tavistock volume — 1889 —
of the Transactions of the Bevonshire Association), Clarendon's History,
Whitelock's Memorials, and Rushworth's Collections.

OPENING OF THE SIEGE. 93
eager heart the haughty Spanish fleet sail by to its destruc
tion. The half century that had passed had not after all
quite tamed the spirit or quenched the energies which made
Plymouth the first port in the land in days of Elizabethan
glory. These only slumbered ; hence the town was one of
the first to declare on the Parliamentary side. Clarendon
says that Plymouth
Was a rich and populous corporation, being, in time of peace,
the greatest port for trade in the West ; and, except Bristol, then
more considerable than all the rest. There was in it a castle very
strong towards the sea, with good platforms and ordnance; and
little more than musquet-shot from the town was an island with
a fort in it much stronger than the castle, both of which were,
before the troubles, under the command of a captain with a
garrison of about fifty men at the most, and were only intended
for a security and defence of the town against a foreign invasion,
the castle and the island together having a good command of the
entrance into the harbour ; but towards the land there was very
little strength. This command was in the hands of Sir Jacob
Ashley, and as unprovided to expect or resist an enemy as the
other castles and forts of the kingdom, less for the receiving a
recruit, there being only ordnance and ammunition, without any
other provisions for the support of the soldiers within the walls,
and the garrison itself, being by time, marriage, and trade incor
porated into the town, and rather citizens than soldiers ; so that
Sir Jacob Ashley, being sent for to the king, before his setting up
his standard, as soon as there was any apprehension of a party for
the king in Cornwall, after the appearing of Sir Ralph Hopton
and those other gentlemen there, the Mayor and Corporation of
Plymouth quickly got both the castle and island into their own
power. The King's standard was hoisted at Nottingham on the
25th of August, 1642. It was therefore in the mayoralty of
Thomas Ceely that the town declared against the King.
Ceely was succeeded on Lambert Day following by Philip
Francis, a man of energy and resource, one of the chief
leaders of the townsfolk. To him the Parliament gave the
command of the castle and town, about which 'a line was
cast up of earth, weak and irregular.' To Sir Alexander
Carew, one of the representatives of Cornwall, and member
of a Committee of Defence appointed to assist the Mayor,
was given the charge of the fort and island, regarded as the
key of the whole position, with a sufficient garrison.
The first attack came from Cornwall. Sir Ralph Hopton,
the King's Lieutenant-General of Horse in the West, with

94 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Sir John Berkeley and Sir Bevil Grenville, assembled a party
in that county. A bill was presented against them at the
Michaelmas Quarter Sessions in 1642, as 'certain persons
unknown, who were lately come armed into the county
against the peace '; and Sir Alexander Carew and Sir Richard
Buller gathered the Parliamentary forces at Launceston to
cut off their retreat. But the tables were turned. A
counter bill was preferred against the Roundheads as a rout
and an unlawful assembly. It was found by the Royalist
grand jury, the posse comitatus was called out, and Carew and
Buller, with their followers, driven from the county. Saltash
was the last place the Parliament held. It had a garrison
of 200 Scots, but Hopton soon ejected them ; and the
Parliament, who had thought both Cornwall and Devon in
their hands, were plainly undeceived. Nor was this all.
There was a constitutional principle that trained bands, or
militia, could not operate out of the county in which they
were raised, and at the orders of whose high sheriff they
were. When, therefore, the Cornish posse comitatus of 3,000
foot had done its work, it was disbanded ; but the Royalist
leaders raised voluntary regiments, wherewith they made con
tinual incursions into Devon, even to the walls of Plymouth
and Exeter, both garrisoned against the King.
Hopton's Attacks.
Plymouth was first attempted in November and December,
1642, by Hopton, with about 2,500 horse and foot. The
town was then under the command of Col. William Ruthin,
or Ruthven4 — a brave and able soldier, but deficient in
caution. Like a wise captain, however, so far, he had
garrisoned certain outposts, Plympton among them. Here
upon H°pton came down in such force that the Roundheads
had to retire. But they did not go far. A retreat across
the Plym enabled them to cover their front by that river;
and the Cavaliers were .too wary to attempt more. We read
that on the 1st of December the garrison 'stood upon the
Lary for the space of three hours facing the enemy, who
attempted one charge to have drawn us to their ambuscades ;
but durst not with all their force, which we judge was at
least 2,500 horse and foot, give in a charge upon fair ground.'
So Hopton in his turn retreated upon Modbury, where,
4 Or Ruthyen. He had commanded the Scots ejected from Saltash, with
whom he — a Scottish soldier of fortune — had been on his way to France
when fortunately driven into Plymouth from stress of weather.

HOPTON'S ATTACKS. 95
notwithstanding he had in the interim received reinforce
ments, he was on the seventh of the month surprised by
Ruthin, with four troops of horse and 100 dragoons.
This determined the Parliament to carry the war into the
enemy's country. The forces of Dorset and Somerset were
ordered to join those of Devon, and march into Cornwall —
one body under the command of Ruthin, the other under
that of the Earl of Stamford, governor of Exeter, and
general for the Parliament of the five Western Counties.
Euthin led the way. An attempt to force the passage of
the Tamar at Saltash was repulsed with loss. He then took
his forces up the eastern bank, and crossed by Tavistock
Newbridge. And here Euthin blundered. Instead of
waiting for Stamford, he pushed on to Liskeard, and was
utterly defeated on the 19th of January by Hopton at
Braddock Down. With the remnant of his shattered army
he fled to Saltash, where he hastily entrenched himself, and
where, with the aid of a ship of 400 tons carrying sixteen
guns, he hoped to make a stand. Hopton followed him up
with vigour ; and as a regiment which the Earl of Stamford
had sent to Launceston fled to Plymouth, he was enabled to
give his undivided attention to Saltash. The assault was
made at four o'clock on the afternoon of Sunday the 22nd
of January. For three hours the storm continued; and at
length in the dark the town was captured, Euthin and his
principal officers escaping by boat to Plymouth. The loss
of the Parliamentary troops was very great: seven score
prisoners to add to the 700 taken at Braddock, arms and
stores for 4,000 men, and the ship, the master of which was
accused of treason in that, though hired to ' batter ' Hopton,
he did not do so. The Eoyalists claimed that they only lost
one man ; but this we may take leave to doubt.
Plymouth was now menaced for the second time, and far
more seriously. Flushed with success, the whole of Hopton's
forces sat down before it. We learn their disposition from
a letter of Sir Be vii Grenville to his wife, dated Plympton,
February 20th, 1642-3 : ' Our Army lyes still in severall
quarters. Sir Eh. Hopton, with my Lord Mohun, is upon
the north side of Plimouth with two regiments; Collo.
Ashbourn [Ashburnham], Sir Jo. Berk [Berkeley], and I are
on the east side with two regiments; and Sir Ni. Slan
[Nicholas Slanning], with Jack Trevan [Trevanion], were
sent the last weeke to Modbury to possess that quarter
before the enimy come, being the richest part of this countrey,
whence most of our provision and victualls does come. If

96 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
it were taken from us we might be starved in our quarters.'
Grenville saw no hope of taking Plymouth. It was too well
supplied by sea, which the besiegers could not hinder.
One of the Civil War Tracts, Good News from Plymouth,
dated February 20th, 1642-3, asserts that an attempt had
been made to take the town by treason :
On Munday last there was a great treason found out, which is,
That Sir Nicholas Slaning, being acquainted with one of the
master gunners in Plymouth, sent him a letter to this effect : That
if he would charge his guns with Powder and Paper, and give
false fire, he would give him an hundred pounds ; this news
being brought to the Mayor of Plymouth, he presently sent for
this said gunner, and imprisoned him, and wrote back a letter in
the gunner's name that all should be effected according to Sir
Nicholas Slaning's desire ; upon which promise Sir Ralph Hopton
went on and set upon one of the outworks with confidence to
enter ; but Plymouth men having charged their peeces with small
shot, discharged upon them, and slew 800 of their men, amongst
whom Sir Ralph Hopton was one.
As Hopton was not killed in any such way, probably the
whole story is apocryphal ; still, some such attempt may
have been made to tamper with the garrison then, as well as
at a later period. The Battle of Modbury.
When Sir Bevil wrote, the Parliamentary forces were con
centrating in the direction of Kingsbridge. They attacked
the entrenched camp at Modbury four days afterwards — on
the 24th February — and again won a complete victory. The
Bideford and Barnstaple men led, while the London ' Gray-
coats ' and other troops from Plymouth assailed the Cavaliers
from that direction. The Royalists were completely routed,
and five pieces of ordnance, 200 arms, and 120 prisoners
captured. There was taken also one Alderman Fittock, the
master of the Newcastle ship which was said to have
betrayed its trust at Saltash; and it was reported, though
falsely, that Slanning was among the killed. While the
fight was onward at Modbury the Plymouth garrison made a
sally, drove Hopton off, and slighted 'that spacious work
which they called after his name.' The Cavaliers, compelled
to raise the siege, fled in such haste that they left behind
them three great guns and much powder.
As a result of the ' battle of Modbury,' efforts were made
by the moderates in the West to conclude a treaty of peace
between the two counties, and proposals were discussed by

STRENGTHENING THE DEFENCES. 97
Commissioners (whom the Corporation spent £10 in enter
taining) at Mount Edgcumbe, Stonehouse, and elsewhere.
An agreement was arrived at, both sides being heartily tired
of the conflict, though it had but begun. The Parliament,
however, would have none of the treaty, sending 'Master
Prideaux and Master Nicholls' down, and hostilities soon
recommenced. About this time Sir George Chudleigh was the governor of
' Plymouth, Mountwise, and other Castles thereabouts,' having
under his command 2,000 foot and 500 horse. 'Barronet
Norcot,' with his regiment of about 1,200, was quartered near
Eoborough to hinder the passage from Cornwall by Saltash,
where Sir Nicholas Slanning had 1,000 men. And so a petty
border warfare was carried on, the Cornish generally having
the advantage, daily stealing horses, sheep, and oxen.
In April the Earl of Stamford made another attempt to
subdue Cornwall, marching thereinto all the forces at his
disposal. They were utterly defeated and dispersed on the
16th of May at Stratton ; and Sir George Chudleigh, who
had won a partial success at Bodmin, beat a hasty retreat to
Plymouth. His son James, one of the Parliamentary leaders
at Stratton, was charged with treason by Stamford and joined
the Eoyalists. Strengthening the Defences.
After the expedition of the Cornish forces eastward, which
terminated so fatally for their leaders — Sir Bevil Grenville
being killed at the battle of Lansdowne, Colonel Trevanion
and Sir Nicholas Slanning at the siege of Bristol, and Sidney
Godolphin, the other wheel of the 'wain,' at Chagford —
Plymouth was left awhile to itself. The inhabitants made
the best use of their time. The Black Book contains 'an
order made the fifth day of Julye in the xixth yeare of the
raigne of our Sovereigne Lord Charles, annoque dni 1643,
for the erection of a wall rounde the towne of Plymouth for
the better defence and safetie of this towne agst the
Enemyes nowe in armes agst the Parliament.' The order ran
 'There shall be a wall with all expedition erected and
Lenged [lengthened] for the better defence and safetie of
this Towne agst those Enemyes that dayly threaten our sd
burrow, and that every Inhabitant of the same shall be
reasonably rated and assessed for and towards the Charges
and Costes of lengthening and erecting the same according
to their respective estates and substance.'
There were then no Eoyalist forces of any strength in the
H

98 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
neighbourhood, but it was thought wise to be prepared for
what was seen to be inevitable. According to tradition
women and children aided in the work.
That the townsfolk wished to stand well with the Par
liament we may glean from such an entry as this :
Itm pd for a rolle of Spannish tobacchoe sent the Speaker
of the howse of Comons assembled in Parliam* for a
gratuitie from the Towne . ... vji; xs
The earliest entries of expenditure in connection with the
Siege are in 1642-3 :
Itm payd for makeinge a wall att Mr. Alsopp's house an
other by Dr. Wilson's howse and a third in the way
leadeinge to Totehill . . . . iiij11 vj" xid
Itm pd for carryeinge gunnes into Mr. Fowells and Mr.
Elliotts gardens when they were mounted for ye better
defence of the towne agBt Sr Ralph Hopton and to
gunners y* attended one moneth there . . . iiij1'
Itm payd for Carriadge of gunnes to the Town Gates and
unto the Old Towne and for Lanternes for the guardes
and for shott ... . . xxixs ixd
The full history of the defences will be found in the
chapter on the Fortifications. It is sufficient here to say
that the town was enclosed by a wall which extended from
the Castle westward, northward, eastward, and southward
to Sutton Pool; that there was a fort on the Hoe, with
bulwarks on Drake's Island ; and that along the high ground
north of the town there stretched a breastwork connecting a
series of redoubts. The first of these was above Lipson,
east of Freedom Fields, the second at Holiwell, near the
prison ; the third and chief, Maudlyn Fort, near the site of the
Blind Institution, where the Maudlyn House once stood ; the
fourth at Pennycomequick, near the head of Cobourg Street ;
the fifth at Eldad. There were subsequently on the same
line Little Maudlyn Work, N.W. of the Maudlyn; and
Little Pennycomequick Work, near the site of Houndiscombe
House. This rampart covered the heads of Stonehouse and
Lipson Creeks, which were easily passable there at low- water.
Detached works were made at Stonehouse and Lipson Mill ;
at Laira Point, Mount Gould, Prince Rock, and Cattedown ;
and south of Cattewater at Mount Stamford and Mount
Batten. The redoubts were of earth, stockaded ; the breast
work merely a low earthen rampart and ditch. The sea
formed a natural moat, except towards Mutley; and there
lay the main strength of the defence.

100 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Treachery.
The next attack was made about the middle of August by
Col. Digby, who with 600 horse and 300 foot formed his
head-quarters at Plymstock, and for five or six weeks so
scoured the country that no provisions could be brought in.
But the chief troubles of the town just then were internal.
Sir Alexander Carew, commander of the fort and island,
was discovered in communication with the King's army.
Clarendon says he was in treaty with Sir John Berkeley;
Rushworth, that he held intelligence with Col. Edgcumbe and
Major Scawen by night. Mayor Francis, however, was a man
of decision ; and the evidence of a servant supplying all the
proof required, Sir Alexander was apprehended and sent
to London. He denied the treason, was reprieved for a while
on the application of his wife, but at length was executed on
Tower Hill, December 23rd, 1644. When voting for the
execution of Strafford, he told Sir Bevil Grenville: 'If I
were sure to be the next man that would suffer on the same
scaffold with the same axe, I would give my consent to the
passing of it.' It was with the same axe that he was be
headed. Among the witnesses against Carew were Francis,
two ministers named Willis and Rundall, Capt. Hancock,
John Deep, merchant, and Arthur Skinner. Carew's own
soldiers are said to have taken him in the act of attempting
to introduce Royalist soldiers into the island. Probably he
was one of those who thought the conflict was being carried
beyond what had been intended or needed.
A Perfect Diurnal of Some Passages in Parliament (No. 8,
September 4th to 11th, 1643) narrates his apprehension
thus :
Monday 4 Sep. They [the Parliament] also received notice
from Plymouth that another of their members — namely, Mr.
Alexander Carew, Governor of the Island, near Plymouth, that
commands the Sound there — was proved an Apostate, and went
about to betray that island and the town of Plymouth into the
hands of the Cornish cavaliers, but was prevented by the fidelity
of his honest soldiers, who upon the first discovery of his per
fidious purpose seized on him, and are about sending him up to
the Parliament to receive just punishment, according to his demerit;
and least there should be any protraction of justice here, by reason
of other business, the good women in that town, upon his first
apprehending (so odious was his treachery unto them), were about
to be the executioners of justice themselves, and were very hardly
intreated to forbear the hanging of him in the Island. And the
House of Commons, upon consultation hereof, to evidence to the

FALL OF MOUNT STAMFORD. 101
world their detestable hatred of such perfidiousness in any of their
members, and to make him more capable of a speedy trial with
some other of his fellow apostates by a Council of War, agreed in
a vote to disable him from being any longer a member of that
House, and that there should be [another member] chosen in his
place. Advance of Maurice.
Exeter surrendered to Prince Maurice on the 7th Septem
ber; and Clarendon holds that if Maurice had then marched
directly -upon Plymouth, it would have yielded at his ap
proach, such was the discouragement the loss of Exeter
caused, and so little was the town provided to sustain an
attack. Maurice resolved to take Dartmouth on his way,
having all the disinclination of the old school of generals to
leave even a weak enemy in his rear or on his flank ; and
the Parliament took advantage of the consequent month's
delay to send 500 or 600 soldiers by sea from Portsmouth
to Plymouth, under Col. Wardlaw — appointed commander-
in-chief of the town — and Col. Gould. Passing Dartmouth,
they left 100 men there, and came on to Plymouth with the
remainder. This addition to the garrison made the place
secure. The Mayor, according to Clarendon, was in no very
good heart; while the inhabitants were afraid they would
lose their trade and become only soldiers.
Wardlaw struck his first blow on the 8th October. Under
cover of the night he sent 300 men over Cattewater, who
fell upon and routed Digby's guard at Hooe, taking 54
prisoners, some powder, and a pair of colours, with the loss
of only two men. Dartmouth soon fell, and the garrison
learnt that Maurice, with his whole strength, was on the
march against them. Willing while they had the chance to
strike again, they made a sally against a guard at Knackers-
knowle, and captured 20 or 30. The enemy rallied, were
reinforced from Roborough Down, and fifteen of the garrison,
who had pushed too far in advance, were captured, the only
one who escaped being Major Searie, who gallantly charged
through his opponents. Fall of Mount Stamford.
The town was soon hemmed in. Maurice had five
regiments of horse, and nine of foot, stationed at Plym
stock, Plympton, Tamerton, Buckland Monachorum, Mount
Edgcumbe, Cawsand, and elsewhere, his head - quarters
conveniently placed at Widey. The garrison were deceived

102 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
by the Cavaliers bringing thirteen fishing boats overland from
the Yealm into Pomphlet Creek. This was interpreted to
indicate a design upon Cattedown, and the little redoubts
and breastworks there were strengthened. But the besiegers
knew their business better. In the night of the 21st
October they ^raised a square work within pistol-shot of
Mount Stamford, with regular approaches to cut off all relief.
It cost the Stamford garrison three hours' hard fighting
before the work was taken, and in it fifty prisoners, under
one Captain White. The capture was garrisoned by thirty
musketeers, under the command of an ensign; but in the
night the enemy fell on again, and ensign and men decamped
without warning the fort.5 Next morning there was a yet
more desperate struggle. The Royalists brought up rein
forcements, and it was not until the leader of the Roundheads,
Captain Corbett, had been shot in the forehead as he was
encouraging his men to fall on, that the coveted spot was
regained. This cost the garrison twenty men killed, and
over a hundred wounded beside officers, Colonel Gould among
the latter. The besiegers certainly an equal number, in
cluding six commanders of rank.
The work was then destroyed, and Mount Stamford
strengthened by slight outworks — a breastwork on each side,
terminated by a half moon, along the ridge — which were
manned as well as the smallness of the force at hand
permitted. The Cavaliers gave no rest. Daily there were
assaults and skirmishes; and on the third of November
batteries were raised within pistol-shot of the fort, which on
the fifth began to play, discharging upwards of 200 demi-
cannon and whole culverin shot, beside the shot of smaller
guns. These batteries completely commanded Mount Stam
ford, and flanked the outworks from Oreston Hill. On the
first day several breaches were made in the fort, and the
lieutenant and some gunners slain. The works were repaired
during the night, but there were serious needs that could not
be easily supplied. Provisions and ammunition alike ran
short; and no reinforcements came to relieve the garrison,
who had been continuously fighting for eight days. They
held out under another battering until noon of the next day,
Sunday. The outworks then fell to a general assault ; and
the captain of the fort having sustained three further attacks,
having only seven serviceable men left out of thirty-six, no
provisions, and very little ammunition, and having made a
5 This was regarded as either treachery or cowardice, and on the eighth
November — a few days afterwards— the eusign was shot.

FALL OF MOUNT STAMFORD. 103
signal of distress unavailingly for two hours, during which
he kept the enemy at bay, surrendered on good terms,
marching off with colours flying, bag and baggage, the best
gun — a demi-culverin — in the work, and exchange of
prisoners. If defeated, therefore, he was not disgraced;
though the townsfolk who did not come to his aid were called
both faint and false-hearted.
So fell Mount Stamford— the first and only advantage
gained by the Royalists during the protracted and often
revived Siege. It cost nearly three weeks independent
leaguer, and some scores of lives, including four or five
Cavalier captains, rumour magnifying the loss of the besiegers
to a thousand. While the capture did credit to the energy
of the Royalists, the surrender was no discredit to its
immediate defenders. The importance of Mount Stamford
proved to have been monstrously exaggerated. The Royalists
thought it the key to the position; and on its capture
demanded the surrender of the town.
That you may see our hearty desire of a just peace, we do
summon you in his Majesty's name to surrender the town, fort,
and island of Plymouth, with the warlike provisions thereunto
belonging, into our hands for his Majesty's use. And we do
hereby assure you, upon the power devised to us from his Majesty,
upon the performance of a general pardon for what is past ; and
engage ourselves upon our honour to secure your persons and
estates from all violence and plunder. We have now acquitted
ourselves on our parts ; and let the blood that shall be spilt in the
obtaining of these just demands (if denied by you) be your guilt.
— Given under our hands at Mount Stamford the 18th day of
November, a.d. 1643. — John Digby, Thomas Bassett, Peter
Killigrew, John Wagstaffe, J. Treleany [Trelawny], R. Prideaux,
John Arundell, Thomas Marke, William Arundell, John Downing,
Thomas Stucley.
The townsfolk were seriously inclined to comply. Colonel
Wardlaw was of a different mind, and seized the fort and
island, determined that if the town surrendered these
strengths should still be held. Strong measures were needed.
The neutralists who desired surrender were no feeble folk
in numbers, whatever they were in mind. Moreover, both
town and garrison were very ill-provided. A letter written
from Plymouth to Capt. Joseph Vaughan, a month before
(October 27th), states that affairs were then all at sixes and
sevens, and men and money both wanted; 1,000 men and
£5,000 being of more service at that juncture than 20,000
men and £100,000 if the town were lost. Governor

104 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Wardlaw and Mayor Cawse had to face a desperate state of
affairs; and to guard against treason, ever lifting its head,
care was had to certain suspected deputy-lieutenants.
The Vow and Covenant.
It was soon seen that the loss of Mount Stamford was
rather a gain. Of little use as a protection to the shipping
— which, because of the enemy's cannon at Oreston and
Mount Edgcumbe, had to shelter in Milibay — its maintenance
would have drawn too heavily on the small strength of the
garrison. Moreover, very little damage was done by the
Cavalier cannon at Stamford, beyond shooting off a vane of
the windmill on the Hoe, which was quickly new grafted,
and injuring a woman in the arm. The final result was:
' The town, which before was altogether divided and heartless
in its defence, now grew to be united, with a resolution to
stick by us in the defence thereof; partly out of fear, knowing
that the fort and island would be goads in their sides if the
town should be lost ; but especially from their assurance of
our intention to defend the town to the last man, by securing
of those four deputy-lieutenants whom they suspected, and
by the many asseverations and resolutions of the officers
that they would, when they could defend the town no longer,
burn it to ashes rather than the enemies of God and of His
cause should possess it; which resolution of theirs they
confirmed by joining in a solemn vow and covenant for the
defence of the town.'
This Vow and Covenant, ordered to be taken by all, ran
thus :
In the presence of Almighty God I vow and protest that I
will to the utmost of my power faithfully maintain and defend
the towns of Plymouth and Stonehouse, the fort and island, with
all the outworks and fortifications to the same belonging, against
all forces now raised against the said town, fort, and island, or
any part thereof; or that shall be raised by any power or authority
whatsoever, without the consent of both Houses of Parliament.
Neither will I by any way or means whatsoever contrive or consent
to the giving up of the said town and fortifications aforesaid, or
any parcel of them, into the hands of any person or persons
whatsoever, without the consent of both Houses of Parliament,
or of such as are authorized thereunto by them. Neither will I
raise or consent to the raising of any force or tumult, nor will I
by any way or means give or yield to the giving of any advice,
counsel, or intelligence, to the prejudice of the said town and
fortifications, either in whole or in part, but will with all faith

THE 'SABBATH DAY FIGHT.' 105
fully discover to the Mayor of Plymouth, and to the Commander-
in-Chief there, whatsoever design I shall know or hear of hurtful
thereunto. Neither have I accepted any pardon or protection,
nor will I accept any protection from the enemy. And this vow
or protestation I make without any equivocation or mental reser
vation whatsoever, believing that I cannot be absolved from this
my vow and protestation, and wishing no blessing from God on
myself or my posterity if I do not sincerely and truly perform
the same. So help me God.
An attempt was made when Stamford fell to retain a hold
on the south of Cattewater by raising a fort upon Haw Start.
Hitherto the garrison of Mount Stamford retreated, but as
the townsfolk would not go to their aid, and they were
wearied almost to death, they came back to Plymouth. Haw
Start was then fortified by the Cavaliers. On the same day
Mount Stamford was taken Lipson Work was assailed, but
without success : and possibly this was but a feint.
The townsfolk had a solemn day of humiliation, took their
vow and covenant, and, in the spirit of the Cromwellian
saying, ' Put your trust in Providence, and keep your powder
dry,' proceeded to complete the rampart and ditch connecting
the five great outworks, which were yet in a very imperfect
state. Between the 6th and the 16th of November nothing
of note occurred except a foraging sally at Thornhill, which
ended in the capture of Major Leyton, because, as in the
assault on Knackersknowle, the party pushed forward too
far. The Lipson end of the line was the first attacked. The
deep valley, however, prevented the Cavaliers from raising
their battery (which opened on the 18th November) near
enough to do much damage.
Though the townsfolk were by this time both united and
determined, they were not thoroughly purged of the leaven
of malignity. Three notorious 'malignants' were among them
— Ellis Carteret, sailor; Henry Pike, vintner; and Moses
Collins, attorney. Carteret endeavoured to induce Roger
Kemborn, chief gunner of Maudlyn Work, to blow it up.
Kemborn revealed the plot, ' God not suffering his conscience
to. rest until he did'; and Carteret was apprehended. Pike
and Collins fled to the enemy.
TJie 'Sabbath Day Fight.'
Sunday, the third of December, 1643, is one of the most
memorable days in the history of Plymouth. Never stood
the town in such peril. Its fate trembled in the balance.
If trainbands and soldiers had not alike done their duty,

106 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
the Parliament would have lost its last stronghold in the
West. There was a small breastwork at Laira Point, at the
junction of what then was Lipson Creek with the Laira. It
was an entrenched outpost with three cannon, in itself of
little strength. Low tide fell during the dark hours of the
morning of the third December, and Lipson Creek, save the
middle channel, was dry. Guided by Pike and Collins, 400
musketeers crossed the mud, wading the stream a little
below the mill ; and following down the western shore under
cover of the precipitous banks, surprised the guard at the
Point. It then wanted three hours to sunrise. The guard
gave the alarm to the garrison ; and at daybreak, 150 horse
and 300 musketeers fell in above Tothill to repel the attack.
The ridge concealed them from the main body of the
besiegers ; but as they were in full view of Mount Stamford,
a warning shot fired thence aroused Prince Maurice and ' all
the gallantry of his army,' who immediately advanced in full
strength from Compton and Egg Buckland down Lipson
Valley, under cover of their ordnance and sheltered by a
hedge, to the support of their forlorn hope. Speed as they
would, the Roundheads were before them ; and by the time
they arrived, a hot conflict was onward near the Point. The
besiegers' supports turned the scale. The Roundheads were
outnumbered ten to one, and driven back in absolute rout
for the space of three fields. So hasty was the retreat, and
so hot the pursuit, that some of the Cavalier horse pushed
on past the outworks to within pistol-shot of the walls, and
were there either killed or taken. The bulk of the Round
heads, however, rallied on the highest point of Freedom
Fields, their left flank protected by Lipson Work. Here
they were reinforced from the different outworks, though
the aid was small. There was great danger of assault
elsewhere. Pennycomequick Work indeed was attempted
without success ; and few could be spared. Weak as the
defenders were, they held their ground for hours of anxious
expectancy, while the Cavaliers were either unable or afraid
to follow up their advantage. At length they summoned
Lipson Work, probably the obstacle. Their trumpet was
answered by a cannon, and this shot heralded the renewal
of the battle. A drake was brought up, planted in a position
of vantage, and discharged several times on the enemy's
horse with good effect. The field party were reinforced by a
couple of hundred of the trainbands. Sixty musketeers
were sent round under Mount Gould to take the enemy in
the rear. Then at a signal given by the sound of drum, a

DEPARTURE OF MAURICE. 107
general assault was made along the whole line. The enemy
gave way. Their retreat, followed up, became a rout. Down
the hill they rushed pell-mell, in far too much of a hurry to
choose a path ; and while making their hasty way over the
creek, some were killed, and still more captured. Their rear
guard of cavalry, cut off, was forced into the mud in utter
confusion. Many of the horses were drowned ; some of the
horsemen made their escape by crawling on shore. Not a few
were killed by the cross-fire of the pursuing horse and foot,
and of some vessels stationed at Laira Point, which had
parleyed with the enemy while the issue of the day was
doubtful, but when the retreat commenced became ' honest '
again. These vessels in all likelihood were some just sent by
Parliament to the town's relief. The repulse was complete,
and Plymouth was saved. Both sides suffered heavily. The
garrison, when they were driven back, lost forty-three officers
and men prisoners, Captain Wansey and twelve men killed,
and a hundred wounded, some mortally. The loss of the
assailants was much greater. The boasting shouts of the
Cavaliers, 'The town is ours,' had been answered by the
hopeful cries of the garrison, ' God with us.' And when in
the event, to quote the words of the old chronicler, the Lord
showed himself so wonderfully in their deliverance, soldiers
and townsfolk united in a solemn day of thanksgiving,
proclaiming their confidence in the noble motto, 'Tunis
fortissima est nomen Jehovae.' For many a year the bells
of St. Andrew rang joyous peals each third of December in
memory of the great mercy of this ' Sabbath-day fight.' It
was indeed a great deliverance. If the Royalists had held
possession of their ground that night they would have gained
Cattedown. Then the garrison would have had to betake
themselves to the wall ; and as that was not finished, a very
few hours woidd have settled the fate of the town. No
wonder Major-General Basset called from the trenches to
one of the Roundhead officers, he verily thought God fought
against the Cavaliers. Departure of Maurice.
The next three weeks were quiet, the only episode a night
attack upon the small redoubt near Lipson Mill, then newly
raised. On the 18th of December bombardment commenced,
but with little success. To make the attack more effective,
the batteries were approached so close that they were
commanded by the outer earthworks; and the Cavalier
gunners were beaten from their guns. A more serious danger

108 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
soon threatened. On the night of the 20th December, under
cover of the darkness and the rain, aided by the carelessness
of the captain at Maudlyn, who neglected his sentries, the
besiegers contrived, with the help of a corner of a field, to
raise a square work within pistol-shot of Maudlyn, endanger
ing the communication with the work at Pennycomequick.
At daybreak this was discovered ; and, anxious to repair their
neglect, the garrison at Maudlyn, threescore strong, made an
attack. They found that the new work was held by a force
four or five times their number, and were driven back. All
the available men from the town were then brought up, both
horse and foot, and at nine o'clock the attack renewed. The
first assault was repulsed ; at the next the assailants made a
footing in the work, to be immediately driven out again.
But they were not daunted. The reserves were brought into
action. Again they fell on, and this time succeeded, driving
the Royalists headlong before them, and being held back
with difficulty from assailing their batteries. The work was
destroyed. What it cost the garrison we have no means of
knowing; but as nearly 100 Cavaliers were slain, the loss of
the stormers must have been severe.
The effect of this blow was such — coupled with the fact
that disease had broken out in the camp, the wet weather
' breeding such a rot ' that the men died in great numbers,
while hundreds sick and maimed were in the trenches — that
on Christmas-day, the date by which Maurice said the town
should be taken, the Siege was raised; the Prince as a
parting shot issuing an order to the constables and tything-
men of Egg Buckland and St. Budeaux against the relief of
the garrison :
Forasmuch as divers persons disaffected to his Majesty's service
make their daily recourse into Plymouth, furnishing the rebells
there with all manner of provision for man and horse, contrary to
his Majesty's proclamation prohibiting the same ; these are there
fore to signify that if any person, of what degree or quality
soever, presume to have any commerce or dealing with any in the
said town, or take or carry with him any horses, oxen, kine, or
sheep, or other provision for man or horse, into the said town of
Plymouth for the relief of the rebells there, every such person
and persons shall be proceeded against, both in person and estate,
as abettors of this horrid rebellion and contemners of his Majesty's
proclamation, according to the limitation of the Court of Wards
in such cases provided : willing and requiring all mayors, justices
of peace, bailiffs, constables, and all other of his Majesty's officers
and ministers, to cause them to be forthwith published in all

DEPARTURE OF MAURICE. 109
churches, chappies, markets, and other places, whereby his
Majesty's loving subjects may the better take notice thereof. —
Maurice. It was time for some relief. The privations of the
inhabitants had been severe, and their death-rate had risen
very high. The registers of St. Andrew, which deal only with
the actual burials in the churchyard, show that in December
alone, instead of the eighteen or twenty which would have
been a fair average for that time of the year, there were 132.
The leat was cut off. Provisions had been very scarce ; and
it is acknowledged with devout thankfulness, that when the
poor people were grievously punished, 'there came an infinite
number of pilchards1 into the harbour within the Barbican,
which the people took up with great ease in baskets, which
did not only refresh them for the present, but a great deal
more were taken, preserved and salted, whereby the poor got
much money.' Another providential occurrence was the fact
that the day after the Siege was raised, instead of earlier,
part of two of the works fell down.
The trainbands had done their duty well ; and perhaps it
is to this period of the Siege that we must refer a tradition
preserved by Mr. John Fox in his MSS.,2 the death, while
defending Maudlyn Work, or in Mutley fields, of a silver
smith named Smith, an ancestor of the Collier family. A
relative was going up to the work with his dinner, when he
or she met his body being brought back, headless, thrown
across a horse like a sack. The idea of taking out dinner to
the combatants may seem strange; but we have a special
record of 'the great humanity of the good women of
Plymouth, and their courage in bringing out strong waters
and all sorts of provisions, in the midst of all our skirmishes
and fights, for the refreshing of our soldiers, though many
women were shot through the clothes.' The credit of the
defence is not confined therefore to the sterner sex, and the
pluck of the women must have helped to compensate for the
scant numbers of the men.
The garrison were deficient of munitions also; but they
had one piece of good fortune. When they were most
pressed for money, Sampson Hele, of Fardel, came informally,
without drum or trumpet, with a summons of surrender;
whereupon, by way of ransom, he was ' persuaded ' to yield
£2,000 for the payment and clothing of the soldiers.
When Maurice left, the Siege was turned into a blockade
1 Sprioge says 'mullets,' which is much more likely.
s Now in the Proprietary Library.

110 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
under the charge of Digby. Mount Stamford was retained,
but the head-quarters were at Plympton, whilst a strong
force was quartered at Tavistock. Moreover, the Cavaliers
of Devon and Cornwall entered into a solemn vow and
protestation, to the utmost of their power to assist his
Majesty's armies in reducing Plymouth.
The chief commanders of the attack during this period
were — Prince Maurice, the Earls of Marlborough and
Newport, Lord Mohun, Sir Thomas Hele, Sir Edmund
Fortescue, Sir John Grenville, Sir Richard Caire, Sir James
Cobourne, Sir John Digby, Sir Peter Courtenay, Sir William
Courtenay, Lieut.-General Wagstaffe, Major-General Basset.
The officers of the garrison — Colonels Wardlaw, Wm. Gould,
Michael Serle ; Lieut.-Colonel William Layther ; Nathaniel
Willis, Sergeant-Major; Captains Samuel Bersch, Gabriel
Bernes, Henry Potter, William Watton, Henry Plumley,
William Hill, Thomas Hughes, Robert Northcote, Thomas
King, George Hamilton, William Owen, Humphry Burton,
Thomas Halsey ; Capt.-Lieuts. Bartholomew Henderson,
James Moore ; Lieuts. Philip Beaumont, Thomas Stayner, —
Chaffin. Officers of the horse — Philip Francis, John White,
Richard Evins, Arthur Gay, Richard Burthogg, Henry Hatsell.
Captains of the town — Ellis Crymes, Philip Crocker, Robert
Harvie, Christopher Martin; Christopher Crocker, Captain-
Lieutenant. In January, 1644, Wardlaw ceased to be active governor,
and was succeeded by Gould. A letter from him was read
to the House of Commons September 4th, 1644, in which it
is stated that he had become incapacitated for service by
infirmities incurred in the discharge of his duty; but in
January he complained of supercession without notice.
The town had a month's peace ; but peace did not mean
idleness. The breathing time was employed in strengthening
and repairing the old fortifications, and in adding new ones.
Not only were the enemy's redoubts and batteries slighted,
but the hedges immediately contiguous to the outworks
destroyed. This was more important than making sallies.
The soldiers sorely wanted rest: it had been a common
thing for them to endure six or seven nights' duty without
relief. Blockade under Digby and Grenville.
And peace consisted only in living free from actual
assault. Mount Stamford daily favoured the town with great
shot, but they did little damage. Hostilities in the field

BLOCKADE UNDER DIGBY AND GRENVILLE. Ill
were renewed on the 26th of January, when the Cavaliers at
Plympton and Buckland fell upon some scattered parties of
the garrison. Major Halsey, with the Roundhead horse,
pursued and attacked the enemy at Tamerton. In February
and March there were various sallies, which inflicted con
siderable annoyance on the besiegers, but had no effective
result. In one of these, Colonel Digby was placed hors de combat,
receiving a rapier wound in the eye, from which he never
properly recovered. The conduct of the Siege thus fell into
the hands of Sir Richard Grenville, of whom more anon.
A little later death deprived the garrison of Colonel
William Gould, who also held the office of High Sheriff of
Devon under the Parliament. The decease of this 'noble
and valiant gentleman ' was improved by Stephen Midhope,
one of the chaplains, who, when publishing the sermon,
dedicated it to Sir John Bampfield (ancestor of Lord
Poltimore), then commanding in the town. There is a
singular uncertainty about the date of Gould's death. One
of the contemporary Siege Tracts places it on the 27th of
March. The register of St. Andrew records the burial of
Colonel William Gould on the 9th July. When he died, the
command of the town was put into commission, being
granted (it would almost seem by Colonel Wardlaw) to the
Mayor, Colonel Crocker, and Lieut.-Colonel Martin, until a
commander-in-chief was sent down from the Parliament;
the two former subsequently transferring their authority to
the last.
But this has carried us in advance of the course of events.
On the 18th of March — Digby was probably wounded in a
sally on the 15th — Grenville sent the following letter into
the town :
For Col. Gold, together with the officers and souldiers now at
the Fort, and Towne of Plinimouth, These
Gentlemen,
That it may not seeme strange unto you, to understand of my
being ingaged in his Majesties service, to come against Plimouth
as an Enemy, I shall let you truely know the occasion thereof.
It is very true, that I came from Ireland with a desire and intention
to look after my own particular fortune in England, and not to
ingage myself in any kind in the unhappy difference betwixt the
King and the pretinded Parliament now at London. But chancing
to land at Liverpoole, the Parliament's forces there brought me to
London, where I must confesse I received from both the pretended
houses of Parliament great tokens of favour, and also importunate

112 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
motions to ingage me to serve them, which I civilly refused :
afterwards divers honourable persons of the pretended Parliament
importuned me to undertake their service for the Government and
defence of Plymouth : unto which my answer was, that it was fit
(before I ingaged my self) I should understand what meanes they
could and would allow and provide for the effectuall performance
of that service ; upon that a Committee appointed for the West
thought fit with all speede to send a present reliefe of Men and
Munition to Plymouth, which with very great difficulty was brought
thither, being the last you had ; afterwards there were many meet
ings more of that Committee, to provide the meanes that should
give Plymouth reliefe, and enable it to defend itself, and notwith
standing the earnest desires, and endeavours of that Committee
accordingly, I protest before God, after six moneths expectation,
& attendance on that Committee by me, I found no hopes- or
likelyhood of but reasonable means for the reliefe and defence of
Plymouth, which made me account it a lost Towne, and the reather
because I being by Commission Lieut. General! to Sir William
Waller, had an ordinance of the Parliament for the raising of
500 horse for my Regement at the charges of Kent, Surry, Sussex,
Hampshire, who in 3 moneths time, had not raised 4 Troopes, and
my own Troope, when I left them having 2 months pay due to
them, could get but one month for which extraordinary means
was used, being a favour none else could obtain, it being very true,
that the Parliament's forces have all beene unpaid for many
months, in such sort, that they are grown weak, both in Men and
Monies, and have by only good words kept their forces from
disbanding. The processe of so long time spent at London, made
me and many others plainly see the iniquity of their policy, for I
found Religion was the cloak for Rebellion, and it seemed not
strange to me when I found the Protestant religion was infected
with so many independants, and sectaries of infinite kinds which
would not heare of a peace, but such as would be in some kind as
pernicious as was the warre. The Priviledges of this Parliament
I found was not to be found by any of the former, but to lay them
aside and alter them as they advantaged their party. This seemed
so odious to me that I resolved to lay my self, as I have done at
his Ma : feete, from whence and his most just cause, no fortune,
terrour, or cruelty shall make me swerve, in any kind : and to let
you see also what hath formerly past, I have sent you these
inclosed. Now for a farewell ; I must wish, and advise you, out
of the true and faithfull love and affection, I am bound to .beare
towards mine own Country, that you speedily consider your great
charges, losses, & future dangers, by making and holding your
selves enemies to his Majestie, who doth more truly desire your
welfare and safety, then it seemes you doe your selves, wherefore
(as yet my friends) I desire you to resolve speedily of your
Propositions for peace, by which you may soone injoy your liberties,

BLOCKADE UNDER DIGBY AND GRENVILLE. 113
contents, and estates, lest on the contrary, the contrary which with
a sad heart I speake, you will very soon see the effect of. Thus
my affection urgeth me to impart unto you, out of the great desire
I have, rather to regaine my lost old friends by love, then by force
to subject them to ruine, and on that consideration I must thus
conclude. Your loving friend,
Fitzford 18 Martij. 1643. [Old style.] Rich. Grenville.
To this the Garrison replied :
Sir, — Though your Letter meriting our highest contempt and
scorne, which once we thought fit by our silence (judging it
unworthy of an answer) to have testified, yet, considering that
your self intends to make it publique, we offer you these lines,
that the world may see what esteem we have of the man notorious
for Apostacy and Trechery, & that we are ready to dispute the
justice and equity of our cause in any lawfull way, whereto the
enemy shall at any time challenge us. You might well have
spared the giving us an account of your dissimulation with the
Parliament. We were soone satisfied ; and our wonder is not so
great that you are now gone from us as at first, when we under
stood of your ingagement to us : & to tel you truth, it pleased us
not so well to hear you were named to be a Governor for this place
as now it doth to know you are in arms against us, we accounting
our selves safer to have you an enemy abroad than a pretended
friend at home, being persuaded that your principles could not
afford cordiall endeavors for an honest cause. You tell us of the
pretended houses of Pari, at London, a thred-bare scandal suckt
from Aulicus, whose reward, or a Bp. blessing, you may chance to
be honoured wth for your Court-service; & how they make Religion
the cloak of Rebellion, a garment which we are confident your
Rebellion wil never be clad with : You advise us to consider the
great charges we have beene at, and the future dangers we runn
our selves into, by making our selves enemies to his Majesty, who
more desires our good than we our selves, & thus would have us
prepare conditions for Peace. That we have bin at great charges
already we are sufficiently sensible, & yet resolve that it shall not
any way lessen our affections to that cause, with which God hath
honoured us, by making us instruments to plead it against the
malicious adversaries. If the King be our enemy, yet Oxford
cannot proove that we have made him so. That his Majestie
desires our wel-fare we can easily admit, as well as that its the
mischievous Councellors so neere him who render him cruel to
his most faithful subjects : & as for our proposing conditions of
peace, we shall most gladly do it when it may advance the publique
service ; but to do it to the enemies of peace, though we have bin
thereto formerly invited, yet hath it pleased the disposer of all
things to preserve us from the necessity of it, & to support us
against all the fury of the inraged enemy. The same God is still
I

114 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
our rock and refuge, under whose wings we doubt not of protection
and safety, when the Seducers of a King shall die like a candle,
and that name which by such courses is sought to be perpetual in
honor, shall end in ignominy. For the want of money to pay the
Parliaments souldiers, though it be not such as you would persuade
us, yet certain we are their treasury had now bin greater, and
honest men better satisfied, but that some as unfaithful as your
selfe have gone before you in betraying them both of their trust
& riches. Whereas you mind us of the lost condition of our town,
sure it cannot be you should be so truly persuaded of it, as they
are of your personall, who subscribe themselves, and so remaine
friends to the faithfull.
Grenville enclosed a book entitled the Iniquity of the
Covenant. This was burnt in the market-place, by the
hands of the common hangman, under order of the Council
of War. Moreover, proclamation was made that all who
had any of these books, and did not bring them forth, should
be held and dealt with as enemies to the State and Town.
Colonel Martin on the Offensive.
Colonel Martin was a commander of decision and vigour.
He acted upon the offensive, to prevent the enemy taking
up close quarters again ; but the Cavaliers, as the year wore
on, gradually drew their circle narrower. The garrison must
have received some reinforcements. Our only definite in
formation is that certain of the prisoners captured took the
Covenant and enlisted on the Parliamentary side ; and that
men from all parts came in daily, but that there was no
money to pay them.
Martin's earliest movement of importance was an assault
upon St. Budeaux. Hearing that 500 Cavaliers were quar
tered there, he sent against them 600 musketeers, with 120
horse, at the same time making a feint in the direction of
Plympton, the besiegers' head-quarters. The attacking party
were separated by a mistake of the guides. Nevertheless
the foot fell upon St. Budeaux unobserved, captured the
garrisoned church tower, and took a couple of officers and
44 other prisoners, besides powder, horse, and arms.
This was on the 16th April. On the 19th Martin beat up
the enemy's quarters at ' Newbridge on the way to Plympton,'
somewhere between Longbridge and Marsh Mills. Impetuous
as usual, the forlorn hope, disobeying orders, fell on while
the reliefs were yet a mile behind, beat the Cavaliers from
hedge to hedge, and captured a breastwork in advance of the
bridge ; but at length, their powder being spent, they had to

COLONEL MARTIN ON THE OFFENSIVE. 115
retire before the main strength of the enemy, two men only
being wounded.
On the 21st of April an attack was made from Prince Rock
upon the Cavalier guard at Pomphlet Mill, and prisoners
and provisions brought in. This was but a small affair.
On the 11th of May a more formidable expedition attacked
the enemy at Jump (now Roborough), then called ' the Jump,'
or 'Trenaman's Jump.' This sortie issued from Hopton's
Work — probably an old fortification of the besiegers, opposite
Maudlyn. It consisted of 1,000 foot and 100 horse, 400
musketeers and 25 horse 'making good the wayes about
Compton ' to prevent a flank attack. The enemy were beaten
out of their quarters, and 100 brought back prisoners, despite
attempts at rescue.
Colonel Martin next turned his attention westward. The
Mercurius Rusticus contains a statement under date May
12th: 'The rebels from Plymouth assaulted Mount Edg
cumbe House in Cornwall (which was only defended by
thirty musketeers), were bravely repulsed, and eighty of
them killed in the place.' While there is evidently some
exaggeration in the roll of the slain, there is little doubt this
action really took place three days later — on the 15th of the
month, when Colonel Martin sent Captain Haynes with 300
men from Cremill (now Devil's) Point to Mount Edgcumbe,
himself following with twenty horse when the passage was
open. On his arrival he despatched the following summons
to Mount Edgcumbe, but without effect :
To prevente the Efusyon of Chrystian Blood I doe heerbye
Require ya ymediately to deliver Mount edgcumbe house unto
mee for ye use of the Kinge & Parliamt And yu shall have fayre
quarter whcl1 if yu shall Refuse I have acquitted myselfe from
the guilte of the Blood wch may be spilte in obtayninge my just
desire Robt Marten
Passage 15 May 1644
To the Governour of
Mount Edgcomb House : these.
The landing was effected at the Warren, near the Old
Blockhouse yet standing in the gardens. Here had been
mounted three small guns, which used greatly to annoy the
boats going to Stonehouse. These were captured at the
outset, the gunners retreating to the house. Finding that
his summons produced no result, Martin left a party to
watch the garrison, and pressed onward. Maker Church
tower was assaulted and taken, and therein a barrel of
I 2

116 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
powder. A fort at Cawsand was surrendered; Millbrook,
entrenched and garrisoned by 250 men, was carried with the
capture of cannons, prisoners, and cattle. A fort at
Inceworth was abandoned on the approach of the victorious
Roundheads. But the posts could not be held. The Cavaliers
came down in force from their head-quarters on the Cornish
side, at Saltash ; and so Colonel Martin retreated with his
booty, and 200 prisoners. On the road he assaulted Mount
Edgcumbe, but was repulsed. The banqueting-hall and the
out-offices were burnt, but the main building, being of stone,
was not to be dealt with in that summary way. According
to Col. Martin, the casualties in this affair were very slight ;
not a tithe of the eighty slain by the writer in Mercurius
Aulicus. When the sortie returned it was learnt that the
besiegers had attacked the outworks with 1,000 horse and
foot, and been beaten back.
On the 22nd of the same month Warleigh House was
assailed, and fifty horses taken. This was not effected
without loss; for the party were considerably harassed in
their return.
There were other sorties. Whitelock mentions one in
which forty prisoners, with horses, arms, and ammunition,
were taken ; another, wherein the garrison issued forth two
miles, and captured nine guns, 150 prisoners, 100 cows, and
500 sheep ; a third, whence forty horses and prisoners were
brought in ; a fourth, resulting in 100 prisoners ; and a fifth,
towards Newbridge, in which fifty horses were captured,
Capt. Arundel and other inferior officers, and many soldiers
slain. How far these are to be identified with the forays
already detailed we cannot say ; but in all likelihood some
are duplicate versions of the same events. Arundel, who
was son of the gallant Governor of Pendennis, familiarly
called ' Old Tilbury ' and ' John for the King,' was shot dead
in the entrenchments by Capt. Braddon.6
There were still troubles within the walls. A feminine
malignant and traitor was detected holding correspondence
with the enemy, and committed to the Castle. The articles
against her were that she sent suits of apparel to the
renegadoes Pike and Collins; that she discovered to the
6 James Hals, of Efford, was Lieut.-Colonel in Colonel Boscawen's regiment
defending Plymouth. He was captured in a sortie, and sent prisoner to
Lydford. Here some of his fellow-officers— Leach, Morris, and Brabyn
[Brabant ?]— were executed without trial for high treason by Grenville. Hals
was spared, but kept in prison until, twenty months afterwards, Essex in his
march into the West set the prisoners free. While in prison, Browne gave
him a copy of his Lydford Law ' for his diversion.' (Hals's Cornwall.)

ESSEX'S UNLUCKY MARCH WEST. 117
enemy the quantity of powder in the town ; that she invited
the enemy to assault it; and that she desired a Cavalier,
Major Harris, to quarter in her house when the town was
taken, informing him moreover that the Protestant religion
in Plymouth was decayed and breathing its last gasp. There
was another 'virago,' but she was allowed to 'sleep for a
while that her shame and doom might be the heavier.'
The Weekly Account of July 30th, 1644, states that
Plymouth was well supplied with provisions: beef, 2£d.
per lb. ; cheese, coal, and meal, cheaper than in London.
From another source, however, we learn there was great
distress. The chief wants were of money and river-water,
(though there were plenty of wells), and water to drive the
mills. Col. Gould had been an officer of the most approved
Puritan type, purging ' the forces from swearers, drunkards,
and abominable livers, causing the town and garrison to be
very careful in observing the Lord's-day and days of
humiliation, and to be frequently present at the ordinances
of the Lord of hosts.' Col. Martin followed in his footsteps.
So far as actual warfare went, he was the most energetic and
daring commander the town had. 'Tough Old Plymouth'
was now the only place in Devon and Cornwall that adhered
to the Parliament. Save Plymouth, Poole, and Lyme, the
whole of the West of England was in Royalist hands. Like
his predecessors, Wardlaw and Gould, Martin succumbed
to the service. The burial of Lieut.-Colonel Martyn is
recorded in the register of St. Andrew for October, 1644.
Col. Kerr was the next commander. On his arrival, June 14,
he was entertained by the garrison and whole town with very
great expressions of love and joy. Martin, however, was still
at the head of affairs when, early in July, there was another
unsuccessful assault. Essex's Unlucky March West.
On the 1st of this month an ordinance of the Lords and
Commons appointed Commissioners for the Western Counties
for raising moneys for the maintenance of the army and
garrisons there, and for other purposes. The chief care of
this committee was the supply of Plymouth. At the head
of the Commissioners for Cornwall was John Lord Robartes
(ancestor of Lord Robartes); and it was at his desire that
Essex made his unfortunate march into the West, Robartes
believing and arguing that in this way great assistance
would be obtained in his own county. Plymouth was greatly

118 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
encouraged by the news of the Lord General's approach. As
he drew near, Grenville, who had now only 500 foot and 300
horse, retreated on Tavistock, abandoning all his positions.
At Fort Stamford four guns were taken, and at Plympton
eight ; whilst at Saltash and a ' great fort ' — wherever that
may have been — there were found more cannon and many
arms. Essex, strengthened by 2,500 men from Plymouth,
where he only left Colonel Harvey's horse, marched on into
Cornwall by Newbridge. Grenville's house at Fitzford was
assaulted on the 23rd July, 150 prisoners made, and £3,000
worth of pillage taken. On the 26th the passage at New
bridge was forced, Essex losing 40 men against Grenville's
400. Captain Reynolds's Plymouth horse are recorded to
have charged bravely. It does not add to our estimate of
Grenville's qualities as a soldier, or to our opinion of his
men, that Essex was able to effect the passage so easily.
The sides of the gorge of the Tamar at Gunnislake are
exceedingly steep, even precipitous, the river deep: and
Grenville's force, if small, ought to have inflicted great loss
on the assailants.
At this time some of the Parliamentary fleet were at
Plymouth, as appears from the following correspondence, for
which, with the summons of surrender already cited, we are
indebted to the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, among whose
family muniments the originals are :
Robert Earle of Warwicke, Lord High Admiral of England,
Ireland, and Wales, and Captain-Generall of his Maties Seas and
Navy RoyalL
To ye Commander-in-Chiefe of Mount Edgecomb, — I doe hereby
sommon you, in the name of the King and Parliament, forthw*h
to render to mee Mount Edgecomb, now in yor keeping, for the
use of his Matie and ye Parliam* wth all things in it. Els you
you may expect the rigour of warre, I being resolved otherwise to
enforce yor speedy obedience. You are to retorne mee yor answere
by this Bearer, my Lieutennant. Warwicke.
Aboord his Mat.'s ship the James, in Plimouth Sound, 30 July,
1644. The answer is as follows :
Noble Earle of Warwicke, — Wheras you have sumoned me,
in the name of the King and Parliament, to Render unto yor
Lordpp the Howse Mountedgcombe ; may ytt please yor Honner,
I am heere intrusted to keepe the Howse for my Master, Coll11
Edgcombe, till his returne : to whom, as I conceive, itt doth justly
helonge. Your Humble Servant, Henry Bourne.
Mountedgcombe, July the 30th, 1644.

CHARLES BEFORE PLYMOUTH. 119
There is no need to recall the details of the disaster that
befell Essex ; the greatest blow the Parliament had received.
The King and Prince Maurice marched after him. Richard
Symonds, a Cavalier who was with the King, states that
their joint armies mustered 10,000 foot, 5,000 horse, and 28
pieces of cannon. Essex was hemmed in at Boconnoc, the
scene of Ruthin's disaster. Sir William Balfour, with
2,300 horse, broke through the investing line, and reached
Plymouth by Saltash; Skippon, with the foot, including
the Plymouth contingent, surrendered. Essex, with Lord
Eobartes, Sir John Merrick, and a few others, escaped from
Fowey in a small vessel, contemptuously termed a cock-boat
by the Cavaliers, to Plymouth.
Charles before Plymouth.
Every preparation was made at Plymouth to resist the
coming attack of the Eoyalists, flushed with victory. Fortu
nately some supplies had been received which were originally
intended for Gloucester. The breathing-time was brief.
Skippon surrendered on the 1st September ; by the 5th the
. King, with Maurice and Grenville, were at Tavistock, whence
the latter sent a trumpeter summoning the town to surrender.
The trumpeter, who according to Symonds ' was abused and
imprisoned,' did not return until the next day, and then only
with the message that the answer should be sent by one of
the Eoundhead drummers. All we know of this answer is
that it was in the negative. On the 9th of the month
(Monday) the army marched to Eoborough, where they
camped, and whence Sir John Campsfield, with the Queen's
regiment of horse, was sent to demonstrate against the
stubborn town ; the result being that when he returned the
rebel horse followed him at a less respectful distance than
was convenient. So on the Tuesday the army marched
upon Plymouth, with drums beating and colours flying,
and making, no doubt, a very gallant show in the eyes of
the expectant Eoundheads as they poured down, 15,000
strong, over the slopes of Mannamead and Compton. Still
the garrison were not moved by the spectacle; and the
march had to be made under ' mercy of the enemy's cannon,'
which played upon the Cavaliers as they advanced, taking
cover of the hedges. But they, too, were not easily to be
daunted. The twenty-eight great guns were brought, and
planted within half cannon-shot of the outworks, and the
battle began in earnest.

120 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Next day the King resorted to negociation. His head
quarters were at Yeoman Heale's, at Widey. Charles tried
every means that ingenuity could suggest to obtain possession
of the town — force, persuasion, treachery, bribes, blandish
ments. Plymouth was proof against them all. Well that
it should be. It is not claiming too much for the fame of
the good old town to say that, if it had been less staunch and
true the entire complexion of the Civil War might have
changed. The whole of the West and South of England
would have been at the mercy of the Eoyalists ; and if this
had not caused events to take a different turn, it would
beyond doubt have greatly prolonged the struggle. But
Plymouth was true ; and while it remained loyal to liberty
it absorbed the energies of a Eoyalist army.
Charles in his summons of surrender, set forth :
That God having given him a great victory, yet as his desire
was to reduce his people by acts of grace and clemency, so he is
desirous of setting a special mark of favour on his town of
Plymouth, and doth therefore require them to surrender up the
town, assuring them, on the word of a king, that they shall enjoy
all their wonted privileges, and have no other garrisons put upon
them than what they had in the most peaceful times ; viz., in the
fort and in the island; promising pardon to all townsmen and
soldiers for what was past; entertaining such as shall be willing
in his service ; and requiring their speedy answer.
The answer was not very speedy; for the trumpeter did
not return until a drummer was sent after him, and then
not until the next day, with a hint that if he came again he
would be hung ; but if not speedy, it was decided — ' Never.'
Lord Digby made a private appeal to Lord Eobartes,
appointed Governor on the 11th September, offering him
preferment and honour if he would betray his trust. To this
the same answer was returned.
The next appeal was to arms. The 'gallant spirits of
Plymouth ' had ' shut up their shops ' and ' betook themselves
to the workes to stand it out to the last.' They were none
too soon. That same day, the Cavaliers made a desperate
attack on the western line of defence by Stonehouse and
Pennycomequick, but were repulsed with great loss; the
sailors of the fleet then lying in Cattewater being especially
notable for their gallantry. According to Symonds, on the
Saturday night ' our souldjers gave the enemy strong alarmes,
and cryd, " Fall on," " Fall on the enemy," shott thousands
of musket and many pieces of cannon as was the severall

SIR RICHARD GRENVILLE IN CHARGE. 121
night before.' But this did no good ; and in the morning.
between six and seven, the armies of the King and Maurice
marched away. Symonds records with evident chagrin that
the 'rogues followed the reare, commanded by Lord North
ampton ; little or no hurt, onely the basest of language,'
This was even more aggravating than hard blows. To lose
was bad enough ; to be abused and ridiculed far worse. It
was the King's custom daily to demonstrate with his chief
officers and guards at Mannamead. Daily was he received
with a shotted salute from the guns at Maudlyn; and the
townsfolk with grim humour dubbed the site of these idle
vauntings — 'Vapouring Hill.' After the King left, forty
prisoners of quality were sent from Plymouth to London.
These were very perilous times. Essex, who before his
defeat had spoken of Plymouth as 'a place of as great
concernment as any in the kingdom next to London,' in his
letter from Plymouth of September third announcing his
defeat says : ' I have taken the best care I can to secure this
towne, but without a present supply of men and monie it
will be in great danger.' On the 18th August the Earl of
Warwick had written that the garrison was only 800 strong
beside the burgesses, and that there were four miles of line to
defend, with 150 cannon. ' If this town be lost all the West
is in danger.' The Mayor and Governor were quarrelling,
the soldiers wanted pay, and the townsfolk were not very
forward. Eobartes declared the soldiers low in courage and
loud in complaints ; many of the inhabitants cold and weary
of the two years' siege. When the King attacked there were
2,500 foot and 400 horse in the garrison besides the towns
men; and Essex was told that his army must wait until
Plymouth was supplied.
Sir Richard Grenville in Charge.
The Siege being raised, a blockade was substituted under
Grenville, who was made General of the King's forces in
Devon and Cornwall, with special charge of Plymouth.
According to Clarendon, Grenville promised to take the town
before Christmas ; and to that end to raise and pay an army
of 6,000 foot and 1,200 horse. That he might have the
means to do this, there were allotted to him half the Eoyalist
contributions of Devon, over £1,100 weekly; the whole of
those of Cornwall, about £700 ; and arrears of near £6,000.
Eichard Grenville was utterly unlike his brother Bevil.
He was grievously hated by the Eoundheads, equally for his

122 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
cruelty, and his cool and deliberate treachery to the Parlia
mentary cause. Brave and a good disciplinarian; he was
charged with misapplying the moneys granted him for the
maintenance of his army, and with being chiefly diligent in
seizing the estates of partisans of the Parliament for his
own individual benefit. ' Though he suffered not his soldiers
to plunder, he was in truth himself the greatest plunderer
of this war.' And so he was cruel, even malignant, in his
disposition. He brought no good character from the Irish
wars ; and to keep his hand in, would now and then hang a
constable ; while his minor acts of oppression were countless.
He met four or five soldiers of Plymouth garrison coming
out of a wood with faggots, and made one hang the rest to
save his own life, which, says the historian, ' he was contented
to do.' He caught an unfortunate solicitor — Francis Brabant,
of Breage — who had acted for his wife in a lawsuit, and
hung him as a spy.
And now we come to an incident which set Grenville and
Eobartes (Eicraft's ' most noble religious and pious lord ') in
such deadly antagonism, that thereafter, while they com
manded, no quarter was given. When the blockade was first
left in Grenville's charge, his chief endeavour was to stop
the supplies, and many skirmishes necessarily resulted. Lord
Lansdowne states that in some such affair, wherein prisoners
were taken on both sides, a young gentleman about sixteen,
near kinsman to Grenville [probably a natural son], fell into
the hands of the garrison ; that Sir Richard wanted to ransom
or exchange him, but that Robartes hung him at one of the
town gates without other reply. Such is Lord Lansdowne's
explanation of the passage in Clarendon, that a message
passed between Grenville and Robartes, which kindled such
furious resentment between them that all who fell into their
hands afterwards on both sides were put to death by the
sword or, what was worse, by the halter. And if Lansdowne's
story were true, we need not wonder at what followed ; the
act would have been base and cruel — worthy of Grenville
himself. But there is a very different version of the affair. White-
lock's account is that young Grenville was a cousin of Sir
Richard's, and was persuaded into a plot to betray Plymouth
to him, but discovered and executed. Rushworth adds that
this Grenville offered Col. Serle, then second in command,
£3,000 to betray his trust, and was executed on the 24th
September accordingly. And however we may lament the
fate of this unfortunate young man, if he obtained entrance

THE COMMITTEE OF DEFENCE. 123
into Plymouth to effect such an object, by all the rules of
war his life was forfeit.
There were not many incidents of importance during the
remainder of 1644. Grenville took up his head-quarters at
Buckland Monachorum, and busied himself chiefly in looking
after his own interests, receiving the money allowed, but
not raising the force agreed. On the fourth October a party
from Plymouth took Saltash, after a short encounter; on
the fifth a boat party captured Millbrook and the fort at
Inceworth. This roused Grenville. He drove the Round
heads out of Millbrook, killing 40, and taking 33 prisoners.
Saltash cost more time and life. It had a garrison of 500.
Of these, 200 were killed in the assault ; the other 300
refused quarter, were taken prisoners, and Grenville wrote
to the king that he intended to hang them. Possibly he
did ; but there is no further record of their fate. That was
on the 11th October. The Committee of Defence.
This brings us to the year 1645. There is among the
archives of the Corporation a valuable document, which
relates to the proceedings of the defenders of Plymouth
during this year, and contains a store of detailed information.
This document is the account of the expenditure of the Com
mittee of Defence, who included Col. Christopher Savery,
Francis Godolphin,7 Justinian Peard (the Mayor), Thomas
Ceely (Mayor in 1641-2), John Cawse (Mayor in 1636-37
and 1643-44), and on the death of the latter, Robert Gubbes
(Mayor in 1650-51). Sir John Bampfylde, Col. Kerr, Col.
Crocker, and John Beare, acted also, and the treasurer was
Timothy Alsop, Mayor in 1648-49, and twice elected repre
sentative of the town under the Commonwealth. The Mayor
was the chief of the Committee, which acted at first under
the authority of Lord Robartes, who continued Governor
until May, when he was removed, in spite of a petition for
his retention, by virtue of the Seif-denying Ordinance, and
the government vested in the Committee of five, Col. Kerr
having the military command. The Committee had powers
to execute martial law. Sir John Bampfylde was Governor
for some little while.
7 This was Francis Godolphin, of Treveneage, Cornwall, the father-in-law
of John St. Aubyn, ancestor of Lord St. Levan, himself a colonel of horse
in the garrison, while his brother Thomas was colonel on the other side.
Sir Francis Godolphin, the head of the Godolphin family, and all his sons,
were staunch Royalists.

124 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
The records of the appointment of the Committee were
copied into the book of accounts by Henry Rexford, clerk :
Whereas Sr John Bampfeilde, appointed by ye Comittee of
the West to be one of those whoe should distribute the last 2,000
sent for the vse of this garrison and other puisons expressed
by theire last Lres, refuseth to attend the saide service, And
whereas Collonell Kerre, one other named by ye said Comittee to
attend ye service, excuseth himself e in respect of other imploym';
and whereas the necessitie of this garrison requireth ye speedie
performance of this service ; I doe therefore appointe Collonell
Christopher Savery, Harcourt Leyton, one of ye Comr8 of Parliam',
Mr John Cawse, & Mr Thomas Ceely to sett wth, joyne, and to
be assistant vnto Justinian Peard, now Maior of Plymouth, and
Francis Goodolphin, esq1", two of ye psons named for ye said
service and for their soe doeinge this shalbee their warnt.
Dated ye 19 day of Febr. 1644 [1645]. J. Roberts.
Whereas Mr. Cawse is deceased, and there is required for the
despatch of this garrison one other to supply his place, I haue
appointed Mr. Robert Gubbes of this Towne to attend ye Maior,
& joine with and assiste for the prnte service.
Dated the 25 of March, 1645. J. Roberts.
In these appointments Robartes acted on behalf of the
Committee of the West, of which he was a leading member,
as well as in the capacity of Governor of the town.
The first entries refer to the payment of £1,805 16s. for
the Kentish regiment of Colonel John Birch from October
29th, which the Committee of Kent had to repay ; but the
regular account does not commence until February, 1645
[1644 old style]. From the 15th February to the 3rd March
the sum total sent up was £2,135 4s. 2d. The chief item of
expenditure was for the weekly pay of the officers and
soldiers of the garrison. This passed chiefly through the
hands of Commissary Slade ; and there was another com
missary, named Clapp. The first entry under this head, on
the 17th February, is for £459 18s.; but the amount
gradually and largely increased, indicating that as the year
went on the garrison was considerably strengthened. In
the last week of December the amount thus paid was
£723 3s. 2d. ; and in January, 1646, it reached its highest
mark, £734 19s. 8d. These payments did not include the
cost of maintaining the guards at the town walls, and the
outworks. Their pay was handed over fortnightly — some
times, when money ran short, once in three weeks — to the
officers in command. The first entry under this head, also in
February, amounts to £134 18s. 6d., which includes the cost

THE COMMITTEE OF DEFENCE. 125
of coals and candle-light. The outworks were dismal places
in the winter nights; and the soldiers would have fared
badly without fires. Candle-light was an absolute necessity.
The fact that the pay for ' ye commanders and gunners of ye
outworkes and wall' was handed over to the officer in
command, has preserved the names of those who at different
times occupied that honourable post. The amount paid per
week ranged from about £70— £69 6s. 6d. is given in one
week in March, and £72 18s. lid. in another — down to a
little over £50. There is an entry in December that Captain
Walters had £113 lis. for two weeks' payment of the
commanders, gunners, and seamen of the outworks, ' shippes
in Lary,' and redoubts on the town walL The variation in
amount is easily accounted for, since the number of men on
guard would depend mainly on the activity or inactivity of
the enemy. What the ships in Laira were there is no record;
but there are entries of payments made to the masters of
vessels named the Welfare, Diana Hopewell, Elizabeth and
Susan, Hampton, Hopewell of Plymouth, Dymond, Endeavour,
and Amity of Plymouth, employed in the public service in
various ways, the latter in May at Laira Point. Governor
Kerr received £8 a week towards his housekeeping — some
thing akin to the modern table allowance.
Gunners in the outworks were paid at the rate of 7s. a
week. The chaplains of the garrison were not neglected.
April 9th, ' Paid Mr. Stephen Midhope minister for his
labour in ye ministry w*hin this garrison the summ of £5.'
Francis Porter, afterwards the first minister of Charles
Church, had for his ministry a like sum ; J. Wills also
£5, and George Shugge £10. Abraham Cheere, the first
recorded pastor of the Baptist Church of Plymouth, who
served in the trainbands as a full private, was ' for some few
weeks, unknown to him and against his will, mustered a
chaplain to the fort, but quickly got himself discharged of
that again.' His name does not appear in the accounts.
The Committee had in charge the whole question of
supply. There are records of payment for boots, biscuit,
beer, forage, and various articles of clothing. At times
funds ran short, and then they borrowed from all who were
willing to lend until fresh supplies arrived. And they were
practically grateful for the relief of their necessities. On
the 20th of December, Captain Somester had £5 'for his
paines in bringing down money for the supply of the
garrison.' It must have been a great slice of luck when, on
20th November, 1645, the Earl of Warwick brought in a

126 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
barque laden with kerseys for clothing the King's soldiers,
which he had taken.
Very quaint is the methodical way in which the Ply-
mouthians managed the defence. The accounts abound with
entries of payments for masons' and carpenters' work on the
wall and at the outworks, which seems to have been treated
quite as a matter of ordinary business. Parts of the wall
were battered down, or a weak point in the outer line of
defence would need palisading. The Committee sent their
orders to their tradesmen, and they went and did the work
— to all appearance, much in the same way as they would
have followed out the ordinary details of their occupation
— coming up for their pay with exemplary regularity.
These old Puritan folk took a lesson from the builders of
the wall of Jerusalem under Nehemiah. 'They which
builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those
that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the
work, and with the other hand held a weapon. For the
builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and
so builded.' All this illustrates with singular force the
matter-of-fact earnestness and straightforward simplicity of
character which characterised these rugged Roundheads, and
in the end won them a victory at first very doubtful.
There was an active business carried on in horse stealing.
The chief supplies of horses for the garrison were obtained
by levying requisitions on the besiegers. This was profit
able, because the Committee regularly paid for all such
captures. In April we find, ' Item : Pd Cornett Rolles for
ye horses taken by him from ye enemye yesterday, four of
which were lifted in Collo Sentaubyn's troope for ye service,
and ye other imployed for ye publique service in ye garrison,
£4 10s.' Horse lifting flourished with the greatest vigour
towards the end of the year, and the reward dropped from
£1 to 10s. Land was rented of Ambrose Diggens at
Cattedowne for keeping the troop horses by night.
To return to our narrative. When 1644 closed the
besieged were in a much better position than when Charles
made his unsuccessful assault. The interim had been well
spent in strengthening the defences, which Grenville,
although he scoured the country and kept up an aggravating
blockade, did little to prevent. It is evident, from the
entries in the account-book, that the line of defence was
considerably more extended than it had been twelve months
before, though its general features remained the same. Half-
moons had been added to the defences, at least of Gasking

GENERAL ASSAULT. 127
and of East Gates ; the chain of earthworks and their
communications strengthened, and the former palisaded ; the
detached redoubts made more formidable, and others added.
The ground held now extended from Mount Batten on one
side to Mount Wise on the other. There is no evidence that
at Mount Wise there was more than a guard ; but at Batten
a fort of formidable character was reared. Mount Stamford
remained as left when slighted by the garrison after the
advance of Essex. General Assault.
Grenville at length resolved to do something to justify his
proud title of King's General in the West. In January he
collected a force of 6,000, and made a desperate assault upon
the outworks. He attacked them at four different points —
Lipson, Holiwell, Maudlyn, and Pennycomequick Works.
For a time the fate of the town appeared to tremble in the
balance. He is said to have taken three of the works,
and to have turned their guns against the town. Robartes,
however, credits him with only capturing one ; and probably
the solution of the contradiction is that he gained at first
a footing along the line, but was able to make it good at
one point only. This would be either Pennycomequick or
Maudlyn. But even that modicum of success was evanescent.
With the loss of 300 men slain, 75 of whom were left
dead around the batteries, and many hundreds wounded,
Grenville was thus beaten off at every point save one. The
captured work was then stormed on all sides by the Plymouth
men, who behaved with extraordinary gallantry, and speedily
carried, all within being either killed or taken prisoners;
those who did not fall eventually surrendering upon quarter.
The intelligence of this success was very welcome to the
House of Commons, and care was at once taken for the
supply of the garrison. The city of London petitioned that
due regard shoidd be had to the necessities of the town.
Moreover, news came that Grenville, under discontent, had
pistolled Col. Champernowne and his brother.
After this bout the town wall and outworks stood greatly
in need of repairs, which were at once executed. Grenville's
next movement was upon the other side of Cattewater. In
the night of the 17th February his troops cleverly effected a
lodgment among the ruins of Mount Stamford, and raised a
breastwork of faggots twelve feet thick, which they intended
to complete on the following night. The garrison had not
expected this. But their measures were soon matured. The

128 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
little force at Mount Batten was strengthened at noon by a
party of horse and foot ; the latter partly seamen, under the
command of Capt. Swamley, who had just relieved Plymouth,
and landed a body of soldiers. A feint sally was made from
Pennycomequick, which kept the main body of the besiegers
engaged. And then, under cover of the fire of sixty guns
from the ships and forts, which ' beat up the dust about the
Cavies ears,' the new Fort Stamford was attacked and carried.
The Cavaliers were driven from the field and pursued two
miles. Twelve officers, including a lieutenant-colonel, a
major, and four captains, with ninety- two soldiers, were
captured; and in the new work were found 300 arms, and
good store of mattocks, shovels, and faggots. Only one of
the attacking party was slain, and that by aceident. There
is an entry that £6 worth of biscuit was supplied by Thomas
Bowden, on the 18th February, for the soldiers in fight with
the enemy at Batten.
We know very little about the conduct of the Siege for
the next few months. No general attack appears to have
been made; but the garrison did not relax their efforts to
improve the defences. Little Maudlyn and Little Penny
comequick Works were erected, additional fortifications raised
at Lower Lipson, and a new redoubt thrown up at Mount
Gould, which took its name from the dead colonel. Con
siderable sums were spent in palisading the whole line of
ditch and rampart.
Grenville was meantime engaged at the siege of Taunton,
where he was dangerously wounded in the thigh. He left
scarce 2,000 foot and 400 horse before Plymouth. Indeed it
does not seem that from the date of the fight at Mount
Stamford the town was in any serious danger, although
continually harassed. The sending away of the Kentish
regiment proves this. In June, Sir John Berkeley was
placed in command of the Siege, but failed to do more
than his predecessor, and never attempted to go beyond a
blockade. It is questionable whether at this time the garrison
were not the stronger party of the two. There had been a
continual drain on the resources of the Royalists, promoted
by the action of Grenville, and many of the King's soldiers
had deserted to the Parliament, who were taking abundant
care for the needs of the besieged. An ordinance passed in
March to raise one per cent, for the supply of the town and
the recruiting of the Kentish regiment. There was another
order for money in May ; and in October it was reported that
Plymouth, though beleaguered, was in no want. Yet the

DIGBY's APPEAL. 129
straits of the Committee had been so severe, that in the
early part of the year they had to borrow at three several
times from their friends, and even then were only able to
pay some of their debts in coals at the rate of £1 a quarter.
Autumn, however, found the townsfolk not only in good
circumstances, but in good spirits. They felt secure them
selves. They were cheered by the tidings of success elsewhere.
To the bearer of the tidings of the great victory at Naseby
they gave a silver tankard, thus recorded :
Paid Johane Chandler widdow for a silver tankard weighing
12 ounces given a gentleman y* brought the intelligence of ye
defeateinge ye King's army by Sir Thomas Fairefaxe £3 9.
Digby 's Appeal.
In September Sir John Berkeley was succeeded by General
Digby ; and subsequently Col. Welden, who had been engaged
with Fairfax at the siege of Bristol, and had at one time
conducted the defence of Taunton, was appointed Governor
of Plymouth. Mount Batten takes its name from Captain,
afterwards Admiral Batten, made by Parliament Governor of
Batten's Tower and Batten's Mount a little earlier. It does
not appear as if Welden's appointment took immediate effect ;
for Kerr continued in command until the following January.
Digby was not more active than his predecessors, and con
fined himself to the blockade until December. He then did
make an effort to take the town. But it was by treachery.
Whitelock states that the agent was hanged, by martial law.
This can hardly have been the case, unless Digby tried twice.
The only attempt of which we have any information is that
recounted in the following correspondence between Digby
and Kerr :
Sir> — I am troubled to understand, that through the ingratitude
of those you serve you are likely to be rewarded with the dis
honour of having a person of much inferior merit put over your
head, an injury insupportable to any man of spirit, and which
may offer you a justifiable occasion of doing a very eminent service
to your Native King and Country ; and which if you will embrace
to deliver up the Town with the works of Plimouth, I shall
engage myself on my honour and the faith of a gentleman, you
shall0 be rewarded with ten thousand pounds, and have the
command if you please of a Regiment of 500 Horse, with what
honour yourself can desire. Sir, be not scrupulous in taking the
advice of an enemy that desires heartily on these terms to become
your true friend and faithful servant,
For Col. Ker, Governor of Plimouth. Jo. Digby.
30 Decern. K

130 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Sir, — Your motion to Treason I have seen, and detest it ; it is
below my spirit for personal injury (supposed only by an enemy)
to take national revenge, and for a Punctillio of honour to take
advice from Hell, and betray my trust. I am sorry that one so
ingenious as your selfe should abuse your natural parts only to do
mischief. Yet I have no reason to wonder much at your per
suasion to treacherie, because I have had the experience of the
indeavours of your Family to corrupt others also. I remember
the Gunpowder Plot,8 the letter which your brother writ to the
Lord Roberts in this place for the same purpose ; and his Negoti
ation with General Brown at Abington. Surely these Principles
came from Spain ; but you should have told me also that Spanish
proverb, To love the Treason, and hate the Traytor, &c.
Your assured servant,
20 Dec- James Ker.
Final Incidents of the Leaguer.
The work of strengthening the defences still continued.
So late as December we find the platforms on the earthworks
kept efficient ; and even in the following month there was a
payment of £42 19s. 2d. for building a new guard-house and
repairing the town wall at Frankfort.
After this period of quiescence the first move was made
by the garrison resuming, the offensive. The besiegers had a
small redoubt at Kinterbury. This was assailed on the 27th
December and easily taken, with 17 prisoners and store of
arms and ammunition. From Kinterbury the Roundheads
marched to St. Budeaux, where the church and tower had
again been turned into a garrison. After an hour and a
half's hard fighting the church was captured, and in it
Major Stucley, 20 other officers, and 100 soldiers. Another
account puts the number of prisoners at 92, including 55
horse ; arms and ammunition likewise fell into the hands of
the victors. Ten of the defenders were killed, and seven of
the Roundheads, with Major Haynes, the officer of highest
rank slain, so far as we know, on the side of the besieged
during the whole of the operations.
Buckland Abbey was next stormed, and 100 prisoners
taken; while five pieces of ordnance were captured at Saltash.
The last entry of actual operations in connection with the
siege is on the 5th January, a payment of soldiers 'ymployed
in ye raissinge of fortificacions against Forte Arundell on
ysueinge forth of the fources of ye garrison on Saturday last.'
The advance of Fairfax from Exeter to Totnes put an end
8 Sir Everard Digby was one of the conspirators.

COST OF THE SIEGE. 131
to the Siege in name — it had for some time ceased to exist
in fact — and on the 18th January it was finally raised, the
Royalists decamping in such a hurry that they left guns,
arms, and ammunition behind. Fairfax and Cromwell visited
Plymouth March 25th, and viewed the fort and works —
'Tbe Governor and the Towne entertaining the General very
honourably, three hundred pieces of ordnance discharged to
welcome him thither.'
There were still two Royalist garrisons in the neighbour
hood — Mount Edgcumbe and Ince House. For the surrender
of the former, Fairfax offered good terms. If Col. Edgcumbe
woulddisgarrison his house, lay down arms, and perswade those of the
Cornish in whome hee hath good interest to sitt down and submitt
to all orders and ordinances of Parlamnt, in that case I doe under
take that his house shall not be made a garrison, but that hee shall
have the free liberty of it, security of his person and goods as to
my army, and further, that hee shall have from mee a Ire. of
recomendacion to the Parliament or committee for ye army, that
hee may by them be dealt withal as one that deserves their favour
for his liberal and seasonable coming in.
Mount Edgcumbe was eventually surrendered to Colonel
Hammond, Governor of Exeter, who found there thirty pieces
of ordnance and store of arms and ammunition.
Ince House held out until the end of March. On the 29th
of that month it was summoned by a party from Plymouth.
The garrison returned a scornful answer. Thereupon the
Plymouth men sent for their cannon. The sight took the
scorn out of the Cavaliers ; they begged quarter, and had it.
The house was armed with four guns, and these, with ninety
muskets, were taken. Cost of the Siege.
This was the last act of the Siege tragedy, which now
with intervals had continued for over three years, and the
inhabitants could reckon the price of their gallantry. The
success was glorious, but it was bought at a .terrible cost.
The registers of St. Andrew show that during the Siege
there were upwards of 3,000 interments, whereas under
ordinary circumstances these should not have much exceeded
600. From the data at hand we can estimate that of the extra
number, one-third were soldiers and two-thirds townsfolk. Nor
does this exhaust the fatality. It neither includes the losses
on the side of the besiegers, whether in the field or from the
fatal ' camp disease,' nor the deaths of those of the garrison
K 2

132 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
whose bodies were buried where they fell. Taking the length
of time over which the operations extended, noting that
there were several occasions when over 100 were killed — one
at least, when more than 300 fell — we shall not exaggerate
if we assume that the deaths due to the Siege reached nearly
8,0QQ ; in other words, that in three years or so a number
greater than that of the entire population of the town was
swept away. The whole history of the Civil War fails to
supply a parallel to this.
Nor did the evil effects of the Siege end here. The trade
of the town was, for the time at least, ruined. Scores of
families, by the deaths in the field of husbands and fathers,
were deprived of their means of support and reduced to the
greatest misery. After a while provision was made for their
needs. The Siege was thus a very real thing to the townsfolk for
many a year after the last sally had been made and the last
shot fired. But little by little its memory failed:, as the
old earthworks which had been attacked and defended so
bravely crumbled into decay; as, creeping slowly onward,
the growing town burst the cincture of the once well-
guarded wall ; as, one by one, the ancient gates passed away.
A hundred years ago there were still living men whose
fathers had remembered the great struggle. Fifty years since
tradition was almost dead ; but there yet remained many
relics of the old defences. The past ten years have swept
away every recognizable vestige ; save a fragment or two of
wall. Relics of the Siege have frequently been discovered.
Bones in Gibbons Fields in 1824. Levelling a bank at
Mutley Farm, the property of the Rev. C. Trelawny, in 1853,
the labourers found a broken cannon and a sword. This
was just opposite Maudlyn. In 1855 a quantity of human
bones was unearthed at the head of Old Town Street, near
the site of Old Town Gate, by workmen employed in laying
water-pipes. It is presumed that these were the remains of
men killed in the Siege, and buried where they fell. In ex
cavating at Stamford, at Hooe, and on the sites of others of
the forts cannon balls and bullets have often been exhumed.
And on the localities of the old 'guards' so many broken
tobacco pipes have been dug up as show that even Puritan
soldiers were alive to creature comforts. Holiwell, Maudlyn,
and Pennycomequick Works have yielded such traces. A
burial pit was found by the Laira five-and-twenty years
since, and another in 1880 by Furze Hill Lane, now West-

OFFICERS OF THE GARRISON. 133
minster Terrace ; an old hedge in Torr Lane yielded store of
pistol bullets in 1884; and in 1887 a very old hedge at
Houndiscombe, in front of Stafford Terrace, was found to
contain large quantities of leaden bullets and a chain shot.
This was the hedge utilised by the Cavaliers in raising their
work against Maudlyn. Skeletons were discovered in Russell
Street, outside Frankfort Gate, in 1889.
The most interesting find was, however, made in 1886, when
Messrs. Burnard, Lack, and Alger, dredging in front of their
deep-water wharves at Cattedown, uncovered the remains of
what proved to be a war vessel of the Siege period, probably
sunk by the Cavalier fire from the south. A small iron
cannon was also found, still charged, which Mr. Robert
Burnard traced to belong to this date, and which he deposited
in the Museum of the Plymouth Institution, mounted on a
carriage made of the vessel's timbers. It is 2 feet 9J inches
long, of cast-iron, weighs 1 cwt. 0 qrs. 3 lbs.; and was
evidently dismounted by a shot which broke one of the
trunnions. The vessel was short, deep, and broad, about
80 feet long, and some 300 tons burthen.
A curious bequest made by Thomas Sherwill for the
defence of the town at this time is recorded in the follow
ing entry, the only record left :
Itm reed of Mr. Thomas Sherwill of London for eight yeares
arrearages of an annuitie of vu per annum given by Mr.
Thomas Sherwill Mte deed out of his lands att Houndis
combe to the towne to buy powder two yeares of the
eight being abated him in regard of the troubles his
being the firste payment of that annuitye beinge to Con
tinue five and twenty yeares. . ... xxx1'
Several Plymouthians were members of the Committee of
public safety which met in three divisions weekly at Exeter
in 1648 ; namely, Christopher Martin, Arthur Upton, C.
Vaughan, Justinian Peard, E. Crymes, J. Waddon, Philip
Francis, C. Ceely, T. Alsop, Ed. Pollexfen, John Beare. Most
if not all of these were members of the Committee of
Plymouth, with Richard Evens and John Champeys.
Officers of the Garrison.
The officers of the Garrison in 1645-6 included the
following :
Governor. — Col. Kerr.
Governor of the Fort and Island. — Arthur Upton.
Master Gunner. — Thomas Bolitho.

134 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Colonels. — John Saint Aubyn, Crocker, Anthony Rows, Powell,
Leyton, Christopher Savery, John Birch, Brooking, T. Trendall.
Lieut.-Colonels. — Kekewich, T. Fitch, Robert. Moore, Elias
Crymes. Majors. — Symonds, Foxworthy, Haulsey, Worthevale, Barrett,
Haynes, Martyn, Gabriel Barnes.
Captains. — Shilston Calmady, Voyzey, Hawken, Courtney,
Roope, Hall, Penrose, Lyall, Burgess, Baghett, Dutton, Catterell,1
Cozens, Sampson Crabb, Bawden, Owen, Louis Perry, Wools,
Diment, James Pears, Henderson, Holt, Pope, Richards, Fountayne,
Barnes, Rowe, Robert Savery, E. Blagge, * Whittie, Trayes, Richard
Laugherne, J. Rows, E. Weston, W. Wbtton, John Richards, John
Bawden, Wm. Gregory, Hoop,* Adrian Anthony,* R. Clarke,*
Jn. King, * James Randle, * George Fownes, * Nath. Walters, * Hy.
Hatsell. Those to whose names an asterisk is attached are men
tioned as at different times commanding the outworks. Weston
for some time was master of the hospital, and was apparently
succeeded by John Hall, physician.
Captain-Lieutenants. — Roe, Vaughan.
Lieutenants. — Ellis Greenwood, G. Wyatt, Nicholas Bowy, Thos.
Emerson, J. Tapson, Richard Phillips, Walter Clifford.
Ensigns. — Plumley, Gwilliam, J. Crocker (reformado), N. Birke-
hell, Ed. Webb, Digory Hony, Arthur Carter (reformado), Anthony
Gefferys, R. Gest.
Cornets. — Edward Beare, Clarke, George Charleton, Memory,
Rolles. Commissaries. — Samuel Slade, Richard Clapp.
Chaplains. — Alexander Grosse, Stephen Midhope, Shugge, J.
Wills, Francis Porter.
Physicians. — Charles Goldsmith, John Hall.
Surgeons. — Samuel Lumley, John Parker.
Quartermaster. — Edwards.
Masters of Marshdlsea. — Robert Chislett, James Deeble.
Master of Magazine. — John Allin. He had coadjutors.
The Siege Accounts also contain the names of a large
number of persons with whom the Committee did business
in various matters of supply of goods and work. Thus we
have: Apothecary. — Christopher Eaton.
Blacksmiths. — William Maynard (made ironwork for 'sweyne's
feathers '), Thos. Bootie, Jn. Letheren, J. Anderton (made crooks
and heads for palisades), T. Parker, Jn. Bennett, Philip Eliott,
Arthur Yeole.
Carpenters, Masons, #c. (chiefly employed in repairing and
improving the outworks and town wall). — Oliver Werry, Jn.
Kingston, James Deeble, Ralph Weston (or Westcott), Robert
Andrews, John Briant, Thomas Dunstan (mason), Jn.. Foster,

OFFICERS OF THE GARRISON. 135
Wm. Medland, Kettleby Woodhouse, Ludowick Stitson (carpenter),
Robert Arundell, Wm. Moore, William Murch, William Gaye,
Matthew Stanley, Yeoland, T. Boyes. Andrews was extensively
employed, as were Woodhouse and Moore,
Chandlers. — Amy Gladman (widow), Henry Batten, George
Batten. Cutler. — Francis Fownes.
Cordwainers. — Wm. Dunridge, Richard Dunrith, Ed. Keagle,
Jn. Lane, Richard Morgan, Jn. Kempe, Thomas Arrowsmith, Jn.
Lapthorne, Wm. Webb, Richard Webb, Barnard Burd, Richard
Chase, Roger Wannell.
Cobblers. — Jn. Kendall, Mark Batt.
Farriers. — Andrew Joye, Thos. Penny, Philip Hatch, Wm.
Fuge, Wm. May, Ambrose Gubby, J. Hoop,!T. Parkins.
Gunsmiths and Armourers. — Richard Manning, John Anderson,
Thos. Bickford, William Stenhouse, Peter Scott, Judith Turtly
(widow), Ralph Briant, Jn. Galpin, G. Hall, Wm. Hammett,
Eichard Veale, James Batten, Jn. Williams, Francis Roe, Anthony
Richards, Thomas Quicke, Wm. Pownell, Jn. Gaye, Eichard
Teate, Wm. Fursley.
Mercers and Tailors. — Christopher Ceely (sold 2,346 yards of
dowlas), Thomas Yabsley (cloth), Caleb Brookinge (cloth), Hum
phry Thomas (kerseys), J. Harris (kerseys), Thos. Durant (kerseys),
Edward Pattison (cloth), Thomas Dalkeinge.
Saddlers. — Richard Cory, Thomas Kingston.
Shipwright. — Robert Hingston.
Lead was bought of Peter Kekewich ; cheese of Henry Goyne ;
beer of John Paige ; materials for fireworks of John Whiddon ;
coals of John Searle. Benjamin Butt had 7s. for a coffin. Timber;
was bought of Hugh Cornish, Simon Jackson, Crispin Painter,
John Allen ; biscuit of Thomas Bowden.

CHAPTER VII.
DEVELOPMENT, 1650-1890.
How oft by Fancy led,
Sweet Plym, at morn or eve, I stray with thee :
But chief at shadowy eve I linger where
The ocean weds thee, and delighted view,
Proud rising o'er the vast Atlantic surge,
Thine own, — thy Plymouth, — nurse of heroes— her
' Who bears thy noble name.'
The azure Sound,
The reservoir of rivers. Silvery bays
Are seen where commerce lifts the peaceful sail,
Or where the war-barks rise ; the indented coast
Frowns with wave-breasting rocks, nor does the eye
Forget the proud display of bustling towns,
And busy arsenals, and cliffs high-crowned
With pealing batteries and flags that wave
In the fresh ocean gale. — Carrington.
THE history of Plymouth during the past two and a
half centuries, is not marked by such an intimate
connection with the general history of the country as dis
tinguished the two centuries which preceded. There is no
defeat of an Armada, no Siege, to chronicle. The period
was by no means barren of important events, but their
importance was more of a local character. The development
of the capabilities of the port, and of the resources of the
community, have chiefly occupied the interval between 1650
and the present day. Nevertheless we find the name of
Plymouth inextricably interwoven, first with the naval,
then with the commercial interests of the nation. The
characteristics of the town have completely changed, twice
over, since the reign of Charles II. Under that monarch
and his successor Plymouth was purely commercial. The
foundation of the Dockyard under William III. introduced
a permanent warlike element, which a century later almost
extinguished the pacific. The gradual separation of the
interests of Plymouth Dock, now Devonport, from those of

NAVAL DEVELOPMENT. 137
Plymouth, and the conclusion of peace after the Napoleonic
struggle, again led to the rise of trade. And now we have
the parent town engaged in and flourishing by commerce;
the daughter maintained by the arts of war.
Declaration for William of Orange.
There is, however, one prominent point of connection with
the national history, of which Plymouthians may well be
proud. The borough was the first in the kingdom to declare
for William of Orange. The fleet which brought him
and his gallant followers to Torbay sailed round to
Plymouth, and wintered in Cattewater. The Earl of Bath,
then Governor of Plymouth, negotiated the surrender of the
fort and of a ship of war that lay in the harbour, to
William at Moditonham; and the news reached William
at Sherborne on the morning of November 28th. In 1689
Lord Lansdowne, the earl's son, was governor, and in con
sequence of his inaction, a quarrel between the garrison and
the townsfolk, at the rejoicing for the coronation of William
and Mary, led to one of the latter being killed.
That spring two regiments were sent to Plymouth to
embark for Ireland. Once more, in consequence of the
crowded state of the town, 'great infection' happened, and
upwards of 1,000 people were buried in three months. Two
years later, in 1691, there were 4,500 Danes at Plymouth,
apparently soldiers, in sore want of provisions.
The only suggestion that the second James had a party in
Plymouth is the statement under date April 2nd, 1690, 'One
night last week several declarations of James were posted
up at Plymouth.' Naval Development.
Until William succeeded the port was not in the strict
sense of the term a naval arsenal. It was rather a shipping
station — a rendezvous, where fleets used to gather, and
whence they used to sally. It was, however, one of the
principal stations for naval prizes ; and there was so much
embezzling of prize goods (which paid the same duties as
goods belonging to Englishmen) that a commission of enquiry
was issued, of which Sir Edward Wise was chief. The
prize-office establishment at Plymouth during the reign of
Charles II. was somewhat extensive. There was a clerk at
£150 a year, a clerk and examiner at £60, a surveyor at £60,
a housekeeper at £40, and a messenger at £25.
A proposal was made to build a prison at Plymouth in

138 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
1695, to contain three hundred prisoners of war, at "a cost of
£656 19s. 6d.
Naval yards had been established for nearly 2.00 years
at Woolwich and Deptford, and Portsmouth and Chatham
were considerably more than a century old, before that at
Devonport was formed. Mr. Woollcombe in" his MS. history
records a tradition that ' an establishment somewhat of the
description of a dockyard on a small scale existed in two
parts of Cattewater — one at Turnchapel, and the other at
Teats Hill ' ; but there is no evidence that these had any
public character. The first suggestion of a government
dock was in the reign of Charles I. Saltash was the place
selected; and in November, 1625, Sir James Bagge, with
Cawse (a shipbuilder and afterwards Mayor) and Apsley
went to 'Ashe' to make arrangements, and plans were
drawn. Either then, or subsequently, the Saltash folk
objected, ' because their gardens would be interfered with,'
and a spot at Ernesettle was proposed.
Charles II., by whose direction the yard at Sheerness was
formed, intended to organize a similar establishment at
Plymouth, and in 1677 came hither to inquire thereon.
Nothing, however, was done until the accession of William.
Plans were prepared in 1689 ; and next ' we learn that
the Dock in Hamoaze was begun on the 2nd of September,
1691.' Before the formation of the establishment the spot
was called Point Froward, and advantage was taken of a
natural inlet in the construction of the first basin and dock.
Dummer was the designer; and up to 1698, when a plan.
of the works was included in a survey of the Dockyards of
England now in the British Museum, £67,095 6s. had been
expended. At first no dwellings were erected, and the
artificers either resided on board a ship fitted for the purpose,
or in Plymouth. A few years later the building of Dock
commenced. 'The new establishment was regarded with
great jealousy by the inhabitants of the old town, as re
moving to a distance from them the benefits of the building
and repairing of the King's ships.' Nevertheless Dock
throve. By the time its jubilee was reached it was half
the size of its ancient neighbour. Before another half
century passed it was quite as populous ; and at the time of
the first census, in the year 1801, so great had been the
impulse given to the arts of war over those of peace by the
long years of conflict with France, that whilst the inhab
itants of Plymouth numbered 16,040, those of Devonport
had mounted to 23,747. In 1821 the disparity was still

¦NAVAL DEVELOPMENT.

139

greater, Devonport having 33,578 inhabitants against Ply
mouth's 21,591. But when war had ceased and commerce
had fairly revived, the tables were soon turned.
In 1835 the numbers were once more equal, and since
then a steady increase has given Plymouth an advantage of
some sixty per cent.
Prior to the foundation of Dock, Plymouth was the seat
of the various local government establishments. As there
were the equivalents of. dockyards at Plymouth previous to1
that at Devonport ; so there were Ordnance Storehouses at
Plymouth many years before the Gunwharf at Devonport
was constructed;
and a Victualling
Office, a century
and a half older
| than that at
Stonehouse. The'
storehouses were
erected in Sutton
Pool at Coxside,
on land which;
being part of
the foreshore, be
longed to the Duchy. The Victualling
Office still remains below Lambhay Hill ;
long used as the Emigration depot. Devon-
port eventually became the naval and
military headquarters of the- district; and
now Stonehouse even is more closely con
nected with the Government than Plymouth, possessing the
magnificent Victualling establishment, of which an engraving
is annexed, with a Naval Hospital and extensive Marine
Barracks. From the time of the formation of the Dockyard, the
port of Plymouth has continued a chief naval station, for
which the noble estuaries of the Tamar and the Plym — ¦
particularly the former — and the magnificent bay in which
they meet, afford every facility and convenience.
The speedy Tamar, which divides
The Cornish and the Devonish confines ;
Through both whose borders swiftly down it glides
And meeting Plim, to Plimmouth thence declines.
Killigrew, Shovell, Benbow, Boscawen, Rodney, Howe,
Jervis, Collingwood, Nelson, Cochrane — all our most famous
admirals and captains, have made it their resort; and its

140 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
name is associated with the records of imperishable deeds of
naval glory, wrought by these worthy successors of the
Drakes, the Hawkinses, and the Blakes of an earlier time.1
The words Portsmouth or Plymouth (Devonport did not win
separate title or recognition until long after the Napoleonic
struggle had ceased) are to be found upon every page of
England's maritime history; and traditions of the port in
war time, though swiftly disappearing, yet linger — traditions
of pressgangs and prize-money, of prisoners and prowess.
Such traditions as that which states how Lord Cochrane,
when appointed to the Pallas, went to Sutton Pool to fill up
his crew, and quickly manned his vessel with longshore men
and merchant sailors, so great was his reputation for kindli
ness and daring. Or as that which recalls the day in March,
1805, when he sailed into the Sound with three golden candle
sticks taken from a Spanish prize, lashed to the mastheads
of his frigate. The Customs authorities would not let the
candlesticks through without payment of full duty, so he
broke them up to pass as old gold. In ten days Cochrane
took four rich prizes, and one had nearly half a million
dollars on board. These were the ' gallooners,' still associated
in popular local legend with his name.
Although the principal naval business, then as now, was
transacted at Dock, Plymouthians were by no means idle
spectators. They were quite ready to divide the labour if
only they could divide the spoil. And thus legitimate com
merce gave way almost entirely to privateering and prize
dealing ; both found remarkably profitable speculations.
Invasion Scares.
But there was a reverse to the medal. The sun did not
always shine. Occasionally — not often— a Plymouth priva
teer met her match, and escaped, if at all, with loss. Occa
sionally a feeling akin to that which our vessels caused in
many a French and Spanish seaport, became unpleasantly
prominent in the minds of the inhabitants of Plymouth.
When all England was on the qui vive in the matter of
invasion, Plymouth had extra cause to feel the necessity of
keeping a sharp look-out. More than once a visit from the
foe was very narrowly escaped. There is an old story that
an attempted descent was nipped in the bud by the strategic
array upon the Hoe of all the old women who were possessed
1 Blake died Aug. 27th, 1657, on his return from Santa Cruz, as his fleet
was entering the Sound.

INVASION SCARES. 141
of red cloaks ; but as a similar yarn is told of almost every
seaport from Dover to the Land's End, a little scepticism
may be excused. In 1662 the Dutch Admiral De Ruyter
came to an engagement with Sir George Ayscough in sight
of Plymouth; and three years later De Ruyter's fleet
anchored off the Sound, though no landing was attempted.
There was great alarm, too, in 1690, when the French fleet
under Tourville, which burnt Teignmouth, was seen sailing
past. But the scare was in August, 1779. For four days the
combined fleets of France and Spain— eighty-eight vessels —
were off the Sound; and although Plymouth was not injured,
the Ardent was captured within sight of the port, and one
of the French frigates played havoc with the fishing boats
in Cawsand Bay. Dibdin made this incident the subject of
a musical farce produced at Covent Garden, and entitled
Plymouth in an Uproar. In this allusion is made to
Maker Tower as the look-out place. That a descent upon
Plymouth was actually in contemplation is clear from a
work by the Count De Parades — Memoirs of a Spy in England,
and the Causes of the Failure of the Expedition against
Plymouth in 1779.
A very good tale is told of Paul Henry Ourry, Commissioner
of the Dockyard at the time. He is said to have asked the
Admiralty, 'Shall I, Paul Ourry, burn His Majesty's Dockyard,
or wait until the French admiral comes in and does it? ' The
Admiralty commended his zeal, but thought that, on the
whole, he had better wait.
The fright was very great, and sauve qui pent was at
first the motto. When no attack was made, the townsfolk
plucked up spirit, and helped to remove thirteen hundred
French prisoners to Exeter. The most graphic account is
that given in the MS. of an old townsman named Harris :
' Many thousands came to Plymouth to see the enemy, lining
Eame Head and the opposite heights from daylight till dusk;
thousands of women and children left the town in great
confusion. Mr. Bidwell, mason, collected a body of men,
chiefly masons, who acted as pioneers, and threw up a
battery on the West Hoe. When the fleets were gone, a
small Welsh regiment of militia encamped on the East Hoe,
and some Highlanders. Mr. Cater, shipwright, fortified the
quay at Calcutta with some old ship guns, resolving to stay
and die by them. After a while the bustle was again
revived by the hourly arrival of troops, baggage waggons,
and powder. Great alarm was caused by the rumour that

142 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
a boat's crew had landed at the back of Staddon Heights,
and were got into the town. They were taken about the
town, one in the pathfield adjoining the Hoe. The merchant
vessels were taken up Cattewater and Hamoaze. The only
armed ships in the port were two small vessels that lay
between the island and the main. There was a camp on
Eoborough.' The enemy, if they had known all, would have found the
port an easy prey. As to the English Channel Fleet, under
Hardy, it ran away, for ' strategic purposes '; and the French
seemed equally afraid of attacking.
In August, 1815, special orders were issued ' in case of an
alarm of the approach of the enemy.' Three guns were to be
fired from the post first alarmed, and answered by the others,
the posts named being Mount Wise, St. Nicholas Island, the
Citadel, and Maker Heights. At night three rockets were
also to be fired, and the beacon at Maker lit, if the officer
there was perfectly sure he had good grounds. Directly
the alarm was given all the soldiers and volunteers were to
repair ' to their respective Begimental Parades, and wait for
orders from Lt.-Gen1. England.'
The prisoners brought in during the American and French
wars were lodged at Plymouth, in the barracks at Milibay,
then called the French Prisons. Others occupied hulks in
Hamoaze. When the prisons at Princetown were completed
(1809), the captives were removed thither. During the
Crimean War the buildings at Milibay were again applied
to their old purpose, and held some hundreds of Russians,
chiefly from Bomarsund and elsewhere in the Baltic.
Maritime Discovery.
More peaceful but not less gratifying reminiscences than
either of the foregoing, are to be found in the association of
the port with the maritime discoveries of the last century.
In 1764 the Dolphin and Tamar sailed for the purpose
of circumnavigating the globe, under Byron. In 1766 Wallis
left with his expedition in the Dolphin,; one of his junior
officers, Captain Carteret, in the Swallow, making a distinct
voyage. In 1768 (August 26th) Cook sailed in the
Endeavour on his first circumnavigation ; in 1772 (July
13th), in the Resolution and Adventure, on his second ;
and in 1776 (July 12th) on his third, from which he never
returned. His ships were then nearly wrecked under the
Citadel.

NOTABLE VISITORS. 143
Notable Visitors.
Within the period under review Plymouth entertained
many distinguished guests. Charles II. paid several visits.
In 1670 he arrived by sea in company with the Dukes of
York and Monmouth, and lodged in the Old Fort on the
Hoe. John Allen, a Plymouth mercer, gives2 brief accounts
of two of the visits of Charles II. At the first visit
Charles landed, on the 17th July, at five o'clock in the after
noon, at the Barbican Stairs, and went to the fort on the
Hoe, where the Mayor and his brethren presented him with
a purse of gold. He was out on the Hoe by four o'clock the
next morning, and subsequently visited Saltash, ' Ozen,' and
Lary. The royal squadron mustered seven pleasure-boats
and six frigates. In August, 1677, the King and his brother
paid another visit, memorable to Allen by the fact that he
saw the king oftentimes, and that 'my wife had ye honour
of being kissed, both by ye king and by his brother James,
Duke of York.' Allen's wife was a Stert of Brixton,
twenty-three years of age.
Charles then attended divine service at St. Andrew
Church, where a state canopy and throne had been erected
at a cost of £32 10s. 4d., and where he went through the
ceremony of 'touching for the evil.' One day he dined at
Mount Edgcumbe. Upon this occasion he is recorded to
have lodged in a private house. The Citadel was in progress,
and no doubt he watched with interest the advancement of
a work intended to hold in check the liberal views of the
Plymouthians, should civil disturbances again arise.
Other noteworthy visitors about the same time were:
Monk, Duke of Albemarle, who was made a freeman ; Lord
Dartmouth, who sailed hence on the expedition to Tangiers,
when Pepys accompanied him, and ' stayed for his doublet —
his sleeves altered to sea fashion ' ; Cosmo di Medici, Grand
Duke of Tuscany, who landed at Plymouth in 1674; and
the Queen of Portugal, who sailed for Lisbon in 1687 under
convoy of a fleet commanded by the Duke of Grafton ;
while in 1684 the ' famously loyal Judge Jeffreys ' came on
invitation, and was entertained at a charge of £20. 3
Several visits were paid to Plymouth by George III. and
various members of his family. William IV., when Duke
2 In his MS. Biary, now at the Athenaeum.
3 Blake in 1650 and 1653 had a hogshead and a butt of sack ; and in 1658
John Howe had a piece of plate, costing £7 2s., for 'solicitinge the town
:buisinesse with the late lord ProtectoV

144 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
of Clarence, from his connection with the navy, was quite
a familiar personage at Plymouth and at Dock. Many a
yarn concerning his wild pranks has been handed down,
several of which will not bear repetition. The most memor
able royal visit of the last century was that of George III.,
Queen Charlotte, and the three eldest princesses, in August,
1789. They were entertained at Saltram, and during their
stay inspected the Dockyard (where they were received by
Lords Chatham, Howe, and Chesterfield) ; witnessed a grand
naval sham fight; visited Mount Edgcumbe, Cotehele,
Maristow, and other notable places ; and by their patronage
of the old theatre conferred upon it the title of Royal. On
the 20th of the month the Mayor and Corporation presented
a dutiful and loyal address at the Governor's house in the
Citadel. The Saltash women made quite a demonstration —
'a handsome cutter rowed by six fine young women, and
steered by a seventh, all habited in loose white gowns with
nankeen safeguards and black bonnets, each wearing a sash
across her shoulders of royal purple, with " Long live their
Majesties " in gold,' accompanying the royal barge.
Queen Victoria has made frequent visits to the port — both
before and since her accession to the throne. In August,
1833, she landed with her mother, the Duchess of Kent,
at the Dockyard, received an address from the Mayor and
Corporation of Plymouth at the Eoyal Hotel, and presented
the 89 th Regiment with new colours. She came also in
August, 1843; July, 1852; and in 1856. In May, 1859,
the Prince Consort arrived alone for the purpose of opening
the Royal Albert Bridge. On the ninth of July, 1860, the
Prince of Wales took his departure from the Sound on his
visit to Canada and the United States, when addresses were
presented to him by the sister towns, that from Devonport
being made in person. At Plymouth, too, he first touched
English soil on his return. In July, 1865, both the Prince
and the Princess came to the town, and went through the
exhibition of the Royal Agricultural Society, held that year
at Pennycomequick.
The Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh also
visited Plymouth in August, 1873; attending the march
past at the conclusion of the Autumn Manoeuvres on Dart
moor, and the Plymouth races. They received addresses
from the municipalities of each town. On August 13th, 1874,
the Prince of Wales came officially as Lord High Steward,
and opened the Guildhall. The Prince and Duke and other
members of the Royal family have visited the town since ;

NOTABLE VISITORS. 145
and the Duke of Edinburgh took up his official residence as
Port Admiral at Devonport in October, 1890.
Of the other distinguished personages who have been
temporarily associated with Plymouth in recent times two
must receive especial mention — Napoleon Bonaparte and
Garibaldi. Napoleon remained some days in the Sound on
board the Bellerophon in 1815, thousands flocking around
that vessel in boats during the period of his stay. A picture
of the Emperor as he appeared, gazing round him from the
gangway, was painted by the late Sir C. L. Eastlake, who
seized every opportunity of catching a glimpse of the great
captive. Napoleon was aware of his intention, and rendered
all assistance in his power, even to sending his clothes on
shore that the attire might be correctly delineated. A large
copy of this work was sold for £1000.
Garibaldi simply passed through the borough by rail, in
April, 1864, whilst on his way to visit his old companion
in arms, Colonel Peard, at Penquite, near Fowey. Advantage
was taken of the occasion by the Corporation to present
him with an address at the Colonel's mansion. Great was
the popular excitement ; but the eager multitude turned out
for nothing; for the hour of Garibaldi's arrival at Plymouth
was so long delayed that the night had far advanced before
he came, and nearly all the would -be -sight -seers had gone
home. Napoleon III., with the Prince Imperial, visited Plymouth
October 14th, 1871. The ex-Emperor was staying at the
Imperial Hotel, Torquay, and came on a visit to the Earl of
Mount Edgcumbe.
Other notable visitors include : Warren Hastings on his
return from India. In 1809 the Prince of Orange. In
1810 Lucien Bonaparte with his family, who landed at the
old Victualling Office, and put up at the King's Arms, where
a great many ladies 'waited table to obtain a glimpse of
them!' In 1817 the Grand Duke Nicholas and General
Mina. In 1828 Don Miguel was entertained at the Royal
Hotel until he embarked for Lisbon. Two years later three
thousand Portuguese refugees, who had fled from their native
country to escape Miguel's tyranny, took shelter in the
town. Storehouses at Coxside were converted into barracks
for their reception; and there they remained until their
departure to the Brazils was required May 19th, 1881,
the King of Sweden came. As the chief western centre of
population Plymouth has likewise been visited by most of
the political leaders of modern times: Bright, Canning,
L

146 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Chamberlain, Cobden, Dillon, Gladstone (1877, 1889), Har-
court, the Marquis of Hartington (1886), Labouchere, O'Brien,
Parnell, Lord Eosebery, the Marquis of Salisbury (1884), &c.
The Eddystone Lighthouses.
The later years of the seventeenth century are memorable
in the history of Plymouth, not merely for the settlement
of a new town on the borders of the Hamoaze, but for the
commencement of a work of national importance — the
establishment of a lighthouse on the dangerous reef of
rocks known as the Eddystone, which lies fourteen miles off
Plymouth Sound, right in the Channel fairway. Many a
tall ship had been lost thereon before any successful attempt
to mark the danger was made. The credit of the erection
of the first lighthouse belongs to Mr. Henry Winstanley, a
gentleman of property residing at Littlebury, Essex, a self-
taught mechanician, and a whimsical as well as a clever man.
His house was filled with curious contrivances for the surprise
— not always for the pleasure — of his friends. If you trod
on a certain board in a passage forthwith a skeleton started
up against you. Did you unwittingly sit down in an arbour
near the edge of a pond in his grounds, straightway you
would be launched upon a floating island. In one room an
old shoe left lying about invited a kick ; give it, and a ghost
would appear. Sufficient proofs these of Mr. Winstanley's
ingenuity. He commenced the erection of the lighthouse
in the year 1696, and completed it in four years. The
structure was exceedingly beautiful, elaborately ornamental
in design, and admirably built. It consisted of a polygonal
shaft one hundred feet in height, with an open gallery near
the top, through which it was said a six-oared boat could be
washed clear in a storm. The accessories made the building
resemble a pagoda, rather than a fabric which was intended
to defy the utmost fury of wave and wind. It braved the
elements just three years. Peculiarly tragic were the circum
stances of its destruction. Mr. Winstanley had the utmost
confidence in his work, and frequently expressed the wish
that he might be in the lighthouse under the fiercest storm
that ever blew, to witness the effect. His desire was fatally
fulfilled. One morning in November, 1703, he left the Bar
bican to superintend some repairs. An old seaman standing
by warned him that a tempest was at hand. Nevertheless,
strong in his confidence, he went. That night, whilst he
remained at the lighthouse, a hurricane sprung up, and

THE EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSES.

147

morning broke upon the untenanted rocks. Lighthouse and
occupants — all had been swept away. Not a vestige could be
seen but the fragment of a chain wedged into a cleft, though
in building the last lighthouse the old clock weights were
found.4 Three years elapsed before another attempt was made to
rear a beacon. At length, under the powers of an Act of
Parliament, the work was undertaken by Mr. Rudyard, a
silk mercer of London. He determined to avoid the error
of his predecessor, and to give the winds and waves as little

RUDYAKD.
hold upon the structure as was possible. Hence his light
house was round instead of angular, and instead of stone he
built it of wood, conceiving that by so doing he would be
able to fasten the respective parts more firmly together. He
was justified by the event. Commenced in 1706, and com
pleted in 1709, the slender shaft weathered the storms of
nearly fifty winters in safety, and might have defied them
until the present time. Proof against wind and surge, it
4 This storm carried devastation to every part of the kingdom ; thousands
of houses were blown down, and hundreds of ships lost. The Bishop of
Bath and Wells and his wife were killed by the falling of their palace.
L 2

148

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

was not however proof against fire; and on the second of
December, 1755, it was accidentally burnt. There were
three keepers on the rock at the time, and they worked
courageously to subdue the flames until compelled to desist,
and to take refuge from destruction in a hole of the rock.
Fortunately for them it was low water. They were rescued
by some Cawsand fishing boats, the crews belonging to which,
seeing the conflagration, hastened to the spot. One was so
panic-stricken, that immediately on landing he took to flight
and was never heard of afterwards. Another, an old man
of 94, named Hall, died within twelve days. He stated when
rescued that some of the molten lead from the roof had
run down his throat as he was looking up. This was
disbelieved ; but when he died his body was opened, and a
piece of lead weighing seven ounces and five drachms found
in his stomach.
Twelvemonths were not suffered to elapse before the third
lighthouse was commenced. Mr. Smeaton was recommended
as architect by the Royal Society.
| He based his design for the shaft of
the building on the outline of the
trunk of a tree. This he believed
would ensure stability. By the use of
nothing but stone in the construc
tion — granite without and Portland
within — he effectually guarded against
fire. Until 1882 his lighthouse stood
-~~^zT— to all appearance
an imperishable
monument of
the architect's
skill. The work
of preparation
was commenced
in August, 1756;
in June, 1757,
the first stone
was laid; on the
16th October,
1759,the lantern
was lit. Thus the whole undertaking was accomplished
within about three years; without accident or loss of life
or limb. During the whole period there had been but
421 days on which, from the weather, the men could
work on the rock; and of these only so small a portion

Smeaton,

THE EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSES.

149

could be used, that the whole time really spent in the
erection of the building did not amount to sixteen weeks.
A large work-yard was established at Milibay, fitted with
workshops and smitheries. Here the stones were hewn, and
fitted to each other, and thence conveyed to the rocks by
yawls and other vessels, to be placed in their permanent
position. All the lower courses of stone were joggled and
morticed into the rock itself, which was hewn for that
purpose into a series of six step-like courses ; and all the
tiers of masonry were ingeniously dovetailed together, as
well as into each other, and strengthened with trenails,
cramps, and every other appliance which experience or
ingenuity could suggest. The
lower portion of the building
was solid throughout, and,
from its peculiar dovetailed
construction, was practically
but one stone, of quite as
firm a texture as the rock
upon which it was raised.
So far as Smeaton's work
was concerned, indeed, his
tower might have stood for
another century; but the
continual beat of the waves
undermining its foundations,
another was commenced, on
an adjacent part of the reef,
from the designs of Mr. (now,
Sir J.) Douglass, in 1879—
the memorial stone being
laid by the Prince of Wales,
August 19th; and the practi
cally-completed edifice inau
gurated by the Duke of
Edinburgh, May 18th, 1882. f.
This new lighthouse contains mSi
nine stone vaulted apart
ments, one above the other, and stands on a circular base
of masonry, dovetailed even more ingeniously than the sub
structure of Smeaton. The total height of the tower is
148 feet, and the focal plane of its light 130 feet above
ordinary high water springs; whereas the focal plane of
Smeaton's was 72 feet.
When Douglass's tower was completed the upper portion

150 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
of Smeaton's was removed ; and, following up a suggestion
by Mr. F. J. Webb, F.G.S., a subscription was raised to
rebuild it on the Hoe, where it replaces an old Trinity
obelisk. The Duke of Edinburgh laid the foundation,
October 20th, 1882, and the building was opened by the
Deputy Master and elder brethren of the Trinity House,
September 24th, 1884. The new base, nineteen courses of
Dartmoor granite, was given by Mr. J. Pethick. The total
height is 87 feet 8 inches. The Breakwater.
Whilst the eighteenth century saw the realization of the
efforts to erect a beacon on the Eddystone, it was reserved
for the nineteenth to witness the commencement and
completion of a still greater national work, for the protection
of the magnificent roadstead of Plymouth Sound — the
Breakwater. So far back as 1788 a plan was submitted to
the Government by Mr. Smith, then Master-Attendant in
the Dockyard, for making the anchorage secure by running
out a pier from Staddon Point to the ' Panther Rock.'
Before the formation of the Breakwater Torbay was deemed
safer than the Sound, and it was the practice to send
supplies and stores thither from Dock accordingly. Never
theless Torbay is so exposed that several men-of-war were
lost there; and hence Lord Howe said it would in all
probability prove the 'grave of the British fleet.' Menrof-
war when at Plymouth generally anchored in Cawsand Bay.
Here they had the beat of the south-easterly and easterly
winds ; whilst if they anchored in the Sound they were open
to the full fury of the south-westers. That some improve
ment should be made was recognised on all hands, but
nothing was done until Earl St. Vincent moved.
In 1806 Mr. Rennie, C.E., and Mr. Whidby, Master-
Attendant at Woolwich, were ordered to draw up a report.
They prepared a plan for the construction of the Breakwater
very much as we see it now, with certain supplementary
works since found unnecessary. The scheme lay in abeyance
until 1811, when, after several other plans had been discussed,
it was decided that Messrs. Rennie and Whidby's should be
adopted. Twenty-five acres of land near Oreston were
purchased for the purpose of raising the stone, and on
August 12th, 1812, the first block was dropped into the
sea. The plan of construction adopted was to sink rough
masses as they came from the quarries within the line of

GREAT STORMS. 151
the intended mole, and so rapid was the progress of the
work, that on March 31st, 1813, the corners of some of the
stones peered above the surface at low water spring tides.
In 1815 it was determined to raise the structure to twenty
feet above low water, instead of ten, as originally contem
plated. In January, 1817, a hurricane displaced much of
the work, and altered the seaward slope from one in three
to one in five. At the same time it afforded ample evidence
of the value of the undertaking. The Jasper sloop-of-war,
and the schooner Telegraph, anchored outside the Break
water, were driven to the head of the Sound and wrecked ;
whilst a deeply-laden collier, anchored within its shelter.
rode out the gale in safety. Although the natural slope
had been indicated by the damage done, the work still
proceeded upon the original plan. In November, 1824,
however, a storm still more violent again reduced the slope
to one in five, removing upwards of 200,000 tons of stone.
It was then determined to follow the dictates of experience,
and the centre line was removed thirty-six feet inwards, the
width of the top being reduced from fifty feet to forty-five.
The original estimate for the work was £1,200,000, and it
was believed it would be completed in six years. Over
£1,500,000 were expended, and the works were not finished
until 1841. About 4,500,000 tons of stone were used, the
twenty-five acres of rock originally purchased from the
Duke of Bedford proving insufficient. The greatest number
of workmen employed at any one time was 765.
Great Storms.
Reference has already been made to some of the more
violent tempests that have visited the Sound. In 1691
the Coronation, ninety guns, and Harwich, seventy, were
wrecked there with great loss of life. In 1760 the
Conqueror was lost off Drake's Island. In January, 1762,
the Lambhay Pier was swept away, and damage to the
extent of £80,000 done to the shipping. Six merchant
vessels were wrecked between Teats Hill and Bear's Head ;
and out of nine men-of-war in the Sound only three kept
their masts. In January, 1806, a boat belonging to the
Hibernia was driven ashore near the Shagstone, and
twenty-six drowned out of forty-five ; while in the following
year contrary winds detained so many vessels as to com
pletely fill Cattewater. Of Danes alone there were 150.
The great storm of November 23rd and 24th, 1824, was

152 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
the most disastrous of recent times. Between the Citadel
and Cattewater twenty-five ships were driven on shore —
sixteen within 300 yards in Deadman's Bay. The barometer
fell to 2819, and the tide rose twenty-one feet two inches.
In January, 1828, fifteen vessels were driven ashore.
There was another terrible storm in 1838, when the
Inconstant frigate, which had just returned from Canada,
with Earl Durham and his family on board, had to lie in the
Sound for three days, without being able to communicate
with the shore. Had it not been for the Breakwater she
could never have ridden out the gale in safety.
The striking pictures of Luney have made specially
memorable the wreck of the Dutton under the Citadel
in January, 1796. She was an East Indiaman, and had
400 soldiers on board, besides women and her crew. The
scene was a terrible one. None more fearful was ever
witnessed from the Hoe. 'The vessel lay on the rocks,
inclined to one side, her decks covered with soldiers as thick
as they could stand, with the sea breaking over them in the
most horrible manner.' Yet, chiefly through the exertions
and personal risk of Lord Exmouth, then Captain Edward
Pellew (who in consequence was presented with the freedom
of the town), all except ten or fifteen were saved.
In the following September a far more fatal maritime
disaster occurred at Devonport, the blowing up of the
Amphion off the Dockyard, when nearly 200 lives were lost.
In 1769 the Kent had met a similar fate in Cawsand Bay ;
La Coquille, in 1798, in Hamoaze. Executions.
Executions were comparatively frequent interludes in the
earlier history of Plymouth ; and it seems clear that some
were the result of purely local authority. Gibbets were
commonly erected on the Hoe; but in 1595-6 there was
one in Market Street.
The first execution remaining on record is that of a
Spaniard, hung in the mayoralty of William Brokyng — 1518
— by ' mastr Jerman of Exett,' for being engaged in an affray,
in which ' Thomas Rowland and ffote were slayne.' In 1548
there was an execution for high treason on the Hoe. March
26th, 1662, the head of John Alured, of Stokeinteignhead,
was set on the top of the Guildhall ' on a spill of iron fixed
to a strong pole.' Alured was beheaded for speaking treason.
According to Yonge he was a resident of Plymouth.

EXECUTIONS. 153
The most noteworthy execution in the period directly under
review was in 1676, when two women were put to death
— one burnt — at Cattedown. This was for poisoning. A
young servant girl, set on by a nurse, poisoned her mistress.
The Puritan minister Quicke wrote a book about it— Hell
Opened ; or, The Infernal Sin of Murder Punished— and the
original depositions are still among the Plymouth archives.
Michael Pentire had £1 14s. for a guard.
April 16th, 1703, Captains Kerby and Cooper Wade were
shot in the Sound, on the day of their arrival in England,
for cowardice in Benbow's action with Du Casse, and buried
in Charles Church. In 1758 a young grenadier was shot
for desertion.; and in the following year five Frenchmen
were executed for murdering a comrade in Hamoaze. They
flogged him, jumped upon him till he was dead, then cut
him up and threw him overboard. In 1762 a sergeant was
shot at Dock for mutiny. July 6th, 1797, three marines,
Lee, Coffee, and Bronham, were shot on the Hoe, in presence
of 10,000 soldiers and marines, for mutiny and sedition.
They had formed a plot to release the French prisoners, and
to upset the Government. August 30th, 1798, six ' United
Irishmen,' mutineers of the Cassar, were executed on board
her in Cawsand Bay. In 1807 Lieutenant Berry was hung
on board the Hazard in Hamoaze for an unnatural offence.
December 4th, 1811, four seamen were hung in the Sound
for mutiny and desertion.
The last execution in Plymouth itself was that of Cajetano
Canado, a Spanish prisoner of war, in 1807.
Touching minor methods of punishment we find the
' cokying stoll ' named as early as 1486. It was last used
early in the present century ; and when the first edition of
this book was published (1871) those were yet alive who
had seen it in operation.
The pillory had frequent occupants. John Stone was put
therein in 1685 after whipping for using seditious words —
the innocent remark, ' I hear that the king is dead.' One
of the last occasions on which it was set up in the market
place was January 30th, 1813, when a man and his wife
were stood therein for keeping a disorderly house at Charlotte
Row — the man for an hour, and the woman half an hour.
The town records show that in Tudor and Stuart days
there was always plenty of entertainment provided for the
general public in the way of whipping at the cart's tail.
'Fackabons' and 'hores' were commonly passed on to Stone
house or Compton.

154 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
There were serious riots in Plymouth at various times
during the great French war on account of the high price of
provisions ; and Harris records sundry incidents of that in
1801. The butchers and bakers were assailed. The mob
threatened to hang a baker named Yelland, of Briton Side,
putting a rope round his neck and only letting him go on
promise of amendment. ' Mr. Crimp, baker, Market Street,
kept them off with his drawn sword.' Special constables
were sworn in, and the authorities in London communicated
with. On another occasion the crews of men of war in
Hamoaze, who had quarrelled, landed at Dock to the number
of several hundred to fight the issue seriously out.

CHAPTER VIII.
PARLIAMENTARY REPRESENTATION.
Sicintos : How now, my masters ? Have you chose this man ?
Citizen : He hath our voices, sir. — S'

PLYMOUTH first sent representatives to Parliament in
the reign of Edward L, as the Borough of Sutton.
The earliest record is dated 1298, the twenty-sixth of
Edward I. The returns seem to have been intermittent
until the twentieth Henry VI., from which date they have
been continuous. We find the town sending to councils on
maritime affairs, however, when its parliamentary voice
appears to have been suspended ; and the representation may
have been more continuous than is now traceable. Thus in
1344 two inhabitants acquainted with shipping were sum
moned to London to advise the king and council; in 1369
two sufficient men familiar with mercantile affairs ; while in
1374.Willian Noytour, master of the Trinity of Plymouth,
was called by name to advise.
Right of Election.
The right of election was variously exercised, sometimes
by the Mayor and Corporation, sometimes by the freemen,
including the corporate body, and later by the freemen and
freeholders jointly. There is no doubt now that the Com
monalty were the body in whom the right of election
originally vested, and that in the first instance freeman was
a term of as wide an application as burgess has become, and
practically included the general body of native male inhabi
tants of full age.
The House of Commons in 1660 decided upon a contested
return, that the right of election of members to serve in
Parliament for the borough of Plymouth was vested in the
Mayor and Commonalty, and Sir John Maynard and Mr.
Edmund Fowell, who had been elected by the Corporation,

156 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
were therefore declared unduly chosen. The Corporation,
however, chose the members in 1685. From that time
onward the elections were made by both freemen and free
holders, though without authority, until the creation of
fictitious votes led in 1739 to the rights of the freeholders
being disputed.
Mr. John Rogers and Mr. C. Vanbrugh were the opposing
candidates, and the election being decided in favour of the
former by ' the vast number of faggots which came from the
utmost parts of Cornwall,' a petition was presented against
his return. The House decided that the word Commonalty
mentioned in the former decision extended to freemen only,
and Mr. Vanbrugh was declared duly elected. The free
holders also claimed to vote in 1780 on behalf of Mr. John
Culme against Sir F. L. Rogers. Each candidate then voted
for his opponent. For Rogers 119 freemen polled ; for
Culme 61, and 87 freeholders. The last attempt of the
freeholders was in 1807. In the freemen the right of
election then remained until the Eeform Bill of 1832, when
the franchise was extended to the ten-pounders.
The Corporation at various times passed bye-laws regulating
the choice of representatives. Thus in 1568-9 it was ordered
that no burgess should be chosen ' but onelie suche men as
be toune dwellers and the counsell of the toune'; and in
1601 it was directed that one should be a freeman.

The Freemen.
When the Eeform Bill of 1832 passed Plymouth was
returned to have just 240 voters (there were 426 names,
however, on the roll); and fifty years elapsed ere the last
freeman passed away — Mr. William Dart, whose right
accrued before 1832, but was not taken up by him until
1844, and who died in 1883. In him ended the line which
began with William Ketherick, named Mayor in the charter
of Henry VI. There must indeed have been freemen of
the ville of Sutton before then. Only we know nothing of
them; and the earliest list of freemen of Plymouth extant
is dated 1540, from which time to the present day materials
exist for the compilation of a fairly complete list. To be-a
freeman of Plymouth once meant a great deal. All that it
meant to Mr. Dart was the right of voting for members of
Parliament without paying rates. In the old days no one
could claim to reside or trade in the town without being free
of the franchise, or compounding for his disability; and

THE FREEMEN. 157
there were certain classes of persons who could never
become freemen at all. No ' alion borne ' could attain that
dignity, unless he were "of Normandy, Gascon, Syon, Irelond,
Caleys, Benoyke, and the bordars of the same Being
Englisshe ' — these being at the date of the regulation foreign
possessions of the English Crown. Moreover, about the
same time, in the reign of Edward IV., it was declared that
freemen of Plymouth must be either whole or half brothers
in ' oure Lady and saynct George is yelde,' and all ' fforeyns '
— which meant simply anybody who did not belong to
Plymouth — were ejected. The names of freemen were
entered in the town 'ligger'; and the freedom of the
borough was the highest honour the Corporation could
bestow. There were four classes of freemen— honorary,
of whom very few were made previous to the Eestoration ;
hereditary, the eldest son of a freeman being entitled to the
freedom after the death of his father; apprenticeship,
curtailed at one time to a freeman's first apprentice only ;
and purchase, the price varying from a few shillings up to
£25. At this latter figure the unreformed Corporation
sold a large number of freedoms just before 1832, and gave
only a barren honour. As the new freemen had not voted
before 1832 or held the freedom twelve months, the
first Eeform Bill extinguished them, and the money was
not handed back, but applied in building the gaol. More
creditable to the Corporation was their recognition of the
services of the medical men of the Three Towns at the
time of the first cholera visitation. All who were not already
freemen were made so; and those who were had the right
to nominate a substitute, granted also to the widow of one
of these gentlemen. It became the custom for each Mayor to
choose a freeman on his retiring from office ; and for some
little time — mysterious statement — 'the Mayoress was
allowed to make her favourite if she had any.' As beseemed
the last representative of this once important body, Mr. Dart
had great faith in the ' good old times.' For some years he
occupied a return in the Parliamentary register to himself.
The original list of freemen in the Black Book, which may
be distinguished from the earlier additions by the writing
(further on the names of. the freemen made are entered
under the respective mayoralties) contains 108 entries. These
then formed the entire Commonalty in the year 1540. The
names are as follows :
William Eandall, James Horswell, William Hawkyns,
Thomas Clowter, Henry Harvy, Lucas Cok, Thomas Holwaye,

158 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
John Persse, John Bovy, John Ude, Eobert Craswell, Eichard
Cuscott, William Wyks, Eichard Chugg, William Ayshelegh,
Stephen Burdon, John Towson, William Edgcombe, Thomas
Bull, John Bygporte, John Ellyott, Thomas Byrtt, John
Thomas, Thomas Mylls, Eobert Dyghton, Eichard Lybbe,
John Keynsham, Henry Martyn, William Bulbar, Eobert
Hampton, John Brokyng, Thomas Trowin, John Tasse,
Stephen Mylls, John Moone, William Gybbons; John Grosse,
Philip Collas, John Pegon, John Howell, Eobert Horswell,
William Hawkyns, baker, Thomas Byrtt, jun., Thomas Symon,
William Trounse, Eichard Crockar, Henry Bolde, Lewes
Mendose, Peter Chopyn, John Gybbons, Eichard Cavell,
Thomas Whyddon, Edward Cok, Stephen Andrew, Eichard
Saunder, John Eowe, John Coram, Symon Cok, John Hawkyns",
John Lowde, John Persse, jun., John Small, Thomas Kaye,
Thomas Whyte, Eobert Hornebroke, William Coosyn, John
Charelton, Eobert Charelton, John Ysan, Patryke Makane,
Vyncent Bury, Eichard Eowlyn, Thomas Hacker, John Dery,
John Gawde, Nicholas Pounde, Thomas Eodger, John Gyll,
Thomas Eowlyn, Thomas Pecock, Andrew Tooker, William
Foorde, William Myll, John Notyng, Thomas Mayson, John
Feltwell, John Pery, Eichard Heywoode, Alexander Trott,
Eichard Gawde, John Pounde, Richard Rodger, Henry Howe,
John Palmer, John Lowter, John Clement, John Mounforde,
Nicholas Dunforde, William Macy, John Herfforde, John
Hooper, John Lenden, John Peryn, Thomas Collyn, Henry
Cowper, tailor, Robert Burley.
The earliest dated entry of admissions is in 1552, up to
which time 135 had been made free in addition to the
original list quoted ; but there is no record of losses save
here and there the mention of a death or an expulsion, as
in the case of John Lighe, 'dysmysed for disobeinge of
Mr. Edmonds coihandnt beinge Mr. Maior.' The numbers
admitted in each year varied greatly, ranging in the sixteenth
century from two to thirty-eight, while in some mayoralties
in the early part of the seventeenth century none were
made; for example, in the successive mayoralties of Clements,
Colrner, and Trelawny 1614-15-16 ; and again in those of
N. Sherwell and Fownes, 1618-19. There were evidently
from the earliest date more ways than one of getting on the
freeman's roll ; for while to the great majority of the names
no note is appended, some of the freedoms are said to have
been purchased, and others given by the Mayor, or by the
Aldermen, as in the case of Francis Fletcher, preacher —
' Gvyn by thassent of the whole masters,' in the mayoralty

THE FREEMEN. 159
of George Maynard, 1586. Honorary freemen were then
almost unknown, though now and then we get the name of
a member of a county family — a Carewe, a Copleston, a
Budocushyde for example. But these would have some local
interest, and the first purely honorary freemen on record are
' William Jackson and Henrfrie Jobson, esquires,' made free
in 1605, apparently for the all-sufficient reason that they
were ' secretaries to the Earle of Nottingham, Lord Admirall
of England.'
It will help to complete this personal picture of Elizabethan
Plymouth if we add the earliest list preserved of those who
being unfree ' fyned to dwell in the town ' in 1566, for in
these days only a freeman could habitually reside in Plymouth
as of right. The list, some of the Christian names of which
are defaced, is in the White Book.
Philip Cocke, James Wyght, Nich. Holman, John Doble,
John Gale, Thomas Allyn, . . . Cottye, Nich. Browne, . . .
Edmownds, Richard Lawgh, Patrick Dyngle, Thomas Pyers,
John Hawkyn, mariner, Robert Pyeke, . . . Curber, . . .
Harvye, . . . Lygh, Robert Master, . . . Courtys, Walter
Perott, William Coile, Robert Johns, . . . Parke, William
Waters, . . . Hancock, Robert Cowrtys, . . . Granger,
William Maye, Robert Smyth, . . . Ambrose, . . . Coram,
Roger Swyngebye, John Metherell, Thomas Morysse, William
Buttler, John Hewberd, Mr. Bandfyld, Martyn Lovet, John
Gybbyns, Edward Thruston, Thomas Mathew, Martyn Darton,
William Bennytt, mariner, Robert Plymton, John Martyn,
mariner, . . . Collyn weyver, Hewys . . . helyer, John
Nycholas, tayler, Philip Barber, John Blythman, Nyghyll
Jones, George Skarlytt, John Truslow, Arnold Johnson,
Thomas Trypplyn, William Godfrye, William Bachyler,
Harrye Lovell, William Roger, brewer, William Roger, mariner,
George Tye, Robert Grigg, Jerman Blake, Ellys Welshe,
Christopher Browkyng, Roger Rowlyn, Thomas Collyn, cooper,
John Blake, John Francklyn, baker, John Gryffyn, Cornelius
Morsse, John Towre, William Collyng, Francis Burdon, John
Towker, Harry Rawlyn, Martyn Pottran, Thomas Wyllyams,
mariner, John Nycks, Richard Byrt, Arthur Yeats, Vynson
Browsye, John Vde, John Penrye, John Bowman, Sander
Skobyll, Richard Smale, Lawrence Rowland, John Halse,
Mr. Cuttyll, Edward Crosse, John Bromhyll, Lawrence
Wyllyams, Thos. Davyes, William Byant, Charles Glowbbe,
Thomas Horwyll, John Rowke.
The permanent character of the residence of many of
these is shown by the number who subsequently become

160 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
free. If to the 99 names here given we add 200 for the
freemen, we shall get a total of just 300 male heads of house
holds at this date.
In the earlier years of the present century there was much
concern among the freemen as to their rights and privileges,
and they had a club, the ' Shoulder of Mutton.' Proposals
made to increase their number were generally objected to,
the desire of the majority being to retain the power in their
own hands, for reasons which are apparent enough. At
length the club quarrelled among themselves as to the
choice of a mayor, and held their last meeting September
15th, 1827. In 1817 the freemen (who had sustained their
right to elect the Mayor against the corporate body in 1803)
made good their claim to elect Aldermen, as against a choice
by the Mayor and Aldermen, out of the Common Council.
In this same year an attempt was made to open the
borough by electing to the freedom upwards of a hundred of
the 'respectable inhabitants,' but it was lost on a poll by
74 votes to 68.
The list of honorary freemen contains many distinguished
names. The Duke of Albemarle with ' forty other gentry '
were made free in October, 1676. The patents were generally
given in silver boxes costing 30s., but the Prince of Wales
had a gold box in 1736-7. Such names occur as Sir Cloudesley
Shovel, the Archbishop of York, the Dukes of Montagu and
Wharton, Lords Mansfield, Howe, and later of Nelson,
St. Vincent, Wellington, Earl (Lord John) Russell.
The Reform Bill.
Intense interest was felt in the Reform cause in
Plymouth, the great majority of the inhabitants being
without the pale of the franchise, and having no influence
whatever either in Parliamentary or local affairs. When
in May, 1832, it was learnt that the Bill was lost, and
that ministers had resigned, the demonstrations of public
feeling were very decided. Shops were half closed, flags
were hoisted half-mast high, muffled peals were rung,
and on the 16th an immense public meeting was held
on the Hoe, Dr. Cookworthy presiding. The news in the
following month that the Act was passed was received
with corresponding rejoicing; and on the 27th instant the
event was celebrated in most enthusiastic fashion with a
monster procession a mile and a half in length, the parapher
nalia of which are stated to have cost in money alone,

REPRESENTATIVES. 161
exclusive of labour, upwards of £5,000. The procession
started from Granby Square, Devonport, and perambulated
the Three Towns. The jubilee of the Bill was celebrated
July 7th, 1882, by a mass meeting in the Hoe Bull Eing.
Representatives.
The following is probably as accurate a list of representa
tives as is now obtainable :
EDWARD I.
1298 William of Stoke, Nicholas the 'Rydlere.'
1304 William Bredon, John Austin.
EDWARD II.
1311 Robert the Sopere, William Smith.
1311 Robert Cokeman, Walter Trompere(?).
John of Honeton, Henry Welych(^).
Soper and Smith may be for 1309. The four names given
for the second Parliament of 1311 are unappropriated Devon
returns, and one of the two sets may belong to Plymouth.
A William Honyton was mayor in 1381.
1313 John Austyn, William Berd.
These early returns are very defective; some have lost
their dates, others the names of the places. Nothing is
consecutive in the original documents before the accession
of Mary. Austin, Bredon, and Berd seem to have sat for
Plymouth at other times. The local records supply many of
the early dates and names. EDWARD III.
1340 John Bernard, John Berd.
HENRY VI.
1441 John Wolston, John Carwynnak.
1446 William Eggecombe, William Taillour.
1448 Thomas Hill, William Da wen.
1449 Thomas Wely wrought, John Brygham.
1450 John Radeford, William Dawny.
1452 William Tayler, John Clyff of ScobhilL
1454 Vincent Pydilysden, Richard Page.
EDWARD IV.
1467 John Rowelond, Richard Page.
1472 John Snape, Nicholas Snape.
1477 Alfred Cornburgh, Eichard Page.
M

162 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
HENRY VII.
1487 Thomas Grey son.
1495 William Thyckpenny, William Bree.
1496 Thomas Tresawell, William Bree.
1503 Roger Elford, John Style.
1508 John Bryan, Henry Strete.
HENRY VIII.
1510 Roger Elford, — Legh.
1511 Ditto Ditto.
1514 Roger Elford, — Bowrynge.
1523(2)J. Oreng, — Bowrynge.
1529 John Pollard, Thomas Vowell.
1536 John Pollard.
1539 James Horswell, William Hawkins.
1542 George Ferrers, James Horswell.
1543 James Horswell. EDWARD VI.
1547 William Hawkins.
1553(?)Sir Richard Edgcumbe. MARY.
1553 Roger Budocushyde, William Hawkins.
1554 John Mallett (or Mailer), Richard Hooper.
PHILIP AND MARY.
1554 Sir Thomas Knyvet, Roger Buttissyde.
1555 Thomas Carew of Anthonye, John Yong.
1557 Humphry Specotte, Nicholas Slannynge.
ELIZABETH.
1562 Henry Champernowne, William Peryam.
1571(?)Sir Humphry Gilbert, John Hawkyns.1
1572 John Hawkyns, Edmund Tremain.
1584 Henry Bromley, Christopher Harris.
1586 Henry Bromley, Hugh Vaughan.
1589 Miles Sandes, Reginald Nichols.
1593 Sir Francis Drake, Eobert Bassett.
1597 Warwick Hele, William Stallenge.
1601 James Bagge, William Stallenge.
JAMES I.
1604 Sir Richard Hawkins, James Bagge.
1614 John Glanville, Thomas Sherwill.
1620 Ditto ditto.
1624 Ditto ditto.
1 There was no Parliament this year, so that the date given must be wrong.
Possibly it should be 1566.

REPRESENTATIVES. 163
CHARLES I.
1625 John Glanville, Thomas Sherwill.
1626 Ditto ditto.
1628 Ditto ditto.
1640 Robert Trelawny, John Waddon.
1640 Ditto ditto.
\^x (i64n Sir John Yonge.2 COMMONWEALTH.
1654 Christopher Ceely, William Yeo.
1656 John Maynard, Timothy Alsop.
1659 Christopher Ceely, Timothy Alsop.
CHARLES II.
1660 John Maynard, Edmund Fowell.
These gentlemen were declared unduly elected by the
Corporation and unseated on petition. In their stead were
taken, chosen by the freemen
1660 William Morice, Samuel Trelawny.
1661 Sir William Morice, Samuel Trelawny, of Ham.
1666 Sir Gilbert Talbot, vice Trelawny, dead.3
1677 John Sparke, vice Sir William Morice, dead.
1679 Sir John Maynard, John Sparke.
1680 Sir William Jones, vice Sparke, dead.
1681 Sir John Maynard, Sir William Jones.
JAMES II.
] 685 Bernard Grenville, Richard Jones, Earl Ranelagh.
1689 Sir John Maynard, A. Herbert.
WILLIAM AND MARY.
1689 John Granville, vice A. Herbert, created Viscount
Torrington.
1690 John Granville, Sir J. Maynard.
1690 John Trelawny,. vice Maynard, dead.
WILLIAM III.
1695 John Granville, George Parker.
1698 C. Trelawny, John Rogers, senr.4
1700 C. Trelawny, Henry Trelawny.
1701 Ditto ditto.
1702 John Woollcombe, vice H. Trelawny, dead.
* Yonge was elected in the place of Trelawny, expelled for having said
that the House eould not appoint a guard for themselves without the king's
consent, under pain of high treason. Trelawny died in prison. Yonge
signed the Remonstrance, and was one of the one hundred members secluded.
The second Parliament of 1640 was the Long Parliament.
3 Talbot's speech was, ' Gentlemen, I desire your company, at three of the
clock, at the Sun Tavern, where I have a glass of wine at your service.'
4 They beat Parker and Calmady by 190 votes to 135.
M 2

J64 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
ANNE.
1702 C. Trelawny, John Woollcombe.
1705 C. Trelawny, Sir G. Byng.5
1708 Ditto ditto.
1709 Sir G. Byng.
1710 C. Trelawny, Sir G. Byng.
1713 Sir J. Rogers, Sir G. Byng.
GEORGE I.
1715 Sir John Rogers, Sir G. Byng.
1720 Sir G. Byng.
1721 Pattee Byng, vice Sir G. Byng, called to House of Lords.
1722 William Chetwynd, Pattee Byng.
1724 Pattee Byng. GEORGE II.
1727 Arthur Stert, George Trehy.
1728 Robert Byng in place of Treby, who sat for Dartmouth.
1731 Arthur Stert, Robert Byng.
1735 Ditto ditto.
1739 Charles Vanbrugh.
Bye-election, Byng made governor of Barbadoes, John
Rogers declared unduly elected.
1740 Lord Henry Beauclerk, vice Vanbrugh, dead.
1741 Arthur Stert, Lord Vere Beauclerk.
1744 Lord Vere Beauclerk.
1747 Lord Vere Beauclerk, Arthur Stert.
1750 Charles Sanders, vice Beauclerk, called to House of
Lords. 6
1754 Viscount Barrington, Samuel Dicker.
1755 Viscount Barrington.
1760 Vice-Admiral G. Pocock, vice Dicker, dead.
GEORGE III.
1761 Viscount Barrington, Vice-Admiral Pocock.
1762 Viscount Barrington.
1765 Viscount Barrington.
1768 Viscount Barrington, Francis Holburne.
1770 F. Holbourne.
1771 Admiral Sir C. Hardy, vice Holbourne, dead.
5 According to Yonge's Memoirs the Whig interest carried Byng by ' tricks
and overbaring.'
6 This Saunders is described as 'a man of neither figure nor character,' his
election being due to the ' vile scoundrel Aldermen in place, and their
lacqueys the Common Council, one half of both benches within a few years
having made themselves slaves and dependents on the Board of Admiralty
by getting into places.' — Woollcombe.

REPRESENTATIVES. 165
1774 Viscount Barrington, Admiral Sir C. Hardy.
1778 Viscount Lewisham, vice Barrington, retired.
1780 . Sir F. L. Rogers, vice Hardy, dead.
1780 Sir F. L. Rogers, Vice-Admiral G. Darby.
1 784 Captain R. Fanshawe, r. n., Captain John Macbride, r. n.
1790 Captain Alan Gardner, E.N., vice Fanshawe, made
Commissioner of Navy.
1790 Captain Gardner, Sir F. L. Rogers.
1796 Sir F. L. Rogers, W. Elford.
1797 Francis Glanville, vice Rogers, dead.
1802 Sir W. Elford, Philip Langmead.
1806 Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt, vice Langmead, retired.
1806 Sir C. M. Pole, Sir T. Tyrwhitt.
1807 Ditto ditto.7
1812 Sir C. M. Pole, Sir B. Bloomfield.
1818 Sir W. Congreve vice Bloomfield, keeper of privy
purse.
1818 Sir W. Congreve, Sir T. B. Martin.
GEORGE IV.
1820 Sir W. Congreve, Sir T. B. Martin.
1826 Ditto ditto.
1828 Sir G. Cockburn vice Congreve, dead.
1829 Sir G. Cockburn. WILLIAM IV.
1830 Sir T. B. Martin, Sir G. Cockburn.8
1831 Ditto ditto.
Under First Reform Act.
1832 Dec. John Collier (L).
Thomas B. Bewes (L) unopposed.
1835 Jan. John Collier (L) 720
Thomas B. Bewes (L) 687
Sir George Cockburn (C) 667
VICTORIA.
1837 July John Collier (L) 780
Thomas B. Bewes (L) 772
Sir George Cockburn (C) 551
Hon. P. Blackwood (C) 466
7 The freeholders voted for Sir W. Elford and Mr. T. Bewes, who petitioned,
but the committee would not enter into their petition, holding themselves
precluded by the decision of 1739.
8 The Hon. Captain Elliott was the third candidate. He was a Reformer,
and the effort was to turn out Sir George Cockburn. At this election there
was much controversy concerning the rights of the new freemen, who had
become such by purchase.

166 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

1841

July Thomas Gill (L)
Viscount Ebrington (L)
Alderman J. Johnson (C)

821
787 552

On Lord Ebrington becoming a Lord of the Treasury.

1846

July Viscount Ebrington (L)
Henry Vincent (Chartist)

716 188

1847

July Viscount Ebrington (L)
Roundell Palmer (L C)
C. B. Calmady (L)

921837769

1852

July C. J. Mare (C)
R. Porrett Collier (L)
G. T. Braine (L)
Bickham Escott (L)

1036
1004 906372

Mr. Mare being unseated on petition.

1853

June Roundell Palmer (L C)
G. T. Braine (L)

944876

1857

Mar. R. P. Collier (L)
James White (L)
John Hardy (C)

11671106 622

1859

April Viscount Valletort (C)
R. P. Collier (L)
James White (L)

1153 1086 964

On Viscount Valletort succeeding his father,
Edgcumbe.

Earl Mount

1861 Oct. Walter Morrison (L) 1179
Hon. W. W. Addington (C) 984
On Mr. Collier becoming Solicitor-General.

1863

July

Sir R. P. CoUier (L)

1865

July

Sir R. P. Collier (L)
Walter Morrison (L)
R. S. Lane (C)

129912181147

Under Second Reform Act.

1868
Nov.
Sir R. P. Collier (L)
Walter Morrison (L)
R. S. Lane (C)
2086 2065 1506
1868
Dec.
Sir R. P. Collier (L)
1870
Aug.
Sir R. P. Collier (L)
Sir Robert Collier was re-elected without opposition in
December, 1868, on becoming Attorney-General; and in
REPRESENTATIVES. 167
August, 1870, on being appointed Recorder of Bristol, which
office he resigned immediately after re-election, as objec
tion had been raised to his taking it. The next contested
election was in 1871, on Sir R. P. Collier's becoming puisne
judge of the Common Pleas, preparatory to being chosen
Judge of Appeal.9
1871 Nov. Edward Bates (C) 1753
Alfred Booker (L) 1511
1874 Jan. Edward Bates (C) 2045
Sampson Lloyd (C) 2000
Sir George Young (L) 1714
Walter Morrison (L) 1700
1880 Mar. Edward Bates (C) 2442
P. S. Macliver (L) 2407
Sir G. Young (L) 2402
S. Lloyd (C) 2384
On petition Sir Edward Bates was unseated for illegal
payments, but exonerated from corrupt motives. To fill the
vacancy — 1880 July Edward Clarke (C) 2449
Sir G. Young (L) 2305
Under Third Reform Act.
1885 Nov. Sir E. Bates (C) 4354
E. Clarke (C) 4240
P. S. Macliver (L) 4132
Hon. Baliol Brett (L) 3968
The nominal electorate had increased to 10,139, and the
borough had been extended by the additions of the tithing
of Compton Gifford and a portion of Laira.
On the Irish Home Rule question —
1886 July E. Clarke (C) 4137
Sir E. Bates (C) 4133
T. E. Stephens (L) 3255
E. Strachey (L) 3175
1886 Aug. Sir E. Clarke (C)
On the formation of the Conservative Government in
August, 1886, Mr. Clarke was appointed Solicitor-General,
and re-elected without opposition.
9 Sir R. P. Collier, the most distinguished of modern Plymouthians, was
created Lord Monkswell in 1885, and died in 1886.

168 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Many of the names in this list speak for themselves.
The earlier members were for the most part local men,
many belonging to the Corporation, and others to families
resident in the neighbourhood. And this local character
distinctly predominated until the middle of the reign of
George II., the exceptions being insignificant, and occurring,
as a rule, at long intervals. The three most distinguished
men who ever sat for Plymouth represented the borough in
the reign of Elizabeth — Sir Humphry Gilbert, Sir John
Hawkins, and Sir Francis Drake.
The arrest of George Ferrers, one of the representatives
in the reign of Henry VIII. was the occasion of the statute
giving members freedom from imprisonment for debt.
Throughout the first half of the seventeenth century
Plymouth swelled the ranks of the popular party in the
House of Commons; but after the Restoration there was
a change, evidenced by the election of Sir William Morice,
a Secretary of State, and one of the chief agents in pro
moting the King's return. Sir William's connection with
Plymouth preceded by some years his purchase of the manor
of Stoke Damerel from the Wises. The influence of the
Court was exerted with more effect after the charter of the
borough had been surrendered, and another granted appoint
ing a new Corporation. The Revolution saw a return to the
old class of representatives— the Trelawnys, and men of that
stamp. Not many years, however, elapsed before the borough
again fell under the domination of the powers that were.
As the naval establishment at Dock grew, the influence of
the Government increased, and early in the reign of George
II. Plymouth became an Admiralty nomination borough,
which character it retained, with few intervals, down to the
time of the Reform Bill, when Devonport with Stonehouse
were constituted a distinct constituency, and the reproach
in popular estimation transferred to them. But there are
still numerous voters connected with the dockyard and other
Government establishments resident in the older town.
Many amusing stories might be told of old election
humours. The struggle in 1784 between Captain Macbride
and Sir Frederick Eogers was long held in memory. A popular
election couplet — the Captain carried the day — was :
Macbride 's a man, Sir Frederick 's a mouse,
Macbride shall sit in the Parliament house.
It was chiefly through Macbride's exertions that the
Parliamentary grant was obtained for the erection of the

PAYMENT OF MEMBERS. 169
Sutton Harbour piers; and his memory is still preserved
at the Barbican, where a small public-house rejoices in the
name of 'Admiral Macbride, the faithful Irishman.' But
the fight was really for the independence of the borough
against official dictation and corruption, which Macbride
represented. The Eogers family were among the leading merchants of
Plymouth in the days of its great colonial trade. They
were raised to the baronetage in 1698, and throughout the
eighteenth century held a foremost position in the Corpora
tion. In 1871 Sir F. L. Rogers, who had been Under
Secretary of State for the Colonies, was raised to the
peerage as Lord Blachford. The title lapsed on his death in
1889 ; but the baronetcy continues in his brother, Sir J. C.
Rogers. Payment of Members.
Numerous entries occur in the Corporate accounts of
payments made to members of Parliament. The following
are fair samples :
In 1495 we find —
Itm pd to William Thyckpeny and to Wilhn Bree burgs of
the pliament the same yere . . . . xl"
In the next year Thyckpeny had 20s., and Bree 13s. 4d.
Then in 1510—
It deluyryd to John Bryan for harry Strete and hym beyng
hurges of plement for the towne for ther labor and
Expences durynge the plement and for rewards and
pleasurs gyven to dyus lordes of the Courte to be
fryndeley to the towne . . . . xu
A very suspicious entry, and only one of many pointing
in/ the same direction. The Mayor, 'twelve and twenty-four,'
Were autocrats within the town, but had to be very wary of
/their ways without.
In 1542 Ferrers had a doublet of satin for his fees.
In 1602 Sir James Bagge was paid £32 for sixty-four
days attending on Parliament, himself and man, at 10s.
a day. In 1622 John Glanvyll, the Recorder, had a bason and
ewer of silver gilt given him for his service as a burgess in
Parliament. They cost £33 17s. 3d. Engraven on the
basin was 'a mapp of the Towne of Plymouth' after a
' Plott' by 'Robert Spry the Paynter.'

170 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Timothy Alsop, one of the members under the Common
wealth, kept his constituents supplied with ' newes Bookes '
and letters in 1659-60.
In 1680 there were £37 10s. paid for ' a large silver salver
Cawdle Cupp and cover embost and thick washed with gold,'
weighing seventy-five ounces, given to John Sparke, one of
the burgesses in Parliament, in token of the 'Respect and
Gratitude of the Towne for his faithfull and diligent service.'
Regular payment of members in cash went out in Plymouth
with the Protectorate, but presents were given, as here,
at intervals during the next half century. Then the tables
were turned, and the representatives commenced to pay
their constituents. The two first to do this were Charles
Trelawny and George Byng, who in 1710-11 gave £100
each for the use of the Corporation. The last payment of a
member was in 1694-5, when John Trelawny had 100
guineas 'in consideration of his services to the town in
parliament.'

CHAPTER IX.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
Enter the Mayor and his brethren. — Shakspere.
OBSCURITY veils the commencement of the corporate
history of Plymouth. The borough, to the extent of
its present municipal limits, was incorporated by Act of
Parliament passed in 1439 ; but a Corporation by prescrip
tion existed within a part at least of the town from a much
earlier period.
An Inquisition taken at Exeter before Salamon of Roffe
and his associates, justices itinerant, on the octave of St.
Martin, 9 Edward I. (1281), sets forth inter alia that the
manors of Sutton, Maketon (Maker), and Kings Tamerton,
' cum filo ague de Tamar,' were ancient demesne of the King,
but had been given by Henry I. to Roger (elsewhere called
Reginald) of Valletort by the service of a knight's fee and a
half — that John of Vautort then held the manors of Sutton
and Maketon, and Elias of Blakeston that of Kings
Tamerton, while Edmund Count of Cornwall 'tenet filum
aque,' it did not appear by what warrant. And John and
Elias came and said that they and their predecessors had
held these manors before the time of Richard the King.
The Abbot of Buckland held Buckland Monachorum,
Bickleigh, Walkhampton, and the hundred of Roborough;
while Robert Gyffard (whence Compton Gifford) held the
manors of Egg Buckland, Compton, and Haueknol (Honick-
nowle). Moreover, it was presented that the ville of Sutton
belonged to the Prior of Plympton, with assize of bread and
beer, and this right was allowed. The Prior claimed that
these liberties had been enjoyed for many years by charter of
Henry III.

172 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Here is the first mention of Sutton as a ville. It is
thus evident that it assumed the status of a town in the
modern sense somewhere in the earlier part of the thirteenth
century. Leland tells us, and unquestionably he had access to
authorities no longer extant, that in the reign of Henry II.
Sutton was 'a mene thing as an Inhabitation of Fischars';
and he asserts that all who had built houses in Sutton
Prior since then took licence of the Prior of Plympton
as their chief lord. The town, however, had increased
more rapidly than his 'Litle and Litle,' or it would never
have become a parliamentary borough in 1298 ; or in 1377
ranked next to Bristol as the most populous port in the
provinces. The establishment of a market is an excellent landmark
of progress, and the first market grant for Plymouth was
made in the reign of Henry III., though the dates are some
what uncertain. The Hundred Rolls of Edward I. state
that the Prior of Plympton ' habet libertatis ut assisas panis
et cervisii et theolonea in villa de Sutton,' by charter of
Henry III. Elsewhere the grant is said to have been made
38th Henry III. (1253) and to be of a Thursday market
with a fair of three days at the festival of John the
Baptist. Some sixty years since this charter was sought for
on behalf of the Corporation, without success. In the
forty-second year of the same monarch, Baldwin of the Isle
had a grant for Sutton of a Wednesday market and a fair
of three days at the feast of the Ascension. Henry's grant
to the Prior was believed to have contained particular
liberties. Baldwin of the Isle is Baldwin of Eedvers, the
last Eedvers Earl of Devon, lord of Plympton, who does not
previously appear to have had any connection with Ply
mouth. We cannot believe that the two grants applied to
the same place or jurisdiction, for they are made to two
different authorities and in inconsistent fashion. No town
of the size of Sutton would have needed a market two days
following. Had the second grant been made to a Valletort
in respect of Sutton Vawter, all would be clear enough ; and
we should be helped somewhat to understand certain apparent
contradictions with regard to the market site, one of the
spots alleged being within Sutton Prior and the other in
Sutton Vawter. And as a reference to the Patent Bolls
shows that the grant to Baldwin included manorial rights,
possibly a dismemberment, if not a transfer, of Sutton
Vawter was made in his favour.

STRIVINGS FOR INCORPORATION. 173
Strivings for Incorporation.
Tear by year through the reigns of Henry III. and of the
two first Edwards Sutton Prior continued to grow and flourish,
until it either excited the attention of royalty, or the inhabi
tants sought to cast off the convent yoke. A movement com
menced in the penultimate decade of the 13th century which
never slackened long together for just 150 years, until its
end was achieved. The inhabitants were determined to assert
their independence, and be kept in leading-strings no longer.
By writ from the King to the Sheriff of Devon, circa
1317, Nicholas of Cheigny, William of Chivelston, and
Nicholas of Tewksbury, were appointed commissioners to
enquire by a jury in the presence, if so desired, of the Prior
of Plympton, John of Vautort of Clyst, and John of Vautort
of Modeton, touching the property of the King in the town
of Sutton, and a petition by the burgesses of Sutton to be
granted at a yearly rent certain waste places belonging to
the Crown there. In opposition the Prior and the two
Valletorts declared that the King had no lands in the town ;
and that he had no right to make Sutton a free borough and
grant thereto a fair and market, the Prior being lord of two
parts of the same town, and having a fair and market by
royal charter, and the Valletorts being lords of the other
third. Further, that Sutton was within the hundred of
Eoborough, of which the Abbot of Buckland was lord. So
the Prior and the Valletorts declared that the town was
wholly theirs and none of the King's, and prayed the King
not to grant franchise there nor any other thing.
Nevertheless upon an Inquisition held before Eobert
Bondyn, Sheriff of Devon, at Exeter, ' die dominica in festo
Sancte Trinitatis anno regno Eegis Edwardi ximo ' (1318), on
the oaths of John Giflbrde, William Kemell, Walter of
Colrigg, Vincent of Wyneston, Alan of Lydeton, John of
Sergeuill, Thomas Collinge, John Adam, Eobert Baffe, Ealph
Cocke of Brendon, Martin the Clerk, and David Attewill, it
was found that the kings of England before the foundation
of the ville of Sutton had a piece of waste land near the
port of Plymouth, five perches long and one perch broad ;
and a certain other piece of land in the withdrawal of the
sea — ' in retractio maris ' — containing six acres of land, where
a certain house of the town was built : at which places the
King's ancestors by their bailiffs held their courts ; and that
fishing boats of the said ville and other places were accus
tomed to resort thither to dry their sails and nets, and

174 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
expose their fish for sale — paying the King a rent of 12d.
and a penny on each basket of fish there brought. More
over, that the proceeds amounted- to £4 annually.
This so far justifies Leland that it shows the existence of
a fishing village of Sutton to be long antecedent to the
foundation of the town; and it indicates moreover the
existence of certain market rights in the King's demesne,
prior to and contemporary with those granted to the Priory.
The royal rights recognised by the jury are practically those
which formed part first of the Earldom and then of the
Duchy of Cornwall in connection with Sutton Pool — 'the
port of Plymouth ' in its original sense.
Another Inquisition, taken by Matthew of Clynedon in
the same year, indicates more clearly the character of the
proprietorial rights in Sutton, and locates the two main
divisions. The town of Sutton was upon the coast of the
port of Plymouth, but no part of it stood upon the King's
soil. A certain portion of the town north of the said coast
was upon the soil of the Prior of Plympton, and the Prior
had assize of bread and ale, and rents to the amount of
£14 9s. 6£d., and so had had from time immemorial, and
there were free tenants. Another part of the town, south of
the said coast, was upon the soil of John of Vautort, but
the said John received nothing therefrom, save certain rents
to the amount of £11 16s. 6d. ; and his tenants did suit to
his court twice in the year. In this part of the town the
Abbot of Buckland had assize of bread and ale. The port
of Plymouth belonged to the King, and rendered yearly £4
into the Exchequer; and Matthew of Clynedon found that
it would neither prejudice the King nor any others if Sutton
were made a free borough, and the inhabitants free burgesses,
saving the service to the lords.
It is evident that the meaning we must attach to the
words 'Port of Plymouth,' is 'Harbour of Sutton Pool,'
otherwise the description, strained in any case, becomes
absolutely unintelligible ; for while Sutton Prior undoubtedly
lay mainly to the north of this inlet, Sutton Vawter, though
partially it might be regarded as south, was essentially west.
And south of the port of Plymouth in any larger sense we
have only the Channel. However, the way in which the
word south is applied in the Inquisition is clearly enough
indicated, by the use of the phrase Southside of the immediate
south-western border of Sutton Pool; and ancient deeds
show that tenements here were comprised within the manor
of Sutton Vawter.

FIRST TRACES OF A GOVERNING BODY. 175
As we have seen (Chap, ii.) the rights of the Priors and
their brethren were questioned on various occasions, but
were always successfully defended, whether against the
Crown or the Earldom and Duchy of Cornwall, though the
Convent had to submit to pay a fee farm rent into the
Exchequer. Still these repeated proceedings on the part of
the Crown appear to indicate some peculiarity in the title of
the religious lords of Sutton.
First Traces of a Governing Body.
The earliest reference to a governing body at Plymouth
is the address of a writ by Henry III. (1254) to the Bailiffs
of the port of Plymouth (Plymmue), among others ; but this
general allusion is no absolute proof that such existed. The
first clear evidence of a local authority is contained in a
letter dated May 31st, 1289, in which the Bailiffs and
Commonalty of Plymouth write to the King that having
been ordered to get ready a ship to transport men at arms
and horses upon service, they had prepared the Michel, of
Plymouth. There are extant a number of writs addressed during the
fourteenth century to persons in Plymouth, which indicate
still further the existence of the germs, at least, of municipal
government. Thus in 1326 the ' Bailiffs of Plymouth, with
the Port of Sutton,' were directed to seize all suspected
persons and letters ; though this proves very little, for a similar
writ was directed to the Bailiffs of Yalhampton (Yealmpton)
and of Newton Ferrers. Again, in 1344 the Bailiffs of the
'ville de Plumuth' were directed to send two inhabitants
acquainted with shipping to London, to advise the King and
Council; similar directions being sent to Bristol, Hull, the chief
Cinque Ports, Exeter, and Dartmouth; while Portsmouth was
ordered to send one. In 1358 Walter the Venour ( = Hunter),
of Plimmouth, and sundry others, were ordered to detain
three ships there and at Dartmouth, to transport Oliver, Lord
of Clissons, and men-at-arms, to Brittany. It is worth
notice that John Venour is elsewhere mentioned as Mayor in
1377, so that it is at least possible that Walter occupied a
somewhat similar office; and we know from other sources
that the family were of considerable local note. In the
following year (1359) the Bailiffs of Plymouth are directed,
with others, to raise a subsidy of 6d. for the defence of the
realm. In 1364 they are ordered to take steps to forbid the
export of precious metals ; and in 1372 the Bailiffs of 'ville

176 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
de Plymouth ' are the first mentioned in a writ addressed to
the western ports to stay ships and men.
In October, 1369, the Mayor and Bailiffs were directed to
send two sufficient men to Westminster conversant with
mercantile affairs ; and in the December following, the same,
with Thomas Fishacre, John Sampson, and Eobert Pilche,
were ordered to provide ships and men for the defence of the
realm. This is the earliest local mention of the office of
Mayor. In May, 1374, William Noytour, master of the
Trinity of Plymouth, was ordered to come to London to
advise the Council.-
In addition to these writs to Mayors and Bailiffs and the
like, there are many others, either addressed to unspecified
authorities, or to the collectors of customs and subsidies — as
in 1347 to the collectors of subsidies 'inportibus villarum de
Plummuth,' and all other places upon the water of Tamar.
From 1287, when Plymouth was made the rendezvous of
the fleet which sailed under the Earl of Lancaster for
Guienne, down to the date of the Incorporation in 1439,
not a decade passed but such writs were sent to Plymouth
on sea service, and occasionally we may note them year
after year.
The White Book of the Corporation contains the copies of
several ancient deeds made by a town clerk of the sixteenth
century, because they mentioned the names of divers Mayors
of Sutton Prior and of Plymouth prior to the Act of Incor
poration ; with references to ten other ' auncyent dedes . . .
oy the which it is manyfest that Sutton Pryors and sythyns
by the nomynation 'of Kyng Henry the Sixte named the
burghe of Plymouthe, was a town of auncyent name and
hadd yerelie an officer chosen by the name of P'positus or
Custos ville de Sutton Pryors, whiche then dyd rule and
governe vnder the Kynge.' These deeds were dated 8th, 10th,
and 16th Edward II., and 42nd Edward III. In the deeds
actually recited the word Mayor is almost always used.
Prepositus and Mayor are by no means identical terms,
though the" offices were very much akin. The existence of a
Prepositus in Plymouth so early as the commencement of
the fourteenth century is certain, for Eichard the Tanner
held that office for Sutton in 1310 ; but Maurice Berd, 1370,
is the first Mayor whose name has been preserved.
A few hints are given in records of grants of land by the
Priory of Plympton. The earliest we have of these is by
John [de la Stert], Prior of Plympton, 15 Edward III. (1342),
to Eobert, son of William the Spicer, of Sutton, and Alice, his

FIRST TRACES OF A GOVERNING BODY. 177
wife, of a tenement in Billabiri Street, south of one belong
ing to William of Northcote, and extending sixty feet to the
east to a way leading towards the market of Sutton, and a
way leading from Bilbury Street towards the Oldtowne. The
only other with a date is by John Prior of Plympton, 10th
Eichard II. (1387), to Ade Blogge, and Isabella, his wife, of a
tenement at the hill in Sutton Prior, east of the stalls and
south of the pillory, with survivorship, at a yearly rent of
36s. 8d. The undated grants are all in the name of John
Prior of Plympton, probably de la Stert above. There is one
of an acre and a half of land in Sutton, near Martock's Well,
to Margery Stilman and her heirs ; a second of an acre and
a half ' apud le hauedlonde,' north of the middle of the
hyauedlond, to John of Stoke; another of an acre and a
half near the heauedlonde, south of the middle, to Eobert
of Whitelegge; and a fourth of three acres and a half to
William Berde, of Sutton, next the field held by William
Cocke, and a piece of waste adjoining (' eodum wastu sub
salistu maris ').
As William Berd was Prepositus of Sutton in 1313, we
have some clue to the date of this last document. Again,
John Austen was his colleague in the representation of
Sutton in Parliament, and John Austen appears among the
witnesses to Margery Stilman's grant. The grants of the
land at the heauedlonde were apparently somewhat anterior,
as the first is said to have afterwards been the property of
Eobert Sope, who took to wife the daughter of John of
Stoke; and Eobert the Soper was member in 1310, as
William of Stoke had been in 1298. The heauedlonde at
first would seem to be represented by the field called the
Headlands ; but that conclusion is negatived, not merely by
the fact that this was part of the manor of Lulyett's Fee, but
from the entry, ' Postea Rdbtus Sope qxd duxit in uxorem fll
Johis de Sok & vendidit terr in Cart que est sup la howe vbi
molendinum ventritim Mauricii Prigge sit.'
The distinctive character of the divisions of those days is
shown in the oldest deed at present in possession of the
Corporation of Plymouth, 1381 (4th Eichard II). It is
a release by William Okelegh, of Plymouth, to William
Wrouke of the same place, of a tenement and garden in
' lo ward de Sutton Vautort.' It is dated at Sutton Vautort,
and witnessed by Eobert Hill, William Honiton, John Bull,
and others. William Honiton is elsewhere named as Mayor
in this very year, but does not appear as such in the deed.
A point to which attention may specially be directed here is
N

178 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
the use of the phrase 'lo ward de Sutton Vautort'1 at this
early date ; for it is fairly equivalent to the division which
afterwards existed for centuries under the Act-Charter —
' Old Town Ward.' In the assessment of tenths and fifteenths
first found, the burgh of Sutton Prior is assessed at £24 ;
Sutton Vawter at £10 12s. 8d. ; and down to the middle of
the sixteenth century Old Town Ward had to pay just twice
as much as Vintry, though that must have been the wealthiest
part of the borough. Market Rights Acquired.
Some sort of independent action in the inhabitants was
assumed and acknowledged definitely early in the fourteenth
century ; for market rights were acquired by the burgesses in
1311. In that year there was final concord and agreement
made on the morrow of the feast of St. James, between the
Prior and Convent of Plympton, and the Burgesses of the
Commonalty of the town of Sutton, in the presence and by
the mediation of the Bishop of Exeter, the Lord Hugh of
Courtenay, Peter Abbot of Buckfastleigh, the Lord Thomas
of Cilecestre, Knight, and others. A stone cross had been
erected in a certain place within the borough of Sutton
1 Before the incorporation of the town the territorial divisions were of
course proprietorial; but this phrase 'ward of Sutton Vautort' naturally
suggests the inquiry how far the ward divisions of later times represented the
earlier manors. Leland mentions the four wards of the town in his day as
being Old Town, Venners, Vintry, and Lower ; and this division practically
remains in the Land Tax assessment. No doubt it also represents the
original arrangement ; for each ward had the care and defence of one of the
four towers of the ' castel quadrate ' by which the town was defended As the
town grew the outer boundaries of the wards, which were purely urban in their
character, would be modified ; but there is no reason to assume any internal
modification while the number remained unchanged. On the contrary, there
is every reason to believe that the old internal ward boundaries, which can be
traced back to the seventeenth century, were practically those that had existed
from the beginning, and that the division was made then, as it continued
later, by drawing lines as nearly as the thoroughfares allowed east and west
and north and south, intersecting at the point where the Free Library stands.
The manorial distinctions must therefore have been disregarded ; for while
Old Town did in the main represent Sutton Vawter, and Venner's Ward also
in part, yet they both included portions of Sutton Prior. Vintry, however,
was almost wholly in Sutton Prior, the only exceptions being the premises at
Southside, in Sutton Vawter ; and Lower Ward, though certainly in later
days consisting largely of Sutton Raf, must then have been chiefly repre
sentative of Sutton Prior likewise.
The relative positions of the four wards in population and wealth is shown
very clearly by the amounts levied in poor-rates. In the year previous to the
commencement of the Siege (1642) the total poor-rate of the borough was
£204 15s. Of this Vintry Ward alone contributed nearly half, £90 3s. id. ;
Venour Ward, £37 15s. 2d. ; Old Town Ward, £38 19s. 4d. ; and Looe Street
(Lower) Ward, £32 7s. 6d.

AN INFORMAL CHARTER. 179
(Holycross Lane is probably a survival of its vicinage), and
certain stalls for the sale of fish, flesh, and other victuals.
These, with the Church of Sutton, are stated to belong to the
Prior and Convent ; while the burgesses had no right to erect
others without license, which however they had done. The
controversy is settled by the burgesses having let to them
eighteen stalls, at a penny each per year — to be paid on their
behalf by the Prepositus for the time being — and agreeing
not to put up any more, either in that place or any other spot
within the borough, without due license. As the burgesses
had no seal, Eichard the Tanner, Prepositus, put his. Some
where within the next half century, however, corporate
authority must have gained a more definite existence,
probably in the division of Sutton Vawter, for, as we shall
see, a deed of 1368 has a seal with a ship for device, and the
legend Si . commvnitatis . ville . de . Svttvn . svper . Plymovth, a
designation assumed to be distinct from Sutton Prior. The
deed is that by which Stonehouse is conveyed from the
Bastards to the Durnfords, and the Commonalty of Sutton
were sufficiently important to be called in as witnesses.
An Informal Charter.
At length we reach more definite ground. Edward III.,
towards the close of his long reign, conferred upon the
inhabitants of Sutton what was essentially a charter, and
was so regarded. On the 24th November, 1374, he directed
letters patent to William Cole, Stephen Durneford, John
Sampson, Eoger Boswines,2 Eobert Possebury, Geoffrey
Couche, John Weston, William Trevys, William Gille,
Maurice Berde, William Bourewe, jun., and Humphry
Passour, as burgesses of the borough of Sutton. Being
mindful of the damage and disgrace that might happen to
the town and the country adjacent by invasion of the enemy,
in default of good rule; being willing to provide for its
defence and safety ; and fully confiding in the fidelity of the
men above named — the King assigns them jointly and
severally to survey all defaults in the town and port thereof
whereby dangers might arise; to procure the same to be
amended ; to cause the men of the said town to be arrayed,
so that they should always be ready and prepared to meet
their enemies ; and to do and execute such other things as
might be necessary to provide for the safety of the same
2 Roger Beauchamp, who lived at ' Boswines,' Plymouth, is probably
intended. The name Boswines appears to be lost.
N 2

180 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
town. Moreover the Mayor and Bailiffs, and all and singular
the inhabitants of the town, were to be obedient and aiding
in the performance and execution of these premises.
It seems as if we have here a recognition of the existence
of two rival divisions, Sutton Prior and Sutton Vawter.
Had the Mayor and Bailiffs possessed full authority, the
orders should, in due course, have been addressed to them ;
and as from other sources we gather that the twelve men
named were inhabitants of Sutton Prior, the corporate body
recognized in these letters must have had jurisdiction in
Sutton Vawter. Under cover of this quasi-charter, the
effort was made to bring the whole town under one juris
diction ; and hence probably it was that in 1378 Eichard II.,
for the purpose of fortifying the town (which was then in
great danger, and not enclosed or fortified with walls or
turrets or otherwise), made a grant of customs duties for the
purpose to ' the Mayor, Bailiffs, honest men, and Commonalty,'
while in 1383 an order was directed in his' name to the
Mayor and Bailiffs against the exportation of provisions.
In 1384 we find William Cole, Thomas Fishacre, Geoffrey
Couche, and Humphry Passour licensed by Eichard II. to
alienate six acres of land held of the King in chief to the
Friars Minors ; and three of these men, it will be seen, were
of the twelve commissioned to take steps for the defence of
the town under the letters patent of ten years previous.
In the same year, moreover, the Eoyal rights to toll of fish
taken in the sea water of Sutton Plumpmouth and Tamar,
and sold in Plymouth, were enforced against certain fishermen,
by whom they had been evaded.
All this points to definite action on the part of the Crown
and of the inhabitants to bring the whole town under one
municipal government ; and it will be noticed that the name
chosen to combine Sutton Prior and Sutton Vawter was
Sutton - upon - Plymmouth, thence Sutton Plymouth, and
finally, when union and incorporation were completed, the
Plymouth without the Sutton as now.
The old Manorial Government, and its Assailants.
The records of the controversy between the Priors and
their tenants have preserved a description of the old manorial
government of Sutton Prior ; and the most interesting
notice extant of the early municipal history of Plymouth is
contained in the finding of an Inquisition taken by order of
the King on the complaint of the Prior of Plympton, 8th

THE OLD MANORIAL GOVERNMENT. 181
Eichard II. (1385). It was held at ' Ekebokland,' on the
Wednesday next after the feast of the Holy Trinity, before
Walter Cornu and Eichard Gripston, on the oaths of Peter
Whitelegh, Stephen Lautron, William Wyneslond, Ealph
Bytheyes, David Treweman, Richard Wylberton, Thomas
Stanton, William Worston, William Lake, Thomas Boyes of
Hareston, Thomas Cut, and William Godegrome. They
found that the Prior of Plympton and his predecessors from
time immemorial had been lords of Satton Prior, and
accustomed to hold a Monday Court, with assize of bread and
beer and weights and measures, with jurisdiction over trans
gressors, and authority over millers, bakers, butchers, sellers
of wine and hydromel, and cooks, and those who made bread
outside the town and carried it therein to sell. That in this
Court, held by the Prior's Seneschal, at the first sitting next
after the feast of St. Michael yearly, twelve tenants of the
same Prior, in the said town, were sworn to determine and
choose a Prepositus of the same Prior and town, and him so
chosen to the said Seneschal immediately to present, where
upon, having taken his corporal oath before the said
Seneschal, the said Prepositus should from that time forth of
the said Court be head, receiving for the Prior all debts,
amerciaments, fines, reliefs, and perquisites of the said Court,
and all other like profits of the same Prior at the same place
well and faithfully collecting and levying ; and immediately
on the end of his year of office well and faithfully accounting
for the same to the aforesaid Prior in the Priory of Plympton.
Moreover, all other things to his said office of Prepositus
belonging, without favour he should do and execute, in all
respects as had been accustomed, holding the sittings of the
Court aforesaid under the license of the Prior, and all else
that a Mayor in the aforesaid town should do, or as had been
accustomed from remote times.
And now (said the jury) Humphry Passour, cunningly and
falsely plotting subtlely to usurp the rights of the lord King
and to make himself Mayor of the aforesaid town, instead of
John Sampson, recently-chosen Prepositus (that is to say, in
the Court held on Monday next after the feast of St. Michael
last past, in the said Court elected, presented, and sworn to
the said office), him to amove, and the said Prior and Church
of the Apostles Peter and Paul of Plympton maliciously to
disinherit in this part, the aforesaid John before the lord King
and his Council of divers offences and misdemeanours assailed
and accused. Moreover, under cover of a eertain brief of the
lord King to the Bailiffs and honest men of the said town of

182 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Sutton Prior by the name of the town of ' Sutton Plyrap-
mouth,' certain burgesses of the said town Humphry Passour
to the office of Mayor of the same town chose and elected,
admitting him as such and obeying him in that office, and
themselves to him in all things touching the said office sub
mitting and obeying, whereas they would not allow the said
John to enter and exercise his office. And in the King's
Chancery the said Humphry Passour fraudulently, under
colour of the brief of the lord King, sought to set himself in
the mayoralty of the said town without the Court of the
Prior, not being chosen before the Seneschal of the aforesaid
Prior (whereas" the mayoralty of the town with the Mayor of
the same ought not so to be) ; and the removal of the
aforesaid John from the office and exercise of the said
prepositure he procured and made, and the same office of
Mayor, without sufficient authority and warrant, he for a long
time has occupied and at present occupies — that is to say,
from the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul last past ; and
John Martyn, the Seneschal of the said Prior, he has pre
vented from holding the Monday Court by force of arms
from the aforesaid feast ; and has held it himself without the
licence of the said Prior by his own authority, exercising all
the rights of the said prepositure, and up to this time has
continued to do and perpetrate other enormities and injuries,
and as many and as grievous deeds as lay in his power. And
further the jurors aforesaid say under oath that never was
there Mayor in the aforesaid town of Sutton Prior before the
aforesaid feast of the Conversion of St. Paul last past, neither
ought there so to be, nor used. there to be but a Prepositus,
until the day when the aforesaid Humphry caused himself to
be chosen Mayor of the aforesaid town of Sutton Prior.
If this finding were strictly accurate, then, as we find
Mayors of Sutton mentioned nearly twenty years prior to
the inquiry, they must have been Mayors of Sutton Vawter,
But the absolute accuracy of the finding is not quite certain ;
for the term mayor had been used of the chief officer of Sutton
Prior antecedently to that date, though of course it may have
had no authority. John Sampson, the Prepositus, will be
noted as one of the twelve put in commission with Passour.
The proceedings did not end with the Inquisition ; for in
1386 we find Passour rejoining in defence of his right to the
mayoralty that at various times during the reign of Ed wan
III., and during the reign of the present King for the space
of twenty years, mandates had been sent both under the
King's privy seal and by his letters patent to the Mayor of

INCORPORATION BY ACT OF PARLIAMENT. 183
the town, under the name of the Mayor of the town of
Sutton Plymouth, and had thus appointed the inhabitants
to have a Mayor. However, judgment was given against
Passour and his friends, ' because it has not been the custom
for a Mayor to govern in the town of Sutton Prior.'
The point to be specially noticed throughout this con
troversy is that everything turns upon Sutton Prior, and
that no judgment is given in respect of Sutton Vawter,
which, though termed a hamlet in the Act of Incorporation,
is frequently called a town in earlier documents, and at times
even takes precedence of Sutton Prior ; while it is significant
that from the time of the opposition raised by the Johns of
Valletort of Clyst and Moditon in 1318 to the creation
of the borough a free community, we have no evidence of
any further opposition on behalf of the owners of Sutton
Vawter. All the difficulty is with the Priory of Plympton,
and in respect of Sutton Prior. There thus seems reason for
believing that the older town had acquired and maintained
its claim to corporate rights, and that the line which the
Plymouth Reformers then took was one of extension and
comprehension. Thus in 1411 — stimulated by the destruction
of 600 houses in the Breton invasion in 1403 — we find the
inhabitants of Sutton Prior and Sutton Vawter jointly
petitioning for incorporation — the right to elect a Mayor,
and to levy dues and tolls for defence; the answer being,
'Let the petitioners compound with the lords having
franchises before the next Parliament, and report having
made an agreement.' Incorporation by Act of Parliament.
The present Incorporation of the town within existing
boundaries was, as already stated, effected in 1439 by Act of
Parliament, which seems to have been needful to carry out
legally the arrangements made with the Prior of Plympton.
No other rights of government were recognized by the statute
as existing in the town ; but there were saved out of the
provisions of the Act the rights of Sir John Cornewaill, Lord
of Faunhope, to the Duchy property held under lease by him,
and out of the provisions of a subsequent charter his rights,
and those of Thomas Courtenay, Earl of Devon. No one
seems to have succeeded, unless the Courtenays, to the claims
set up by the Valletorts ; and the Priory had suffered so
severely by the French inroad that it was well disposed to
surrender on terms.

184 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
The prayer of the Act is in somewhat significant words,
that the town of Sutton Prior, the tithing of Sutton Raf,
parcel of the hamlet of Sutton Vautort (commonly called
Plymouth), with a parcel of the tithing of Compton, should
be a free borough incorporate with one Mayor and one
perpetual Commonalty. The Act did not provide for the
election of any officer besides the Mayor, save the creation of
fresh burgesses : and its chief provisions, beyond the general
powers of incorporation, were for the acquisition of the
manorial rights of the Priory (saving only the advowson of
St. Andrew and three messuages which were never to be
parcel of the borough3), by the Mayor and Commonalty,
under terms to be arranged ; and for the satisfaction of the
Abbot of Buckland touching the loss of his Hundred
jurisdiction. On the 25th of July following (1440), Henry VI. followed
up the Act by a Charter, which gave power to elect a
Eecorder and a Coroner, made the Mayor and Eecorder
justices of the peace, conferred the right to hold pleas and
to exercise criminal jurisdiction, and to have and hold a
Merchants' Guild, ' with all and singular the appurtenances to
a Merchants' Guild, as the Mayor and Bailiffs of our city of
Oxford jointly and severally better and more freely have and
hold, or may have and hold.' Moreover, there was a fresh
market grant — a market on Monday and Thursday, and two
fairs of three days annually, at the feast of St. Matthew the
Apostle, and the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul — the
latter, be it noted, the time of year assigned to Passour's
' ursurpation,' and a curious coincidence, if nothing more.
Either in the Guild Merchant, or in the continuance of
a pre-existing custom, does it seem most probable that we
must look for the origin of the form the Corporation assumed.
The Charter mentions only the Mayor, Recorder, Coroner,
and Commonalty ; but within half a century we find existing
the 'twelve and twenty -four' — the Aldermen or Masters,
and the Common Councilmen— rwho formed the executive
down to the year 1803, when the Commonalty successfully
asserted their right to choose the Mayor. It was not indeed
until the charter of Elizabeth, in 1601, that the 'twelve and
twenty-four ' had the recognition of authority ; but they may
well have been a modified survival of a pre-existing adminis
trative body. The peculiar way in which the Mayor was
elected until the Commonalty obtained the power, by a
3 These were on the south of Bilbury Street, north of Note (Notte)
Street, and north of Stillman Street.

BOUNDARIES. 185
jury of thirty-six chosen by four alfurers or affeerers — two
Aldermen appointed for the Aldermen, and two of the
Common Council chosen by the Commonalty — recalls the
method of electing the Prepositus, and may also have been
a survival of the twin manorial jurisdiction of Suttons Prior
and Vawter. Boundaries.
There remains among the Plymouth muniments a copy of
the Act-Charter in the vernacular — or rather of its earlier
portion, written certainly not later than the reign of
Henry VII., but which differs so remarkably in some points
from the present translation of the same Act that it may
represent, in part at least, an original draft:
Knowe ye that wher as the towne of Sutton pryor and the
tythynge of Sutton Raf and parcellys of the hamelet of Sutton
vautor whech towne tethynge and pcellys Comynly be callyd and
namyd Plymouth and a sertayne of the tethynge of Compton
wythyn the Cowtye of deuynshere beyng and sett so ny to the
stronds and costys of the see and soo many and soo greate and soo
Comyn applying of fletys of Shyppys and of vessels aswel of
Enymys as of others yn the port of the same towne tethynge pcellys
of the hamelet and tethynge of Compton lying that fro time to
time hyt hath be that the towne tethynge and pcellys aforsaid a
fore thys tyme of x tymys yn gretter ptye of the same for the faute
of Co — :  and aswell the same yn tymes of oure nobyll execu
tors often broke and distrevyth and aswell the ynhabitans of the
same of theyre goods and catellys nyghtly and dayly Spoylyd and
many of theym of the ynhabitans by the same enymyes take and
lede to the owte contryes and there kepte yn to the tyme that they
had made fennans and Ravnson and they were yn harde kepyng
p'sament and vnderful kept yn gevys stocks and other wayes and
other evyll losts and vnpfytabyle not lytyll to the same towne
Tethynge and pcellys of the hamelett and of the Tethynge of
Compton and to the ynhabytance of the same yn tymys past eur
and were hade and many ither yn tymes to Time they doth but yf
relef fortefyinge and betterynge of the towne tethynge and pcell
aforsaid the other remedy be vyded be howfull by the apetycyon
to us yn our plement beyng at Westmyster the xijth daye of
Noueber last past holden [and then it is enacted] ... for the Rest
of the malys of oure enymys theryn dayes applying and for the
saluacon of the Towne tethyng and pcellys aforsayd and that the
ynhabitance of the same the Rather that the townetethyng and
pcellys aforsaid be fro hensforthward a fre Borough In corporat of
one Mayer and of one Comynaltie for eur and hytt shalbe callyd
the borowgh of plymouth . . . and that the aforsaid borowgh By
the makys and boundys vnder wretyn all tymes that ys to Wete

186 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
bytwyne the hyll callyd the Wynderygge by the Banke of Sowre
pole a yenst the North on the grete dyke otherwyse callyd the
greate deche and fro thens ayenst the North vnto Stoke damrele
flete and fro thens by the stronde of the same flete vnto mylbroke
brygge ynclewdyd and fro thens to the yate of thorne hylle pke
ayenst motley pkelane and fro thens vnto lypstone brygge
ynclewdyd and fro thens by the seestronde to the lary poynt To
the Catte to henstone fyse store and Est kyng and fro thens to the
said hylle callyd Wynderygge as the mkys and bonds eur were that
be derectyd and fyxed fully and opynly schewyth.
The metes and bounds given here differ materially in some
points of expression, though the general effect is the same,
from the language of the Act of Parliament, as copied
directly, from the original roll :
Inter montem vocat Wynrigg p ripam de Sourpole v'sus boriam
usque ad le grete dyche alias diet' le grate diche et exinde it'um
v'sus boriam ad Stokedamarleflete et abinde g litus eiusdem flete
usque ad Millebroke brigge inclusive et deinde v'sus orientam g le
middeldiche de Houndescom usque ad Houndescombrigge inclusive
et abinde usque ad Thornhilpark exclusive et deinde usque ad
Lypstonbrigge inclusive et abinde g litus maris continue usque ad
le lare ad le Catte ad Hyngston Fysshtore et Estkyng, et abinde
usque diet' montem de Wynrigg.4
It is difficult to understand the use of the term ' parcel of
the hamlet of Sutton Vawter ' — for the whole of that manor
seems included. It may, however, be that both in this case
4 We must see here that the vernacular version has an independent
authority of some kind. There is an important proviso in the Act-Charter of
Henry VI. wholly excluding from its operation the Manor of Trematon, to
which Sutton Pool belongs ; and hence and because of the words in the
description of the ambit ' by the sea shore ' the Sutton Harbour Company, on
their rating being greatly raised in 1889, appealed against the rate on the
ground of non-liability among other points. The custom has been, however,
to take the boundary of the borough across the mouth of Sutton Pool from
Fishers Nose, and rates had been regularly paid for a century and a half.
The Recorder, Mr. Bom pas, Q.c, held that the Trematon proviso did not
operate in this respect, and that the description of the metes and bounds was
general rather than particular" and to be interpreted by marks which had
been fixed ; hence gave judgment for the Guardians. From this decision the
Company again appealed ; hut without effect. The documentary evidence
for the exclusion of Sutton Pool as part of the Manor of Trematon was
regarded as in their favour ; but judgment was given against them on the
score of usage and continued rating.
The clause in the Act-Charter excluding Trematon runs : ' Prouise semp
quod pdcus actus et ordinacie minime se extendant ad man'rii de Trematon
Burgu de Saltayshe aqua de Tamer nee ad aliqua alia possessiones ffranchesias
libtates aquas piscarias redditus seuie cur' iurisdiccees officia hereditamenta
forissturas escaetus aut aliqua alia excitus profitua seu commoditates qui
Johes Cornewaill dns de ffauuhope tenet ad tr'm vite suo reu'sione inde ad
nos spectante.'

UNPERPETUAL COMMEMORATION. 187
and in that of the tithing of Compton, no portion of which
as at present recognized forms part of the municipal borough
of Plymouth, the omission and inclusion were of the very
slightest (and soon forgotten), for the purpose of the rectifi
cation of the boundary, which followed the natural lines of
coasts and watercourses wherever practicable ; and only at
two places crossed from one such point to the other. One of
these was on the verge of Sutton Vawter, next Stonehouse ;
the other next Compton. Moreover as Leland places Sutton
Vawter on the north, giving Sutton Prior the 'middle and
heart ' and Sutton Ealf the east ; and as he states that the
oldest part of Plymouth in his day was north and west, and
some thereof sore decayed, it seems clear that Sutton Vawter
extended much further up the hill and along the ridge
between Surpool and Stoke Damarel Fleet (Stonehouse Mill
Lake) than implied in the later use of the words ' Old Town.'
We have also recorded the existence of a spot called ' The
Vawters ' on this ridge, closely adjoining Stonehouse, which
aids a similar inference.5 Unperpetual Commemoration.
An agreement made on the 28th August, 1440, between
William Keterigge, Mayor of Plymouth and the Commonalty
of the same, and the Prior and Convent of St. Germans, sets
forth that Eichard Trenode, merchant of Bristol, and
Thomasia Venour, widow of William Venour, formerly of
Plymouth, and sister of the said Eichard Trenode, had been
at great expense and labour to have Plymouth made a
corporation of ' one Mayor and Commonalty.' In recognition
of this the Mayor and Commonalty, to keep the same
Eichard and Thomasia in perpetual remembrance as their
principal and special benefactors, bound themselves to the
Prior and Convent, to maintain a chaplain to say mass daily
at the altar of the blessed Virgin in the Church of St. Andrew,
for the souls of Eichard Trenode, Alice his late and Joan his
present wife, William Venour and Thomasia his widow, for
their children, for Eichard Trenode and Dionisia his wife,
father and mother of Eichard Trenode, for John Venour and
Joan his wife, parents of William Venour ; and for the souls
of all others for whom Eichard Trenode, William and
Thomasia Venour, were bound to pray.
5 In the early 'fifteenths' Vawter's Ground and Stonehouse were each
assessed in the same amount, 2s. 6d.— distinct from Plymouth ; and we find
the entry ' terra tenentis apud Vautard ex pte Boriali le mylle poole tenenta
solvere.'

188 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
As another means of remembrance — equally, as the result
has proved, wwperpetual — one of the wards of the borough
received the name of Venar Ward ; and this was in the part
of Sutton Prior which lay immediately west of Sutton Pool,
in which locality some of the family had lived. We are not
told what Trenode and his sister did ; but as expense was
involved as well as trouble, probably the passage of the Act
was smoothed after a fashion well understood. The Venours
were people of position ; for one was Mayor in 1377 — John,
no doubt the father of William — and their exertions may
not have been confined to the finally successful effort.
Early Mayors.
The following names of Mayors and Headmen prior to the
full Incorporation have been preserved: 1310, Eichard the
Tanner, prepositus of Sutton; 1313, William Berd, pre
positus ; 1318, Richard Tannere, prepositus ; 1325, Edward of
Northcote, prior's prepositus; 1370, Maurice Berd, mayor;
1377, John Venour, mayor of Sutton Priors; 1381, William
Honyton, mayor ; 1383, Humphry Passour, mayor of Sutton
Priors; 1384, John Sampson, prepositus; 1395, Walter
Crocker, mayor of Sutton Priors; 1397, Richard Row,
mayor ; 1398, Walter Dymmick or Dymcock, prepositus ;
1397, Henry Boon, mayor of Plymouth; 1399-1403 (?),
William Pollard, mayor ; 1408, William Bentle, mayor ;
1412, William Rogherne, mayor of Plymouth ; 1413, William
Bentley, mayor of Sutton; 1414, William Boon, mayor of
Plymouth ; 1418, William Bentley, mayor of Sutton Priors ;
1439, William Totwell (the old form of spelling the modern
Tothill), prior's portreeve of Sutton.
Though we have here only twenty mayoralties for a period
of over a century and a quarter, it is probable from the
repetitions preserved that several of these Mayors and
Prepositors held office still more frequently, the range of
choice being narrow. Moreover, the fact that between each of
Bentley's three recorded mayoralties five years elapsed, seems
to indicate the existence of a select body — as of Aldermen —
from whom the choice was made in turn, and is fair collateral
evidence of the existence of organized corporate authority.
The good standing of some of these early Mayors is shown
by one of them having been chosen to represent the borough
in Parliament— William Berd,in 1313; while John of Honeton,
no doubt father or grandfather of William Honyton, was
elected, probably for Sutton, in 1311. From various sources we
learn that several others were men of wealth for those days.

THE NAME OF PLYMOUTH. 189
The name of Plymouth.
Since it is in the charter of Henry VI. that the substitution
of the name of Plymouth for that of Sutton is first officially
recognized, some notes on the origin of the word will be here
in place. It is spelt in very nearly 300 different ways in
various records — Plimu being the shortest and Pilimmouthe
the longest. The port of Plymmue is named as early as
1254 ; but late in the reign of Edward II. the town is still
' Sutton villa supera costera portus de Plymouth.' There was
a Plympton long before there was a Plymouth ; but Plympton
is not and never was on the river now called the Plym.
It was upon the estuary afterwards called the Lary. Why
then should it be named after the river ? The answer lies in
the derivation of the word. In all likelihood the Keltic
name for the estuary was simply lyn — a 'lake or pool,'
retained at the present day locally by the estuary of the
Notter — the Lynhir, or ' long lake ;' and found translated into
Saxon in such names as Stonehouse Lake, Keyham Lake, St.
Johns Lake, Millbrook Lake. Penlyn is 'the head of the
lake.' Penlinton exactly expresses the site of the original
Plympton, which we find in Domesday as Plintona. Precisely
this contraction has taken place in Cornwall, where Pelynt
is often called Plynt. On this hypothesis Plympton gave
name to the Plym, Penlin being first blunderingly applied by
the Saxons to the estuary, and thence to the river. We
have several instances in Devon of names being carried up
rivers. Such are the East and West Dart, and the East and
West Okement ; whereas many tributary streams of less
importance have distinctive titles. Only those who were
ignorant of the true names of the branches would duplicate
that of the lower river. Mewe, or Meavy, the name of the main
branch of the Plym, really means 'the greater water'; and
as Lary is easily resolvable into the ' lesser water,' that may
well have been the name of the branch which of late years,
without the smallest authority, because of a poetic ' slip,' it
has been the fashion to call the ' Cad.' Plin passed into
Plym through Plinmouth, whence Plymouth, just as at the
present day the local pronunciation of Lynmouth is
Lymouth. Transfer of the Priory Property.
The value of the property transferred from the Priory to
the new Corporation was assessed at a public Inquisition,
held by the Archdeacon of Totnes, in the nave of the Priory
Church on the seventh of January, 1440. The jury found

190 HISTORY OF - PLYMOUTH.
that the conventual property had been in part destroyed by
the descent of the Bretons in 1403, that the yearly rental
of lands was £8, that of courts, markets, and fairs 60s., and
the profit of the mills over £10. Under these circumstances
the offer of the Corporation of a fee farm rent of £41 was
deemed a sufficient compensation, and was accepted. In
1464 this rent was reduced to £29 6s. 8d., in consequence of
the ' povertee and dekaye ' of the town ; and in 1534 to £20.
The arrangement with the Prior included the payment of
ten marks annually to the Prior of Bath ; and under it the
lordship of the fee of the manor was vested in the Mayor
and Commonalty for ever, with the appurtenances, the assize
of bread and beer, fishery, view of frankpledge, tolls of the
market, ducking-stool, and pillory. There is an ordinance
that the Prior's rent was to be wholly discharged by the
grant of the advowsons of Ugborough and Blackawton, but
the town paid the £20 until the Dissolution, and was relieved
by the King in 1545. The livings had not been vacated,
which was the condition.
The fee farm rent payable to the Crown — 40s. to
Henry VIII. — became eventually £1 13s. lOd. It was
granted to Lord Somers in 1697, and redeemed by the
Corporation in 1875, by the payment of £40 to Mr. William
Latham, to whom Earl Somers had sold it in 1853.
The Charters.
The oldest known charter of the borough is that of Henry
VI. — 1440 — but the original does not exist; and that of
Mary — 1558 — is the earliest preserved. Charters have been
granted by Henry VI., as above, Edward IV. (1464), Richard
III. (1484), Henry VII. (1490), Henry VIII. (1510), Edward
VI. (1547), Mary (1553), Elizabeth (1601), James I. (1604,
1613), Charles I. (1628), Charles II. (1668, 1684), William
III. (1697). Most of these were simple confirmations, and
only four effected any material changes in the constitution.
The charter of Elizabeth was important. Mathew Boyes,
the town clerk, had £170 for it; the charter being entered
as ' purchased,' and as being renewed by his ' meanes and
industrie.'6 Under this the late Mayor was made a fellow-
justice with the present Mayor and Recorder, theretofore
the only ones. In 1628 Charles I. granted a charter which
added the two senior Aldermen to the bench of justices.
This cost £136 7s.
6 Court favours were costly. In 1597-8 there were spent 'for charges in
London on town business at the Court this year' £137 8s. more thau was
collected.

THE CHARTERS. .' 191
In accordance with the usual policy when towns were
governed by corporations regarded as inimical to the higher
powers, Plymouth in 1684 was made to surrender its charter
to Charles II., although it had been closely ' regulated ' in
1662. The requisition for the surrender was made by the
infamous Jefferies, the man of the Bloody Assize ; and the
Mayor and five other members of the Corporation were
authorized to make it in due form, and to get the best terms
they could. The surrender was made at Windsor (after the
Corporate property had been duly secured by transfer to
trustees), and a new charter granted in answer to a petition,
which, after setting forth that much of the income of the
Corporation was held by prescription, and that it was encum
bered by debt, concluded thus :
We, your most humble petitioners, do therefore in all dutiful
manner implore your majesty to vouchsafe your princely com
passion and favour to your said town and to pardon its past
offences, and out of your abundant royal grace and bounty to
accept of a surrender of the whole governing part of the said
Corporation, in such manner as is most conducing to your majesty's
service ; we only beseeching your royal favour that what is not
useful for your majesty's service, but of great benefit and advan
tage to the said town, may be preserved, wherein we most humbly
pray your majesty to signify your royal pleasure in such manner
as your most sacred majesty in your great wisdom shall think fit.
The new charter varied in several particulars from the
old one, and named the members of the new Corporation-
staunch Church and King men all. It vested the power in
thirteen Aldermen, of whom the Mayor was one, and in
twelve Assistants or Common Councilmen, instead of twenty-
four. And yet the Corporation had done their best to keep the
King in a good humour. In 1660 they had given him the
wine fountain now among the royal regaba.
Item paid mr Tymothy Allsopp for two Royall pieces of plate
bought by him of Alderman Vynar of London, by order
from the maior and Cominalty of this Burrough, which
vpon theire speciall Request was presented to the Kings
most Excellent majesty vpon his happy Restauration to
the Government of his Dominions by the hands of Sir
William Morrice knight, the kings chief e Secretary of
State and Samuel Trelawny Esqr Burgesses of the Burrough
in this prsent parliament, Sergeant Maynard Recorder of
this Burrough and Edmond ffowell Esqr the Towne Councell,
the sum of flower hundred pounds.

192 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Moreover, they had spent £49 15s. 9d. in proclaiming ' the
merry monarch,' paid £16 14s. 4d. for putting up his
arms in the Guildhall, and 17s. 6d. for painting them on the
new shambles !
There is an entry in an old court book of the persons who
in public court declared their humble acceptance of His
Majesty's gracious pardon, June 4th, 1660. The declarations
were made in open court, before John King, Samuel North-
cott, and Eobert Gubbes the elder, who also 'laid hold on
and accepted' the pardon aforesaid. Nevertheless, 'the
Roundhead ringleaders were almost to a man ejected from
the Corporation when it was 'regulated' by the Com
missioners, and this charter of 1684 placed them wholly
at the mercy of the Court. It cost some £620. r
The old charter was practically restored by William of
Orange in 1697, Sir Francis Drake being the moving spirit,
at an outlay of £504 5s. 6d. This made the Corporation to
consist of a Mayor, Recorder, twelve Aldermen, and twenty-
four Common Councilmen, with twenty-six freemen. The
number of the freemen varied, but the municipal body
continued the same without alteration down to the Municipal
Reform Act, which added twelve Councillors to the twenty-
four, and divided the town into the six wards Of St.
Andrew, Frankfort, Drake, Charles, Sutton, and Vintry.8

Mayor-Choosing in the Olden Time.
Under the old regime the Mayor was chosen on St.
Lambert's Day (17th September), on whatever day of the
week that might fall, the last Sunday Mayor-choosing being
in 1826. For three centuries a very curious mode of election
was followed. The Mayor and Aldermen (at one time the
Mayor only9) would elect two Aldermen, under the name of
alfurers or affeerers ; and the freemen two more, out of the
7 In 1683 the Aldermen usurped the election of Councilmen for 'five years,'
but this was put an end to by the new grant. The old Corporation was
essentially a self-elected one, but there was occasionally much controversy
touching the hands in which the power lay, not unfrequently followed by
litigation. At times the Aldermen claimed the sole right of electing their
colleagues ; at times, as in 1683, the sole right also of choosing the ' twenty-
four,' who on their side were equally tenacious ; while now and again the
freemen asserted their right to appoint sometimes one, sometimes both ; and
there were kindred disputes touching the election of freemen. But the full
story would be a very long one, and of no practical interest now.
8 By the Local Government Act of 1888 Plymouth was made a county,
and the town- became a county-couneil April 1st, 1889.
8 Trans. Plym. Inst. v. 555. Yonge's Memoirs,

MAYOR-CHOOSING IN THE OLDEN TIME. 193
Common Council. By the four a jury of thirty-six would
be chosen, and by this jury one of the Aldermen was
elected. A contest arising at the Mayor-choosing in 1802, the
matter was brought to trial at the Exeter Lent Assizes in 1803,
before Mr. Baron Thompson. It was then declared to be an
infringement upon the rights of the Commonalty, and therefore
illegal ; and the elective franchise was restored to the freemen
at large, every freeman being eligible. Mr. J. C. Langmead
was -the first Mayor thus appointed by the Commonalty. This
memorable victory of the freemen over the old Corporation is
commemorated by a medal, worn suspended to the chain of
office which was then presented to the Mayor, and first
became part of his paraphernalia. It bears on the obverse
the arms of the borough, and the following inscription:
" Usurpatione depressi, Legibus Restituti. Turris fortissima
est nomen Jehovse. 17 Martis, 1803.' On the reverse:
' The freemen of Plymouth request your wearing this medal,
to be returned at the expiration of your Mayoralty, in
honourable token of that inestimable branch of the British
Constitution, trial by jury, by whose verdict the right to
elect a chief magistrate for the borough was restored, after
having been unjustly withheld for upwards of three
centuries.' Notices of the Mayor-choosing used to be given in the
churches, after the Nicene Creed, two Sundays previous to
St. Lambert: 'The Right Worshipful the Mayor desires
the Commonalty of this Borough to meet him in the Guild
hall thereof on the seventeenth day of September next at
10 o'clock in the forenoon, then and there to elect a Mayor
of the said Borough for the year ensuing.'
Harris's description of the procedure in 1807 is as follows :
Mayor-choosing-day is ushered in by the ringing of the church
bells, which continue ringing at intervals. At 10.30 the corpora
tion met in the Guildhall, and proceeded to church, where the
vicar preached on the duty of magistrates and brotherly love.
When returned to the Guildhall the list of the freemen was called
and the names ticked. If there was opposition a short poll would be
taken and the freemen sworn, three or four at a time, in the same
manner as at the election of representatives. The Mayor must be
chosen before the meeting was dissolved, and many times it was
midnight before this was done. The rest of the business being
done, they went to church again for to pray, as sly rogues say,
that the dinner might be good. From the church they used to
go down High Street to the New Quay, thence to the Mayoralty
O

194 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
House [Woolster Street]. At present they go the same road as far
as Woolster Street, then into Foxhole Street, Tin Street, up Broad
Streets, [Bilbury and Buckwell Street] to the Guildhall again.
The Mayor did not take office until Michaelmas Day ; and
between Lambert and Michaelmas was Freedom Day, when
the Corporation ' saw the franchise about,' and 'the boyes have
liberty to take w* they meet y4 is eatable.' This was a local
Saturnalia, kept as such from the earliest times, fruit and
the like being provided by the Corporation for the boys to
scramble for, in addition to that to which they helped
themselves. The proceedings closed in Freedom Fields. In
later years one of the incidents of the day was the fighting
between the Old Town and Burton [Breton] boys for a barrel of
beer. Martyn's Gate was the dividing line of the two districts,
and the beer was given by the Mayor. The practice was
abolished in 1782, because ' some young gentlemen had their
collar bones broken.' Nickey Glubb, a porter pugilist, who
died in 1809 blind, was the latest Burton chief. The charity
boys were the last who held to the ancient custom of ' self-
help.' The swearing in of the Mayor on Michaelmas Day was
the occasion of a very curious survival. Under the Act-
Charter the Mayor had to be sworn before the Prior of
Plympton or his steward, if either chose to attend, and the
Commonalty had to wait until eleven in the morning for
them. Priors and stewards alike ceased to be at the Dis
solution of the Monasteries ; but the burgesses continued to
wait! And thus down to the passing of the Municipal
Reform Act, though it was the practice of the freemen to
assemble on Michaelmas Day at ten, the customary hour
elapsed ere his worship was sworn.
Lo ! in the Apple of the Charter's Eye
The Prior and his Steward never die :
Our Guardian Angels must await for these
Ecclesiastical nonentities.
In Common Hall assembled, Eeason says hence,
Until the Law that supersedes their presence.1
The old corporate processions were somewhat imposing
affairs. When Harris wrote the order was thus: The old
governor of the Barbican, the town corporals, the constables,
a band, a standard bearer armed, with the town flag, the
Mayor, Aldermen, Justices, and Recorder, two and two in
1 Baron's Mayors and Mayoralties, 20.

THE CORPORATE INSIGNIA.

195

scarlet robes, Vicars and Clergy gowned, Common Councilmen
two and two in black silk gowns, Town Clerk, Coroner,
freemen, gentlemen not members of the Corporation.
The Aldermen seem first to have assumed scarlet gowns,
which they wore by regulation sixteen times a year, in 1572,
though the practice was subsequently dropped, to be renewed
in 1598. In 1669 the gowns of the 'twenty-four' were of
black cloth, guarded with black velvet, and having square
collars lined with fur.

The Corpwate Insignia.
The Seals of the borough are interesting. There is only
one impression known of the seal of the early Corporation
of Sutton. It is attached to a deed of 1368 in the possession
of Earl Mount Edgcumbe;
the device a ship on the
water, and the legend si •
COMMVNITATIS ¦ VILLE • DE •
SVTTVN • SVPER • PLYMOVTH.
The seal which was used
down to the Municipal
Reform Act is a quaint
composition. It is circu
lar, with,in the upper part,
three elaborate canopies.
Beneath the central
canopy is a figure of St.
Andrew, with cross and
book, and nimbus sur
rounding the head ; and beneath the others figures bearing
respectively shields of St. George and the royal arms. In
the lower part is a shield of the arms of the borough —
the saltire and castles with lion supporters. It bears the
WOrds, THE : COMEN : SELLE : OF : THE : BOROVGH : & : COMENALTE :
OF : Y15 : KYNGS : TOWNE : OF : PLYMOTHE.
This, however, is a late reproduction of the original seal of
1439, two fragmentary impressions only of which are known
to exist, dating respectively 1479 and 1493. These show
portions of the legend in black letter instead of Roman
capitals, while the device is more skilfully cut, and the
tabernacle work in better taste. Altogether this was a very
fine seal, and with a very marked ecclesiastical character.
The figure of St. Andrew refers to the dedication of the
church ; the shield of St. George to the Freemen's Guild.
o 2

196

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

The accompanying illustration represents the more perfect of
the existing impressions, with the full restoration otherwise
suggested — the legend being ' §->igillu : tomiUU : burgf : St I
commtmftatis : btll : -ftegis : Ue : Pptourt).'

A third and smaller seal is also circular. The field is
occupied by the shield of the saltire and castles, with Gothic
~ tracery at the sides, and surmounted
by a crown of fleurs de lis. This is
the original Mayor's seal of 1439, and
bears the legend: ' jb'rjflictt matotatus
imrgf hilb irnf regis be Pgrnourh.'
The words 'dni regis' have been defaced,
probably in the days of the Common
wealth. There is further a plain circular
seal of rude workmanship, having the
borough arms (saltire and castles) in a shield, with the
date 1595. In 1580 the town seal is mentioned in the

THE CORPORATE INSIGNIA.

197

singular. In 1623-4 6s. 9d. is entered for a small silver seal
with the town arms ; and in the foUowing year we read that
the town seal was 'graved' at a cost of 6s. 4d. by John
Bardsey. If this was the later St. Andrew seal the smallness
of the pay may excuse the poorness of the work.
The modern seal introduced in 1837 under the Municipal
Reform Act was designed
by Col. Hamilton Smith,
who combined the two
coats of arms [see p. 198],
by placing the saltire and
castles with the lion sup
porters on board the ship
with beacons ; and added
six flags of the saltire and
castles, to represent the
six wards, to the coronal
crest. The town motto is
placed round the device,
and in an outer circle the
words, COMMON SEAL OF THE MAYOR ALDERMAN & BURGESSES
OF THE BOROUGH OF PLYMOUTH. 1835.
The first mention of a Mace is in 1486-7, when James the
goldsmith, mended ' John gele ys mase ij tymes,' and ' rystaffer
ys mase.' In 1494 we have 'ye lyttell mace.' The maces
came so frequently to repair in early days as to suggest that
they were more for use than ornament. In 1576 four maces
were procured, costing £3 lis. lOd. for silver and £2 2s. for
work. In 1625 three small maces were new made and gilt
at a charge of £2 13s. 6d., while three new maces cost
£19 15s. 8d. Two others were bought in 1710 for £90.
These maces mostly disappeared in the reign of Queen
Anne. Some no doubt had been thrown aside before. The
fate of others can be traced. Roche, the mayor, amoved in
1711 for malpractice, retained the maces in his possession,
and had to pay £41 lis. 6d. for three. These were, however,
recovered, for £16 lis. 6d. was paid to the person to whom
he had sold them ; but in 1714 two were sold for £14.
The three maces now belonging to the borough date from
the reign of Queen Anne. The largest was given by Colonel
Jory, when one of the others was ordered to be carried
before the mayoress.
The most ancient members of the civic paraphernalia are
a couple of silver-gilt Cups. One, called the 'Union cup,'
was given June 5th, 1585, 'The gyft of Iohn Whit of London,

198 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Haberdasher, to the Mayor of Plymouth and his brethren
for ever to drinke crosse one to ye other at their Feastes
and Meetinges." The second was given by Sir John Gayer,
founder of the ' Lion Sermon,' in 1648.
The Mayor's Chain dates only from 1803, as already noted,
when chain and medal were bought at a cost of £77 10s. 6d.,
a sum which there was an unfortunate delay on the part of
the donors in paying. The medal now attached to the chain
bears the date of 1816, so that it is not the original.
The Mayor's Hammer of office was the gift of Mr. John
Kelly in 1873.
Plymouth is unquestionably entitled to two Coats of Arms.
The saltire vert between four castles sable, with the rampant
lion supporters or, found on the large seal, probably dates
from the charter of Henry VI. It combines the cross of
the parish church of St. Andrew, the four turrets of the
town castle, and the national lions. But the device on the
seal of Sutton is a ship, and the Heralds' Visitation of 1575
gives a three-masted ship on the waves, the masts sur
mounted by blazing fire beacons.
A manuscript Armorial in the Exeter Cathedral Library,
of about the same date, gives a three-masted ship on the
waves with the motto, 'Si vela tendas nimium navis mergitur.'
The modern motto, ' Turris fortissima est nomen Jehovcs ' is
probably traceable to the Puritan feeling of the siege time.
It became the custom from the year of the Municipal
Eeform Act to treat as the local coat the unauthorized
combined device arranged by Colonel Hamilton Smith for the
modern Corporation seal (see p. 197). In 1887, however, in
the second mayoralty of Mr. W. H.
Alger, a return was wisely made to the
simple and dignified coat of the Incor
poration : Argent a saltire vert between
four castles sable ; supporters two lions
I rampant or ; crest a royal coronet or.
The Municipal Records.
The Municipal Eecords have been reported upon by the
Historical Manuscripts Commission, and are duly arranged
and calendared ;2 but valuable as .they are only represent the
smaller proportion of what once existed. The first destruc
tion appears to have been at the time of the Western
Eebellion, 1548-9, when we have the cited record, 'Then
8 The reports are by Mr. J. C. Jeaffreson and the writer.

THE MUNICIPAL RECORDS. 199
was our stepell burnt, wth all the townes evydence in the
same by Rebelles.' In 1601-2 further damage was done by
a Totnes man, who burnt a chest in the Council Chamber.
The present charter chest dates from about this period.
Here is the entry from the Receiver's Accounts —
Itm. rec. of Nicholas Goodridge of Totnes mrchaunte vppon
an agreement made between the Towne and him for an
offence committed by him the said Nicholas in burning
of a cheste in the Council Chamber wherein were contayned
divers evidences and writings concerninge the Towne. Cu-
It is probably to this severely punished piece of arson
(the fine would be equivalent to nearly £600 now) that one
William Jennens and John Warren, in the course of a suit
with the Corporation, referred when they declared, about
1665, that the town records had been burnt some seventy
years previously.
The wonder, however, rather is not that so much has been
lost, but that so much is left. The borough records passed
through a worse peril than even the fires raised by the
Western Rebels or by Nicholas Goodridge, when the sometime
old Guildhall, now the Free Library, replaced its Jacobean
predecessor at - the commencement of the present century.
Books were taken some care of, but it is said that accumu
lated papers were thrown into heaps in the streets, and carted
off, and that whoever cared to do so helped themselves at
pleasure. There may be a little exaggeration; but if the
story were not essentially true it would be impossible to
account for the almost entire absence of current letters" and
papers during the eighteenth century; whereas those since
that date and a small proportion of the older ones have been
preserved. When the penultimate Guildhall was finished,
and the records moved back again, confusion became worse
confounded. There was no room to arrange them properly,
and a lot of loose papers were thrust under the roof, where
they remained for many a long year. The first attempt to
arrange the municipal records was in 1813, when a committee
was appointed, and did much valuable work. Insufficient
space, however, prevented them from carrying out their
intentions fully ; and meantime deeds and papers rapidly
accumulated. When the late Mr. Henry Woollcombe, F.s.A.,
was appointed Recorder he continued the task which he had
commenced as a member of this committee, and by him
a large number of loose papers and parchments were care
fully preserved by being mounted in portfolios. He utilised

200 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
his researches also by writing the first history of Plymouth,
which remains in manuscript at the Plymouth Institution.
More than he did it was impossible, with the very limited
office facilities of the old building, to do; but when the
present Guildhall was projected a large and well-lighted
muniment room was provided; and the papers and books
of the old Corporation down to 1835 are now separately
classified and arranged, in such a manner that with the help
of an index catalogue any document may be turned to
without difficulty or delay.
Several missing books and papers have been recovered,
the most important being the volume of Receivers' Accounts
between the years 1570 and 1658. This was found in
January, 1881, among the muniments of the Morshead
family at Widey Court, and restored to the Corporation.
The Receivers' Accounts are thus practically complete from the
year 1486. There are some other accounts of the end of the
fifteenth century, chiefly relating to works connected with
the church of St. Andrew ; but the most valuable records of
this period are to be found in an old book, which some one
kept as a kind of commonplace or day-book for the entry
of miscellaneous matters. It contains notices of the
proceedings of the manor courts, of the borough and pie
powder courts, of inquests by Simon Carswell, coroner,
probably the writer; copies of various deeds, some of con
siderable interest and value; the earliest borough rental,
commencing 6th Henry VII. ; precepts and warrants con
cerning the water of Sutton Pool ; a very curious abstract in
Enghsh of the Charter of Henry VI. ; and a copy of the
earliest noted bye-laws. Some of the entries are as early as
38th Henry VI., and it contains the oldest series of con
temporary records now in the possession of the Corporation.
Next in point of date, but first in importance, is the ancient
' Town Ligger,' a bulky volume in oak boards and tattered
pigskin, long known by the name of the Black Book. This
is the new ' lygger,' for which, and writing therein all that
was in the old, 20s. was paid in 1535-6. It commences,
'Jesus Christus. Liber maioris et Communitatis burgi de
Plymouthe in Com. Devon.' The eariiest current entries
refer to the year 1540; but it contains copies of charters
and of a number of ancient documents of importance relating
to the town, for which in most cases it is now the sole
authority. The Black Book was evidently intended to be a
repertory of all matters of note relating to the community
—proclamations, bye-laws, Acts of Parliament, guild orders,

THE MUNICIPAL RECORDS. 201
assessments, with lists of Mayors and freemen. Eventually
it came to be used as a registry, in which deeds relating to
private properties in the town were enrolled by the town
clerk for safe keeping. All communications from the King
or court were not only to be entered ' for the good gyding of
the towne,' but every article in the ' lygger ' was to be read
once a quarter or twice a year in the hall 'for the good
remembraunce and good rule of the same to be hadde,' an
order which can never have been literally fulfilled. A very
important feature of the Black Book is the fact that it
became the custom to enter under each mayoralty brief
memoranda of leading local and national events. The
book remained in use as a record of the mayoralties down
to 1709, and its lists of freemen continue to 1658. Without
it much of the early history of Plymouth would be a blank.
Next in importance to the Black Book is the White Book,
a volume given to the town by John Ford, Mayor in 1555,
and used from 1560 down to 1754 for the entry of bye-laws
and orders of the 'twelve and twenty-four,' and of the
sessions. The orders are for the most part signed by those
who made them.
There are a number of letters from the Privy Council and
various persons of note in the reign of Elizabeth still extant,
but only a very small proportion of those which once existed.
There is merely one autograph letter of Sir Francis Drake,
whereas there must have been scores ; and although there
are several papers of various kinds connected with William
Hawkins, Sir John is all but unrepresented. There are,
however, autographs of nearly all the statesmen of the
Elizabethan Court ; and of the local notables from this
period downward the autographic representation is complete.
From the early part of the seventeenth century the
various sets of current Corporation books are fairly con
tinuous ; and there are a few of the day-books, which it was
the custom to destroy, with the vouchers generally, when
they had been produced and examined at the annual audit.
The most interesting volume of seventeenth-century accounts
belonged to the Committee of Defence at the time of the
siege of Plymouth by the Royalists, containing a full state
ment of their expenditure from February, 1644-5, to
January, 1645-6.
The papers of the Borough Court date back to the reign of
Henry VII., but there are only a few of the older ones left.
The Court books now extant commence in 1636, and some of
the volumes contain quaint illustrations of the manners and

202 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
customs of old Plymouth. There are some very curious
entries respecting the style in which ' conventicles ' and their
frequenters were dealt with under the second Charles and
James. Corporate Bye-Laws and Regulations.
The powers exercised by the mediasval municipality of
Plymouth were very wide. Save in great matters of imperial
concern Plymouth in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
was in all essential respects a little republic, governed by its
oligarchical ' twelve and twenty-four,' the Mayor at the head
of whom wielded an authority almost as great and mysterious
as that of a Venetian Doge. As the townsfolk were charged
with the defence of the port — with building the fortifications,
finding the guns, keeping watch, and manning the bulwarks
— so the Mayor was general of the town by land and sea.
Whether he could actually hang any one may not be quite
clear ; but he could banish an offender as easily as lock one
up ; and what with prison, pillory, whipping-post, stocks, and
ducking stool, had plenty of ways and means of making his
will obeyed. He was not only the president of the free
burgesses, but the direct representative of the Crown, and
to him royal letters and mandates were sent, involving at
times no little charge. Moreover, he issued passports, and
there is one extant in which William Thyckpeny, oh the
16th of March, 1492, in choice mediaeval Latin, bespeaks for
one John Cropp peaceable passage, without being vexed or
troubled, in his journey to visit divers shrines — to wit, that
of the blood of Christ at Haylys, 'San Johem in pria de
Scotland,' the blessed Virgin of Walsingham, St. Thomas of
Canterbury, thence to transact certain business, and then to
return by ' Beatem Begem Henry apd Wyndsore ' (Henry VI.)
to Plymouth.
The Freemen's Oath, as taken prior to the 'Eegulation'
of 1684, shows how independent in many ways a mediaeval
corporation was. The borough was 'to be held harmless,'
even against the King :
You sweare, to be true & faithfull to or soveraign Ld ye king,
his heirs and successors, and you shall be obedient, and Ready to
the Mayor, his ministers, & keepers of this Burrough, officers
under ye king; the Franchise, and franchises, libertyes, and
Customes of this Burrough you shall keep, and maintain, after yr
power ; and as farr forth as you can, you shall save this Burrough
harmles, ags' y1 King, and all his Leige people, and you shall be
partaker of all manner of charges, touching this Burrough, as in

CORPORATE BYE-LAWS. 203
surnons, Contributions, watches, wards, tole, taxe, and Tollage, as
other freemen be of this Burrough after your power, you shall
avow noe forraigners goods, as your own goods, nor buy and
bargain with any forraigner, or stranger in your own name, to ye
use, behoof, & proffit of another forraigner, and stranger, whereby
any Custom, or duety may be Lost or withdrawn, from y° Mayor
and Commons of this Burrough. You shall take noe apprentice
for less than seven yeares, and within that tyme, you shall see
them taught, and Instructed of some honest mystery, craft, or
occupation. And if you shall hereafter know any forraigners,
merchants, or handy crafts men, that shall use to buy, or sell, or
practice any craft, continually within this Burrough, not being
free of ye same, you shall then give warning thereof, unto the
Mayor, of this Burrough, for the tyme being, or his officers, and
you shall not Implead, or sue any person, out of this court, or
courts of this Franchise, or liberty, of any action, cause, or quarrell,
that is pleadable, or determinable within ye said court, or courts,
holden and kept here within the precincts of this Burrough, and
you shall give & keep in counsell, of all things that shall come
to your knowlidge, concerning the publique weal of this Burrough,
and you shall wear noe man's Livery otherwise than ye Law
Suffereth and permitteth, fy you shall maintain no cause, or
quarrell, ag*1 ye Mayor, fy comons of this Burrough, and you shall
pay year-ely for your freedom to the Mayor and Cofnonalty sixe
pence. to these points, and all other things, touching this
franchise, & Liberty, you shall truely keep and observe, as nigh
as God shall give you grace, soe help you God.
The Freemen's Oath of 1684 differs in some very material
restrictive particulars from this old oath. For the words
' and as farr forth as you can, you shall save this Burrough
harmles, ags* ye King, and all his Leige people,' the words
' you shall save this burrough harmless as farr as Lawfully
you may' are substituted. The passage, 'whereby any
Custom, or duety may be Lost or withdrawn, from ye
Mayor and Commons,' is altered by the insertion of the
words ' from the king and ' before ' ye Mayor.' And before
the words 'and you shall pay yearely for your freedom'
there is inserted the significant clause, '& you shall from
time to time give notice to ye Mayor of this Burrough for
ye time being, of all conventicles or unlawfull Assemblyes
y* you shall know to be within this Burrough.'
Here is an order made by the Mayor circa 1450, which
shows the strict local pobce of those days :
Maister mayer chargyth and comaundyth yn our sourayng lord
the kings be halffe that all man of stranges resortyng to this
towne here no wapyn swerd byll glevys or other wapyng vppone

204 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
the forfayture of the same wapyng and there bodys to pson and
ffyn and Ransom to the Kyng.
And allso that none of then habytance of this said towne
w'oute the mair ys comaundement were no wapyn vppon the
forfayture of the same excepte siauntes and constables or suche as
be assigned thereto by the mayr or suche officer as ben w'yn the
said towne for oure said souraigne lard the kyng.
Itm that eury Strang loged w'yn the said towne be atte his
loggyg sone vppon vj or vij atte clocke att leste. And thake
vppon theyme to loge eny pson or psons butte as they wolle
onswer for theyr goode beryng.
Itm that no vacabundes or travelyng men or beggers passing
thorowe the contray a byde here ovyr a day and a nyght vppon
the payne of ympsonment and theyr hosts to answer yn lyke wyse
for the same. And also that all manr of vytelers w'yn. this said
towne sell theyr vytaill att aresonabyll pse aswell to stranges as to
deynzyens vppon payn of forfaytor of the same as well yn brede,
fflesch, fiyshe, wyne, ale, Eggs butt1 chese and all other vytaill so
that eury pson as well strangrs as other maybe resonabely yntretyd.
And also that eury pson loged yn the schypps a nyght take
theyr loggyng ther be tymes by the our aforsaid.
And also that no pson nor psons w*yn this said towne take
vppone hym tobe owte of his house ovyr viij atte cloke excepte
offyces or wachemen by the maire there to assigned.
And god save the king and send vs pease.
The general trade and commerce of the port was controlled
by the Corporation, and so remained, in part at least, to within
the eighteenth century. Only free residents had the right
to conduct business. From the brewing of beer to the
building of a church steeple ; from the regulation of fisher-
women to the sustentation of a guild, nothing came amiss to
the ' twelve and twenty-four.'
The first act, order, or constitution of the Corporation
extant was made by the Mayor and Commonalty in the
second mayoralty of William Paige (1474-5) ; and declared
that no man should be free of the Corporation unless he
were a whole or half brother of Our Lady and St. George's
Guild, a whole brother paying 12d. quarterly, and a half
brother 6d. ; while each of the ' twenty-four ' had to pay 8d.
yearly, and each of the 'twelve' 12d. Moreover, 'no foreigner'
(all were foreigners who were not natives of Plymouth) was
to be made free. This sweeping act of disfranchisement
'was appoynted by the hoole Councell of the Toune, and
John Yogge, John Shippen, and other foreyns putte owte of
theyre freedom.'
Less than twenty years later (1492) the stringent step

CORPORATE BYE-LAWS. 205
was taken of banishing from the town Nicholas Law and
Avys his wife ; and a series of orders were made to uphold
the dignity of the Mayor :
Yf any pson or psons of the Inhitaunce of the said Towne
rebell and dysbey the Mayer for the tyme being or distvrbe and
lett him to doo and execute even Justice within the said Boroughe
or drawe a knyfe hanger swerde vpon the Mayer or sott his hondes
vpon his knyve hanger or swerde entending to drawe it vpon the
Mayre or Bill Axe or Cleve or any othe Abylements of werre, or
letting of the Mayre and his officers to mynistre their office
according vnto the kinges lawes then hit shalbe at the libertye
of the said Mayre to punishe him or theym so offending in svche
prison within the said Boroughe as it shall please him.
Freemen were to be imprisoned in the Guildhall. More
over, fine and disfranchisement, or other penalties at the
discretion of the Mayor, followed on declaring the ' counsell '
of the town to any foreign person, or seeking 'any helpe
and mayntinaunce of any lorde, kniyght, or any other, what
degree or condition he be of, agenst the Mayre.'
About the same date, or a little earlier, appear the follow
ing regulations :
The Mayor comaundith in the king's name of England that
all maner of Bakers make good brede and of good come and
holsome for man's bodye, and that they make a loffe for a peny
ij loffes for a peny and iiij loffes for a peny, and that yor brede
keepe weight att the first tyme vpon payne of a grevous am'cem*
and the second tyme a grevouser amrciament and the third faulte
a payne of the pillorie and to forfaite their Bread and their bodie
to prison and there to make or fyne att the Mayor's will.
Also that all manner Brewers make good ale and of good malte
holsome for man's hodye, and that they sell a gallon of the best
in the keve for ld and q, and when it is cleare and stale in the
Barrell for ld ob. And of the second ale in the kyve for iij
farthings, and when it is cleare and stale in the Barrell for ld, and
that they sell no ale by wyne measure but onlye by ale measure
and sealed. And that they sell none till the Ale Taster have
tasted it, and so that it be good holsome and able for man's bodye.
And that no manner of Brewster neither hoggester sell none ale
till they have sett out their signe on payne of forfeyture of all
together and their bodies to prison there to make a fyne and
Raunsome at the Mayor's will.
Also that no man1 men sell no corrupt wynes neyther reboyled
wynes, neither melled wynes ne no other but it be good and
wholsome for man's bodie, neither sett two prices on one pype
hoggeshed or toun to raise the price that is to saie first for iiijd
and after for vjd on payne, &c.

206 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
[Then the butchers were only to sell wholesome meat — 'no
Bulls flesh, no Ramms flesh, no Cowe flesh that be an Calfe and
the Calfe be quicke.' They were also to bring ' their kidneys in
their muttons and their skynnes of all manner of flesh to markett,'
and were not to make any filth in the shambles. Linen and
woollen cloth were only to be sold by measures tested by the
King's standard in the Guildhall; and the only weights to be
used were those of Winchester standard.]
Also that no hostler ne any other man oste no vacabunds
neyther anye other man passing two dayes and two nights, but
he be a man of knowledge and whence he came and whether
he will and where his busienes be in Toune, and that no man
walk vp and downe working daies to ale and to wyne but he be a
man lyvelichoode a mrchaunt other wayting vpon any gentleman,
on payne of ymprisonm* of theire bodies and a grevous fyne to
be att the MayorB will for it is suspicious.
Also that no hosteler nor Taverner by color of their Taverne or
hosterie suffer anye suspetious people of theire lyving to ryott
accompanny or lodge together as man and a woman but he knowe
verielie that it be a man and his wief, and that no Tavrner keepe
in his house harlote neyther strumpett, but voyde her awaie
hastelie on payne of a grevous amrciament.
[Furthermore no man was to forestall before all victuals were
in the market ; none to regrate ' before the towne be full served.'
No fish to be bought in boats, but all to be landed, 'and that
everie man haue a parte thereof that is present att the buying of
the same pounde and pounde if it like them.']
The Borough Court was a local law court, dealing with
debts, of large powers and considerable importance, with a
settled procedure, and came to an end in 1842. The town
clerk, who was always a barrister, presided, and the custom
was to hold it weekly on Mondays. Quarter and Petty
Sessions were held under the old charters. Quarter Sessions
were re-granted 6 William IV., and a Commission of the
Peace. In old days there was a Court of Pie Powder in
connection with the fairs.

Corporate Finance.
Fines were long levied on members of the Corporation and
freemen not present at Mayor -choosing; and persons who
refused to take office were imprisoned until they complied
or found surety. In 1520 the fines leviable for non-attend
ance were: 'twelve' £5, 'twenty-four' 40s.; 'freemen'
12d. : and in 1566, the fine for refusing the mayoralty was
raised to £20, from £10, at which it had been fixed in 1560.

CORPORATE FINANCE. 207
Only the Aldermen could be chosen Mayors, and they were
taken to some extent in turn ; while there are several orders
of the discharge from all liability to serve of those who had
filled the office on several occasions. In 1571, to relieve the
burden, it was ordered that no one should be made Mayor
who had been Mayor within six years, four having been the
limit. In 1597 this was increased to eight years; the six
was restored in 1643.
As further illustration of the general powers of the Cor
poration, we may quote an order of 1566, that all alien
servants received within a year were to be discharged within
a month; and others of 1603 and subsequently, fining and
imprisoning those who spoke evil of the local dignitaries,
using disparaging words and making slanderous speeches;
for example :
Itm rec of Joseph Gubbes for an offence in speaches on
St Lamberts daie at thelation of the newe maior . x8
The chief sources of the town revenue in early days
were rents, petty customs, the mills, pound, and market,
ale and wine 'wits,' tonnage, land -leave, rollerage, and
package. Most of these were really manorial rights, and
transferred at the Incorporation from the Priory. The town
customs were, however, granted by Eichard II. in aid of the
fortifications. Tonnage was a payment of a penny per ton
by ships coming into Sutton Pool ; land-leave was a landing
due ; rollage and package were paid by brewers, and con
nected with the landing, &c, of casks; ale and wine wits
were dues paid by drinking-houses — in fact, licences. The
total ordinary receipts from these sources in the fifteenth
and early in the sixteenth centuries ranged from £50 to £60
a year. There were also certain miscellaneous sources of income,
such as a mysterious ' dawnsyng money ' in 1483. A few
samples will be of interest.
1513-14. md that ther was taken owte of a fHemyng
shyp this yere yn the tyme of warre vj ffrenshe
men psons w' the which was taken of ther goods
yn the said shyp viij butts & j hoggshed of
Romney where oon butt went to vlage the other
so remayned but vij butts & j hoggshed of the
whiche ther was solde to dyus psons vj butts & j
hoggshed pee for the butte liijs iiijd & the hoggshed
for xxij" iiijd sma . . xvij11 iij8 iiijd

208 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Itm Recd of oon of the forsaid ffrenshemen that were
taken psons yn the said ffiemyng shyp the which
was a pilott yn the same shyp for his Raunson
(xls) & of ij other of them (xxB) a pece beside
oon of them that dyed & beside ij of them the
whiche went home for their Raunson and came
not ageyn . . • U1J l
1527-8. Itm Rec of tharrogosye [the argosy] for
defendynge theyre shyp ageynst the ffrenshemen
that wold have taken her . ' . xvj]i xiij3 iiijd
Itm Rec of ij Spaynards for lyke defens . . xxvj8 viijd
Itm pd for wyne at the welcom of the ffrenshe Kyngs
capteynes when they were comaundyd to com a
lond out of theyre shipps to be spoken w'all for the
peace to be kept w'n the porte . . . ij8
Itm pd ffor fyndyng of the said Capteynes & theyre
Sruants iij dayes when they were kept alond
ageynst theyre wylls . . . xxvj8 viijd
Itm spent in wyne when the frenshemen went hens . xijd
Itm spent in wyne when the Spaynards pd theyre money xxjd
1538-9. Itm for a ffustyan blankett & for a harte of
Sylur and gilte which was taken from lytell'Rawe
the taylor for an Excheyte to the Towne . . vj8
1541-2. Itm pd for the shroudyng & buryeng of
Johanne lyons whose hangyd her selffe by meanes
whereof her goods wer forfeytt to the Town . iij8 iiijd
1592-3. Itm rec of a ducheman for a fyne for a hains
offence by hym and his compayny done . . ccc"
1654-5. It Recd of Margarett the wife of Anthony
Skynner for a Fine beinge Convicted for breach of a
Late Ordinance of the Lord Protector against Duells
Challenges and all provocons therevnto in abusinge
Mary the wife of Benjamin Dymond whereof the
said Dymond's wife had £10 soe Remaines £10 20 00 00
So in 1603-4 a man was hanged, and the town 'seased
on his goodes.'
Rates were at first only made for special objects. When
money was short it became the practice to borrow, and in
later times to hamper the town property by leases. The
Corporation would grant leases on lives or for fixed terms for
fines at nominal rentals, and when all the property was
leased would lease it again in reversion, two and three leases
deep, securing the best bargains for themselves. Thus the
estates of the town were rendered almost wholly unpro
ductive, for the fines were spent as soon as got. By and bye

CORPORATE FINANCE. 209
the Corporation went a step further and got rid of the fee.
Very few Plymouthians have any idea of the once enormous
extent of the town lands. If they had been properly dealt
with there would be no need of any rates in Plymouth ; but
they were wasted and spoiled. The lands of the Corporation
included the Marshes, on which Union Street and its adjuncts
stand; the 'Great hill' above Pennycomequick; Tamelary,
Windmill Park, &c, on the east ; the Vawtiers, Crosse Down,
Well Park, Mayes Cross, on the north; Frankfort Fields,
adjoining the Marshes, on the west; and houses in Green,
Bilbury, Kinterbury, St. Andrew, Stillman, Tin, Looe, Lyme,
Lyneham, Buckwell, Petherick, Market, Castle, Vennell,
Whimple, Treville, Finewell, High, Batter, Market, Notte,
East, and Woolster Streets ; Katherine, Hoe, Loaders, White-
friars, and Peacock Lanes; also at Briton Side, Cockshedd
(Coxside), Southside, Friary Green, Old Town, the Hoe and
the Quay, with Corpus Christi House and other properties
adjoining. Most of the lands belonging to the Corporation, with some
belonging to charities ! were finally disposed of between
1822 and 1827 in 238 lots. Between March 9th, 1822, and
June 25th, 1825, 52 lots were sold, realizing £10,898.
It will be of interest in this connection to quote the details
of the eariiest town rental preserved — Michaelmas to
Michaelmas, 1491-2. It is the oldest existing list of
Plymothians :
Thos. Tregarthen, heirs of Jayben, heirs of Wm. Cornu, ' Domi
psbiteros ij8 id,' Wm. Rogger, Robt. Harry, Ste. Hamelyn, Ralph
Chompelayn, heirs of John Rowlond, Thos. Grayson, Wm.
Tregoll, Wm. Chopyn, Wm. Baylly, Rd. Pomeray, John Bailly,
Isabel Dowrygge, Thomasia Lawry, 'Ten See Crucs vj,' John How,
Wm. Russeil, Wm. Taylor helyer, wife of John Mayen, heirs
Wm. Bykbury, late Geo. Elysworthy, heirs Nich. Henscotte,
Margaret Henscotte, heirs Robt. Hylle, Awing She, Rosa Sherman,
And. Alenson, Rd. Bovy, Cornelius Burg, heirs of Eggbeore, late
Thos. Bymmor, Alexander Vppecote, Walter Prdyaux, Thos.
Wyett, Robt. Bear, John Carkeke, John Furnes, Thos. Phylypp,
Wm. Nycoll, Thos. Byne, John Greselyng jun., Rd. Dowrysh, heirs
John Foote, heirs Hugh Davy, Thos. Bulle jun., heirs Belworthy,
heirs Trecarrell, Wm. Brune, Alice Bady, heirs John Benet, John
Rougemont, John Colles, John Banadon, Nich. Holand, Wm.
Gole, Garrard Barry, 'Decan et capit Exon vij8 jd' heirs of
Margaret and John Stubbys, heirs Wm. George, heirs Thos. Gew,
Thos. Browse, Thos.- Cotterell, Thos. Bykporte, heirs Prymeton,
heirs Rd. Page, Robt. Savage, Joan Stubbys, heirs John Gwyn,
Joan Fox, Andrew Hunt, Thos. Cropp, Peter Carswyll, ' ffratrnitat
P

210 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
corpis xpi jd,' Peter Lygger, John Beke, heirs Vincent hogge,
Marquis of Dorset, Walter Dusty, John Grysby, Radegund Badly,
Wm. Lucas, cordwainer, heirs of Porter, Thos. Tresawell, ' ffoxhole
ixd,' Joan Daw, Elias Crocker, John Parker, Isabel Sarges,
Margaret Cornysh, John Mona, ' Custod domq Eleosinar ijs mj ,^
' Custod. sci marie vjd,' heirs of Spyller, ' Dymnr at Moreshed,'
Robt. Hayes, 'Custod Ecclie sci Andr de plyoth vjd,' Lord de
Broke, heirs John Cok, Walter Pollard, Wm. Polhaman, Thos.
Ford, Thos. Furlong, Thos. Gaym, Thos. Coche, Wm. Cokeram,
Robt. Nele, Rd. Cade, Rd. Gele, Robt. Holbeme, Thos. Kelly,
Jn. Chopyn, Wm. Rede, Henry Gray, Walter Yewan, Rd.
Dabnon, Joan Pollard, Peter Carswyll, Joan Baker, Thos. Yogge,
John Ilcombe, Thos. Sayer, Walter Honychurch, Robt. Lawrans,
Joan Newton, John Morles, John Glynne, heirs John Hawken,
Philip Hop [Hooper], Peter Eggecomb, Peter Erie, Rd. Whytley,
Wm. Colman, John Bucke, John Horswyil, Wm. Attre, Thos
Butsyde. - In shambles— Wm. Bold, Robt. Warwyke, Rd. Goe, Wm. Joseph,
Wm. Chopyn, Robt. Ayer, Matthew Chopyn, Gelam Bocher,
Rd. Drap, John Moysen, Robert Hore, Roger Joseph, Thomas.
The total paid by 157 tenants was £23 13s. 7d.
'Feasts and Treatments.'
Entertaining and banqueting figure prominently in the
Corporate records. In 1486 we read :
Itm payd ffor vj lovys of sugg1" weyyng xxxviij qr at vj
ye lb ye wnyche was gevyn to my lord steward and
vnto Syr John Sapcott at plymton when we made
owre benevolence of C mark for the whole town
of p . . . . xiij8ijd
In 1494-5 there are entries of wine given to the Sheriff
to look after the interests of the town in empanelling a jury
to decide in a lawsuit with Sir John Crocker ; and
to S Wiltiam Courteney at S. Carsewylls hows ij galons
of wyne at his dynr & a galon at Sop [supper] by
cause he was one of or best Jurors . ij8
William Thykpeny also laid out money at Exeter to help
to pay the jury. He was then Recorder.
The townsfolk were always desirous to stand as well as
they could with their more powerful neighbours, and they seem
to have been on terms of special amity with the Edgcumbe
family. The first reference of this kind is the following :
Coste done to mastr Eggscomb by advys of mr Mayr m1
Record1 the xij & the xxiiij when he was made
Knygt and Shyryff.

viijd
viijd

'FEASTS AND TREATMENTS.' 211
ffirst for ij Sugr loffe weyeng x li qrtr iiij li qrtr ye of at
xvij and ye vj li at ij vd sma . . . iij» xid
It ij botells of Redde wyne pee
It a potell of Malmsey
It a Galon of Clarett wyne & bayne wyne
It a botell of bastard
It do dos of pownegarnarde a pownde sedo and a dos
do of Orenge . . ... viijd
A hogshead of wine was drunk in the market in 1511, 'at
the pcession for the byrthe of the prynce ' ; and in the next
year we have —
Itm to John Gryslyng for a hoggshed of wyne which
was sette a broche & dronken vppon the key when
the pryor of plympton & his Company were here to
rescewe the town when it was said the frenshemen
had brende [burnt] ffowey . . . xx8
Bishop Veysey in 1521 was treated to 'gresyd Congers,'
oranges, figs, raisins, great figs, conserve, and marmalade;
in 1533-4 hake was sent to London to ' Mr. Crumwell.' In
1547 there was a 'tryumphe' for the 'victory in Scotland,'
(Pinkie) at which a hogshead of wine was drunk, and a
' bankett ' had.
Itm pd to them wch made the bankettynge housse and
for nayles . . ... viijd
Itm pd for meate & drynke for them woh played the
antycke the same tyme . ... xijd
Itm pd to them woh toke paynes to fett forthe the boats
to fetch the vysyters from Aysshe . . . xijd
Grenville, Drake, Ralegh, Hawkins, Howard, Essex,
Mansell, Blake, Cromwell, Fairfax — in fact all distinguished
visitors to the town were entertained by the Corporation,
even if they went no further than the 4d. expended in
London beer on Bishop Cotton in 1599.
Among the most curious items of entertainment, is that
of 'four Indian Kings' in 1709-10; and the gift of £5 5s.
to the 'Prince of Chesroan' in 1709-10, with 19s. for his
travelling expenses to Liskeard. Here the Corporation was
evidently ' done.'
And Corporation banquets formed a leading feature in
the civic life. The Mayor in 1558 was allowed £20 yearly
towards his expenses; with power to modify the several
feasts then held. In 1571 all feasts and banquets were
utterly done away; but this regulation was not long in
force. In 1646 the rents and profits of the shambles were
p 2

212

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

settled on the Mayors, their charges being so great, and their
allowances so small. Then this was qualified by the Mayor
being expected to repay £13 a year, the old rent, and £30
interest of £600 advanced by the Poor's Portion, out of the
market profits. Later the £30 was reimbursed, and even
tually in 1738, when great efforts at retrenchment were made,
a fixed allowance of £100 was substituted ; and the enter
tainments restricted to feasts on Lambert and Michaelmas
Days, and cakes and wine on Freedom Days. The freemen's
dinner was given up in the mayoralty of Mr. George Eastlake
(1819-20), and the Mayor's allowance finally stopped.
The Mayoralty House in Woolster Street, where the later
feasting took place (now the Mayoralty Stores), was bought
for £168, and £230 paid towards its repairs in 1736-7. Then
it was burnt, and in the following year rebuilt at an outlay
of £748 19s. 10id.

Mayors under the Present Incorporation.

1439-40 William Kethriche.
1440-41 Walter Clovelley.
1441-42 William Pollard.
1442-43 John Schepeley.
1443-44 William NycoU.
1444-45 Ditto.
1445-46 John Schepeley.
1446-47 John Facye.
1447-48 John Carwynyk.
1448-49 John Facye.
1449-50 John Paige.
1450-51 Stephen Chepeman.
1451-52 Ditto.
1452-53 Thomas Tregle.
1453-54 Vincent Petelysden.
1454-55 Ditto.
1455-56 John Dernford.
1456-57 Vincent Petelysden.
1457-58 John Carwynyk.
1458-59 Thomas Tregle.
1459-60 William Yogge.
1460-61 John Pollard.
1461-62 William Yogge.
1462-63 John Page.
1463-64 John Rowland.
1464-65 Ditto.
1465-66 Ditto.
1466-67 Richard Bovy.

1467-68 William Yogge.
1468-69 John Page.
1469-70 John Rowland.
1470-71 William Yogge.
1471-72 William Page.
1472-73 Richard Bovy.
1473-74 Nicholas Heynscott.
1474-75 William Page.
1475-76 Nicholas Heynscott.
1476-77 Ditto.
1477-78 John Pollard.
1478-79 Nicholas Heynscott.
1479-80 William Rodgers.
1480-81 Thomas Tregarthen.
1481-82 Thomas Tresawell.
1482-83 Nicholas Heynscott.
1483-84 Thomas Greyson.
1484-85 Pers Carswell.
1485-86 Thomas Tresawell.
1486-87 Thomas Greyson.
1487-88 Nicholas Heynscott.
1488-89 Peryn Earle.
1489-90 Thomas Greyson.
1490-91 Nicholas Heynscott.
1491-92 John Paynter.
1492-93 William Thykpeny.
1493-94 Ditto.
1494-95 Thomas Bygporte.

MAYORS UNDER THE PRESENT INCORPORATION.

213

1495-96 William Nycoll.
1496-97 William Rodgers.
1497-98 Thomas TresaweU.
1498-99 John Paynter.
'99-1500 John Ilcombe.
1500- 1 William Byle.
1501- 2 Thomas Cropp.
1502- 3 John Horswell.
1503- 4 John Paynter.
1504- 5 John Brewne.
1505- 6 WiUiam Tregle.
1506- 7 Thomas Tresawell.
1507- 8 Simon Carswell.
1508- 9 John Paynter.
1509-10 Richard Gew.
1510-11 Walter Pollard.
1511-12 William Brokynge.
1512-13 John Gryslyng.
1513-14 John Pounde.
1514-15 William Brokynge.
1515-16 John Paynter.
1516-17 John Brewne.
1517-18 John Herforde.
1518-19 William Randall.
1519-20 John Pounde.
1520-21 William Randall.
1521-22 Stephen Pers.
1522-23 Thomas Bull.
1523-24 John Bovy.
1524-25 William Brookynge.
1525-26 John Pounde.
1526-27 John Herforde.
1527-28 Henry Bykham.
1528-29 James Horswell.
1529-30 William Brokynge.
1530-31 William Randall.
1531-32 John Bygporte
1532-33 William Hawkyns.3
1533-34 Christopher Moore.
1534-35 John Elyott.
1535-36 James Horswell.
1536-37 Thomas Bull.
1537-38 Thomas Clouter.
1538-39 William Hawkyns.
1539-40 Thomas Byrte.
1540-41 John Thomas.
1541-42 Thomas My lies.
8 Capt. Will, father of Sir John

1542-43 James Horswell.
1543-44 Thomas Holwaye.
1544-45 Thomas Clowter.
1545-46 William Randall.
1546-47 Lucas Coke (Cocke).
1547-48 John Elyott.
1548-49 Richard Hooper.
1549-50 WmWiks(Weekes),
1550-51 John Keynsam.
1551-52 Thomas Clowter.
1552-53 John Thomas.
1553-54 Lucas Cocke.
1554-55 John Ilcomb.
1555-56 John Ford.
1556-57 Thomas Clowter.
1557-58 JohnDerry.
1558-59 William Wiks.
1559-60 Lucas Cocke.
1560-61 John Elliott.
1561-62 William Lake, died
November 10th.
Edward Whyte
chosen in his
stead.
1562-63 John Forde.
1563-64 John Deny.
1564-65 Nicholas Slannyng.
1565-66 Nicholas Bickford.
1566-67 John Ilcomb.
1567-68 William Hawkyns.
1568-69 Lucas Cocke.
1569-70 John Martyn.
1570-71 Gregory Cocke.
1571-72 William Hollowaye.
1572-73 John Blythman.
1573-74 William Brookynge.
1574-75 John Amadas.
1575-76 Walter Peperell.
1576-77 John Ilcomb, senr.
1577-78 George Maynarde.
1578-79 William Hawkyns.4
1579-80 Gregory Cocke.
1580-81 John Blythman.
1581-82 Sir Francis Drake.
1582-83 Thomas Edmonds.
1583-84 John Sparke.
1584-85 Christopher Broking
4 Brother of Sir John.

214 1585-861586-871587-88 1588-89
1589-90 1590-911591-921592-931593-941594-95 1595-961596-97
1597-98 1598-99
'99-1600 1600- 1
1601- 2
1602- 3
1603- 4
1604- 5
1605- 6
1606- 7
1607- 8
1608- 9
1609-10
1610-11 1611-12 1612-13 1613-14 1614-151615-161616-171617-18 1618-191619-20 1620-21 1621-221622-231623-241624-25 1625-26 1626-27
1627-28

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

Thomas Ford.
George Maynard.
William Hawkyns.5
Humphry Fownes.
John Blythman.
Walter Peperell.
John Sparke.
John Gayre.
John Phillips.
George Barons.
James Bagg.
Humphry Fownes.
Sir John Trelawny.
Martin White, died;
John Blythman.
Richard Hitchens.
Thomas Paine.
William Parker.
John Martyn.
Sir Richard Haw
kyns.6
Walter Mathew.
James Bagge.
William Downeman.
Robert Trelawny.
Thomas Sherwill.
John Buttersby.
Thomas Fownes.
John Trelawny.
John Waddon.
John Scobell.
John Clement.
Abraham Colmer.
Robert Trelawny.
Thomas Sherwill
Nicholas Sherwill.
Thomas Fownes.
Robert Rawlyn.
John Bownd.
John Martyne.
Leonard Pornery.
Thomas Ceely.
Nicholas Blake.
Thomas Sherwill.7
Robert Trelawny;
Abraham Colmer.

1628-29 Nicholas Sherwill.
1629-30 William Hele.
1630-31 John Bownd.
1631-32 John Waddon, jun.
1632-33 Philip Andrews.
1633-34 Rob. Trelawny, jun.
1634-35 John Martyn, jun.
1635-36 ThomasCrampporne.
1636-37 John Caws.
1637-38 Nicholas Sherwill.
1638-39 William Hele.
1639-40 Robert Gubbes.
1640-41 William Byrche.
1641-42 Thomas Ceely.
1642-43 Philip Francis.
1643-44 John Cawse.
1644-45 Justinian Peard.
1645-46 Barth. Nicholl.
1646-47 Christopher Ceely.
1647-48 Richard Evenes.
1648-49 Timothy Allsop.
1649-50 Oliver Ceeley.
1650-51 Robert Gubbes.
1651-52 Philip Francis.
1652-53 John Madocke.
1653-54 Richard Spurwell.
1654-55 John Paige.
1655-56 Christopher Ceely.
1656-57 Justinian Peard.
1657-58 William Gefferie.
1658-59 Samuel Northcot.
1659-60 John Kinge.
1660-61 Oliver Ceely.
1661-62 William Allen, re
moved for noncon
formity; William
Jennens.
1662-63 William Jennens.
1603-64 John Harris.
1664-65 John Martyn.
1665-66 William Harpur.
1666-67 George Strelley.
1667-68 Thomas Stutt.
1668-69 William Symons.
1669-70 Daniel Barker.
1670-71 William Cotton.

5 Brother of Sir John. 6 Son of Sir John.
7 There were three mayors in 1627, Sherwill and Trelawny dying of the plague.

MAYORS UNDER THE PRESENT INCORPORATION.

215

1671-721672-73 1673-741674-751675-761676-771677-78 1678-791679-801680-81 1681-821682-831683-84 1684-851685-861686-871687-88 1688-89 1689-90 1690-9-1
1691-92 1692-931693-94
1694-951695-961696-971697-98 1698-99
'99-1700

1700-
1701-1702-1703- 1704-1705-
1706- 1707- 8
1708- 9
1709-10
1710-11 1711-121712-13
1713-141714-15 1715-16

Peter Schaggell.
John Lanyon.
Henry Webb.
William Weekes.
John Dell.
Andrew Horseman.
William Tom.
John Munyon.
James Hull.
William Symons.
Daniel Barker.
Peter Foote.
William Martyn.
Isaac Tillard, died;
William Martyn.
Samuel Madocke.
John Trelawny.
Thomas Stutt.
Willliam Symons.
Philip Andrews.
John Paige.
John Martyn.
John Munyon.
Philip Willcox.
James Yonge.
Robert Berry.
John Munyon.
John Warren.
John Neel.
Richard Opie.
Joseph Webb.
William Davies.
William Cock.
Nicholas Ginnys.
Thomas Darracot.
Jonah Lavington.
Samuel Allen.
James Cocke.
Robert Hewer.
James Bligh.
Wm. Roche, amoved ;
Richard Opie.
Robert Cown, died;
Benjamin Berry.
Andrew Phillips.
William Hurrill.
John Pike.
John Crabb.

1716-17 1717-181718-19
1719-20 1720-211721-22

1722-231723-24 1724-251725-26 1726-271727-28 1728-291729-301730-311731-32 1732-33
1733-34 1734-351735-36 1736-37
1737-381738-39 1739-401740-41
1741-42 1742-43
1743-44 1744-45 1745-461746-471747-481748-491749-501750-511751-521752-531753-541754-551755-561756-57

Abraham Joy.
John Beere, died ;
Robert Hewer.
Edward Deeble.
William Bartlett.
George Ridout.
John Fletcher, died
the day after elec
tion ; John Elford.
Sir John Rogers.
Andrew Phillips.
John Crabb.
Samuel Brent.
Benjamin Berry.
Edward Deeble.
John Rogers.
Samuel Allen, died;
William Cock.
John Tapson.
John Wadden.
Robert Hewer.
John Hellier.
Thomas Phillips.
William Strong,died;
Robert Hewer.
John Veale.
Greenhill Darracott.
Henry Tolcher.
Edward Deeble.
John Waddon.
RichardGortley, died;
Sir J. Rogers.
Launcelot Robinson.
John Rogers.
Edward Hoblyn.
William Martyn.
Wm. Davis Phillips.
Michael Nicholls.
John Ellery.
John Facey.
James Richardson.
Robert Triggs.
John Drake, died ;
Michael Nicholls.
John Morshead.
Jacob Austen.
Thomas Bewes.
John Forest.

216

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

1757-58 Antony Porter.
1758-59 John Facey.
1759-60 James Richardson.
1760-61 Robert Phillips.
1761-62 Michael NicoUs.
1762-63 John Morshead.
1763-64 Jacob Austen.
1764-65 Thomas Bewes.
1765-66 John NicoUs.
1766-67 Wm. Davis Phillips.
1767-68 Richard Beach.
1768-69 Henry Tolcher.
1769-70 Samuel Peters.
1770-71 Joseph Tolcher.
1771-72 Diggory Tonkin.
1772-73 Joseph Brent.
1773-74 Robert Fanshawe.
1774-75 Sir F. L. Rogers.
1775-76 Ralph Mitchell.
1776-77 Henry Tolcher, jun.
1777-78 Samuel White.
1778-79 Joseph Freeman.
1779-80 Thos.BlythDerricott
1780-81 Jacob Shaw.
1781-82 Joseph Austen.
1782-83 George Marshall.
1783-84 John Arthur.
1784-85 John NicoUs.
1785-86 Joseph Tolcher.
1786-87 Diggory Tonkin.
1787-88 Robert Fanshawe.
1788-89 Peter Tonkin.
1789-90 John Cooban.
1790-91 Stephen Hammick.
1791-92 George Winne.
1792-93 William Crees.
1793-94 Andrew HiU.
1794-95 William Symons.
1795-96 Robert Fuge.
1796-97 Richard Burdwood.
1797-98 Peter Tonkin.
1798-99 Bartholomew Dun-
sterville.
'99-1800 John Arthur.
1800- 1 Philip Langmead.
1801- 2 Thomas Cleather.
1802- 3 Jn. Clark Langmead.

1803-
1804- 1805-1806-1807-
1808- 1809-101810-11
1811-121812-13 1813-14
1814-15 1815-16
1816-171817-181818-19
1819-201820-211821-221822-231823-241824-25 1825-26
1826-271827-281828-29 1829-30
1830-311831-32
1832-33 1833-341834-3518361836-371837-381838-39
1839-40 1840-41

Edmund Lockyer.
James Elliott.
John Hawker.
Thomas Lockyer.
Thomas Eales.
William Langmead.
Joseph Pridham.
Edmund Lockyer.
George Bellamy.
John Arthur.
Henry Woollcombe.
Sir Diggory Forest.
WUliam Lockyer.
Samuel Pym, Capt.
E.N.
Thomas Miller.
Richard Arthur,
Captain, e.n.
George Eastlake, jun.
Richard Jago Squire.
Edmund Lockyer.
W. Adams Welsf ord.
Nicholas Lockyer,
Captain, r.n.
Edmund Lockyer.
Wm. Henry Hawker.
Richard Arthur,
Captain, e.n.
Richard Pridham,
Captain, e.n.
Richard Freeman.
William Furlong
Wise, Capt., e.n.
Nicholas Lockyer,
Captain, B.N.
Aaron Tozer, Capt.,
E.N.
George Coryndon.
William Hole Evans.
John Moore.
Thomas Gill.8
James King.
William Hole Evans.
George Wm. Soltau.
Joseph Collier Cook-
worthy. Ditto.

8 First Mayor elected under the Municipal Reform Act. Mr. Moore held
office to the end of 1835.

MAYORALTY NOTES.

217

1841-42 George Wm. Soltau.
1842-43 William Prance.
1843-44 Nicholas Lockyer.
1844-45 Philip Edward Lyne.
1845-46 Benjamin Parham.
1846-47 Thomas Hillersden
Bulteel.
1847-48 John Moore.
1848-49 William Burnell.
1849-50 James Moore.
1850-51 David Derry.
1851-52 Alfred Booker.
1852-53 Herbert Mends.
Gibson.
1853-54 Copplestone Lopes
Radcliffe.
1854-55 Thomas Stevens.
1855-56 John Kelly.
1856-57 Fras. Freke Bulteel.
1857-58 Richard Hicks.
1858-59 James Skardon.
1859-60 John Burnell.
1860-61 William Luscombe.
1861-62 William Derry.
1862-63 ditto.
1863-64 Charles Norrington.
1864-65 ditto.

1865-66 Francis Hicks.
1866-67 William Radford.
1867-68 ditto.
1868-69 Alexander Hubbard.
1869-70 William Luscombe.
1870-71 Robert Coad SerpeU.
1871-72 Isaac Latimer.
1872-73 John Kelly.
1873-74 Alfred Rooker.
1874-75 Wm. Foster Moore.'
1875-76 ditto.
1876-77 ditto.
1877-78 Joseph Wills.
1878-79 Edward James.
1879-80 William Derry.
1880-81 Francis Morrish.
1881-82 Charles Frederick
Burnard.
1882-83 John Shelly.
1883-84 John Green way.
1884-85 Edward James.
1885-86 Wm. Henry Alger.
1886-87 ditto.
1 887-88 Henry John Waring.
1888-89 ditto.
1889-90 ditto.
1890-91 John Thomas Bond.

Mayoralty Notes.
A William Keterigge, probably the Mayor named in the
Charter, sat for Tavistock in 1423 and 1425. Heynscott
was a man of position. He is mentioned by Boger Machado,
Ambassador to Spain and Portugal, who put into Plymouth
in 1489 with the Castilian ambassadors, as a knight, under
the name of Nicholas Aynsle, and as entertaining some of
the party. Others lodged with John ' Tickpeny,' one of the
customers ; some with Thomas Tresawel, alderman ; others
with the Mayor. William Yogge was another early Mayor
of note, a great benefactor to the town and the builder of the
Old Church tower according to one authority, though a second
gives the Christian name of the builder as Thomas. John
Yogge, put out of the freedom in 1472, was no doubt a relative.
The most notable Mayors are those of. the EUzabethan
period — William Hawkins, Mayor of the Armada year, Sir
Francis Drake, Sir Richard Hawkins, and a little later the
Fowneses, Trelawnys, Waddons, Sherwills, and men of that

218 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
stamp, who had worthy colleagues or successors in the
Ceelys, and the Mayors of the Siege days — Philip Frances,
John Cawse, Justinian Peard, and Bartholomew Nicholl. A
Thomas Ceely, who may have been the father of the Mayor
of 1624, declares in 1588 that he had been thirteen years
in prison for the Queen's sake. In 1604, according to Yonge,9
an amusing contest of dignities occurred. Sir Richard
Hawkins was succeeded in the mayoralty by Walter Mathew,
said to have been Sir Richard's servant, and his wife Lady
Hawkins's. The latter ' disdaining to sitt bellow one y* had
been her mayd, endeavoured to keep ye uper hand, wch the
other attempting, ye Lady struck her a box in the eare.' To
make satisfaction Sir Richard is said to have given the
town a house in the Market Street. There is, however, no
trace of this in the records, and the story seems somewhat
apocryphal. Mathew indeed was a man of means, for he
built a new conduit in Briton Side at his own cost.
Nicholas Blake was ruined by the charges he was com
pelled to incur in connection with the Cadiz expedition —
£624 6s. 4d. He petitioned piteously for payment in 1632,
want of the money having caused him to be imprisoned and
sell his estate. He was then eighty years of age.
Samuel Northcot, Mayor in 1658-9, was also ruined by
office. As a matter of conscience he refused to give currency
in Church to a proclamation of Parliament, and was sent for
to London and imprisoned. In 1662 William Allen was
ejected for Nonconformity. In 1711 William Roche was
amoved, and prosecuted for malpractice, having 'broken
open the chest to get at the seals, in order to make one
Hugo vicar of the New Church, in the absence of the
majority of the aldermen.' Opie succeeded Roche, but the
latter kept the maces, and every Sunday hung them out at
his windows in derision as Opie went to church.
There were times when party feeling ran very high in the
Corporation, as may be seen by a perusal of Yonge's Memoirs.
The highest pitch was probably reached in 1728, when the
Lambert Day contest lasted until midnight. The jurymen
were equally divided between Colonel George Treby and Mr.
Rogers. It is said that actual bloodshed was only prevented,
the 'mob' feeling running high, by a providential fire in
Gascoyne Street. Edward Deeble, the Mayor, called a new
meeting the next day, and a new jury was sworn, which also
proved equally divided, between Mr. Hewer and Mr. Rogers,
Treby and Rogers had drawn their swords on each other;
9 'Plimouth Memoirs,' Trans. Plym Inst. vol. v.

RECORDERS. 219
and Hewer refused to be sworn. In Michaelmas term both
sides applied for a mandamus — one to swear Hewer, the
other to proceed to a fresh election. Both applications were
granted, but the Treby-Hewer party did not proceed. On
the 11th December there was another jury, and again there
were eighteen for Hewer and eighteen for Rogers. Event
ually it was agreed that John Rogers should be chosen. His
Tory friends had been joined by many zealous dissenters. In
1729 the contest was prolonged until noon the following day.
In 1745 there was such a high tide on Freedom Day eve,
that the corporate feasters were carried out of the Mayoralty
House on men's shoulders.
In consequence of the operation of the Test and Corpora
tion Acts, Plymouth was without a sworn Mayor from
September to December, 1811. Dr. Bellamy, who was
elected, was not, to quote the 'poet corporate' (R. W. S
Baron), swearable, in consequence of having omitted to
take the sacrament within the previous twelve months. It
was a Sunday swearing day, and he was perfectly willing to
qualify at once, but the vicar of St. Andrew, the Bev. J.
Gandy, declined to administer on the spur of the moment ;
the town clerk refused to put the oath ; and the Corporation
did not go to church, where the congregation were waiting
for them. There was great excitement, not only in the
Common Hall, but in the streets. Eventually the Mayor
was sworn under a writ of mandamus, December 16th,
having qualified himself in the meantime. Dr. Bellamy was
one of the candidates in another memorable contest in 1825,
when the Aldermanic party in the town put forward Mr. Wm.
Henry Hawker, and the ' Shoulder of Mutton ' party among
the freemen, Dr. Bellamy, who was beaten by ten votes.
Mr. Alfred Rooker, who died while on a visit to the Holy
Land, is commemorated by a fine statue (Stephens, A.R.A.,
sculptor) at the western end of the Municipal Buildings.
Recorders.
There is no complete list of the Becorders, but there can
be few omissions in the following statement. From the
beginning of the seventeenth century the dates are those of
appointment. Before that period the years are those in
which the names occur : -
1480 Thomas TresaweU.
1482 John Denys.
1487 — Bowrying.
1493 Thomas Tresawell.

220 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
1495 William Thykpeny.
1522 Andrew Hillersden.
1539 Peter Courtenay.
1547 John Charles.
1564 John Williams.
1569 John Fitz.
1574 John Williams.
1585 Sir John Hele.
1609 John Hele.
1611 Sir W. Strode.
1620 Serjeant Glan ville — Strode resigned.
1640 Serjeant Maynard — Glanville resigned.
1684 John [GrenviUe], Earl of Bath — Maynard displaced.
1697 Sir F. Drake.
1717 Sir John Rogers.
1744 Sir John Rogers, son of the former.
1774 Sir F. Rogers.
1777 Sir F. L. Rogers.
1797 Sir William Elford. Unavailing efforts were made to
get him to resign on several occasions previously to
1833 H. Woollcombe.
1837 W. C. Rowe, afterwards Sir W. C. Rowe.
1856 C. Saunders.
1872 H. T. Cole.
1885 H. M. Bompas.
Serjeant Maynard was displaced under the new charter of
Charles, and the Earl of Bath substituted. After the Revolu
tion Maynard, notwithstanding his great age, represented the
borough in Parliament. It will be noted that for eighty
years in succession during the last century the recordership
was, so to speak, hereditary in the Rogers family. Mr.
Woollcombe was elected by the Mayor and Commonalty,
previous appointments back to an unknown date having been
made by the Corporation. Under the Municipal Reform
Act the office is in the gift of the Lord Chancellor.
The early stipends were very small. Bowryng, in 1487,
had £1 6s. 8d. ; Fitz, in 1570, had £4 ; Glanville, in 1634,
£2 13s. 4d. Lord High Stewards.
Plymouth rejoices in the possession of Lord High Stewards,
whose duties are now purely honorary, whatever they may
have been in times past. The origin of the office and its
early history are involved in much obscurity.
Lord Willoughby De Broke is the first holder of the
stewardship whose name is traceable. Sir William Courtenay
seems to have held it for some time previous to his death in

TOWN CLERKS. 221
1536, and to have been followed by Sir Richard Edgcumbe.
Sir Robert Cecil was steward for many years before his death,
and had £10 a year for his fees. Then we have the Earl
of Suffolk in 1613; the Earl of Bedford in 1631; Lord
Eobartes in 1666 ; the Earl of Stamford — succeeded in
1722 or 1723 by the Earl of Berkeley; Frederick Prince
of Wales. Lord Anson was appointed in 1751 ; the Duke
of York in 1762. It has long been the custom to create one
of the Royal Family. George IV. held the office when but a
child, and was succeeded by the Duke of Sussex, the Prince
Consort, and in 1862 the Prince of Wales.
Town Clerks.
The first Town Clerk whose name has been preserved is
Nicholas Slanning, who held the office in 1552 ; Thomas
Purkins occurs in 1562 ; William Wells alias Ferneworthy
in 1563 and 1566 ; William Wills, jun., 1580 ; George
Barons, 1592 ; John Luxton or Lupton, 1601 ; Matthew
Boys followed in 1605, and was succeeded by John Fowell
in 1613. The same surname occurs in 1635 ; but the holder
of the office in the latter year was Edmund Fowell, son
of the preceding. William Yeo, appointed in 1647, was
town clerk in 1662 when the Corporation was 'regulated,'
and was replaced by Philip Shapcote, who held office until
1665. Edmund Pollexfen was town clerk when the charter
was surrendered and the new one granted in 1684. He was
succeeded in 1699 by Eobert Berry; and Berry in 1705 by
Francis Pengelly; who was followed in 1722 by Eichard
Waddon. In 1725 Aaron Baker was appointed ; and in
1764 Philip Vyvyan resigned. John Heath, who afterwards
became Justice of the Common Pleas, held the office until
1768, when he resigned, and was succeeded by Charles
Fanshawe, who in his turn resigned in 1780. Warwick
Hele Tonkin was next elected, and held on until 1835,
when Mr. C. C. Whiteford who (as his father, Mr. Joseph
Whiteford, before him) had been deputy town clerk, was
appointed under the Municipal Eeform Act. He resigned
December 31st, 1878 — when his bust was placed in the
Council Chamber — and was followed by the present holder
of the office, Mr. J. Walter Wilson, January 1st, 1879.
There used to be Town Counsel and Town Attornies. In
1503 Elford was town attorney at a fee of 13s. 4d. ; Adam
Williams in 1543 ; V. Calmady in 1561. From 1572 to 1658
we have the names in the former capacity of Coplestone, Hele,

222 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Maynard, Glanvill, Eattenbury, Mason, Eolles, and Fowell ;
in the latter of Pope, Chollwiche, Tozer, Rich, and Treby.
Coroners.
It is impossible to compile a full list of the borough
Coroners. Simon Carswyll occurs as holding the office temp.
Henry VII. ; Thomas Payne, Charles I. ; Thomas Paige,
Charles II. ; Thomas Payne, William III. In 1713 Andrew
Phillips was succeeded by Matthew Roe ; and George Wood
ward Mallett by Richard Rosdew in 1791. The office was
then held in succession by George Eastlake and R. J. Squire
(1821), and Mr. Squire was followed by Mr. John Edmonds,
who gave up the aldermanship to which he had been chosen
in the then newly-reformed Corporation, for the purpose.
Mr. Edmonds resigned in 1868, when Mr. T. C. Brian was
appointed, and on Mr. Brian's death in 1888, the present
Coroner, Mr. A. Clark. A curious custom prevailed during
the latter part of the last century, in the frequent absence
or incapacity of Mr. Mallett, of appointing temporary
coroners to hold single inquests, their power ceasing when
the individual enquiry ended. Hence the roll of Plymouth
coroners includes the names of Digory Mills, George Strode,
Robert Saunders, Moses Williams, Henry Woollcombe, and
Thomas Reynolds. The formula ran, ' for this occasion only.'
Clerk of the Peace.
The Clerk of the Peace dates from the Municipal Reform
Act; and Mr. R. E. Moore, then chosen, still holds the
appointment. Receivers and Chamberlains.
The Receiver was a member of the Corporation, chosen
annually; but eventually his duties came to the Borough
Steward or Chamberlain, a paid official; the offices being
combined in 1807. Since then the office has been filled
by Messrs. Rattenbury, R. L. Stephens, R. Treeby, C. W.
Croft, and Mr. G. G. Davey, its present holder.
Borough Surveyors.
The first public Surveyor in Plymouth was an officer of the
Commissioners; and John Eastridge Adams, who held that
office until his death from cholera in 1849, was not only
Surveyor, but Captain of the Watch, and, in fact, general
head of the executive. He was followed by Augustus
Bampton, who held the office from 1849 to 1854 ; and Robert
Hodge, from 1854 to 1880. On Mr. Hodge's retirement on

TOWN IMPROVEMENTS. 223
a pension as Consulting Surveyor Henry Alty was elected ;
and on his death in 1882 Mr. G. D. Bellamy, who had been
Assistant Surveyor in charge of the waterworks, became
Chief Surveyor, and so remains.
Town Improvement.
The work of town improvement, so vigorously prosecuted
by the present generation, dates more than a century back,
although so long ago as 1673, in the mayoralty of John
Lanyon, it is recorded that the debts of the town were paid,
the streets cleansed, houses of office built on the quays, new
pounds built, &c, whilst in the following year a fire engine
with buckets was provided. Not long before the inhabitants
had been ordered to put out a light nightly until nine o'clock,
from All Saints to the Purification. The streets had needed
cleansing, for in 1634 they were so filthy that a royal writ
required them to be put in decent order. These reforms,
however, were of a spasmodic character : the town was little
the better for them after their novelty had worn off.
Towards the middle of the last century the authorities
were inspired by visions of rural loveliness. In 1737 elm
trees were planted about the town, at Milibay, Pennycome
quick Hill, Frankfort Gate, and other localities. Within the
next twenty years the tide of improvement fairly set in.
In 1753 the Horse-pool without Frankfort Gate was filled
up, levelled, and planted with two rows of trees (' le hors pole '
is named temp. Henry VII.) ; rails, gates, and turnstiles were
erected on the Hoe, and towards the water side in various
directions ; and ' a gutter made in Butcher's Lane (now
Treville Street) to carry the water underground,' in plain
English, a sewer. In the following year trees were planted
on the Hoe by the ' king's engineer.' These are but trivial
matters, but they show people were beginning to think that
after all the old town was not quite what it might and should
be. Soon after the accession of George III. streets began to
be paved, and lamps to be set up ; and in the tenth year of
that monarch the first of four special Acts for paving,
lighting, and watching the town, and regulating the carmen
and porters therein, became law; the second and third
following in quick succession, in 1773 and 1775 respectively.
These statutes were repealed in 1824 by an Act for local
improvement, which estabbshed a body of Commissioners,
with power to levy rates to the amount of 2s. in the pound.
By the Municipal Act the control of the watching was

224 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
transferred to the Corporation, and the Commissioners
limited to a Is. 3d. rate," the average expenditure of the
previous seven years, exclusive of the cost of watching ; the
average rate having been Is. 6d. and the cost of watching
3d. In the twenty-eight years from 1824 to 1852 inclusive,
the Commissioners raised and expended in rates £140,322 9s.,
and incurred a debt of £15,000, chiefly for widening Treville
Street. Some of the improvements commenced by them at
the outset of their career, notably the widening of Old
Town Street, are as yet uncompleted, and others have been
carried out by the Local Board.
At length it was felt that the powers of the Commissioners
were inadequate to the wants of the town. The cholera had
made great ravages, Plymouth ranking in point of unhealthi-
ness and mortality the seventh town in England and Wales.1
This increasing death-rate led (January, 1846) to a public
meeting being called, and a committee being appointed, to
make systematic enquiry into the whole matter; and, sub
sequently, to the publication of the Plymouth Health of
Towns Advocate (the first number in January, 1847), and the
preparation of a very exhaustive and valuable report by the
Eev. W. J. Odgers. At this time there were thirty streets
in Plymouth without drainage, and fifty only imperfectly
drained, whilst two-thirds of the houses were in the same
condition, the Commissioners' Act containing no power to
compel persons to connect their premises with the sewers.
Under these circumstances an enquiry was directed by the
General Board of Health, and made by Mr. (now Sir) Eobert
Eawlinson, one of the inspectors of that body, in January,
1852. He did not present his report until the January
succeeding, and in the interim application was made to
Parliament for a private Act repealing the old Improvement
Act, and giving enlarged powers to a new body of Com
missioners. Mr. Eawlinson reported against this measure,
and in favour of the adoption of the Public Health Act;
and in 1854 the Town Council was duly authorised to act as
a Local Board, and the functions of the Commissioners
ceased, their assets and liabilities being transferred to the
new body. There was much controversy concerning the
respective merits of the two schemes. Proceedings were
taken against sixteen gentlemen who promoted the private
1 Cholera in 1832 carried off 779 people in Plymouth, and in 1849 1894
—there being 1894 eases in 99 days in the first year ; and 3360 cases in 127
days in the second. The annual death-rate has since the latter date been
considerably decreased as the result of sanitary improvement.

TOWN IMPROVEMENTS. 225
Act, resulting in their being saddled with very heavy costs,
the greater portion of which was however defrayed by
subscription. The worst result of the dissensions was the
loss of the opportunity for improving George Street. The
opening of the Milibay railway- station gave this thorough
fare a business importance not previously possessed. Nearly
every house then had a small garden in front, part at least
of which should have been thrown into the road or footway.
Instead of this these spaces were suffered to become covered
with shops ; and the authorities have paid thousands of
pounds to make small improvements where substantial ones
might almost have been made for shillings.2
a The improvement of the town under the Municipal Authority will he
treated of elsewhere. It was necessary, however, to trace here the course of
events which led first to the establishment of the Commissioners and then to
their extinction. The Court of Guardians originated in a charity, and is
noticed in the Chapter on Charities.

CHAPTEE X.
RELIGION.
Who with another's eye can read,
Or worship by another's creed ?
Revering God's commands alone
We humbly seek and use our own. — Scott.
Of every race
We nurse some portion in our favoured place,
Not one warm creature of one growing sect,
Can say our borough treats him with neglect.— Crabbe.
The British Church.
PLYMOUTH in the reign of Edward the Confessor was
attached ecclesiastically to the College of SS. Peter
and Paul at Plympton (the oldest rebgious foundation in
the neighbourhood); but there is no ground, as already
shown, to believe the story of Leland that part of its
site belonged to that community, or that Sutton as such
had a church. What evidence we have points in the other
direction. There is nothing to suggest the existence of a
benefice until after the Conquest, when the original parish
of Plymouth stretched from the Plym to the Tamar, in
cluding the whole of the angle between the Laira and the
Hamoaze, the parish of Stoke Damerel excepted. Domesday
shows that the population of this area was small and
scattered. No church would then be called for in Sutton;
though it may very well be that one of the preaching
stations of the canons of Plympton was on the high ground
by the Workhouse, which long bore the name of Cross
Down. But there is very distinct evidence that Christianity
was originally established within the limits of the old parish
by the British Church, in the dedications of St. Budock at
St. Budeaux and St. Pancras at Pennycross. Both these
saints belong to the elder British Church, which preserved
its independence in Cornwall until the tenth century; and

RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 227
the last is specially characteristic. It is worth noting
too that the parish of St. Stephens-by-Saltash crosses the
Tamar at Saltash Passage, and that the ancient chapelries
of St. Budeaux and Pennycross form simply a prolongation
of that tongue of Keltic ecclesiastical authority.
The Parish of Sutton.
If Camden is correct, Ealphage — a Saxon by his name —
was a priest at Sutton in the time of Eufus, and was
succeeded in turn by his son Sadda, Alnodus, Eobert Dan-
priest, and William Bacon. The dispute in the middle of
the twelfth century between the Prior of Plympton and
John of Valletort as to the right of presentation proves
that the benefice was not only then in being, but had so long
existed that the Prior was able successfully to plead custom
in his favour.
It is in the thirteenth century, however, that we find
ourselves first upon firm ground, and that the consecutive
history of the parish begins, with the entry in Bishop
Bronescombe's Register that on the 16th October, 1264,
Master ' William de la Stane ' was instituted to the vicarage
of Suthtone; patrons, the Prior and Convent of Plympton.
Of much the same date is the transitional Norman arch
now in the Athenaeum, found in pulling clown the old
almshouses, and which, there is no reason to doubt, formed
part of the earlier church of St. Andrew. In 1291 the
Taxation of Pope Nicholas gives the value of the living at
£5 6s. Sd.1 Religious Orders.
As time rolled on, various monastic bodies established
themselves in the growing town. First came the Carmelites,
or White Friars, who settled the only house of their order
in Devon or Cornwall, on the site still known as the Friary,
in 1313. Some irregularity in this procedure was overlooked
by the bishop, at the request of the King. They had exten
sive buildings, and a stately church with a tall steeple ; and
here in 1387 the Commissioners in the Scrope and Grosvenor
controversy, touching the right to the arms Azure a bend or,'
held a sitting. John of Gaunt was one of the witnesses,
and declared for Scrope. It has been said that at the Disso-
1 For fuller details on all these heads see the exhaustive papers by Mr. J.
Brooking Rowe, f.s.a., on 'The Ecclesiastical History of Old Plymouth,'
in the fourth and fifth volumes of the Transactions of the Plymouth
Institution ; also republished with additions. Q 2

228

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

lution the buildings of the Friary passed to the Corporation;
but the town records seem absolutely silent on this head,
and the probability is that they were acquired by Giles and
Gregory Iselham, who obtained possession of other eccle
siastical property in Plymouth. And not long after' we find
the Friary in the Sparkes family, who resided there, and

y Jt^jti

Sparke's Gateway at Friary.

from whom it passed through the Molesworths and Clarkes
to the Beweses. The steeple was still standing in the latter
part of the reign of Elizabeth, so that it was not the steeple
burnt with the 'town's evydence' by the Western rebels.
The buildings were converted into a hospital for sick soldiers
in the year 1794, when great mortabty prevailed among the
troops detained at the port for the West India expedition.
They were subsequently used as an infirmary for the troops
stationed at Milibay and Frankfort Barracks. Portions

RELIGIOUS ORDERS.

229

were used as dwellings, Friary Court not being one of the
most aristocratic purlieus of Plymouth.
Now all has disappeared ; the bulk of the site is occupied

^'iii'i'tfii!'!1'' I"1'/*''

'?-*£i'-ii

KZMMi

by the Friary terminus of the London and South Western
Bail way; but part by the Eoman Catholic Church of the
Holy Cross.

230 HtSTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
All that is certainly known of the establishment in
Plymouth of the Franciscans, or Grey Friars, is that Richard
II. in 1384 licensed William Cole, Thomas Fisher, Geoffrey
Couche, and Humphry Passour, to alienate to them six acres
of land in Plymouth for a church, belfry, houses, buildings,
and closes. Then they got into difficulty. Having pro
ceeded without license to erect their church in 'Villa de
Sutton juxta Plymouth; and having obtained its consecration
by one John Berham, who pretended to be Bishop of Naples,
they were punished by Bishop Brantyngham, who laid the
church under an interdict.
The Franciscan house was in Woolster Street, and some
of the old granite doorways in that locabty are now its only
relics. Part of the ancient building was eventually used
as a public-house, and known as the ' Old Mitre.' Oliver2
observes : ' The Inn was entered from the street through a low
arched doorway leading into a quadrangular court, having on
the eastern side a cloister supported by twisted spiral pillars.
At the end of this a staircase led to apartments formed out
of the Convent church. The lower part had been used as
cellars for merchandise.' All this was removed in 1813,
when the present Exchange was built. Giles and Gregory
Iselham were the grantees of the Franciscan property in
1546 ; but its history cannot be traced.
The Dominicans had a house in Southside Street. Nothing
however is known of their connection with Plymouth ;
and the one thing that links the existing remains with that
body is the name Blackfriars Lane. Curiously enough these
remains, now the distillery of Messrs. Coates and Co., are all
that is structurally extant of either of the monastic houses
of Plymouth. After the Dominicans were ejected, the house
came into the hands of the Corporation, who long used it as
the town Marshalsea. In 1672 it became the first meeting-
place of the Plymouth Nonconformists after Bartholomew,
under Nicholas Sherwill; and later it was occupied by a
congregation of Huguenots. For nearly a century it has been
a distillery. The refectory has been divided, but is still
perfect, and has a singularly elegant roof. An ancient burial-
ground existed in New Street, not far distant.
There are considerations that seem to point to the settle
ment in Plymouth of other religious orders ; and there is
a tradition, but nothing more, of the presence of the
Cistercians. Leland says that St. Andrew Church stood
by the ' Grayes,' though the Franciscans were clearly settled
2 Monasticon Exoniensis, p. 157.

CORPUS CHRISTI.

231

in Woolster Street. So in laying the foundation of the
tower of the Guildhall an ancient burial-ground was dis^
covered, evidently of great antiquity. Moreover, during a
suit promoted by the Eev. Dr. Wilson, Vicar of St. Andrew,
in 1637, in the Star Chamber against the Corporation, one
of the points in dispute was the building of the Hospital
of Orphans Aid, where the Vicar had anciently a house.
These facts render it clear that the site of the Guildhall
was occupied, in addition to the old almshouses, before the

' Besurrection ' Carving, found in pulling down Palace Court.

seventeenth century, and that the buildings thereon were
at least partially ecclesiastical. Houses were built by
Charles Kiddewe 'on the viccaridge near the churchyard'
in 1620 ; but these were in Whimple Street, where the old
vicarage stood. Corpus Christi.
The house of the Guild of Corpus Christi was near what
is now the northern end of Westwell Street, and passed
to the Mayor and Commonalty. In 1610 we read : ' Wilbam
Brooking and John Brooking for a Tentt adioyning .to the
Church yard wherein Eobert Stephens weaver nowe dwelleth,
knowen by the name of Corpus Christ house, w'h the garden

232

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

to the same house adioyning on w°h garden certen dwelling
houses are buylded. viij8.'
The ' Prysten House.'
The so-called ' Abbey ' south of St. Andrew Church is not
an abbey or monastic house at all, but the old ' prysten ' or

The 'Prysten House.'

clergy-house of the town. Eent was paid to the Corporation
for the ' prysten-house ' in the reign of Henry VII.; and
at a much later date, early in the sixteenth century, there is
record of a grant by the Corporation to ' Sir' Thomas Flyte,

THE MAUDLYN. 233
chantry priest, of the ' prysten-house,' for life, in consideration
of his outlay in repairing the kitchen.
The Maudlyn.
There was a Maudlyn or Leper House at North Hill,
which occupied in part the site of the Blind Asylum. It
has been stated that the Maudlyn of Plymouth was dedicated
to the Trinity and St. Mary Magdalene, and that it was the
occasion of a dispute with the Prior of Plympton in 1370,
at which date it was said to be of unknown antiquity. This
is an error, which arose from confounding Plymouth and
Plympton. The only important record concerning Plymouth
Maudlyn House is the entry in the Chantry Bolls (1547)
that there was then in Plymouth an almshouse called
' Goddeshowse for the releife of impotent and lazare people
with owte any certayne nomber appoynted.' At the date of
this report there were fourteen inmates; but sometimes
there were twenty, more or less, ' as the occasyon of tyme
dothe offerr.' Beside their 'mansyon howse,' they had the
rents of lands given by different benefactors, amounting
to £14 7s. The Maudlyn is mentioned in 1569 as the
subject of an intended gift by William Weekes, and it
is shown in the Cecil and British Museum maps of the
Plymouth Leat as existing about thirty years later. When
it disappeared we cannot say, but it must have been some
where within the next half-century, since at the Siege
the site was occupied by a fort. It is quite possible that
the Siege was the cause of its destruction ; for we have the
record of a sale in 1648 to John Martyn of land 'neere the
late howse called the mawdlyn howse . . . neere Plymouth,'
which appears to indicate a very recent removal. The road
leading thither was long afterwards called Maudlyn Lane.
St. Katherine.
The ' fair chapel ' of St. Katherine on the Hoe, first noted
in 1370, was in use down to nearly the end of the sixteenth
century. The ' hermyt of Seynt
Katyn' is mentioned in 1511. The
engraving is a facsimile from the
old chart temp. Henry VIII. Pro
bably it was originally a votive
chapel, like that of St. Michael, of
which all we know is that it stood
upon Drake's Island. Originally that island was called after
St. Michael ; but a dedication to St. Nicholas apparently led

234 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
to the name being changed, and the fame of Drake caused
it eventually to be again re-named, with the appellation it
now popularly bears. This chapel was destroyed before the
middle of the sixteenth century, a letter written concerning
the fortification of the island in 1548 stating that it was
plucked down to the foundation. It is mentioned by Wilbam
of Worcester in his Itinerary, 1478.
It is probable that this chapel, in conjunction with that at
Eame Head, and that of St. Katherine, also served the
purpose, like many other cliff chapels, of mediaeval lighthouses
— the three giving a fair lead into Sutton Pool. Another
ancient chapel, St. Lawrence, stood at Devil's (Duval's) Point,
and it is quite possible that the ancient part of the abandoned
dwelling on the Mewstone had some ecclesiastical connection.
The 'Ha we bell' was cast by 'Platter of Bucklande' in
1592-3—225 lbs. weight and 19 pounds of 'mettell,' 47s.
A cross will be seen in the sketch of St. Katherine
Chapel. There were others in the town, and one near the
Custom House had Sanctuary rights.
Chantries.
Among the smaller foundations were certain chantries,
and a hermitage of our Lady at Quarrywell, also called St.
Marie Attewiile, and 'le capell beate Marie de font.' It is
doubtful that this is represented by the modern Ladywell.
Wardens of St. Mary occur in 1491.
The fullest information touching the chantries is contained
in a series of deeds belonging to the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe.
Herein is set forth the grant to Edward Grymstone, senior,
and Edward Grymstone, junior, in 1579, of a messuage and
barn called ' the hermytage of our ladie at Quarrywell,' with
two acres of land in Plymouth, lately belonging to Plympton
Priory, and, inter alia, certain messuages, tofts, lands, and
tenements in Sutton Prior, Sutton Vautorte, and Sutton
Eauff given for the maintenance of a chaplain to say mass
daily at the altar of St. John the Baptist in the south aisle
of the church of St. Andrew, for the soul of John Jabyen.
Eventually these properties came to Piers Edgcumbe ; and in
1582 a general commission issued to enquire into various
lands, &c, detained from the Crown in Devon and in Corn
wall; which sat at Plymouth in September. Jabyen was
living in Plymouth in 1419, and died in 1441, when he was
buried near the altar of St. John the Baptist in the north
aisle of St. Andrew Church, which aisle he had probably
built. The evidence given before the Commissioners went

%,'

mm^m

236 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
to prove that Jabyen's chantry was sometimes called Tre-
garthen's chantry, and that there were also the 'rood
chantry,' and 'Dabarns chantry.' The chantry priests
mentioned are Sir Thomas Fleete, Sir Keysar, and Sir John
Nichols; and it is perfectly clear that the bulk of the
chantry land did not pass to the Crown and its grantees.
Jabyen's chantry is set down as being worth about £7 a
year.3 Dabernon's charity, according to the Chantry Roll (1547),
was established by 'Dabnone and John Paynter to fynd a
pryst to praye for the soules of the founders, and mynystre
dyvyne service in the quyer in ye parish cherch of Plyn-
mouthe. Paying unto Margaret Sommester, sometyme a
wyf unto John Paynter, one of y" sayd founders, xviijs.
yerely for her dowry, wh is deue unto her during her lyf.'
The value of the lands and possessions of the foundation is
set down at £9 2s. 4d. Some of these lands lay south of
St. Andrew, some in Old Town, and some near Tothill.
Licences to celebrate divine service in domestic chapels
or oratories were granted by Bishop Stafford, whose episco
pate seems to have been a time of peculiar local activity
in this direction, to the following in the parish of Plymouth :
Eoger and Margaret Beauchamp, of Boswyns, 1395 ; Joan,
relict of William Cole, 1400 ; Stephen and Radegund Durne-
ford, in their mansion of East Stonehouse, 1414 ; Eichard
Row, his mansion in the parish of Plymouth, 1411 ; Joan
3 The inquiry was conducted by interrogatories administered to each
witness in the same form, and duly set forth : ' Imprimis doe you knowe
that there was a chauntrie founded in the Churche of St. Andrewes in
Plymothe called Jabyns chauntrie or Tregarthans chauntrie and whether
was the said chauntrie founded to haue continuance for euer Or what
haue you harde by Credible reporte concerninge the same Itm what lands
tenements or hereditaments eyther within the towne or pishe of Plymouth
lansalus in Cornewall or elswhere belonginge to the said chauntri or chauntrie
priste thereof or ymployed towards the necessary vse of the said chauntrie by
whom where the said lands geven and in what mannr were they soe geven
and whoe were ffeoffees thereof Itm what pristes haue you knowen to singe
or saye masse or other s'uice within the said chauntrie and how longe
sithens whether did you knowe one Sir Thomas Fleete Clerke Sir John Crofte
Clerke and one Thomas Washington Clerke, or eyther of them to be chauntrie
priestes there in what princes raine and aboute what yere thereof did the
saide seu'all chauntrie pristes or eyther of them s'ue the said chauntrie
Itm were not the rents and pffiitts of the said lands ymployed paid or
bestowed towards the findinge of the said chauntrie pristes within fyve yeres
before the deathe of the late kinge henry theigte and how longe after were
they paid by whom and to whoine and how muche was there paid yerelye
out of the said lands towards the said chauntri or chauntrie pristes and by
whom Item whoe were tennaunts and ffarmers of the said laDds at the time
of the gevinge over of the said chauntrie and whoe the nowe tennants and
occupiers thereof.'

ST. ANDREW. 237
Schaldon ; and William and Christina Haisende, at Kynter-
bury. St. Andrew.
But of the ancient ecclesiastical institutions of Plymouth
only one remains, and that the oldest of them all, the parish
of St. Andrew. Its original area has been limited from time
to time, but St. Andrew continues the mother parish, and
the patronage of its older divisions still remains in the hands
of its Vicar. So far back as the fourteenth century there is
record of the ancient chapels at St. Budeaux, Stonehouse, and
Pennycross. St. Budeaux became a distinct parish in 1482,
and the church of that date was replaced by the present
fabric in 1563. License to celebrate divine worship in the
church of St. Lawrence, Stonehouse, was granted by the
Bishop in 1472 ; but the chapel of St. George, on the site
of the present edifice, existed and had chapel wardens in
1497, -though Stonehouse continued distinctly within the
parish of Plymouth until its register began in 1697. Penny-
cross, or the tithing of Weston Peverel, is still a chapelry
of St. Andrew; although, like St. Budeaux, the tithing of
Compton, and the township of East Stonehouse, in civil
parochial matters it has always managed its own affairs.
Touching the other tithing of Sutton Eaf, we have no
information on this head.
We glean a few dates and facts concerning the early
history of the present church of St. Andrew. An aisle
dedicated to the Virgin, then noviter constructa, was licensed
in August, 1385. This, Mr. Eowe suggests, was the south
chancel aisle. An aisle dedicated to St. John the Baptist
was added in 1441. Twenty years later it is recorded that
Thomas Yogge built the tower, the town, to use Leland's
words, ' finding the stuff,' also adding, again to quote Leland,
a ' fair chapel ' on the north side of the church — no doubt
the north transept. Yogge is the name we find now as
Young. There was a John Yogge, as we have seen, put
out of the freedom as a ' foreyn ' in 1474 ; but the Mayor
of that surname was called William, and the tower builder
Thomas, and that the town continued on good terms with
him is clear. Gew, the Eeceiver in 1495, rode to Ayspton
(Ashburton) to see him when he was sick, and 8d. was spent
'when he came fro London at seynt Tomas ys day yn the
towne ys name yn wyne,' the same year.
At the earliest recorded date the connection of the
Corporation with St. Andrew and its services was very close.

238 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
In the Eeceiver's Accounts of 1482 we find entries of pay
ments by them on ' Seynt John ys He,' and on the ' Stypyll,'
for which later four wardens were appointed— one for each
ward of the town— William Thykpeny, Peryn Erie, William
Eogger, and John Browne. The 'southe Ilde,' and 'Sent
George ys yele ' also occur. The works were in hand several
years. John Dawe is first named as mason, and afterwards
John Andrew, on to 1488.
Thenceforward there was no important change in the
structure of the fabric, beyond the choking with pews and
galleries ; and the demolition under the name of renovation
by Mr. Foulston in 1826 ; until the restoration by Sir Gilbert
Scott in 1874-5. In 1818 it was actually proposed to divide
the building into two places of worship by a ' Babylonish wall.'
Of the church which preceded the present there are a couple
of relics, two defaced sepulchral effigies of the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries. St. Andrew Church, as it stands, is the
chief link with antiquity which Plymouth possesses — the
building in which Katherine of Arragon returned thanks
for her safe voyage; wherein the Elizabethan heroes wor
shipped ; whence the congregation swarmed to the shore to
welcome Drake ; where the Puritans of the Commonwealth
took the Solemn League and Covenant, and vowed to defend
the town to the last ; where the second Charles touched for
the evil ; which supplied a resting-place for portions of the
bodies of Frobisher and Blake ; and in which Johnson criti
cally sat to hear the sermon Mudge preached for his special
delectation. Church Ale.
In the closing years of the fifteenth century we find the
Corporation paying for sermons, for playing ' to organs,' for
singing men, and (1490) making regulations for the due use
of the copes and vestments at interments, the wardens
accounting for the money received for the same. Many
years before this they had established a church ale to be
kept by every ward of the Borough in the feast of Corpus
Christi
yn the Parishe Church Yarde of Seynte Andrewe aforesaide ; and
every person of the said wardes to bring with theym, except
Brede and Drinke, such vytayle as they like best. And have there
such and as many persons, estraungers, as they thinke best of theyr
friends and acquaynted men and women, for the encreasing of the
sayde He ; paying for brede and ale as it cometh thereto in
rekening for theyr dyners and sopers the same day, etc. Item, it
is agreed, that every taverne of Wyne and Ale within the said

THE ANCIENT CHURCH PLATE. 239
Burghe do forbeare theyre sale the same daye of theyre wyne and
ale,' for the well of the said Churche : every person of the xii.
upon payne of vi8 viiid, and every of the xxiiii. iii8 iiiid, and
every of the commoners one pound of waxe, or the value of the
same, to the said churches behoufe. And he. or they doing the
contrary at the Mayre, xii. and the xxiv., is wyllod to stand in
jupardye of his fredome ; and to paye the said fyne : and every
fyne or fynes so forfayte to be levyed by the Mayre for the tyme
being, within iiii. dayes after the said feaste ; and in his defaulte
to be levyed of his fee. And upon the audyte thereof, item, the
Mayre for the tyme being, allwayes in his owne Warde in the
Hall so made for hym and his Warde, &c. Item, that the xii. and
the xxiiii. aide and helpe the Mayre to levy the said paynes
forfayte at every yere and tyme therto called. Item, that no
person that shall goe about with the Shipp of Corpis Xti. bring
no body there but himselfe to charge the yle. Item, that they
make a rekening to every person for mete and drinke, and notte
to paye at theyr leasure. Item, that every He from hensforthe
for the welthe of the Churche in tyme comyng be accomptabyle
afore the Mayre, the xii. and the xxiiii. in the Gyldehall of the
Burghe aforesaide, and the debet of every of theym to be sett in
the legger of the said Towne entered ; and the said debet to be
atte the Mayre xii. and xxiiii. disposicion in every yere and tyme
for the welthe of the said Churche.
The record goes on to lay down certain regulations for
assuring every freeman to be present, or pay his fine, and for
other purposes. The Ancient Church Plate and Ornaments.
The Vicarage remained in the Priory of Plympton until
the Dissolution of the Monasteries, when it passed to the
Crown, being valued at £25 10s. 9d. In some way or other
the church plate, however, fell into the hands of the Corpo
ration, as set forth in the following entries of 1539-40 :
here followth thaccompte of willrn hawkyns, mchaunt, made
before the auditors in the tyme of John Thomas mayre a0 xxxij
h viij of certen of the Churche Juells & other thyngs to the said
willm hawkyns delyuyd in the tyme of his laste mayraltie a°
xxx h viij ffirste delyuyd to the said William hawkyns a chalice
belongyng to or lady store ij Cruetts of Situ1 a ly tell pax of Silur
the Roode shoes a Crowne for the ymage of or lady certen small
beds stones of silur a Crucifix of Silur, a bokell & a pendant of a
gurdell weyeng lix vncs & do.
Itm more delyuyd to the said willm hawkyns an olde Crosse
that stode yn the hande of the ymage of Seynt Savyor
weyeng . . . i vnce & iij qrtrs

240 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Itm more delyuyd to hym certen offeryng pens & a lytell
shype of Silur hangyng apon Seynt Clere cloth
weyeng . . . . . i vnce & do
Itm more delyuyd to hym by the hands of Thomas Clowter
a Chalice that was at or lady chapell at quary well
weyeng . . . . . xij vnces
Sma lxxiij vncs & iij qrtrs
The which was sold one wth a nother for iijs and iiijd the vnce
Sma of the money xijh ix8 ijd
Itm more the said willm hawkyns had of Seynt Clere store xliij8 xid
Itm more he had & rec of John bovy for wax of Seynt
Clere taps and other taps . . . viij8 ixd
Sma Iij8 ixd
Sma Tot1 Rec by the said willm hawkyns xvu xxiiijd
Whereof paid to willm wike for that he paide to Robert
Dighton for Seynt Katyn Chalice that lay wth hym to
plegge . . . ... xxs
Itm pd to John Moone to acquyte a chalice of the churche
that lay wth hym to plegge . . xxxiij3 xd ob
Itm mtr John hals hath in his honde a chetyll whiche he had
of the wardyns of Seynt Andrew is store at Compton.
m° to call for or ladyes Cote & her childs cote & for the vestments
of Crymson velvett that Dr. John Melyn gave to the Churche.
We also read under 1543-4 :
plate & juells delyuryd to willm hawkyns rurchant the
xiij daye of ffebruary a° xxxvjto h viij yn the tyme of
Thomas holway to by therwth for the Toune gunpowder
bowys & for arrowys ffirste the foote of the crosse
weyeng xlv vncs & do gilte at iij8 & xd the vnce
Sma ..... vij11 iij8 vjd
Itm iij Silur candelstycks pcell gilte weyeng xv vncs & do
at iij8 vjd the vnce Sma . . . liiij8 iiijd
Itm a Chalice vngilte weyeng xij vncs & j qrtr at iij8 vjd
the vnce Sma . . . xlij8 xd ob
Itm a Chalice gilte weyeng xx vnces iij qrtrs at iij8 vjd the
vnce Sma . . . iij11 xix8 vjd ob
Itm a shyp of Silur pcell gilte weyng xviij vncs at iij8 vjd
the vnce Sma . . ... iij1' iij"
Itm more the said Mayre delyuryd hym to sende on to
london . . . ... xv8
Sma of the vnces ccxxvij
Sma of the money xlju xiij8 vd
Whereof rebate for tynne & sawdyer vij8 & also pd thereof
to the said Willm hawkyns & to Thomas Mylls to
them due for money that they layde owte for the
townys busynes . . ... iiij11
So reste xxxvij11 vj8 vd

SINCE THE DISSOLUTION. 241
Of this Hawkins spent £21 5s. on ten barrels of powder
in London, 1000 lbs., at 5d. a lb. ; £2 for 20 bows, at 2s.
each; £2 15s. 'for xxxte sheffe of arrowys at xxijd the
sheffe'"; £2 15s. for a cwt. of saltpetre. Canvas for bow
cases, carriage, &c, came to £3 19s. Id., leaving with Hawkins
£5 Is. lid. In 1545-6 William Hawkins paid £18 12s. in
part payment of plate sold by him in London; and £14
lis. 8d. were received for plate sold by Richard Saunders to
pay for ordnance. Nearly one hundredweight of plate at
2-|d. the pound fetched £1 is. lOd. This 'plate' was
probably pewter. Since the Dissolution.
The Dissolution introduced important financial changes.
The town was relieved of the payment of the annual fee
farm rent to the Priory; and in 1572 Elizabeth granted
the advowson to the Mayor and Corporation (at a cost for
the letters patent of £59 7s. 8d.) on condition that they
should find a fit person to serve the cure (which had been
burdened with a pension of £8 a year, payable first to the
Prior and then to the Crown) and maintain a free grammar
school. Some rights in the Vicarage had been previously
acquired from a Mr. Maslar.
This proved at first an excellent arrangement, but the
Puritanic leanings of the townfolk speedily brought them
into collision with the Court; and Dr. Aaron Wilson was
instituted by the King, first Alexander Grosse and then
Thos. Ford, having been refused.4
Wilson and his flock soon quarrelled over temporalities,
and he took proceedings in the Star Chamber. He failed
to prove allegations of encroachment on the Vicarage; but
the Corporation thought it wise to surrender the right of
presentation to the King, who regranted it under conditions.
When the Civil War broke out Wilson was sent prisoner
by the townsfolk to Portsmouth, and died at Exeter in
July, 1643. On this the King intruded the lecturer, Thomas
Bedford (chosen in 1635 at the instance of the King and
Bishop), whom Walker describes as having been still more
roughly treated ; but who, instead of dying from his perse
cution as stated, bved till 1653 a Presbyterian and Parlia
mentarian. Hobbes the clerk is said, by Walker, to have
been frightened to death by the Puritan threats. The
4 It was the custom at this time for the Vicars to enter into bond to the
Corporation to resign when called on ; and there are many entries of pay
ments to preachers, who seem to have filled the position of informal
' lecturers,' chosen by the Mayor and Council. R

242 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
retaliation of the Corporation was the appointment of the
great Puritan leader of the county, George Hughes, to whom
eventually they gave a fixed income of £200. There were
Acts of the Commonwealth to rate the town for the better
maintenance of the ministers, and for building on the vicarage
lands. Under the Municipal Eeform Act the advowsons of St.
Andrew and Charles were sold (the next presentation on the
death of Mr. Gandy had produced £5050), and the Corporation
ceased to appoint lecturers of St. Andrew, as they had done,
when unhindered, from the reign of Elizabeth.
There are many unedifying records of squabbles in regard
to the rights to official seats in the church, especially with
the wives and daughters of the corporators, which were
revived even within living memory.
The register of St. Andrew commences in 1581, the first
entry, May 10th, being the baptism of ' Fraunces the sonne
of Mr. William Hawkynges,' and a nephew of Admiral John.
There are few entries of peculiar interest. From September,
1653, down to September, 1662, the register was kept by
Henry Champlin, who was appointed by the parish and
approved by the Mayor. During this period entries of
'contracts' occur. Vicars of St. Andrew.
The following list of Vicars of St. Andrew is substantially
that given by Mr. J. Brooking Eowe. All the dates from
the reign of James I. are those of appointment, and most
of those before; but a few are simply the years in which
the names are found.5

Ealphage. Sadda.
Alnodus. Robert Dunpriest.
William Bacon.
1264 Wm. of the Stane.
1309 — Martin.
1313 Robt. Russell (?).
Wm. of Wolley.
1334 Nich. of Weyland.
1371 John Hanneye.
Thos. of Amcotes.
John Edenes.
Mich. Sergeaux.

1397 John Gyles.
1409 Thos. Guldesfelde.
1427 John Cokworthy.
1433 Ranulph More will.
1464 Thos. Mochell.
1472 John Stubbes.
1502 John Anthony Bonfaunt,
Cardinal de Castello.
1509 Thos. Griffith.
Richd. Follet.
1528 John Gybbons.
1530 Edward Wygan.
1540 John Peryn.
1558 Ranulph Newton.

5 William of Suttone, priest, was instituted vicar of Totnes, May, 1283.
Sir John of Suttone was deprived of a canonry at Crediton in 1319.

1600 Thos. Upham.
1604 Henry Wallis.
1633 Alex. Grosse.
1634 Aaron Wilson.
1643 Thos. Bedford.
1643 George Hughes.
1662 Roger Ashton.

CHARLES. 243
1667 Hen. Greens worth.
1681 John Gilbert.
1723 Wm. Stephens.
1732 Zachary Mudge.
1769 John Gandy.
1824 John' Hatchard.
1870 Charles T. Wilkinson.

Charles.
Down to nearly the middle of the seventeenth century
the parish of St. Andrew included the entire town.
Ostensibly in consequence of the want of accommodation
for the whole of the inhabitants in the Old Church, but
partly, it would seem with a view to obtain a more Puri
tanical ministry, a petition was presented to the King in
1634, praying him to grant permission for the building
of a new church on a spot called the Coney or Gayer's
Yard, which had been given by John Hele, of Wembury,
for the purpose. Letters patent were accordingly passed
granting the prayer of the petition; and in 1640 the parish
of Charles was formally constituted by Act of Parliament,
as soon as the new church should be built. The Act, which
cost the Corporation upwards of £150, recapitulates the
grant to the Corporation by Queen Elizabeth of the ad-
vowson of the Vicarage of St. Andrew, and of a pension
of £8 issuing out of the same ; and confirms the license
granted by the King to the Mayor and Commonalty to build
the new church, to set forth the boundaries of the new
parish, and to prefer a Vicar to it, as they had hitherto done
to the old one. The Mayor and Commonalty on their part
undertook to build the church, to maintain a hospital for
the use and relief of poor persons within the parish, and
confirmed their agreement to keep up a grammar school
with a stipend of £20 a year.
For some reason, now unknown, the Coney Yard, which
was a ' pallace ' in Tin Street, on the shore of Sutton Pool,
was abandoned, and the present site given in 1665 by William
Warren, vintner, to whom was assigned in return a place of
burial adjoining the chancel, and a seat, 14 ft. 6 in. by 3 ft. 6 in.,
to ' hear divine service and the word of God preached.'
Money was given by several donors, and other funds
raised by rating the inhabitants. The erection of the church
commenced soon after the date of the Act, but the Civil
War and Siege delayed its progress. In 1643, when operations
were suspended, it bad reached the roof; and the fabric
R 2

244

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

seems to have been used — possibly there was a temporary
covering — for there is record of a baptism in December of
this year. In 1646 the work was resumed, but slowly. A
rate of £500 was levied on the inhabitants for the purpose
in 1656, and the building was not completed until 1658 —
the tower is dated 1657. It was dedicated in 1666. The
first spire, wooden, covered with lead, was built in 1707-8,
and a few years later a clock with chimes was given to the
church by Colonel Jory. This spire was taken down, and
the present stone one erected in 1767. The building is
one of the finest post-Reformation Gothic churches in the
kingdom, the east and west windows being notably good,
and recent restoration has made its singular excellence
more clearly apparent.

Chancel, Charles Church.
The parish has been, and is now frequently, called Charles
the Martyr, and sometimes St. Charles, from a belief that
it was dedicated to the monarch in whose reign it was
commenced, whereas it is simply named after him. The
'martyr' affix originated with a zealous parish clerk, and
was officially expunged in 1868. It was held with the
curacy of Compton Gifford, and the vicar presented to
Charles Chapel, now St. Luke. Familiarly St. Andrew
is still called Old Church and Charles New Church.

MODERN CHURCH EXTENSION. 245
The following is a list of the Vicars of Charles. Porter
was a Presbyterian who conformed. He had laid aside the
liturgy before Hughes came. On the vacation of the living
by Martin a controversy arose, and an illegal appointment
of a Mr. Hugoe was made by the mayor, Wilbam Roche,
who broke open the chest to get at the seals in the absence
of a majority of the Aldermen. For this he was amoved ;
his protigi retired. Dr. Hawker is the most noteworthy
Vicar of Charles. A very voluminous writer, he was the
leader of the revival of Calvinistic theology in the West.

1646 Francis Porter.
1675 Francis Collier.
1686 Abednego Sellar (non
juror).
1690 Thomas Martin.
1711 Walter Hugoe.
1711 Charles Monkton.
1725 Nathaniel Boughton.
1748 William Brent.
1759 John Bedford.

1784 Robert Hawker.
1827 James Carne.
1832 Septimus Courtney.
1843 Charles Greenhall Davies.
1845 Sir Cecil Bisshop.
1846 Henry Addington Greaves.
1878 G. F. Head.
1885 J. M. Laycock.
1889 N. Vickers.

A hundred years ago the provision for religious worship
in Plymouth consisted of the two churches, and eight
chapels and meeting-houses unconnected with the Estab
lishment. Modem Church Extension.
From the building of Charles Church until 1812 nothing
was done to provide additional church accommodation in
Plymouth. In that year a bill was suggested to divide the
town into four parishes with a church in each ; while in 1813
one was promoted to build two new churches — the money
to be "raised by levy on the inhabitants. The Dissenters
strongly opposed this scheme (though offering to contribute
towards a new burial ground), and it fell through.6
The first practical step was the building in 1823 of St.
Andrew Chapel, at a cost of £5,000, and at the joint
expense of the Rev. Robert Lampen, Messrs H. Woollcombe,
J. Pridham, and T. Gill. Mr. Foulston was the architect.
The death of Dr. Hawker next led to the erection of Charles
Chapel (now St. Luke) for the Rev. Septimus Courtney, who
had been the doctor's curate. The chapel was built in
1828-9 from designs by Mr. Ball, at a cost of £4,000.
In the first case there was some little controversy touching
the damage that might be done by ' competition ' to the pro-
6 Church rates ceased to be levied in 1834.

246 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
prietary rights of the Corporation in the advowsons; but
' unquahfied consent ' was given in the latter.
Next followed a chapel erected at Eldad— then ' the first
field in Noplace Lane' — for the Rev. John Hawker, who
left the Church on the concession of Catholic emancipation.
The Corporation consented, on condition that Episcopalian
rites and ceremonies were observed. Licensed in 1848, as
the church of the new parish of St. Peter, it was replaced
in 1882 by the present handsome fabric, designed by Mr.
Fellowes Prynne. Holy Trinity Church, begun in 1840, was
completed in 1842. Then came Christ Church (1845-6),
Mr. Wightwick, architect ; St. John, Sutton-on-Plym (1855),
architect, Mr. Ferrey; St. James (1861), Mr. St. Au.byn, archi
tect. These, with St. Peter, were churches of new parishes,
taken out of the old ones under Sir Robert Peel's Act. The
movement which led to their formation originated in an
appeal by the then Bishop of Exeter, Dr. Phillpotts, to
provide for the great spiritual destitution of Plymouth and
Devonport. In 1870, were consecrated the churches of Emmanuel, Mr.
Eeid, architect ; and St. Saviour ; in 1874, All Saints, taken
out of St. Peter ; and in 1876 St. Jude, Mr. Hine, architect ;
in 1887, St. Matthias, Messrs. Hine and Odgers, architects.
In the last forty years at least £80,000 have been spent
on church building and restoration, &c, in Plymouth.
Incumbents of Modern Parishes.
For the following list of appointments to the modern
parishes of Plymouth we are indebted to Mr. A. Burch,
Diocesan Eegistrar :
St. Andrew Chapel. Robert Lampen, October 4th, 1823.
George Hadow, October 19th, 1849 ; Death of R. Lampen. John
Challice Street, July 6th, 1855 ; Cession of G. Hadow. John
Erskine Risk, February 20th, 1867 ; Resignation of J. C.
Street. Charles Chapel (St. Luke). Septimus Courtney, December
8th, 1829. Meshach Seaman, February 1st, 1834; r. of S.
Courtney. George Ferris Whidborne, August 5th, 1839 ; r. of
M. Seaman. William Hawker, December 2nd, 1846 ; c. of G. F.
Whidborne. George Bellamy; September 20th, 1850 ; r. of W*
Hawker. George David Doudney, January 20th, 1852 ; c. of G.
Bellamy. Frederick Courtney, August 5th, 1865; d. of G. D.
Doudney. Isaac Hawker, February 8th, 1871 ; r. of F. Courtney.
Trinity. Hinton Castle Smith, October 24th, 1843. Francis
Barnes, November 18th, 1851 ; r. of H. C. Smith.

THE SISTERS OF MERCY. 247
St. John, Sutton-on-Plym. George Greystock Carrigham,
November 1st, 1844. Charles Coombs, August 16th, 1866 ; d. of
G. G. Carrigham. Arthur Wynell-Mayow, November 29th, 1888 ;
d. of C. Coombs.
Christ Church. George Ferris Whidborne, May 4th, 1846.
Richard Malone, November 16th, 1849; c. of G. F. "Whidborne.
Thomas George Postlethwaite, October 14th, 1851 ; c. of R.
Malone. William Crofts Bullen, December 13th, 1861 ; r. of T.
G. Postlethwaite. Theophihis Bennett, August 26th, 1865; r. of
W. C. Bullen. Henry George Gervase Cutler, October, 6th, 1869;
r. of T. Bennett. James Metcalfe, July 6th, 1870 ; r. of H. G. G.
Cutler. Thomas Whitby, May 24th, 1877; c. of J. Metcalfe.
Benjamin Mills, December 19th, 1881 ; c. of T. Whitby. Albert
Bonus, November 29th, 1888; c. of B. Mills.
St. James. George Stephen Hookey, April 8th, 1847. James
Bliss, May 31st, 1858; r. of G. S. Hookey. Horace Stone
Wilcocks, January 9th, 1873 ; r. of J. Bliss. Frederick Gurney,
April 30th, 1875; r. of H. S. Wilcocks. William Humphrey
Child, September 30th, 1884; c. of F. Gurney.
St. Peter. Edward Godfrey, May 29th, 1847. George Bundle
Prynne, August 16th, 1848 ; r. of E. Godfrey.
Emmanuel, Compton Gilford. George Henry Fletcher, April
1st, 1872. George Benton Berry, March 11th, 1879; r. of G.
H. Fletcher.
All Saints. Samuel William Elderfield Bird, June 26th, 1875.
Charles Rose Chase, December 5th, 1878 ; r. of S. W. E. Bird.
St. Jude. Thomas Henry Howard, June 25th, 1877.
St. Matthias. Philip Williams, November 12th, 1889.
St. Saviour. Joseph Jones, 1884.
The Sisters of Mercy.
Plymouth is the seat of the oldest of the various sister
hoods connected with the Engbsh Church. Originally
established in a house in Milne Place, Morice Town, it was
called the Devonport Society. Statements concerning the
working of the sisterhood caused Bishop Phillpotts in 1849
to hold an inquiry into its character and operations ; when
his lordship not only exonerated Miss Sellon, the lady
superior, but wished her God -speed. Much controversy
arose concerning the alleged Romish nature of the Society,
and the Devonport Sisters of Mercy became famous from
one end of the land to the other. In 1850 the foundation-
stone of the Abbey in the North Eoad was laid ; and
it is now the head-quarters of the sisterhood, which has

248 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
ramifications in many parts of England, and also abroad.
There are large schools and a house of refuge on the
premises. The Abbey is in the parish of St. Peter, the
use in which of what became known as High Church
or Eitualistic practices — then denominated Tractarian or
Puseyite — by its incumbent, the Eev. G. E. Prynne, led to
an inquiry by the Bishop in September, 1852, with regard to
the question of confession, and was the fruitful source of
controversy and pamphleteering.
The Church Congress met at Plymouth in October, 1876.
Puritanism and Nonconformity.
Nonconformity in Plymouth dates to the Puritan feeling
of the early years of the seventeenth century. In 1620,
when the Pilgrim Fathers called at the port on their way
to America, they ' were kindly entertained and courteously
used by divers friends there dwelling.' The Pilgrim Fathers
were Independents ; and the earliest recorded Nonconformist
organization of Plymouth was such a mixed congregation of
Independents and Baptists as was then common.
The local Puritanism developed remarkably during the
reigns of Elizabeth and James. In 1609 an order was made
that no beer should be carried through the streets on the
Sabbath except for the supply of strange ships ; and we
have other Puritanic clues in the constitutions of the
Hospital of Orphans Aid, founded in 1617; and of the
Hospital of the Poor's Portion, founded in 1630.
Plymouth Puritanism had its first check when Charles I.
in 1631 ordered that Thomas Forde of Brixton should not
be chosen lecturer, and in 1632 instituted Aaron Wilson
to the Vicarage instead of the choice of the Corporation,
Alexander Grosse. The Corporation seem to have tried to
sustain Grosse as lecturer; and this was met by the institution
of Bedford, as already noted. Hence the probability that
the petition of 1634, to erect a new church, had far less to
do with the want of church accommodation in the town (the
population had been greatly reduced by pestilence) than
with the lack of Puritan preaching. Wilson could not be
got rid of, the lecturer was of the same type ; what more
ready mode of solving the difficulty than the erection of
another place of worship ? Charles Church was built, largely
if not wholly, out of the rates of the town ; and since the
Civil War not only delayed its progress, but prevented its
consecration until the Eestoration, and in the interval it was

THE EARLY FRIENDS. 249
used for Presbyterian worship, there is a sense in which it
may fairly be called Plymouth's oldest 'Nonconformist
meeting.' During the Siege (1642-46) there were several religious
assemblies in the town, and not only Presbyterians, but
Baptists, Independents, and Fifth Monarchy Men, were
represented. Plymouth, moreover, was the refuge of ministers
of adjoining parishes, who could not exercise their functions
in the presence of the Royalist soldiery ; as it was likewise
the prison of Episcopal clergy, zealous for the Royal cause.
. There is little to record concerning the progress of Non
conformity during the Commonwealth, when Presbyterianism
was the established faith. St. Andrew was occupied by
George Hughes, a man of high character, unblemished
reputation, sincere piety, and great ability. Francis Porter
was preacher of Charles. There were two Nonconforming
congregations. The oldest, the Baptist, is now represented
by the Baptist Churches of George Street and Mutley, of
Devonport, and of many other places in the neighbourhood.
A careful, detailed, and interesting history of this Church
has been written by Mr. H. M. Nicholson. It sprung from
the mixed congregation of Baptists and Independents already
mentioned, and its records date back to 1648. In that year
Abraham Cheare, a native of Plymouth, and a fuller, was
baptized, and shortly afterwards received an invitation to
the pastorate, which he accepted. The society must have
been large, as the invitation was signed by one hundred and
fifty members. In 1651 a piece of land was bought in the
Pig-Market, now Bedford Street, and a meeting-house erected.
This was rebuilt in 1751, abandoned in 1789 in favour of
the chapel in How Street, and finally, having been converted
into stores, removed in April, 1865.
Tlie Early Friends.
The Independents of the old united congregation, and
those of the garrison during the Siege, do not seem to have
left successors, and the Baptists continued the only separatists
in Plymouth until the middle of 1654. There then came
thither John Audland and Thomas Arey, two of the early
Quakers, who were ' received of many who were waiting for
the Lord's appearance.' They held several meetings in public
and in private ; ' and on the first day the sd John Audland
went to one of the steeple-houses in the Towne, and testyfied
against the priest and there worship, and also sounded truth

250 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
amongst them, for wch the sd John Audland received from
the people in the steeple-house pritty much Abuse ; and the
sd Thomas Arey he went to the Baptist meeteing, and
sounded truth amonge them, who stod in great opposition to
his testimony.' March 16th, 1655, Thomas Salthouse and
Miles Halhead visited Plymouth, and established the first
meeting, their reward for which was thirteen months'
imprisonment at Plymouth and Exeter. In the same year
George Fox paid the first of his four visits to Devonshire,
and his journal records how, ' Having refreshed ourselves at
our inn, we went to Robert Cary's house, where we had a
very precious meeting. At this meeting was one Elizabeth
Trelawny, daughter to a baronet. She, being very thick of
hearing, came close up to me, and clapped her ear very nigh
me while I spoke; and she was convinced. After the
meeting came in some jangling Baptists; but the Lord's
power came over them, and Elizabeth Trelawny gave
testimony thereto. A fine meeting was settled there in the
Lord's power, which hath continued ever since.'
There is a tradition in the Plymouth Society that the first
meeting-house of the Quakers was a thatched building which
stood at the head of Sussex Street. Near this was undoubt
edly the original Quaker burial-ground, used as such before
the erection of the original meeting-house on the site in
Bilbury Street in 1674, and not given up until 1721. The
present (now modernized) meeting-house replaced the old
one in 1804. Persecutions.
The persecutions of the Quakers at Plymouth began with
a drunken naval chaplain, who attended a meeting held by
Halhead and Salthouse in the garden of John Harris, and
waxed excessively wroth at being told to combine works with
faith. He complained to John Paige, the Mayor, and Salt-
house and Halhead were committed to the assizes as disturbers
of the public peace, and for 'diverse other high misdemeanours
against a late proclamation prohibiting the disturbance of
ministers and other Christians in their assemblies and
meetings.' Themselves the disturbed ; they were prosecuted
as the disturbers ! Then Margaret Killam offended the Mayor
by speaking to him on religious matters; and to gaol she
went. Next year Priscilla Cotton, Margaret Cole, and
Katherine Martindale spoke to the ' priest and people ' in the
Church, after the sermon; and to gaol went they: while
Barbara Pattison was locked up for interrupting a funeral

THE PLYMOUTH 'BARTHOLOMEW.' 251
sermon. In 1658, John Evans, for speaking to the people in
a steeple-house, was not only imprisoned, but whipped
through the streets. And so matters went on, until by
1660 every prison in the county was crowded with the
Friends. ' Within two months of that year the High Gaol
and Bridewell of Exeter received no less than seventy,
including all the men inhabitants of Plymouth of that
persuasion.' Plymouth was governed in all strictness during the Pres
byterian regime ; and there remain a few illustrative records.
Thus, in 1659, John Wood was presented for walking on the
Hoe during 'sermon time,' and George Cragg for suffering
company in his house to drink burnt wine during 'sermon
time'; while in June the constables of Old Town Ward
presented John Olde 'for keeping men drinking yesterday,
being Lord's-day.' This last, of course, is in accordance with
modern ideas; but the present amount of 'walking on the
Hoe during sermon time ' would be very Shocking to the old
Puritan ' twelve and twenty-four.'
Immediately on' the Eestoration persecution began all
round, and the wrongs of the Quakers were avenged on the
Presbyterians. One Captain William Pestell paid the West
a visit in 1661, in character of spy. He wrote Secretary
Nicholas, 26th September, that the Fifth Monarchy Men
were associated with the Presbyterians in encouraging the
people to withstand the Common Prayer ; that ' several of the
old sea-captains at Plymouth were determined the Common
Prayer should not come into Mr. Hughes's church,' and that
there was the same feeling at other places on the coast,
where Anabaptists and Quakers abounded.
The Presbyterians could not be touched until the Act of
Uniformity; the Quakers were in prison before Charles
returned; only the Baptists were available. So Abraham
Cheare was sent to Exeter gaol for encouraging religious
assemblies, and remained there three months, until released
by ' special grace.'
The Plymouth 'Bartholomew' and its Results.
Plymouth was singled out for special visitation. Its
gallant stand for the Parliament made it a marked town.
Its Corporation was thoroughly Puritan. Every way it was
obnoxious to the ruling powers. So it had a call from the
Commissioners appointed to regulate corporations, who ejected
the Mayor, made a clean sweep of his brethren, and turned
out Hughes from the Vicarage of St. Andrew, a week before

252 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
the fatal 24th of August. The Mayor, William Allen, a
Presbyterian, gave place to William Jennens, who proved an
adept in persecution ; and the old corporators to new Alder
men and Councillors of the same school. Four ministers
were silenced in Plymouth. George Hughes, the Vicar;
Obadiah Hughes, his son, ejected from a studentship at
Oxford; Thomas Martyn, lecturer at St. Andrew; Samuel
Martyn, his son, an occasional preacher. Porter, minister of
Charles, conformed. George Hughes and Thomas Martyn
were sent to Drake's Island, under charge of musketeers.
That rugged rock then held the dignity of state-prison ; and
among its occupants were General Lambert (who died there),
Colonel Lilburne, and Harrington, the author of Oceana.
Hughes was attacked with dropsy and scurvy, and after nine
months was released on bond for £2,000 (given by his friends
without his knowledge) not to come again within twenty
miles of Plymouth. So he retired to Kingsbridge, where, in
July, 1667, he died. Martyn was released under a similar
bond for £1,000. He had been silenced some months before
Bartholomew Day, on pretence of speaking certain words in
private conventicles, which he altogether denied. Cheare
was again seized, and lodged in the gaol at Exeter for three
years. But when the appointed ministers were removed their
adherents were not left utterly to themselves. There lived
in Plymouth Nicholas Sherwill, member of the wealthy
merchant family of that name, an M.A. of Magdalen, a
Presbyterian and an occasional preacher, "who had received
episcopal ordination. He, with the younger Hughes, had
been imprisoned, and set free on promising not to return to
Plymouth without leave of the Governor, the Earl of Bath,
or his deputy. However, he commenced the first register-
book of the Unitarian congregation in Treville Street, now
preserved at Somerset House, with the entry of the marriage
by him at Stonehouse, on the 17th September, 1662, not
a month after Bartholomew Day, of Walter Trowt and
Katherine Crampron; while on the 28th November he
baptized Mary, the daughter of George and Mary Lapthorne.
He ministered to the people who had adhered to Hughes-
and Martyn; and in the congregation thus formed the two
societies in Treville and Batter Streets originated. It has
been held that there were two congregations from the
commencement ; but as Hughes and Martyn both ministered
in the same church, and as Sherwill was the only minister
free to engage in ministerial work in Plymouth immediately

THE PLYMOUTH 'BARTHOLOMEW.' 253
on the Ejection, it seems clear that the Nonconforming lay-
folk of Plymouth must at first have formed one body, though
meeting in different places as best they could. And Sherwill
ere long had assistance. Obadiah Hughes was ordained by
Jasper Hicks, ejected from Landrake, and five other ministers,
and preached in the neighbourhood as he had opportunity.
When no longer safe, in 1674, he removed to London, where
he became minister of a large congregation. John Quicke,
ejected from Brixton, also preached in Plymouth, and spent
eight weeks in the Marshalsea. Jacob too, the ejected
minister of Ugborough, rode to Plymouth once a fortnight,
and eventually became permanent pastor.
Still for several years Sherwill was clearly the sole regular
minister of the Plymouth Presbyterians. George Hughes
never saw Plymouth after his retirement to Kingsbridge.
He was then sixty years of age, and worn out by infirmities.
Martyn took advantage of the Indulgence of 1672 to return
to Plymouth. There are entries of baptisms by him in the
Treville Street registers from June 12th, 1672, to February,
1675, and he did not die until 1677. It was upon his return
that the division of the followers of the Ejected into two
societies took place; for to this date the existence of two
separate bodies can clearly be traced. Sherwill continued in
the ministry until his sudden death, May 15th, 1696. His
last entry of baptism was on the 7th May preceding.
Persecution was revived at intervals, until the Toleration
Act was passed in 1689 ; and the records of the town contain
many entries of Baptists, Presbyterians, and Quakers being
sent to gaol, and of meetings being broken up by constables
and soldiers. Under the Declaration of Indulgence, in 1672,
there were bcensed in Plymouth not only Sherwill and
Martyn, but the younger Hughes, Quicke, and George
Mortimer, who had been ejected from Harberton, and
apparently returned thither to minister. John Glanville,
who had been proceeded against for not coming to church,
had his house licensed for worship, as did Thomas Yeabsley.
A house near Charles Church was also licensed, and the
widow Menir's at Stonehouse. The illegal Indulgence was
speedily revoked, and persecution again began, being es
pecially active from 1677 onward. Sometimes the meetings
were broken up by force, sometimes the doors were locked
and sentinelled, and then the Quakers used to gather boldly
in the open air outside.
The sites of some of the early meeting-places can be fairly
identified. Martyn the elder baptised at ' Greene House, in

254 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Greene Street.' Sherwill's congregation met at the 'Old
Marshalls ' — the Marshalsea, the Dominican house in South-
side Street — and probably continued until the erection, in
1705, of the chapel in Batter Street, the oldest meeting
house now remaining in the town. In 1689 the following
were licensed in open sessions : John Woods and Thomas
Sheppard certified that a house in Bilbury Street, in the
possession of William Eowe, merchant (founder of Rowe's
Charity), was chosen as the meeting-place of the congrega
tion under Mr. Nathan Jacob. This was the predecessor of
the present Unitarian Chapel. Isaac Pickes, grocer, entered
a house in the Pig -Market as the Baptist meeting-house.
D. Papier and Jos. Boutill a house near Frankfort, the
property of John Stone, for French Protestants, under
John Calvett and Michael Lions.
Under Nathaniel Harding, who succeeded Jacob at Treville
Street, and John Enty, who followed Sherwill, the two
societies founded by the ejected ministers flourished.
Arianism first made head in Plymouth under the ministry
of the Bev. H. Moore, successor to Mr. Harding; and as it
showed itself at the same time in the Batter Street congre
gation, where it was favoured by Mr. Hanmer, assistant to
Mr. Baron, there was a double exodus ; the orthodox of both
congregations settling in Batter Street, the heterodox in
Treville Street, which has since been distinctly Unitarian.
The Huguenots.
An exceedingly interesting feature of the religious life of
the town has passed into oblivion. Plymouth was the seat
of a colony of Huguenot refugees, driven from their own
country by the Eevocation of the Edict of Nantes. The
first party escaped across the Channel in an open boat from
Eochelle, arriving on the fifth September, 1681. They
numbered between forty and fifty, and were joined by so
many others that they established two congregations, one
at Plymouth and the other at Stonehouse. It is the one
redeeming feature in the years of persecution which followed,
that these poor creatures do not seem to have been molested.
We know little more concerning them than is to be found
in the registers of the two congregations, now at Somerset
House ; those of the Stonehouse congregation ranging from
1692 to 1791, and those of the Plymouth congregation from
1733 to 1807, the earlier records having been lost. The
register of 1733 commences with an entry of the election,

THE HUGUENOTS. 255
on the 11th April in that year, as wardens, of Pierre Hory
Laine, Jayre Valeau, Jean Pare, and Moyere Thomas, in
succession to Jean Pare, Etienne Brigeau, Francois Thomas,
and Etienne Cagna — twenty-four heads of families assenting.
In the July following there is an entry of the distribution
of the royal bounty of fifteen guineas to fifty -one poor
members of the community, ranging from eighty-two years
of age to an infant in arms. Allowing five to a family, and
assuming that the recipients of the bounty did not take any
set part in the management of affairs, the number of the
little colony may be reckoned at between 150 and 200. For
fully half a century these sufferers for conscience lived in
Plymouth among, but not of, our forefathers. When they
were householders they were entered in the rate-books under
the style of Monsieur or Madame. Thus in the poor rate
assessment for 1720 we find with the prefix of Monsieur the
names of Perry, Peter Perry, Francis Thomas, F. Jourdan,
James Borgeau, Peter Bone, James Buffiat, Charles le Mar,
Isaac Oust, Mignan, Buffiat, Valleau, Boteet, Pratt, Lavigne,
Sherren, Freno, Dammer, Chardevoine, Bourvit, and Euleau.
Then we have Mesdames Cateau, Burfeans, Langaller, and
'Mons. Osorio's widow.' Other names of French origin,
occurring without either prefix (which were probably applied
only to the well-to-do) are Francis Colas, Peter Averilla,
Isaac and Peter Lelander, Abraham Angoure, Gilbert de
Lapp, Gerrard, Stephen Cagna, Ch. Peneau, Bignon, Barbe,
and Gabon, the latter described as a French barber. There
was bkewise a Dr. Freno.
The registers supply us with several family names in
addition to those already given, among them Du Bouchet,
Du Clou, Dore, Dechereaux, Arnaud, Bordier, Cherri,
Viall, Blondett, GuiUard, Benoit, Bastard, Rous, Dubois,
Lardieu, Travers, Duval, Vincent, Herring, Gille, Delacomb,
Gruzelier, Bonnet, Maingy, Darton, Lamoureux, Mousnier,
and Paillin.
While the original refugees lived, and the first generation
of their descendants, the foreign character was distinctively
kept up ; but the registers show that with the second genera
tion exterior influences of association and intermarriage
began to work; and the third was far more English than
French. The knowledge of the mother tongue wore less
and less among the younger members of the community,
and the attendance on public worship, which was of course
conducted in French, gradually dwindled until it was con
fined to a few aged persons, on whose death the congregation

256 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
became extinct. James Devoit was pastor from his arrival,
in 1685, until his death, in 1723. In 1733, the date of the
first register, Pierre du Bouchet was minister. He was suc
ceeded in 1739 by Jacob Bordier; followed in 1764 by Jaques
Touzeau. During Touzeau's pastorate the congregation gave
up the chapel they had erected in How's Lane, which was
removed about 1785, after occupation by a Mr. Hemsworth,
to give place to the present edifice. Touzeau was the last
minister. He died in February, 1810, having been pastor
nearly half a century, and having outlived nearly all his
people. For many years he kept a French school in Lower
Lane, and was much respected in the town. The following
names of ministers are believed to belong to the Stonehouse
congregation: 1699, Jaques Bevoitz; 1725, Joseph Demain;
1744-60, M. Faurier; 1762-82, David Morin; later, Jacob
Maitre and Guilliame Bataille.
Many descendants of the refugees still reside in this
locality. Such names as Gruzelier and Lamoureux are of
course easily identified, but in most cases there has been
some amount of Anglicising. Thus Cherri is Cherry; Tou
zeau, Tozer ; Gille, Gill ; Pare, Park ; Bonnet, Bonny ; Lar
dieu, Lardew ; Rous, Eowse ; Viall, Vile ; Lavigne, Lavin ;
Conde, Cundy;- Benoit, Benoy; Guillard, Jillard; Jourdan,
Jordan. Calvinistic Methodism.
Towards the middle of the last century Conformity and
Nonconformity alike became dull and lethargic; decorous
indeed, but wanting energy and spirit — the form of Chris
tianity, lacking the vitality. All was formal and frigid.
Church and chapel come under the same condemnation.
Nor was Plymouth any exception, though St. Andrew boasted
the polished Zachary Mudge, and the Treville and Batter
Street congregations were enlivened somewhat by the stir
rings of the Arian controversy. As to the Baptists, they
were 'a poor disjointed people,' a 'small remnant,' the
membership falling off until it was reduced to eight. At
Plymouth therefore, and in the growing town of Dock, there
was ample scope for the exertions of the early Methodists,
and Whitfield and Wesley reaped an abundant harvest.
Calvinistic Methodism was the first established. Whitfield
came to Plymouth about 1744, with the intention of em
barking for America. Before that date his labours had
borne local fruit. Andrew Kinsman, a native of Tavistock,
converted by reading one of Whitfield's sermons, settled in

CALVINISTIC METHODISM. 257
Plymouth as a grocer ; and by him and his wife chiefly (she
was a Mrs. Ann Tiley, and gave the ground) the Tabernacle
in Briton Side was built, in the garden behind his house.
Adams and Cennick and Midleton, with other of Whitfield's
colleagues, and Kinsman himself, occupied the pulpit at first.
In 1750 Kinsman became a regular minister, and in 1752
removed to Devonport, where he built the first dissenting
chapel. The Tabernacle remained his property, and he was
still accustomed to preach there, his chief assistants being
named Dunn, Paddon, and McAll. Kinsman was a duly
qualified member of the Church Militant. When a party of
seamen, led by their lieutenant, broke into the Tabernacle
while he was preaching, with intent to put out the lights,
and ' castigate the congregation ' — one of the humours of a
pressgang — Kinsman seized the leader and took him before
the magistrates. When Kinsman died he left the Tabernacle
in trust for the purpose of perpetuating the gospel. The
bequest was annulled by the Mortmain Act, and Kinsman's
son became the owner. He was a very autocrat. The
minister wished to get married. Kinsman preferred his
celibacy. The minister got married. Kinsman padlocked
the door of the Tabernacle, planted himself in a window
opposite, armed with loaded pistols, and threatened to shoot
any one who meddled with his property. So the congregation
were ejected as well as their minister. For a while they met
in the Baptist Chapel, which was placed at their service.
At length Norley Chapel was built (then called the New
Tabernacle), and opened December 8th, 1797. Mr. Cooper,
who formed a Baptist church, was ejected by Kinsman from
the Old Tabernacle in 1811. His congregation divided,
part going to a Moravian Chapel at the Old Mitre, and part
to a currier's shop in Duck's Lane (Week Street), whence
they moved, in 1812, to a chapel in Willow Street, built by
the Universalists, first called the Philadelphian Church, but
then the Befuge Chapel.
The New Tabernacle was the first dissenting place of
worship in Plymouth in which an organ was placed. The
instrument was built by a carpenter of Turnchapel named
Bedstone, chiefly at the expense of Mr. Cater. Terrible was
the resultant discord ; for the organ in the New Tabernacle
led to a division in the congregation, and in the end to the
re-opening of the Old Tabernacle. The Friday before the
organ was to be used a letter was received, signed ' David,'
announcing that Dagon had fallen before the ark, and that
the writer had discovered the art of ' taking his guts out.' On
s

258 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
examination it was found that all the pipes of one stop had
been taken away, proving, as Harris, who records this incident,
quaintly says, ' that the thief was no musician.'
Wesleyan Methodism.
Wesleyan Methodism was established in a settled shape in
Plymouth in 1745, when a class was formed. This was
twelve months before Wesley paid his first visit to the town,
in September, 1746 ; and as a result he found several zealous
local preachers hard at work. Still, more than thirty yeai s
elapsed before any attempt was made to erect a chapel.
The members met in private houses, and there was a good
deal of open-air preaching on the Parade, by the great tree
in Briton Side, and in rooms in Catte Street, Batter Street,
in the Moravian Chapel, and the Old Tabernacle. The first
Wesleyan chapel in the Three Towns was commenced in
1779 in Lower Street, chiefly by the exertions of Bedstone,
the carpenter, and Nehemiah Jane, a quarterman in the
Dockyard. This sufficed until 1792, when the old chapel
in Buckwell Lane (then called Mud Lane) was begun in
Mr. Prideaux's garden. Thenceforward the progress of
Wesleyanism was very rapid, though the larger population
and greater activity of Dock gave it such a preponderance
that Devonport still names the district. Ebenezer Chapel
was commenced in 1816 ; and consequent upon the cessation
of the war and the depression thus caused, Wesley Chapel
had to be closed for Wesleyan worship until September,
1847, though occupied by Messrs. Denham (Baptist), Todd,
Triggs, Eichards, and others in the interim. Salem Chapel,
however, was built in 1828. In 1864 the erection of King
Street Chapel was commenced. Ham Street Chapel was
erected in 1879, in substitution for Wesley and Salem; and
Mutley in 1881, Mr. Snell being architect of both.
The eldest represented of the various offshoots of Wesleyan
Methodism is the Bible Christian body, which dates from
1818. Its chapel in Zion Street was erected in 1847, and in
1886 that in Greenbank Eoad. The United Methodist Free
Church society, originally Wesleyan Association, acquired
the large chapel in Ebrington Street, formerly belonging to
the Plymouth Brethren, in 1862, and named it Hope Chapel.
It had previously assembled for nearly twenty years in the
Old Tabernacle. The Primitive Methodists are of more
recent appearance in the town, and occupy a little chapel in
Ebrington Street, which has been used in turn by several
denominations.

REVIVAL OF PERSECUTION. 259
The period of the French war, one of the greatest activity
in all business affairs in Plymouth and Dock, was marked
also by great liveliness in rebgious matters ; thus described
by a no means friendly contemporary hand: 'Amidst the
general dissipation and rage for worldly aggrandizement, a
religious disposition was everywhere prevalent. Churches,
chapels, and meetings were crowded with auditors ; the
latter not only on Sundays, but many evenings in the week.
Besides public places of worship, parties of the pious assem
bled at each other's houses, and embryo preachers here first
practised the rudiments of their future calling. These spiritual
pastors were principally uneducated mechanics and artificers
in the Dockyard and town. Never perhaps did moralist
survey a more incongruous spectacle than this place afforded.
The most open and undisguised profaneness and the most
rigid sanctity seemed equally predominant. On one hand
were heard the revels of debauchery and drunkenness ; and
on the other, the praises and prayers of devotional con
gregations. The sanctuaries of religion were surrounded by
the temples of profligacy.' Revival of Persecution.
The close of the eighteenth century saw the revival of
persecution. The Unitarian Chapel opened at Devonport in
1791 was closed, because the Commissioner of the Dockyard
intimated that dockyardsmen who attended would be dis
missed as disloyal subjects; and by perjury and malice
the Eev. W. Winterbottom, junior minister of the Plymouth
Baptist congregation, was punished for seditious words he
never uttered, and for treason of which he was not guilty.
It was the custom in those days for Dissenting congregations
to celebrate the anniversary of the landing of the Prince of
Orange by special sermons; and on the fifth of November,
1792, Winterbotham preached such a sermon in How's Lane
from Exodus xiii. 8, ' Thou shalt shew thy son in that day,
saying, This is done because of that which the Lord did
unto me.' This he followed on the 18th by a sermon
from Eomans xiii. 12, 'The night is far spent, the day is
at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness,
and let us put on the armour of light.' For these sermons
he was brought to trial in the following July. The evidence
for the Crown was wholly insufficient to sustain any charge ;
indeed, so far as regarded the second sermon, it consisted
entirely of the jumbled notes of Edward Lyne, a clerk to
the Collector of Excise, and of the random recollection of
s 2

260 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
John Denby, a midshipman, that he agreed with Lyne. On
the other hand, there was abundant testimony that the
sermons, though political, were anything but seditious. Yet
Winterbotham was found guilty. He was sentenced to four
years' imprisonment, two for each sermon ; a fine of £200,
£100 for each; and to find £900 security for his good
behaviour for five years; while the expenses of the trial
were £337. But his friends at Plymouth stood by him, and
on his release he returned to minister among them.
After this the Baptist Society in Plymouth declined, until
it entered on a fresh career of prosperity with the pastorate
of the Eev. Samuel Nicholson in 1823. In 1845 How Street
Chapel, which has an endowment of £25 yearly from Dean's
Charity while used for Baptist purposes, was abandoned
for the chapel in George Street, which was erected at a cost
exceeding £5,000 ; and in 1869 the new chapel on Mutley
Plain was opened, having been erected at an expenditure
of £8,000.
Sherwell Chapel, the handsomest and costliest Non
conformist edifice in Plymouth, was erected by the Norley
Street congregation, and is thus an outcome of the work
of Whitfield. The site, purchased from the Corporation,
at one time formed part of the Sherwell estate, and this
circumstance, in conjunction with the fact that Nicholas
Sherwell was one of the men of 1662, named the structure.
The chapel was opened in September, 1864, having cost with
the land upwards of £8,000. The organ, a gift from a
member of the congregation, is the finest in any Dissenting
place of worship in the West of England. Mount Street
Chapel is a mission in connection with Sherwell. Norley
Chapel was closed for a time after the removal to Sherwell,
but was subsequently re-opened in 1866 by a section of the
congregation. Union Chapel, the other Independent place of worship in
Plymouth, is an offshoot from Batter Street, and was erected
by the Bev. T. C. Hine in 1847-8, on a site where Whitfield
is recorded to have preached.
Ministers of the Elder Nonconformist Societies.
The ministers of the 'Three Denominations'— Baptist,
English Presbyterian, and Independent— of the older societies
in Plymouth are as follows :
Baptist.— Abraham Cheare, 1649-1668; persecution then kept
the church without a pastor for nineteen years ; Robert Browne,

MINISTERS OF THE NONCONFORMING SOCIETIES. 261
1687-1688; —Warner, 1688; Robert Holdenby, 1688-1690;
Samuel Buttall, 1690-1697 or 1698; Nathaniel Hodges, 1698-
1701; — Bryant commenced 1707, not ordained until 1710;
Wm. Bennick, 1718-1720; Caleb Jope, 1720-1722; Elkanah
Widgery, 1723-1725; John Ridley, 1726-1730; Didcot Hoare,
mentioned as pastor in 1737 and 1739 ; John Binnick, left in
1747; Philip Gibbs, 1748 (ordained 1749)-1800; Isaiah Birt,
co-pastor with Mr. Gibbs, 1782-1789; William Winterbotham, at
first co-pastor, and afterwards successor to Mr. Gibbs, 1790 (four
years in prison, 1793-1797)-1804 ; — Ragsdale, 1808-1810; John
Dyer, 1811-1814; G. Gibbs, 1816-1819; S. Nicholson, 1823-
1856; G. Short, co-pastor, and afterwards successor to Mr.
Nicholson, 1856-1858; T. C. Page, 1860-1869; John Aldis,
1869-1876; Robert Lewis, co-pastor, 1870-1876; John Ashworth,
1878-1882; S. Vincent, 1883; Benwell Bird, pastor of Mutley
Chapel, 1876.
Unitarian. — George Hughes and Thomas Martyn, ejected in
1662; Nicholas Sherwill, 1662-1672; Thomas Martyn, 1672-
1677; Nathaniel Jacob, 1677-1690; Nathaniel Harding, 1690-
1744; Henry Brett, assistant to Mr. Harding, 1707-1723; Joseph
Cock, ditto, 1721-1731 ; Henry Moore, assistant to Mr. Harding
till 1744, and afterwards his successor, 1731-1762 ; John Reynell,
1762-1784; John Hanmer, co-pastor with Mr. Reynell, 1762-
1771; Thomas Watson, 1785-1788; Thomas Porter, 1789-1794;
John Kentish, 1794-1795; John Jones, ll.d., 1795-1798; John
Tingcombe/1798-1806 ; John Jones, 1807-1812 ; Israel Worsley,
1813-1831; William James Odgers, 1832-1853; John Hill,
1853-1854; Henry Knott, 1854-1865; J. K. Smith assisted
Mr. Knott for about two months previous to his death, and
continued on into 1866, but was never appointed minister; T. W.
Freckelton, 1866-1874; William Sharman, 1875-1883; George
Evans, 1884-1888 ; W. Binns, 1888.
Batter Street. — George Hughes and Thomas Martyn, ejected
in 1662; Nicholas Sherwill, 1662-1696; — Byfield, assistant to
Mr. Sherwill; John Enty, 1696-1719; Peter Baron, at first
co-pastor with Enty, came to Plymouth in 1700, was ordained
1704, chosen minister 1720, died 1759 ; John Moore, assistant to
Mr. Baron, and his successor, 1727-1760 (the trustees then chose
John Hanmer, the congregation Christopher Mends — the latter
was put in possession by a mandamus, and Hanmer became
co-pastor at Treville Street); Christopher Mends, 1762-1799;
Herbert Mends, co-pastor with his father, afterwards his successor,
1782-1819; J. Mitchell, 1819-1821; Richard Hartley, 1823-
1836; W. Morris, 1837-1839; T. C. Hine, 1839-1846; Joseph
Steer, 1846-1851; John Barfitt, 1851-1854; W. R. Noble,
1855-1860; E. Hipwood, 1860-1867; W. Whittley, 1867-
1885; S. Higman, 1886-1888; Alfred Cooke, 1889.

262 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Ministers op Norley and Sherwell Chapels. — Norley Chapel
was opened 1797. — Charles Soper, 1798-1805; Thomas Pinchback,
1807-1811; Francis Moore, 1812-1816; James Doney, 1816-
1823; W. P. Davies, 1825-1831; G.Smith, 1833-1842; Eliezer
Jones, 1844-1856; C. Wilson, 1858-1882; C. Slater, 1883.
Plymouth has a College belonging to the Independent
body, and affiliated to the London University. The Western
College was established as an academy for the instruction of
ministerial students, in 1752, by the Congregational Fund
Board. In its early days it was under the direction of
various Independent ministers, located in different parts of
Devonshire. At length it was removed from Axminster to
Exeter, and after some years' sojourn in that city, again
removed in 1844 to Plymouth. Here it was carried on upon
premises in Wyndham Place for several years. It was then
decided to provide it with a permanent habitation, and in
April, 1860, the foundation stone of the present handsome
pile of Collegiate buildings at Mannamead was laid. They
were opened in June, 1861. TJie Brethren.
Plymouth has given a distinct name to a- community of
Christians who call themselves the Brethren, but are generally
known by the name Plymouth Brethren. Nevertheless the
movement did not absolutely originate in the town. It
appears to have first assumed definite form in Dublin, on the
suggestion of Mr. A. N. Groves, of Exeter, in the setting
apart every Lord's-day for the breaking of bread in remem
brance of Christ. This was about the year 1829, and the
meeting at Plymouth, which became the centre and fount of
Brethrenism, was commenced in 1831. The two most
prominent members of the society in its early days were Mr.
B. W. Newton, Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford, and the
Eev. J. N. Darby, a minister of the Irish Church, the first of
whom was resident for some years at Plymouth. The Eev.
J. L. Harris, incumbent of Plymstock, and Mr. H. W. Soltau,
were also prominently identified with the movement. In
1845, a difference of views between Mr. Newton and Mr.
Darby led to the first open division in the body, since which
others have occurred. The first special meeting-place used
by the Brethren at Plymouth was what became the -Tem
perance Hall, in Ealeigh Street. Later the large ' room ' in
Ebrington Street, now the chapel of the United Methodist
Free Church Society, was erected. As the transfer of these

MISCELLANEOUS. 263
buildings indicates, the Brethren are by no means so numerous
in Plymouth as they formerly were. Four or five of their
sections, however, meet regularly for worship, and some
of the body preach in various places, as at St. Andrews
Hall, to which all are welcomed ; but without forming any
distinct community or society. This is not the occasion to
enter into an exposition of the peculiar tenets of Brethrenism,
nor would the task be at all an easy one. Horace Mann
stated as their fundamental raison d'etre, that they ' may be
represented as consisting of all such as, practically holding
all the truths essential to salvation, recognize each other as
on that account alone true members of the only Church.
They do not believe in human forms or systems, or ordained
ministries. They break bread weekly; and some of them
consider their assemblies under the guidance solely of the
Holy Ghost.' Miscellaneous.
Trinity Chapel (York Street) was erected as a High
Calvinist place of worship for Mr. Arthur Triggs in 1828.
In 1857-8 there were disputes as to its ownership, which
led to one party taking possession by force and barring the
other out, so that they were compelled to hold service in
the open air outside. Legal proceedings followed.
The Protestant Evangelical Church in Compton Street
was established by the Eev. Wm. Elliott.
The Presbyterian Congregation now at Eldad was formed
at Devonport in 1857, and removed to Plymouth in 1862.
The original chapel was burnt in 1882. Mr. J. L. Hodge is
the architect of the present structure.
The Catholic Apostolic (Irvingite) body early established
a church in Plymouth. The present chapel in Princess
Street was rebuilt on the site of a plain building which had
been occupied for a dozen years.
A Universalist congregation, now extinct, met in Henry
Street, having worshipped previously in Park and Ebrington
Street Chapels ; and its minister, the Eev. Mr. Seabrook,
once officiated in a meeting-house in Eichmond Street.7
The chapel in Portland Villas — Free Evangelical — was
built by the Eev. J. Babb, formerly a clergyman of the
Church of England, in 1844. It forms the under portion of
one of the houses.
7 Some old chapels have been abandoned as such. There was one called
Philadelphia Chapel in Willow Street ; and a small Calvinist Chapel (Zoar)
in Octagon Street.

264 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
The Bethel Union Chapel in Castle Street was originally
built in 1833.
The Salvation Army commenced operations in the Three
Towns early in their history; and subsequently acquired
How Street, and Mount Zion (Devonport) chapels. Their
Congress Hall in Martin Street was opened by General
Booth in February, 1886, and cost £4,724 7s.
The Exeter Street Mission Hall was built for a herbalist
named Eoland Kiley, who took to preaching, on the site of
the old merchant residence of the Treeby family — a fine
early eighteenth - century building with deep eaves, and
central courtyard surrounded by offices. Kiley left the town
deeply in debt in 1886.
The Young Men's Christian Association was formed in
1848, and acquired its present handsome and commodious
premises in Bedford Street, which Dr. Hingston was mainly
instrumental in erecting, in 1887. There is also a Young
Women's Christian Association.
The Jewish community of Plymouth dates from the earlier
part of the last century. About the year 1740 several
Hebrew families settled in the town, and formed a con
gregation in Broad Hoe Lane. The Synagogue, in Catherine
Street, was built in 1760. The elders then were Joseph
Jacob Sherenbeck and Gompert Michael Emden.
There have for several years been Spiritualist and Secular
Societies holding regular meetings.
Less than a half century since a few bearded disciples of
the Devonshire prophetess, Joanna Southcott, distinguishable
by their disuse of the razor in days when shaving was the
fashion, might be seen in Plymouth streets. The Three
Towns were the seat of a Southcottonian congregation, of
which four survived, expecting Joanna's appearance, so
lately as 1851. About the same time a number of persons
met for worship at the Central Hall, Manor Street, who held
that the end of the world was close at hand. Their leaders,
Dealtry and Burgess, upon one occasion — in 1847 — positively
fixed the date for its destruction, much to the terror of
few even outside their flock.
Roman Catholic.
When Pope Pius IX. decided upon establishing the present
Eoman Cathobc hierarchy in England, Plymouth was selected
as the seat of one of the new dioceses. The first priest who
is known to have statedly ministered in Plymouth after the
Reformation was the Rev. Edward Williams, who was settled

ROMAN CATHOLIC. 265
at the seat of Mr. Richard Chester, in Buckland-tout-Saints,
and who occasionally visited Plymouth to attend to the
spiritual wants of the few and scattered Catholics then to be
found there. This was a century since.8 The first missionary
station in the Three Towns was established at Devonport, in
a room over a stable behind the George Inn, by the Eev.
Thomas Flynn, an Irish Franciscan. He was succeeded by the
Eev. Louis Guilbert, a French emigre, who, being unable to
obtain a site for a chapel at Devonport, built and opened in
1806-7 that in St. Mary Street, Stonehouse. The rapid
growth of the Three Towns, and the equally rapid increase
of their Irish population, rendered the accommodation of
this edifice utterly inadequate. Soon after the bishopric
was established, it was decided to erect the present cathedral
in Cecil Street. The foundation stone was laid in June,
1856, by Dr. Vaughan, the chief promoter of the work ; but
nearly twelve months afterwards operations were delayed by
the unfortunate falling in of a considerable portion of the
building. The spire is a later addition. The cathedral is
dedicated to the Virgin and St. Boniface. Adjoining, on the
south, is the bishop's residence, and on the west a large
conventual establishment and schools, occupied by the
Sisters of Notre Dame, the foundation stone of which was
laid in 1864.
Part of the site of the Old Carmelite Friary was recon
verted to its ancient uses by the erection of a conventual
building known as Carmel House. This was occupied for a
short time by a Carmelite Sisterhood who came to Plymouth
from Schlerder. When they left in 1875, they were succeeded
by the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, who have a
certified poor-law school for girls under their care. The
Church of the Holy Cross was erected here in 1881.
There is a house of Basilian Fathers at Beaconfield, near
Plymouth. The old church premises in St. Mary Street, Stonehouse,
were for some years occupied by the Little Sisters of the
Poor, who in 1885 built St. Joseph's Home at Hartley, in
1890 adding a chapel.
There was formerly at Coxside a Nunnery of Poor Clares,
who belonged to a house established at Aire in 1629. They
settled at Plymouth in 1813, and removed in 1835.
Dr. Errington was the first Bishop of Plymouth (1851) ; and
was succeeded by the present prelate, Dr. Vaughan, in 1855.
8 Mass was celebrated in the Citadel Chapel during part of the reign of
James II. by his chaplain, Christopher Turner.

266

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

Church and Chapel Accommodation.
The census returns of 1851, as arranged by Mr. Horace
Mann, present the following statement, of the provision for
religious worship in Plymouth at that date :

Places

Attendants on

Worship

of

Sittings
Sunday, March 30th.
Worship
. Free.
Apprtd.
Total.
Morn.
Aft.
Evng.
Church of England . 10
3891
4824
9615
6086
1642
5074
Independents . . 5
736
2232
2968
1517
62
1440
Particular Baptists . 1
329
707
1036
797
114
569
Friends . . .1
400
400
60
30
Unitarians . . 2
168
506
674
213
209
Wesleyan Methodists . 5
810
1466
2276
1487
'78
1363
Bible Christians . 1
88
540
628
279
203
401
Wesleyan Association 1
136
172
308
77
44
Isolated Congregation s 1 0
2450
3050
5500
2527
853
3342
Catholic Apostolic . 1
250
250
83
50
60
Jews .... 1
150
150
50
24
4
Totals
38 9258 13647 23805 13176 3056 12506
The proportion of sittings to population was thus 45-6,
and the additional number required to provide for 58 per
cent, of the population was 6483. There were not thirty-
eight distinct churches or chapels ; some of the congregations
meeting in rooms.
In 1871 the Nonconformist published a statement of the
number of places of worship in Plymouth, as compared
with these returns for 1851. Their accuracy was questioned,
and a statement concerning the various Dissenting bodies
was then published by Mr. Alfred Eooker, substantially
corroborative, so far as these were concerned. The figures
given for 1871 are:
' NONCONFOI
MIST.'
Me.
Booker,
Places of
Increase since 1851.
Worship. Sittings.
Places.
Sittings
Places
Sittings.
Church of England
. 12 11000
2
1385 .
Presbyterian
. 1 1200
1
1200 .
'. i
1200
Congregationalist
5 3650
682 .
. 6
4040
Baptist
4 3300
3
2264 .
. 5
3994
Friends
. 1 400
...
. 1
400
Unitarians
1 700 dec. 1
26 '.
. 1
400
Wesleyan Methodist .
4 3750 dec. 1
1474 .
. 5
4061
Primitive Methodist
1 450
1
450 .
. 1
450
United Methodist
1 1000
692 .
. 1
900
Bible Christians
1 628
. 1
450
Brethren .
3 760
3
760 '.
. 4
800
Boman Catholics
1 700
1
700 .
. 3
950
Jews
1 150
...
. 1
200
All others .
3 1900 c
ec. 8 dec
1
. 3850 '.
5738
. 4
34
1270
39 29588
19115
BURIAL GROUNDS.

267

Excluding mission stations and rooms casually occupied,
but including all independent gatherings statedly held,
the present accommodation provided, chiefly in separate
buildings, for religious worship in the Parliamentary borough
may be approximately stated as follows. Absolute accuracy
seems unattainable, and there are some grave difficulties of
classification. There are now among the miscellaneous group
chapels which were placed in the earlier return under the
Baptist or Independent heads ; and this must be borne in
mind in attempting any comparison.

Places of Worship.

Sittings

Church of England . . 1 ¦ I

12332

Baptist .

2
1860
Independent .
4
3360
Friends
I
400
Unitarian
1
400
"Wesleyan Methodist
4
4750
Bible Christians .
2
1300
United Methodist .
1
900
Primitive Methodist
1
400
Eoman Catholic .
2
1000
Catholic Apostolic
1
250
Presbyterian .
1
1200
Brethren
4
800
Salvation Army .
2
4000
Jews
1
200
Miscellaneous
6
3250
47
36402
It is still more difficult to give an exact estimate of the
mission accommodation. The mission -rooms and chapels
connected with the Church of England do not, however,
seat fewer than 3600 ; and the rooms and buildings statedly
used for Nonconformist and unsectarian mission work will
accommodate approximately 3000.
Burial Grounds.
At the time of Mr. Bawlinson's enquiry (1852) some
interesting particulars were given with reference to the old
burial grounds of the town, the whole of which were then in
use. St. Andrew Churchyard, the most ancient, dates from
the middle of the thirteenth century, and has been raised by
interments above the natural level. The burial ground in
Westwell Street (Strayer Park), belonging to the same
parish, first used about 1700, also had its surface consider
ably elevated. Yet 4,320 interments had taken place in the
parish within the seven years previous to the enquiry. The
268 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
burial ground of the parish of Charles consists of three
sections, the original yard, opened about 1650, the higher
ground west enclosed in 1824, and the higher ground east
first used in 1832. The number of interments there within
the seven years was 1,828. The Nonconformist burial
grounds date as follows : Friends, Bilbury Street, 1748 ;
Presbyterian, Batter Street, about 1750; Jews, near the
Citadel, 1748 ;9 Baptist, George Street, 1787; Methodist,
Ebenezer, 1817; Unitarian, Norley Street, 1832; Norley
Chapel Vaults, 1839. The Plymouth Brethren had a place
of interment in Ebrington Street and vaults under the
Ealeigh Street Hall. The total area of the whole was
5a. Or. lip.
In 1854 the Church, Wesleyan, and Batter Street yards
were closed except for interments in vaults ; and since that
date the burials from Plymouth have mostly taken place in
the Plymouth, Devonport, and Stonehouse Cemetery, on the
north-east of the town. The project of establishing a
cemetery was started in 1845, and the Act obtained in the
following year. Eighteen acres of land were purchased, with
power to acquire four more. Ten only were laid out in the
first instance. The first interment in the unconsecrated or
general ground took place on the 22nd December, 1848 ; and
the first in the consecrated 9th February, 1849. A part of
the consecrated ground was set apart for the interment of
those who died from cholera in 1849, and received 408.
Few of the present generation of Plymouthians are aware
of the existence of a disused burial ground in front of the
Crescent. In that spot the French prisoners of war who
died during their incarceration in the Milibay Prisons
adjoining were buried ; and when in 1824 the late Dr. Yonge
commenced the never-finished Crescent, the Corporation,
with the concurrence of the Navy Board, granted the ground
to him, to enclose with iron rails and form into a shrubbery,
with walks, in consideration of his giving up a road to the
Hoe. Though there has long been no external trace of the
purpose to which the ground was once applied, the planting
of additional shrubs has frequently afforded evidence of an
incontestable character. Some of the interments took place
in what is now Athenaeum Street; and have come to bght
in works of sewerage.
9 The Jews have now a burial ground adjoining the Cemetery.

CHAPTEE XL
EDUCATIONS
Learning by study must be won,
'Twas ne'er entailed from sire to son. — Gay.
The Grammar School.
THE Grammar School is the oldest educational institution
in Plymouth. It was founded in 1561 by the Corpora
tion, as the following extract from the White Book shows :2
xiiij Die July 1561.
In the guilhale w* thassent of John Eliott Maior w* the more
p*6 of the xij and xxiiijty then assembled it was determyned con
cluded and vtterlie agreed vpon that one Thorns Brooke should
supplie thoffice and function of a teacher or Scholem* w'in this
towne so longe as he therin shall decentlye behave hym selfe and
in consideracion of an annual stipend of xu quarterly to be paid
by the receavo1 he the said Scholemr shall freelye teache all the
children native and inhabitaunt w*in the Towne and that he also
for his loginge and refuge shall ha we to his owne vse the chambers
over the almeshowsse chapell and the said chapell for his schole-
howsse and that he shall teache no other but gramer and writinge.
Itm ther it was by thassents aforsaid fullie agreed that all suche
psons whose names be herin ingrossed as hawe given anye some or
somes of moneye toward and for the stipend aforsayd shall for
nonpayment of such somes of moneye an they of ther mere good
willes hawe given towards the vse aforsayd be Dystreyned and
Distreinable for the same.
John Elyot, mayor, 13s. 4d. ; Thomas Clowter, 6s. 8d. ; Lucas
Cocke, 5s. ; Eichard Hoop[er], 5s. ; William Weks, 10s. ; John
Ilcombe, 10s. ; John Derye, 5s. ; Edward White, 5s. ; Nicholas
Bickford 6s. 8d. ; William Lake, 6s. 8d. ; Nicholas Slanninge,
1 The materials for this chapter are almost wholly drawn from the original
documents in the local archives.
2 The date of 1501, previously assigned by various writers, arose from the
misreading of an imperfect figure by the first enquirer. However, we find
' James the scolemaister ' in 1507, with a kind of quasi public position.

270 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
13s. 4d. ; William Hawkyns, 5s.; John Forde, 6s. 8d.— [The
Twelve.] William Symons, 20s. ; Eobert Hampton, 16d.; Edward Cocke,
lOd. ; Thomas Byrt, 2s. 8d. ; John Sampson, 6s. 8d. ; John Haw
kyns, 8s. ; Thomas Hampton, 5s. ; William Howe, sen., Is,
Thomas Browne, 4s. ; John Maynard, 2s. 8d. ; John Martyn, 5s.
Gregory Cocke, 2s. 8d. ; John Waddon, 2s. ; Thomas Perkyns,
2s. 8d. ; Walter Pepperell, 2s. 8d. ; Christopher Earle, 13s. 4d.
John Vosye, 3s. 4d. ; Henry Brecnall, 2s. ; William Brokinge, 1 6d
Eichard Enscott, 4d. ; Mr. Edmund Euston, 10s. — [The Twenty-
four.] Bichard Lybbe, 10s. ; George White, 3s. 4d. ; Eobert Holman,
Is.; George Bolton, 16d. ; JohnEewbye, 10d,; John Greninge, 5d.;
John Lyght, Is. ; John Worgow, 2s. ; John Lewys, 4s. ; William
Griffyn, of Compton, 2s. ; Wm. Chiswyll, 4s. ; Wm. Jeifrye, 16d.;
Thomas Williams, Is.; Wm. Griffyn, Is.; John Whyte, Is.; Wm.
Makye, 8d. ; Wm. Blake, fletcher, 16d.; Wm. Gill, 16d. ; John
Peny, lOd. ; Eoger Tremlynson, 8d. ; Alse Lyle, lOd. ; Bobt.
Wood, 20d. ; John Bealbery, 2s. ; Thos. Turner, 16d. ; John
Sounde, (?) 2s. 8d. ; Nicholas Barford, 2s. ; John Bery, 2s. ; John
Tennycombe, 2s.; John Harvye, 16d.; Thos. Hoylle, 3s. 4d. ; Thos.
Barrett, 6s. 8d. ; John Eoehe, Is. ; John Hoop, 20d. ; Alse Pera,
3s. 4d. ; Nicholas Browne, 5s. ; Thomas Bickley, 5s. ; William
Brown, 10s.; John Gewyns, 3s. 4d. ; John Hayleston, 16d.; Wm.
Huchins, 6s. 8d. ; John Estcott, 3s. 4d. ; Walter Batteshill, 3s. 4d. ;
Bawdon Hooker, 2s. ; John Burnard, 5s. ; Bichard Pers, 2s. ; Jas.
Hampton, 16d. ; Henry Blase, 16d. ; John Foote, Is.; Wm. Batti-
shill, 2s. ; Margaret Bunting, 16d.
Between this date and 1572 there occur many entries of
payments on account of the school house — 36 perches of wall
were built in 1561 at lOd. a perch — and for the school
master's ' table ' and fees, while ' the little schoolmaster ' and
' two schoolmasters ' are also mentioned. In the latter year
(February 20th) the Queen granted letters patent which set
forth that the revenues of the Vicarage, burdened with the
pension of £8 a year payable to the Crown (in succession to
tho Priory), and its arrears of £112 were unable to maintain
a Vicar, since no one could be found to undertake the duties
for the balance. Wherefore, on the undertaking of the
Mayor and Commonalty, that they and their successors for
ever would find a fit person to serve the cure, and would
support a free grammar school in the town, paying the chief
master a stipend of £20 per annum, the Queen granted and
assigned to the Mayor and Commonalty and their successors
the arrears of the said pension, the pension, and the advowson
of the Vicarage.

THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL. 271
The salary of £20 was for the time liberal. It attracted
hither William Kempe, an M.A. of Cambridge, a poet, and
author of a work on education. It was the same amount
that the Mayor was allowed for his yearly fee, and it was
certainly over a third of the whole vicarial revenues. Thus
in 1592-3, when the Vicarage was farmed by Kempe, he
"paid £40 ; while George Baron gave £10 for the rent of the
vicarage house. Moreover, we have clear evidence of what
was considered in those days the due division of the income
of the bving, in the fact that in 1600 Upham, the Vicar, had
£34 to Kernpe's £20. And Henry Wallis, who succeeded
Upham, was bound under penalty to pay the £20 every
year. In the time of the Commonwealth the difference
between the shares of the Vicar and the schoolmaster had
become greater ; but then the Mayor and Commonalty made
up the ministerial stipend to what was regarded as an
adequate amount, out of the town revenues, and doubled
the pay of the schoolmaster. The stipend, in fact, never
represented the whole of the outlay on the school, as we see
even from such entries as the payment of 14s. 8d., in 1592,
to Kempe, towards building his study and trimming his
chamber. The Almshouse Chapel and its appurtenances
may have continued the school-house and master's residence,3
with sundry alterations (though we find the term 'the
school-house in the churchyard,' which seems distinctive),
until, in 1657-8, the old school-house in the Orphans Aid
was erected at the cost of the Mayor and Commonalty;
though subsequently rented from the other Charity, and in
some way associated with the almshouse property, which it
adjoined, and which received a small annual payment from
the Orphans Aid on its behalf.
The Corporation at that time undertook what was essen
tially the foundation of the Grammar School on an enlarged
basis. Not only did they build the new school-house, but
they resolved that the salary should be £40, with the
Orphans Aid house and garden ; and that forty boys should
be taught free, the master being allowed to make his own
advantage for the rest. Upon this understanding, July 8th,
1658, articles of agreement were entered into with Nathaniel
Conduit, of Ilminster, who became the first master in the
new premises.
The Grammar School in the last century lost its free
character altogether, and became simply a subsidized school
-" It and the dwelling attached were leased, in 1710, to "William Strong, at
a fine of £70, and on condition that £60 should be laid out in alterations.

272 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
of the ordinary classical type ; though under the mastership
of Dr. Bidlake, which ended in 1810, it attained a high and
well-deserved reputation. On the appointment of Dr. Bid-
lake's successor, the salary, then £30, was raised to £50, on
condition that two sons of poor freemen of Plymouth should
be educated therein free ; and at the present time ten boys
are educated on payment of two guineas each per annum.
The only other change to notice is the removal from the old
premises, which had become very inadequate. A payment
was then made in lieu of the school-house to the master;
and this continues, the Corporation paying £20 as salary,
and £50 for the school-house. The fee farm rent of £8
granted to the town by Elizabeth, and once paid to the
Prior, is now paid by the Vicar.
There is no complete list of the masters, but the following
occur: Thos. Brooke, 1561; Gill, 1570; Wystlek, 1574-5;
Wm. Mynterne, 1575-6 ; William Kympe, 1581 ; Moore,
1604-5; John Worth, 1605-30 ;4 A. Horsman, 1630- ; N.
Conduit, 1658- ; John Bedford, 1674-1738 ; John Bedford,
jun. (agreement 1735 in his father's bfetime), 1738- ;
Eev. H. Lemoyne, -1779; Eev. Dr. Bidlake, 1779-1810;
Eev. W.Williams, 1811-1826 ; Eev. J. H. Borwell, 1826-1840 ;
Eev. Dr. Holmes, 1840-1854; W. G. Clase, 1854-1858; Eev.
W. Harpley, 1858-1866; W. Bennett, 1867-1879; John
Bennett, 1879-1885 ; J. Kinton Bond, 1885-
The Orphans Aid.
The founder of the Hospital of Orphans Aid was one
William Laurence, a merchant living at ' Foxhole.' By his
will, made December 3rd, 1612, he bequeathed to Thomas and
Nicholas Sherwill, merchants, £100, to be paid at the return
' of the good shippe called the Jonathan of plymouth whereof
I am part owner from her now intented vioage to the Straights
in the parts beyond the seas, and of the proceeds and returne
of my goods and adventure now in the said shipp the said
voyage,' the condition being that within seven years after
the testator's death the Sherwills should erect and build a
' convenient Almshouse ' in Plymouth for * poore people . . .
to dwell and inhabite therein or for the education and bring
ing vp of poore children or orphants of the same borough.'
Further he bequeathed to the Mayor and Commonalty ' to
4 "Worth was a clergyman appointed in succession to Moore, also a clergy
man, who had obtained other preferment, on the recommendation of Bishop
Cotton that he was ' an excellent good scholler, a minister and a verie good
preacher, one that hath spent most part of his time in teaching schools, and
hath made as many good schollers as any one man in the countrie.'

THE ORPHANS AID.

273

the use and for and towards the releife and mayntenaunce
of the said poore people and orphants which shall from time
to time dwell or be brovght vpp in the saide howse,' or in
defaulte of the Sherwills erecting such a house, then to the
same purpose in any such house erected by other persons
within the said seven years, four pounds annually out of his

:%*¦ ~

|f*y,S<S , 

Entrance of the Orphans Aid.
lands and tenements at Tor for ever. Another 20s. a year
was left to the Mayor and Commonalty out of Tor towards
the maintenance of a ' preacher of the Word ' at Tidneham,
Gloucester ; and £20 to the ' stocke to sett ye poor to worke.'
The SherwiUs were faithful to their trust; and well within
the seven years the work was done. A memorandum upon
a loose piece of paper, fortunately preserved, puts the
cost of endowing and incorporating at £301 9s. 5d. ; and of

274 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
building and walling and planting the orchard at £457 13s. 4d.,
total £759 2s. 9d. William Laurence's £100 had thus borne
good fruit. A memorandum on another scrap shows that it
had been supplemented up to July, 1616, by the following
gifts: Abraham Colmer, £100; John Clement, £120; Nicholas
Sherwill, £120 ; Thomas Sherwill, £120 ; Humphry Fownes,
£50; —Proctor (a legacy), £20; John Bound, £10; W. Heale,
£10 ; W. Hill, £20 ; William Birch, £10. Laurence's £100
was received from Clement.
There is extant the detailed account of the building
charges, kept by Thomas Sherwill, beginning March 7th,
1615, on which day Eobert Trelawny had ^£18 10s. towards
the redeeming of Mr. Mathew's lease, 'being the on halfe
of the pryse thereof,' and ending August 28th, 1618. There
are entries of small gifts from poor people — shillings from
lightermen and the like ; and Eobert Trelawny appears as a
liberal benefactor in addition to those already named. Not
only does he seem to have taken half the cost of Mr.
Mathew's lease; but he pays £6 13s. 4d. in cash; £10 16s. ld.
for the ' remayner of the poole,' and gives a house occupied
by Eobert Bray, bringing in £2 8s. annually. A precedent
was sought for the deed of incorporation, and a copy of that
of Dr. White's Temple Hospital in Bristol obtained. Mr.
Glandville's man had lis. for writing and engrossing, and
Sir Matthew Cary 3s. 4d. for his fee ; the enrolment cost 6s.
£100 was paid to Mr. Fownes in 1618 for a house in Still-
man Street, and £25 to Mr. Colmer for his gardens in Mudd
Street — Buckwell Lane.5
The actual site of the Hospital was the tenement leased
by Matthews, granted by the Corporation for the purpose,
and in consideration of the 'cost and great charge' of the
Sherwells in acquiring the lease, at a yearly rent of 22s.
An account with Abraham Colmer, Eobert Trelawny,
Thomas Sherwill, and Nicholas Sherwill, governors, gives
the expense of 'building erecting founding & incorporating
the sayd Hospital w*h the dyet apparell & other necessaries
of the orphans ' to December 24th, 1620, at £833 7s. 5d, of
which, up to the 29th September preceding, the founders and
first benefactors had given £734 0s. l£d., so that £99 6s. 3f d.
remained due.
The property conveyed under the foundation deed consisted
of (a) three messuages and a close adjoining the Hospital on
0 On the parchment back of the book are the mottoes : ' Hi deus domum
Eedificat frustra laborant aedificatores ' ; and, ' He is a father of the fatherlesse
& a Judge of widdowes euen god in his holy habitation.'

THE ORPHANS AID. 275
the west; (5) two gardens in Mudd Street; (c) a house in
Stillman Street; and {d) two houses in Southside, with a
close of land at Laira, and two closes in Egg Buckland,
called Awter's Well — the latter {d) the property of Arthur
Pollard, Esq., deceased. This naturally suggests that Pollard's
property was itself a special endowment.
Entries of receipt in the following year set forth the
details and values of the original endowment as follows:
house in Stillman Street, £5 ; tenement at Southside, 16s. ;
two messuages lately built by Joseph Gubbes at Southside,
piece of ground at the Lary, and 16 acres of land at
Egbuckland called Auterswell, £1 13s. 8d.; shop at Southside
Quay, 4s.; three messuages and gardens adjoining the hospital
on the west, and a close in Old Mill Lane, 6s. 8d. ; part of a
dwelling-house and shop, 48s. ; building on the wall of the
town, 4s.; two gardens in Mudd Street, 25s.; dues of Sutton
Pool, collected by John Barnes (£13 6s. 8d. was paid the
Prince for rent), £22 3s. 7d. The total receipts, with a
legacy of £10 from John Waddon, were £43 15s. lid. ; the
expenditure, £33 16s. 2d. 'Eichard Isteed phisition' was
tutor, and had £11 14s. for the diet of four orphans for
three-fourths of a year.
There is not here, nor anywhere else apparently, save in
the Eeceiver's Accounts for 1602-3, any definite reference
to a gift by Walter Mathewe to the town of certain houses
for the use of poor fatherless children, a pair of indentures
concerning which were written in that year at the cost
of 5s.
Eobert Eawlyn, a captain in Parker's last expedition,
whose will is dated February 15th, 1626, was a liberal
benefactor to the town, and to the orphans in particular.
He left £10 to the poor; £10 to the poor stock; £125 to
be lent to poor seafaring men in sums of £10 and £5, at
4 per cent. ; £125 to be lent to poor tradesmen and young
beginners. Two houses in Batter Street and the residue
of his property were bequeathed to the 'Orffantes Ayd,' with
the expressed wish that one of the children therein should
belong to Compton Gifford. Of the interest of the first
£125, £3 was to be spent in providing butter for the
Almshouse people on fast-days; £2 was to be paid for the
poor of the tithing of Compton Gifford. Of the interest
of the other £125, 10s. each were to be paid to the poor
of Plymouth, Stonehouse, St. Budeaux, Stoke, Egg Buckland,
Weston Peverell, and Saltash; and the remaining 30s. at
Christmas to the poor of Plymouth. T 2

276 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
That the remainder given to the Orphans Aid was sub
stantial is shown in his recognition by the 'twelve and
twenty-four,' in 1647, as the chief founder of that Charity,
of which he was certainly the chief supporter. The greater
part of his gift had been applied in the purchase of the
moiety of the Drake lease of the mills, which then produced
£150 a year; and the Mayor and Commonalty resolved that
only eight orphans should be maintained out of the mill
income ; and that as much money should be saved as possible,
' to raise some considerable sum for the future support of
that house, and keepe in memory the aete of soe good a
benefactor.' The Commissioners of 1820 had an idea that
the £250 loan stock had never been received by the Cor
poration, inasmuch as all the payments thereout are, and
have long been, made from the funds of the Charity (save
the 30s. to the poor of Plymouth, which has dropped).
The real explanation, however, seems to be that all Eawlyn's
bequest was applied directly in furthering the objects of the
Hospital. The Corporation still pay, and have long paid,
£20 a year to its funds.
A portrait of Eawlyn was placed in the schoolroom of
the 'Aid,' and is now in the Guildhall.
The necessities of the_ Corporation, brought about by the
Siege, led them to borrow freely of the funds of the Charities
in the town, as well as of individuals. There is full evidence,
however, that a strict account was kept. The Orphans Aid
as the most wealthy body was most largely drawn upon.
The £1,500 paid for the moiety of the Drake lease of the
mills during the Siege produced practically no return ; and
when the lease ran out the Corporation had become largely
in debt to the Charity. £1,400 of this debt was, however,
cancelled in 1653 by the settlement on the Hospital of a
fourth of the mills (then fallen in hand) and of the water
in the leat; and this arrangement lasted down until 1805,
when the fourth was repurchased by the Corporation for
£1,800. This led, in 1840, to -the Charity Commissioners
filing a bill against the Corporation to recover the property ;
but in 1845 the Master of the Bolls decided that the Charity
had no legal claim. The produce of the mills to the Charity
from 1666 to 1803 averaged £60 5s. 7d. The highest year
was 1712 = £107 2s. Id.; while in some years, as in 1766, it
yielded nothing.
The Orphans Aid is strictly a Corporation foundation.
Though founded by deed poll July 17th, 1617, by Thomas
and Nicholas Sherwill, the site had been granted them

HELE AND LANYON'S SCHOOL.

277

April 14th, 1615, subject to the fee farm rent of £1 2s., by
the Mayor and Commonalty; and the Sherwills by their
foundation deeds provided that the Hospital should be
under Municipal management. The ex-Mayor was to be
governor, four of the Aldermen assistants, and two of the
' twenty-four ' wardens ; and the Mayor and his brethren,
from the time that there should not be three of the first
founders or benefactors surviving, were to have the sole
direction and visiting of the Charity, and the placing and
displacing of the orphans. For this reason the Commissioners
of 1820 made no investigation of the affairs of the Hospital.

Seal of Orphans Aid.

It is now under the control of the trustees of the Municipal
Charities, Mr. Edmund Pridham, clerk.
Though appropriated solely to boys, the original intention
was to include girls within its benefits. The seal, the draught
of which cost Is. 6d., shows five orphans, of whom three are
females. Hele and Lanyons School.
The history of Hele and Lanyon's School begins with a
feoffment by Elize Hele January 9th, 1632, of all his estates
to his own use during life, and after his death to his wife
Alice Hele, John Maynard, John Hele, and Elize Stert, and
their heirs in trust, to employ the same in some godly, pious,

278 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
and charitable uses. They gave £5006 and £20 a year about
1640 for the benefit of poor children in the Hospital of
Poor's Portion ; and subsequently John Maynard and Elize
Stert, the survivors, definitely applied the profits of certain
of the lands for 'the maintenance of poor children to be
placed and educated in and preferred from the Hospital of
Poor's Portion.' £2,000 left by John Lanyon, under his will,
September 15th, 1674, for the benefit of the poor people of
the Hospital of Poor's Portion, was laid out in the purchase
of properties in Plymouth, the rentals being applied in the
maintenance and education of children, as with Hele's
Charity, and the two being managed by the same set of
trustees. Hence originated what is now known as Hele and
Lanyon's School, but in the last century as the Eed and
Blue Boys — those brought up on the Hele Charity being
dressed in blue, and those on the Lanyon in red. It was a
purpose of the original scheme of the Hele Charity that
children of 'extraordinary parts of memory and otherwise'
should if possible be sent to the universities. On other
Hele foundations this has been done, but never in Plymouth.
The funds of this trust have been grievously wasted in
litigation, and sustained loss by the insolvency of Mr.
Cleather, the steward, early in the present century. Much
difficulty in management has arisen from the fact that
there are three sets of parties interested — the hereditary
trustees, who are the heirs of Sir John Maynard ; the official
trustees, in whom the Lanyon property is also vested ; and
the Guardians : and at different times various schemes have
been drawn up to settle points in dispute between them. In
this way a Charity intended for the elevation of pauper
children has been turned into a lower middle-class school,
and the real owners deprived of their legitimate rights.
Under the deed of 1658, by which Sir John Maynard and
Ebze Stert settled the estates, the revenues were to be
applied (among other matters) ' towards the maintenance of
poor children to be placed and educated in and preferred
from the Hospital in Plymouth, commonly called the Poor's
Portion,' and none were to be admitted 'but orphans who
have no father, or whose fathers cannot maintain them ' ;
while guarantee was to be given on behalf of outside places
6 The £500 was to be invested in lands ; and after payment of £10 each
yearly to the ministers of Plympton and Plymstock, one child was to be
maintained for each £8 of income — the Mayor and governors of the hospital
appointing three, and the trustees the fourth. One year's income might be
allotted to place each child out.

JOAN BENNETT'S TRUST. 279
that children from them, if they became unfit for the
Hospital, should be maintained by the parishes to which they
belonged. When the Hospital passed to the Guardians under
the Workhouse Act, the trustees dealt with the Hele Charity
independently of the Guardians, and nominated the .lads
without reference to the Workhouse until 1805. Then the
Guardians successfully maintained the right of the children
in the Workhouse, and the trustees chose the two -thirds of
the recipients who were under the deed of 1658 to belong to
Plymouth, from a list presented to them annually by the
master of the Workhouse. Lanyon's Charity, which at first
admitted girls, had precisely the same history.
In 1821 a formal agreement was entered into between the
Guardians and the trustees to settle certain disputes. Here
the same principle was affirmed, but with certain limitations,
which have really led to the present condition of affairs.
The boys were placed under the care of the Guardians, and
the schoolmaster nominated and paid by them in considera
tion of his educating the other male children in the Hospital.
'But the boys maintained and educated on this Charity'
were ' always to be kept as distinct as possible (both in and
out of school) from the paupers in the house' — elsewhere
called ' the general poor.'
While the old Hospital was occupied as the Workhouse
Hele and Lanyon's School was conducted therein, originally
as an integral part of the establishment, later as an adjunct,
in separate apartments, which the Guardians were bound to
provide. Then it had a house provided, and it became for a
while the custom to pass boys sent there in at one door of
the Workhouse and out of the other, to keep up the pretence
that they were preferred from the Hospital of the Poor's
Portion. Joan Bennett's Trust.
Joan Bennett's Trust was founded under her will, bear
ing date August 10th, 1650. She left certain premises in
Plymouth (Old Church Lane) to the Mayor and Commonalty,
to the intent that £6 of the yearly proceeds should bepaid
for the preaching of twelve sermons in the parish church of
Maker, by Joseph Hicks, of Landrake, or whom he might
appoint during his life (afterwards, her other executors had
the appointment, and finally the Mayor and Commonalty) ;
the residue to be paid quarterly to the poor of Maker. And
certain other premises, in Southside Street, the profits to be
applied for the maintenance of two scholars in the study

280 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
of divinity at Oxford or Cambridge, or one of them; one
student to be of the posterity of her husband's brother's
sons, and the other of the posterity of one of her sisters.
Furthermore she left £30 to be lent out in sums of £10 for
four years or less, gratis, to young tradesmen of Plymouth,
well and piously affected ; another £50 to be lent out in like
manner for the same period, gratis, to ' two able and religious
ministers of the gospell'; and out of the profits of her
properties in Plymouth, formerly the land of Pollard or his
wife, £6 a year, for preaching a sermon monthly in the
' Great Church ' of Plymouth, every Saturday before the
first Lord's-day, or before the celebration of the Lord's
Supper, and during the term she had in the same property,
by Mr. George Hughes, minister of Plymouth, or such as
he should appoint — the residue of the profits to go to the
increase of the maintenance of the two scholars ; £20 was
also left to be given to poor people of Plymouth — ancient
men or poor widow women. Finally, after a number of
personal bequests, Joan Bennett left the whole remainder of
her property for the purchase of the freeholds of her lease
hold interests, or of other lands, ' to the end that the portions
appointed by me for the maintenance of the said scholars
and the lecture in the towne of Plymouth may be ppetuated
and continue foreur if god shall soe please.' The executors
were George Hughes, Jasper Hicks, Andrew Trevill, and
Christopher Ceely ; and Hughes attended her on her death
bed, March 10th, 1651-2, when he added a codicil.
There is no trace of the moneys bequeathed by Joan
Bennett to be lent on loan, nor of the bequest for the en
dowment of the sermon in Plymouth. The Maker Trust
continues ; but had long ceased to be, if it ever was, under
the management of the Mayor and Commonalty of Plymouth,
at the date of the Charity Enquiry of 1820 ; it is however
one proof that the testatrix was a Presbyterian, and that her
endowment was not intended for the education of Episco
palian clergymen, to which it has been at times applied.
According to their own showing to the Charity Com
missioners of 1820, from 1678 to 1795 the Corporation had
received in rents £2,174 18s. 7d., against which they had
only paid exhibitions to the amount of £732. In that year
the house was burnt; so they allowed £500 to the tenant
toward rebuilding. Another £500, or over £4 a year, was also
claimed by them as deduction for rates, taxes, repairs, and
expenses of receiving the rents, while they allowed nothing
on the other side for the interest of the constantly-accu-

GENERAL ENDOWED SCHOOLS. 281
mulating balance, which paid very handsomely for all these
things. However, they did acknowledge a debt to the Trust
in 1799, of £442 18s. 7d. ; and this is the foundation of the
present stock. From that date down to the time of the
enquiry, the Corporation continued to receive and use the
rents; but they made no application of the funds because
no persons had been able to prove descent ; and possibly,
if the Commissioners had never investigated the business,
nothing more would ever have been heard of Joan Bennett
and her gift to the poor scholars of Plymouth. A few years
later there was a Chancery suit ; and in 1834 it was ordered
that failing claimants of descent the sons of inhabitant house
holders should be chosen. The bulk of the Charity property
now consists of accumulation of income, and is administered
under a scheme of 1888 by a body of governors, to whom
Mr. Edmund Pridham is clerk. Exhibitions are granted of
the yearly value of £50, tenable for three years at an
approved university in the United Kingdom, and are open
to sons of residents in the Parliamentary borough under 19
years of age. They are awarded on examination, and the
parents must be of limited means.
General Endowed Schools.
The Grey School, Hampton Street, was founded in 1713
by several leading inhabitants, prominent among whom was
Canon Gilbert, Vicar of St. Andrew. It was known as the
Grey and Yellow School, from the dress adopted, and
previous to the erection of the present premises in Hampton
Street, in 1814, was held in Woolster Street in 'a dirty
situation and a miserable building.'
Lady Eogers's Charity School, now at Ivybridge, but long
occupying premises in Bedford Terrace, was founded in 1764
by Dame Hannah Eogers, who left £10,000 to be applied for
that purpose, after certain conditions had been fulfilled.
In 1785, during the joint pastorate at Batter Street Chapel
of the Eevs. Christopher and Herbert Mends, the Batter
Street Benevolent Institution was founded, for the education
of girls and infants. It was the oldest local educational
institution definitely connected with any religious body ; and
was always conducted purely on the voluntary principle,
supported by subscriptions from persons of different denomi
nations. The Household of Faith in Vennell Street was founded by
the Eev. Dr. Hawker, while Vicar of Charles. In 1787 a

282 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Sunday School was established in Friary Court, and in 1790
a day school of industry for girls. The present school house
in Vennell Street was built in 1796. The children are
instructed according to the principles of the Established
Church, and trained and employed in such useful employ
ment as is best calculated for their positions in after life.
Mr. Jacob Nathan, a wealthy Hebrew of Plymouth, in
1867 left £17,000 to charities, and founded an endowed
school for his own people, held on premises in Well Street.
Voluntary Schools.
The Plymouth Public Free School was founded in 1809
for boys, in 1811 for girls, and the first stone of the first of
the present group of buildings was laid in 1812. Prior to
that date the boys were taught in Bedford Street ; the girls
in the Guildhall. The growth was so great that several
additions were rendered necessary; and it has become not
merely the largest in the town, but one of the largest
of its kind in the kingdom, educating over 2,000 children.
The Infants' School was established in 1860. The annual
expenditure is about £2,500. When first established ad
mission to the school was free, but it was soon found
necessary to charge a small fee.
Eagged Schools were commenced in 1848, Mr. Eldred
Brown and Mr. T. Nicholson being the promoters. In 1850,
the Eagged School Association was formed. Premises in
Catte Street were then purchased at a cost of £600, and
adapted at the outlay of another £200. A small school was
next set on foot in Foundry Ope. This afterwards developed
into the King Street Schools, erected at a cost of £2,100.
The Eagged Schools eventually merged into the work of the
School Board.
Pubbc 'voluntary' schools have been established, and good
— in several cases attractive — school buildings provided in
various parishes in the town. Charles led the way. Schools
for this parish were established in 1838, but it was not
until 1846 that the school buildings in Tavistock Place were
erected. In 1856-7 additional accommodation was afforded
by the erection of a boys' school at Vinegar Hill, otherwise
Charlestown, when the former building was appropriated to
girls and infants only. St. Andrew Chapel Schools were
started in 1842. Schools for Holy Trinity were first opened
in 1844, and the present buildings erected in 1854, 1859, and
1865, as occasion required. The schools of St. Peter were

THE SCHOOL BOARD. 283
estabbshed in 1850, and the premises (since largely extended)
opened in 1859. Christ Church schools were likewise estab
lished in 1850. Sutton-on-Plym boys' school was erected in
1861, and in 1870 capacious girls' and infants' schools were
added. The schools of the parish of St. James, long held
in very poor premises in Bath Street, occupy commodious
and handsome premises in Prospect Eow. Singularly enough
the mother parish was the last to move in the matter of
education. It was not until 1861 that day schools for St.
Andrew were established. Only two years from that date
had passed, however, before the buildings in Princess Street
Ope were erected. There are also schools in connection with
the Abbey, North Eoad.
The Eoman Catholics hold large schools in capacious
buildings attached to the Cathedral, until the erection of
which the old chapel in St. Mary Street, Stonehouse, and
previously to the Cathedral being built a house adjoining
that chapel, were used. They have been established upwards
of fifty years. There is also a school at Tothill. Higher
education is given in the Convent of Notre Dame, and by
the Basilian Fathers at Beaeonfield, near Plymouth.
In 1865 the Baptists provided spacious school buildings
adjoining their chapel in George Street, in which an un-
sectarian boys' school was then carried on. In 1870 the
Wesleyans erected commodious schools behind their chapel in
King Street, which were likewise used for daily instruction ;
but neither of these undertakings is now in existence, the
School Board having practically covered the same ground.
The School Board.
Under the provisions of the Education Act of 1870, the
Town Council applied for powers to elect a School Board,
and the first election took place on the 31st of January, 1871.
There were nineteen candidates for thirteen seats ; six being
nominated as Churchmen, six as advocates of unsectarian
education, two by the working men, two by the Wesleyans,
one by the Eoman Catholics, whilst two — the Eev. J. Barter
and Dr. Merrifield — stood independently, the latter specially
representing science. The election was held before Mr. W.
Luscombe, as returning officer, the Mayor, Mr. Serpell, being
one of the candidates, and resulted as follows. The unsec
tarian candidates are distinguished by an asterisk :
Successful candidates : — Mr. J. Pike (Working man, Inde
pendent) 4349 ; Mr. S. P. Cook (Working man, Wesleyan)
4171 ; Mr. T. Pitts (Churchman) 3456 ; Mr. J. Smith (Wes-

284 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.'
leyan) 3119; Mr. C. F. Burnard (Wesleyan) 2968; Eev. C.
T. Wilkinson (Churchman) 2861 ; Eev. J. Barter (Indepen
dent) 2257 ; Eev. Canon Mansfield (Eoman Catholic) 2129 ;
Mr. C. Norrington (Churchman) 1967; *Mr. A. Eooker
(Independent) 1927; *Eev. F. E. Anthony (Independent)
1805 ; Mr. C. Bewes (Churchman) 1768 ; *Mr. E. C. Serpell
(Baptist) 1739. Unsuccessful candidates : Mr. J. Kelly
(Churchman) 1669; *Mr. J. N. Bennett (Liberal Church
man) 1562 ; Dr. Merrifield (Unitarian) 1531 ; *Mr. S. Eliott
(Friend) 1282 ; Mr. W. Eadford (Churchman) 1135 ; *Mr.
E. Bundle (Liberal Churchman) 643.
In consequence of the Board adopting the principle of the
twenty-fifth clause of the Education Act, which allowed the
payment out of the rates of fees for indigent children in
denominational schools, Mr. Serpell, who had been elected
chairman, resigned his seat. The contest to fill the vacancy
took place in November, 1872, and turned upon the clause.
Mr. S. Eliott, one of a number of Nonconformists who had
refused to pay the School Board rate on the ground of
conscientious objection, was the candidate of the opponents ;
Mr. G. Jago, master of the Free School, the candidate of
its supporters, chiefly Churchmen and Eoman Catholics.
The contest was exciting, but Mr. Eliott won by 1457 votes
to 1280 ; and this was taken as deciding the controversy.
A preliminary educational census by the Board showed
3,114 children in the town between three and five, and
10,966 between five and thirteen. Upwards of 2,000 were
not receiving any education.
On the completion of its sixth triennial term of office, in
January, 1889, the Board had acquired or erected ten sets of
schools — in Castle Street, Cattedown Boad, King Street,
Mount Street, Oxford Street, Palace Court, Sutton Eoad,
Treville Street, Union Street, and Wolsdon Street ; a truants'
industrial school ; and had established a higher grade school,
a cookery school, and science and art classes. The total
cost of building had been £64,062 2s. lid. ; and there was
due on loans £54,701 16s. 2d. These buildings provided a
total accommodation, at eight superficial feet per child, of
6975 — as allowed by the Education Department of 6010.
There were 6020 on the register, and the average attendance
was 82-79 per cent. Mr. H. Soltau was the first clerk of the
Board. On his resignation Capt. Pope succeeded. When
he resigned Mr. E. Stribley was appointed, and on Mr.
Stribley's death in 1889, Mr. Cook.

HIGHER AND SPECIAL EDUCATION. 285
Higher and Special Education.
The provision for higher education in Plymouth is ample
and excellent ; and, in addition to the private schools, there
are two proprietary establishments — the Plymouth High
School for Girls, opened in 1874 ; and the Plymouth High
School for Boys (Plymouth College), founded in 1877. The
town is also an important centre for the modern systems of
University Examination and Extension.
Art Schools and Science Classes have been carried on in
Plymouth for many years with very marked success ; and in
1887 it was resolved to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee by the
erection of a suitable building for the purpose of Technical,
Art, and Science Schools. Designs by Mr. Shortridge,
architect, were approved on competition ; the Town Council
gave a part of the Cattle Market fronting on the Tavistock
Boad, for a site ; and in 1889 memorial stones were laid by
the Mayor (Mr. H. J. Waring) and Mr. T. Bulteel.

CHAPTEE XII.
CHARITY AND PHILANTHROPY.1
In Faith and Hope the world will disagree,
But all mankind's concern is Charity.
All must be false that thwart this one great end ;
And all of God that bless mankind or mend.— Pope.
Plymouth ! wherein from the remotest age
"Which knew thee, Charity hath found her shrine,
May I not glory, hailing thee as mine <
There still lives moist-eyed Pity to assuage
The pangs of misery, or soothe the rage
Of fierce disease— there ever stands the door
Of Mercy open to the houseless poor —
There 's not a sorrow written in the page
Of human wretchedness, there 's not a woe
But finds some gentle ministry. — Gundy.
The Hospital of Poor's Portion.
FEOM the peculiarity of its origin the Workhouse of
Plymouth claims place among the endowed charities of
the town, though by no means senior in point of age.
In May, 1589, John Berry, of Plymouth, left {a) a house
to Thomasine Collyn for life, charged with 6s. per annum to
the relief of the poor; (6) lands and tenements which he
had bought of Mr. Foster 'near Plymouth Church' to his
kinsman, William Berry, of Bideford, Jane his wife, and
their heirs ; failing such heirs, in succession to Mark Berry,
Thomas Berry, and Eoger Berry, and their heirs male ; and
failing these, the reversion to the Mayor and Commonalty
for the maintenance and relief of the poor for ever — this
land was also charged while it continued in the Berrys with
a second annuity of 6s. for the relief of the poor ; (c) lands
and tenements at the Southside which he had bought of
John Amadas and Edmund Specott, in succession to Marke,
William, Thomas, and Eoger Berry and their heirs male
1 The leading authorities for this chapter are among the muniments of the
Corporation and the Board of Guardians.

THE HOSPITAL OF POOR'S PORTION. 287
(likewise charged with an annuity of 6s. for the relief of
the poor), and the reversion as before to the Mayor and Com
monalty for the maintenance and relief of the poor for ever.
By this will John Berry virtually became a principal
founder of the Hospital of Poor's Portion.
Neither Mark nor William Berry had any male issue ;
Eoger Berry died without issue ; Thomas Berry had one son
and two daughters. This son, Thomas Berry the younger,
also died without issue, but left the property at the Southside
to his wife and her heirs, considering himself the owner in
fee-simple, Then the Mayor and Commonalty stepped in
and claimed the reversionary rights; and the property was
leased in 1626 by the widow, Elizabeth Berry, to Eobert
Trelawny and others for the use of the poor, on payment of
£70. Disputes arose with the daughters of Thomas Berry
the elder, but the Mayor and Commonalty sustained their
claim ; and this property (both a and c ; for the house left to
Collyn was also at the Southside) became a portion of the
endowment of the Hospital of the Poor's Portion, the
annuities merging. What became of b is not clear; but
probably it also came to the Corporation. When the Hospital
was built the Mayor and Commonalty claimed that it had
been erected on their land.
There is a curious order in the White Book, setting forth
that the three messuages and tenements on the site of which
the Hospital had been erected were worth twenty marks a
year in clear annual value. And whereas this was so, and
whereas the Corporation were possessed of three closes of land
containing about six acres, then in the occupation of Philip
Andrews and Eobert Barker, which closes were charged with
the payment of £2 6s. 8d. yearly to the poor, it was agreed
that this yearly payment should lapse to the Corporation in
exchange for the Hospital site ; and that if at any time the
Court of Chancery, or such competent authority, should
insist upon the payment of the rent-charge, the wardens of
the Hospital should pay the Corporation £200. These three
closes were in the hands of the Corporation, so charged, as
early at least as 1612— two, adjoining the Mill Pool, in the
occupation of Wm. Parker ; one in that of Sir Warwick Hele.
Other properties then belonging to the poor, and sub
sequently in part transferred to the Hospital as endowment,
were a tenement in High Street, and a piece of land on
Crosse Downe (the Moore Splatt, of which more hereafter),
in the occupation of Eichard Hitchins, at a rent of 38s. ; a
tenement in Market Street (Whimple Street) and a garden in

288 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
High Street, rented by Wm. Pinsent, at 15s. (also transferred),
and 'late White's tenement' in Old Town, rented by John
Waddon, at 6s. 8d. Three rent-charges of 6s. each were then
paid on the Berry property ; and the total rental receipt was
£6 4s. 4d.
Thus, early in the seventeenth century, there were in the
hands of the Corporation of Plymouth various properties
and rent-charges belonging to the poor, which they sought to
make available in various ways. Moreover, the Poor Accounts,
which begin in the year 1611, show that the poor funds were
continually increased by small legacies, which, treated as
capital instead of revenue, would have accumulated to a
handsome sum.
One of the chief directions in which our Elizabethan
ancestors sought to be charitable was that of ' setting the
poore on worke' — finding employment for them if they
could not find it for themselves ; and out of an effort of this
kind the Hospital of Poor's Portion developed. As early as
1597, we find the Corporation moving in this direction.
There is extant a petition by one William Woulfe, serge
weaver, to the king, dated 1606, in which he complains that
the Mayor and Aldermen of Plymouth had induced him nine
years previously to come to that town from Exeter, to instruct
twenty poor children in the art of spinning worsted. He
avers that he was promised £50 for the first year, and £100
for the next, 'which some of a hundred pounds they then
also promised to lend unto him for seven yeares then after
the effecting the premises, and likewise promised him they
would from tyme to tyme duringe the said terme at their
costes and charges after the first yeare mayntayne the said 20
poore children with meat drinke and apparell ; and likewise
that he should have out of every shipp that belonged to the
same which came from the Newfoundland 100 of fishe, and
a house rent free.' The rejoinder of the Mayor and Aldermen
was that Woulfe was a wasteful and untruthful person, and
his charges ' most false.' Mr. Foynes had agreed to lend him
£30 and no more (Foynes or Fownes was Mayor when the
agreement was made), and the town to provide the children
with apparel, and to give him a shilling a week for the
diet of every child 'whom he should sett at work and
instruct in his science.' Woulfe had wasted his £30 and
was no longer able to put the children to work for want
of credit.
In 1611 we find children placed with William Weekes to
be trained in a similar way. And then a curious memoran-

THE HOSPITAL OF POOR'S PORTION.

289

dum in one of the old Corporate Apprenticeship Books,
apparently in the handwriting of Matthew Boyes, the town
clerk, records what appears to have been the first attempt to
establish a workhouse, in the old castle — the work being
picking oakum, knitting stockings, and weaving.
Such was the way in which the Mayor and Commonalty
led up to the establishment of the Hospital of Poor's Portion.
The foundation deed, executed by Sir John Gayer, Abraham
Colmer, and Edmund Fowell, in performance of the trust
reposed in them by the Corporation, is dated May 4th,
1630. The Hospital stood in Catherine Lane (now Street),

Hospital of Poor's Portion.

immediately south of the Orphans Aid, and bore over the
entrance gateway the pious motto, ' By God's helpe throvghe
Christ.' The regulations concerning rebgious teaching and
exercises were very particular and strict. The management
was vested in the Mayor and Magistrates (Aldermen) and
Common Council.
As in the case of the Orphans Aid the necessities of the
Corporation during the early part of the seventeenth century
led them to borrow from the funds of the Poor's Portion,
and the debt was dealt with in much the same fashion. Thus
in 1658 an annuity of £30 out of the shambles for ever was
settled on the Hospital, in consideration of £600. But the
dealings with the Poor funds were never so extensive as those
u

290 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
with the Orphan ; and the only money owing to this Hospital
by the Corporation in 1685 was £129 17s. 3d., besides £100,
the bequest of John Lanyon ; and certain arrears of the rent
charge of £30. The rent charge is still paid, though the old
shambles have disappeared, but it goes to Hele's Charity, and
not to the Poor's Portion, the £600 purchase-money being
part of the funds arising from the Hele gift.
The Hospital ceased to be a private charity in 1708, when
an Act of Parliament was passed creating the existing Cor
poration of Guardians, and transferring to them the Poor's
Portion, with all the charitable trusts and gifts 'given, devised,
or disposed in general terms for the use of the poor of the
town, or of either of the parishes of St. Andrew and Charles.'
The Act also provided that the names of all benefactors to
the Workhouse should be inscribed in 'capital golden letters'
for ever in the chief room ; and that a moiety of the accumu
lated funds from fines, and of all future fines of the Hele
estate, should be paid over to the Guardians.
This was the result of an ¦ arrangement between the
Corporation, as managers of the Hospital; the Earl and
Countess of Stamford and Sir John Hobart, representatives
of Sir John Maynard, the last surviving trustee of Elize
Hele ; and the trustees of Hele's school, Sir Francis Drake,
Eecorder of Plymouth, Eichard Opie, John Neele, Thos.
Bound, and Joseph Webb, of Plymouth, merchants, and
Edmund Pollexfen, late of the same, esquire. The Guar
dians as incorporated, were to consist of ' the Mayor and
Eecorder of the said town for the time being; six of the
masters or magistrates of the said town ; six more of the
four and twenty or common council of the said town ; and
also twenty other persons to be chosen out of the ablest and
discreetest inhabitants of the parish of St. Andrew within the
said town, and eighteen others of the ablest and discreetest
inhabitants of the parish of Charles within the said town.'
When the Poor's Portion was founded it was endowed
with the Hospital Building ; five messuages at the Southside
— the Berry bequest ; a messuage in Market Street (Whimple
Street) ; a garden in High Street ; other premises in Whimple
Street ; the ' Moore Splatt ' north of Crosse Downe ; and
two messuages between the Hospital of Poor's Portion and
the Hospital of Orphans Aid.
Of these a portion only remain. The Hospital and
adjoining premises were sold, and their sites thrown into
that of the Guildhall. The ' Moore Splatt ' was utilized for
the erection of the New Workhouse. All that is left of the

THE HOSPITAL OF POOR'S PORTION.

291

five tenements at the Southside now forms the site of Messrs.
King and Pinkham's warehouse in New Street. The
remainder was sold to the Commissioners of Improvement
in 1853 for £400. The Commissioners likewise bought the
first house named in Market Street in 1835. It was at the
corner of Whimple and Buckwell Streets, and the price paid
for the fee was £350. The garden in High Street has long
ceased to be part of the Corporate estate. It was at the
corner of Catte Street, and so early as 1641 Philip Francis
built a house thereon. Francis by his will, August 6th,
1658, left an annuity of 40s. a year out of his house in

Seal of the Poor's Portion.

' Foxhole,' and this may represent the garden rental. More
over, Francis left all his lands of inheritance not otherwise
disposed of, after failure of his right heirs, to the Mayor and
Commonalty, for the use of the poor of the parishes of St.
Andrew and Charles equally. The will was proved in 1668 ;
but the poor have never been anything the better for the
reversion. The remaining item of the original endowment
is now represented by the Guildhall Wine Vaults in Whimple
Street. Other endowments in the hands of the Guardians include :
A house in North Street, occupying the site of three
tenements, mentioned among the lands of the Hospital in
1641, and leased by Nicholas Sherwill to John Young in
1633. There is no trace of the manner in which this came
to the Guardians. u 2

292 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
A house in Looe Street, purchased, with two small houses
communicating at the rear, by the Guardians, of one John
Eoberts, of Plymouth, tallow chandler, in 1722. The two
houses in Batter Street were, by the operation of the life lease
hold system, allowed to get so disgracefully into decay, that
they were eventually pulled down by the Town Council as
ruinous, and the sites thrown into the street, shortly after 1854.
The annuity of 40s. under the will of Philip Francis,
charged on a house in Vauxhall Street, and paid in equal
instalments by Mr. Bellamy and Mr. Treeby.
An annuity of 10s., paid by Messrs. Sparrow and Co. out
of Fairpath Field, Cattedown. This represents a gift by
Eichard Eaddon, presumably the Eichard Eaddon who, about
1589, built two houses on Friary Green, and obtained a lease
from John Sparke. Nothing, however, is really known of the
origin of this charge, which passed from the Mayor and
Commonalty to the Guardians under the Act of Incorpora
tion. In 1828 it was reckoned at 20s., two years in arrear,
and charged upon three fields. Mrs. Julian, the owner of
one part of the fields, was willing to pay her share; Mr.
Langmead, the owner of the other part, refused to pay his,
unless the Guardians could show their title. However, so
late as 1850 the 20s. was paid — 15s. by 'Peter Symons, of
Stonehouse, out of Stone Park and little Foxes, Cattedown,'
and 5s. ' Sir E. Lopes, remaining part of 20s. late Julian.'
Half of this gift has therefore been lost since then.
Margery Eow, by will October 1st, 1666, left the estate of
Bridgemoor, St. Johns, to the Mayor and Commonalty, for
the distribution by the overseers of the poor of 2s. in bread
on Friday in every week, the residue to go to the increase
of the stock for the use and maintenance of the poor of
the borough for ever. It is probable that a portion of this
property has been lost.
William Eowe (merchant), by will April 16th, 1690, left
Shute Park, three acres three roods and twenty-seven perches,
under trust for the distribution of the rents and profits in
clothing yearly within ten days after the 25th of December.
The rest of his property was devised to such charitable uses
as his trustees and their heirs should approve. The Guardians,
beyond the field, only obtained £100, the money and the
land being handed over by John Crabb, trustee, in December,
1713 ; but it was not until 1816 that the directions of the
testator were followed, the rents and profits up to that time
being carried to the general fund of the Workhouse — to the
relief, of course, of the ratepayers.

THE HOSPITAL OF POOR'S PORTION. 293
The original site of the Free School was alienated for 500
years at a rental of £10 a year, and in 1824 the rest of the
available building land was let on lease for ninety-nine years
for the erection of the cottage dwellings in Bowe and
Glanville Streets ; so that the annual produce of what was
once four acres of land in a prominent locality in Plymouth
became only £51 9s. 5d. The leases have proved to be in
formal, and hence disputes have arisen between the Guardians
and the tenants, as yet unsettled. Some of the land appears
to have been lost. The residue of the personal property of
the testator beyond the £100 was invested in Consols. One
of the objects specified by him for its appbcation was the
education and preferment of poor children.
Joseph Palmer, by will, September 12th, 1723, gave an
annuity of 40s., to be distributed annually to the poor of
both parishes for ever at 12d. per head.
Joseph Maddock, in 1727, bequeathed £1,500 to the poor
of Plymouth, to be laid out in lands of inheritance, and the
proceeds applied in the yearly distribution of clothing on
November 1st, one-half to poor in receipt of relief, and one-
half to poor not in receipt of relief. January 7th, 1729,
£1,475 was laid out 'in the purchase of £1,400 South Sea
Stock until suitable lands could be procured. As it remains
so invested, the inference is that for the -past 150 years no
suitable property has come into the market. The produce
of this £1,500 fell to £36 18s.
Sarah Webber, by will, October 24th, 1778, left 30, Bilbury
Street, subject to a life annuity to Paul and Mary Chabot of
40s. a year, to the Guardians, for the benefit of the poor of
the parish of St. Andrew.
The whole of these Charities are treated as part of the
common fund in relief of the poor-rates, with the exception
of William Eowe's and Maddock^s, which are laid out in
clothing ; and 2s. a week out of the Bridgemoor rents, spent
in bread.
When the Act of 1708 was passed, a number of private
benefactions were given towards the new scheme, as recorded
by tablets now in the ante-chamber of the board-room at
the Workhouse, whilst in the board-room itself are the arms
of between forty and fifty of the benefactors. Tablets and
arms were removed from the old Workhouse. Thus we find
the representatives at the time the Act was passed, Mr.
Trelawny and Sir George Byng, giving £50 each; Mr. Joseph
Palmer, £500 ; and a French refugee, probably as a thank-
offering for the succour he had received, £10.

294 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
The poor increased, their maintenance became expensive,
and the Guardians, before many years were over, found they
could not make both ends meet. By 1758 they were £1,644
in debt, for which they had to pay interest, and were further
liable for life annuities to the amount of £33, in respect of
another £400 borrowed and spent. The annual excess of
expenditure over income for the six years previous was
£320. So the Guardians appbed to Parliament for rebef,
setting forth their monetary straits, with certain difficulties
which had occurred. One of these had regard to assessing
' lodgers or boarders, or any other persons than housekeepers
in their own right.' In stating another grievance they
afford a curious insight into some of the characteristics of
Plymouth a century since. The summary way of dealing
with vagrants then in vogue, the ' ablest and discreetest ' of
Plymouth evidently thought was not half summary enough.
This special grievance was that by an Act passed a few years
previously ' masters of vessels bound for Ireland, the Isles of
Man, Guernsey, Jersey, and Scilly are obliged to take on
board them respectively no more than one vagrant for every
twenty tons burthen of their respective ships or vessels.'
The ships bound to those places from Plymouth were mostly
of small tonnage, by reason whereof 'vagrants whose last
legal settlements are in Ireland, or one of the islands, are
for want of timely opportunities of passage over to the said
kingdom or islands, sometimes necessarily obliged to lie and
continue for a long time in the said town and parishes of
Plymouth, to the great burthen and charge of the said
Corporation.' The question of legal settlement was not
considered too nicely, when vagrants could be got rid of in
this easy fashion.
The Act of 1758 provided for the rebef of the Guardians
by giving them power to raise £2,000 to pay their debts, by
assessment within three years ; to make a poor rate of
£1,000 a year; to levy a distress upon negligent church
wardens or overseers ; to compel masters of vessels to take
on board one vagrant for every fifteen tons, instead of
twenty ; to receive the surplus of the land tax assessments
then in the hands of several persons in the town ;x and to
be reimbursed out of the county stock, the expenses of
sending to their homes the wives and children of soldiers
and sailors left in distress at the port, by the departure
1 This amounted to £800, and a tablet in the "Workhouse records that this
application of the money was due entirely to the efforts of Mr. Justice
Tolcher.

THE HOSPITAL OF POOR'S PORTION. 295
abroad of their husbands and fathers, upon the Mayor and
Commonalty paying £5 4s. 8d. as their proportion of every
future county rate.
The continued increase of the town again threw the
Guardians into difficulties. By 1786, when their next Act
was passed, they were in debt £2,150, and had an excess
of expenditure over income of £290. Power was therefore
granted them to levy a rate of £1,500 ; and to obtain such
additional sums as might be required, by certifying their
necessities to the justices; thereafter certifying the rate
proposed to raise the amount to the Mayor, Eecorder, and
Magistrates, who would authorise its collection.
In 1813 the fourth of the Acts by which the Incorporation
is governed was passed. Debt had been again incurred, and
the expenditure was largely in excess of the £1,500 which
the Guardians could raise of their own motion. Power was
therefore given them to raise £6,000 yearly, and to obtain
additional sums, for which purpose the formal sanction of the
Municipality was required. The date of the annual elections
was changed from the second Tuesday in May to the second
Wednesday; the appointment of collectors was authorised;
more stringent regulations were made with regard to rating,
and for the management of the poor; and the House of
Correction within the Workhouse declared available for
public purposes, including the custody of lunatics.2
Several additions were from time to time made to the
Workhouse, the latest of consequence in 1833. All proving
insufficient, it was decided in 1849 that the present Work
house should be erected. The old premises were subsequently,
after much delay, sold to the Corporation in 1857, as part of
the site of the new Guildhall, for £3,250. The new Work
house cost £12,000. The old Hospital was associated with
many important events in the history of the town. Not a
few violent contests for the election of members of Parlia
ment — eight-day polls — were carried on there.
The Workhouse underwent stringent reformation a century
ago. From its original character it gradually sank into 'a
nest of vagabonds,' until Mr. Kevern, one of the Guardians,
employed some of the people in spinning, which in three years
produced £80. Industrious habits were gradually created, and at
length, after a complete reformation of the concern, the paupers
(among whom were numerous children who could not be placed
out as apprentices owing to the general dislike to receive them in
2 A Borough Lunatic Asylum is now in course of construction at Blacket,
near Ivybridge, from the plans of Messrs. Hine and Odgers.

296 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
that capacity) earned by making their own clothes, bed woollens,
blankets, and rugs, and providing the same for other charities,
successively in three years £235, £160, and £116. At the
expiration of the third year the idle and dissolute, in consequence
of being kept at work, quitted the house, and the annual profit
on labour declined until reduced to nothing.3
A curious system of voting, termed ' scratching,' was in
use for many years in the election of the Guardians. A list
of the candidates was written on a sheet of paper, and the
voter made, or caused to be made, ' scratches ' opposite the
names of those whom he favoured. The oddest feature of
the business was, that if a name were passed over the voter
was not allowed to return to it. The first time probably for
a century that the system had not been used was at Charles
parish in 1871, when Mr. John Bayly, the chairman, decided
that it was illegal, and took the votes by show of hands. In
1872 there was a return to the old system of election, and
Mr. Bayly brought an action against one of the elected
Guardians, Mr. Cousins, to test its vabdity. Scratching was
then decided to be legal ; but the Guardians in 1873 resolved
that voters might ' try back.'
Finally, in 1879, scratching was done away with ahd
the elections conducted under the provisions of the Union
Act, the right to elect a contingent being taken from the
Council, and given to the ratepayers and owners. Twenty-
six Guardians were then allotted to St. Andrew parish, and
twenty-four to Charles. The total number of papers counted
at the first ' Union ' election was 1,910 in St. Andrew, and
1,496 in Charles. Thirty-eight Liberals were returned to
twelve Conservatives, the elections for many years having
been mainly political. Since then St. Andrew parish has
returned a preponderance of Conservatives, Charles of
Liberals. The Clerk of the Poor's Portion was originally resident,
and the last who held office in that capacity was Mr. B.
Burnard, the early friend and patron of Kitto. On his
death a professional clerk was elected, Mr. J. W. Matthews,
who was succeeded in 1879 by the present clerk, Mr.
W. Adams.
The 'Almshouse of Plymouth.'
The 'Almshouse of Plymouth,' known in late years as
the Corporation Almshouse and the ' Old Church Twelves '
(simply because it stood by the Church in Catherine Lane,
3 Burt's Beview of the Commerce of the Port of Plymouth, p. 151.

THE 'ALMSHOUSE OF PLYMOUTH.'

297

at the eastern end of the Municipal Buildings), is the most
ancient charity existing in the town. It finds mention in
the Corporation rental of 1491, in which the Wardens of
the Almshouse (Custod domi Elosinar) are set to pay 2s. 4d.
Some of its belongings formed part of the manorial property
which passed to the Mayor and Commonalty from the Priory
of Plympton ; but whether the house itself existed before
the Incorporation is uncertain. There are grounds for

Tv A V^otV^t.- <**-"*

Semi-Norman Arch.
believing that it did. Its destruction in 1868 revealed the
semi-Norman arch now in the Plymouth Institution Museum,
which no doubt formed part of the original church of St.
Andrew. This would carry back the erection of the Alms
house to the date of the substitution of old St. Andrews by
the present fabric, unless the arch formed part of another
building in the interim. No doubt the Almshouse was the
' Hospitale House ' mentioned by Leland ' on the north side
of the chirche'; and as in the latter part of the fourteenth
century Plymouth was a flourishing and wealthy town, it is

298 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
fairly probable that both the Almshouse and the Maudlyn
were founded then. The Almshouse was well-to-do in the
reign of Henry VII. ; for against the 2s. 4d. paid by its
wardens, the wardens of 'St. Andrew of Plymouth' paid
6d. only; those of St. Mary the same; the Fraternity of
Corpus Christi, ld. ; and the Prysten House, which came
nearest, 2s. ld. There are other reasons for holding that
even thus early it had been liberally endowed. The old
papers of the Borough Court record at this date the existence
of a toft in the south of Buckwell Street belonging to the
Almshouse. An entry in the White Book sets forth that
deeds of lands given by William Eandall to the Almshouse
were put into the Corporation chest September 26th, 1561.
Moreover, 1st December following it was 'given to under
stand' that Johanna Lake had left the remainder of her
lands to the Almshouse ; also that ' Mother Hacker ' had given
a piece of land upon ' Crosse Downe ' (it immediately adjoined
the present Workhouse site, east and south) to the Alms
house after the death of Thomas Clowter ; while Clowter gave
the reversion after his death of a house at Briton Side.
And when four years later (1569) William Weeks, for
reasons which do not appear, bound himself to make certain
gifts to the town (including payments of £4 to some good
use ; of 20s. each to the poor men's coffer in the church and
to the Almshouse ; four good wainscots and 3s. 4d. towards
making of ' puys ' in the church ; a pledge to maintain and
repair during his life the ' cause ' at Coxside which he had
built; and further to leave 5s. to the poor people at the
Maudlyn), he promised to leave 6s. 8d. a year, out of which
ever house of his the Corporation might choose, either
towards the repair of the Church or to the Almshouse,
'which ye like best.'
Curious references occur in an account of Nicholas Slan
ning, town clerk, against the Corporation in 1566, which
deals mainly with expenses incurred about the Vicarage, but
also touches the Almshouse. Ten shillings are paid to Mr.
Peryam (William Peryam, who sat for the town in Eliza
beth's first Parliament) for drawing a bill 'to be layd
in the plyament howsse for the almeshowsse ' ; and Mr.
Fletwoode has another 10s. for his services in connection
therewith, including speaking ' in its favour in the howsse.'
Moreover the 'sergeant of plyament' had 5s. (and subse
quently a shilling more) to put the Speaker in mind of the
Almshouse Bill. It does not seem that such an Act was
actually passed.

THE 'ALMSHOUSE OF PLYMOUTH.' 299
The original Almshouse was an important building. It
had a chapel, licensed by Bishop Lacy in 1450, ' capella
hospitalis prope cemeterium ecclesice parochialis! Moreover,
the site was much more extensive than the remnant which
continued to the present generation, — including herb-garden,
orchard, fields, and barn. An encroachment is specified in a
lease granted in 1602 to Eobert Trelawny, of two houses
newly builded on part of ' the gardaine of the almshouse of
Plymouth north of the same, adjoining the lane [Basket
Street] leading from the West Churchyearde stile towards
Stonehouse . . . and in the southside of the same waie in
the west parte of the said churchyearde and of pareell
of the Schoolehouse there.' For this a conventionary rent
was apparently paid to the Charity.
An early benefactor of Plymouth was John How, priest.
This is the name of the last Prior of Plympton, but there is
no direct evidence to show whether the two are one ; and a
John How appears as paying 3s. 6d. in the old Town Eental
already quoted. It seems probable, however, that the John
How who founded the charities and the Prior are the same.
The bill is still extant under his hand and seal, September
30th, 1563, in which How gives to John Derye, Mayor of
Plymouth, and John Forde, Alderman :
These Pcells of goods here specified, to weite, one clothe of
blew velvett imbrodred w* flowers of venys gold & silek. Also
one white sute of vestyments for priest diacon and subdiacon w*
one Cope of the same sute of silke. Also one red sute of vesty
ments for priest diacon and subdiacon w* x Copis of the same red
sute. Also one other red sute of vestyments for priest Diacon &
subdiacon w* one cope of the same sute, to this intent & ende
that these forsaide pcells of goods may be solde by the said Mr
John Derye & Mr John Forde. And that the mony recaved for
the same goods be distrybuted vnto the power accordyng their
wisdom and discretion.
A letter from How dated ' at Mr Willm hychyns howse
at hawle the xxx of January' — the year not named, but
addressed to Derry as Mayor, and therefore in 1564 — thanks
the Mayor and his brethren for their liberal gifts,4 and states
that he had 'appoynted to disbrus twenty pounds in mony
to be paid by you & yor towne to my frynd Nicholas Barfot
to the intent that he shalbe one of them that shall exrcise
the crafte of clothe wevyng w'in yor towne. And that he
be bownd in forty pounds to pay an yerely rent to yor towne
4 There are entries of his being entertained, and presented with sugar and
marmalade, &c.

300 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
of xxvj3 viijd yerely to be paide, vntill suche tyme as the
saide Nicholas his heirs executors or assignes make vnto yor
toune a sufficent state of lands or rent of the clere yerely
valew of xxvs to the use of the powr. And that he be
bownd to make that State w*in xij yere next ensuyng.' A
postscript says that it is to be specified in the covenant that
the first quarter's payment of this rent is to be at the feast
of the Annunciation, 1565. How wishes to be heartily com
mended to the Mayoress, and commends the Mayor ' to the
grace of god which eurmore prsue you.'
There is another letter of somewhat similar purport from
How (27th April, 1565), in which he desires that out of his
moneys the Mayor and Commonalty should advance (the
letter is addressed to Derry and Ford) to his servants William
Morgane and Eichard Morgane, and to Stephen Hechings,
£20 each, upon due security. They were to have these sums
interest free for the first year ; but each year thereafter were
to pay £1 6s. 8d. until they should each assure ' unto you
for the relief of the poor people ' lands or tenements to the
clear yearly value of 20s. for ever.
How died not long after this letter was written ; for on
the 21st September following, Eobert Bekett, his executor,
who lived at Cartuther, writes to the Mayor cautioning him
against giving up ' cteyne Coopes ' which ' crteyne men doe
gredely seke to haue them out of yo possession,' and stating
that he intended to see his friend's will carried out.
The final issue was the grant, October 3rd, 1566, by John
Derye and John Forde to the Mayor and Commonalty, of
£100, the proceeds of How's gift, on payment of £6 13s. 4d.
annually to the widows of the Almshouse.
How had, however, previously given a large sum ; for the
White Book records, under date December 16th, 1565, that
Eichard Hooper (Mayor 1548-9, which may help to fix the
date of this donation) and John Hooper were to make proper
conveyance of How's gift of £8 a year, or to be handed over
to Mr. Beckett's care. How was also the chief donor in
1560 towards the large bell for the town.
There are a few imperfect accounts of How's Charity
during the reign of Elizabeth extant. In 1567 the total sum
apparently amounted to £180. It has now for many years
been represented by the payment by the Corporation of
£14 13s. 4d., under two agreements, for the occupants of
the Almshouse.
The oldest existing accounts of the Almshouse Wardens
(1729) set forth the town rents ' allotted ' by the Mayor and

THE 'ALMSHOUSE OF PLYMOUTH.' 301
Commonalty towards the maintenance of the people in the
Almshouse. But these rents were the rents of properties
belonging to the Almshouse, and not to the Mayor and
Commonalty at all; and while the Charity had to be con
tent with these merely nominal yearly payments, the Mayor
and Commonalty, long before that date, had learned to appro
priate the fines levied for the granting of fresh leases, which
in the aggregate were not less than £1,000 a turn !
From Town Surveys and other sources we find that during
the seventeenth century the Almshouse estate comprised
the following properties : Close at Coxside, 1\ acre ; Eoper's
Piece ('landscore land,' by the West Hoe); Mayes Cross;
tenement at Underwood, in respect of which 3s. 4d. was paid
to Mayor of Plympton ; Tamelarie Closes (2) and Bickland,
adjoining Cross Down, and an enclosed part of Cross Down ;
Almshouse Park and other closes at Borrington, 11 acres,
5s. high rent paid to Mr. Harris; and houses, &c, in Lyneham
Street (2), Stillman Street, Whimple Street, Patherick Street,
Southside, Vennell Street, by the Almshouse (2), Tin Street
(2), Treville Street, Green Street (2), High Street (2), Looe
Street (2), Batter Street (4), near the Church Stile (4), Fine-
well Street, Briton Side, Hoe Lane, Buckwell Street, Woolster
Street (2), Beacock's Lane, Kinterbury Street, and ' near the
Old Castles,' formerly Mr. Sparke's.
Oliver Harry, of Plymouth, by will March, 1595, left
small bequests to the poor people of the Almshouse and the
Maudlyn. Edmund Fowell, in 1659, granted a rent-charge
of 10s. for the Almshouse out of land adjoining the road
leading from Hampton Shute to Plympton ; John Lanyon,
in 1674, left £50 to better its revenues, which cannot now be
traced. Under the Act by which the Guardians were incorporated
(1708), it was provided that all the public almshouses in the
borough should be transferred to that body : ' All and every
the Alms-houses, or Houses commonly used for the Habita
tion of Poor People, lying within the said Borough or Town,
as are belonging to the Mayor and Commonalty of the said
Town, or. to either of the said Two Parishes.' Nevertheless
the Mayor and Commonalty have retained the ' Old Church
Twelves' — though in a new form — as the sole illegal remnant
of their charitable trusts. The reason for this retention, in
direct defiance of the Act of Parliament, does not seem to
have occurred to the Charity Commissioners. It is perfectly
clear, however, when it is seen how valuable was the Alms
house estate, and how profitable its management to the Mayor

302

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

and Commonalty. To hand over the Almshouse would have
involved the surrender of the property; for the pleasant
fiction that the rents had been 'allotted' to the Charity
would not have stood investigation. There being no transfer,
there was no enquiry, and matters continued on the same
footing. The properties were leased, commonly for ninety-
nine years on lives, on substantial fines, for nominal rents,
which latter were all that the Charity received. Thus at
" the beginning of the present century the
endowments of the Corporation Alms
house comprised : ' £6 13s. 4d. from the
Mayor and Commonalty in accomplish
ment of their indenture with John Ford
and John Dery (How's Gift) ; £8 for the
accomplishment of another pair of in
dentures between them and John How,
clerk ; devisees of Mr. Clark for the
Manor of Sutton Pill, 2s. 8d. ; chief rent
of Doidge's Garden, 6d. ; annuity out of
two fields late Gilwell's, 10s.; from the
Orphans Aid for the Latin (Grammar)
School, £1 2s.; Eawlyn's Gift
for butter on fish days, £3 ;
conventionary rents of smaU
amounts for properties near
the Church Stile, How Street,
Woolster Street, Basket Street
(four houses), Finewell Street,
Eeed's Garden, Buckwell
Street, Batter Street, Tin
Street, Synagogue, Colmer's
Lane, Lower Street, Pike
Street, High Street, Loader's
Lane, Bilbury Street, Little
May's Cross, Burraton, and

Church Alley and Almshouse, 1860.
Hoe Lane, Tamalary Closes,

Underwood.' These properties were treated as purely
Corporate properties when the Municipal estates were sold,
and the proceeds of the sales were put into the Corporation
pocket. The rents, however, were regarded as a continuing
liability. At present a definite sum of some £80 is annually
paid out of the Municipal funds towards the support of
the widows in the modern Corporation almshouses in
Green Street. Moreover, the Municipabty keep the entire
block in repair.

FOWNES S AND MILLER'S ALMSHOUSES. 303
Fownes' s Almshouse.
Almshouses bearing the names of Fownes, Miller, and
Pryn, were destroyed early in the present century. The
foundation deed of Fownes's Almshouse exists in counter
part among the muniments both of the Corporation and
the Guardians. Nevertheless no document relating to this
Charity could be found to be produced before the Com
missioners at their original enquiry. The Almshouses had
been demolished, their sites sold, and the money appropriated
to other purposes without legal authority, not many years
before. The deed, dated 1628, recites that Thomas Fownes
had lately created and 'new buy It the said Hospitall and
Almeshouse conteyning thirteene roomes.' The almspeople
were to be elected by the Mayor and Commonalty, with the
' assent and agreement of Thomas Fownes and his heirs for
ever ; notice of every election being given 10 days prior at
his dwelling-house in Vintry Street.' This Almshouse did
pass to the Guardians under the Act of Incorporation. It
lay between Bedford and Basket Streets, with a frontage of
54 feet to the former, and a superficies of 2,859, and accommo
dated twenty-four decayed and aged people. Having been
suffered to become dilapidated, it was called a nuisance, and
in 1808 was pulled down, and the ground sold for £500 to
the Mayor and Commonalty, as portion of a site for the
proposed hotel and theatre. When another position was
chosen for this building, part of the site of the Almshouse
was thrown into the street. The money is stated to have
been laid out on the Workhouse; but the Charity Com
missioners questioned the right of the Guardians to dispose
of these buildings. The fabric was said to have been
allowed to fall into decay because there was no endowment ;
nevertheless in September, 1656, we have Timothy Alsop
acknowledging to the Mayor and Commonalty that he owed
the Charity £100, with interest.
Miller's Almshouse.
The history of Miller's Almshouse is still worse. Alice
Miller, about 1655 (in which year £10 was paid in lieu of
stones promised her by the town towards building expenses),
erected an Almshouse 'in the churchyard' (St. Andrew),
containing ten rooms, for twenty people ; and in May, 1660,
endowed it with a rent charge of £10 a year, out of her
estate at Broadley. Under her will, August 30th, 1664, she
left Broadley, so charged, to her cousin, Eichard Burdwood ;

304 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
and in March, 1681, James Burdwood, his son and heir, the
rent being in arrear, and the premises 'for the most part
waste and unoccupied, and encumbered beyond the value of
the inheritance,' conveyed the estate to the Mayor and
Commonalty, when the proceeds were applied for the benefit
of the almspeople. At the time the estate passed to the
Guardians, under the Act of Incorporation, it was under
lease to Eichard Opie at £6 a year only; and notwith
standing this enormous depreciation in value since 1660,
when the £10 rent charge left a surplus, the Charity
Commissioners reported that there was no reason to believe
any of the property had been lost. The minute books of
the Guardians in later times contain numerous complaints of
encroachment by the various lessees, who, subsequently to
Opie, included other of the Burdwoods, Sir Masseh Lopes,
and Sir Ealph Franco. No map, however, exists by which
these points can be settled ; and all that can be definitely
said is, that a farm which was worth over £10 a year in 1660
could not have fallen to £6 in 1720 without loss or malver
sation of some kind. Pryn's Almshouse.
Anne Pryn's Almshouse, adjoining Miller's, was erected in
1651-2 ; for in that year two elm trees were cut down in
the churchyard, 'for the better building of Mrs. Prynne's
Almeshouse there.' The next year she is recorded as having
left an annuity of 10s. a year, charged on a house in Notte
Street, for the 'prechinge of a sermon yearllie for ever on
the Third day of December in Eemembrance of the Townes
then deliverance from the enemie anno 1643 ' ; and this
amount was received by George Hughes. No information
concerning this Charity was vouchsafed to the Commissioners,
save the one fact that both Pryn's and Miller's houses
were pulled down for the improvement of Bedford Street in
1791, the materials being sold by auction, and the trustees of
the Stonehouse Turnpike giving £100 for the land. They
were in part replaced by some small shops built against the
churchyard wall, named Saffron Bow, and the end of one of
which is shown in the picture of the entrance to Catherine
Lane from Bedford Street in 1837. The Commissioners
questioned the authority to sell, but considered that the
money received in this case, as in Fownes's, had been spent
beneficially in building a school and an infirmary in the
Workhouse. A committee minute of the Guardians avers,
however, that the Pig-Market Almshouse (Fownes's) was re-

REMOVAL OF ALMSHOUSES.

305

erected at the west end of the Workhouse Yard. £10 of
the rent of Broadley is now applied to the occupants of the
Almshouses in Green Street.
The destruction of these Almshouses was attended by
unpleasant consequences to the occupants, who naturally
were disinclined to leave the shelter to which they had as

Entrance of Catherine Lane fkom Bedford Street, 1837.
good a right as the Mayor of Plymouth to his house. When
Fownes's came to be destroyed, Mr. Henry Woollcombe
wrote, on behalf of the Guardians, to the Corporation:
'Sunday noon, Jan. 3, 1808. ... As I find I shall never get
the inhabitants of Foynes's Almshouses to quit until they
perceive that the building is actually taking down, may I
beg the favour of your proceeding to do so forthwith ? I will
x

306 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
inform the people to-morrow that on that day se'nnight the
workmen will begin to take it down.'
With these facts before us, we may put a different value
upon the work of the gentlemen who recorded their good
deeds on the tablet in the old wall of the churchyard, and
set forth at full length how they had ' beautified ' the town
by pulling down filthy and loathsome Almshouses. There is
no readier way of getting rid of a charity than to neglect it
until it falls into decay, and then to demolish it because it
has not received attention. New Church Almshouses.
The original New Church Almshouses in Green Street
were founded by John Lanyon, who by his will, September
15th, 1674, gave £300 to the use of the poor people of
Charles, for building an almshouse. The site was conveyed,
October, 1678, by John Trelawny the elder to John Martyn
and others acting on behalf of the Corporation, the cost
being £50 3s. The Almshouses were built thereon, and con
veyed by Martyn and his coadjutors to the Mayor and
Commonalty, September 26th, 1680 ; and they remained so
vested until the Incorporation of the Guardians. Lanyon's
bequest being insufficient, £100 left by John Gubbs to the
poor of Plymouth, and other monies, were applied to the
same purpose. Modern Almshouses.
After the demolition of the Almshouses of Miller, Pryn,
and Fownes, there remained only the ancient Almshouse—
the ' Old Twelves,' in Catherine Street, a small almshouse
' behind the Twelves,' belonging to the Guardians, and the
'New Church.' When, in 1868, the Guildhall site had to
be cleared, and the Church Alley Almshouses removed, an
arrangement was made by which the New Church Alms
houses were rebuilt'; and the Almshouses of the Corporation
and the Guardians now form one block, with additional
accomodation. Jory's Almshouses at Coxside, a quaint if not picturesque
range of cottages, were founded by Col. Joseph Jory, a native
of Plymouth, in 1703, and liberally endowed.
Fox's Almshouses behind Sussex Terrace were established
in 1834 by Francis Fox, for twelve aged women.
The Victoria Almshouses, Victoria Street, were founded by
deed, February 2nd, 1844, by Mrs. Mary Granville Hodson,
for natives of the parishes of St. Andrew and Charles.

GENERAL ENDOWED CHARITIES.
General Endowed Charities.

307

We now come to the general endowed charities. In 1584
John White, citizen and haberdasher of London (a member
of a Plymouth family of note, the donor of the 'Union'
cup), made the Mayor and Commonalty his trustees in
respect of the sum of £250, to be employed in making loans

T— (

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— s
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k.
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Gateway of Jory's Almshouses.
for five years at 5 per cent, interest (half the current rate)
to merchants between twenty-one and forty-one years of
age. Of the interest, £3 each was to be paid annually to
the Mayor and Burgesses of Liskeard, Truro, and Lostwithiel ;
to be applied in weekly gifts of bread to twelve poor people
in each of these towns. The parson of each place was to
have 16d. for his pains in distributing the bread every
x 2
308 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Sunday in his church, and 6s. 8d. was to be paid to a preacher
for preaching a sermon in the same parish church on or
about the first Sunday in November. The balance accrued
to Plymouth.
How long the loans may have been kept up it is difficult
to say ; but the Corporation had learnt to borrow the money
themselves by October 12th, 1664, when it was ordered that
£50, the residue of the legacy in hand, should be applied in
defending the rights of the Commonalty to Sutton Pool.
They admitted the liability in 1685, when £40 was out on
loan, and they had £210 in hand for want of borrowers.
The present payment by the Corporation under this head is
£11 15s. annually.
An entry in an Apprenticeship Book — undated, but early
in the seventeenth century — supplies a list of monies given
to the poor of Plymouth from 1595 :
Sir Francis Drake left £10 to the poor ; £20 to the poor
people of the Almshouse, to be paid in equal instalments
over three years ; and another £10 to be distributed at the
discretion of the Mayor — £40 in all. Martyn White left
£20. Walter Peperell gave £10, to be yearly paid. John
Eewbie left £10. George Baron 20s. annuity, to be charged
on his lands for ever. John Scoble, merchant, in 1591 gave
£10, to be converted for the provision of [fire?] wood for the
poor, yearly to be employed. Anthony Goddard left an
amount not specified. John Philbps, merchant, gave £5.
Sir John Trelawny left £15.
Thomas Middleton, merchant, of London, afterwards Sir
Thomas, gave £20 to be converted for the provision of [fire?]
wood for the poor, yearly to be employed. The Eeceiver's
Accounts state that he paid £20 for certain godly uses in
1590-91 ; and according to a bond entered into by the
Mayor and Commonalty, the £20 advanced by Middleton
was given in trust for the redemption of articles pawned by
people too poor to redeem the same, and for the extension of
the terms for which money had been lent thereon.
This list does not include a legacy of £50, and an annuity
of £10, left under the will of Sir John Hawkins at his death
in 1595. £4 15s. was paid to Matthew Boyes, in 1598-99,
for 'making and seekinge' this bequest; but its payment
cannot be traced. The £50 might easily escape notice, as it
would not, unless attended by exceptional circumstances, be
carried into the general accounts ; but it is not easy to see
how all mention of the annuity should fail, if received. On
the other hand the memorial verses placed on the cenotaph

GENERAL ENDOWED CHARITIES. 309
of Hawkins, in St. Dunstan's-in-the-East, by his widow,
speak of the poor of Plymouth as benefited by his 'great
and gracious legacy.' As she puts it, they
Have had, now have, and shall have,
Many a crown.
Bevel's Gift, otherwise the Underwood Charity, consisted
of a rent-charge of 13s. 4d. on Tierney's field, of which
9s. 4d. went to Plymouth, and 4s. to Plympton. In 1762
this field was called Dunstone Hill, and was in two owner
ships. The total area was two acres forty-three perches. In
1819 it was said to be held by a Mr. Kingdon, under the
Mayor and Commonalty; and the Charity was stated in a
return of 1786 to be the gift of John Eevel. Whether this
be so or not there is an odd entry in the earliest extant Poor
Accounts, of 1612, repeated in subsequent years, that Wm.
Eeve, of Plympton Mary, had the use of 40s. given by John
Eevel, whose will was that William Eeve should have the
same. Eeve did not, however, pay anything for interest, and
John Bevel's name does not otherwise appear ; nor can any
payment in respect of his legacy have been included in the
rents. Again, we find that in the early part of the seven
teenth century, the Corporation had a messuage, tenement,
and garden, with two pieces of land and appurtenances at
Underwood. And Dorothy Eevel, October 4th, 1661, left
the Mayor and Commonalty £20 to be lent out at interest,
and the proceeds to be given to poor widows who had
been formerly housekeepers, and who were not inmates of
the Almshouses, on the first of January in each year for
ever. William Hils, Plymouth, merchant, July 30th, 15 James I.
(1618), left to the Mayor and Commonalty an annuity of
52s. out of two messuages adjoining Southside Quay, ' com
monly called the Sampson,' and a courtlage. For this they
were to give on every Sabbath-day, immediately after morning
prayer, ' one dozen of middle sort of penny loafe wheaten
bread comoiily called cheat bread ' to the poor in most need,
to be distributed by the churchwardens and overseers, under
the direction of the Mayor and Justice. Payment com
menced the same year, and continues.
April 10th, 1624, there was received £20, the bequest of
Eobert Cowche of Moteley, 'w'hin the pish of Plymouth,'
to the Mayor and Commonalty for the use of poor artificers,
to be lent to them gratis year by year for ever. This has
disappeared.

310 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
In the accounts of money collected in aid of the sufferers
by the plague of 1625 there is reference to a receipt of £20
as part of a legacy left by Thomas Brockadon.
Mark Cottell, of Cricklade St. Mary, in Wilts, by will
of March 8th, 1626, probate of which was granted in the
following year, left to the town of Plymouth (where his
father bad sometime dwelt and was buried) £50 as a stock,
the interest of which was to be distributed annually — one
half to the poor and sick on St. Mark's day, with a noble to
some learned preacher for preaching a sermon on the same
day; and the other half every year in the week before
Christmas. This Charity has disappeared, but it may be
included in the Poor's Portion.
In February, 1628, Eobert Trelawny and John Clement
had livery and seisin for the Mayor and Commonalty of four
houses in New Street, feoffed by Sir Thomas Wyse of Syden
ham, and Sir Samuel Eolle of Insworth. This arose out of
a bequest by Benjamin Baron, merchant, of London, of £100
to the Mayor and Commonalty of Plymouth, that they
should pay yearly 40s. to the parson and churchwardens of
Bickington, to be given to the poor of that parish within
fourteen days in bread, shoes, and stockings ; also 20s. to be
distributed in white and wheaten bread to the poor of
Plymouth; the residue of the £100 to make a stock to set
and keep the aforesaid poor people of Plymouth ' on worke.'
The £2 have continued to be paid by the Corporation to the
authorities of Bickington, but as far as Plymouth is con
cerned the Charity has disappeared ; and a curious fact is,
that in 1655 and some subsequent years £20 is said to be
paid under the head of 'Mr. Baron's annuity' to a certain
Mistress Hunt. The receipts were insufficient for this
purpose, and the Mayor and Commonalty had to make up
the deficiency.
John Scoble, in December, 1629, bequeathed Is. 6d. weekly
to the poor of the town, during the lifetime of his wife,
Elizabeth Scoble. He had then left Plymouth, and gone
to reside at Wickhampton, in Dorset. She, in October, 1631,
bequeathed this sum for ever, to be distributed in bread
weekly ; and her daughter, Johane Cole, wrote to the Mayor,
November 2nd, 1641, that the charitable work begun by her
father, and continued by her mother, should not through her
neglect ' falle to the grounde, but shall rather by me receaue
enlargement.' The accounts of the .poor fund, show that
Elizabeth Scoble commenced payment in 1630 ; and it was
afterwards continued by Cole. It cannot now be traced.

GENERAL ENDOWED CHARITIES. 311
In 1631-32 John Bound paid £40 for a grant in fee farm,
and gave the town an annuity of 6s. 8d. for ever. Under
his will, April 30th, 1642, he gave an annuity of 20s. out of
Thistle Park, which was increased by his son Thomas to 40s.,
and continues.
At this date, too, £1 yearly was paid to the poor out of
the ' Sheaf.'
Hugh Willan, sailor, August 24th, 1644, left all the monies
owing to him to the poor of Plymouth.
Eobert Trelawny, under his will of August 24th, 1643,
made important bequests for charitable purposes, which, came
to nothing, in consequence of his dying in prison a Eoyalist,
with his estates under sequestration. Besides £200 towards
the building of Charles Church, he bequeathed £600 to the
town of Plymouth, on security being given to his heirs for
the annual payment of £30. A sermon was to be preached
on his birthday, March 25th, in St. Andrew, by the Vicar of
St. Andrew or Charles, exhorting people to works of piety
and charity ; and on the same day the £30 was to be distri
buted by the Mayor and Trelawny's heir male, or his deputy,
as follows : 40s. to each of the Vicars ; £20 to a maid servant
of spotless character, that had lived in Plymouth with one
master or mistress five years or more, ' none but maides are
hereof capable ' ; £5 to a young sailor who had served faith
fully five years or more of his apprenticeship in Plymouth ;
10s. to the town clerk for keeping the account ; to the eldest
sergeant, 5s. ; and the sexton, 5s. The gifts were to be given
on nomination, by the heir, Mayor, and Magistrates, by
drawing lots, Trelawny's heir being the drawer ; and every
third year the heir male was to distribute the £25 to 'any
of my bloud and poore kindred that he pleaseth.' Other
charitable bequests affecting Plymouth were £10 to the poor
of Plymouth ; 40s. to the poor of Pennycross ; £20 to the
Poor's Portion; £10 to the Orphans Aid; £10 to the Alms
house. Sir John Gayer, of an old Plymouth family of note, whose
will was proved in 1657, left £500 to glaze all the glass
windows in the New Church with good plain glass and strong
lead, his arms to be set in the last ; the residue to be laid
out in land by his cousin John Maddock. Part of the rents
were to be paid for preaching twelve sermons a year in the
New Church, before the administration of the sacrament —
13s. 4d. to the preacher, 2s. to the curate or reader, Is. to
the clerk, and Is. to the sexton for tolling the bell to give
notice. The minister was to be chosen by the Mayor and

312 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Magistrates (Aldermen), and six of the testator's kin. The
residue of the rents (10s. excepted, for a collation of wine
and cakes at the distribution) to buy broad cloaths and
kersies, ' died into a sadd hair colour,' for outward garments
for poor people, to be yearly distributed in October.
The land acquired was the estate called Tor or Oaten
Arishes, in the tithing of Western Peverell, the rents of
which are duly devoted by the Municipal Charity Trustees
to the general purposes set forth in the will, though of course
the ' minister ' is no longer chosen in the manner directed by
the Puritan knight. The Vicar gets £8 annually, and the
clerk and sexton £1 4s.
Burrough's gift consists of £18 out of the tithes of Egg
Buckland and St. Budeaux, and was not founded by John
Burrough, as the Charity Commisioners of 1820 thought,
but by a certain Mistress Burroughs, to provide clothing for
the poor (the Corporation used to spend it on official uniforms).
There is an entry in the Eeceiver's Accounts of 1653-54 of
£2 10s., spent on a banquet for 'Mrs. Trosse, daughter of
Mrs. Burroughs of the city of Exon, and her Companye.'
This Mrs. Burroughs was Eebecca Burroughs, widow of
Walter Burroughs (or Borough), twice Mayor of Exeter.
He was, during his lifetime and by will, one of the greatest
benefactors the city ever had ; and she followed his excellent
example. There is no direct evidence that she was the
founder of the Plymouth Charity ; but the inference that
she was so can hardly be resisted. This continues.
Moses Goodyeare, merchant, left under will, in 1663, two
sums of £50 — one to the Hospital of Poor's Portion, and
the other to the Old Almshouse, his direction being that
these sums should be laid out in the purchase of freehold
lands for these two Charities. Nothing is now to be traced
of this bequest.
John Hill, in 1672, gave £50 to the Mayor and Commonalty
in consideration of the payment by them of 52s. yearly for
ever, to be spent in the distribution of twelve penny wheaten
loaves every Sunday morning at St. Andrew. This payment
is still made.
Charities founded by John King, Mayor in 1659-60— £100
to be kept as a stock and the interest given in bread ; and
by Stephen Ollivier, merchant, of Exeter in 1668, of 2s. to be
given weekly in wheaten bread ; have long disappeared.
Kelway's charity was founded in 1732 by will. It was
essentially a family endowment. Three thirty-fourths of
the income were apportioned to the donor's relatives; the

GENERAL ENDOWED CHARITIES. 313
remainder in bringing up, apprenticing, &c, the children of
such relatives, and in default thereof children of Plymouth
and Saltash.
The most liberal benefactor of modern Plymouth was Mr.
Jacob Nathan, a native of the town, who in addition to
various sums of money to Hebrew charities added largely to
the endowments of the principal local charitable institutions,
bequeathing in all nearly £17,000.
Under the operation of the Municipal Eeform Act the
management of the Municipal Charities of the Corporation
was transferred to a body of trustees specially created (to
whom Mr. Edmund Pridham is clerk). With them it remains ;
and the Corporation are now held responsible for a capital
sum of £525, and an annual payment of £25 7s., made up
as follows : White's Gift, £11 15s. ; Hewer's, £4; Baron's, £2;
Collins's, £2 10s. ; Hill's, £2 12s. ; Ackerman's, £2 10s.
The Corporation have one charity under their control, that
of John Oxenham, who in 1876 left his property to the
Mayor and Corporation that the income might be given away
to poor people. Part of his bequest failed under operation
of the statute of Mortmain, but £745 8s. lid. was received,
now represented by £753 8s. 7d. 2f per cents. The interest,
£22, is given away half-yearly — in January in coals, and in
July in bread.
There are in addition to the foregoing a number of endowed
parochial charities, mostly of small amount. They include —
St. Andrew. — Sir John Acland (1619), rent-charge of £2
12s. ; and the interest of money invested in Consols given by
John Morshead (1750), Eleanor Huxham (1796), Hurst and
King, Northcote (1836), Wilbams (1836)— distributed in
bread or bread and flour. The dividend on £706 8s. stock,
left by Samuel Addis, forms part of the salary of the
organist, and rent-charges of 5s. on a field north of the
Friary and 6s. 8d. upon a house in Vintry Street, are applied
to Church purposes.
Charles. — The bread charities here comprise the interest
of money invested in Consols given by Morshead (1756),
Stevens, Acland (1843), Mrs. Hodson, Morris (1828), Lucy
Moore (1846). The interest of money given by Elizabeth
Chapman (1791 — £80, applied in enlarging the burial ground)
and Mrs. Sutton (1795), are distributed in linen. Money
gifts are made from the Bruce Charity, originally £150,
partly appbed to the Household of Faith; and Huxham
Charity, originally £600 Consols, out of which £2 8s. is paid
annually to St. Andrew. In 1870, Mr. J. Williams, of

314 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Chudleigh, formerly of Plymouth, left £500 for the poor of
each parish.
The tithing of Weston Peverell has three charities pro
ducing £4 a year; Eawlins's gift of 10s.; John Harris's
(1725) £2 10s., charged on the Barton of Pennycross; and
£1 from the charity of £3 annually founded by Mrs.
Johanna Knighton, in the parish of St. Budeaux. The
tithing of Compton Gifford has three charities producing £12
annually : Eawlins's of £2 ; Eebecca Shaw's (1807) £5,
interest of £100 ; and Sarah Hancock's (1811) of a similar
amount. Such are the specially endowed charities of the, town of
Plymouth. There remain to be noted the great associated
philanthropic institutions ; nearly all of which have sprung
up within the present century, and have something in the
way of accumulated funds or permanent investment.6
Public Dispensary.
The Public Dispensary originated in 1798 with Mr.
Charles Yonge, an eminent medical man of the town. Its
first quarters were in the old Mayoralty House, Woolster
Street, whence it moved to premises in How Street, then
How's Lane. In 1804 the site upon which the present
capacious building stands was purchased, but it was not
until 1807 that the committee were able to proceed with
the works. In that year Mr. Yonge left the Institution
a legacy of £1,000. The building was opened in 1809. An
excellent portrait of the founder,, by Northcote, hangs in
the governors' room.
South Devon and East Cornwall Hospital.
The South Devon and East Cornwall Hospital is an
offshoot from the Dispensary. The court of governors of
that charity, 'encouraged by the liberal donations already
made, and their rapidly increasing subscription list, pur-
5 The Charity Commissioners, in 1865-7, put the total income of the
endowed charities within the borough and the tithings of Compton Gifford
and Weston Peveril at £3,649 9s. lid. At the first inquiry it was £3,028
16s. 3d. These charities were apportioned thus : Education, £2,106 12s. 8d.;
apprenticing and advancement, £561 15s. 5d.; clergy, lecturers, and sermons,
£9 4s.; church purposes, £21 15s. 6d. ; almshouses, &c, £545 10s. 5d. ;
articles in kind, £237 18s. 9d. ; money, £76 17s. 4d. ; general uses of the
poor, £77 13s. lOd. The chief difference since then has been Gaused by the
bequests of Mr. Oxenham and Mr. Williams, and by the change of the in
vestments in the funds from 3 to 2| per cents.

EYE INFIRMARY — ORPHAN ASYLUM. 315
chased a piece of ground adjoining Sussex Place, Princess
Square, as the most eligible site for a building to answer the
joint purpose of the existing dispensary, and a general
hospital for in-patients.' The amalgamation was never
carried out, and the Hospital became a distinct undertaking.
The original building in Sussex Place was designed by Mr.
Wightwick. The Eev. J. Hatchard laid the foundation stone
of the central block August 6th, 1835 ; and it was opened in
January, 1840. Wings were subsequently added in 1852
and 1863, and a children's ward in July, 1868. As time
went on the demands on the accommodation became greater,
and the defects of the building more apparent ; and at length
it was resolved to take the bold step of erecting an entirely
new set of buildings on the best available site, in the Green-
bank Eoad. Hence Plymouth now possesses one of the
finest provincial hospitals in the kingdom. The foundation
stone was laid July 22nd, 1881, by the Earl of Mount
Edgcumbe, and the building opened in 1884. The total cost
was £38,696 16s. lid. ; the whole of which, with the
exception of £4,500 from the sale of the old buildings, and
£1,000 taken from the investments, was raised by sub
scription. Mr. W. H. Alger was the Honorary Treasurer, and
Mr. J. Walter Wilson the Honorary Secretary, during this
arduous period. The endowments in possession and reversion
approach £25,000 ; and Hospital Sunday and Saturday
collections realize annually a sum of about £1,400.
Eye Infirmary.
Dr. J. Butter and Dr. E. Moore were in 1821 the founders
of the Eye Infirmary. At first a small house in Westwell
Street was rented for its operations; but eventually the
front portion of the present building in Milibay Eoad was
adapted to the purpose. The wing in Buckland Street was
added in 1867. In 1854 a portrait of Dr. Butter by Lucas,
of London, was placed in the Infirmary ; a salver was pre
sented to the Doctor at the same time.

Orphan Asylum.
The Devon and Cornwall Female Orphan Asylum, in
Lockyer Street, was estabbshed in 1834. In May, 1841,
the foundation stone of the present building was laid by
Sir Balph Lopes, m.p., Mr. Wightwick being the architect.
There is room for seventy children.

316 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Blind Institution.
The South Devon and Cornwall Institution for the Blind
dates from 1859, Mr. James Gale, himself blind, being one
of the chief promoters. It long occupied premises in Cobourg
Street, until, in 1875, the present building, at North Hill,
was erected from the designs of Mr. Snell.
Rescue Work.
' Eescue ' work began by the establishment of the Female
Penitentiary, now in Ham Street, in 1832. The Eefuge,
since connected with the Abbey, was started in 1850, and
held for ten years at Barley House, near the spot where
King Street Wesleyan Chapel now stands. The Plymouth
Female Home, now joined with the Penitentiary, dated from
1861. Miscellaneous Charities.
The Plymouth Sailors' Home has been founded some forty
years. There was once much controversy concerning its
right to a legacy left by Admiral Harcourt to the Sailors'
Home at Plymouth. Devonport as a naval station having
been until 1843 officially styled Plymouth, and the Admiral
having shown much interest in the Sailors' Home there, it
was argued that he meant that institution instead of one
which was specially intended for merchant seamen. How
ever, Plymouth retained the money.
During recent years the philanthropic activity in Plymouth
has been very great. Scores of organizations are at work,
in various directions, in connection with the churches and
chapels. Other societies of a more general character include :
The Devon and Cornwall Industrial Training Ship; the
Devon and Cornwall Certified Industrial School for Girls ;
the Friendless Girls' Help Association; Kitto Institute;
Mendicity Society ; Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals ; Devon and Cornwall Homoeopathic Hospital ; Ear
and Throat Hospital; and Dental Hospital. Temperance
work has been carried on in many ways ever since the
formation of the first Temperance Society in 1832.

CHAPTEE XIII.
TRADE, COMMERCE, AND MANUFACTURE.
The band of commerce was designed
To associate all the branches of mankind ;
And of a boundless plenty be the robe.
Trade is the golden girdle of the globe.
* » * * Art thrives most
Where commerce has enriched the busy coast ;
He catches all improvements in his flight,
Spreads foreign wonders in his country's sight ;
Imports what others have invented well,
And stirs his own to match them or excel. — Cowper.
Early Commerce.
THE historic foundation for the trade of Plymouth1 is
the finding of the jury empannelled by Eobert Bondyn,
Sheriff of Devon, in 1318, that before the foundation of the
ville of Sutton fishermen were accustomed to resort to a
certain place there, to dry their nets and sails, and to expose
fish for sale, on the payment of 12d. a year, and ld. on each
basket sold. This fairly agrees with the oft-cited statement
of Leland, that in the reign of Henry II. (1154-1189),
Plymouth was ' a mene thing as an Inhabitation for Fischars,
and after encreasid by a litle and a litle.'
The growth of Plymouth during the early years of the
fourteenth century, must have been marvellously rapid. In
1311 an Act of Parliament declared Plympton, Modbury
(representing the trade of the Erme), Newton Ferrers, and
Yalemouth, to be members of the port of Sutton. But for
many years afterwards, certainly through the reign of Edward
III., the customer of the river of Tamar, whereof Plymouth
was originally a member, had his residence at Saltash. Fowey
was then head port of Cornwall, a position which Plymouth
subsequently took; and in the closing years of the fourteenth,
and opening years of the fifteenth centuries, we find Plymouth
1 The great bulk of the materials for this chapter comes from the Municipal
Records.

318 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
and Fowey most intimately associated, the same controllers
and customers commonly acting for both — the latter chiefly
selected from the local merchants. There are among our
fifteenth-century collectors — Wm. Bentley, Eichard Denzell,
John Cory, John Cokworthy, John Serle, Thomas Pilkyngton,
Thomas Treffry, John Scott, Vincent Pittelesden, William
Spenser, Dionis Bampton, W. Hertiside, Thomas Tregaye,
Walter Copleston, Peter Carsewelle; and among the con
trollers William Santon, Eichard Weye, and' John Pylle. In
1495 John Monkeley was havener. Of the great importance
of the commerce of both ports in these early days there is
the strongest evidence in the contingents each furnished to
the famous siege of Calais, in 1346.
Customs Grant.
In the opening years of the fourteenth century Plymouth
had an active trade with France. It was to Sutton that, in
the years 1317-18,~the glass for glazing the Lady Chapel at
Exeter Cathedral was brought from Eouen. Corn and wine
were among the chief items of import. In 1360 royal
permission was given to the merchants of Plymouth to traffic
with Portugal ; and Plymouth, the chief port for trade with
Bordeaux, soon became the favourite harbour for vessels from
the northern ports of Spain. Eichard II. granted a scale of
customs to the 'Mayor and Bailiffs, honest men and Com
monalty,' for the purpose of fortifying the town, which
enumerates among articles of commerce — wine, honey, mead,
cloth, linen, canvas, skins, hake, pilchards, salt, coals, herrings,
iron, cheese, soap, wax, corn, boards, pitch, and tar, slates,
tiles, hemp, and cord ; besides dues on fishing-boats of 12d.
a year ; 6d. on ships ' bearing batell or cokett,' 4d. if not ;
and on brewhouses of ld. annually. And in the same reign
we find something like a bonded warehouse established,
Parbament declaring that merchants and mariners coming
'to a place called Conners, in the island of St. Nicholas,
shaU not pay any duties on their merchandise unless it is
exposed for sale.'
Another proof of the extent of the commerce of Plymouth
in the fourteenth century — since its population depended
on its trade — is its contribution in 1377 of £80 12s. 4d. to
the poll tax, showing an inhabitancy of 7,000, against £26
for Exeter and £8 8s. 8d. for Dartmouth. Bristol paid
£105 15s., York £120 16s., and London £388 lis. 4d., and
these were the only places with a greater population.
Devon paid £760 lis., with a taxable inhabitancy of

SHIPPING RETURNS. 319
45,635. Its relative wealth is also seen in the payment of
£34 12s. 8d. to the 'tenth and fifteenth' of 1374, out of
£953 15s. levied for all Devon.
' Ruyne and Decay e.'
What led to the falling off in the prosperity of the town
at the close of the fourteenth and opening of the fifteenth
centuries we cannot say (unless it were the damage done by
the French in their descents) ; but when, in 1464, the Corpo
ration petitioned for the reduction of the rent paid the Priors
of Plympton, they piteously declare: 'the Boroughe and
towne is fallen into great ruyne and decaye, and so like to
contynewe in decaye, if that the same Boroughe and towne
be not shortbe rebeued or otherwise p'uided for.' And then
they cite the
great and intollerable charges and coste, as well by the adventure
of the sea and otherwise, by the Inhabitants of the same Boroughe
and towne sustayned within these few yeres, to the valew of Tenn
thousand pounde and above, as the great and intollerable charge
that the said Mayr and Coyaltie and their Successors have had in
tymes past, and hereafter shall have, and be putt vnto, for the
yerelie mayntenaunce and safeguard of the said Boroughe and
Towne, and the port of the same, wch is one of the most principall
and fayrest ports at this tyme within this Bealme, and the kaye
and onlie defence of all the Covntrie thervnto adioyning, and
necessarie to be kept and mayntayned as well in tyme of peace as
of warre. Shipping Returns.
In 1437, as appears by an old customs book of Plymouth
in the Pubbc Eecord Office, the oldest preserved, sixty-five
cargoes were imported into Plymouth. Guienne, Landerneau,
Brest, Guerrande, Oporto, Lisbon, Norway, Denmark,
Holland, Genoa, Dusant, and Spruce, each sent ships hither ;
and London, Dartmouth, Guernsey, Exmouth, Fowey, and
Exeter among home ports. The local vessels mentioned are
— the George, Mary, Catherine, Antony, Margaret, and Christ
opher of Plymouth; the Julian, and Richard of Stonehouse;
the Christopher of Millbrook ; the Margaret of Yalmouth ;
the Catherine, Thomas, and Mary of Landulph; the Richard,
Christopher, and James of Saltash ; and these sixteen ships
brought twenty-eight cargoes. The leading local merchants
were — Eobert Folthym, John Nigholls, John de la Lande,
Thomas Hoker, William Pollard, Walter Clovelly, Stephen
Chapman, Peryn Thomas, John Shippeley, Thomas Bythman,
John Pagnell, Walter Facey, Thomas Gille, John Martyn,

320 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Thomas Pyppe, John Seeley, John Halbye, John Facey, T.
Glede, Thomas Smyth, Fardell, Thyche, Caskes, and Hall.
In 1450 the customs of Plymouth and Fowey contributed
£40 a year to the ' despences ' of the Eoyal household ;
those of Exeter and Dartmouth, £50 ; while Bristol figured
for £266 13s. 4d. ; and Hull for £400.
The materials for tracing the progress of the commerce of
the port are scanty until comparatively recent times. The
spirit of adventure, first developed under Henry VIII., and
raised to its highest pitch under Elizabeth; the North
American trade in the earlier years of the seventeenth
century; the general colonial traffic of the eighteenth —
these, each in turn, were the cause of great activity and
the source of much wealth. But every now and again
war intervened to check the arts of peace, and to turn the
attention of the local merchants and shipowners to priva
teering — nothing loth. The Municipal Eecords afford a few
inconsecutive glimpses of the course of commercial events,
though for the most part of little value in this regard.
Thus the Tonnage Dues received by the Mayor, at ld. a
ton, for the foreign and alien ships that came within the
Pool, from 1514 to 1582 ranged from nothing up to £4 5s. 5d.
a year, and never seem to have really formed an important
item of the town revenues. A calculation made by one
William Borrowes of the probable proceeds of a tax of 3d.
a ton on all shipping passing from the town for every voyage
(which he proposed should be levied for the purposes of the
Castle), as not exceeding £40 or £50 a year, makes the total
taxable tonnage at the commencement of the seventeenth
century between 3,000 and 4,000 tons only. The import of
coals, however, he puts at 10,000 chalders.
We find that in the year Michaelmas to Michaelmas,
1571-2, there were sixty-nine ships belonging to Plymouth
— One of 100 tons ; two of 80 ; three of 60 ; four of 50 ;
eleven of 40 ; two of 35 ; seven of 30 ; five of 25 ; twelve
of 20 ; three of 16 ; four of 15 ; three of 12 ; eleven of 10 ;
and one of 6 tons. Bristol and Southampton had fifty-three
each. In 1623, 195 vessels paid moorage varying from 4d. to 2s.,
Scotch ships coming next to the English, then French and
Flemish, with several Jersey craft and a couple of Danes.
Town Customs:
The Town Customs in 1623 yielded £20 12s. 5d. Malt,
barley, wheat, peas, rye, and salt paid £d. a qr. ; hops,

FOREIGN TRADE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 321
canvas, 2d. a hundred ; cloth, 4d. a piece ; wine, 6d. a tun ;
beef, 6d. a tun ; sugar, 4d. a chest ; dry-fish, 3d. a thousand ;
salt, ld. a ton ; coals, ld. a wey or chaldron ; herrings, 6d. a
last, Jd. a barrel ; ' kerses,' £d. a piece ; hides, Is. a hundred ;
tar, 6d. a last ; vinegar, 2d. a tun ; iron, 4d. a ton ; oakum,
ld. per cwt. ; healing -stones (slates), £d. per thousand;
tallow, 2d. per hundred; 'trayne' (oil), 4d. a tun, ld. a
hogshead ; ' caske,' ld. a ton. Quantities levied on : 70 tons
3,933 qrs. salt; 234 chal. 131 weys coal; 27 last 160 barrels
herrings ; 352 qrs. malt ; 167 qrs. barley ; 60 qrs. wheat and
peas; 25 qrs. peas; 176 qrs. rye; 27 hundred hops; 60
hundred tallow ; 388 thousand healing-stones ; 154 thousand
dry-fish ; 1£ tuns wine ; 7 tons beef ; 15 hundred canvas ;
5 chests sugar; 17 pieces cloth; 6 tons 'caske'; 15 hundred
hides ; 9 last tar ; 12 tuns vinegar ; 12 tons iron ; 3 tuns 10
hogsheads 'trayne'; 50 'kerses'; 28 hundred oakum. The
cloth and nearly all the salt came from France ; the ' wey '
coal from Wales ; the ' chaldron ' Newcastle.
These Custoihs had been farmed by Thomas Edmonds,
father of the statesman of that name, in 1568-9 for £5 a
year. The increase thence was very slow. And when in
1634 Devonshire was ordered under the Ship-money writs to
furnish a vessel of 400 tons, Plymouth was only assessed at
£185 0s. 8d, while Plympton St. Mary had to pay £184 16s.,
and Barnstaple £252 4s. 8d. But in the following year,
when £9,000 was demanded of Devon for a ship of 900 tons,
Plymouth had to pay £190 against Exeter's £350, while
Barnstaple went back to £150, and Plympton to £35.
The Town Custom had a singular course. In 1659-60 it
was £77 8s. 4d. In 1665-6 it touched £239 2s. 4d., the
highest figure reached. Then it oscillated a while between
£60 or £70 and £150 ; and in 1680 commenced a steady
decline, which brought it by 1690 to little more than £6.
In 1696-7 it rose to £70, but when the eighteenth century
opened it was all but nil. The quayage of the town quay
rose from £12 16s. 9d. in 1669-70 to £25 15s. in 1699-1700.
No doubt special causes were at work beyond the ordinary
course of trade.
Foreign Trade in the Eighteenth Century.
At the beginning of the last century, the merchants of
Plymouth drove a ' considerable trade to Virginia, the Sugar
Islands, and the Streights,' and had a fair share of the
Newfoundland. About 1750 sixteen vessels annually sailed
out of Plymouth and Oreston for the West Indies, and

322 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
twelve others to and from different parts of America.2 This
led to the establishment of a sugar refinery on the old
Exeter Eoad.
An old inhabitant of the town, verging on eighty in 1814,
could remember when
the Parade was full of hogsheads of sugar, rum, rice, tobacco, and
every colonial produce, the property of the merchants, particularly
the great Mr. Morshead, the leading man of the Corporation ; this
was in the year previous to the French war in 1755. During the
peace that followed in 1763 a number of spirited gentlemen
embarked in the Newfoundland fishery, and succeeded; the town
received the advantage, and would have gained the superiority
over Dartmouth in that trade, but the war breaking out put a
stop to all commercial enterprise. . . . Wealth flowing in from
the lucrative channel of prizes and prize goods without hazard,
the foreign pursuits are soon forgotten, and being a King's Port,
on the first impress the seamen fly to London, Bristol, and Liver
pool, where they are not easily pressed. Consequently all trade
is stagnated. 3 Privateering and Prizes.
The effect of the wars with America and with France
was indeed to destroy the legitimate commerce of the port.
The activity displayed at the Dockyard reacted on Plymouth
and Dock ; and the other influences of a great arsenal in
time of war were exerted to an extent unequalled elsewhere.
Privateering was much in vogue. The port, moreover, was
the greatest emporium in the country for prize ships and
goods.4 'Hence a forced prosperity, a rapidly augmented
population, and an active spirit of speculation,' which in
a short time completely changed the condition of the in
habitants and the aspect of their affairs ; and when the war
ceased produced a collapse. Gloomy indeed did the prospects
appear when Napoleon was finally subjugated. With the
war ended the traffic which had sprung out of it; and the
pursuits of peace, so long neglected, required time for de
velopment. All classes suffered. Men of capital, from the
2 As an illustration of the manner in which a bye-traffic sprung up out of
this Colonial trade, Burt mentions that thirty vessels used to sail to London
for bricks, and then return to Plymouth for quenched lime packed in the
hogsheads in which sugar had been brought home. Before the American
war a large quantity of slate, squared and packed in boxes, was transmitted
to that country. 3 Burt's Review.
4 In the period from February, 1793, to Michaelmas, 1801, 948 prize ships
were examined at Plymouth, besides others examined before arrival. This is
a fair sample of the war time. It is needless to enlarge upon the opportuni
ties for money-making such a continuous influx of prizes afforded. Captors
were far more anxious to turn captures into money than to get the exact
value of their goods.

THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. 323
closing of the channels through which it had flowed. Pro
prietors of houses, who had made exorbitant rents, single
rooms sometimes letting for £10 a year, from the sudden
decrease of population caused by the restriction of operations
at the public establishments. The working classes from want
of employment, which caused the Workhouse to overflow
with tenants. There were not wanting efforts at remedy.
For immediate relief of workmen a committee was formed,
under whose directions the original marine road below the
Hoe was constructed by the unemployed in 1817.
Vigorous attempts had been made to resuscitate commerce.
It was emphatically asked, ' Can it be contended that a state
of peace is to consign to decay a large and flourishing town
and inhabitants, placed in the immediate vicinity of harbours
which appear to be designed by Nature to invite man to the
pursuits of commercial industry ? '
The Chamber of Commerce.
The most practical answer to this question was eventually
supplied by the Port of Plymouth Chamber of Commerce,
formed in 1813, under the presidency of the first Earl of
Morley, whose successors in the title have continued at its
head. The Chamber had the advantage of a very energetic
secretary, Mr. W. Burt, most fruitful in projects for the
welfare of the port. Several of these, under more propitious
circumstances, have been carried out, notably his suggestions
with regard to Milibay.
Mr. Edmund Lockyer, one of the most active citizens of
his day, and one of the chief promoters of local improve
ments, laid a scheme before the Chamber in 1814 for the
formation of associations to build or purchase vessels to
engage in the coal and culm, Baltic, Greenland, and Colonial
trades ; for the working of a sugar refinery ; for the
conversion of Sutton Pool into a wet dock; and for the
establishment of East India packets.8
5 Mr. H. Woollcombe at this time estimated the capital of the port as
follows : Real property, £190,000 ; funded ditto, £3,000,000 ; annual income
from professions, trades, &c, £276,000 ; private property in mere moveables,
not less than £1,000,000 ; Government ditto, more than £1,000,000.
The total rateable value of Plymouth now — £300,000 — after allowing for
non-rated and under-rated property, will certainly represent a capital value
of £8,000,000. Personalty in furniture, stock in trade, plant, &c, will total
up to some £5,750,000, at least. The money invested in stocks, shares, &c,
and in business outside Plymouth, is less accurately estimated ; but Mr.
Woollcombe's £3,000,000 has in all likelihood grown to £7,500,000— probably
more. This would make the present capital of and in Plymouth £21,250,000
— a figure rather under the mark than otherwise. The income of the inhabi
tants approaches £2,000,000. This is the town against Mr. Woollcombe's port.
Y 2

324 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Much interest was taken in the projects thus launched ;
and among other attempts to aid the work in hand, the
Exchange in Woolster Street was built, and proved an
unfortunate speculation. In truth the time was not ripe for
the success so eagerly anticipated. Not that the efforts
made were thrown away; but business is often a plant of
slow growth, and fruitage was deferred. However, the im
mediate result of the energy displayed was to revive the
West India and Newfoundland trades.
Slowly the commerce of the port sprang into renewed
existence ; and the tide, once turned, flowed steadily in the
direction of extended business connections, and increased
wealth. With a few intervals of temporary depression the
history of the trade of Plymouth during the last seventy
years has been one of progress ; that progress having pro
ceeded in a greatly increased ratio since the extension to the
town of the railway system, and being fostered by and
fostering the improvements made in Sutton Pool, Milibay,
and Cattewater. Sutton Pool.
Sutton Pool, the old commercial harbour of Plymouth, re
mained an appanage of royalty from the earliest times to the
present year. So far back as the fourteenth century we find
controversy between the Crown and the Priory as to their re
spective rights therein. The Crown then maintained its claim
to the Pool; but the Prior estabbshed his to the quays on
the south, which eventually passed to the Corporation. The
Pool, with the other 'waters of Plymouth' really belonged
to the Earldom, subsequently the Duchy of Cornwall; and
so continued to the present day, as part of the Manor of
Trematon. It was originally the practice for its owners to
appoint haveners. The 'port of Plymmue' occurs as early
as 1254. Edward II. granted the custody of the castle and
town of Trematon with ' the water of Sutton,' to Thomas of
Genely in 1315 ; and Edward III., in 1331, granted ' the
water of Sutton ' to Thomas Coppeare, valet of his chamber,
at a rent of £4. In 1334 Thomas de Spokenton took the
water and port of Sutton, with all the customs and dues,
except chattels forfeited at the suit of the lord, wreck of sea,
prisage of wine, etc., of the honour and castle of Trematon,
to be held in convention at the rent of £17 10s. ; which may
represent between £300 and £400 of our present money.
The working of Sutton Pool was commonly in the hands
of the town authorities. In 1481 £1 4s. was contributed

THE CAWSEY. 325
towards the reparation of the church of St. Andrew, and the
making of its south aisle, out of the pence of the farm of
Sutton Pool. Courts of the water of Sutton Pool were,
however, held on behalf of the Duke of Cornwall. Eoger
. Edward, ' sub-ballivo,' was directed in 1479 to take twelve
legal men of Plymouth, six of Stonehouse, six of Yealm and
Newton Ferrers, and six of 'Horson,' and in legal court
before Nicholas Henseott locum tenens, who was then Mayor,
to make sundry inquiries into matters connected with the
Pool. Such rights in the Pool as the Prior of Plympton had
possessed the Corporation enjoyed; the Duchy rights they
appear to have rented or farmed. In the closing years of the
fifteenth century they kept two carryers or lighters, which
were let out on hire to merchants of the town and strangers
at 6d. a tide. They had a water-bailiff appointed yearly,
and made regulations for the general conduct of the traffic.
Here is an abstract of an order made in 1568 by William
Hawkins, Mayor, John Fitz, Eecorder, the 'twelve and
twenty-four,' concerning ' the good kepyng of the poole and
water-side under the ffull sea marke ':
No manner of ballast, nor the ' swepyng or clensyng ' of
any ship, was to be cast into the Pool ; no anchor to be put
out 'without a boye vpon hym, or a pole to stand by the
anker, that people may knowe where the anker lieth'; no
stones, timber, or other things to be cast into the Pool to any
common prejudice ; no graving-pits to be left unfilled after
use; no 'landing kayes accustomed to be mayntayned' to
be suffered to fall into decay ; nobody to ' bryng any kynde
of stingkyng thyng to the water's side, as ffyshe, fflesh, deadd
beasts, as dogges, cattes, swyne '; aU ships discharging within
the Cawse were there to take their ballast, and that without
allowing any to fall into the water ; no one taking ' any stone
or other thyng whereon to stape into any bote or shepyng '
should leave it in the water ; no timber should be buried in
the ' ose,' save in the lawful place ; no ' guttyng or heddyng
of ffyshe be caste vpon the kayes, or left vpon the kayes.'
All breaches of these regulations to be visited by fine.
The ' Cawsey.'
A pier, the ' Cawsey ' at the mouth of the Pool, on or near
the site of the Barbican Pier, is noted in the earliest accounts.
Leland states ' The mouth of the gulph wherein the shippes
of Plymouth lyith is waulled on eche side, and chained over
in tyme of necessite.' And so in 1493-4 we find 8d. charged
for 'Bryngyng of the cheynes from the Cawse yn to the

326 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Castell.' But chains did not form the only defence. In
1456 2d. were paid for mending the 'mast at the Caws';
and in 1496-7 eleven pounds of ironwork are charged for the
' maste at Caws.' In 1511-12 a new house was put up at
the Cawsey, and a chaine of iron bought therefor, weighing
'viij. c. j. quart, viij. lb., at (jd- qr.) the lb., iiij11- xvij3- jd-'
Mention is likewise made of a new Cawse, and ' grete stones '
be ng brought there. John the mason and Edward Salerman
( = sailor man) had 9d. for working three tides at the Cawsey.
In 1508-9 it had been 'pynned and poynted' by 'Newconib
the mason and his feUows.' In 1511-12 the expenditure on
the Cawse and the ' lytell new howse ' thereon was consider
able ; and there is one entry that shows the great antiquity
of the modern custom of 'standing treat': 'Itm. for ale to
dyus men that holpe to slinge the grete stonys at the Cawsey,
viijd- This was something considerable; for 6d. a day was
then about the average wage of artificers; the masons'
labourers engaged on the 'lytell howse' had, however, the
higher amount, ' because it was harvest tyme.' In this year
a Spaniard was paid for carrying stones to the Cawsey, and
6d. a day given to two ' men of Stok ' for similar work. John
Paynter had 3s. 6d. for a ring of iron ; and one of John
Gryslyng's servants was drowned in 'slyngynge of stonys
for the Cawsey.' In 1521-22 machinery was provided for
the chain. A carpenter had 3s. 6d., at 7d. a day, to make
the 'wyndynge' (windlass) 'for the cheyne at the Cawse.'
The timber cost 2d. For a ' rope to wynde up the chayne,
weying lxvi. lb.,' 8s. 6d. was paid ; and a staple to ' waye up
the chayne,' weighing nine lb., cost at l|d. the pound, thirteen
pence. All this, however, was insufficient. The chayne
broke, and ' Shuge ' had 16d. for mending it, after 4d. had
been spent in the same way to little purpose. Then more
iron was put on the mast of the Cawse, and nails and spikes
bought for the end of the 'sayleyard,' while 'balche' was
provided for the rope of the chain. Next we find ' It. for a
greate yard to lye w* the Chayne at the Cawse xxs- It. for
lvj. li. of yrework for the end of the yard vjs- iijd- ' Thus
the entrance of the Pool was defended by a boom as well as
a chain. Under the name of 'Cawsey hake' or 'Castle hake' it
was the custom to levy dues of hake on ' straunge bots that
mored themselffe wtn the Cawssey,' the proceeds being applied
to the maintenance of these structures.
The sixteenth century saw improvement in Sutton Pool.
A 'Crane Key' is mentioned in 1519-20, with 'William

PLYMOUTH AND SALTASH. 327
Pull's Kaye,' and 'Allyn is Key.' In 1572-3, the 'Key on
South side' was built 'from the Barbican, under full sea
mark ; in length 130 feet, and breadth 44' Later, WiUiam
Weekes binds himself to maintain and repair during his life
the 'causse at Coxside, that I dyd there make.' Smart's
Quay was built about 1602 ; the ' dung key ' at the foot of
Looe Street in 1639-40. In 1626-7 the 'old cause' was
made higher ' that boats may not come over it.' The Cawse
was leased to William Parker in 1601.
Plymouth and Saltash.
Early in the seventeenth century we come across the first
evidence of interference with the trade of Plymouth, of the
absurd privileges claimed by the Corporation of Saltash. A
great ship had sunk in Cattewater, to the sore damage of
the harbour of Plymouth, which required in 1637 £2,255 to
put it in proper order. The Saltash people would do nothing
to remove the ship. Quite enough for them to collect their
dues.6 So the merchants of Plymouth appealed to the
authorities. These declared it to be only reasonable that
the Mayor and Commonalty of Plymouth should receive ld.
a ton on all ships coming within the port, which then in
cluded all the harbours on the south coast of Cornwall (thus
creating a new grievance after the fashion of the Saitash
one) ; ld. per ton on all ships belonging to the port for every
voyage ; and 6d. per ton on all pilchards laden in the Sound
for export. This was to be in force for three years if needed ;
and Saltash was to remove the ship, and pay half of its
dues to the reparation of Plymouth harbour. Hereon Saltash
came to terms, gave up to Plymouth the ballast rights
within Cattewater and Sutton Pool, paid £20 a year for
three years, and agreed that the care of Cattewater in future
should be joint. It was at the same time ordered that every
Plymouth lighter and sand-barge should each year take away
a load of rubble, &c, from Cattewater and deposit it on the
southern part of 'the fretted neck of land called How
Stert ' = the Batten Isthmus. Litigation.
In 1617 Sutton Pool was leased by the Duke of Cornwall,
Prince Charles, afterwards Charles I., to John Sparke (he of
the Friary) and John Fowell, of Plymouth, in farm, for
6 The rights of Saltash to levy dues in respect of the Cobbler Buoy were
made terminable in fifteen years, in 1885.

328 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
twenty-one years, at a yearly rent of £13 6s. 8d., the lessees
taking the profits of the anchorage and 'keyladge' of all
ships coming within the Pool, and the measurage and lastage
on all which discharged there, with fines of fishing boats and
pottage of fish ; the Duke reserving all prisage and bushelage,
wrecks of sea, customs of cloth and leather, petty customs,
goods of pirates, and maritime jurisdiction. Yet in 1608
it had been declared that it did not appear the soil of
the Pool was the King's, or that the Prince had any land
in Plymouth.
On enquiry made during the Commonwealth (Oct. 7th,
1650) concerning the water and pool of Sutton, it was
declared that the rights of the same, anchorage, keelage,
measurage, bushelage, lastage, toll of fishing boats and
pottage, had been granted for 20| years from March 25th,
1638, for £13 6s. 8d annually, to Sir John Walter, Sir James
Fullerton, and Sir Thomas Trevor; that they in the same
year had assigned their patent to Thomas Caldwell; from
whom it passed in succession to Sir David Cunningham,
Peter Hendra, of Plympton St. Mary, William Hele, William
Warren, and the Hospital of Orphans Aid. Houses had been
built on the bank of the Pool within high watermark ; but
the foreshore was claimed by the Corporation as part of their
manor of Sutton. The Pool was then really in the hands of
the municipal authorities. At the Bestoration it was leased
by the Crown for thirty-one years to Lord Arundel at £45
a year rent ; and proceedings forthwith commenced between
him and the Corporation. The latter were cast, and not
only lost the Pool, which was worth £100 a year, but heavy
costs.7 7 There are still extant the proceedings of an enquiry held at Plymouth
August 28th, 1661, by George Beare, Ezekiel Arundell, and William Sprye,
as Commissioners, and a jury of twenty-four. The verdict was that the
metes and limits of the water commonly called Sutton Pool were : Beginning
at a certain place called the Barbican ; and thence by the South Key, and
thence to the New Key, aDd thence to the place called ffoxhole [Vauxhall],
and thence to the key of a certain Martyn Morrice, and thence under a certain
tree called the Great Tree, and thence along the wall of the place called the
Friary, and thence to the place called the Cockside, and thence over the
house of Mr. Rattenbury, and so round to the mouth of the place called the
Barbican. The jury found also that the following encroachments had been
made : The Dung Key, or Tynn Key ; key at the back of Mr. Page's house ;
pallace adjoining Mr. Colmer's cellars ; pallace and cellars behind Mr. Millar's
house ; pallace and cellars near the Great Tree ; houses, cellars, and pallaces
built by Oliver Ceely, and William Jeffery ; Half Moon Key near Cockside ;
houses, cellars, keys, and pallaces near Cockside ; house, cellars, keys, and
pallaces built by one Rattenbury ; Teate's Key ; a key adjoining ; a wall
built at the end of his close by William Jennings, diverting the flow of the
sea; Martyn's Key; Oliver Ceely's Key; cellars and keys near ffoxhole;

LITIGATION. 329
Nor did litigation end here. In the first year of the reign
of Elizabeth an Act of Parliament made ' Hawkins's Quay,'
which was either built by, or adjoined the property of, one
of the Hawkinses (Sir John probably, as it afterwards came
to Sir Eichard), the sole legal quay for landing goods. This
quay in 1664 was unprovided with a crane; and so the
Customs authorities in London, pointing out that it was the
only lawful quay, and that goods landed elsewhere were
liable to seizure and confiscation, the benefit of which they
heard ' doth redound to the town,' required a new crane to
be supplied; which was done, at the cost of £19 Is. 2d.
William Jennens, who had the general conduct of the
Arundel suit on behalf of the town, and John Warren,
another merchant, claimed Hawkins's Quay as theirs — partly
as Jennens's Quay, and partly as Warren's Quay — and
demanded fees for landing goods. This led to more law.
The local Quarter Sessions averred that the quays were not
the property of Jennens and Warren, but belonged to the
Corporation ; and thence the case went to the superior courts.
It was a very pretty quarrel. Lanyon and other merchants
declared that the quays claimed by Jennens and Warren
were really Hawkins's Quay, at which, time out of mind,
goods had been freely laden and unladen, without charge to
the freemen of the town, and to the inhabitants of the
neighbouring towns and villages ; that Jennens and Warren
having got hold of Sir Eichard Hawkins's deeds, in the
course of the law-suit with Arundel, were keeping them
back, whereas they would show the true rights of the
property; and that Jennens, being 'a powerful man,' had
forced some people to pay dues, and had ' persuaded ' others.
The Mayor and Commonalty, on their part, contended that
the quays were theirs, included under the term ' New Quay,'
and; built on part of the waste of their manor of Sutton
Prior. It had been a very ' old and ruinated quay,' which
they had repaired and 'beautified,' making it much more
commodious. Moreover, by their quaymasters they had
regularly collected the petty customs there (these customs
Smart's Key and houses thereon ; Toll's cellars ; Friary Key and house near ;
Sammons Key; 'Jones his yard'; part of Lawrence's yard ; White's pallace ;
a slip or key next Nicholls's house ; ditto by Hamlyn's house. AH which
the jury declared had been built within full sea mark, and upon the mud
and shore of Sutton Pool, and had greatly restricted it, so that whereas
anciently ships and boats were able to come and go to a certain house called
the Queen's Arms, Bentleys, and other places, now they were prevented. To
lay the foundations of these encroachments (which were forfeited) stakes had
been in some cases driven into the silt and planks laid upon them. A
pallace meant simply a place enclosed by pales, or pallaced.

330 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
included, by the way, a faggot or billet of wood for the Old
Almshouse from every boat so laden) ; and the fact that
different parts of the quays were caUed by the names of
different people did not make them their property. The
quays were only so called, for 'distinction and difference
sake,' after people whose places of business adjoined.
Jennens and Warren, thus assailed from two different
quarters, charged their opponents with being in league ; and
insisted on the rights of private property against the custom
of Lanyon and the manorial and corporate privileges of the
town. They challenged the Corporation to show that the
New Quay was built before 1576 or 1577, and denied that
Hawkins's Quay or Custom House Quay (which was another
name for that held by Warren) were any part of the New
Quay at all — referring, moreover, to the town writings being
burnt about seventy years previously. What was the end
of this business is not quite clear; but whatever Jennens
and Warren may have retained, there still remained town
quays, which in 1693 underwent considerable repair; while
in 1730-1, when they wanted reparation again, 161 dozen of
timber wedges were driven, at the town cost, between the
stones. A few years later there were negotiations between
the town and Lord Arundel for the lease of Sutton Pool;
and in 1684 he offered to assign the remainder of his term
of seventeen years, and to obtain a new lease for twenty-one
years more, for £5,000, which he was told was a great deal
too much. Improvement.
In 1673 John Lanyon erected an Exchange on the New
Quay at his own expense, thus depicted in MS. in the
British Museum, and during the
term of office of his successor
a walk or exchange was built
on the Southside. About this
period therefore the commercial-
interests of the port appear to have made a fresh start. In
1694-5 the New Quay was paved, and in 1737-8 chains were
fixed thereon, the gift of Captain Dufour. A very high tide
on Freedom Day eve, 1744, shattered the quays, threw down
the Fish House,8 and damaged the town generally to the
extent of £3,000. In 1749 the town water was carried to
the Barbican for watering shipping. In 1753-4 another law
8 There was a little island in the entrance of the Pool, now included in the
Barbican Pier, on which the old fish house stood — a ' large square ancient
building,' with windows and stairs on the Pool side.

THE SUTTON HARBOUR COMPANY. 331
suit arose concerning the Pool, limits being in question
between the Corporation and Mr. T. Veal. The town for a
short time was deprived of its mace, which was taken away
by the sheriff's officers as a penalty for neglect in not
answering the citation. The Corporation were again cast.
In 1762 the Barbican was washed down, and two members
of the Collier family drowned. A furious storm early in
January, 1787, inflicted very serious damage upon the
quays. A few years later, between 1791 and 1799, by the
aid of a Parliamentary grant the entrance piers were built.
In this matter Captain McBride interested himself, which
gave him great political influence.
The Sutton Harbour Company.
Sir T. Tyrwhitt prepared plans for the improvement of
Sutton Pool in 1806, but they came to nothing; and the
most important stage in the history of the old harbour of
Plymouth was reached in 1811, when the Sutton Harbour
Company was incorporated by Act of Parliament, after
opposition by the Corporation, and the Duchy rights leased
thereto. Subsequently the New, Southside, and Guy's Quays,
and the other portions of the Pool frontage, which the
Corporation own in right of representing the Priory, were
leased to the Company also. Prior to 1811 they brought in
an income of £300 ; the Duchy dues amounting to between
£400 and £500. Several schemes have from time to time
been started for the improvement of the harbour. A bill
for the conversion of the Pool into a floating dock was
dropped, because the consent of the Admiralty could not be
obtained. Since then this authority has been given, and
tramways made on the quays, communicating with the
railways ; while in 1889 an Act was passed authorizing the
construction of a fish-market, the raising of money to buy
the fee of the Pool from the Prince of Wales (since effected
at a cost of £38,000), and regulating the tolls.
Prior to the lease of the Corporation Quays to the Sutton
Harbour Improvement Company, the following dues were
paid : ' Moorage at the New Quay, or Southside Quay, 8d. ;
Quay duties on coals per quarter, ld. ; Bushelage on coals
per quarter, ld. ; Quay dues for merchandise per ton, 2d. ;
use of a plank, Is. ; colliers, ditto, 2s. ; load of hoops, 3d. ;
slate per thousand, Id.; bricks per thousand, 4d.; earthenware
per crate or cask, Id.; hay, wood, &c, per barge, 2s. 6d. ;
bquor per pipe, ld. ; grain per sack, ^d. ; water from the

332 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
conduit, Is. Fish jowters [hawkers] paid in kind.' Mayor's
dues are still collected on certain kinds of fish from boats
which do not belong to the port.
Shipping dues used to be collected for the Governor of the
Citadel, but have long been discontinued. Every British
ship in Sutton Pool, Cattewater, or Hamoaze, paid Is. 6d. ;
every Spanish ship in Sutton Pool and Cattewater, 6s. 8d. ;
in Hamoaze, 10s. ; other foreign ships were let off for 2s. 6d.
or 3s. respectively. Milibay.
As the town grew in importance, so the desirability of
turning the capacious inlet of Milibay to account became
apparent. Centuries since, though Sutton Pool continued
the harbour par excellence, Milibay was the resort of vessels.
Anchors have been found where the Octagon now is. The
first attempt of importance to provide special accommodation
was the formation of the Union Dock, of which Mr. W. H.
Evens and the Messrs. Derry were the promoters, in what is
now the southern angle between Martin and Phoenix Streets.
Not long subsequently, in 1839, Mr. Thomas Gill laid a
project for the erection of the Milibay Pier before a public
meeting at the Guildhall ; and in the following year the Act
was passed under which the pier was built, and a dock formed
adjacent. Pier and dock were soon however to give place to
a larger undertaking ; the former to become subsidiary, and
the latter to be obliterated altogether by being filled up.
The site is now built on.
The next step in the development of the capabilities of
Milibay, and by consequence of the commerce of Plymouth,
was the formation of the Great Western Docks Company,
the Act for which was obtained in 1846. Mr. Brunei, engineer
of the South Devon and Cornwall Eailways, was the engineer
of the Docks. Serious difficulties were experienced ; but at
length, in February, 1857, the floating basin was opened,
though not formally, by taking in a vessel of 1100 tons for
repairs. The pier and the whole of the water side of Milibay
belonged to the Company. The fundus, as at Sutton Pool,
was the property of the Duchy of Cornwall. The basin
contains thirteen acres, with a depth of water of twenty-two
feet. The length of the quay wall is 3,490 feet ; the area of
the wharves around over fifteen acres. The entrance gates
are eighty feet wide, and there is a depth on the cill at low
water springs of ten feet three inches. Opening out of the
basin is a graving dock 460 feet long. Extensive warehouses
have from time to time been added. A line of railway

CATTEWATER. 333
communicating with the Great Western system runs round
the docks, and there are deep-water wharves on the east of
the outer harbour. The Docks were acquired by the Great
Western Eailway in 1874.
Until the formation of the Docks, Milibay, being prac
tically valueless, was not considered in the local municipal
and parochial arrrangements. Subsequently it was claimed
as within the borough boundary, which includes a point
called Eastern King. The Eastern King of the present day
is the western boundary of Milibay; but when the case
came on for trial in 1859 one of the chief points of the
Dock Company's case was that the old Eastern King was on
the Western Hoe. It was argued further that the Act of
Incorporation had a proviso that it ' should not extend aught
to the water of Tamar'; and that in compliance therewith
the Corporation of Saltash, to whom the ancient jurisdiction
of the 'liberty of the river Thamar' belongs, had always
exercised rights over the waters of Milibay. Sir Alexander
Cockburn therefore gave judgment for the Company. Thus
matters remained until 1868, when Milibay, as an extra-
parochial place, came under the provisions of an Act pro
viding that all such localities should either become parishes
themselves, or be annexed to parishes adjoining. An attempt
to constitute Milibay a distinct parish failing, and a desire
on the part of Stonehouse for annexation being repelled,
Milibay was united to the parish of St. Andrew.
Cattewater.
As Sutton Pool was the haven, so Cattewater was the
roadstead, for the shipping of the port in the Middle Ages.
Leland describes it as 'a goodly Eode for great shippes
betwixt the haven mouth and the creek of Schilleston,' or
Chelson, now Chelson Meadow. The Sound, until the
Breakwater was built, was not by any means a secure
anchorage. For the greater safety the vessels which could
not enter Sutton Pool resorted to Hamoaze when bad weather
was expected — long before Dock was founded — but for
convenience they lay in Cattewater whilst they could.
Hence the pains taken by the Corporation to preserve this
part of the haven from the damage caused by the tin-
streamers. A commission relating to the tinners is mentioned
as early as 1486. In 1538-9 divers 'platts of the Town and
port were made,' tin-works viewed on behalf of the town,
and a presentment entered concerning the haven, while by
the order of the Lord High Admiral a ' view ' was taken of

334 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Cattewater. Two years later 3s. 8d. were paid for ' viewing
the streame Brok that descends down hurtfull to the haven.'
In 1542-3 there was riding to the petty sessions at Ermington
against the tinners ; and in 1543-4 there was a nisi prius
suit against them. In 1544-5 John Sprye had £1 13s. 4d.
for 'payntyng a platt' of the haven. Two years later he
made another ' platt,' which was taken to Sir Peter Carew ;
and the tin-work was viewed again.
Eventually Acts of Parliament were passed, under
Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, to restrain the tinners ; and one
of the objects contemplated under the Water Act was the
scouring of the harbour.
Steps for the protection of Cattewater were early taken,
in the already cited order that every Plymouth lighter and
sand barge should yearly carry a load of rubble, &c, from
Cattewater, and deposit it on the southern part of the
Batten Isthmus. Sometime later the neck was protected
against the sea by a strong sea wall, which has all but
disappeared. The isthmus was partly breached in 1633-4 ;
and repairs to the wall are mentioned in 1645. In 1638
Charles I. granted the Mayor and Commonalty letters patent
for the harbour ; and in the reign of Queen Anne a statute
was passed, the principal object of which was the removal
of the 'middle bank,' close to the entrance.
Shipbuilding was formerly a very important branch of
local industry ; and the shipbuilding yards were either in
Sutton Pool or Cattewater. There was a dockyard at Turn-
chapel, from which early in the century a couple of seventy-
fours were launched. The largest merchant ship built in
the port was launched from the late Mr. Banks's yard at
Queen Anne's Battery, August, 1870. She was of 1,127
tons burthen.
Among the earliest improvements of the present century
effected in Cattewater was the laying down of chain moorings
by Lord Boringdon, afterwards the first Earl of Morley — the
Corporation opposing. He built the Laira Bridge to replace
the old ' flying bridge ' ; and embanked Chelson Bay, which
gained for him the gold medal of the Society of Arts. This
was undertaken in the spring of 1806, and completed in the
autumn of 1817. The expenses amounted to £9,000, and
the land reclaimed, 175 acres in extent, was then valued at
upwards of £20,000.9
" Upon Chelson Meadow, since 1828, the Plymouth, Devonport, and Stone
house races have been held ; and a better piece of ground for the purpose it
would be difficult to find in Devonshire. Here it will be convenient to

ROADS. 335
The most important step ever taken in connection with
Cattewater was the formation in 1874 of the Cattewater
Harbour Commissioners, a public, not a trading body, by
whom its affairs have since been regulated. Under the
Commission the harbour has been protected by the con
struction of a breakwater, first suggested in the last century,
on the Batten Eeef. It is nearly 1000 feet in length, and is
built of concrete, from the designs of Mr. J. C. Inglis.
Since then deep-water wharves have been formed — at
Turnchapel by Messrs. Bulteel, and at Cattedown by Messrs.
Burnard and Alger; and railways have been carried along
each shore.
A life boat was given to the port in 1803 by Mr. Philip
Langmead, and stationed in Sutton Pool. The wants of the
port in this direction are now supplied by the National
Lifeboat Institution. Roads.
Good roads are as indispensable to the development of
commerce as good harbours. In old time Plymouth was very
badly off for land communication. Bishop Stafford in 1411
granted indulgence for repair of the road from Blymouth
to Smapolemille.1 Cecil declared that he had never seen
'fouler ways' than those of Devon. Ealegh in 1593 said
that ordnance could not - be carried to Plymouth, ' the
passages will not give leave.' Goods were then carried from
town to town by long lines of packhorses ; and a remnant of
an old packhorse road worn deep in the rock may still be
seen near Egg Buckland village. Post horses are mentioned
in the Corporate accounts in the closing year of the sixteenth
century, together with such names as ' Peter the post ' and
'Busseli the post.' A weekly post between London and
Plymouth in three days was proposed in 1630 ; but
apparently not introduced until 1635. E. Biggs was post
master in 1642. A post house was established in 1658, by
Northcote, then Mayor.
The first substantial improvement effected was by the
formation of the Old Exeter or Eastern Turnpike Eoad, the
Act for which passed 31st George II. Next came the
Tavistock Turnpike, under Act bearing date 44th George III.
notice that the first regatta for the port came off in 1825, and that the Royal
Western Yacht Club dates back to within a few years of that period. The
Club House was originally at Milibay, then a capital yachting rendezvous ; it
is now upon the Hoe.
1 Via profunda et lutosa, perigrinantilus et laborantibus per eandem
nimis nociva et periculosa.

336 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Less than six score years ago the communication between
Dock and Plymouth was of a miserable description, consisting
of the road by Mill Bridge, originally made by Sir Eichard
Edgcumbe in 1528, and a ferry near the site of the present
Stonehouse Bridge, crossing to Newport Street, the boats of
which were pulled by ropes. In 1767 the Act was passed
which empowered the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe and Sir
John St. Aubyn to build Stonehouse Bridge (finished in
1773); and in 1784 that for constituting a turnpike.
Carriages first began to ply for hire between the towns in
1775,2 and were licensed by the turnpike trustees. In 1800
there were forty-one of these 'Dock diligences,' but the
imposition of the stage coach duty stopped them all in 1828.
In the April of that year, however, the foundation of the
old bus system, replaced by tramway in 1871, was laid by
starting six hackney coaches to run at stated times. The
turnpike notwithstanding, at the beginning of the century it
was a matter of complaint that the road through Stonehouse
Lane and Fore Street, Stonehouse, was inconveniently
narrow. The road by Milibay, originally ' a lane leading to
the paper mills,' was also very contracted near Plymouth.
Union Eoad 'through the marshes' was not opened until
1815. These marshes, where snipe have been shot in the
memory of Plymouthians yet living, were very desolate and
dreary at night ; and it was the custom for those who had to
go from one town to the other after sunset to wait until a
little party had collected, sufficiently strong to repel attack,
before commencing to traverse them. The turnpike gate
was at the junction of Plymouth and Stonehouse, and was
removed September 29th, 1843.
The Modbury and Saltash Turnpikes were authorised
4th George IV. The operations of the Embankment Com
pany, which was empowered to embank the Laira by an Act
of the 42nd and 43rd George III., led to the formation of
the New Eastern Eoad, which completely superseded the old
road by Lipson within a very few years of its formation.3
The substitution of the Laira for the ' flying ' bridge (itself a
substantial improvement on the ferry) by the Earl of Morley,
tended greatly to facilitate the communication of Plymouth
with the South Hams. The foundation stone of this structure
2 The hackney carriages, with the boats and wherries of the Three Towns,
are regulated by Commissioners, superseding the old trustees, appointed under
an Act passed in 1843. 8 ' Sirs, for the road on Laira's banks
Accept the weary horses' thanks,'
was one of the mottoes in the procession at its opening.

r"f- >

338 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
was laid in 1824, and it was opened July 14th, 1827, when
the Duchess of Clarence (afterwards Queen Adelaide) and
suite passed over it. Mr. Eendel, the engineer, projected a
suspension bridge over the Tamar at Saltash.
Railways.
The Dartmoor Eailway, the first of its kind to call for
notice here, was a work of considerable importance when it
was undertaken. It was introduced to the public in 1818
by Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt, the father of modern reclamation
works upon Dartmoor, and the originator of Princetown.
The accommodation at Plymouth early in the century for
prisoners being inadequate and inconvenient, Sir Thomas
suggested that they should be transferred to Dartmoor, and
in 1806 laid the first stone of the Prisons. Princetown thus
created, it became a question how it was to obtain the
necessary supplies, and in 1818 Sir Thomas brought before
the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce his project for the
establishment of a horse railway between the Prisons and
Crabtree. The scheme commended itself, and was started.
In 1819 the first authorising Act was passed ; in the follow
ing year Parliament approved of a two-mile extension from
Crabtree to Sutton Pool; in 1821 a third Act gave powers of
variation. The total capital authorised was £39,983, Govern
ment being empowered to lend £18,000 for the extension to
Plymouth. Twenty-three miles, from the town to King Tor,
Walkhampton, were opened in 1823 with a public procession.
The total length of the line is twenty-four miles, with a
tunnel at Leigham of 630 yards. Mr. Hopkins was the
engineer. The undertaking never paid. In the first place it
was heavily mortgaged to the contractor, in consequence of
the expense of construction far exceeding the estimate. In
the next, from the downfall of Napoleon until the formation
of the Convict Establishment, there was no one at Princetown
to supply. Lastly, the line was laid out in the easiest
manner, far behind the present age. The traffic graduaUy
decreased until 1880, when the Dartmoor portion was recon
structed for locomotive purposes, and the line opened to a
junction at Yelverton in August, 1883.
Under the old coaching system the main road from
Cornwall to London was by Launceston and Exeter. The
construction of the South Devon and Cornwall Eailways
changed the course of the stream of traffic; and it now
flows through Plymouth. Attempts were made to restore
the old route by the formation of a Central Cornwall and

RAILWAYS. 339
associated lines ; but these failed, until the extension of the
narrow-gauge system into North Cornwall was taken in
hand by the South Western pioneers. The. South Devon
Eailway was authorised in 1844; and laid out by its engineer,
Mr. I. K. Brunei, as an atmospheric line. Upon that principle
it was opened as far as Newton ; but experience then proving
that the atmospheric system, however pretty in theory,
failed in practice, the Company had to fall back upon the
locomotive, which they had hoped to supersede.4 The effect
was that about £400,000 were lost. The railway was opened
to Laira in 1848, thus giving direct railway access to
London, and in 1849 to the present terminus at Milibay.
It was at first proposed that there should be a station for
the Three Towns in the Five Fields, then open ground, near
the present North Eoad Station; but other counsels prevailed.
Had there been any idea that the traffic would have de
veloped to its present extent, different arrangements would
certainly have been made; as the Milibay accommodation
has had to be increased at a heavy expense by the removal
of the Eoyal Union Baths,5 of the eastern side of Bath
Street, and of other property in that neighbourhood; and
still further absorptions have become necessary.
The Tavistock branch of the South Devon line, made
by an independent Company, was opened in 1859 ; and the
extension, also the work of a separate Incorporation, from
Tavistock to Launceston in 1865. The Cornwall line, after
much delay, very serious financial difficulties having to be
overcome, was opened in 1859 ; thus placing Plymouth in
direct railway communication with Truro and Penzance, and
subsequently with Falmouth. All these lines now form
parts of the Great Western system.
4 Under the atmospheric system the carriages were propelled by means of
the pressure of the air upon pistons to which they were attached. These
pistons worked in huge tubes laid between the rails. The air being exhausted
in front by stationary steam-engines, the pressure behind forced the pistons
on, and with them the carriages. The practical difficulties which put an end
to this system were avoided in pneumatic despatch tubes, by enclosing the
despatch carriage wholly in the tube ; and the principle could now be success
fully adapted.
s The Baths stood on the south of Union Street, where the incline to the
railway goods shed now commences. Their foundation-stone was laid by
Admiral Sir Byam Martin, M P. for the borough, by command of the Duke
of Clarence as patron, in 1828. The water was brought in pipes from near
the Rusty Anchor. A few years after the erection of the building a spa was
discovered and a pump-room added. The waters were obtained from a depth
of 360 feet, and contained in the imperial pint t&o cubic inches of carbonic
acid gas; chloride of sodium, 96 '64 grains; muriate of magnesia, 18 '68;
muriate of lime, 15 '10; sulphate of soda, 9'55 ; sulphate of lime, 8 '94;
carbonate of lime, 2 '06 ; carbonate of iron, 0'69.
z 2

340 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
After several expensive contests in Parliament between
the ' broad ' and ' narrow ' gauge railway interests — the Great
Western and London and South Western Companies— the
latter seeking access to Plymouth, and the former striving to
prevent it, powers were granted to the Devon and Cornwall
Eailway Company, the pioneer of the London and South
Western, to complete a line from the North Devon extension
at Yeoford to Lydford, and thence to run over the broad-
gauge to Plymouth, with an extension from a joint station
at North Eoad to a terminus at Devonport. These works
were carried out, and the line opened to Devonport amidst
great rejoicing in May, 1876. The undertaking is now that
of the South Western Company ; and an independent con
nection from Lydford was opened May 30th, 1890. This
new line runs down the valley of the Tavy until it crosses
the ridge by Morwell, to follow the left bank of the Tamar
to Saltash Passage, and so to Devonport and Plymouth.
Both systems therefore have independent access to the Three
Towns, though in the course of time the broad-gauge has
been practically abandoned by its only advocate — the Great
Western Company — in favour of the universal ' narrow.'
Coaches.
Stage coaches are locally quite out of date, but a few notes
concerning them may be acceptable. It was not until 1762
that any regular passenger communication was set up between
Plymouth and distant localities. In that year a ' diligence '
was put on to Exeter by John Bignell, of the ' Prince George
Inn,' performing the distance in twelve hours. Thirty years
later there were two coaches from Plymouth (or rather Dock,
that town being the terminus of the up-country traffic) to
Exeter daily, fares 14s. 6d. and 7s. 6d. There were two
London waggons twice a week each, a Launceston waggon
weekly, and a Barnstaple waggon fortnightly. Chartered
vessels sailed to London and Bristol ; and hoys to Portsmouth
were 'generally to be heard of at the Seven Stars, North
Corner. Another thirty years saw six stage coaches running
daily up country;6 one daily and one alternate days into
Cornwall. The ' fly waggons ' from London used to take four
and a half days to reach Exeter. Immediately prior to the
construction of the South Devon Eailway there were six
coaches running daily eastward — the Nonpariel, Telegraph,
6 A second coach in opposition to the mail coach was boycotted in 1802 by
some of the leading merchants.

STEAMERS. 341
Defiance, Great Western, Quicksilver, and Bath Mail. The
distance between Plymouth and Exeter was often done in
3 hours 28 minutes. The Quicksilver ran the 219 miles
between Plymouth and London in 21J hours.
The first family coaches in the neighbourhood were those
of Sir J. Eogers, and ' Madame Darell ' ; and there was no
coachmaker in Plymouth until the reign of George III.
Steamers.
Steam made its influence felt before the advent of the
railways. The Plymouth, Devonport, Portsmouth, and
Falmouth Steam Packet Company was formed in 1822,
through the exertions of Mr. John Hawker, and in the
next year regular steam communication was established
with Portsmouth. The Brunswick and Sir Francis Drake —
names ever memorable in connection with the early history
of steam navigation in the Port of Plymouth — were running
to Torquay, Cowes, and Portsmouth ; and to Falmouth,
Guernsey and Jersey ; respectively in 1836 : whilst the
London and Liverpool Companies plied to London, Liverpool,
Falmouth, Cork, Dublin, and Belfast. The South Devon
United Shipping Company (established 1828) had seven
schooners on the line between London and Plymouth; the
Plymouth and London Union Shipping Company eight,
engaged in coasting ; whilst there were two Bristol traders.
The most important development of local shipping affairs
in the past half century, has been the selection of Plymouth
as a point of arrival or departure for mail steamers to almost
every part of the world, beginning with the calling of the
Cape Mail Union line in 1850. Moreover, Plymouth has
long been the chief Emigration Depot for Government
emigrants. Custom Houses.
The official Customs business has been carried oh in the
vicinity of Sutton Pool for centuries. The present Custom
House on the Parade was built from Mr. Laing's designs in
1820, at a cost of £8,000 ; its predecessor being a seventeenth
century building opposite, built at a time when what is now
the Parade was a creek. The Corporation paid for work on
one still earlier in" 1586. The mediaeval merchants did not
always get on well with the authorities, and in 1450 obtained
an Act of Parliament to relieve them from the extortionate
demands of- the water bailiff. Henry Harfam, 'custemer of
Plymuth,' was executed at Tyburn in 1537.

342

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

In 1834 Plymouth was made a stannary town, but the
privileges were abolished so soon afterwards thatthe appoint
ment was never worth much. The first tin coinage was at
the Exchange, March 25th, 1835.

Old Custom House, Parade.
Regulation of Trade by the Ancient Corporation.
The ancient Corporation had much to do with the
regulation of internal trade. Every freeman, as we have
already seen, swore — ' You shall avow noe f orraigner's goods
as your own goods, nor buy and bargain with any forraigner
or stranger in your own name to ye use, behoof, and profit of
another forraigner and stranger, whereby any Custom or
duety may be lost or withdrawn from ye Mayor and Commons
of this Burrough. You shall take noe apprentice for less
than seven yeares, and within that tyme you shall see them
taught and instructed of some honest mystery, craft, or
occupation. And if you shall hereafter know any forraigners,
merchants, or handycrafts men that shall use to buy, or sell,
or practice any craft continually within this Burrough, not
being free of the same, you shall then give warning thereof
unto the Mayor of this Burrough for the time being, or his
officers.' No one in fact could carry on business unless he were a

REGULATION OF TRADE BY ANCIENT CORPORATION. 343
freeman, and then only under regulation.7 There is yet
extant the charter granted to the tailors of the town, ' the
Liberty of the Tailors' Craft,' in 1479-80 :—
Be hit knowen to all manr of people that we Will™ Eogger
mayer of the Burgh of plymouthe, Thomas Tresawell Eecorder of
the same Thomas byne Willm Nicoll Willm Thikpeny peryn Erie
wth other moo com burges of the same burghe with all the comens
of the Same burghe haue geuen and grunten vnto the brethern and
Crafte of Tayllors of the same Burghe full auctoritee and power to
electe chese and make masters of theyre occupacon and Crafte, and
they so made and chosen by theym of the same occupacon and
shall haue full auctoritee and power to rule and Correcte all
things belonging to the said occupacon and crafte so ffyxte made
and stablyshed. They shall make or cause to be made at the cost
and charge of the said Crafte a pagent yearly vnto Corpus Xri
Ilde for the welthe and proffitt of the said ilde on Corpus Xri
day. And the same they shall kepe and maynteyn for eur at their
Coste and charge for the which pagent the said bretherdyn may
be prayed for euer in the same Ilde. And on that yf there be
any man of the same occupacon in the same towne not keping
household that then he or they so being in the said towne not
keping household shallbe noon of the said occupacon but that he
or they shall make fyne with us the said mayer and Comons And
also with the said occupacon and Crafte after the order and
discression of men of the said Crafte by the oursight of the said
mayer. And yf the said wardens and Crafte amytte any man to
be oon of the said occupacon and Crafte And he happyn to
destroye or marre any manr of garment for lakke of vnderstondyng,
and non cunnyng yn that behalfe, that then he or they so hurted
or greved shall warne the master or masters of the same occupacon
thereof, and then the said masters of the same occupacon shall
paye and contente for the garment or garments so distroyed as hit
can be thought reasonable for the same hurte,~hauing a recompense
of the same pson or psons.
Provyded alway by this psents that the said masters and Crafte
and eury pson of the same shal be ordered ruled and gourned by
the mayer of the said burghe for the tyme being in eury thing
according to the lbtye and fourme of the said Towne and burghe
as any oder of the inhitaimts there being this grunte not
withstonding. The Corporation also considered the due regulation of
commerce. Their idea of the common weal was supreme;
individual rights counted for bttle or nothing.
7 For example, so late as 1659, Abraham Blocke paid 10s. for liberty to
trade ; while Hendricke Blocke and Hendricke Peterson paid £3 each for
leave to ' open their shop windows ' for the year. There are other entries of
similar licences of the ' unfree.' These men were Flemings.

344 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
In 1564 it was ordered that no resident should buy any
meal brought to the town, on pain of forfeiture and other
punishment. This was to compel the inhabitants to have
their corn ground at the Milibay mills, which formed one of
the chief sources of the town income, and then yielded £24
a year rent. One wonders whence the windmill on the Hoe
got its business. In 1570 it was directed that no one was
to grind any corn away from the mills, on pain of forfeiting
three times the just toll per bushel ; while the millers who
did wrong were likewise to restore threefold. Three years
afterwards we light upon a record of the most distinguished
miller Plymouth ever had, before the time of Sir Francis
Drake — no less a person than Sir John Hawkins, who,
with his brother William, rented the town mills ; bought a
house at 'Pope's Head' to weigh the corn in before it was
carried to the mills; and kept a man with a horse ready,
on due warning, to fetch the corn from the houses of the
inhabitants. In 1580, too, we find mention of a prototype of the Eoyal
Hotel- — the Town Tavern — in respect of which Walter
Battishill, Humphrey Fownes, and Christopher Ceely agreed
to pay yearly £3 6s. 8d. at the winewits audit.
As to general merchandise, in 1575 it was enacted that all
goods brought by sea should be put, before purchase, into
the common hall, 'the large Seller adjoyninge the Crane
Kaye,' under penalty of £5. Three years later, John Sparke
provided a sufficient cellar for receiving strangers' goods,
being recompensed by a moiety of the moneys the town
ought to receive thereon.
And in 1575 there was another very sweeping enactment,
that no one should buy wine, commodities, or merchandise
coming to the town by water, without having made the
Mayor privy thereto, in order that, if they so desired, the
Mayor and his brethren might buy for the town. If they
did make a purchase, then every freeman had to take the
share apportioned him. This could hardly have been oper
ative, or else it must have fallen into desuetude ; for in 1597
it was further enacted that no merchant or other inhabitant
should 'bargain for deal boards, corn, grain, salt, or other
victuall, wyne only excepted,' up to £5 value in all cases
except deal boards, and then to the value of £10, until the
Mayor had been apprised, and had decided whether he would
deal for the profit of the town generally.
In 1603 fines, &c, were inflicted on the parties offending,
because Pascowe Pepperell had forestalled the market by

MEDIEVAL FISHERIES. 345
buying coal at 7s. lOd. the quarter and selling it at 8s. 8d.,
which does not seem a very extravagant profit. In 1605,
too, there were sundry fines and imprisonments inflicted for
buying rye within the Cawsey contrary to rule.
Mediaeval Fisheries.
The regulations made during the sixteenth century with
regard to fish were numerous and important. In the mayor
alty of Nicholas Bickford, 1565-6, it was ordered that no
alien should lade or buy fresh pilchards above the number of
1,000 in a day ; no man not being free to buy or sell above
5,000, unless the fish were 'in danger of perishing.' In
Drake's mayoralty (1581-2), other orders were made. No
one was to promise or sell any pilchards before they had
them (' time-bargains ! '). Any persons suspected of selling
or promising to deliver pilchards before they were 'saved'
(cured), or of having received money beforehand from any
non-inhabitant to 'make' (cure) the same, was to be questioned
on oath before the Mayor, and if guilty, not allowed to
' make ' any more pilchards that year. No woman, whether
wife, widow, or servant, was to set or make a price for or
upon any pilchards brought to the town, under penalty of
10s. fine (to be paid by the husband or master, if no widow)
and personal punishment — as usual at the Mayor's discretion.
In 1584 a more stringent order was passed to the same
effect, including hake, but allowing women to make provision
for their households. Those who brought hake to the town
were to sell to every freeman equally some indifferent portion.
Freemen who aided any stranger to break these regulations
were subject to severe penalties — losing their liberty, and
having to pay heavy fines, from 5s. upwards. In 1590-1 a
tax of 8d. per last was laid upon pilchards cured, except for
household use, towards the defence of the town.
Earlier in the seventeenth century the town petitioned the
Privy Council, to prohibit the exportation of pilchards, save
in ships of Devon and Cornwall, because ' divers ships and
mariners lye idle without employment within our harbour,'
while foreign ships were continually employed. Special
mention was made of certain Flemish vessels of great burden
being so engaged.8
8 Outsiders were not encouraged in these days in any way. For many a
year it was the custom in Plymouth to send Irish folk back to the place from
whence they came ; and at one time it was compulsory on masters of vessels
trading between Plymouth and Ireland to take a certain proportion of Irish
immigrants as part of their return cargo.

346 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
One of the most amusing entries anent fish concerns the
fishwomen. In the mayoralty of Humphry Fownes (1596-7),
these traders were considered by the 'twelve and twenty-four'
to have unduly multiplied. So their numbers were restricted.
The names of the favourite ladies of the Corporation allowed
to continue their business were : Cyslie Barons, Johanna
Straunge, Katheren Earle, Cyslie Sherwill, Thomasine Prince,
Bahatch Dune, Elizabeth Lanne, Alse Bree, Agnes Clifforde,
Alse Gilbert, Elizabeth Harte, Nell Seelye, Alse Lawrell,
Elizabeth Evens. Three-quarters of a century later (1656-7)
it was enacted that women who went about 'trucking' to
ships without leave, should be set in the ducking-stool at
the Barbican and haled up and down three times.
The fisheries of the port were not only its oldest but one
of its most important industries. Parliament decreed in
1384 that all fish caught in the waters of Sutton, Plymouth,
and Tamar should be exposed for sale in Plymouth and Aish
(Saltash) only. During the reigns of Elizabeth and James I.
pilchards formed a chief branch of the town exports, the
old curing-house being at the entrance of Sutton Pool. The
erection of fish-houses at Cawsand and other places in the
neighbourhood was regarded by the Plymouthians with
extreme jealousy. They frequently complained to the Privy
Council of those who carried fish taken there to other towns
than Plymouth, Stonehouse, Millbrook, or Saltash ; and in
consequence an order was issued in 1606 for the sale of two-
thirds of the fish taken at Cawsand in Plymouth. Some
years previously, Sir John Gilbert had been directed to look
into complaints made that forestallers stored pilchards in
cellars built in the cliff at Cawsand.
The Newfoundland fishery was carried on with consider
able vigour, until abolished by the turn given by war to the
avocations of the port, and was also the subject of frequent
appeals to the Privy Council. In 1620 protest was made
against the French and Spanish trading companies, and 'a
plantation in the Newfoundland.' 9 Indeed ' about the end
of the seventeenth and the commencement of the eighteenth
century, when from various conspiring causes Plymouth
seemingly enjoyed a greater share of trade than at any
other, the Pollexfens, Bogerses, Trelawnys of Ham, Hewers
9 The late Mr. Jonathan Couch, f.l.s., published extracts from the ledger
of Richard Trevill, ' an eminent merchant, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth
from whom and the members of his house a street in Plymouth derived its
name.' Trevill was a very spirited man. He erected fish cellars at Kingsand
and Cawsand, and exported 'fumados,' now called 'fairmaids,' to Bordeaux
Rochelle, Spain, and Naples, between 1597 and 1600.

PRESENT COMMERCIAL POSITION.

347

of Manadon, Fowneses, and Calmadys, accumulated large
fortunes from the fisheries and other sources.1
In 1624 there is an entry of 'the charge disburst for the
putting down of the Lyzard light, w°h would have been
burdensome to all the cuntrie.'

A Corner of Sutton Pool.

Present Commercial Position.
As a general commercial port Plymouth may be ranked
about seventh in importance in England and Wales. The
import trade is largely in excess of the export, though the
latter has shown a very considerable increase in the past
five and twenty years. The Customs returns are compara
tively small, because of the abolition of imposts on the
articles chiefly imported; but in 1857 £266,677 were paid
1 The fortunes of several county families were laid at Plymouth. The
Fowneses bought Plympton Priory lands at the Dissolution, that property
subsequently passing to the Luttrells of Dunster. The Yonges of Puslineh,
spring from Dr. Yonge, a physician of Plymouth. He obtained the estate
by marrying Mary, daughter and heir of William Upton, who died in 1709.
The founder of the Symonses of Chaddlewood — now represented by Mr.
Soltau-Symons — William Symons, an alderman of Plymouth, bought that
property of the heirs of Elford Sparke, the Sparkes being likewise Ply
mouthians. The Julians are another old Plymouth family ; in 1744 John
Julian bought Kingston.

348 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
in Customs duties. The coasting trade is large, and gives
Plymouth practically the sixth position in England and
Wales, and the tenth in the United Kingdom. As an
English fishing port Plymouth stands about tenth. Sutton
Pool is still, as it has been for at least ten centuries, the
harbour of the fishermen of the port ; and is often crowded
with fishing craft in various parts.
Markets.
The first grant of a market at Plymouth was made about
the year 1253, to be held on Thursdays, with a fair of three
days at the festival of John the Baptist. Four years after
wards Baldwin of the Isle had his grant of a Wednesday
market, and a fair of three days at the festival of, the
Ascension. Under the monastic rule the Markets belonged
to the Priory, but when the town was chartered passed to
the Corporation. Prior to that, however, the community had
acquired market rights.
In 1311 Matthew, Prior of Plympton, let to the burgesses
of Sutton eighteen market stalls in a certain place in the
said ville adjoining a stone cross, at the rent of one penny
per stall per year. Eichard the Tanner acted for the bur
gesses. Thence until now market jurisdiction has been
exercised in Plymouth by the Municipal authorities.
The cross here mentioned was presumably the Market
Cross, the granite pillars of which were bought by James
Bagg for 40s. in 1610. It had probably been demolished
in connection with building the Guildhall. Work was done
on the Market House (which had a bell) in 1571-2 ; and in
1590 it was 'planched;' but so far as can be gathered it
had been mainly rebuilt, with 'more stone' piUars, in 1564.
Shambles were erected in 1606, apparently in connection
with the Jacobean Guildhall ; and a little later a ' new corn
market house,' eventually made a shop. The Corn Market
House is mentioned as early as 1539, and in 1625-6 another
new market house was built at a cost of £9 13s. lid. ; but
in the next year it was taken down and carried away to be
rebuilt 'above higher mill.' In 1646-7 the markets were
leased at £10 a year. In 1653-4 £6 14s. 6d. was spent on
new building the 'Yarn Market' in Old Town. In 1656
Shambles were built in the middle of Old Town, a long
narrow range of buildings 200 feet by 12, with the' Leather
Hall above extending about a third of the length, and
costing £177 10s. 9d. The Old Green Market was on. the
south side of Whimple Street. In 1693 Fish Shambles were

TEXTILE AND GENERAL MANUFACTURES. 349
constructed in Whimple Street, afterwards called the Old
Fish Cage. The building was thirty feet long by ten feet
wide, and was demolished in anticipation of the visit of
George III. in 1789 — ' a waggon,' says Harris, ' being hired
to drive against it to ensure its demolition.'
Thence the Market was removed to the Guildhall, and
thence again when Evelegh began to build what is now the
Free Library, to the site of the Old Almshouses north of
St. Andrew Churchyard. A Fish Market had been made
against the Churchyard wall in 1601-2, costing £18 19s. 4d.
The utter inadequacy of the provision made by Evelegh,
with other pressing reasons, rendered the building of a new
Market necessary early in this century. Accordingly the
present site was bought — then an open field with a pond
wherein a boy had been drowned, known as the Bloody
Field ; and the foundation stone laid in 1804. It was
opened in 1807, and the tolls were first let by auction in
1809 for £900, while in the next year they made £2,010
(in 1783 the market rent had been £430). A tontine loan
for building the Market was raised of £10,000, and the land
cost £4,000 more. Plans for rebuilding were invited in 1853,
and the first awarded to Mr. C. Eales, of London. Other
plans by Mr. C. King and Mr. H. Alty were obtained in
1882, and the work has since then been proceeded with
piecemeal, a main feature being the construction of a road
way through the Market from Cornwall Street to Old Town
Street, at the Ebrington Street junction.
The Mayor used to be Clerk of the Market ; and at one
time had the revenue of the Shambles to keep up his
kitchen. A weekly Yarn Market was held in the seventeenth
century in the Churchyard ; and a Cloth Fair in November
in Old Town, at which the Somerset and Devon clothiers
used to assemble in large numbers.
The Fairs, for business purposes, practically came to an
end in 1864. Textile and General Manufactures.
The cloth manufacture is the earliest that can be traced
here. There is no record when it was established; but it
was certainly carried on in the reign of Elizabeth. When
Drake brought in the water, mills were built in the town ;
and two of these were used, if not from the time of their
erection yet very soon afterwards, as tucking or fulling mills.
These were the mills in what is now called Eussell Street,

350 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
then Horsepool Lane. They were known as the Eastern and
Western Fulling Mills, and were leased by the Corporation
with the right of setting up racks for the cloth in the lane
and on the ' Great Hill ' — the ridge overlooking Pennycome
quick. The first fuber mentioned is John Chare, who rented
the Western Fulling Mill, a moiety of which was leased in
1666-7 to Stephen Forstrete. He was the father of Abraham
Chare, or Cheere, the first recorded pastor of the Baptist
Church of Plymouth, and Abraham's life was on the mill
when the lease was granted to Forstrete. Chare had also
something to do with the Eastern Tucking Mill, a moiety
of which was leased in the following year to William Bray,
of Milton Abbot, fuller.
There was a revival of the woollen trade early in the last
century by Mr. Shepheard, who came to Plymouth from
Northampton. It flourished most under Mr. William Shep
heard, his grandson, who paid £1,200 to £1,500 weekly in
wages, and gave a tenth of his profits to the poor. At
Plymouth there was a large baize manufactory, the tucking
mills being at Yealm Bridge. The number of woolcombers
was about 60, earning 15s. a week; spinners, 800, 3s. to 5s.;
weavers 300, 9s. ; warpers and tuckers, 15s. ; spolers and
children, 3s. Many of the children took home work one
morning, and returned with it the next, when they received
sixpence and more work. Mr. Shepheard was also engaged
in fellmongering, and had six coasting vessels.
The baizes and cloth manufactured from coarse wool, not dis
posed of in Plymouth or the neighbourhood, were sent to North
America, in exchange for tar and turpentine (which were taken by
the manufactory of tar, oil of tar, pitch, and rosin, at Stonehouse,
lately belonging to Luscombe and Co.), masts, &c, &c. On the
breaking out of the first American war this extensive concern
began to decline ; and though a magnificent procession of the
woolcombers at Plymouth took place in 1783 on the return of
peace, and the business was continued after Mr. Shepheard's death
by his sons- with sufficient success to warrant hopes of its reviving,
yet the whole has mouldered away or been dispersed into distant
quarters, except one solitary remnant — a small white serge manu
factory, carried on by Mr. Codd, in Old Town.2
Of manufactories existing in the port when he wrote
(1814-15), Burt enumerates, excluding trades : A salt refinery
of such antiquity that it was among those privileged in the
time of Queen Anne, when an Act of Parliament was passed
prohibiting the erection of new refineries, except in places
2 Bum's Review, p. 176.

TEXTILE AND GENERAL MANUFACTURES. 351
containing salt pits or springs, and contributing in 1814 at
the rate of £12,000 a year to the revenue ; five tallow
factories ; a nail factory (in Colmer's Lane) ; a brown paper
mill at Milibay ;3 a writing slate and pencil manufactory at
Lee Mill, near Ivybridge, delivering two slates per minute ;
two potteries, one manufacturing coarse ware of clay im
ported from Bideford, and the other 'cream-coloured, or
Queen's ware, painted, printed, and enamelled ware,' of clay
from Cornwall, Teignmouth, Poole, and Gravesend ; varnish
and pitch manufactories, from which large exportations of tar,
turpentine, and varnish, had taken place to Newfoundland ;
an ivory black manufactory, established three years previously
by Mr. Briggs, who employed many persons, principally
women, in collecting bones; two tobacco and tobacco pipe
manufactories ;4 distilleries, employing twenty men ; a straw-
plait manufactory, established when the French prisoners
were at Dartmoor, straw being supplied them, which they
returned plaited ; five tanyards — an increase of four in thirty
years ; thirteen ship-building yards ; seven rope-walks ; and
two canvas manufactories, employing about 200 persons, the
first established by a Mr. Jardine, from Scotland, in Westwell
Street. The sail-cloth manufactory of Messrs. Hammett
and Dove (at one time Shepheard, Hammett, and Co., and
again, Hammett, Prance, and Co.) was a very flourishing
concern; but the changed conditions of the shipping trade
caused this industry to decay, and it has been given up by
Mr. Yeo, the last to practise it.
The white serge factory ceased its operations long before
these canvas works in Mill Lane, the last relic of the textile
manufactures of Plymouth. A flock and shoddy mill was
subsequently carried on at Brent by Mr. Peter Adams,
who had introduced the manufacture of Brussels carpets,
unfortunately just about the time that power looms were
superseding the old machinery ; so that operations were
suspended after a couple of years.
Textile industries are now represented in Plymouth by
great clothing factories, first introduced by the Messrs.
Tippetts. The factory system has also been applied of late
in other departments of production, and in the manufacture
of furniture.
3 A paper mill was erected there by Thomas Netherton as far back as 1710.
* The port received very great importations of tobacco from Virginia in the
vessels of Mr. Rogers and Mr. Morshead, to the former of whom a singular
but lucky accident occurred. Only two days previously to the legal com
mencement of the duty imposed on tobacco, three of his vessels arrived, by
which he saved, or rather gained, £5,000 to £6,000.

352 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Chemical Manufactures.
The great development in the manufacturing industry
of Plymouth within the present century has been in the
chemical branches. Hence the large establishments which
have converted the district to the east of Sutton Pool into
a manufacturing suburb", the tall chimney stacks of which
sufficiently indicate the purposes to which it is devoted.
This locality indeed has enjoyed some sort of connection
with manufactures from the date of their introduction.
There was a time when Milibay seemed likely to distance
it in the race ; but the progress of building has confined
the manufacturing operations of western Plymouth within
comparatively narrow limits. The Milibay paper mills and
glass-house5 have disappeared; but it retains the extensive
soap works established by Mr. Thomas Gill in 1818, now
the property of the Milibay Soap, Alkali, and Soda Com
pany, and formed into a Company in 1856 ; alongside of
which a younger concern of the same kind — the Victoria
Soap Company — was established in 1858. The Victoria'
Company is also the successor to the West of England Soap
Company, which formerly conducted business in the Sutton
Eoad. The cement manufacture has been carried on for
many years — a manufactory of Eoman cement at Milibay
being the first established, by the late Mr. Eattenbury.
It is now conducted at Cattedown.
Nearly sixty years ago the business of sugar refining was
re-introduced by Mr. James Bryant. Having established
the first starch manufactory in the town in Mill Lane, not
long subsequently he founded in the same locality the
refinery, the site of which until then was occupied by
vegetable gardens and a tanyard. By Messrs. Bryant and
Burnell it was carried on until 1856, when the concern
passed into the hands of the British and Irish Sugar Be-
finery Company. After they ceased operations it was
acquired by Sir Edward Bates, M.P., and eventually closed
by him, as it was conducted at a loss.
Plymouth for a short time possessed a lucifer match
manufactory, the property of Messrs. W. Bryant and
E. James, which was burnt in 1829. Mr. W. Bryant was
afterwards the founder of the Soap Works, subsequently
known as the West of England ; Mr. E. James, of the
5 The workmen of Messrs. Stanford's glass-house walked in the pro
cession formed to celebrate the coronation of the Queen, with glass hats
and all manner of glass paraphernalia. The premises were sold to the
Great Western Dock Company.

PLYMOUTH CHINA. 353
Starch Works at Coxside, now owned by his sons (Messrs.
W. Collier, and E. Hamilton, James), which have grown to
very large dimensions ; and at which black lead, blue, and
other articles are manufactured. Part of these premises were
occupied by the Poor Clares (see page 265). Mr. W. Bryant
likewise established candle works, a branch of manufacture
carried on at Coxside by the Patent Candle Company.
The manufacture of artificial manure has grown to very
large proportions, as the extensive establishments of Messrs.
Norrington, and of Messrs. Burnard and Alger, testify.
Connected with the manufacture of manure are the produc
tion of sulphuric acid and metal reduction.
The tar distilling works of Mr. Harvey, at Deadman's Bay,
are the only ones of the kind in the West of England.
The lead works of Messrs. James and Bosewall were
established in 1850, on premises which had been unsuccess
fully occupied as a naphtha manufactory for a few years.
The firm was originally Sparrow, Hodge, and Co. The business
was transferred to new premises in the Octagon in 1868.
The Plymouth Paper Staining Company has been one of
the most successful concerns ever started in the borough.
About twenty-five years since Mr. George Frean founded
the biscuit factory, now carried on by Messrs. Serpell and Co.,
by whom the fancy business has been largely developed.
Gas making is hardly looked upon as a manufacture. An
Oil Gas company was incorporated under an Act passed in
1823, the first meeting to consider the matter having been
called July 24th, 1817. (In 1770 the town was lit by 250
oil lamps.) In 1825 the United General Gas Company was
established at Milibay; and in 1832 the Oil Gas merged
into it. The Plymouth and Stonehouse Gas Light and
Coke Company, by which the towns are at present bt, was
incorporated in 1845. The prices in the first instance were
charged at Plymouth, as elsewhere, per burner. Now the
town enjoys the advantage of having almost the cheapest gas
in the kingdom. Plymouth China.
Plymouth was the seat of the manufacture of the first
true porcelain made in England ; and to the founder of the
old Plymouth Pottery is Cornwall indebted for the discovery
of her great mineral resources in china clay (kaolin) and
china stone (petuntse). William Cookworthy, a member of
the Society of Friends, was born at Kingsbridge in the year
1705. Eemoving to Plymouth, he engaged in the drug
' 2a

354 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
business in a house in Notte Street. In the year 1745 an
American directed his attention to the materials used in the
manufacture of porcelain, by showing him some specimens of
kaobn from Virginia. This led Cookworthy to make investi
gations in the neighbouring county, where he discovered both
the kaolin and petuntse on Tregonning Hill, whence some of
the china stone had been brought to Plymouth to build
casemates in the Citadel. This is believed to have been
about the year 1750. It was not until after long experiment
that he established his pottery at Plymouth. Here the
manufacture was carried on for some years with fair success;
but in 1774 Cookworthy — who died in 1780 — transferred his
rights to Mr. Champion of Bristol, whither the works had
been removed. Eventually the patent passed into the hands
of Staffordshire proprietors. Cookworthy is said to have
procured a painter and enameller from Sevres for the
decoration of his ware; and Bone, the celebrated enamel
painter (a native of Probus), learnt his art and was brought
up in the manufactory. While the pottery was at work
there was such a demand for the china, that it could hardly
be made fast enough. Wood was the principal fuel consumed,
and from fifty to sixty persons were engaged in the various
processes. Plymouth china is much valued among collectors,
and fine specimens fetch high prices. The Plymouth mark
was commonly the alchemical symbol for tin ; but the
following varieties occur, and much of the plain white china
was not marked at all.

•^2^"
^%\<-

<At-

11% 8 ^*T^»w£

agr

v/

o.

GENERAL HANDICRAFTS AND TRADES. 355
Cookworthy's patent was dated March 17th, 1768, and
there is a dated example of the Plymouth china of March
14th; but at least six years before the manufacture had
been attempted, with Cookworthy's materials and probably
with his aid, by Champion at Bristol, though then and there
it failed. The Plymouth China Works seem to have been
carried on between 1768 and 1772 ; but there is no certainty
as to these details, or as to the exact locality where the
porcelain was made. The so-called ' China House ' at Coxside
— now removed — seems to have been really a storehouse ;
and the probability is that the works were upon premises
still standing in High Street, which the ratebooks show to
have been in Cookworthy's possession at this period.
General Handicrafts and Trades.
There are sundry indications in the Corporate Eecords of
the manner in which ordinary handicrafts and trades were
conducted in the town at various periods. Thus in 1486
the ' taynying ' of the great banner and standards had to be
entrusted to the ' stayner [dyer] of totnys ' ; and in 1506-7
Nicholas Adams had to be fetched from Looe to make the
' crosse and the vanys on the stypell.' In 1624-5 there were
134 payers of 'ale and beer wyts' to a population of some
7,000, beside four vintners — one to every fifty inhabitants.
Two of the houses of these four vintners are still in use as
inns — the Old Four Castles and the Eose and Crown, in
Old Town Street — the latter the most characteristic of its
class in the town. The tobacco shops in the seventeenth
century did a good business. Letters patent were granted
for the exclusive sale of tobacco in Plymouth in 1634 to
Thomas King, Abraham Briggs, John Adlington, John
Wilcock, Nicholas Harris, Henry Honey, Eichard Tapper,
and George Eattenbury; London being the only place at
which tobacco could be landed. The extent to which
smoking was patronised is shewn in the report of Garrard
to Lord Stafford in 1663, that Plymouth had yielded £100
and as much yearly rent to the licensees, besides which
there were many unlicensed shops which the magistrates
had to put down.
The brewers were strictly regulated. Ale -tasters were
appointed (manorial fashion), who had to see that the ale
and beer made were good and wholesome, and without whose
approval none could be sold. Moreover the price was fixed.
In 1608 the best was sold at 13s. 4d. per hogshead, the
second quality at 6s. 8d. ; while in 1627, in obedience to the
2 a 2

356

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

strong Puritan feeling of the town, it was ordered that no
work was to be done by the brewers or their servants on the
Lord's-day, ' that they may wholly apply themselves to the
attendance of religious duties as fully and freely as any
others.' Further, they were to sell no beer at a higher rate
than 15s. a hogshead — a considerable increase on the prices
of twenty years previous. The breweries and distilleries

'Eose and Crown,' Old Town Street.
now rank among the oldest local industries, and a number
of the former have recently been amalgamated into one
concern, under the Limited Liability Acts, which have
found frequent application in the locality.
Burt quotes from Bayley's Western and Midland Directory
for 1783, the number of merchants, professional men, and
tradesmen in Plymouth in that year, and gives a somewhat
similar statistical statement for the year 1814, compiled by

GENERAL HANDICRAFTS AND TRADES.

357

Mr. Shepheard, then collector of taxes. We put this informa
tion in a tabular form, with the addition of the number of
principals engaged in the respective occupations for the years
1830, 1870, and 1890, as gathered from directories. It must
be premised that the comparison, though sufficiently accurate
to indicate the remarkable commercial progress of the town,
is only approximate; the amalgamation and distribution of
trades being governed by different principles now to formerly.

1783

1814

1830

1870

1890

Attornies . . . .

12

31

65

66

Auctioneers and Salesmen .

4

7

15

17

Bagmakers . . . .

1

1
3
4
Bakers and Confectioners
1
33
58
1,0
148
Banks . . .
3
3
2
5
9
Barristers . . . .
1
2
3
4
Blockmakers
2
3
2
8
7
Boot and Shoemakers
24
25
94
163
Braziers and Plumbers
2
4
6
8
37
Brewers, and Wine and Spirit i
Merchants
6
13
15
53
42
Brokers
4
9
18
31
Brushmakers
1
2
1
8
8
Butchers
...
21
11
109
152
Cabinetmakers
5
13
8
33
25
Carpenters and Builders
1
33
31
96
131
Cheesemongers
1
1
5
Chemists
3
"7
15
38
39
Coachmakers .
1
2
2
10
13
Coopers
13
3
5
5
Corn Factors .
i
6
38
26
Curriers
2
8
7
10
6
Cutlers
1
3
5
5
Drapers and Hosiers .
18
18
43
100
107
Dyers
...
3
6
3
10
Earthenware Dealers .
2
4
6
10
20
Grocers and Tea Dealers
9
50
53
104
116
Gunsmiths
1
2
3
2
Hatters
1
"7
10
16
19
Ironmongers and. Ship-Chandlers
4
13
18
28
35
Maltsters
...
2
1
7
2
Masons and Plasterers
1
21
11
56
44
Merchants
11
35
18
17
16
Painters and Glaziers
...
14
11
46
52
Pawnbrokers .
. ...
9
9
37
34
Physicians
. 4
...
7
9
6
Printers and Booksellers
1
11
20
40
45
Kopemakers .
Saddlers
. 2
5 5
5 8
85
7
11
Sailclothmakers
2
1
1
Sailmakers .
'. 4
14
4
4
7
Shipbuilders .
Silversmiths .
. 7
. 4
10 12
13 15
8
29
11
58
Smiths
. 15
...
10
27
26
358

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

1783 1814 1830 1870 1890

Surgeons

10

26

40

61

Tailors

33

27

80

90

Tallow-Chandlers

3

7

4

5

11

Tanners

1

5

3

2

2

Tinmen .

8

5

11

6

Tobacconists .

"2

1
21
44
Victuallers and Beershop-keepers
...
124
96
412
314
Woolstaplers .
4
1
1
1
The first Plymouth Bank was established in 1772, by
Barings, Lee, Sellon, and Tingcombe ; the second, the Naval
Bank, in 1773, by Harris, Turner, and Herbert. The former,
the Plymouth Bank- (then Elford, Tingcombe, and Clark),
stopped payment in 1825, which caused widespread suffering.
There are now nine banks in the town : The Naval, Bank of
England, Devon and Cornwall (established as the Plymouth
and Devonport in 1832, and of which Plymouth is the head
quarters), National Provincial, Cornish, Wilts and Dorset,
Mount's Bay (Bolitho and Co.), Plymouth and Penzance
(Batten, Carne, and Co.), and Capital and Counties. The
Plymouth and South Devon Savings Bank occupies the pre
mises once held by the Plymouth Bank. A Three Towns
Bank has been amalgamated with the Devon and Cornwall.
The general trade of the town has assumed a more whole
sale character than formerly. The development of the local
railway system made Plymouth the business metropobs of
Cornwall, and of great part of Devon. Wholesale houses
in the different branches of shop trades — drapery, grocery,
and the like — have been established ; and even in reference
to building operations, the erection of sawing, planing, and
moulding mills has largely contributed to increase the timber
trade of the port, and by preparing the wood to a greater
extent for the workmen, to reduce the quantity of manual
labour required in the district.
An important local trade development on the co-operative
system has to be noticed. The Plymouth Mutual Co-opera
tive and Industrial Society, Limited, was started at a meeting
of nine working men in December, 1859, and commenced
business with a subscribed capital of something under £3 in
February, 1860. September, 1890, showed a total member
ship of 14,825 ; trade for the year, £200,000 ; profit, £26,457.
The capital was £89,006. Business is carried on at six places
in Plymouth, five at Devonport, two at Stonehouse, and one
at Torpoint, in thirty-four departments, including productive
as well as distributive branches. Central stores are being
built in Frankfort Street, at a cost of £25,000.
tradesmen's TOKENS. 359
Tradesmen's Tokens.
There are some interesting relics of the traders of Ply
mouth in the latter half of the seventeenth century, in the
little tokens, issued 'for necessary change* first under the
Commonwealth, and during great part of the reign of Charles
II. No copper money was coined by the Government, and
as silver pennies did not meet their requirements, the
tradesmen took the matter into their own hands. Probably
20,000 varieties appeared. Devonshire is known to have had
368, of which 42 were issued in Plymouth, all farthings,
save those marked with an asterisk. The Churchwardens of
St. Andrew also paid for ' smyting tokens.' The earliest is
dated 1651, the latest 1670. The Plymouth tokens are
business productions, commonly with some device — the arms
of the trades to which the issuers belonged, or occasionally
the arms of the family of the issuer. The town arms also
appear, and there are instances of the signs of the houses
kept by the issuers. These tokens are as follows. Where
three initials are given, the second is that of the Christian
name of the issuer's wife :
Legend. Field.
Obv. Abraham Appelbee, A ship of war in full sail.
Rev. Of Plymoth, 1666. A.M.A.
This man went to the Exeter Assizes in 1663 to give evidence against a
certain ' blind preacher.'
Ohv. Mary Baker, 1667.
Rev. In Plymovth. M.B.
Obv. Maxemillian Bovsh, A Trefoil.
Rev. In Plymovth, 1659. Three Stars.
Obv. Elizabeth Byland, The Coopers' Arms.
Rev. Of Plymovth, 1667. E.B. between two stars.
Obv. Henry Clarke, A Lion rampant.
Rev. Of Plimovth, 1667. H.M.C.
Obv. Nicholas Cole, A full-blown Rose.
Rev. Of Plymovth, 1665. N.C.
Obv. Iohn Cooke, Arms — a Chevron between three Pears.
Rev. In Plymovth. I.M.C.
Obv. William and Arthur Apparently a Man.
Rev. Collings, of Orson. W.A.C.
This would be Oreston, still in common parlance Osan.
*Obv. Henry Davis, His half-penny.
Rev. Plymovth, 1669. H.D.
Obv. Beniamin Dvnning, A Castle.
Rev. In Plymoth, 1666. B.D.
Obv. Grace Elliott, Mercers' Arms.
Rev. Of Plymovth. G.E.
Mark Elliott was an apothecary, probably husband of Grace.

360 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Legend. Field.
Obv. Margret Eaton, Apothecaries' Arms.
Rev. In Plymovth, 1665. M.E.
Widow of Christopher Eaton, mentioned as an apothecary in the Siege
accounts. Obv. Ivdith Ford, 1669.
Rev. Of Plymovth. I.F.
Probably widow of Thomas Ford, merchant.
Obv. Ioachim Gevers, A Castle.
Rev. Of Plymovth, 1656. LAG.
Joachim must have died soon after this; for in 1658 Widow Gavers was
carrying on business as one of the five vintners of Plymouth.
Obv. Edward Geffery, Plymouth Arms.
Rev. In Plymoth, 1664. E.E.G.
There was a William Gefferie, a woollen draper ; and a William Gefferie
had 17s. 6d. for painting the king's arms on the New Shambles at the
Restoration. Obv. Balph Gordge, Shield with three Gurges (1).
Rev. In Plymouth. E.M.G.
One of the Gorges family of St. Budeaux (?).
Obv. Richard Hamlyn, A Bunch of Grapes.
Rev. In Plymouth, 1659. E.P.H.
Obv. Christopher Hatch, A Swan.
Rev. Of Plymovth, 1658. C.EH.
*0bv. Michael Hooke, Grocer, Grocers' Arms.
Rev. In Plymovth, 1667. His half peny.
Obv. lames Ireish at ye Three Fish Hooks.
Rev. Of Plymovth, 1667. I.E.I.
Obv. lames Iackson, at the The Sun.
Rev. Svnn in Plymovth, 1651. I.G.I.
Obv. Will. Movntstevens, 1670.
Rev. Of Plymovth. W.P.M.
That Mountstevens was not a freeman we learn from an entry, that in the
year of. issuing this token he paid for leave to open his shop windows for the
four years preceding.
Obv. Samvill Northcott, S.N.
Rev. Postma in Plymovth. 1653.
Mayor in 1658, and ejected for refusing from conscientious scruples to give
currency to a certain proclamation. Nathaniel Northcott was a mercer, and
Nathaniel Northcott, jun., an artist.
Obv. Eoger Oliver, 1663, Arms — A Chevron between three Trees.
Rev. In Plymoth, Mercer. E.O.
Obv. Edward Pateson, Drapers' Arms.
Rev. In Plymovth. E.A.P.
Obv. Iohn Payne, A Pelican feeding its young.
Rev. In Plymovth, 1656. LP.
Obv. Simon Paynter, of Four Castles, two and two.
Rev. Plymovth, 1657. S.A.P.
Obv. Bichard Perry, 1658, A Man making Candles.
Rev. In Plymovth. E.D.P.
Obv. Thomas Phillipps, Mercers' Arms.
Rev. In Plymoth. T.M.P.

tradesmen's tokens. 361
Legend. Field.
Obv. Henry Pike, at the Three Three Cranes.
Rev. Cranes, in Plymovth. H.P. conjoined.
The Three Cranes was in Looe Street. Pike was a vintner, and was
succeeded by George Bellew.
Obv. Tho. Pike, at ye 4 Plymouth Arms.
Rev. Castles in Plymoth. T.P. 1657.
The occupant of the Old Four Castles, still standing in Old Town Street.
Obv. Iosias Pickes, A foul Anchor.
Rev. Plymovth, 1657. I.E.P.
Probably the father of Isaac Pickes, grocer, noted in 1693 as occupying
a house in Whimple Street. Josias was a Baptist, and persecuted as such.
Obv. Thomas Powell, A Woolcomb.
Rev. Plymoth, 1669. T.I.P.
Obv. William Eeepe, 1666.
Rev. Of Plymovth. W.I.E.
William Roope, or Reepe, was a grocer ; when he died his widow, Johanna,
continued the business, but had to pay the Corporation for leave to open her
shop windows.
*Obv. Samvel Seeley, Grocers' Arms.
Rev. Of Svtton, 1657. S.S. £.
The Seeleys, or Ceelys, are an old Plymouth family ; and this issuer may
have had some special connection with the locality of Sutton Pool.
Obv. William Toms, Family Arms.
Rev. In Plymovth, 1663. W.T.
*nhn William Torn Ororpr Arms of Tom family, three Bucks' heads couped.
UOV. William lom, Vjrocer, Crest— A Cornish Chough.
Rev. In Phmovth, 1666. His half peny. W.T.
These two are probably by the same issuer.
Obv. Adam Tvrtly, Grocers' Arms.
Rev. In Plymoth. A.T.
Judith Turtly, widow, appears as a gunsmith and armourer in the Siege
accounts. Obv. William Warren, A Fleece.
Rev. In Plymovth, 1656. W.I.W.
Obv. William Warren, A Fleece.
Rev. In Plymovth. W.W. between four cinquefoils.
Warren was a vintner. When he issued the first token he was married ;
when the second appeared he was a widower.
Obv. William Weeks, A clasped Book.
Rev. In Plymovth, 1659. W.S.W.
Weeks was a stationer, and supplied goods to the Corporation.
Obv. Iohn Williams, An open Book.
Rev. In Plymoth, Stationer. I.W.
A halfpenny was issued towards the close of the last
century in connection with the sailcloth factory. It bears
on the obverse a wpman at a spinning-wheel, and the words
sail canvas manufactory, with the date 1796 in the
exergue. On the reverse is a man at a loom, with Plymouth
above and halfpenny below. On the edge are the words
PAYABLE AT SHEPHEARD DOVE HAMMETT & CO. The Same
device of a man at a loom, and from the same die, is seen
on a Kochdale halfpenny of 1792.

CHAPTER XIV.
THE TOWN: ITS GROWTH AND BUILDINGS.
Describe the Borough— though our idle tribe
May love description, can we so describe
That you shall fairly streets and buildings trace,
And all that gives distinction to a place ?
This cannot be ; yet moved by your request
A part I paint ; let fancy paint the rest.
Cities and towns, the various haunts of men,
Require the pencil, they defy the pen. — Crabbe.
Hail narrow streets — haunts of mine innocent days !
I almost like your dinginess : in sooth,
There 's not a nook or alley but doth raise
Some pleasing fond remembrance of my youth,
Yea e'en yon lumpish Guildhall's lack of grace,
That was the laugh of my uprising years.
Linked with a thought of cherished infancy
The crooked'st lane leads straight into my heart !
Albeit, old town of mine, no love can screen
That ugliest truth of all — thou art not over clean.— Gandy, 1827.
IT is not probable that when William the Conqueror
ascended the throne of England, the population of what
is now Plymouth exceeded, if indeed it reached, 60 all told ;
Domesday only accounts for 30. A hundred years later it
was but a little fishing village. A period of assured progress
succeeded. The Subsidy Poll of 1377 sets forth, as already
stated, that there were 4,837 lay persons of fourteen years
and upwards resident in the town assessed to the poll tax,
Exeter having 1560, and Dartmouth 506. In the whole of
Devon 45,635 lay folk were assessed, and 1,115 clergy, so
that Plymouth had over a tenth. These figures would
indicate a total population of 7,000. During the next three
centuries the average number of inhabitants could not have
gone beyond this. The damage occasioned by the French in
their frequent incursions was one of the principal operating
causes in preventing increase, and the periodical attacks of
pestilence the other. Por part of the time the population
must have been very much under this mark, since a Chantry
Poll of 1547 states the number of 'houselyng people' {i.e,

PLYMOUTH AT THE CONQUEST.

363

people old enough to receive the Sacrament) at 2,000 only.
At the close of the reign of Elizabeth the population was
about 7,000 ; and it fluctuated between 6,000 and 8,000
during the Stuart reigns. In 1612 the assessments were:
Old Town, 51 ; Vintry, 101 ; Venours, 52 ; Loo Street, 43—
total, 247. In 1642 these figures were about doubled. But
in 1628 Old Town had 134 assessments, so that very bttle
can be concluded from these statistics alone.
There are no trustworthy data upon which to base an
estimate of the population at the commencement of the
last century. In 1.740 it was 8,400. Probably there had
been little change for the preceding fifty years. The follow
ing returns, extracted from the register books of the parishes
of St. Andrew, Charles, and Stoke Damerel, indicate that it
was after this the activity consequent upon successive wars
first tended to the increase of the population from outside.
Year.170017141720 1730174017501760177017801790 1800
The present century lands us on firm ground, supplying
authoritative data in the Census returns :

Japtisms.

Burials.

Marriages

299

331

...

409

581

. ¦ • ¦ ¦

295

310

...

239

285

...

299

728

.. •¦ ¦

552

397

.. ...

878

1313

525

672

682

234

873

1553

518

891

872

352

1539

1770

845

1801 1811 1831 1831
Persons . . 16,040 20,803 21.591 .81,080
Houses . . 1,744 2,185 2,646 3,472

1841 1851 1861 1871 1881
!6,527 52,221 62,599 68,758 73,794
4,298 5,178 6,408 7,867 8,192

Plymouth at the Conquest.
At the time of the Conquest the site of Plymouth had a
very different appearance to that with which we are familiar,
quite apart from its clothing of houses. Much that is now
land within the area was water or marsh. The limestone
hills of Cattedown, the Hoe, and Stonehouse, were half
islanded peninsulas ; while a still more inclusive peninsular
character was given to the borough generally by the extent
to which Stonehouse Creek on the west ran up to Penny
comequick and Houndiscombe, and Lipson Creek on the
east penetrated towards Mutley. Sutton Pool spread within
its narrow entrance on all sides, sending off a creek towards

364 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
the Laira at Coxside and another westward along the line
of the Parade. Still wider was the expanse of the inner
reach of Milibay, known for so many centuries as Sourpool
or Surpool, covering the whole of what is now the Union
Street district, from George Lane on the east, ranging by
Prankfort Street and King Street on the north, and reaching
to the Stonehouse boundary on the west.
Old Names.
And some of the old names would be as unfamiliar to
us as the configuration, especially along the shore. Even
so late as the Act of Incorporation we find Wynrigg or
Wynderygge used in place of the Hoe, and evidently in
cluding what was afterwards called Battery Hill at Stone
house — the metes and bounds beginning 'inter montem
vocat' Wynrig,' at the spot where the continuity of the
ridge was broken by the narrow channel between Milibay
and Surpool. The' fact that the word Hoe is always prefixed
by the definite article shows that it was not originally a
proper name, but a common name adapted = the ' height.'
Then we have Henstone or Hingston for what is now
Cattedown; The Catte for Cattewater; Fyshe Tor for Fisher's
Nose, the iater Lambhay Point; and still earlier than the
date of the Incorporation Pol Tor — apparently for the head
land then and subsequently known as Est Kyng or Eastern
King; while at Stonehouse another promontorial point is
called Whyttor. This frequent use of tor is noteworthy.
Touching Surpool there is further to be said that the cus
tomary interpretation as the ' upper pool,' from sur = ' above '
cannot be maintained. The original form is not sur but sour.
The suggestion may be made that the derivation is from the
Keltic sarn = a causeway. In the Act of Incorporation, after
Wynrigg, the boundary is said to run 'by the Banke of
Soure pole ayenst the north on the grete dyke otherwyse
callyd the greate deche.' This dyke was naturally thought
to be the dam of the mills ; but it is clear from early
fourteenth-century deeds in the possession of Earl Mount
Edgcumbe that this cannot have been the case. Land is
transferred in Stonehouse near Sutton, ' within great diche ' ;
and the dyke under its Keltic name of ' Sarn ' may well have
given title to the Pool of which it was a distinctive feature.
On the age of this bank it is idle to speculate ; but in all
likelihood it had something to do with the exceptional early
building which gave Stonehouse its special name, and was
essentially a Stonehouse boundary.

GROWTH. 365
The Sutton of the eleventh century was simply a few
houses dotted here and there by the margin of Sutton Pool
and Sour Pool ; and a group or two on the slopes above.
The whole would have hardly made a modern hamlet, much
less a village; and the inhabitants divided their labours
between fishing and tilling. There are just a few indica
tions of the sites of some of the dwellings, in such names
as Fletehenda, given to an early resident, showing that he
lived at the end of a 'fleet' or little stream that flowed
into the tideway ; and of the locality of early enclosures in
such terms as the Lambhay, or ' Vautordispark atte Pole.'
Tradition and history agree that the first centre of population
was on the spot for six centuries at least called Old Town —
and in Sutton Vawter as distinct from Sutton Prior.
Sometime in the twelfth century the first church was
built ; and the town assumed a definite plan. Old Town is
the most ancient of the existing street names ; St. Andrew
Street is mentioned in a deed of 1386 ; Briton Side dated
from the commencement of the fifteenth century; and in
the Act of Incorporation we find 'Byllebury Strete, Note
Strete, and Stillman Strete.' Catte Street is also ancient.
Growth.
Leland calls the town very large; and Eisdon (died 1640),
writing of it just a century later says : ' The commodious
situation and healthful habitation was vulgarly known and
allured many to resort thither, whereby it is so increased with
beautiful buildings, that of the two parts formerly spoken
[Sutton Prior and Sutton Valletort], conjoined is made one
populous Plymouth ; and now so great grown that it may be
held comparable to some cities.' Undoubtedly the town was
much improved and beautified during the Elizabethan era.
There was ample evidence of this in the fine old houses of
that period. But Eisdon's standard was not high.
A quaint poetical description of Plymouth about this
date, by the Eev. William Stroud of Newnham, from a
country bumpkin's point of view, is too good to be passed
by. It is in a cobection of poems among the Harleian MSS.
Thou n'ere woot riddle, neighbor John,
Where ich of late have bin-a- ;
Why ich ha bin to Plimoth, man,
The like was yet n'ere zeene-a-.
Zich streets, zich men, zich hugeous zeas,
Zich things and guns there rumbling,
Thyzelf, like me, weod'st blesse to zee
Zich bomination grumbling.

366 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
The streets he pight of shindle-stone,
Doe glissen like the sky-a,
The zhops ston ope and all ye yeere long
I 'se think a faire there bee-a-.
And many a gallant here goeth
I' goold, that zaw the King-a- ;
The King zome zweare himself was there,
A man or zome zich thing-a-.
Thou voole, that never water zaw'st,
But think-a in the moor-a-,
To zee the zee, wood'st be a'gast,
It doth zoo rage and roar-a :
It tast's zoo zalt thy tonge wood thinke
The vire were in ye water ;
And, 't is zoo wide, noe lond is spide,
Look nere zoo long there-ater-.
The water from the element
Noe man can zee chi-vore ;
'Twas zoo low, yet all consent
'Twas higher than the moor.
'Tis strange how looking down a cliffe,
Men do looke upward rather,
If there mine eyne had not it zeene,
'Ch ood scarce believe my vather.
Amidst the water wooden birds,
And flying houses zwim-a- ;
All full of things as ich ha' heard,
And goods up to y« brim-a- ;
They goe unto another world,
Desiring to conquier-a-,
Vor wch those guns, voule develish ones,
Do dunder and spett vire-a-.
Good neighbor John, how var is this ?
This place vor I will zee-a- ;
'Ch 'ill moape no longer heere, that's flat,
To watch a zheepe or zheene-a- ;
Though it zoo var as London bee,
Wch ten miles ich i magin,
'Ch '11 thither hye, for this place I
Do take in great induggin.
An Italian who visited Plymouth in the train of Cosmo
de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, in 1669, left an
interesting pen-and-ink sketch of the town as it appeared
to his unaccustomed eyes.
The city cannot be seen from the sea, and is almost shut up by
a gorge of the mountains, on the lower skirt of which it is
situated. Its extent is not very considerable [yet elsewhere
the writer remarks that it may be reckoned one of the best
cities in England]. The buildings are antique, according to the

GROWTH. 367
English fashion, lofty and narrow, with pointed roofs, and the
fronts may be seen through, owing to the magnitude of the
windows of glass in each of the different storeys. They are
occupied from top to bottom. . . . The life of the city is
navigation. Hence it is that in Plymouth only women and
children are to be seen, the greater part of the men living at sea ;
and hence also the town is exceedingly well supplied, all the
necessaries of life being found there [fortunate Plymouthians],
and many other articles that administer to luxury and pleasure ;
and silversmiths, watchmakers, jeweUers, and other artists of this
description are not wanting.
In Eoger North's life of the Lord Keeper Guildford, we
find :
His Lordship went down to Plymouth to see the town, which,
as other marine towns, is crowded together, and the streets are
narrow. But the fort which was built by King Charles II. with
the marble of the place, and lime of the same sort of stone
burnt, is a worthy spectacle, especially for its glorious prospect
overlooking the harbour, which consists of two waters, one called
Hamoaze, the other Catwater. . . . All this lies below the Castle,
and in view of the Fort, being seen as in a map or rather a
flying prospect ; and ships under sail look like cockboats.
Two hundred years ago the town covered much the same
ground it did a century later. The increase in the interim
chiefly consisted in packing more houses into the old gardens
and on open spaces. A plan of the neighbourhood of the
Barbican made in 1677, now in the British Museum, shows
between the houses facing the New Quay and those im
mediately west of them on the Hoe, an area unoccupied
by buildings at least 200 feet wide. A view from Cattedown,
taken in 1715, proves that in the interval the buildings had
been much more closely packed. The towers of St. Andrew
and Charles appear on the very verge of the town, and
in the distance is Stoke Church, embosomed in trees. About
this date (1714) there were 1,139 houses. The first brick
house with sash windows had been built in Briton Side
seven years previously.
Let us attempt to describe the appearance of Plymouth
one hundred years ago. There were about 1,600 houses.
The Pig -Market, now Bedford Street, reached but to
Frankfort Gate (the Globe Hotel). Not only Westwell
Street, but part of Catherine Street was open towards the
west, whilst southward a succession of fields spread between
them and the Hoe. Old Town stretched away in irregular
fashion as far as Saltash Street, with fields flanking it

368 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
on either side. The town proper did not extend further
north than Week Street, through which the mail coaches
ran; and Charles Church was still half in the country.
Eastward the houses did not reach beyond the Friary;
but a straggling advanced guard of buildings had been
pushed out up Whitecross Street. From Frankfort Gate
to Stonehouse — then merely Fore, Newport, and Chapel
Streets, with a lane for Edgcumbe Street — lay the great
salt marsh, where but a century before had appeared
the waters of Surpool, and where now the great business
artery of the Three Towns passes. The water had been
banked out to some extent; by slow degrees the pool had
silted up; and the growth of aquatic plants had so far
completed reclamation, that the bulk of the ground was
just such a rough pasture as can be seen by the side of the
Lynher, intersected by numerous streams, and at the highest
tides stiU overflowed. There were two roads from Plymouth
to Stonehouse. One, a lane, wound round by Milibay,
following the line of the ancient mill dyke; the other ran
between the northern edge of the marsh, and the fields
which covered the southern slope of the ridge, now crowned
by the North Eoad. Most of the houses in Old Town
Street were thatched. Even in 1875 there remained a
thatched cottage in the North Eoad, the last inhabited
thatched dwelling within the urban limits, and thatched
stores in the very heart of the town — in Frankfort Street.
One of the earliest attempts to realise the future destiny
of Plymouth was the commencement in 1776 of George
Street as a pleasant series of suburban residences. Yet so
little was that future foreseen by the general public, that it
was remarked of one professional gentleman who built a
house at its further end that he could never expect his
clients to come so far to see him. The tide, however, had
set in. Frankfort Street soon followed suit, and before the
end of the century was reached building was going on in all
directions. According to the Picture of Plymouth, between
1793 and 1812 there had been erected 500 houses, including
the following streets and places: Tavistock Street (1803),
Portland Place, Orchard Place, Park Street (1809), Duke
Street, Cornwall Street (1810), New Town (York Street),
Eichmond Street (1811), Barrack Street (now Eussell Street,
taking its first name from the barracks in Frankfort Square),
Willow Street, Arch Street, Market Alley, Hampton Buildings,
Exeter Street, Jubilee Street, Brunswick Terrace (1811), Lady-
well Buildings, and Lambhay Street. To this list, Eowe in

Plan of Plymouth in 1765.

2 B

370 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
his Panorama adds Gascoigne Terrace (1811) and Portland
Square (1811), and as of more recent construction Cobourg
Street, James Street, Union Eoad (1816), Union Terrace,
Queen Street, King Street, Princess Square, the Crescent,
St. Andrew Terrace, Charles Place, Fareham Place, and
Woodside. The building trade when Burt wrote (1814-15) had shown
much activity, but was stagnating. There were six or seven
master builders, with about 200 masons and plasterers, and
150 carpenters. In the ten preceding years 500 houses had
been built; 200 in the last three. Forty houses were
untenanted. A project for the provision of suitable dwellings
for the poor had been brought forward by Messrs. F. Fox, T.
Cleather, H. Woollcombe, and G. Soltau ; but had fallen to
the ground after £1,450 had been subscribed. The scheme
was to erect dwelbngs in Shute Park, and other spots con
tiguous to Plymouth, at a cost for each house of £120 ; the
rent, including taxes, to be £9 15s., 'or 5s. less than what
constitutes a parishioner.' From that day to the erection of
Shaftesbury Cottages, in 1861, nothing in this direction was
done, much as it was needed. The establishment in 1850 of
the Baths and Washhouses, though resulting in pecuniary
loss, however contributed somewhat to improve the comfort
of humble homes.
The past twenty years have been more fruitful. The
Plymouth Improved Dwelbngs Association have built work
men's dwellings at Coxside ; Sir Edward Bates and Mr. John
Pethick have erected blocks in St. Andrew and Victoria
Streets ; Messrs. Bulteel and Co., of the Naval Bank, have
by building and conversion provided extensive ranges of
dwellings at the rear of the old house in Notte Street, which
is made the centre of a picturesque frontage designed by Mr.
Gribble. But there are still scores and hundreds of bouses
in which it is a shame and a disgrace that human beings
should dwell; and not in all cases of ancient date.
Sixty years ago, when ' Sailor William ' was king, Union
Eoad was not half built; there were only a few blocks of
dwellings in Stonehouse Lane, and a few scattered houses
near Eldad Chapel, between it and Deadlake; whilst the
Crescent and the long departed Milibay Grove, the site
of the Duke of Cornwall Hotel, were the only connected
buildings between Union Eoad and the Hoe. The district
whereon Lockyer and its associated streets, with Princess
Square and its communications down to Notte Street, now
stand, was almost entirely unoccupied, save by a ropewalk

GROWTH.

371

and a house called Shady Groves. Portland Square was but
partially built — a detached suburb ; Gibbons Fields and
Charlestown were in the hands of the farmer and dairyman ;
Woodside and Charles Place were pleasant rural retreats.

Old House, Notte Street.

Urban Plymouth was bounded by a line drawn from the top
of Claremont Street to the Eoyal Hotel, and rjontinued round
that building along the back of George and Bedford Streets,
by Catherine Street to the Hoe, in front of the Citadel,
round Lambhay Hill to the Barbican, along Sutton Pool to
2 b 2

372 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
its north-east corner, thence direct to the head of Tavistock
Place, and thence again by the Lower Mill, up Cobourg
Street, and down the present North Eoad to the starting-
point. And much of the ground within these limits was
unoccupied. Twenty years later great changes had taken place. Still
Five and Four Field Lanes had not given place to the North
Eoad. The ground between St. Peters and the South Devon
Eailway was open; Barley House, with its grounds (now
covered by Harwell, Well, and Tracey Streets), was yet a
private residence ; Pontey's Gardens (Kings Gardens) were
in the very height of their beauty ; North Hill was unbuilt ;
Mutley and Ford Park were open country ; Mannamead was
still mainly field; Union Eoad was unfinished, the ground
right and left only partially occupied ; along the northern
face of the Hoe there was scarcely a house from Lockyer
Street to the Milibay Barracks.
The building activity of the past twenty years, and
especially of the last decade, has far exceeded that of any
former period.1 Practically the whole of the building land
within the borough, parts of Charles and still more Sutton
Ward excepted, is now occupied. Eldad is completed ; a small
area only remains in the vicinity of the Hoe ; the North
Eoad is finished; North Hill and Houndiscombe are lined
with" houses ; the fields south of Mutley Plain, Barley House,
Greenbank, and Beaumont estates, have become towns ;
Sherwill House has been replaced by Queen Anne terraces
and roads ; the high ground by Freedom Fields, and the
slopes thence above Tothill, are rural no longer; and still
the town spreads towards Cattedown and Mount Gould.
Suburban Compton, miscalled Mannamead (a name which of
right belonged only to a couple of fields), has grown to such
an extent that it acquired a Local Board in 1881.
Singularly enough, with the growth of north-eastern
Plymouth the use of the name Mutley has been extended
to embrace not only part of Compton, but a wide area of
Plymouth proper, the Mutley railway station being treated
as a kind of centre. The original Mutleys were on the west
of Compton Gifford, two little manors in Weston Peverel.
Mutley Plain is so called because it succeeds to Mutley
Fields, thus named because the path through them led to
Mutley. 1 This is due mainly to the activity of speculating builders, and the
manner in which they have been financed ; so that at the present moment
Plymouth is largely overbuilt.

CORPORATE FINANCES AND DEBT. 373
Corporate Finances and Debt.
The Corporate Finances exhibit the progress of the borough
very clearly. When the Municipal Eeform Act became law
the Corporate Debt was £41,888, and the rental of the
Corporate Estates, including the water, £5,825. At the time
of Mr. Eawlinson's enquiry in 1852 the debt was £52,518,
and the rental £8,741. In 1870 the total debt was £55,796,
and the rental £14,924. The Commissioners, when they were
extinguished, left a debt behind of £15,000. This had been
increased in 1870 by the great outlay on sewerage and street
improvement under the Local Board to £88,471, besides which
£35,045 had been paid off. The Municipal debt on the
31st March, 1890, was £232,001 15s., of which £116,061
17s. 4d. was on the Municipal Account proper, and £115,939
17s. 8d. on the account of the Sanitary Authority. Some of
these liabibties were of old standing. There still remained
an annual charge on the tontines created to build the original
Market and Hotel and Theatre of £350 ; and old mortgages
amounting to £30,000 on the Municipal Account, with
£9,050 borrowed between the years 1826 and 1829 on
mortgage by the Improvement Commissioners. At the same
date the Municipal property was estimated to be worth
£249,133 8s. 10d., exclusive of the Hoe, the Guildhalls— old
and new — the Corporation Almshouses, and the Lunatic
Asylum at Blackaton. It was then agreed, on the report
of the Finance Committee, to borrow during the year ending
March 31st, 1891, further sums of £25,000, while an
additional expenditure of £30,000 had been previously
authorized; and some of this has since been raised. The
instalments of principal to be paid off during the twelve
month were, however, £13,703 5s. 7d.
The loan debt of the School Board on the 25th March,
1890, was £53,242 0s. 2d. ; and, as the Board of Guardians
had no outstanding loans, the- total loan indebtedness of the
public bodies of Plymouth for which the ratepayers were
responsible, in March, 1890, was thus £285,243 15s. 2d.
The rateable value of the borough advanced from £28,983
in 1821 to £297,999 in 1890. In 1831 it was £36,923;
in 1841, £76,000; in 1851, £101,818; in 1861, £127,184;
in 1871, £165,953 ; in 1881, £193,845 ; and at Lady-Day,
1890, £297,999 ; the assessments having increased between
1861 and 1890 from 7,003 to 10,925.

374 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Plymouth Pourtrayed.
We can accept Eisdon's remark, that the town had been
increased with beautiful buildings. Nevertheless, to a
modern eye the Plymouth of the first James would have
seemed but a poor place. A hundred years later its buildings
were 'not extraordinary, and its streets narrow.' If we
could believe the glowing account given in the British
Traveller, we should imagine that another fifty years had
made a marvebous change, and that in 1780 'the streets
were spacious, and the houses in general regular and hand
some.' Not so, however, even at the commencement of the
present century. Plymouth had no handsome suburbs then,
and presented to the cursory observer few but business
characteristics. Yet there were 'many good houses, but so
concealed in bye-streets or lanes, or situated in the gardens of
the proprietors, as not to be easily discoverable.' Most of
these old mansions and their surroundings have disappeared.
Their sites are covered by streets, their existence forgotten.
A few remain, sadly faben from their old estate. Dr. Kitto
gives us a sketch of the business streets in 1818 :
Excepting an occasional painting in the window of the sole
picture-frame maker, and a few smirking portraits in the windows
of the portrait and miniature painters, my sole resource was in
the prints, plain and coloured, and in the book plates displayed
in the windows of the stationers and booksellers. These were
seldom changed, and often not until by frequent inspection I had
learned every print in every window by heart : so that it was
quite a relief to see one of the windows cleared out for a scouring
or a fresh coat of paint. ... In my own town the windows of
the shops lay within such narrow limits that it was easy to devour
them all at one operation.
A faithful but by no means flattering picture of Plymouth
in 1852 was drawn by Mr. Eawlinson. He described nearly
every house and shop as having an independent style of its
own ; the macadamised streets as very dirty in wet weather
and very dusty in dry; the old back streets as narrow,
crooked, and steep, with narrow passages leading into dirtier
and still more crowded courts.
Originally many of the houses now in ruins were erected as
residences for the nobility and gentry of the town; but from
being the abodes of those possessing wealth they now give partial
shelter to the improvident, the vagrant, the vicious, and the
unfortunate. The quaint carving on the stonework looks out of

PLYMOUTH POURTRAYED.

375

place ; the walls are half in ruins ; the gables are shattered, and
foul weather stains of damp blotch the surface. Within matters
are even worse ; the rooms are now divided and subdivided on
every floor ; the staircase is darkened ; its massive handrail and
carved balusters are crippled and broken; the once firm stairs
are now rickety and dangerous ; the stucco-finished plastering is
blackened and in holes.

St. Andrew Street.

Great changes have since been made, though such a spot
as St. Andrew Street still recalls the ancient picturesqueness
of the older town. To the Commissioners Plymouth is
indebted for the improvement of Treville Street at a cost
of £15,000, and for the widening of Whimple Street, from
fifteen feet in its narrowest part to thirty-five. Since the
Local Board superseded that body much larger sums have
been expended in street improvements. Union Street,
George Street, Bedford Street, Old Town Street, Tavistock
Street, on the main line of thoroughfare, have been cared
for. To the commercial district, where the streets, old and
narrow, proved utterly inadequate for the reception of the

376 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
traffic to and from the quays, great attention has wisely
been paid. Notte and Woolster Streets have been widened
almost throughout their whole length. Southside and
Vauxhab Streets have received little less care. The capacity
of the main manufacturing thoroughfare, Sutton Eoad, has
been increased. And there have been a host of minor im
provements, the value of which everybody recognises, but
which do not cab for special mention. At the same time,
Plymouth was transformed, by large outlay on sewerage,
from one of the unhealthiest towns in England into one of
the healthiest, though the growth of population has made
considerable further outlay in this direction essential since.
Moreover, private improvement has kept pace with pubbc,
and the main streets of the town, though still rejoicing in
irregularity of design, have many buildings which would do
credit to the metropolis. ,
The names of sundry streets have been changed from
time to time. Whitecross, or North Street, was once known
as Old Penny Lane; Hill Street as French Lane; Week
Street as Duck's Lane ; Kinterbury Street as Colmer's Lane ;
Vintry Street as Foynes's Lane ; Hoe Street as Little Hoe
Lane ; Hoe-Gate Street as Broad Hoe Lane ; part of Ham
Street as Scammel's Eow; Basket Street as Love Street;
Vauxhall Street as Foxhole Street; Westwell Street as
Love Lane ; Tothib Lane as Whitefriars Lane ; Batter Street
as Pomeroy Conduit Street ; High Street as Market Street ;
Higher Lane . as Loder's Lane ; Middle Lane as Lyneham
Street ; Lower Lane as Patherick Street ; Buckwell Lane as
Mudd Lane ; Woolster Street as Winchelsea Street ; Bedford
Street as the Pig-Market, &c. A few old names have been
restored : thus Buckwell and Bilbury Streets were long called
Higher and Lower Broad Street, Stillman Street Seven
Stars Lane, and Looe Street Pike Street. On the other hand
Briton Side has been turned into Exeter Street. Amongst
other names which have disappeared are Catch French Lane
and Cock and Bottle Lane.
Ancient Buildings.
Plymouth does not possess many features of archaeological
interest. The most ancient is that Norman arch abuded to
in the twelfth chapter, as having been discovered in pulling
down the Almshouses near St. Andrew Church. Some thirty
years since it was pointed out by a careful and competent
observer that the town was not rich in architectural an
tiquities. Since that date fully half of those which remained

ANCIENT BUILDINGS.

377

have disappeared, and live but in remembrance. There was
then standing in St. Andrew Street, on the site now occupied
by the Abbey Wine Vaults, an ancient hostelry known as the
Turk's Head, reputed the oldest house in Plymouth. Not
improbably it dated from the fourteenth century, and within
its walls must the worthies of old Plymouth have quaffed
many a flagon of sack, .
Of ancient domestic T
buildings, here and there I
corbel and gable and I
oriel stiU remain in low I
estate, to show -what a I
picturesque town old I
Plymouth was. That I
fine Elizabethan dwell- 1
ing, the grand old house I
in Notte Street, fortu-l
nately fell into good I
hands, and has beenl
heedfully rebuilt. An- 1
other twenty years, and I
it will be nearly all we I
shall have left to connect |
thePlymouth of Victoria
with the Plymouth of
Queen Bess. It was only in 1880 that the great, massive
quadrangular mansion in which Merchant and Mayor Paynter
is traditionally reported to have entertained Katherine of
Arragon — long known as Palace Court — was pulled down
and replaced by a brand-new Board school (a quantity of
ecclesiastical material was found built up in the walls) ; and,
save the Notte Street house, we have not such another loss
to sustain. It is not a little singular, that while Plymouth
has been the residence of many a worthy of ancient time,
the dwellings of none are distinctly traceable. Paynter's
connection with Palace Court is purely traditional.
Yogge probably lived in a granite and limestone building
with a quadrangle, in the Pig -Market, removed to make
way for Market Alley, the 'goodly house of more stone,'
which Leland says he built north of the Church. Of the
Hawkinses, all we know is that they lived somewhere near
the present Parade — presumably in Woolster Street, near the
quays which they occupied in their mercantile capacities.
The merchant branch of the Trelawnys (of Ham), however,
without doubt lived in Looe Street, in a house which was

The Turk's Head.

ANCIENT BUILDINGS.

379

long the Plymouth Herald office ; and which, in December 13,
1885, was the scene of the most fatal fire recorded in Ply
mouth. Twelve persons were suffocated or burnt — eight of
one family. Hard by, it is all but certain, was the residence
of the great Sir Francis Drake. He was the owner of a
house and spacious garden at the corner of Looe and
Buckwell Streets, and of land opposite, at the corner of
Peacock Lane ; and his personal occupancy of this property,
prior to -his purchase of Buckland Abbey, hardly admits of

Pins Lane.

doubt. There are no buildings of that time left upon the
site ; but in his day some of what are now the most
crowded localities of Plymouth were the most open, old
deeds revealing the existence of extensive gardens where
dwellings have been most thickly packed.
The most interesting domestic buildings still left in
Plymouth are in Pins Lane, which retain the ancient
arrangement of cellar and solar.
The seventeenth century was an active period in the
structural history of Plymouth ; and a very picturesque and

380 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
extensive group of buildings, dating thence, stood by St.
Andrew Church— the Hospital of Orphans Aid, and the
Hospital of Poor's Portion — until removed to make way for
the New Guildhall. The Orphans Aid was erected in 1615,
the Grammar School buildings behind in 1658, the Hospital
of the Poor's Portion in 1630. A Guildhall and an Exchange
were also among the products of the age. All have been
swept away, with the walls and gates that defied King
Charles; and there is left to us of seventeenth -century
Plymouth but one building of importance — Charles Church
— of which more anon.
If we turn to the ecclesiastical antiquities of the town
we are somewhat more fortunate, though here too we have
but a remnant. Of the church and buildings of the White
Friars there were important remains down to the early part
of the present century, but the last traces of the ruined
walls lie buried beneath the South Western Friary station,
which in its name preserves the memory of the ancient
dedication. Of the house of the Franciscans there are a
few bold doorways in Woolster Street, while in other of
the older thoroughfares of the town, in the neighbourhood
of the quays, there are sundry characteristic though hardly
noteworthy and very fragmentary relics of the elder Ply
mouth. In Southside Street, however, are portions of the
house of the Black Friars, now and long since a distibery
of the noted Plymouth gin !
St. Andrew Church.
St. Andrew, or Old Church, though it has suffered from
over praise, is a noble fabric, of which Plymouthians may
well be proud ; and the massive proportions and simple
dignity of its tower — unexcelled for boldness and effect in
the county — go far to redeem what may be regarded by
some as the faults of the remainder of the building — essen
tially, however, a typical Devonshire Perpendicular church.
The oldest portion of the present fabric is in part the south
chancel aisle, which dates from 1385 ; and there are no
means of forming an opinion as to what its predecessor was
like, though probably.it was Late Norman.
St. Andrew consists of a chancel and chancel aisles (of
unusual size), nave and aisles, transepts and western tower, and
will accommodate 1,700 persons. It is 184 feet long; 64 feet
wide across the aisles ; 94 across the transepts. During
the Middle Ages, when its area was clear of seats, its want
of height must have been much less apparent than now.

ST. ANDREW CHURCH. 381
Towards the end of the sixteenth century (1595-7) the
process of 'choking' was commenced by the erection of a
gallery, the Churchyard being at the same time palisaded.
Other galleries were subsequently constructed — one in 1709,
when a thunderstorm threw down a pinnacle from the tower
— -.and at length the Church assumed a thoroughly ' church-
wardenised' type. In 1825-6 restorations and repairs were
made at the cost of nearly £5,000, under the direction of
Mr. Foulston. All the old galleries were pulled down,
western and transeptal galleries erected in their stead, and
the Church reseated.
Irreparable mischief was then done, for Mr. Foulston had
no feebng for Gothic art. Practically as he left it the
Church remained, with the exception of the provision of a
new pulpit from the designs of Mr. J. Hine, and a few other
works, until 1874, when it was thoroughly restored under
the direction of Sir Gilbert Scott, and made worthy of its
ancient state, at an outlay of some £6,000. Only then could
the present generation form any adequate idea of the real
beauty of the structure ; with its fine accessories in artistic
carving, rich stained glass, screen work, and general decoration.
The greatest change was the removal of the galleries, which
threw open the entire area. The organ, originally built by
James Parsons, of the Dockyard, in 1737, was shifted to the
north chapel or transept, and greatly enlarged and improved.
The Church contains many monuments, several of which
were rescued from oblivion, and the whole. restored, during
the churchwardenship of Messrs. Hingston and Bone. The
oldest is dated 1583, and is said to be to the memory of a
member of the Sparke family. The inscription reads :
I was once as thou art now,
A man, could speke and goe ;
But now I ly in silence heere —
Serve God, thou must be loe.
When death did me asayle,
To God then did I crye ;
Of Jacob's well to moiste my soule
That it might never die.
The next memorial in point of antiquity is dated 1589, to
Humphry Fownes, and members of his family. Erected
some thirty years afterwards (1624), we find another stone
recording how John Fownes and his wife had been killed by
the fall of a chimney. Until the recent restoration, when a
fourteenth-century Purbeck effigy was found, with a fragment
of another, no memorial was known to exist in the Church

382 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
older than the latter end of the sixteenth century — a suffi
cient indication of the great alterations which had from time
to time been made in the fabric.
The most striking monument is that to Sir John Skelton,
Lieutenant-Governor of Plymouth in 1672. There is a bust
of Dr. Zachary Mudge, by Chantrey ; 2 and a tablet in
memory of Charles Matthews, who died whilst at Plymouth,
and was buried in the Church. The most distinguished
personages whose remains lay in St. Andrew Church were
Sir M. Frobisher, whose bowels were deposited there ; and
Blake, whose bowels were buried at the door of the Mayor's
pew, his body being interred at St. Margarets, Westminster.
In 1594 five bells were cast for the Church, costing
£293 12s. 4d., Drake and Hawkins giving broken ordnance ;
and plenty of employment was found for them and their
successors in reflecting the popular feeling.
In 1709 Colonel Jory, the founder of Jory's Almshouses,
and in many ways a benefactor to the town, presented
St. Andrew with a peal of six new bells, estimated to be
worth £500. In 1749 they were cast into a peal of eight,
with additional metal. The tenor bell weighed 4,032 lbs.,
and bore the motto, 'Ego sum vox clamantis parate.' Some
of the bells were re-cast ; but there was still the same
number, until, in response to a movement initiated by the
late Mr. C. Norrington, jun., in 1874, Sir Edward Bates
gave other two, and the present fine caribon was arranged.
Nowhere in Plymouth has there been so much change
and improvement as in the vicinity of St. Andrews. Almost
from the time that Thomas Yogge built its stately tower
until the present day, the sacred edifice had been cramped
and surrounded in nearly all directions by a number of
buildings, many very mean, which prevented its beauties
from being properly appreciated. One by one, at long
intervals, these obstructions have been cleared away. A
tablet in the Churchyard wall facing Old Town Street bore
the following words :
Immediately in front of this wall lately stood a set of stalls
called the Flesh Shambles, which narrowed the space from the
opposite houses to about nine feet. On the right hand were two
houses, which considerably confined the entrance to the Church ;
immediately in front was a building called the Fish Market, taken
down on his Majesty coming to this borough in the year 1789;
2 In the progress of some alterations the vault in which Dr. Mudge was
buried was opened ; and for a moment Mr. Bone caught a glimpse of the old
Vicar. The next he looked upon a heap of dust.

CHARLES CHURCH. 383
on the left hand by Buckingham Steps were some miserable, loath
some almshouses ; and at the entrance of Old Town Street stood
a conduit and the New Shambles, all of which, for the greater
comfort and convenience of the inhabitants and persons resorting
to the town have, with great liberality and public spirit on the
part of the Mayor and Commonalty, been removed, and the
present New Market erected. To commemorate these improve
ments this tablet was set up 4th of June, 1813.
The Churchyard was thus thrown open to the street upon
the eastern side, but continual interments since the middle
of the thirteenth century having raised the natural level of
the ground, the Church itself was stib in great part hidden
from view, and a generation elapsed before the work of
improvement was resumed. Moreover, low houses continued
the south side of Bedford Street in front of the Churchyard
wab, so narrowing that thoroughfare as to render it almost
impassable for two vehicles. Catherine Street, then a lane,
was approached from Bedford Street by a flight of steps (see
page 305), which cut off all view of the lower part of the tower.
A great improvement was effected when the old houses were
removed, and the lane approach levelled. But the dead wab
of the Churchyard remained in blank integrity, even after
the southern half of the burial ground had been improved
by the Church authorities.
The works of the New Guildhall swept away the whole of
the buildings on the west of the Church; the Almshouses,
Orphans Aid Hospital, and Old Workhouse were demolished,
and for the first time for 300 years, the Church was thrown
open to distinct view. Catherine Street was converted into
a wide thoroughfare. Substantial slices of the northern
Churchyard were, taken away, and a new wall surmounted by
an ornamental railing placed round the remaining portion,
which was sloped and turfed after the same method adopted
in dealing with the southern section.
Charles Church.
Charles Church is a noteworthy structure.
For its time Charles Church is a remarkably good building. The
true principles of Gothic architecture had long since been forgotten;
they had gone out with the great Church-building ages ; only the
vaguest notion of there being something beautiful and worthy of
reproduction in the Pointed Style lingered in the minds of a few
degenerate disciples of William of Wykeham. One of these
evidently was the architect of this Church. I think he must have

384 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
had a vision of the glorious days of old, from a confused
recollection of which he prepared his design. Some parts of the
building are really beautiful. The outline of the tower and spire
is almost perfect. The east window of the chancel is a fine
specimen of geometric tracery. Elsewhere, however, there is a
contradiction of styles and a jumble of Perpendicular, Elizabethan,
and Classic details, and the last spark of correct feeling would
appear to have vanished when the designer stuck the four pine
apples on the top of the tower.3
The Church consists of nave, chancel continuous therewith,
north and south aisles, and western tower. It will hold
about 850.
There were formerly some old flags here said to have been
carried by the trainbands of the town at the time of the
Siege ; but they have long since disappeared. A pair of
spurs and a glove were stated to have belonged to some one
who had ridden from London in an incredibly short time,
and therefore done infinite service to the town or country.
Buried near the altar lie Captains Kerby and Cooper Wade,
shot for cowardice in Benbow's action with Du Casse.
Here also wise improvements have been made, in cutting
away portions of the Churchyard, and widening the adjacent
streets ; building new boundary walls ; and in restoring the
fabric itself, the original beauty of which had been sadly
marred by the 'very wonderful galleries and high pews'
within, and by some very tasteless utibtarian accretions
without. There is an odd legend that the original spire was
knocked awry by the broomsticks of a lot of witches, which
struck it in their flight. Modern Plymouth.
Modern Plymouth now claims attention. The first attempt
to give an architectural character to the extensions of the
town was made by Mr. Foulston. He was a devotee of so-
called Classic art, and set the fashion of his day. Hence
nearly all the buildings reared in Plymouth during the first
half of the century, that have any claim to design, present
elevations of a Classic or pseudo-Classic type. Of Foulston's
numerous works, the Hotel and Theatre are the most
important, the Athenaeum the most successful, St. Andrew
Chapel the least attractive. The chapel of St. Paul at
3 Hine's Old Buildings of Plymouth. Elsewhere Mr. Hine suggests that
the architect was also the designer of Plympton Grammar School.

ROYAL HOTEL AND THEATRE. 385
Stonehouse styles him also one of the local pioneers of
Gothic revival, but shows how little the true principles of
Gothic architecture were understood. The first Gothic
building erected during the present century in Plymouth, St.
Peters, Eldad (designed by Mr. Ball), in its degree illustrated
the same fact. Mr. Wightwick, although most of his works,
like those of his predecessor Mr. Foulston, were Classical,
was a student of Gothic, and under his auspices the revival
progressed. The result has been that, with few exceptions,
the churches and chapels erected in Plymouth within the
past forty years have had a Gothic character; while the
most extensive pile of modern Gothic buildings in the West
of England has been reared for a new Guildhall and
Municipal Offices. Nor is this all. Various modifications
of Gothic have been adopted in the designing of business
premises and buildings of miscellaneous purpose ; and, still
more recently, the dreary wastes of stucco which replaced
the honest slated fronts of earlier Georgian days, have
largely given place to massive stone-faced houses and to
brick buildings, reproducing with more or less success
Queen Anne and earlier styles. And thus Plymouth grows,
in beauty as well as size.
Royal Hotel and Theatre.
Mr. Foulston's great work, the Eoyal Hotel and Theatre,
is said to have cost £60,000. Like the Market, it was
erected on the tontine principle. The foundation-stone was
laid on the 10th September, 1811, by the Mayor, Mr.
Edmund Lockyer, and the building was finished in two years.
The stone bears the following inscription: — 'Theatri et
Hospitii impensis Majoris et Communitatis* Burgi Plymouth.
Edmundus Lockyer, m.d., Major, fundamenta locavit 1811.
Johanne Foulston, architecta.' The style adopted is the
Ionic ; ¦ but the imposing effect of the long lines of frontage,
and of the bold porticoes, is sadly marred by the inelegant
croups of chimneys which break the continuity of the roof.
' Eyder's cherry garden ' occupied part of the site.
Prior to the erection of the Hotel, the principal inn of the
town was the Pope's Head, in Looe Street, the landlord of
which became the first lessee of the Eoyal. The assemblies
were held at the London Inn, in Vauxhall Street. In
January, 1863, a serious fire occurred in the centre of
the north front of the Hotel and Theatre, which caused
damage to the extent of several thousand pounds, destroying
2 c

386

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

the Assembly Eooms. In 1878 another fire gutted the
Theatre, and the whole of the interior had to be recon
structed. There are many entries in the Corporate Accounts touching
the visits of bands of players to the town early in the six
teenth century and onward : ' my Lord Bushoppes players,'
' the Queenes players,' the players of Mr. Fortescue, Sir
Percival Hart, the Earl of Warwick, Earl of Worcester,
Lord Munyon, Lord Hunsdon, the ' Moryshe Dauncers,' and
the like ; and the growth of Puritan feeling is shown in

Royal Hotel, Theatre, and Clock Tower.

payments made early in the seventeenth century to the
strollers ' to departe the Towne without playing.' The first
permanent theatre recorded was in Broad Hoe Lane (Hoe
Gate Street). The immediate predecessor of the present
theatre was by Frankfort Gate, at the junction of George
and Bedford Streets, immediately opposite the Globe, and
was called the New Theatre down to 1765. In a playbill
of 1759 the proprietor, Joseph Pittard, makes the odd
announcement — to modern notions — by way of 'draw,' that
he had ' been over to Launceston to engage some of the best
performers belonging to the company there ! '

MODERN CHURCHES AND CHAPELS. 387
Seventy years ago what we now regard as the natural
order of things was quite reversed in matters theatrical.
The Theatre Season was during the summer, and assemblies
on alternate Wednesdays in winter supplied the whole of
the public amusements enjoyed by genteel folks during the
inclement months, those who did not keep their own con
veyances availing themselves of one of the six public sedan
chairs. The Old Theatre belonged to the Corporation, and
when the new one was built was sold for the residue of a
term, with the exception of the lobby. It was not originally
built for a theatre, but adapted. Long Eoom was the local
Eanelagh of the bucks and belles 'when George the Third
was king.' Modern Churches and Chapels.
To the rapid extension of Church and Chapel accommo
dation most of the modern architectural attractions of the
town are due. Fifty years ago the only places of worship in
Plymouth possessing any claims to attention on the score of
their design were the churches of St. Andrew and Charles.
The majority of the new fabrics are Gothic ; of the
remainder most have a semi-Classical or ' Italian ' character
— as for example Trinity Church; Mutley Baptist chapel,
with its elaborate Palladian facade, designed by Mr. Ambrose ;
the Presbyterian chapel, Eldad ; Ham Street Wesleyan
chapel, and Greenbank Eoad Bible Christian, both designed
by Mr. Snell.
Of the Gothic churches the best are St. James and
Emmanuel, in the Decorated style; All Saints, as yet un
finished ; and two exceedingly fine examples of Early English
and Perpendicular in St. Peters and St. Matthias — the
elegant tower of the latter the first true Perpendicular
tower built in the district since the Eeformation.
The most noteworthy groups of modern Gothic ecclesias
tical buildings in Plymouth belong respectively to the Eoman
Catholics and to the Independents. The Eoman Catholic
Cathedral is a very good example of Early English, the one
defect being that the wall line is not broken and rebeved by
buttresses. It consists of a clerestoried nave of great height,
north and south aisles, transept, apsed chancel with aisles, a
Lady chapel behind the high altar, and a tower and spire.
It was erected from the designs of Messrs. J. and C. Hanson,
of Clifton; and is 155 feet long, 80 feet wide at the transepts,
and 50 feet wide over the nave and aisles. The tower and
spire are singularly graceful and elegant. Adjoining the
2 c 2

388 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
cathedral, in Cecil Street, is the Bishop's residence; in
Wyndham Street a nunnery; and in the rear capacious
schools. The whole are Gothic ; and their effect exceedingly
picturesque. Sherwill Chapel in the Tavistock Eoad, with the schools
adjoining, forms the second group to which reference has
been made. The chapel and schools were erected from
designs by Messrs. Paull and Aybffe, of Manchester. The
chapel consists of nave, lean-to aisles, transepts, tower and
spire; and there is an apsidal organ recess behind the pulpit.
There are galleries over the aisles and the entrance porches.
It is a great and instructive contrast to compare this elegant
and commodious fabric with its structural grandsire, the Old
Tabernacle. Miscellaneous Modern Buildings.
The Western College, designed by Mr. Hine, is another
good example of modern Gothic. Some excebent carving,
moreover, is introduced into the capitals of the pillars, the
whole being reproductions of natural foliage.
The extension of education has played its part in the
structural embellishment of the town. Most of the Board
Schools are not merely substantial, but attractive, and some
of these stand on sites once occupied by buildings which did
the community no credit. There are also the High School
for girls at North Hill, and the Plymouth College at Compton.
Philanthropy, too, has done its share, as in the Blind In
stitution; but chiefly in the extensive range of the South
Devon and East Cornwall Hospital, strongly marked indeed
by the beauty of utility, but not wanting in severe dignity
and a certain effectiveness of grouping.
Improved business premises are too numerous to detail,
beyond the position taken by some of the banks ; the most
ornate frontage in the town being that of the Wilts and
Dorset bank in George Street.
The Clock Tower4 in George Street was built in 1862-3 to
contain the clock, the gift of Mr. W. Derry. The Corpora-
4 The town had its first public clock in 1526 :
It pd for vpysettyng [setting up] of a Clok in the geldhall &
for the same Clok bought of Ro laurence
' It pd for Weyer for the Clok .
It pd for yreworke for the Clok to Coke the Smyth
It pd for nayles for the Clok frame
However ; in the next year we read —
Itm Rec of master herford for the Clok of the geldhall that he
bought of the Towne . . . xxvis viijd

xxiiij1

:vjd

.

xvd

xvd

i"j

dob

THE GUILDHALL. 389
tion had no powers to build a clock tower, hence called it a
' fountain,' but the basins have been always dry. The tower
cost nearly £500, of which Mr. Derry gave £200, besides
the clock, costing £220.
The Post Office in Westwell Street is built on a site once
occupied by a later vicarage of St. Andrew, then in part by
St. Andrews Hall, and purchased by the Post Office
authorities in 1881. The previous Post Office was at the
corner of Whimple and St. Andrew Streets, and was merely
rented by the Department. The Guildhall.
The most important modern public building of Plymouth
has yet to be described — the Guildhall. Its history, with
that of its predecessors, would be in brief a history of the
town. Plymouth had a Guildhall certainly five centuries
since; for in the earliest records of the fifteenth century
there are references to a structure, even then ancient — the
old ' gubd ' or ' eld ' hall. The site of this edifice is unknown,
but it was probably somewhere in Old Town, with which
the fourteenth-century Guild of Merchants was more im
mediately connected. Not long after the Incorporation with
Sutton Prior a new Guildhall was built, of which all we
know is a tradition that it was somewhere in Southside
Street ; and that within its walls, or that of the Mayoralty
in Woolster Street, Drake, Hawkins, Ealegh, Gilbert, Davis,
Frobisher, Grenville, and many another unforgotten worthy,
oft participated in the civic hospitality. The destruction of
the ' stepeb,' with the ' townes evydence,' in the Western
Eebelbon perchance points to damage done to this structure ;
and there is an entry that the 'new babe' was ceiled in
1573-4. We know also that the Guildhall of Tudor days
had a beb ; and we find that the great bell was bought by
subscription in 1560. A bell naturally suggests a bell tower
or ' stepeb.'
The ' elde hall ' is first mentioned in 1486 ; the ' olde yelde
ball' is ' heled' in 1494 ; and a ' morestone' window was made
for the Guildhall in 1495, while it was refronted in 1515.
Firm footing is given by an order for the building of a
new Guildhall, which we find in the White Book under date
August, 1606 ; for this Guildhall stood at the head of High
Street, on the site of what is now the Free Library, and it
was still well in memory when the latest New Guildhall was
built. Mr. James Skardon, who was present at the opening

390

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

of the building now standing on its site, participated in the
ceremonial of laying the foundation-stone in Westwell Street;
and Mr. W. H. Evens, Mayor both under the old and the
reformed Corporations, who was present at the opening of the
Municipal Buildings on April 16th, 1873 (when the Mayor,
Mr. Kelly, entertained the Council and a number of the
leading inhabitants at luncheon), stated that he saw the
foundation-stone of the last Old Guildhall laid in 1800, and
remembered and described its predecessor.
It was [he said] a picturesque and really pretty building. It
rested upon granite arches and columns. The hall was built upon
these, and underneath the market was held. There was a sort of
opening, called Market Street, into Bull Hill ; and on each side

Entrance to Church Alley from Whimple Street, 1800.
of that there was a pork butcher's stall. Whimple Street was so
narrow that scarcely one carriage could pass. There were houses
on each side of the entrance to the Churchyard, one occupied by
a grocer, and the other by a tinman. By the Churchyard wall
was the fish market, and at the end of it the weighing-house.
In the middle of Old Town Street were the shambles. Treville
Street, then Butchers Lane, was so narrow at the upper part that
two carts could not pass. George Street was little better than a
cut de sac, and they had to go over the fields to Milibay. Union
Street was a marsh, where he had seen snipes shot, and skating.
The approach to Devonport was along Stonehouse Lane. Where
Russell Street was, there stood a magnificent grove of four rows

THE GUILDHALL. 391
of elms, and there was another grove on the site of the Duke of
Cornwall Hotel. Of the old gates he recollected three, including
Hoe Gate. He recollected, too, when the mail bags used to be
despatched from Plymouth on horseback. He saw the first mail
coach come into the town (and great was the rejoicing), and he
had seen the last go out. Five or six days were then required
before any answer could be got from London.
The Jacobean Guildhall, with shambles under, was built
in 1606-7 at a total cost of £794 8s. Id., under the direction
of ' Thomas Apsey, of Nettlecom.' But the Corporation had
gone rashly to work. In February, 1607, they resolved:
' that a parcel of the guildhall had been of late new builded
for the keeping and holding of the King's Majestys Courts,
and courts of the said borough ; and that the said town was
greatly indebted for the building thereof, and were not able
to clear the same without selbng some part of the revenue
thereof, to the great discredit of the town and Corporation.'
And so to avert this discredit, the Mayor, with the twelve
Aldermen and twenty-four Common Councilmen, made an
order for the assessment of the inhabitants. It used to be
held that this Guildhall was rebuilt in 1667, but that is an
error. Part of it was pulled down and rebuilt, and it under
went extensive repair, at the cost of £264. A new cupola
was put up in 1706.
Under and around this Guildhall was held the butter and
poultry market, whbst an enclosed court behind was supposed
to accommodate the corn and vegetable markets. The state
of the thoroughfare on market days may be imagined. In
front a tower projected, in the upper storey of which was
a clock surmounted by a cupola. Through the first storey
of the tower, which formed a porch, the hall was approached,
. access being gained from the street by a flight of seven
teen steps. These became in time proverbial; and a hint
that anyone would have to ascend that number of stairs
was held the reverse of complimentary. At the western
end of the hall were seats for the Mayor, Magistrates, and
Councillors, and at the eastern a staircase to the Council
Chamber — a small room, partly in the tower and partly over
the hab. At one end of the building was the debtors' prison,
with a place where criminals were confined or detained prior
to commitment. The lowest deep was the Cbnk, a couple
of dungeons entered by the side of the steps. This was
justly the terror of all evildoers. Howard in 1774 visited
Plymouth to see the Clink, and condemned it strongly.5 In
5 A presyn hous is mentioned in 1486.

392

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

the space under the hall, on Sunday mornings, the Corpora
tion used to assemble prior to going to church, their dignity
being kept up by the attendance of a stalwart halberdier,
while they strutted their little hour upon the stage pre
paratory to wending their way to worship.

Jacobean Guildhall.

The present Free Library was intended to supply all the
purposes of the old Guildhall and more. The architect of
this ' unsightly, inelegant, and inconvenient erection, with its
wretchedly-designed Gothic windows,' undertook to provide
all the necessary rooms for 'a court-house, a guildhall, a
mayoralty house with dining-rooms and kitchens, civil and
criminal prisons, guard-rooms, a news-room, and a market
place ! ' His plans were adopted ; £7,000 were spent ; and
the building was then found to be ' inconvenient as a guildhall,
unsuited for a mayoralty house, totally inadequate as a prison,
and perfectly absurd for market purposes.' Tell it not in
the 'city of waters'— his name was Evelegh, and he came
from Bath.6
" Ten years after it was built the prison portion was described as being so
badly managed and so inadequate as to be filthy in the extreme, ' the lower
most cells filthy beyond conception.' The prisons on North Hill, now the
property of the Government, were completed in 1849, at a cost of £13,500.

THE GUILDHALL. 393
Plymouthians were not long content with this multum in
parvo. Three-score years ago the desirability of rearing a
better structure was urged. But threatened men live on ;
and so Evelegh' s ugly building long continued the centre of
the civic life of Plymouth. When the New Workhouse was
erected it was decided that the most central site for a guild
hall would be to the west of St. Andrew Church ; and the Old
Workhouse was consequently purchased by the Corporation.
From time to time the property of the Orphans Aid Charity,
and lands and houses adjoining, in Basket and Westwell
Streets, were likewise acquired ; and Westwell Street, as one
of the main approaches, was widened. The propriety of
proceeding to build was mooted upon several occasions ; and
in 1869 — a public meeting having unavailingly been called
in opposition — it was decided to invite plans and offer three
premiums for the best. Twenty sets of designs were sent
in ; and the Council having called to their aid Mr. Waterhouse
as professional adviser, the first premium was awarded to
Messrs. Alfred Norman and James Hine, of Plymouth.
Early in 1870 tenders were invited accordingly. Twelve
were made, from which the Council selected that of Messrs.
,Call and Petbick, Plymouth, for £32,475, but the work was .
done by Mr. J. Pethick. The final cost approached £50,000.
This was in June. In the following month the site had been
so far cleared as to allow of the foundation stone being laid
by the Mayor, Mr. W. Luscombe. The day chosen, the 28th,
turned out exceedingly fine ; and many thousands congregated
to witness the ceremonial. The proceedings were opened
with prayer by the Vicar, the Eev. C. T. Wilkinson; and
the Mayor was invited to lay the stone by Mr. Eooker, in an
eloquent speech. After the ceremony there was of course a
dinner at the Eoyal.
The new buildings are laid out in two blocks, with a public
place between them averaging 100 feet in width, leading
from Westwell Street to Catherine Street. In the southern
block, 292 feet long, are the Guildhall and Assize Courts ; in
the northern, 207^ feet, the Council Chamber and Municipal
Offices. The style is Early Pointed, the details bold rather
than elaborate. They harmonize well with the Old Church
Tower, the wings being treated in broad and simple masses,
leading up to central features of sufficient richness and
dignity. The Great Hall is the finest public room -in the West
of England, and consists of a nave 58 feet wide, with
aisles on either side, the extreme length being 145 feet,

394 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
and extreme breadth 85 feet, while it is 70 feet high. The
aisles open into the body of the hall by two arcades of
seven arches each, with pibars of polished grey granite.
The traceried windows of the clerestory follow the mystical
and perfect number of the arches below. The hall was
intended to seat 2,600 persons, and has seven separate
doorways for ingress and egress. At the west end is a
large orchestral platform, and in connection therewith a
suite of ante -rooms, available for performers and others ;
at the east end there is a gallery. The internal dimensions
of the pobce-court, at the Catherine Street end, are 46 feet
by 38 feet; rooms adjoin for magistrates, magistrates'
clerk, attorneys, and witnesses ; in the rear are the station-
house, police muster-room, reading-room, &c. Each of the
assize courts, at the Westwell Street end, is 38 feet wide —
one being 49£ feet long, and the other 47| feet — and has
separate entrances and apartments for barristers, attorneys,
and witnesses, with accommodation for the public in galleries
at the ends of the courts, approached by a stone staircase in
an octagonal angle tower, forming an important feature of
the Westwell Street elevation. The crowning feature of
the great pile of buildings is the tower at the south-west
corner, 190 feet in height. The finial of the spirelet which
breaks the roof line of the hall is 140 feet from the ground.
As the Great Hall is the central feature of the southern
block, so is the Council Chamber that of the northern. It is
an exceedingly handsome apartment, 56J feet long, 32| feet
wide, and 40 feet high, with a gallery. Adjoining is the
Mayor's parlour. The various Corporation Offices are in the
two wings ; and in addition the School Board is quartered
in the western, and the Chamber of Commerce accommodated
in the eastern.
The general accessories in the way of carving and the like
are rich and tasteful ; and since the completion of the fabric
the appearance of the hall has been marvellously enhanced
by the gift of a series of stained glass windows, chiefly
historical; and by placing in the orchestra by subscription
a magnificent organ, by Willis, at a cost of over £2,500.
The subjects and donors of the windows are: The Black
Prince Window (given by members of the Hawker family) ;
the Breton Window (Eev. T. A. Bewes) ; the Drake Window
(the Whiteford family); the Armada Window, the first
erected (the Moore family) ; the Ealegh Window (Mr. C. F.
Tanner) ; the Cookworthy Window (Eev. U. Cookworthy) ; ,
the Opening Window (Mr. Gibbs, c.B.) ; the Priory Window

396 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
(the Stevens family); the Katharine of Arragon Window
(Mr. C. S. Skardon); the William of Orange Window
(Mr. J. Pethick) ; the Pilgrim Fathers Window (Mr. A.
Eooker) ; the Siege Window (given chiefly by the de
scendants of combatants on either side); the Napoleon
Window (Major-Gen. Congdon) ; the Masonic Window (the
Craft). All the windows on the north, with the Drake
Window, are by Messrs. Fouracre and Watson ; the remainder
by Messrs. Heaton, Butler, and Bayne.
The hall was used, though then unfinished, for a banquet
in connection with the second visit of the Bath and West of
England Society to Plymouth in 1874.
The buildings were formally opened by the Prince of
Wales, August 13th, 1874, with elaborate and hearty cere
monial. At the invitation of the Mayor, Mr. A. Eooker,
the Prince -unlocked the door of the hall, in which a large
and distinguished company sat down to luncheon. The
next day the Freemasons of Devon and Cornwall met there
and welcomed the Prince as Grand Master.
The Hoe.
Many a memorable event in the history of Plymouth is
connected with the Hoe. It would indeed be impossible to
compile a chronicle of this famous spot, which would not
serve as a record of the town. Time out of mind it has
been the theatre of important local demonstrations. It has
been no less familiarly identified with the amusements of the
people. When peace was declared in October, 1801, a bonfire
was lit thereon which contained 800 barrels, sixty feet high,
by 240 feet in circumference. When the Crimean war came
to a close tens of thousands thronged thither to witness the
illumination of the men-of-war that lay inside the Break
water. When the Prince and Princess of Wales were
married a bonfire was reared, which rivalled that of three
score years before, and the flames of which were seen for
many a long mile. On the celebration of the Queen's
Jubilee in 1887 even this was outdone.
Until the beginning of the present century the Hoe
stretched in unbroken grandeur from Sutton Pool to Milibay,
but it is a mistake to suppose that it had been a mere waste
of sea cliff, for centuries before that date. The earliest
building there of which we have any trace was the chapel of
St. Katherine, not improbably the original place of worship
— perhaps such a votive fane in its origin as St. Aldhelm in
Dorset— of the fishers of the vibage of Sutton proper, as St.

THE HOE. 397
Andrew of the older town which stretched along the heights.
Then came the bulwarks, the germs alike of Castle and of
Citadel. The Hoe in these early days was a portion of the ' waste '
of the manor of Sutton (part of the eastern end apparently
excepted), and as such belonged to the Corporation ; and the
oldest right connected with it is that which the fishermen
continued to exercise of drying their nets — which dated
certainly eight centuries back. The Hoc was then looked
upon as distinctly exterior to the town, but as its most
important adjunct. Close to St. Katherine was the town
barn, which may have been originally that of the Priory.
On the ridge was the fire beacon, always well stored with
furze, wherewith to signal the approach of danger. A
watch-house was erected by the beacon in the reign of
Ebzabeth. Not far from the beacon, on the West Hoe, was
a windmill, associated at almost the very earliest date of
special mention with the ominous name — for a miller — of
Michael Prigge; and in connection with this structure we
find the first attempt made to provide for the comfort of the
Hoe public by the ' Hoe Committee' of that day. This was
the erection about it of a 'bench' or seat. There was no
lack of amusements. On the Hoe were the butts for the
practice of archery, which came to frequent reparation, and
so must have been much in use. Thither the townsfolk
gathered when ' John the Drummer,' or one of his colleagues,
summoned them to arms on the approach of a threatening
sail. There most of the capital punishments of the town
took place. The entries of charges for erecting ' gibbets on
the hawe ' are unpleasantly numerous in the earlier records
of Plymouth.
' Hanging, drawing, and quartering,' burning, and in later
days shooting, varied the methods of despatch; but it was
holiday time for all save the sufferers.
The Smeaton Tower in 1884 replaced the old Trinity
Obelisk landmark, which there is no reason to doubt con
tinued the ' compasse for the use of mariners,' that tradition
had associated with the name of Drake, but which was
really erected by the Corporation in 1569 or 1570. This
was simply a landmark intended to show the four cardinal
points, with a vane to indicate which way the wind blew ;
and it was at first placed upon the West Hoe. Late in the
seventeenth century, when in some way unexplained and
inexplicable, the West Hoe passed into the hands of a
staunch Eoyabst and Churchman — one Isaac Tibard, while

398 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
his Eoyal Master helped himself to the eastern end— -the
compass was removed and re-erected on or near the site of
the old obelisk, and there it remained intact until well on
into the last century. The West Hoe and the ' two Hawes '
are mentioned in early Tudor days. Taking the place of
the obelisk the lighthouse therefore occupies the sole site
on the Hoe which claims direct association with 'the spacious
times of great Elizabeth.'
Early in the present century there was much contention
as to the rights of the public on the Hoe, which the Military
Authorities endeavoured to claim, to the exclusion of the
townsfolk. They gave permission to persons to put up little
huts and pigsties on the waste by the glacis, which became
a great nuisance; and eventually the occupants of these
found themselves between two fires — both the Military
Authorities and the Corporation demanding rent. Yet the
assistant solicitor to the Ordnance, when he had investigated
the matter, had to report that the Eastern Hoe belonged to
the Corporation, and that a number of houses and small
pieces of land had been taken possession of in 1666 for the
Citadel without any other authority than the King's Order
in Council, no compensation being made until 1679. It is
quite clear from the recital of a deed that portions of the
Hoe were taken at the same time. On this General Mercer
wrote to the Corporation acknowledging their right to the
Eastern Hoe, the claim to the huts being still maintained.
The question was brought to an issue by Dr. Bellamy in
his mayoralty, and ended in the complete establishment of
the rights of the Corporation, the Government having
permission to use the Hoe for the exercise of troops, and to
enter for that purpose by a key, should the ground at any
time be locked up by the Municipal Authorities. Even then,
however, new governors revived the old claims ; and in 1815
persons were taken into custody by the orders of General
Brown (who is said to have reserved all rights of passage for
his cows I) for ' crossing the middle path leading from Broad
Hoe Lane to the Eastern Hoe.' He was, however, speedily
dealt with, and for some years subsequently the Corporation
were very strict in demanding applications for permission
for the military to exercise. Mr. John Collier, subsequently
MP for Plymouth, was particularly active in defending the
rights of the inhabitants on this question.
Ample compensation, however, has of late been afforded by
the authorities for ab these controversies, in the surrender of
the outworks of the Citadel to the town, which has enabled

THE HOE. 399
the eastern end of the Hoe to be considerably extended, and
laid out ornamentally with gardens and paths ; while new
drives have been carried through the old trenches, and along
the sea face immediately below the ramparts. Time will
get rid of the air of newness, which was inevitable, and
some of the alterations are in questionable taste. Taken as
a whole, however, these works of improvement, which were
mainly brought to a close in 1888, and which have cost
upwards of £10,000, have added much to the general
attractions of this famous and historic promenade. Un-
. happily the mutilation of the Western Hoe by quarrying,7
which began to make its ugly mark there early in the
century, cannot be compensated in so effectual a way ; but
in connection with the development of building operations
the best is being made of an act of vandalism which it
would be worth the outlay of many thousands to undo.
More has been lost in the destruction of the glorious sweep
of swarded cliff from Sutton Pool to Milibay than all
' improvement ' can replace, and there has been too great
a tendency to crowd and trim and limit what is left. The
picturesque charms of the ridge are but shadows of their
former selves ; and yet in its way it is unsurpassed.
There is still extant a lithographic panorama of the Hoe,
which shows how much of its natural beauty has been lost
in living, if aged, memory. Occasionally mischief has been
done with the best intentions. We cannot rank under that
head the formation of the first drive along the sea front by
way of relieving the distress which followed the cessation of
the French war (already noted) ; but most of the works
carried out in 1830 and subsequently were in very bad
taste, and met with the warmest denunciation, among others
from the late Mr. Jacobson, who in serio-comic vein described
them as no less than an act of murder !
The most important changes made of recent years on the
seaward face of the hill have been the construction of the
West Hoe Pier and Basin, fronting the West Hoe Baths, by
Messrs. Harris, Bulteel and Co., of the Naval Bank, who
had become the owners of the West Hoe Estate ; and subse
quently the erection of the Promenade Pier, opened in May,
7 The physical features of Plymouth and the sister towns have been greatly
varied by the extensive quarrying operations conducted in the Devonian
limestone, especially within the present century, and at Richmond Walk,
Battery Hill, the Hoe, Cattedown, Oreston, and Pomphlett. For centuries
this limestone has been the chief source of lime for the country round ; and
of late years it has been worked also for building and ornamental purposes,
yielding a rich variety of the most beautiful marbles.

400 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
1884, by a Company. Until these works were carried out
facbities for landing and embarking at the Hoe were absent ;
but their provision has developed a large amount of steamer
holiday traffic ; and the Promenade Pier, to which this year a
pavilion has been added, has become a very favourite resort.
Until very recently the only structures on the plateau of
the Hoe were the Trinity Obelisk and a Camera Obscura,
on the bluff immediately above the Bull Eing — now re
moved; and when, in 1864, the Town Council were offered
the fine statue of Lord Seaton, now on Mount Wise, it was
refused. Since then a different policy has been adopted.
The Smeaton Tower has replaced the obelisk; and ter
centenary features have been erected, in the magnificent
statue of Sir Francis Drake, and in the Armada Memorial.
The fountain in front of Osborne Place was the gift of
Mr. C. Norrington, in 1880, in memory of his wife. That
by the Bull Eing was erected by Alderman James King, for
many years Chairman of the Water Committee, in com
memoration of the Queen's Jubilee, 1887.
The last Plymouthian ' affair of honour ' was to have come
off on Sunday morning, October 1st, 1809, at six o'clock in the
morning, on the Hoe, between Dr. Gasking and Dr. Bellamy.
Mr. Pridham, the Mayor, had them apprehended,!
Yonge in his Diary reports that on the 10th January, 1622,
a minister of Plymouth walking with a French minister
on the Hoe saw ' three clouds, which clouds seemed to come
and meet together ; at their meeting one of them brake, and
gave a great noise as if it had been a cannon ; after the
second brake, and gave two sounds as of two cannons ; then
the third brake, and gave the noise as if it had been the noise
of cannons in a set battle, with a whistling in the air as if
bullets had been shot out of a piece. There was a thunder
bolt seen at Plympton to fall from thence into the ground,
which weighed by report vib. lbs.'
There are indeed several points of scientific interest in
connection with the Hoe. It has fissures filled with pebbles,
sand, and clay, which had been evidently transported by water;
from the direction of Dartmoor. Cavities in the limestone
have yielded bones of extinct animals, with a couple of fine
mammoth tusks. And immediately above the lower road
there are still left remains of a Eaised Beach of considerable
interest, ranging thirty to sixty feet above the present sea-
level. But the most noteworthy connection of the Hoe
with science now' is the presence beneath the Citadel of the
Marine Biological Laboratory.

THE HOE. 401
The Hoe no longer stands alone as a pubbc recreation
ground in Plymouth. The land attached to the reservoir at
Hartley has been laid out in walks and thrown open daily.
More recently Freedom Fields, associated for centuries with
the borough official life, and ever memorable as the scene of
the final act of the great 'Sabbath-day fight,' have been
formed into a public park. This year the site of the Higher
Mbls, south of Drakes Place Eeservoir, has been made into
a promenade, with terrace and piazza, the granite columns
supporting which, removed from the Old Market, in all
probabibty include some which belonged to religious houses
in the neighbourhood, bought by the Ebzabethan Corporation
of one of the Champernownes, and utibsed in public works
in Plymouth ever since ; while even remnants of the
Mediaeval Market Cross may also be among them. And by
joint action of the authorities of the sister towns Deadlake
— the old Stoke Damerel Fleet — is now being relaimed, with
the view of being made a general recreation ground, having
been purchased of the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe.

2 D

CHAPTEE XV.
FORTIFICATIONS.1
Britannia needs no bulwark, ,
No towers along the steep ;
Her march is on the mountain wave,
Her home is on the deep. — Campbell.
"IVTO better evidence of the gradual growth of the prosperity
JLM of Plymouth can be desired, than the successive steps
taken for its protection. During the reigns immediately
succeeding the Conquest there was no organised navy, and
when the King wanted ships, merchant vessels were called
into requisition. Just as in the Napoleonic wars, and even
during the Crimean campaign, the Government fell back
upon the mercantile marine for means of transport, so up to
the end of the sixteenth century English monarchs drew
their war vessels chiefly from the same source. Hence the
importance of the fortification of such a port as Plymouth-
in the reigns of the early Henries and Edwards.
That Plymouth needed safeguard was made only too plain
through the damage done by the French in their frequent
incursions. Under Edward III. (1374) it was ordered that
a survey should be made, the town and port fortified, and
the men of the place so arrayed ' that they be always ready
and prepared to resist our enemies, so often and when it
shab be necessary, and any danger shall be imminent.' In
1378 Eichard II. made the order for putting Plymouth in a
state of defence, already quoted — it then appearing that the
town was ' in great danger and not enclosed or fortified with
walls or turrets or otherwise.' He granted 100 marks yearly
for twenty years, to be expended by the oversight of the
Prior in walling. Six years' Customs Duties were also given.
It is difficult to say what was done under these powers ; but
clearly it proved insufficient to protect the town against such
incursions as that of the Bretons. Then a patent was granted
by Henry IV., and a wall built with towers and other defences.
1 The Municipal Records, State Papers Domestic, and papers in the British
Museum, are the chief authorities on this head.

THE CASTLE.

403

' Le grete deche apud le Catte,' mentioned temp. Henry VII.,
may date thence. The Castle.
The Castle was built on the rocky spur at the eastern end
of the Hoe, immediately overlooking and commanding the
entrance of Sutton Pool, somewhere in the reign of Henry IV.
Bishop Stafford in 1416 granted an indulgence towards the
erection of two towers, and the repairs of the causeway
in the Pool ; and his successor but one in the see, Bishop
Lacy, in 1449 granted another to all true penitents con
tributing ad novam fabricacionem fosse vie juxta castrum infra
villam de Plymouth. Another prelate, Bishop Veysey, in
1520, not only assisted in the same way, but according to
Leland took a more direct part in the execution of the work ;
as Eisdon says Stafford also did. When Leland visited the
West he found the entrance to Sutton Pool defended by a
block-house on the south-west, and on a rocky hill hard by
'a strong Castel quadrate, having at eche Corner a great
Eound Tower. It semith to be no very old Peace of worke.
Hard to this Castelle waul Veysy now Byshope of Exestar
began a peace of an highe and stronge Waub from Plymouthe
by good enclosyd Ground and strong Waull.' Eisdon in
describing the same fortification says :
A castle they have, garretted with turrets at every corner,
supposed by some to have been built by the Vaulltorts, lords of
the town ; but more probably showeth to be the work of Edmund
Stafford, bishop of Exon, the Lord Chancellor of England, whose
armories engraven in the work were lately to be seen. [One of
the towers was sometimes caUed 'the bishop's tower.'] The haven
is sufficiently fortified on all sides, and chained over when need
requireth, having on the south a peer, they call it the fort, built
upon the cliff between the town and the sea, called the Haw, a
place delightful for walk and prospect, which fort with the town
force is sufficient defence against all hostility.
From this old 'castle quadrate' the arms of the town,
a saltire between four castles, are considered to be in part
derived. The saltire
is now vert and the
castles sable, the
coat being properly
blazoned, Argent, a
saltire vert between
four castles sable ;
but there are grounds The Castle' from a Map t™p- Henry viil
for suggesting that originally the saltire was sable also.
2 D 2

404 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
The Municipal Eecords contain many references to the
Castle, and show that it was maintained by the appropriation
of one of the corner towers to each of the four wards, by
the names of which the towers were occasionally known.
Moreover, as the Mayor of the town in these early days
was Commander-in-Chief of the borough forces, and ab the
inhabitants had to take their part in ' watch and ward,' or
else find a substitute, so the heads of the little community
— the 'twelve and twenty -four' — were supposed to act as
the castle garrison. The text of an order is extant, made by
Humphry Fownes, Mayor in 1588-9 and 1596-7, setting
forth who should inhabit the Castle, 'in time of warre.'
Three Aldermen and six Councblors were set apart for
each tower, the Mayor taking his station in the north
eastern, which would be that more immediately overlooking
the entrance to Sutton Pool.
Work was done upon the Castle in 1508-9, when, after it
bad been made clean, at a cost of ' iiijs for mete and drynke
for the beggers that labored aboute ' its cleansing for a day,
stone was brought from Prince Eock for its reparation or
improvement. At another date we read of the pulling
down of the ivy that grew on the Castle walls, and the
clearing of the ditch; but as time went on the building
became comparatively of less importance.
The entries indicate nothing more of the character of the
structure than that each of the towers consisted of an upper
and lower floor, with a platform roof. Under Elizabeth the
platforms were covered with lead, and in 1590 ' 7 brass
pieces were playnted uppon the iiij Castells.' In all prob
ability the Castle was allowed to fall into decay after the
Siege, when it played its final part in actual warfare. It
remained with the town when the Fort was built ; was used
as a workhouse in 1610; and was partly burnt in 1624.
Clearly the town was allowed to maintain it when the Citadel
was erected.
Still there must have been considerable remains within a
century. The last portions of importance left were the
north-eastern tower, and the foundations of the south
eastern, with the gateway. To the MS. recollections of
Harris we are indebted for all the particulars that can be
gleaned of the appearance of the fabric early in the present
century. In 1807 there only remained- one tower, and that
'brought down almost to the internal base, there being on
the inside about five feet serving for a breastwork, and a
garden wall, the area being let for a garden. The diameter

THE CASTLE.

405

of this tower was about 30 feet ; 200 feet to the south there
were the remains of one with a diameter of only 10 feet;
finally removed about 1804.' The tower which Harris
describes disappeared only within recent years ; and he
evidently overlooked the existence of other relics, some of
which have continued to the present day, including those of
the gateway in Lambhay Street, preserved by being utilised
as a dwelling.

Gateway of Castle, 1887.

The Castle Barbican has long existed only in the name
given to the pier at the entrance of Sutton Pool ; and here
again Harris has preserved the sole description. It was of
small extent, not quite the breadth of the present pier, and
had a breastwork. In the enclosure there was an old one-
roomed building with a porch, having the town arms on the
front, and the date 1528. ' In the pavement was the figure
of a gunner in the act of firing a cannon, said by tradition
to record the bravery of one man, who, when Plymouth
was besieged, and only one charge of powder left, fired the
cannon, which had been crammed to the muzzle, and placed
in a lane by which the besiegers approached, scattering death
around, and losing his own life ! ' The ground of the Barbican

406 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
was dug away for the pier, and four square subterranean
chambers discovered outside the wall, and below high water
mark. Stone shot have been found in the Castle remains.
The Bulwarks and Ordnance.
The Corporate Accounts from the earliest dates contain
numerous items of expenditure on works of defence; and
from time to time provision was made at the individual
cost of wealthy townsfolk. Thus we read of ' thykpeny ys
bolwerke,' 'John Walsh is bullework,' and of the guns of
William Eandell, John Ilcombe, Pollard, and Stephen Pers ;
the 'greate gonne,' the 'westmasto gvnne,' the 'portyngab
gunne ' ' the gvnne of loostrete warde,' &c.
The bulwarks are mentioned in the Accounts for 1486,
when candles were provided for them, and fuxze for the ' ffyre
bekyn ' hard by. These bulwarks lined the sea front of the
Hoe near the eastern end, and one was ' vnder Seynt Katyn.'
We have also the ' great ' bulwark, the ' west ' bulwark, and
the 'new' bulwark. In the same year there are entries
relating to the ordnance and the provision of ammunition.
' Jheffry Thomas barber ys man ' was paid for making balls
of 'led and eyrryn.' In other years stone shot were used,
some made of ' More ' and some of Staddon stone.2 Pyllets
of iron were provided for a ' slynge ' in 1522 ; and arrows
much later.
It appears to have been the custom to drag the guns to
and from the Hoe as need was ; though the great guns may
have been an exception. In 1486 also occurs the first of a
long series of entries of payments to the watchman at Eame.
Itm payd ffor foreys to make the ffyr bekyn at hawe
iij tyms . . . * . . ixd
Itm payd vnto the whaycheman att Eame ffor kepyng off
ye bekying ther & brinyng iiij tymys . . iiijd
Itm payd vnto Wyllm bovy ffor the kepyng off the
boiwerke ffor a yere . . . vj8 viij"1
The ' whaycheman ' was paid better later on. In 1511-12
eighteenpence was delivered to the parson of Eame for him ;
and in the next year he not only had 2s. for his 'yeares
wages,' but 4d. for a reward ' to come and yeve warnying of
shipps at sea.' In 1522-3 he had 4s. for his yearly wage,
2 One found at Hooe is in the possession of the writer ; and another, of
Roborough Down stone, found in Sutton Pool, at Briton Side, equivalent in
size to an iron seven-pounder. It is doubtless one of the shots fired against
the Bretons.

THE BULWARKS AND ORDNANCE. 407
and Is. for his labour in coming to Plymouth sundry times.
He must have thought himself luckier still when in 1543-4
he received 8d. for ' comyng hether by nyght when the new
founde lande men came yn.' The 'waccheman of Eame,'
however, had to be supplemented in 1537-8 by two others,
who watched ' the water syde for pyratts.'
What is rather amusing, considering the use the guns were
put to, is that ordnance were bought in Spain. In 1504-5
two great guns were ' bought out of Spaine,' and paid for by
twenty- two dozen of 'whytts,' worth £7 lis. 8d. This
cloth was packed in canvas and sent to Saltash to be
forwarded. There had been an agreement drawn up with
the gunmakers, and three ' chesys ' worth lOd. were included
in the bargain. The ordnance of the town was then rather
scanty. There was a ' brazen gon,' and the end of the great
gon (which a ' portyngal ' not long before had been mulcted
in some wine for damaging) was caulked with oakum ! while
a piece of iron was nailed over the mouth to 'kepe hym
close.' In 1509-10 two other guns were bought in Spain,
and paid for partly in hake.
That the townsfolk not only had to find the defences of
the town and the munitions of war, in these days ; but also
to do their own fighting; and that they were not above
taking pay from those they helped — is abundantly clear
from the entries in 1526-7.
Itm Eec of tharrogosye for defendynge theyre shyp
agaynst the ffrenshemen that wold have taken
her . . . xvjh xiij8 iiijd
Itm Eec of Spaynards for lyke defens . . xxvj8 viijd
It is recorded that those who manned the bulwarks for
this business were Stephen Pers, Wm. Bull, Christopher
Moore, William Hawkyns the elder, John Pers, Ed. Hors
well, Simon Weryng, Ed. Gerrard, Nich. Sark, Langharne,
and Lawrence.
In 1528-9 William Hawkyns sold two brass guns to the
town, and was paid in instalments of £8. A few years later
other guns were bought in Flanders. And then there was
such continual expense on the bulwarks, and on the 'gun
slyngs ' and ' chambers ' and the like, that the town got into
difficulties. Beyond the grants of authority to fortify, and to levy
Customs, the Crown seems to have done nothing for the
defence of Plymouth until the reign of Henry VIII.
Between 1537 and 1539 Henry caused to be erected 'bloke-

408 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
houses, castles, and platforms ' upon ' divers frontiers of the
Eealme,' and a little later such important works as the
castles of Pendennis and St. Mawes ; built, with other local
defences of this period, by Mr. Treffrye,3 of Fowey. The
records show that there was considerable expenditure on the
bulwarks of the town and on their armament at this time.
The tower at Devbs Point, that near the Winter Villa,
and that which formerly stood at the modern Eastern King,
Stonehouse, belong to this series; and so does the ancient
tower worked into the sea face of the outworks of the
Citadel, the blockhouse mentioned by Leland. There is,
however, this difference — the Stonehouse towers are aU of
the same material, limestone with granite dressings, and were
evidently planned and built by the same heads and hands.
The Plymouth tower does not differ essentially in plan, but
the dressings are of Eoborough Down stone, which was not
in common use in the sixteenth century. It may therefore
have been built in part of older materials, and under some
what different conditions. The fact may also be significant
that the first direct help recorded from the Crown is about
this date, the gift of two brass guns-in 1544.
What was still more acceptable followed — the grant of a
pension for defence of £39 10s. lOd. out of the Customs. In
1560 the Corporation complained that Thomas Edmonds,
who had succeeded Wibiam Amadas as collector, had stopped
the payment. They had then spent £440 in the repair of
works on St. Nicholas Island, where they had agreed to
maintain at their own charge four gunners in time of peace
and twelve in time of war, with eight pieces of ordnance.
St. Nicholas Island.
St. Nicholas Island had passed to the Corporation, with
the rest of the Priory property in Plymouth, at the In
corporation. A scheme for fortifying it was devised, not
later than 1547, when twelve pence were given in reward to
the post which 'brought the Counsaylls Ires for the fort
to be made on saynt Nichos Irlond.' There is a letter from
the Privy Council (March 28th, 1548) to 'the Maior of
Pbmouth & his Bretheren, mervebnge of their unwilling
ness to proceede in the fortefyinge of St. Michaells Chapele
to be made a Bulwerke ... & wher they alledge the
pluckinge down of that Chapelle hard to the foundacion,'
3 Thos. Martyn had sailed to 'penle' in 1496-7 'to speke w' mr. Treffrye"
on the town business.

THE 'FORT OF PLYMOUTH.' 409
they were answered, 'the same beinge made upp againe
with a wall of Turfe should neither be of less effect or
strengthe (for a meane strength for such a place sufficed)
nor yet of such great coste as they intended.' The
Corporation seem also to have questioned the force of the
garrison required. However, work was done on the Island,
under the direction of Sir Francis Fleming; and William
Hawkins, John Elyott, John Ilcombe, and Eichard Hooper
rode to London about the business, and had £2 each. (This
sum was the yearly fee of Eoger Newport for keeping the
ordnance in 1573.)
Thirty years later (April 6th, 1580) we find the Corpo
ration authorising William Hawkins and Thomas Edmonds
to seal all the documents needful for transferring the Island
to the Queen — 'The fortification, continewaunce, mainten-
aunce, artiberie, furniture, and munition to be had, placed,
used, or employed, in or upon St. Nicholas Island for the
defence of the same.' And in the same year Hawkins was
paid £22 ' for money laide owte in pcurying the patent for
the Ilonde, and for his charge in the suyte thereof.'
The maintenance and defence of the Island remained
under the patent in the hands of the town with the yearly
grant; and in 1583-4 no less a sum than £279 14s. 4£d.
was paid out 'in fortefyeinge, buyldinge, entrenchinge, and
other munytyons boughte for the fortificacon of St. Nicholas
Island.' Having to bear the burden, the Corporation directed
in March, 1584, that no captain or governor should be
appointed to the charge of the Island, save thought meet
by the Mayor and Commonalty. This, however, was not
acceptable at head -quarters; and the authorities next
unavauingly asked that Drake might be made commander
of Castle and Island ; and claimed either to appoint the
captain to the Island, or to be free from all charge in
maintaining it. But before many years the appointment
fell definitely into the hands of the Crown, and the
Corporation had to content themselves with the mere
expression of a wish. The 'Fort of Plymouth.'
The position of affairs in May, 1590, is clearly set forth in
a letter addressed to the Privy Council by Sir Francis Drake
and the Mayor, begging help of the Queen towards building
of a fort, the town lying open to the enemy, and not defended
by ' anie forte or rampier.' If the Queen would contribute
£1,000 or £1,200 the townsfolk would build a fort on the

410 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Howe of strength and force sufficient to withstand an enemy
50,000 strong for ten or twelve days at least ' without one
pennie charge to her Majestie ; in which time the countrie
might come to their releefe.' Sir Francis offered to give
£100 at least. The letter proceeds :
There is now some thirteen pieces of ordnance placed on the
Howe, parte of which they have borrowed of sondrie persons to
serve this present action if neede so require. And uppon the
Castle towers which is of no strength they have placed foure.
They have beside on St. Nicholas Islande about 23 pieces of
Ordnance, the greater parte whereof are likewise borrowed. If the
borrowed pieces were restored the places would be left verie bare.
So that they doe likewise become humble suitors that her Majestie
would be pleased to bestow eight or ten brass pieces out of her
stoare, the rest they themselves would furnish.
The forte being once erected, the town and whole countrie
should be more resolute and safe, which would be a great in-
couragement to the Realme, and the enemy, knowing the Artillerie
to be out of danger would, with less boldness, enterprise that way.
Nowe, the harboure, lyinge without anie defence to make long
resistance, the towne uppon this late reporte was strucken with
such feare, that some of them had convaied their goods out of the
towne, and others, no doubt, would have followed if they had not
ben stopped by the cominge of Sir Francis Drake, who, the more
to assure them, brought his wife and familie thither. So that if
the enemy had made his approach in his absence, he had assuredlie
taken the towne without anie resistance and carried away their
Ordnance. They have of late at their own charge fortified St. Nicholas
Islande with a wall where the entrance was lowest and easiest to
be made of 20 foote in height and 150 in length, which hath
made that place of the Islande equall in strength with the rest.
Within the Island they have armor (as Calivers, Musketts, and
Piks) for the arming of 350 men. Besides they have brought
thither 50 barrels of pitch, 40 barrels of tarre, 10,000 weight of
hearth pitch, as manie of brimstone, to be in a readiness to be
prepared for fireworks uppon anie occasion.
Uppon May daie last (as their custom is every yeare) they
made showe uppon the Howe of at the leaste 1,300 men well
appointed wh were there all the morning mustered. From that
daie ever hereafter Sr Francis Drake hath taken order that there
shall be watch and ward every night kept in the towne no lesse
than if it were a towne of garrison. Of which watch every Master
in his tourne as captain is to have the charge and to watch with
them himself until midnight, and then to be relieved by his deputie,
who shall like be a man of good substance and truste. This watch
did Sir Francis himself beginne on Friday laste.

THE WALL. 411
This proved the commencement of a work out of which
developed the Fort of Plymouth, ' divers plattformes on the
haw,' which had been ' tymbred ' in 1589, being ' methodised
into a fortification Eegular ' ; while in 1593 we read ' the
Fort built, on the haw clifts.' But this can only have been
a beginning. The disbursements on the Fort by Wilham
Stalbnge, from July, 1592, to October 11th, 1595, reached
£1,627 Is. 5d. London and Plymouth had aided in the
work, and Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins had
given £60 each.
The Wall.
The Fort was not the only matter taken in hand.* The
statement of Drake and the Mayor that the town had neither
'forte nor rampier' (rampart) in 1590 is decidedly inexact.
There were defences at the Hoe and the Island, as admitted
in the letter; and there was also a town wall, which was
ignored. Plymouth indeed had been circumvallated from the
early part of the fifteenth century, at least; and the very
year before this letter was written there is the entry in the
Black Book : ' the gate at cocksyie w°h is to be shutte every
neight was newe made.' Touching the work at the Island
the same authority adds that ' a greatte platteforme by the
gate att Hand & the wall neere the same containing 251
feete was nowe newly made.'
The town wall, however, can have been of little importance.
One Eobert Adams was sent to Plymouth from London to
inquire into the state of the defences in 1591. Touching
him there are several entries of account. In the same year
he had a gift of £10 from the town, and there are other
items of expenditure upon him, and on assistance for him.
Adams designed a complete system of defence, so far as it
went; and in 1592 sent in a report to the Privy Council,
accompanied by a plan, which unfortunately cannot be
traced. He recommended carrying a wab round the town
from an existing wall and tower on the Hoe, to a quay or
wharf belonging to Mr. Sparke at Coxside. The eastern
quarter of the town he left out, regarding Sutton Pool as a
sufficient defence there, but advised a boom at the entrance,
as in the earlier days. At the eastern end of the town there
was a steeple with a Friary, and there was a promise to pull
the steeple down, so that it should give no advantage to an
enemy. This steeple would be outside his wall, and he
recommended it to be demolished and a mount erected. To
4 In 1590 ground was viewed for a fort at 'Hawe Stert.'

412 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
environ the town with a royal strength would cost millions ;
nevertheless it should be fortified against a sudden surprise.
The circuit of the walling was 380 perches — under a mile
and a quarter. He likewise proposed the improvement of the
Fort, which would be 75 perches in circuit — the works to be
such that the townsfolk might easily retire to the relief of
the Fort from the bulwark on the Quay. There was a
'bulworke' at ' Fishernosse.'
William Borrowes, or Borough, in the same year put the
cost of fortification at £5,000, and proposed to levy 3d. a
ton on each ton of shipping passing from the town every
voyage, which he reckoned to yield £40 or £50 annually.
He also suggested a tax of 2s. 6d. a hogshead on pilchards
exported by strangers or in strange bottoms ; Is. a hogshead
on pilchards exported by English or in English bottoms ; 6d.
a cwt. on hake. Subsequently the Queen ordered a tax of
2s. and Is. respectively, and granted £100 a year out of the
increase of the Customs beyond the average for the past seven
years. Even this, however, was more than the trade of the
town could bear, and the same year these taxes were reduced
to Is. 6d. and Is., and in addition to the £100 the Queen
gave half of the forfeitures of prohibited wares. The pilchard
tax was paid very unwillingly by other towns.
In February, 1593, John Sparke, the Mayor, petitioned
that the wall might be built. The townsfolk had heard that
the Spaniards intended to burn the town next summer, and
many were leaving.
In May following Adams reported that the works were
going on as well as the time and small means afforded.
They were not finished, however, by August, 1594; for in
that month the Queen asked the Earl of Bath who the
contributors to the work in the county were, and why they
had not given enough! About this time it was estimated
that it would take £800 to complete the fort; while to
garrison it with 100 men would cost £700 a year. The
townsfolk were very anxious to have Arthur Champernowne
made commander.
Some old plans in the British Museum show what the
Hoe Fort was like. It occupied part of the site of the
present Citadel, and had a ditch and rampart, which com
pletely isolated the ground upon which it stood. If reliance
could be placed upon a drawing by some unknown Italian,
preserved among the Cottonian MSS., the ancient chapel of
St. Katherine was also within its bounds. According to this
plan, Plymouth was entirely enclosed by ramparts, which

MARTYN'S GATE.

413

came to the water's edge at one end at the Hoe, and at the
other near Bear's Head (a curious rock in Deadmans Bay,
now destroyed, which figured prominently in the borough
boundaries). These are the only mural defences of a more
extended character than those shown in the map of the
defences of Plymouth at the time of the Siege. In 1643
the wall enclosed the strictly urban part of the town only,
the Hoe and the eastern borders of Sutton Pool being
beyond its limits.. There is a plan much to the same effect

Bear's Head.
among the Cecil papers, showing the east of Sutton Pool
enclosed by ramparts, and a very elaborate system of works
at the Fort. As no such works existed, the probabbity is
that these matters were simply suggestions, . never carried
out. A note on the Cecil plan runs : ' The circuit or compas
of the new fortification of the towne amounts vnto a 500
perches at 18 feet the perche' — or 3,000 yards. There are
letters on the plan — A at the fort, B and C from Teats Hill
to Coxside — and it seems a fair inference that these marked
intended new works. Martyn's Gate.
Adams's wall did not cover so much ground as these
schemes by a great deal; but it was more extensive than
the circumvallation which it continued or replaced. The
proof hereof lies in the existence of a gate far within
Adams's line. This was Martyn's Gate, at the junction of
Green Street with Briton Side. Harris, to whom we are

414 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
once more indebted for the only description, states that it
had two arches : one leading from Bilbury Street into Green
Street, and the other into Briton Side. It was very old and
low, with rooms over ; and so strong that when it was taken
down the materials were separated with difficulty. ' Bilbury
Bridge ' was close by. From Martyn's Gate the old wall ran
up Green Street, which follows its line; and Dr. Hawker
made it the foundation of his vicarage wall. We do not
know either the date of this gate, or for a certainty the
origin of its name ; but the first Martyn prominent in town
affairs was John Martyn, Mayor in 1569-70 ; and in the
next century the gate is spoken of as behind ' Mr. Martin's '
house, which seems to afford a clue to the title.
Another significant fact is that Martyn's Gate was regarded
as the Old Town boundary, and hence became the chief
scene of the annual fights between the Quay boys and Old
Town boys, the former being called Burton (a corruption of
Breton) boys. The Old Town boys used to aggravate the
Burton boys during the wars with France, by reminding
them of the damage the French had done in their quarter.
Long after the fighting had ceased its memory was preserved
in the sign of a public-house, cabed the ' Burton Boys.'
This was changed to the Black Lion, from a preference on
the part of the owner ' for some more peaceful name !'
Sir Ferdinando Gorges.
Sir Ferdinando Gorges was apparently the first commander
of the Fort upon its practical completion. The Mayor states
in October, 1595, that the town was glad to have Gorges in
that capacity. When appointed, Sir Ferdinando proceeded
to finish the works. The original arrangement (May, 1596)
appears to have been that he was to have fifty men assigned
out of the Low-Country force by way of garrison, but to be
allowed to keep as many less as would give him 4s. a day,
without raising the charge above the cost of the fifty. The
half-year's pay of Gorges and his force was £900. March 5th
following he had disbursed on the Fort £1,327 4s. 6d. ;
while the pbchard tax between 1592 and 1595 had produced'
£877 4s. 6d. Gorges was paid by the town in 1596-7 three
quarters of his annuity to Michaelmas, £22 10s.
In June, 1598, there were 200 men in garrison ; while in
the following August, of thirteen companies of soldiers five
were lodged in the town and eight in the adjacent parishes.
Gorges wanted them ab brought in; but the townsfolk

SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. 415
declared there was no more room, and the Mayor thought
Gorges was malicious. Apparently in this same year a
Spanish spy reported that the town was not walled (it is
perfectly clear that it was), that there were 40 or 50 guns
on the Island, and 100 men ; 30 in the Fort, and 100 men ;
and six or seven in the Castle. There was a chapel in the
Fort. Gorges was Governor for many years, his son, Sir Eobert,
occasionally acting as his deputy. In 1599 he proposed to
throw a bridge over the entrance to Hamoaze, to place booms
there and at Cattewater, to erect a fortification at Mount
Edgcumbe, and to plant guns and a fort on Haw Start. He
then ceased to be Governor for awhile. In 1601 Sir John
Gilbert is mentioned as in command ; but Gorges had
returned to the post in July, 1603, when he was dis
possessed, and Sir Nicholas Parker appointed in his stead.
In September, however, Gorges was back again with a
salary of 56s. a day, and continued.
Among the Harleian MSS. is a report on the defences of
the town in 1624. The Fort is described as a guard for the
'famous harbour of Cattewater,' not so well placed as it
might have been, yet of great strength and consequence. It
contained fifteen serviceable cannon (three of brass), and
seventeen unserviceable, and to render it thoroughly efficient
an expenditure of £206 12s. was required. St. Nicholas
Island was impregnable, since the only means of approach
was by small boats, which could easily be driven off. The
works had never been finished, and required an outlay of
£137 12s. 8d. There were twenty serviceable cannon and
ten unserviceable. One thousand and twenty-two pounds a
year was allowed for the maintenance of the garrison, at the
disposition of Sir Ferdinando Gorges. The ' allowance ' did
not amount to much, if Gorges is exact in his complaint in
January, 1627, that his garrison had not been paid for three
and a quarter years, and that some had died of famine !
However by 1634 the three brass cannon had grown to
eighteen, so that the authorities were not absolutely
neglectful of their duties. A platform for ordnance,
replacing a gun, was made on the Barbican in 1627-8.
The governorship of Plymouth was of sufficient importance
and emolument in the early part of the reign of Charles I.
to induce Sir James Bagge to buy the reversion for £1,000,
of Sir T. Aylesbury, to whom it had been granted in suc
cession to Sir E. Howard. The patent was made to Sir
James Bagge and Captain Arthur Chichester ; and in 1638,

416 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
after his father's death, Captain George Bagge, for whom it
had been bought, petitioned for confirmation. But the post
was given to Sir J. Astley, and in January, 1639, Bagge was
dispossessed. Affairs were then in a very sorry plight. They
work was done by deputy. Captain Thomas Gay, lieutenant-
governor, at £30 a year, had only 40 men, whereas 300 were
not sufficient ; much of the ordnance was unserviceable ;
the carriages were decayed ; the match was spent ; and there
were only 70 barrels of powder, and these five years old.
Thomas Eoche then commanded the Island at £30 a year ;
Polydore Eoche was master gunner at £20.
The Siege Defences.
The Siege furnishes the next stage in the history of
defensive works at Plymouth. The walling of the town was
repaired and completed, and the redoubts and breastworks
already mentioned in the sixth chapter constructed. After
the raising of the Siege the walls, being of no further utility,
were gradually suffered to fall into decay, and as the town
grew, little by little disappeared.
The first important work done by the townsfolk in pre
paring for the Siege was the lengthening of the town wall.
This they effected by carrying a new wall through the Friary
Garden round the Friary buildings to the corner of Sutton
Pool, enclosing the ground that Adams had omitted. Next
they raised the line of earthworks along the ridge of high
land north and east of the town, as already described, from
Lipson to Eldad; and then and subsequently at various
times erected redoubts on and in advance of this line, and
across the water at Batten and near Turnchapel.
The wall in its complete state ran from Coxside round
Friary Gardens, across Whitefriars (now Tothib) Lane, thence
to the head of Gasking Street ; nearly east and west through
the gardens behind Hewer's Eow, by the north side of Ham
Street, through the gardens on the south of Park Street, to
the head of Old Town Street just below Drake Street, up to
the entrance of Saltash Street (where traces were recently
discovered beneath the pavement on the west) ; westward
along Dove's Court, the cottages next to the Ebenezer Chapel
boundary, called in the deeds ' townwalls,' and retaining the
exact line ; across what is now the Market, to the Globe
Hotel ; thence through Westwell Street burial ground and
across Princess Square to the head of Hoe-Gate Street, and
so round the Castle to Sutton Pool at the Barbican.

THE GATES. 417
There are a few fragments still left. The best preserved
are at the Friary, where the wall is a tolerably substantial
limestone structure. A bit of the older portion, consisting
of slates set on edge simply, is built into a garden wall at
the end of Gascoigne Terrace, near the site of Gascoigne Gate.
There is also a very interesting fragment in the gardens
north of Ham Street. But much more remains in recollec
tion. Fifty years ago many old inhabitants recalled the
existence of great mounds of earth at the head of Hampton
Street, and at Frankfort Gate, which had formed two of the
spurs or projecting portions of the circumvabation. Near
the latter place there was likewise an old castellated
building covered with ivy.
The last quarter of a century has been specially fatal,
through the extension of building operations, to the relics
of the outworks. They were still important far within this
period, including remains of Maudlyn Work, Holiwell Fort,
Lipson Work, the rampart in the North Eoad, and along by
Freedom Fields. Now ab are gone.
There are yet, however, banks at Batten towards Fort
Stamford, which formed part of the Eoundhead ramparts,
though to a casual observer they would only suggest a
hedge. The 'bne' was made up again in 1654-5 on the rumours
of Penruddock's rising. Part of Pennycomequick Work had
been taken down in 1650-1, and the highways new made
there, and so at Maudlyn Hill.
The Gates.
It took just a century to demolish the gates, which had
drawbridges. Friary Gate, which stood near the remains of
the Friary, was removed in 1763 ; Gasking or Gascoigne Gate,
otherwise North Gate, in 1768 ; Frankfort, or West Gate
(rebubt about 1661), which occupied part of the site of the
Globe Hotel, in 1783 ; Martyn's Gate, between Briton Side
and Bilbury Street, in 1789, the inhabitants subscribing
for the purpose in consequence of an accident happening to
a servant of one of the royal princes, who was injured while
passing through it on a carriage. Old Town Gate, at the
head of Old Town Street, rebuilt in 1759, was taken down
in 1809. East, or Coxside Gate (called New Gate early in
the seventeenth century), which stood near Jory's Alms
houses, not long subsequently ; the Barbican, or South Gate,
in 1831 ; and the last remaining, Hoe Gate, in 1863.
2 E

418

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

Strenuous efforts were made to preserve Hoe Gate, which
had become the property of Mr. T. W. Fox. That gentle
man was, however, inexorable, and sold the materials by
auction for £44. This Gate was leased in December, 1657,

Hoe Gate.

by the Corporation to Mr. Timothy Alsop, then one of the
representatives of the borough (who had rebuilt it), for a
term, which expired in 1754. It subsequently passed from
the possession of the Corporation altogether. The house

THE CITADEL.

419

was at one time the residence of Dr. Musgrave, a native
of Exeter, and a man of considerable literary repute, who
lived and died poor, 'impobtic, unfortunate, and finally
deserted.' William Elford Leach, the naturalist, one of the
most eminent men whom Plymouth has produced, was born
in the same building.
The only two gates of which authentic drawings exist
are Old Town and Hoe Gates. The reproduction of Frankfort
Gate, put up in 1890 as part of the town decorations in
connection with the visit of the Eoyal Agricultural Society,
was purely imaginative.

The Citadel.
The erection of the Citadel marks the next stage in this
section of the history of Plymouth. Built less for the
defence of the port than to keep the townsfolk in order,
there was something more than poetic justice in the fate
which made it the first fortress in England placed in the
hands of Wilbam of Orange. The Crown had carried
matters with a high hand. The authorities helped them
selves to as much of the Hoe as they wanted, without
compensating the Corporation; and also appropriated land
near the Lambhay belonging to Sir Edward Hungerford,
Sir G. Carteret, and Eichard Strode, besides the dwebing
houses and gardens of smaller folk. The commission for
2 b 2

420 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
building the Citadel is dated Nov. 17th, 1665, the com
missioners being the Earl of Bath, Sir J. Skelton, and Sir
Bernard de Gomme, the engineer. The connection of the
Earl of Bath with the building is commemorated on a stone
built into the wall of the seaward front. Gomme com
menced work in 1666, and 'carryed farr on this yeare.'
Some of the money wanted was taken from the mibtia
fund of the county, kept in the Fort. In 1667 orders were
given to push on with all speed. Portions of the walls were
reported up forty feet in May; while in June they were
said to have reached twenty feet generally, and to be secured
by a gate guarded at night. The entrance gateway is dated
1670. But the works at that date were far from complete,
for Allen, the mercer, thus records a visit of inspection by
Charles II. and his brother James in July, 1671 :
King Charles ye 2d together w'h his brother James Duke of
Yorke came from Portsmouth to. Plym0 in his Pleasure boat, they
had seuen pleasure boats & six Frigotts to attend him in his
motion. They landed in plym" at the barbican stares Monday ye
17th July 1671 about 5 of ye Clocke in y° afternoone & from
thence went presently to ye fort, where ye Mayor and his
bretheren prsented him w'h a purse of Gold. The K. & D : lay
in ye fort & next morning he was out vpon the hoe by i of ye
clocke, and thence to ye Hand, & then took boat & went vp the
riuer towards Saltash &c & afterwards vp the riuer to osen &
Lary, & returned into Sutton poole & went round it, & then to
the fort to dinner, & after dinner he touched for the evill about
18 persons, & at 5 of ye clocke Tuesday ye 18th July tooke boat
at the Barbicon starres & went aboard his pleasure boat, and
about 8 of the clocke at neight set saile, & went & from Plym0
both the 6 frigots & 7 pleasure boats. The great Guns both from
the fort & Hand gaue him a very Loud fareweU.
The interest felt by Charles and James was natural, seeing
the work was mainly intended as ' a check to the rebelbous
spirits of the neighbourhood.' In the British Museum is a
plan of the Citadel in 1677; which shows the older forti
fications near the sea level to a certain extent incorporated
with the new work. A new harbour, about 240 feet long by
80 feet wide, is delineated as hewn out of the rocks
immediately in front, with an entrance at the south-western
corner. This no longer exists, unless we may identify it
with the present landing-place. On the site of the magazine
a spot is marked as the ' Grott or Giant's Cave.'
That name is doubtless associated with the legend of
Goemagot, for it was in the construction of the Citadel that

THE CITADEL.

421

the two fighting figures, so carefully renewed in the turf for
so many centuries, were destroyed. The caves and abuvial
deposits, on the Hoe have frequently yielded relics of the
extinct mammalia of the local cavern period ; and such a
discovery was made whbe the Citadel was building. Says
Sea wen :_ 'At the last digging on the Haw for the foundation
of the Citadel of Plymouth the great jaws and teeth therein
found were those of Gogmagog'; this at least was- the
current and for that time not unnatural belief.
The Earl of Bath was connected with the Citadel as
Governor. At the Eestoration Sir Wilbam Morice and his
son obtained a grant of the governorship of the Fort and
Island at a fee of 56s. a day. They surrendered in the
following May for an annuity of £200 a year to young
Morice, and grant was then made to the Earl of Bath. It
was this Earl who handed the Citadel over to William. The
connection of the townsfolk with the defences had ceased at
the Eestoration.
In 1701 it was proposed to provide for the defence of the
infant Dockyard by the construction of two batteries at the
Island, one of nineteen and the other of fourteen guns ; of
one at Mount Edgcumbe of twenty-
four guns; and of one at Stonehedge
(Stonehouse) Point of eleven. The
total cost was estimated at £8,798, |
of which £200 was for land.
Eeports upon the fortifications of
Plymouth were made by Colonel
Christian Lilly in 1717. He de
scribes the works on the Island as
being ruinous, and requiring an!
outlay of £7,000 ; whilst he recom
mends an expenditure of £9,958 at
the Citadel. Of 138 cannon at the
port, in addition to a field train of j
16 guns, 63 were unserviceable, and'
not more than 190 were wanted,
including 20 for Stonehouse Point, and 4 for Cawsand. The
tower at Mount Batten6 was mounted with six guns, whilst
5 This was built in the reign of Charles II., on the site of one of the old
forts erected for the defence of the town at the siege. It consists of two
floors, the upper having a vaulted roof, and has embrasures for ten guns.
Above the entrance on the level of the upper floor is a coat of arms.
Col. Ludlow was said to be organizing a rising near Plymouth in 1662, his
party being 'sure of the town.' So much for the origin of the Carolan
< defences.'

Batten Tower.

422

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

eight more were lying in the adjacent bay. There were
likewise fourteen guns to the eastward of the Citadel at
Piggs Point — Queen Annes Battery. All these Lilly re
commended should be brought away as useless, the Citadel
being sufficient. There only remains of Queen Annes Battery
at present a portion of the exterior wall facing the sea, with
several embrasures.
The Citadel has five bastions, with intermediate works,
and was originaby mounted with 165 guns. Until 1888,
when the outer works were partiaby levelled and partially

c£-. U-

^jL.ig 7<a .

Str

Citadel Gate.

converted into ornamental grounds, drives being carried
through the trenches in connection with plans of Hoe
improvement, it was the finest example remaining in England
of a regular seventeenth-century fortress. The main cincture
is still intact, and the rampart forms a delightful terrace
walk ; whbe the handsome gate which once niched a statue
of Charles II. has been carefully preserved. But as a
fortification its use is gone; and it is to be hoped that

VOLUNTEERS. 423
ere long the uninteresting buildings in the interior wib
be cleared away and the area left free. If any exception is
made it may be in favour of the comical leaden statue of
George II, which Eobert Pitt erected in 1728 at the expense
of a loyal Captain Louis Dufour. According to Browne Willis
there were still certain Elizabethan guns on the ramparts,
when he visited Plymouth early in the last century.6
From the date of the erection of the Citadel down to
1860, with the exception of strengthening the works on
Drakes Island (the modern name which has supplanted that
of St. Nicholas) no addition of importance was made to the
defences of Plymouth. Devonport as the arsenal was con
sidered to have the first claim, and became the seat of
both the naval and military government. In 1860 a Eoyal
Commission recommended the construction of a chain of
forts entirely enclosing the Three Towns, from Tregantle
on the west to Staddon on the east; and these have been
proceeded with to completion. None are within the limits
of the town. Most important of the series is the Breakwater
Fort, built on an artificial island of stone immediately
within, but detached from, that work.
Volunteers.
In the Early Middle Ages the garrison of Plymouth
consisted of all the male inhabitants capable of bearing
arms. By slow degrees the professional military element
was introduced, at first only in an auxiliary character. Even
so late as 1572 there was an order made by the Corporation
that every inhabitant should have in some convenient place
in his house a 'good black bill or a clubbe,' to find in
any time of strife, on penalty of 3s. 4d. The watch was
then rather a matter of public safety than of mere police ;
and whbe the inhabitants were ordered generaby to aid
the constables, it was directed in 1580 that they were to do
their duty in the night or day watch, provide some sufficient
substitute, or be fined.
In the reign of Elizabeth the town forces were duly
organized. Prior to that date, while the Corporation were
expected to take the lead, special levies were made for
special duties; and perhaps there was a certain amount
of volunteering when a body of Plymouth men dressed
in 'grene jaketts' (the first indication of local uniform)
went into Cornwall to oppose Perkin Warbeck. The
6 By a fire in the Citadel in 1829 Fort-Major Watson and two of his
daughters were burnt.

424 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Plymouthians practised their archery, and later their
musketry, at the butts on the Hoe; and there in the
days of Ebzabeth they mustered for inspection, under the
command of such men as Grenvibe and Ealegh. Thus was
laid the foundation of the famous Plymouth trainband,
which did such service in the days of the Commonwealth.
There seems to have been an attempt to tamper with
this body under James L, since an order directed to the
Mayor of Plymouth (October, 1617) directs that ' persons of
worth and quality be inrolled.' That the local authorities
had a different idea may be gathered from the foUowing
entry — thence appearing yearly — in 1628 :
Itm pd Liuetennt Burthogg being enterteyned by the
Toune for the exercising of the youth of the towne
in military disciplyne . . . . xu
This ' disciplyne ' was turned to good account later on.
When the trainband was disbanded there does not seem
to be any direct evidence ; but it is probable that volunteering
in Plymouth, after a persistent if varied life of well-nigh two
centuries, dropped for a while late in the seventeenth.
'Town Militia,' with the Mayor as Major Commandant,
were in existence, indeed, in 1717, when sundry items of
expenditure on 'the Eegalia or Trophy,' drums and sbk
sashes, are entered ; but the notes seem to indicate a revival
rather than a survival.
Yonge in his Memoirs gives a bst of the ' divisions ' made
in Sessions, 1686, and appointed to each Alderman — thirteen
in all, with a further apportionment of Councillors to each
division ; but this was merely for the purpose of order and
cleanliness. There are earlier traces of the ancient division
into four wards continuing the basis of a defensive organiza
tion ; but the practice seems to have died out long before
Yonge's day.
Volunteering was renewed with vigour in the latter half
of the eighteenth century, and the Volunteers of 1779 were a
really formidable body. Two corps were raised, the members
of one of which clothed themselves and had no pay; the
other was paid and clothed by the Government ; and, as they
kept guard over the prisoners held in durance in the town,
they saw both regular and what must be caUed active service.
The more strictly volunteer corps was under Messrs.
Hawker and Lockyer, as colonel and major respectively, and
eventually increased to six companies and a strength of 350
— the tradesmen of whom they were at first composed
having been replaced and recruited to a large extent by

VOLUNTEERS. 425
working men. And a dashing force they looked, in their
uniforms of red turned up with yebow, and their helmets
covered with bear skins.
Later the Plymouth Foot Association was formed — an
¦ aristocratic body of the most respectable tradesmen.' They
provided themselves, and formed three companies of about
190 file, under the command of Major Culme, Captains E.
and B. Fuge, and A. Hib. They wore blue coats with red
cobars, white waistcoats and pantaloons.
Then there were the Sea Fencibles, 250 strong, composed
largely of Custom-house officials (a very numerous body in
these days) and fishermen. They were armed with the ' pike,'
were under the command of Captain Clements and other
naval officers, and were exercised by the garrison of the
Citadel in artillery practice. No particular jealousies can
be aroused now-a-days if it is stated that 'Langmead's
Volunteers,' dressed in red faced with yebow, and clothed
and paid by Langmead himself, were considered the pick of
the whole contingent. They were chiefly brewers.
There was also a rifle corps in green, of about fifty strong,
'Julian's Eangers '; and a smab body of cavalry was recruited,
chiefly among the butchers, and dressed in the customary red
and yebow, with helmets.
All these were Plymouth corps; but Stonehouse had a
couple of companies under Captains Pridham and (the
Barrack Artificers) under Captain Scoble; and Dock also
had a couple of independent companies. The total Volunteer
strength of the Three Towns towards the close of the last
century was therefore little, if at ab, short of 1,500.
All these bodies were disbanded at the end of the war,
on the Treaty of Amiens, 1802-, but when hostilities were
resumed, the ' martial ardour ' of Plymouth again had way.
August 15th, 1803, the inhabitants of the town and borough
assembled in the Guildhall 'to consider on the most proper
and effectual means of enrobing themselves as Volunteers
for the defence of the country against the common enemy.'
That meeting was not only ' numerously ' but ' respectably '
attended, and it was resolved, inter alia —
That the measure of raising Volunteers to exempt this town
from the arming and calling out the first-class of people as directed
by the Defence Bill is highly expedient, and ought to be adopted ;
that two battalions of infantry be raised under the command of a
colonel-in-chief, and that Major-General England be invited to
take the command; that each battalion do consist of eight com
panies of sixty men, with one lieutenant-colonel, one major, eight

426 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
captains, ten beutenants, six ensigns, and one adjutant ; that one
battalion be commanded by John Hawker, Esq., the other by P.
Langmead, Esq. ; that these battalions do receive the pay and
allowances for clothing provided by the Defence Bib.
For defraying the extraordinary expenses a subscription
was entered into, and a standing committee was appointed
to superintend the affairs of the battabon. And as Plymouth
had ceased to have a paper of its own, the notices were
published in the Sun, Star, and the Sherborne and Exeter
papers. The fobowing was also placarded :
Lists are now lying on the Guildhall Table, for the signature of
all such persons as may be disposed to enrol themselves for the
defence of the country, pursuant to the resolutions of the meeting
held this day, and will remain there until four o'clock to-morrow
afternoon, when the same will be transmitted to the lord lieutenant
of the county for his approval.
The same day a letter was written by the Mayor and Mr.
John Hawker to Major-General England, communicating the
resolution of the meeting, and adding —
It was also resolved by the meeting that you should be invited
to honour the regiment by taking the command as colonel, and
that the wishes of this meeting should be communicated to you
by us. We, therefore, beg leave to inform you of the above
resolutions, and we most cordiaby join in the request that you
will be pleased to accept the command accordingly.
In the following October Mr. Elford, of Bickham, wrote
as Deputy-Lieutenant to the Mayor, asking assistance in the
establishment of Pioneer Corps 'liable to be called out at
the time of Invasion, or the actual appearance of an enemy
on the coast,' acting for the Hundred of Eoborough. Mr.
Elford was anxious to discover what men would undertake
the Pioneer service in each parish, as it was material ' at the
moment of threatened Invasion that every man should know
his post.' So Mr. Edmund Lockyer, Mr. Langmead's successor
in the mayoralty, issued a notice, desiring that the wishes
of the authorities to form a Pioneer corps should be carried
into effect.
And that every good and loyal subject may have an opportunity
of exerting himself in the defence of his King and Country,
against the ambitious designs of an implacable and desperate
enemy — I do hereby request that all such able-bodied men as
have not enrolled themselves to serve in either of the corps of
Volunteers raised in this town, and who are willing to serve as
Pioneers, will immediately deliver in their names and places of

VOLUNTEERS. 427
residence to one of the constables of the said borough, or enroll
them in a book now lying on the Guildhall Table for that purpose ;
together with such a list of such tools or implements as they can
engage to bring with them.
Moreover, to secure an adequate supply of waggons, &c,
in case of invasion, with horses and drivers, for the con
veyance of forage and other necessaries, the proprietors of
waggons, carts, and carriages kept within the borough, who
were disposed to make a voluntary offer of their services,
were also requested to enrol their names, with the number
of their carriages and the terms on which they would supply
them. As to the result of this appeal we only know that
volunteering was much more popular than pioneering, and
that Government had to put powers of requisition in frequent
force for the conveyance of baggage, &c.
Meanwhile the work of fitting out the corps decided upon
in August went briskly on. In the following January Mr.
Peter Birdwood was anxious to be paid £1,000 as an instal
ment of his clothing bill, as contractor, and funds being
short, on the last day of that month notice was issued asking
subscribers to pay up at the Plymouth or Naval Banks prior
to the 6th of February. But there was money still due in
the following May, and the committee for managing the
affairs of the Plymouth Volunteers of 1803 had no sinecure.
So far as can now be ascertained the two battalions reached
a total strength respectively of 525 and 420. They stuck
at first to the old colours, red with yellow facings ; but in
twelve months the second battalion adopted blue facings,
and became the 'Prince of Wales's Own,' while in 1807 a
rifle company was clad in green. The second battalion had,
moreover, a capital band. The Loyal Dock Volunteers,
under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Foot, were 500
strong, with a good band. Dock likewise possessed a battalion
of artibery 300 strong, under Colonel Eawle, and called the
'Duke of York's Own,' and a small body of horse. Altogether,
in 1804^5, the Volunteers of the Three Towns could put
over 2000 men in the field.
The Volunteers of those days, bke the regular soldiery,
were not infrequently billeted about in the various public-
houses ; and there are some curious notices concerning their
relations with the press-gang. Is it suggesting too much to
hint that some of the popularity of the Volunteer force was
due to the immunity it conferred from impressment ? or
rather was supposed to confer — for we find the Mayor of
Plymouth written to on one occasion by Colonel Foot, to

428 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
teb him on board what vessel in the Sound a sergeant of
the Loyal Dockers had been carried, that the Admiral's order
might be obtained for his discharge. When the war was
over this civiban military spirit soon died out, and the
Volunteers ceased to exist. They had, however, seen some
service, for they, too, occasionally mounted guard.
The existing Volunteers date from 1859. Plymouth and
Devonport were close rivals for the honour of being first in
the Volunteer field. Devonport indeed held the first meet
ing for the purpose; but the first enrolment took place in
Plymouth, and the Plymouth corps thus became the 2nd
Devons, the Exeter corps, which had a yet earber origin,
retaining the first place. Virtually the Plymouth corps is
thus the senior body of the general Victorian movement,
Devon being the leading county. And it has an interesting
link with the old volunteering days of Plymouth — the colours
of the ' Prince of Wales's Own ' presented to it in 1879.
Major Duperier was the first commandant of the corps,
which started with some 150 members. When he became
adjutant of the 2nd Devon Battalion he was succeeded by
Captain Bewes, who in his turn, in 1861, became adjutant
of the 4th Devon Battalion. Lieut-Colonel Hutchinson
fobowed for a few months, and was replaced on resignation
by Lieut.-Colonel Fisk, who held the command until 1869.
Colonel Elhott eame next, but as he succeeded Major
Duperier in the adjutancy in 1870, a vacancy was once
more created, and filled by the appointment of Major-
General Pickard. On his retirement the corps first came
under Volunteer command, in the person of Major M. Collier.
He was succeeded by Major Pitts, and Major Pitts by the
present commanding officer, Major Spearman. The present
strength (December, 1890) is 20 officers and 494 non
commissioned officers and men. These numbers include
a Mounted Company, formed in February, 1883.
The head-quarters and drill- ground were originally at the
old Grammar School, in Catharine Street, but when the New
Guildhall was built, removal became necessary, and the
present quarters in Prospect Eow were obtained, the drill-
shed being built from the designs of Lieut. Pearse. In this
building the largest indoor political meetings of modern
Plymouth have been held, over 7,000 being packed into it on
the occasion of Mr. Gladstone's visit in 1889, when temporary
galleries were erected.

CHAPTEE XVI.
THE BOROUGH WATER WORKS.
My name is Water ; I have sped
Through strange dark ways, untried before,
By pure desire ol friendship led,
Old Dartmoor's swift ambassador ;
He sends four royal gifts by me —
Long life, health, peace, and purity. — Lowell (altered).
The Corporation Records.
WHEN the first edition of this work was published, the
original materials for the history of the Plymouth
Waterworks were very meagre ; and official and non-offieial
tradition were hopelessly at variance. The old Corporation
always contended that while it was true Sir Francis Drake
had brought the water into Plymouth, it was at their cost ;
and therefore that they had a right to make a water rate.
A section of the inhabitants, on the contrary, held that the
water was a gift from the great navigator, and therefore in
the nature of a charity. This divergence of opinion issued
in legal proceedings.
Until 1881 almost the sole contemporary record in the
possession of the Corporation was an entry in the Black Book,
that the Corporation of Elizabeth had agreed with Drake to
bring the water into Plymouth, at a cost of £300. But in
1881, fortunately, the long missing volume of Eeceivers'
Accounts, which contained the leading details of the financial
transactions of the Corporation in the reigns of Elizabeth
and the earlier Stuarts, was discovered at Widey Court.
Since then other original documents have become accessible.
Thus the history of the Plymouth Waterworks can now be
written with reasonable fulness, from contemporary records,
and we are no longer dependent on mere hearsay.
The following narrative is drawn solely from these original
and official records. They are as far as possible left to tell
their own story, without reference to a somewhat heated

430 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
controversy which resulted from the discovery of the Widey
Court Book. Those who are interested in the controversial
side of the question will find it fully set forth in the Trans
actions of the Plymouth Institution, vols. vii. and vbi., and
those of the Devonshire Association for 1884, vol. xvi.
Wells and Streams.
The water supply of Plymouth was, in the first place,
derived chiefly from wells. Among the names of wells of a
more or less public character preserved are Buckwell, Quarry
well, Ladyweb, Fineweb, Westwell, St. Andrews Well,1 Holy
well, and Martock's Well. The sites of most of these are
known, and- they were fairly scattered throughout the town,
as it then existed. An old conduit by Notte Street was fed
from a well in Well Park adjacent, continuously on through
the seventeenth century. Private wells were also numerous.
Plymouth is exceptionaby supplied with underground water.
There are even yet a number of productive wells along the
line of junction of the slate and limestone rocks, in the less
compact slates, and associated with the trappean bands ; and
these, in 1881, when a severe frost deprived the town of its
ordinary water supply, proved capable of materially relieving
the necessities of the inhabitants, large as the population
now is.
In addition to the wells, two streamlets flowed through
the town. One of these rose in Shute Park, near the Free
School; the site of the other is yet marked by the name
Hampton Shute. The first must have been of some little
importance, since what is now Bilbury Street, which lies
between its source and Sutton Pool, was anciently in part
called Bbbury Bridge, the stream flowing into a little creek of
the Pool now filled in. More distant, but barely a mile from
what in the sixteenth century was the centre of the borough,
were the still existing streamlets at Pennycomequick and
Lipson ; and to these it was the custom to resort when the
ordinary supplies within the limits of the town itself fell
short in time of drought.
1 A lease of 1631 mentions St. Andrews well as ' lately digged, made, and
enclosed' by Philip Andrewe, in the lane leading from Totehyll to Catt
Downe. At the beginning of the century it was overshadowed by a big
fig tree, and ' had the reputation of being a holy well.' Holywell was east
of Longfield Terrace ; Martock's Well west of the way leading from Briton
Side to the Maudlyn. Finewell is said to have been in a garden attached
to the ' Prysten House.' Westwell was on the west side of that street, near
Princess Square, and when filled up, about 1805, took some cartloads of
rubble.

OUTSIDE SUPPLIES SOUGHT. 431
The governing body of Plymouth from an early period
interested itself in the matter of water supply. We find in
the first volume of Accounts preserved, under date 1495-6,
in the mayoralty of William Nycoll —
Itm pd for mendyng of a Cunditt yn the tenemente some
tyme Nicolas Elsworthy y8 ... xiijd
So in 1509-10 work was done in John Paynter's close ' for
the conveyance of the watr yn to the waye.' Some entries
of this class may be doubtful ; for the word conduit is not
always applied in its more modern sense ; but others are
clear enough. Eeferences to wells cannot be mistaken, nor
can such entries as the following, one of a numerous class.
It occurs under the mayoralty of William Weeks (1549-50):
Itm paid for plats of Ire to amend the boxe of the
plumpe of the well of the south syde and for
Arnold Rawlyns labour abowte the same . . iiij8 iiijd
Outside Supplies Sought.
But the town was growing and its needs increasing. Not
only was a better supply of water wanted for the residents,
but the ' plumpe at the south syde,' constantly out of order,
was utterly unable to meet the demands of the shipping.
Thus the port outgrew its primitive system of water supply ;
and hence in the mayoralty of Lucas Cock (1559-60) we
find the following entry among the records of Corporate
expenditure :
Itm to Mr forsland of bovy & his company for vewinge
of the ground wherebie freshe water myght have
byn brought unto the towne . . . xvj8 xd
This is the real starting-point of the Plymouth Corporation
Waterworks. Forsland was a man of some note in his day.
By occupation a 'tin streamer,' he was a member of the
Stannary Parliament that assembled at Crockern Tor in
1576, and was of sufficient standing to be described as
'gentleman.' Of all men in those days, a 'tin streamer'
was best qualified to advise on such a question. Water was
indispensable for washing tin ore out of the abuvium ; and
to obtain this water the streamers sometimes carried their
little ' miners' leats ' for miles, winding round the flanks of
the hills. There are artificial courses of this character still
in existence, of great and unknown antiquity.
Though it is not said whither Forsland went, it is clear it
must have been some distance from the town, and probably

432 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
to the river Meavy. As nothing appears to have come of
his work beyond the payment, the entry is chiefly valuable
as showing that the idea of bringing water from a distance
originated with the Corporation.
WhUe apparently unable to fobow up the survey of
Forsland, the authorities were not unmindful of the wants
of the town. Entries follow of expenditure, not merely upon
the Southside pump, but upon a pump in Hawe Lane, and
on a town well and pump. Moreover, in 1569-70 William
Hawkins built a new conduit ; and either this or another
conduit associated with the Market Cross came to repair in
1571-2. And that one or other of these conduits was suppbed
by a stream of some sort (probably from Shute Park) is shown
by an entry in the mayoralty of John Sparke (1583-4) :
Itm pd to Wilstrewe for bringinge the water above
grounde to the Conditt . . vs
But the Corporation had not abandoned their wider scheme.
They had it before them in the mayoralty of John Ilcomb
(1576-7) ; for we have the entry :
Itm pd to certayne men that vewed the River at the
requests of mr mayor & his brethren for their
paynes & for their charges aboute the same . . Iij8 vd
Here it is clear, from the mention of the river, that the
Meavy, the only practical source of a gravitation supply, is
intended. It is clear also that ' Mr mayor and his brethren '
are the moving spirits. Of these brethren Drake was not
then one. Indeed, as he sailed on his voyage of circum
navigation in November, 1577, he must have had his hands
quite full of other matters, more important personally to
himself. The entry, in date and language, is conclusive
without cobateral evidence. The Corporation scheme of
1559-60 is the Corporation scheme of 1576-77, and the
scheme carried to completion in 1590-91. It is not difficult
to understand this delay. During the earlier years of the
period, as the accounts show, the Corporation were struggling
with financial difficulties, and could hardly meet current
expenses. Later on the operations against Spain absorbed
all their energies and resources. The Water Act.
But want of money was not the only reason why the
Corporation did not proceed. They did not possess the
requisite legislative powers ; and as no Parliament sat

THE WATER ACT. 433
between 1572 and the end of 1584, there was no opportunity
of procuring the needed authority. Directly Parliament was
convened the Corporation introduced a bib, the history of
which is to be read in the Journals of Sir Simonds d'Ewes.
Christopher Harris, of Eadford, and Henry Bromley were
chosen burgesses for Plymouth ; and 24s. were ' paide to a
man to goe to London w*h Lres to Sr Frauncis Drake and Mr.
Hele touchinge or Burgesses for the Parbamente.' Mr. Hele
was Serjeant Hele, then ' town counsel,' afterwards Eecorder,
and the framer of the Water Act.
The entries in D'Ewes's Journals touching the Plymouth
Water Act are as follows :
On Thursday, the 10th of December [1584], Two Bill [sic] of
no great moment had each of them their first reading, of which
the first was the Bill for the preservation of Plymouth-Haven.
[Monday, 21st December]. The Bill for the preservation of
the Haven of Plymouth was upon the second reading committed
unto Sir Francis Drake, Mr. Wroth, Mr. Edgcombe, and others,
who were appointed to meet the third day of the next sitting of
this Court in Lincolns-Inn Hall in the afternoon of the same day.
[Thursday, 18th February]. Five bib's of no great moment
had each of them one reading ; of which the second being the Bill
of Plymouth-Haven was upon the second reading committed again
to the former Committees, and Mr. Grafton was added unto them,
and the Bill was delivered to Mr. Wroth, who with the rest was
appointed to meet in the Middle-Temple Hall to-morrow in the
afternoon. [Saturday, 20th February]. The Bib for Plymouth-Haven was
brought in again with a Proviso.
[Tuesday, 23rd February]. A Proviso was added to the Bill
for Plymouth-Haven, and was twice read, and Ordered with the
Bill to be ingrossed.
[Saturday, 27th February]. The Bib for Preservation of
Plymouth-Haven passed upon the Question after the third reading,
and was presently sent up to the Lords by Mr. Treasurer [Sir
Francis Knolles] and others.
[The Royal Assent was given Monday, 29th March.]
As the Parliament met on the 23rd November, 1584, and
the Bill was introduced on the 10th December, no time was
lost by the Corporation. The delay between the 21st
December and the 18th February is mainly accounted for by
Parliament having been adjourned from the former date
until February 4th.
And it is here, in the Journals of Sir Simonds d'Ewes, we
have the first mention of Drake (then member for Bossiney)
in association with the Plymouth Water Supply; as one
2 F

434 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
of a select committee, of which Mr. Wroth, member for
Middlesex, was chairman, and to which Mr. Edgcumbe,
member for Liskeard, and Mr. Grafton, member for Gram-
pound, also belonged.
The Act is a curious document, and is worth giving in
extenso, as preserved among the records of the Plymouth
Corporation. It is entitled 'An Acte for presvacon of the Haven of
Plymowth.' Whereas yor Mat" Towne of Plymowth in the Cowntie of Devon
being an auncyent Borough Towne bordering upon the meane Sea,
yet havinge a pleasaunte and safe Harboroughe and Rode for Shipps
within or nere the same, comonbe called Plymmowth Haven,
wheare as well yor Mata Shippes as the Shipps and Vessells of
dyvers yor Highnes Subiects tradinge into forren Partes and from
Porte to Porte within this Realme do often upon necessitie and
otherwise arrive harboroughe refreshe and vittell themselves as well
wto fresshe water, being a thing very necessarie for them, as with
divers other thinges, Hathe, for the moste Parte of the yere, none,
or at the leaste verey litle, fresshe water within a myle of the said
Towne or thereabowt, a matter verey incomodiouse ; By reason
whereof yor Mata Shippes and the Shippes of yor Highnes subiects
arryving and harbouring in the saide Haven as aforesaide the
Marryners of the same are manye and often Tymes dryven by
necesytie to goe a Myle or more from the saide Towne and theire
Shippes to fetch e fresshe water for theire necessarie uses, by reason
whereof dyvers Tymes they loste dyvers good Wyndes and opor-
tuyties whiche they might take benefite of, yf they mighte water
them selfes nere theire shippes ; besides the saide Towne being
subiect to fyer, as well by the Enemye, for the same was once
burned by the Frenche in the tyme of Warre, or by negligence and
other mishappe at Home, there is no Water in or nerer the saide
Towne for the moste Parte of the yere (especiallie in the Sommer
Tyme when the Daungers bee greateste) then a Myle or sometyme
more, as the dryeth is, and wheare also the said Haven of Plym
mowth, being one of the pryncipall Havens and Harboroughes of
the West Parts of Englande, doth Daylie querre & fill wth the
Sande of the Tynnewoorcks and Mines nere adioyneng to the same,
and in shorte Tyme wilbe utterlie decayed yf some Redresse and
speedie Remedie be not hadd ; and wheare also there is a Water or
Ryver within the .saide Countie of Devon called the water or
Ryver of Mewe als Mevye distaunte from the saide Towne abowte
Eight or Tenne myles, Parte of the whiche Water or Ryver wth
some chardge wilbe brought into, the saide Towne of Plymowth
without any greate Preiudice or Damage to anye Owner or Owners
of any Lande throughe whiche the same shalbe conveied, By reason
(the moste Parte) in effect all the same Lande is either barren and

THE WATER ACT. 435
heathie or ells hillye and drye grounds whiche wilbe bettered and
amended by the water that shalbe brought throughe the same. By
brynging of whiche water moste of the Incomodities and Daungers
and divers others shall not onlie be remedied, but also some Parte
of the Chanell of the saide Haven scoured & cleansed by the
same Ryver to the prpetuall contynewance of the same Haven, a
matter moaste beneficiall to the Realme.
And wheare also the Inhabitaunts of the same Towne are Incor
porated by Kinge Henry the Sixte by the name of the Maior and
Coialtie of Plymouth whiche is confirmed by yor Matie and dyvers
yor noble Progenitora Kings of this Realme.
Maye it therefore please yor moste excellent Matie of yor moaste
noble and aboundant Grace and accustomed Favoure that yt maye
be Inacted by this present Pliament that yt shalbe Lawfull to &
for the saide Mayor and Coialtie and to theire successor8 at all
Tymes after the Feaste of Easter nowe next comynye, to digge and
myne a Diche or Trenche conteyneng in Bredthe betwene sixe or
seaven Foote over in all places throughe and over all the Lands
and Grounds lyeing betweene the saide Towne of Plymmowth and
anye parte of the saide Ryver of Mewe als Mevye, and to digge,
myne, breake, banck, and cast vpp, ab and all maner of Rockes
Stones Gravell Sande and all other Lets in any places or Groundes
for the convenyent or necessarie Conveyenge of the same River to
the saide Towne, and further from Tyme to Tyme to doe Repacon
and make Weares Bancks and all other Things necessarie wrhereby
the saide River may be brought & conteynewe vnto the saide
Towne withowte Lette Denyab Vexacon or Trouble of the Lord or
Lords Owner or Owners of the same grounde or of any other pson
or psons by suyte in the Lawe or otherwise upon Payne of xxH for
everie Tyme that they or anye of them do attempte the Contrarie
thereof, the one half thereof to be to or saide Soveraigne Ladie and
thother halfe to the said Maior and Coialtie & their Successo1"8 to be
recovered by Action of Debte, Bill, Pleynt, or Informacon, wherein
the ptie Defendant shall not wage his Lawe, nor in the saide Action,
Actions, or Suytes anye Essoyne Licence or Protection shalbe
allowed, The saide Maior and Coialtie gyving and payenge to the
Lorde or Lords Owner or Owners of the Soyle where suche Things
shalbe made or done, in Recompence and satisfaction of & for the
Lande or Grounde so to be digged or myned, for the full &
absolute Purchase of the same to them and their Successo1"8 so
moche money as by the Twoe Iustices of the Assise of the Countie
of Devon for the Tyme being shalbe adiudged ordeyned and deter-
myned. And also gy veng and payenge to the Tennts Fermors and
Occupiers of suche Lande or Grounde for suche Hurts of Losses as
they or any of them shall have or susteyne by the same, as moche
as shalbe assessed adiudged and determyned by the saide two
Iustices of Assises, the same Recompence and Satisfaction as well
concernynge the Lord or Lords of the Lande as the Tenants
2 v 2

436 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Fermors and Occupiers of the same to be paied by the saide Maior
& Coialtie of the saide Boroughe for the tyme beinge or theire
Successors within the space of Sixe Weekes next after the ratinge
assessing and determynenge of the same, unless the saide Maior
& Coialtie & theire Successor8 can otherwise compounde and agree
wth the Lords Tennts Fermors & Occupiers of suche Lande and
Grounde or with any of them, and in Case yt happen the Maior
and Coialtie of the saide Boroughe do make Defaulte of Payment
of the sayde Recompence & satisfaccon and resiste to paye the
same as is before reserved, That then the Lorde Lords Owner
Owners Tenants Fermors and Occupiers of suche Lande or Grounde
that is aggrieved therewth and to whom the Recompence & Satis
faccon ought to be paied shall and maye Lawf ubie comence affyrme
& take his or theire action of Debte by the course of the Comon
Lawe against the Maior and Comynaltie of the saide Boroughe for
the Tyme being and their SuccessorB for recoverie of the same in
any Courte of this Realme at the will and Pleasure of the ptie
grieved, and the like Proces thereupon to be hadd, as in accon of
debte at the Comon Lawe grounded upon Contract or Specialtie
hathe used to ben hadd, in whiche no Wager of Lawe Essoyne or
Protection shalbe allowed. 2
Provyded abwies and yt is further Inacted by this present
Pliament and by the authoritie of the same, that the said water
shall not be conveyed throughe the House Garden or Orcharde of
any pson or psons or throughe anye Parte thereof wthout Com-
posicon to be firste hadd with the Owners and Occupiers of the
saide Howses Gardens and Orchardes. Provided alwaies that this
Acte nor any Thing herein conteyned shall extende to gyve Libertie,
as aforsaid to bring the saide Water or anye Parte thereof owte of
his auncient Course to or for any Intente or Purpose menconed in
this Acte, unlesse everie suche pson and psons as are Owners of
any My lie or Mybes scytuate and standinge upon or nere the saide
Ryver of Mewe als Mevye shalbe first compounded withall as
aforesaid, yf the sayede Milles shall by the bringinge of the said
water or any Parte thereof unto the saide Towne of Plymowth be
impayred or hyndered.
We notice here that the Act was not passed as first intro
duced. Reference to Sir Simonds d'Ewes's Journals shows
that in Committee a proviso was added; and reference to
the Act shows that this proviso is the only part of the
measure in which any allusion is made to the erection of
mills, or which can be construed to authorize the appropria
tion of the intended watercourse to that purpose. Power
to erect mibs was not sought by the Corporation of Plymouth,
a Charles II., by his Charter of 1680, granted the moiety of the penalty of
£20 for interfering with the leat, here reserved to the Crown, to the Mayor
and Commonalty.

THE WATER ACT. 437
but was added by the Committee, the only member of which
who had any connection with Plymouth was Sir Francis
Drake, at that moment lessee of the ancient Corporation
Manor Mills at Milibay.
The Eeceiver's Accounts are conclusive as to the means
by which the Act was obtained, and whence the money
came to pay for it.
Itm paide to Mr. Hele for his helpe att London for
furtherenge of or sute for bringinge in of the
water as by his bill appearethe . . . ix11 j8 vjd
Itm paide to Mr. Christopher Harris for the helpe
aboute the water as by his Bille appearethe . xviju vj8
Itm paide to George Baron for his paines and charge in
sollicitinge the Cawse for the Bringinge home of
the water to the Towne wch is enacted spendinge
xxviij daies . . ... viij"
Itm paide more for drawinge of the Acte manye tymes
writen . . . . . iij11
George Baron was the town clerk, sent specially to Lon
don to ' solbcit the Cawse.' Both he and Hele, as officials
of the Corporation, were paid for their services. Another
phrase, however, is used with regard to the outlay by Harris.
He is paid, not for ' his help,' but for ' the help ' ; and his
outlay was as much as that of both the others put together.
There can be no doubt that influence was bought to further
the passing of the Act ; but there is no evidence that Drake
exercised any (beyond the proviso, which seems fairly traceable
to him) ; and there is no reason to suggest that he was one
of the gentlemen who was bribed. His reward came later,
in other and more substantial fashion.
Beyond the money laid out in London there were several
local items of expenditure.
Itm paide for a supper for the Justices when they came to
vie we the course for bringinge the water into the towne xxxij8
Itm paide for victualls wine beare and other pvision
carried from hence vppon the Downe . . v8 vjd
Itm paide for the hire of three horses att that tyme . ij8 vjd
Itm paide to a poore man to shewe them the waye . xijd
Itm paide to Sprie the painter for riding to mevie
aboute the water . . . . v8
Itm paide for his horse hire then . . . xijd
Itm paide for Mr. Carewes diett when he rode aboute
the water . . . . . ii8 viijd
Itm paide to Sprie the painter for makinge of a plot of
the Toune and parrishe w'h a Bourder Carried to
the Counseb . . . . . x8

438 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
The legitimate inference is that some of the local justices
viewed the proposed line of leat to report thereon to the
authorities. That they were strangers to it is shown by the
hiring of ' a poore man to shewe them the way.' The Act
cost the Corporation £39 17s. 2d., equivalent to nearly £250
of current money, a heavy charge for an unopposed measure,
and a sixth of the total corporate income of the year.3
Cutting the Leat.
Although the Corporation thus obtained powers to pro
ceed early in 1585, some five years elapsed before they made
a start. We are not surprised at this, when we bear in mind
that in the interim Plymouth had to play the leading part in
the great struggle with Spain. Year by year plunged the
Corporation more deeply into debt, until 1588 brought the
expenditure up to £659 lis. 6£d., more than three times the
ordinary outlay in time of peace.
However, in the mayoralty of John Bbtheman (1589-90)
prebminaries were commenced. The first entry runs :
Itm pd for a staffe to [take] the levell of the water &
for mendinge the hedde, being broken and for
ledde . . . . yjd
The next brings Drake into the business incidentaby.
Itm paid for hire of a horse to buckland for Ratten-
burye about ye water . ... xijd
Rattenbury was a servant of Sir Francis, and Buckland is
Buckland Abbey ; but there is no clue to the exact nature of
the business on which Rattenbury was sent, or respecting
which he was sent for. The only subsequent entry in the
accounts of this year referring to Drake is more definite.
Itm pd Peter Vosper to goe to buckland to knowe
when the Judges did come . . . xijd
These were the Judges of Assize, who were to assess the com
pensation to be paid to the landowners and tenants. In the
next mayoralty they paid their visit, for we find the entry :
Itm paied to Peter Sylvester for a tonne of wyne wch
was given the Judges for theire paines and helpe
touching the water Course . ... xxu
3 In the same year a Water Act was obtained for Chichester ; and in 1593
one for Stonehouse, which makes precisely the same prolessions of national
advantage as the Plymouth Bill.

CUTTING THE LEAT. 439
Blitheman's mayoralty, so far as the water was concerned,
was wholly occupied in preparation. First one Burden was
sent out to Meavy to make some investigations.
Itm pd to Thomas Burden for ij horses hire to mevye
for vewe of the water . ... xxd
Itm pd att the Church howsse of mevye for wine &
milke . . . . . ijs vjd
And then we come to a set of extracts, giving the name
of the original ' water engineer ' and his assistants.
Itm pd Robart lampen for Plannynge & vewinge the
grounde for the water Course from mevie for vj
daies . . . . . xa
Itm pd haywoode for vj dayes & newe writinge the
vewe iiij or tymes . . . .viij8vjd
Itm pd nicholas Jeane for iiijor dayes . . . iij8
Itm for theire dyett . . . viij8 vjd
This Eobert Lampen was a member of a family long-
resident at St. Budeaux, and stib represented in Plymouth.
Eobert Lampen is mentioned in 1566 in the St. Bude
Eegister as the father of another Eobert, who was baptized
July 25th in that year. And one of these was unquestionably
the surveyor by whom the Plymouth Leat was planned.
He was accustomed to surveying; for in 1592 he helped
Eobert Adams, sent down by the Privy Council to advise
concerning the fortifications. Lampen was aided in subse
quent work upon the Leat by his brother.
The most important record of this year is not to be found
in the Eeceiver's Accounts, but in more formal fashion in
the Black Book.
Also this yere the composyton was made betweene the towne
and Sr Frances Drake for the bringinge of the River of Mewe to
the towne for w°h the towne have paied hym ijc1' and more cu for
w°h he is to compounde w*h the lis : of the land over w°h it
runneth. This must have been very late in Blitheman's mayoralty,
because it is not until the following year (1590-91) that we
find the drawing up of the 'composition' (= contract) paid for.
Itm paied to mr heles man [Hele was now Recorder]
for wrytinge owte of the articles of agreement
betweene the towne and Sr Francis Drake . . vj8 viijd
The 'composition' itself has been duigently sought for,
but cannot be found ; and probably it was one of the docu
ments destroyed by Nicholas Goodridge, of Totnes, when in

440 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
1601-2 he burnt 'a cheste in the Councbl Chamber wherein
were contayned divers evidences and writings concerninge
the Towne.' And there is a document among the Corporation
muniments referring to the water, that has been partially
burnt. Concerning three points, then, there should be no dispute.
First, that Drake's association with the water was under
conditions duly set forth in a contract, and therefore of a
strictly business nature. Second, that he had £200 for the
actual work. Third, that he had £100 additional to pay
compensation for the land. That is to say, in modern money,
at least £1,500.
And whether the work upon the Leat actuaby commenced
in Blitheman's mayoralty or not, there is evidence that the
Corporation had begun to raise the money for the purpose, in
the entry :
More to deduct owte of this Charge for monye by mr
Blitheman rec of Richard hawkins in parte of
paimnt of lu given towards the bringinge in of
the water v?cU xvu the towne standeth indebted
to the water . . ... xv11
All the entries of payments for work actually done fall
within the mayoralty of Walter Pepperell (1590-91), in
which year we have also the entry in the Black Book :
This yere on the 4 daye of December Sr Fraunces Drake
Kneight beganne [the River 6] to bringe the Ryur Mewe to the
towne of Plymouth w°h being in lenght about 25 myles he w*h
greate Care and diligence [pfrmed 5] effected and brought the Riur
into the towne the xxiiij™ daye of Aprill the next after psentlie
after he sett in hand to Builde sixe greast mibs two at wythy in
eck buckland psh thother 4 by the towne the two at wythy and
the two next to the towne he fullie fynished before Michaelmas
next after and grounde Come w*th theym.
The entries in the Receiver's Accounts of the year, pre
cisely in the order in which they stand, are as follows :
Itm paied for provision when the mystresses Rade first
to vewe the water Course . . iij11 x8 viijd
Itm for the hyer of a horse for a Trumpeter to Ryde in
compayng to the Rivr . ... xijd
Itm pd to 4 trumpetors that were att the leate by Mr.
Maiors comaundemt . . . v"
Itm pd for horses for theym . . . iij8
Itm to a messeng thatt was sente to Sr Fraunce Drake xijd
4 Blank in original. B Erased in original.

CUTTING THE LEAT." 441
Itm to a messenger sent to mr harrys . . . xijd
Itm for hyer of two horses to Carry provisions to the
leate . . . . . ij8
Itm for bredd carryed to the leate . . . vii8
Itm p to mr Whitakers for wyne to Carry to the leate xl8 vjd
Itm for other pvisons sente the same tyme . . xj8 ixd
Itm to Henry Ellys for a dozen of bredd spente at the
Srvaye of the water . ... vij8
Itm to John Hoop to Carry owte plancke to make the
bridge att mawdlyn . . . iiijd
Itm paid to workemen to make the bridge . . iiij8
[There are also entries of the cost of the materials — a
beam cost 2s., and other plank 5s. 6d.]
Itm given to Robert lampyn in reward at the bringinge
in of the leate . . . . ij8 vjd
Itm pd for x pounde wayghte of powder thatt was
spente att the bringinge in of the Riur . . xvj8 viijd
Itm to John Rewbye for a dynner att the bringinge in
of the Ryur . . ... xvj8
Itm to the gunnrs thatt daye . ... xvjd
Itm more spent vppon theym then . . . iij8 iiijd
Itm to Willyam Stockam servaior of the woorckemen
of the leate in rewarde . ... xij8
Itm to the pson of Meavye in Clothe asmuche as cost lj8
Itm to John Stevane one other Srvaior of the same
woorcke . . ... xiiij8
Itm given to the ij lampyns in reward touching their
paines taken about the leate . . .xxvj8viijd
Itm given to Robert lampyn and his brother in reward
for their paines about the water . . .xxvj8viijd
Itm paied over and above the Charges in this accompte6
before mentyoned wch amountethe to xvj" xvij8 ijd
for and in bringinge in of the leate and beside the
money given Sr Frauncs Drake the some of, as by
a bib of pticulers appeared the some of xlvij11 viij8 vijd
We thus find that, in addition to the works executed by
Drake, others were performed by the Corporation, at a con
siderable outlay. We also find the Corporation acting as
hosts and employers when they celebrated, at the Head Weir,
6 There are other entries in this year connected with the water, but having
nothing to do with the Leat. Thus £39 15s. 2d. was paid for 'lead for to
Convaye the water, 99c§16 att viij1' the tonne,' and one ' Moore the plumber,'
had £15 for his labour, besides 3s. for wine and 5s. 'toward his charge
cominge hither.' The lead pipes were stored with one 'Mathewe Starkeys
wyfe,' who had 8d. a week for 'selleradge' from September 17th, 1591, to
September 16th, 1592. The entry concerning the 'mystresses' is very
curious. It reads very much like the provision of an official picnic for the
wives of the Aldermen or 'masters.'

442 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
or somewhere at a distance from the town, the completion of
the undertaking. The rewards to the 'parson of Meavy'
and to the two 'Surveyors of the work' — the foremen of
the two gangs by whom the Leat was made — all show the
direct interest taken in the actual construction of the water
course by the Corporation ; and as if to set beyond ab doubt
the fact that it had been made after the plans prepared by
Eobert Lampen, we have the entries of the rewards given to
him and to his brother for the pains they had taken, with
the special mention of Eobert himself. These rewards are,
of course, gratuities; and if they appear small in amount
it is only because in the course of time there has grown up
a wonderfully exaggerated idea of the real character and
extent of the work done.
We complete the series of entries, so far as they relate to
the outlay on construction, by quoting from the Eeceivers'
Accounts of the two succeeding years. We have in 1591-2 —
Itm rec of Diurs parsons [persons] toward the charges
of bringinge in of the water ouer and aboue that
w°h hathe byn paide owte to diurs psons vppon
soundrie reckninge wch ought to be paied, whereof
mentyon is maide in a bill of the pticulars thereof . nijlixviijd
Itm pd for makinge of the brydge by the mylles &
other worke . . ... viij8
Itm paid to Sr Frauncis Drake, kneight, towarde the
bringinge in of the water w^h the Receavor
allowed him in his rent dewe for the mibes for
one yere att Michelmas 1592 . . . xxxu
Itm rec of William Browne [Receiver of the previous
year] for y* wc he was sett to paie toward the
bringinge of the water vu and for monyes that he
receaved of the water monye more then he hath
accompted for ab amounting to . . xxvu iij8 xjd
And in the next mayoralty, that of [Sir] John Gayer, 1592-3 :
Itm paied to Sr Frauncis Drake, knyght, in full [final]
paiment of the cccu thatt the Maior and Coaltye
were to paye hym for bringinge of the Riur and
prchas of the land our w°h the same is broughte
which is allowed owte of the mille rent w°h was
payable this yere . . . xxu xvj8 viijd
Cost of the WorJcs.
We thus get direct current evidence of the expenditure
by the Corporation 'upon the water,' in addition to the
money laid out upon works of distribution in the town, of

COST OF THE WORKS. 443
£488 lis. 6d., and of the payment, under the composition or
contract, of £300 of this sum to Sir Francis Drake — £200
for 'bringing in the water' and £100 for compensation to
the landowners.
The Leat itself, as originally made, was seventeen modern
miles in length, and was simply a ditch or trench between
six or seven feet in width, banked up along its course with
the material dug ; and not involving the excavation of more
than 2,000 cubic yards of soil a mile — a much simpler
undertaking than those familiar with it only in its modern
form were accustomed to believe. The only point at which
there was work of an exceptional character was on the
hillside at Yannadon, along the gorge below Sheepstor
Bridge. A map in the collection of the Marquis of Salisbury
(substantiaby in duplicate in the British Museum) has a note
at the Head Weir : ' Here the river is taken out of the old
river & carried 448 paces through mightie rockes which was
thought unpossible to carrie water through' — 'huge rockes'
themselves being depicted as commencing less than a mbe off.
This plain statement was mistakenly amplified by Westcote
and Risdon into the assertion that Drake tunnelled ' through
a mighty rock generaby supposed impossible to be pierced ' ;
but the Leat was simply carried at this point among the
rocks through a wooden shute or launder ; and so continued
until the middle of the last century, when the first regular
channel was cut. The entries are extant of the payments
in 1757 for 'laying in ye moore stone Chanel for the Leat to
run in on Yenadon Common.'
There is evidence, documentary, traditional, and structural,
that prior to the construction of the Leat, there was an
ancient pot- water stream from the Meavy to Warleigh ; and
that this was partially utilised in the new work, the residents
at Warleigh retaining their supply.
Calculation shows that the whole of the work upon the
Leat (assuming that the Corporation had left it all for Drake
to do, which their outlay shows was not the case) could be
well accomplished for the £200 allowed for the purpose ;
and there is among the Plymouth Archives a contemporary
copy of the Deed of Composition with the owners of the soil
and their tenants, for the land taken. Instead of the £100
allowed for this the total was £60 4s. 4d.— £33 19s. 4d. for
the owners, and £26 5s. for the tenants.
The document is too long to quote in its entirety, but it
gives the name of every landowner and of every tenant
interested twice over — first in the recital of the land taken,

444 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
and then in the award — in due order from the commencement
of the Leat to its termination, citing in several instances the
names of the estates. The amounts throughout are stated
to be calculated ' after the rate of xvj yeres pchase according
to the verie value ' ; and each award is specified to be made
'for all the Landes and groundes of each owner 'in the
possession ' of each tenant, ' digged mined or turned or anie
waie delt w'h for the convayeng or bringing of the said water
course.' It commences in the following terms :
This indenture made the fiuethe daie of Julye in the fower and
Thirthith yere of the Raigne of or soueraigne Lady Elyzabeth by
the grace of godd Queene of England Fraunce & Ireland Defender
of the faithe &c. Between Sr Edmond Anderson Knighte lorde
cheyf Justice of the Courte of Comon plees, and Thorns stroud
Gente Baron of her Mats Courte of Exchequer Justices of Assise of
the Countie of Deuon of thone partie, and the Mayor and Coialtie
of the Boroughe of Plimouthe in the said Countie of thother partie,
whereas it was enacted in the Parliam* holden in the seauen &
Twentithe yere of the Raigne of or said souraigne Lady —
Here the chief provisions of the Water Act are set forth.
And whereas the said Maior and Coyaltie after the said feaste
of Easter haue digged mined and trenched and caused to be digged
mined and trenched one ditche or Trenche containinge in breadthe
betwene sixe and seuen foote in over and throughe the Lands &
grounds lyeinge betwene the said Towne of Plymouthe, and some
pte of the said Riuer of Meawe als Meavye, and digged mined
brocken banked and caste vppe all manner of Rocks stones grauell
sande and all other letts in the groundes and places convenient
before menconed, for the convenyent or necessarie conveyeng of
the said Riuer to the same Towne of Plymouthe pte of wch Lands
& grounds soe digged mined trenched is thinheritance of Walter
Elford gent beinge in thoccupacon & possessione of one Willm
Stockeman and ouer and throughe the Lands & inheritance of the
said Walter Elford and of Thomas Elford beinge in the possession
& occupacon of one Walter Elford John Elford and Johan Sop 
widdowe tennts or farmo18 of the same eyther solie to themselues
or ioyntlie or in Comon w'h some others, and ouer & through
certen Lands & grounds, &c. &c.
Then the list of owners and tenants is given after the same
form, and next, at the conclusion of the recital, the awards.
The Judges were aided by the advice and information of
a commission of county justices and resident landowners —
Christopher Harris, Thomas Wise, William Crimes, John
Coplestone, and William Strode — who had 'viewed and
measured' every part of the land taken, and considered

COST OF THE WORKS. 445
of its ' value and goodness,' and some of whom were
personaby interested; and further, of 'the information of
divers gentlemen and others of good account dwelling near
the said toun of Plymouth.'
The total quantity of land used was about fifteen acres,
and the compensation paid averaged £2 3s. per acre, or
in modern value about £10 15s. Much of the land was,
however, worthless ; and some was valued at £23, in modern
money. The average rent of the best land near Plymouth
then was only 3s. 6d. an acre, which at the sixteen years'
purchase of the Act would give a modern value of £15.
Other sums in compensation were paid by the Corporation
subsequently, so that Drake did not defray the whole ;
while compensative rights of supply were granted to the
estates of Whitleigh, Manadon, and Ham. On these points
we have the fobowing entries :
1604-5. Itm pd for an Ordynarie to Bentley vppon
the Comyssion betweene the Towne and Sr
Thomas wyse . ... xvij8 xd
1605-6. Itm pd for a dynner for Sr Thomas Wyse
knight [Lord of Stoke Damerel] and others wcl1
came aboute the water Course . . . xviij8
Itm pd to Robte Trelawney for three hoggesheds of
Clarett wyne geuen to Sr Thomas' wise kneight
for the soyle in the leate in his Orcharde at Stoke
Damreb thorough wch the Towne Water is Con
veyed, and for his right in the wast grounde and
Key by the Barbican . ... xiij11 xa
1606-7. Item pd for two hoggesheds of Clarett wyne
sent to Sr Thomas wyse kneight in full [final]
payment of the Composition betweene hym and
the Towne for the soyle of his lande in the water
Course and his right in the grounde & soil of the
southside key . ... viiju
And in 1607-8, agreement to pay having been come to
in 1603-4:
Itm geuen to Mr Walter Elford one hundred of deale
Boardes7 wch are deliverd and also his freedome
for ye absolute inheritance of the hedd weare in
the Ryver and the water leate of the water of
meawe als meavy that runneth thorough his lande
towards Plymouth wch Boards cost . . iiiju xiiij8
7 This payment in 'deale Boardes' seems curious, but is easily explicable.
The wooden launder by which the water was carried through the ' mighty
rocks ' was made of such boards ; and probably Elford had those that were
left when the launder was finished, with what more might be required to
make up the number.

446 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Both Wise and Elford appear on the award; Wise,
moreover, being one of the Commissioners by whom the
assessment was made.
Nor were these the only sums paid directly by the Corpora
tion. There is yet extant an original receipt for the payment
to Wilbam Creese on the 28th October, 1594, by the
Maior and Coalty of the Borough of Plymouth by hands of
William Stallinge, gent, the sume of xj of lawfull money of
Englond in full recompense and satisfaccon of all sum and sumes
of money as is by theym payable or due to be payed to and for
that pt of the Ryur of Mevy which is brought to the towne of
Plymouth our my grounds lying in the pish of Buckland aforesaid,
and is the inheritance of Phillipp Crymes, gent.
Drake himself, as tenant of land near Plymouth under
Edmond Parker, had 17s. awarded.
The Leat Mills.
The money payment of £300 was the smaller portion of
the recompense Drake obtained for ' bringing in the water,'
upon which the Corporation had laid out up to the year
1601, including the provision of pipes and conduits, £850 —
very nearly equal to three years' ordinary revenue, and
equivalent to between £4,500 and £5,000 now.
When Drake entered upon the undertaking he was — as
already noted — lessee of the Manor Mills at Mblbay.
Within six months of its completion he built six mills on
the Leat, two at Widey, four in the town. Of these he
obtained a lease for sixty-seven years, and his rent for the
old Manor Mills was reduced from £40 to £30. His outlay
on these six mills could not have been £500, since two were
rebuilt in 1672 at a cost of £140 18s. 6d. Their yearly
profits, however, exceeded £200. In 1628 the Corporation
paid the second Sir Francis Drake £1,500 for a moiety of the
lease when it had thirty-two years to run, and the yearly
profit then was £300. Here again we see that the connection
of Sir Francis Drake with the construction of the Plymouth
Leat was distinctly a business matter.
The oldest Leat Map shows that when the Leat was first
made, the water flowed to Sutton Pool. It was quickly,
however, diverted to Milibay; for the old mills there are
mentioned in 1596 as the ' late salt mills,' and soon after this
we find part of Surpool being ' made drie for a meadow.'8
8 An attempt was made in 1664-5 to exempt the Corporation of Plymouth
from the operation of a bill to settle salt marshes gained from the sea ; which
did not pass.

' CONTROVERSY.' 447
The 'waste leat,' as it has long been called, still follows
much the same course, but underground, whereas it used to
be exposed to view at several points, and was the scene of
many accidents. In addition to the corn mills — fulling,
shammy, and other mills were built upon its course within
the town at a very early date; and leases were granted of
the water for manufacturing purposes so far back as 1610.
In more recent years the power was employed to drive
machinery of a miscellaneous character at different points ;
but the substitution of piping to bring the water home from
Knackersknowle, and the growing demands for water in
other directions, led to a diminution of the constant flow of
original days, and finally to the cessation of the old mill
grants. The course of the Leat within the borough was
under the footway west of Mutley Plain; round Houndis-
combe, in front of Stafford Terrace to Drakes Place
Reservoir and the old Higher Mill; thence on the west of
Tavistock Eoad (where a garden through which it passed
gave name to 'Purling Stream House'), to the Cattle
Market, and the Lower Mill at the corner of Eowe and
Pound Streets ; thence by Mbl Lane (where it did much
work) and Morley Lane to a mill at the junction of Ealeigh
and Frankfort Streets ; and thence again by the backs of
Queen Street and Union Street, across the latter, through the
Station Eoad, and under what is now the Eailway Station to
the Docks. ' Controversy.'
Serious troubles quickly followed the erection of the Leat
Mills. In 1592-3 a bbl was introduced into the House of
Commons for their removal, or for satisfaction to those
aggrieved. The promoters declared that the Plymouth
Water Act was
for the good of the said Towne of Plymouthe by providinge of
freshe water for releiffe of the said Towne, and of suche Shippes
as should com into the said Porte or Haven & not for anye other
entent or purpose Neither was yt the intente of the said Acte
that by meanes thereof the Quenes Matxe or such other as hadd
anie Milles vppon or neare the said Ryver or Towne shoulde
thereby receave Losse damage or preuidice, As by the preamble
bodie & certayne provisoes in the said Acte compared & considered
togeather dothe and maye weU appeare Sithens the makinge of
wch Acte the Maiore and Comynaltie of the said Towne of
Plymouthe have brought a sufficient quantitie of water & parte
of the said Ryver to the said Towne, Whereby they might have
held them selves well contentyd & satisfied, according to the

448 HISTORY OF "PLYMOUTH.
intente and meaninge of the said Acte Havinge payd litle or
nothinge to the owners of the soyle throughe w1* the said water
is conducted; But they not therewth contentyd, but covertlie &
secretlie vnder coulor of a comon profytte to manie, principallie
seekinge there owne private gayne and comoditie, to the greate
hurte preuidice & disinheritance of other men Have wth dyvers
others buylte & erected vppon the said water so broughte vnto
the said Towne, Seven Come water MyUes, By meanes whereof
not onlie the Quenes "Matie havinge in Reversione two Water
Milles for Corne, called the Priorie Milles of Plympton, standings
neare vnto the said Ryver But also dyvers others of her Highnes
lovinge subjects throughe whose Lande the same newe Water
course ys carried & conveyed Havinge likewise Water Mylles for
Corne formerlie buylte vppon or neare the said Ryver or neare
the said Towne (that ys to saye) wthin one two or three myles,
either of the said Towne or Ryver, sustayne & suffer & are daylie
more & more like to sustayne & suffer losse and damage and
disinheritance in the profite of theire Milles & otherwise to the
valewe or some of Sixe thowsande Pownde by reasone of the
said newe erectione & buyldinge of the new Water Mylles afore
said contrarie to the trewe entent & meaninge of the said Statute.
Ab we know of this measure is that Drake was the
Chairman of the Committee which sat upon it ; that it was
read a second time and committed Tuesday, March 26th,
1593 ; and that a copy is now in the House of Lords. It
was after this bbl disappeared that the mib lease to Drake
was granted.
Following Drake's death came further troubles, some with
Thomas Drake, his brother, and successor in the lease ; but
the more serious with William Crymes of Buckland, who
diverted the stream on Roborough Down to certain tin mills,
with the assistance of three of his friends among the county
magistrates — Sir John Gilbert, Tristram Gorges, and Henry
Coplestone. They assessed the damage to the Corporation at
Is. a year, while divers tinners and others were encouraged
to help themselves in a similar way. The Star Chamber was
appealed to by the Corporation, the Privy Councb by Crymes;
and the end of the business was that Crymes took a lease
for 42 years of the Corporation, and Thomas Drake, of so
much water as
shalbe fitt & sufficient for the vse workeing and Imploymt of
two tynne milles knocking mills or Classe milles of the said
William Crymes by him newly and lately erected vpon the said
lands of the said William Crymes called Rowborrough Downe
aforesaid. And also so much water out of the said leat ... as
shab be fitt sufficient & convenyent for the clensing washeing

CONDUITS. 449
makeing workeing & dressing of all such tynne tynne mettall &
tynne oare as shalbe at any tyme hereafter brought to the same
mill or miUes tobe washed clensed made wrought or dressed. The
said Wibiam Crymes ... at all tymes leaveing a sufficient & fub
streame of water to Runne & come vnto in & through the said
Towne of Plymouth & eury pte thereof for the use of the sd
Towne of Plymoth and the milles there w*hout any contradiccon
of the said Wibiam Crymes. . . .
Among the considerations for this grant beyond the main
tenance of the Leat is the curious provision that Crymes
will at all tyme & tymes dureing the Contynuance of the said
lease at his and their owne pper costs charges and expences find
and pvide to and for the better assistance and helpe of the said
Maior & Coialty & their successors & the said Thomas Drake & his
assignes sixe sufficient and labour men to labour and worke in the
tyme of Froste for the clearinge and cleansinge of the said leate
and watercourse in our and throughout all or anie the lands of
gamaliell Slanninge esquier scituat in and. vppon Rowborough
Downe aforesaide nowe in the tenure of Margarett Heathe widowe.
Conduits.
The erection of Conduits in connection with the Leat com
menced in 1592. In 1598 those on Foxhole Quay were
built, and in 1602 those at East Gate, and the Barbican.
Finally we find : Three at the Guildhab, two in Basket
Street, two in Pike (Looe) Street, and one each opposite
Friary Green, at the bottom of Friary Court, at the head
of St. Andrew Street, in the opening leading from Lower
Street to Exeter Street, at the west angle of the Parade,
the west end of Lower Street, the head of Old Town, the
west end of Whimple Street, the bottom of Gasking
Street, the Old Town Shambles, the Old Fish Cage, the
Old Mitre, Martin's Lane, Higher Pomeroy Conduit (Batter)
Street, Notte Street, Market Street, Barbican, Pig-Market,
Southside Street, and Foxhole Quay. These were gradually
removed, but not without considerable opposition. The
last remaining, that in Old Town, was demolished in
1834, and a portion of the materials built into the boundary
wall of the reservoir area at Drakes Place. Proceedings
were taken against the Corporation for closing the Conduits,
which afforded a free water supply, but these came to an end
when the Municipal Reform Act passed. The Foxhole
Conduit was pubed down in 1761 ; and quickly afterwards
that near the Shambles, which bore the motto Redigit
desertum in stagnum. 2 G

450

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

All that is left of these structures wbl be found among
the fragmentary memorials in the walls of the waterworks
in the Tavistock Eoad. The granite inscription, MADE IN
THE MAIORALTIE OF IOHN TRELAWNIE, 1598, is part of the
original Old Town Conduit of that date. The Portland
stone carvings of arms9 and the reference to Drake bringing
the water into Plymouth, belong to a second Conduit made
to replace the former, in the mayoralty, as set forth, of
William Cotton, 1671. The granite trough of the drinking

' s^lvin ^T.

t_3?.

Old Town Conduit.
fountain does not, as might be gathered from the inscription
thereon, date even to the later period, but only to 1746,
when the original street gutters of bricks and boards were
replaced by wrought stone. The site of the old Higher
Mills has been converted into a recreation ground, with
gardens and fountains, a piazza (the columns of which come
from the Old Market), and a terrace.
Occasionally, at times of public rejoicing, the Conduits
were made to run with wine— for two days in 1660 at the
'glorious Eestoration.'
8 The arms are those of the town and of Drake— the fesse and pole stars,
according to the Elizabethan grant.

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE WATER PROPERTY. 451
General History of the Water Properly.
That from a very early period it was the custom for the
Corporation to afford supplies to private houses there is
ample proof. 'Water money' was first paid in 1592-3 — Peter
Silvester 30s., and Mr. Kympe 15s. ; and water rent was
collected in 1600-1, £4 2s. in amount. In 1602 an order
was passed prohibiting any of the inhabitants from bringing
water from the great pipe into their houses without leave
of the Corporation. The first water rental extant is dated
1608, and contains the names of thirty-eight persons, of
whom one paid a rental of 10s., and the rest 4s. each. These
rates continued to be paid until 1740, when 8s. was charged
to private householders, with special rates for victuallers
and brewers. The water was subsequently leased out to
private houses for twenty-one years, on payment of a fine of
three guineas and a half, and an annual rent of 12s. a year,
the lessees laying the pipes.
The water was taken to the Barbican for vessels in 1751-2,
at a cost of £681 19s. 5|d.
Early in the last century the Corporation refused to
supply the Military Authorities (though subsequently leases
to the Victuabing Office, Hospital, and Prisons were granted),
and in 1766 rejected an offer of Sir John St. Aubyn of
£200 a year for the supply of Devonport, although Sir John
offered to be at the expense of finding additional streams
for Plymouth if required. Here the old jealousy of Dock
stood in the way of self-interest; and in 1792 it was shown
in an opposition to the formation of the Devonport Water
Company, the Corporation then declaring that their stream
was big enough to supply everybody.
Boswell cites an amusing instance of the prejudice of Dr.
Johnson in relation to this very matter. At the Doctor's
visit to Plymouth in 1762, he ' set himself resolutely on the
side of the old town, the established town, in which his lot
was cast, considering it as a kind of duty to stand by it.'
When Dock asked for water, Johnson, 'affecting to enter
tain the passions of the place, was vehemently in opposition,
and half laughing at himself for his pretended zeal where
he had no concern, exclaimed, " No, no ; I am against the
Dockers ; I am a Plymouth man. Eogues, let them die of
thirst. They shall not have a drop." ' On another occasion
he is reported to have exclaimed with the utmost vehemence,
' I hate a Docker.'
The system of water leases ended in 1822, and in 1824 an
2 G 2

452 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Act was passed authorising an arrangement for the supply
of the Victuabing Yard and the Naval Hospital. Under
this Act the primary series of alterations and improvements
in the waterworks were made. The Head Weir and Leat on
Yannadon were first improved. Next, one of the reservoirs
in the Tavistock Eoad was formed, and then the other, the
Conduits done away with, and a regular syslem of pipes
laid; the total expense, defrayed out of the Corporate
estates (considerable portions of which were sold for the
purpose), being about £25,000. Chiefly as a consequence
of these changes 1831 saw the water rents advanced — from
£197 lis. 6d. in 1821— to £1,694 2s. The population had
increased fifty per cent., the rents had gone up seven hun
dred and fifty.
Some of the earliest modern suggestions for the improve
ment of the Water Property were made by Mr. Eoger
Hopkins. He proposed to make a reservoir at Eoborough,
some threescore years before that work was carried out. He
also advised that the supply should be increased by bringing
in a supplementary stream six miles from Sampford Spiney
to Dowsland Barn at a cost of £600, or a Plym stream three
miles to the Head Weir for £300. This was in 1823.
The past fifty years have been a busy time in connection
with the Plymouth Waterworks, in consequence of the
enormous increase of population, and the rapid development
of the needs of manufactories; and the expenditure has
been correspondingly great. The first reservoir made outside
the town was that at Widey in 1849 ; Knackersknowle
followed in 1852-3 ; Hartley in 1862. In connection with
the Knackersknowle reservoir mains were laid to Plymouth ;
and in 1886 these mains were extended to Eoborough, where
a reservoir had been constructed to feed them. The discon
tinuance of the Leat between Eoborough and Knackersknowle,
as the regular course, led to sundry disputes with owners
and occupiers of land along the route, who set up claims to
the user of the water — by encroachment — to which they had
no original legal title. These were mainly met by concessions
of standpipe supply.
The legal powers of the Corporation in connection with
the water, as conferred by the Act of Elizabeth, being very
inadequate, applications to Parliament became necessary.
One such in 1852 was rejected, in consequence of the
opposition of some of the inhabitants and certain outside
landowners. An action was commenced against the promoters
to prevent their costs coming out of the Corporate Funds ; a

HEAD WEIR AND HARTER. 453
Chancery Commission sat at the Eoyal Hotel to take evidence;
and eventually the matter was settled by the defendants
paying £500 to the Borough Fund, and the out-of-pocket
costs of the action.
In 1867 an Act was obtained which gave authority for the
substitution of a constant for an intermittent supply, and for
the supply of consumers outside the Municipal boundaries.
The latter point led to a long and costly arbitration
and trial between Sir Massey Lopes and the Corporation.
Sir Massey claimed heavy compensation, on the ground that
as riparian owner he had the property in all the water of
the Meavy which remained after the wants of the town
itself — for watering ships, cleansing the harbour, protection
against fire, and use by the inhabitants — and the require
ments of the Government establishments under the Act of
1824, were met. The arbitration was heard before Mr., after
wards Sir Frederick, Pobock ; and the legal points involved
as to the construction of the Act of Elizabeth was argued
before the Court of Common Pleas. Lord Chief Justice
Bovill held that the only limitation in the Act of Elizabeth
was as to the width of the trench or leat, and that the
Corporation were entitled to take all the water that could
flow through or by means thereof, and use it for any purpose
whatever ; and that there was nothing in the Act of 1867
which interfered with any right that Sir Massey Lopes
possessed. The other judges concurred.
Litigation indeed has been an ever-present attendant
on the Water Property. In 1653, as we have already seen,
the Orphans Aid Hospital was endowed with one -fourth
of the nulls, and of the water in the Leat, in consideration
of a debt due to the Hospital from the Corporation. In
1805 a committee recommended that these fourths should
be re-purchased for £1,800, and this was done. In 1840
the Charity Commissioners thought there was something
about this arrangement which called for enquiry, and filed
a bill against the Corporation, contending that the Hospital
was entitled to one-fourth of the mills, and to one-fourth of
the waste water of the leat. The Master of the Rolls in
1845 decided the other way.
Head Weir and Harter.
Great controversy began in 1882, and continued for several
years, in connection with the proposal to make a storage
reservoir, first suggested in 1826. Sir Massey Lopes declined

454 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
to seb a site applied for at the Head Weir ; and the Council
then agreed to buy one from him at Harter, 2\ miles farther
up the Meavy valley, for £150 a year or £5,000 down. A
meeting of owners and ratepayers in July, 1883, rejected
this proposal by about 2,500 votes to eight. The land on the
left bank of the river at the Head Weir belonged to Mr.
John Bayly, and September 25th, 1884, he gave to the town
his portion of the site of the proposed reservoir, being 23|
acres. Sir M. Lopes, however, still refused to part with his
portion ; and in the summer of 1886 the Harter Scheme was
revived. This led to the renewal of the struggle — in the
Council Chamber; in meetings called by a Eatepayers'
Association, formed in September, 1886, specially for the
purpose of defending the 'water rights' of the town ; and in
the columns of the local newspapers : the feeling being
heightened by a letter from Sir Massey Lopes, stating that if
the Head Weir Site were pressed he was prepared ' to contest
it, and in so doing I should raise the question of the purposes
for which the water is taken.' The Harter Scheme was chiefly
defended in the press by the Mayor, Mr. W. H. Alger ; and
chiefly opposed by Mr. A. E. Debnam on engineering issues ;
and by Mr. E. N. Worth, the Secretary of the Water Eights
Association, on historical and legal grounds. The knot was
suddenly cut by the agreement of Sir Massey Lopes to sell ;
and on survey £15,750 was agreed on as the price. The
Councd then as a body dropped Harter and adopted Head
Weir, though some of its members still favoured the higher
position ; and on the 26th November, 1886, the Head Weir
Scheme was accepted by a statutory meeting, with only one
dissentient. To aid the movement, Mr. Worth's letters
were reprinted in pamphlet form and several thousands
freely distributed.
Powers to make a reservoir at the Head Weir were
obtained in 1887 ; and explorations made to ascertain the
best position for the dam. These at first proved most
unsatisfactory ; but another line being chosen farther down
the valley, what was reported as a practicable site was
found. The estimate of the probable cost, however, was
much higher than had been anticipated ; and the advocates
of Harter brought their proposal once more to the front;
whilst a party who had always been against the construction
of any storage reservoir, argued that the piping of the leat
from Eoborough and other measures had led to great economy,
and that if properly managed the supply of water was
ample even in the driest season.

WATER FAMINE. 455
The most exciting controversy recorded in the annals of
the Municipal life of Plymouth followed. The proposals
were again and again debated in the Council Chamber,
and in public meetings held outside. The Water Eights
Association was revived, and a memorial signed by between
thirteen and fourteen hundred of the ratepayers — largely
representative men of business — was presented to the Council,
setting forth that in the opinion of the memorialists the
permanent interests of the community demanded the con
struction of a reservoir at Head Weir in preference to
Harter. The majority of the Council, however, decided to go to
Parliament for powers to make a reservoir at Harter, upon
plans prepared by Mr. Hawksley, F.R.S. ; and a statutory
meeting of owners and ratepayers to ratify or reject that
step was cabed on February 3rd, 1890. The Mayor, Mr.
H. J. Waring, presided, and by arrangement the respective
cases of the promoters and opponents were set forth by three
speakers on either side — Mr. J. E. Moon, Chairman of the
Water Committee, Mr. C. F. Burnard, and Mr. F. Morrish
supporting the bill ; and Mr. E N. Worth, Mr. J. T. Bond,
and Mr. A. E. Debnam opposing. The vote showed an
enormous majority against the measure, and a poll of the
town was demanded. Both parties made strenuous efforts
to 'educate' the voters by the circulation of leaflets and
pamphlets, and by posting placards ; while the Water Eights
Association also called ward meetings, at which the chief
points at issue were debated with great spirit. The poll was
taken by voting papers, distributed at the houses of the
voters, and collected therefrom, in March, 1890, and gave
6,849 votes against Harter to 2,659 for. The bill was then
withdrawn, and its supporters, with the exception of the
Mayor, resigned their seats on the Water Committee. The
cost of the poll, as web as that incidental to the educational
process on the Harter side, was wholly defrayed by the
twenty-seven members of the Councb who had supported
the scheme. That of the opposition was met by public
subscription. Water Famine.
The water supply, often short in the height of summer,
came to a complete standstill in January, 1881, when a
frost and snow storm of almost unexampled severity blocked
the Leat, and prevented any water reaching Plymouth. The
distress was very great. All the manufactories using the

456 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
town water were stopped, and the population thrown wholly
dependent upon wells, save for what little could be dipped
from the town reservoirs. All the webs that could be opened
were brought into use, public and private ; water-carts were
sent round ; water was sold by the barrel. Eventually the
Leat was cleared by military and civiban labour at a cost
of some £700, and the ' water famine ' ended.

The Fishing Feast.
Almost the only surviving relic of ancient usage connected
with the Corporation is the Fishing Feast, held annually in
August. The Mayor and Corporation then inspect the Leat,
and at the Head Weir drink in water to ' The pious memory
of Sir Francis Drake ' ; and in wine, ' May the descendants
of him who brought us water never want wine,' which,
seeing that Sir Francis left no descendants, is a harmless
sort of wish that can do bttle good and certainly no harm.
It used to be thought this feast dated from Elizabethan
days, but it cannot be traced earlier than the beginning
of the eighteenth century; and the probability is that
it originated during the recordership of Sir Francis Drake,
1697-1717. There was no such custom when Yonge wrote
his Plimouth Memoirs in 1684 ; for he gives a fuU list of the
high days of the borough, and of 'ye Mayors' Feasts and
other Treatments,' and therein it finds no place. Earber
than this there are only a few casual entries of payments to
those who viewed the Leat on special occasions.

CHAPTEE XVII.
LITERATURE, SGIENCE, AND ART.
There learned arts do flourish in great honour,
And poets' wits are had in peerless price. — Spenser.
He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one ;
Exceeding wise, fair spoken, and persuading. — Shakspere.
Old Plymouth, thou shalt still
Tell thine own story in the deathless fame
Of many sons whose names shall live revered
For genius, valour's high emprize, and worth
When nobler nothings moulder in the earth. — Gandy.
Literature.
ANY town might be proud of the roll of Plymouthians
who have distinguished themselves in Science, Art, and
Literature; and this chapter might with ease be expanded
into a volume. The writer's Three Towns' Bibliotheca, in the
Transactions of the Plymouth Institution, contains the titles
of upwards of 2,800 books, pamphlets, and papers published
in or relating to the Three Towns, or written by natives
thereof, down to the year 1880. The Eev. J. I. Dredge has
added materially to this list up to the end of the eighteenth
century ; and a full total to the present date would probably
reach 4,000 entries.
If- we may rely upon Camden, the first literary character
of Plymouth was Ealphage the priest, who flourished in the
reign of Eufus.
The first bterary compositions of Plymouth men trans
mitted to us are, however, Sir John Hawkins's narrative of
his disastrous voyage to San Juan de Ulloa in 1567-8, and
John Sparke's account of Hawkins's second Guinea voyage
in 1564 onward — preserved by Hakluyt. The first book
particularly connected with the town is a treatise on the
education of children, written by William Kempe, master

458 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
of the Grammar School, and dedicated to ' Wilbam Hawkins
maior,' in the Armada year.
Next we have various matters associated with the murder
of ' Old Page,' merchant, by his wife and her lover, at his
house in Woolster Street, February 11th, 1591. Johnson
and Dekker wrote a tragedy founded on the occurrence.
This is lost ; but a very scarce tract, giving an account of
the crime, was reprinted in the second volume of the
Shakspere Society Papers, and some ballads are also extant.
The titles of three of these latter are :
Lamentation of Mr. Page's wife, of Plimouth, who being enforced
to wed against her wib, did consent to his murder for the
love of George Strangwidge, for which fact they suffered
death at Barnstable, in Devon. The tune is Fortune my Foe.
Lamentation of George Strangwidge, who for consenting to the
death of Mr. Page, of Plimouth, suffered death at Barnstable.
The complaint of Mrs. Page for causing her husband to be
murdered for the love of George Strangwidge, who were
executed together.1
The story and the ballads were exceedingly popular ; and
the writers sympathised far more with the offenders than
with their victim. Strangwidge is made to say —
Farewell, my love, whose loyal heart was seen,
I would thou hadst not half so constant been ;
Farewell, my love, the pride of Plymouth town ;
Farewell the flower whose beauty is cut down.
1 Another broad-sheet ballad of the period is entitled, 'A warning for
married women by the example of Mrs. Jane Renolds, a Westcountry woman,
born neere unto Plymouth, who having plighted her troth to a seaman, was
after married to a carpenter, and at Plymouth carried away by a spirit ; the
manner how shall be presently related.' Yet another of later date (1640)
records the gallant defence made by the Elizabeth Jane, a 200 ton merchant
man of Plymouth, against three 'Turkish pyrats men of warre,' off the
coast of Cornwall. All these are in the Roxburgh Collection.
Inasmuch as Mr. Halliwell devoted an entire volume to a dissertation on
nursery rhymes, we may be allowed to appropriate a note to a couple of
examples of Plymouthian domestic versification. We give the first in the
vernacular- Barber> Darber) bo.sun>
Cut off his head an' roast 'un,
Put un in a bisky bag,
An' send un over to Osun.
A Devonport version substitutes Cawsan(d) for Oreston in the last line. The
second runs- n ,g flv? 0,c,ock ^ oyer ^^
The ships are gone to sea ;
There 's nobody home but Punch and Joan,
Having a cup of tea.
Doubtless in each of these cases there is some hidden, though no apparent,
meaning. The nautical illusions do not indicate a very high antiquity.

LITERATURE. 459
And Mrs. Page declares of her lover —
Wronged he was through fond desire of gain ;
Wronged he was even through my parents' plain ;
If faith and troth a perfect pledge might be,
I had been wife unto no man but he.
Sir Eichard Hawkins, son of the famed Sir John, wrote
an account of his luckless voyage to the South Seas, under
the title of 'The Observations of Sir Eichard Hawkins,
Knight, on his voiage into the South Sea, which be made in
1593.' The book was published in 1622, and dedicated to
the Prince of Wales, afterwards Charles I. Hawkins remarks
that the voyage had brought upon him 'nothing but losse
and misery, whilst unto your Highness, your Heires, and
Successors, it is most likely to be advantageous.' He had
intended to write a second part.
A statesman of considerable ability, Sir Thomas Edmonds,
was born at Plymouth in 1562, his father being the customer.
He became Ambassador for James I. to Brussels and to France;
and was subsequently Comptroller of the Household, Treasurer,
and Steward of the Marshalsea. He distinguished himself
by his opposition to the political views of the Catholic party;
and many of his papers are of permanent interest.
A volume of sermons, 'The Excellency of Christ or the
Eose of Sharon,' by Christopher Jelinger, minister of Stone
house, published in 1641, preserves the name of Wibiam
Eussell, the first recorded bookseber of Plymouth.
John Quick, ejected from the living of Brixton, was born
at Plymouth in 1636. After 1662 he was imprisoned at
Plymouth, and finally became pastor of the church at Middle-
burg, in Zealand. He wrote largely, his principal work being
a History of the Councbs of the French Eeformed Church.
Joseph Glanvill, divine and philosopher, was born at
Plymouth in the same year as Quick; his father being a
merchant. He became Eector of Bath, Chaplain to the
King, and Prebendary of Worcester, and died in 1680. He
was a voluminous writer on philosophical and theological
subjects ; but is chiefly known by his treatises concerning
witchcraft and apparitions. Among his principal writings
are ' Philosophia Pia ; or, a Discourse of the Eeligious Temper
and Tendencies of the Experimental Philosophy which is
prof est by the Eoyal Society' ; ' Plus ultra ; or the Progress
and Advancement of Knowledge since the Days of Aristotle';2
8 One Dr. Stubbes, of Warwick, wrote against this work, and Glanvill
rejoined in another, 'wherein the malignity, hypocrisie, falsehood of his
[Stubbes's] temper, pretences, reports, and the impertinency of his arguings
and quotations in his animadversions on 'Plus Ultra,' are discovered.

460 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
' The Vanity of Dogmatizing'; ' Scepsis Scientifica ; or Confest
Ignorance the way to Science ' ; ' A Blow at Modern Saddu-
cism'; and 'Saducismus Triumphatus; or, Full and Plain
Evidence concerning Witches and Apparitions.'
George Hughes, the well-known vicar of St. Andrew,
wrote several religious works, and his 'Dry Eod Blooming
and Fruit-bearing' was declared by Baxter to be the best
of its class. Several of bis sermons are embodied in his
'Analytical Exposition of the Book of Genesis, and the first
Twenty-three Chapters of Exodus.' Crane, also of the
'ejected,' a native of Plymouth, wrote 'a valuable treatise'
on Divine Providence. Abraham Cheare, pastor of the
Baptist Church, another Plymouthian, penned poetry as
web as theology. Some of his writings were published
after his death: in 'A Looking-glass for Children'; and
' Words in Season.' They are very quaint, and very earnest.
Abednego Sellar, nonjuror, was also a Plymouth theologian.
Alexander Grosse, Vicar of Plympton St. Mary (see page
241), was a great favourite in Plymouth, and pubbshed
sundry funeral sermons on Plymouth worthies.
In 1662, Francis Drake, nephew of the circumnavigator,
wrote 'The World Encompassed/ a narrative of his uncle's
adventures. Taylor, 'the water poet,' visited Plymouth in 1649, and
held some converse ' across the way' with Colonel Wm. Leg,
then prisoner in the Guildhall. Thomas Eatcliff and
Wdliam Weeks gave Taylor ' smoke and drink in Plymouth,
for which I requite them with paper and ink in London.'
Early in the eighteenth century Jacob Bryant, the noted
mythologist, was born. He left Plymouth when a child, and
never revisited his native town. His classical attainments
were great, and he wrote largely. His best known work
is his disquisition on ancient mythology. This was published
in 1774, under the title of ' A New System in an Analysis
of Ancient Mythology, wherein an attempt is made to
divest tradition of fabie, and to reduce the truth to its
original purity.' Most of his writings were on classical
subjects, but he was one of the champions in the controversy
respecting the authenticity of the Eowley poems ; and he
wrote several books in defence of revealed religion — upon
the plagues of Egypt; the authenticity of Scripture; 'the
passages in Scripture which the enemies of religion thought
most obnoxious ' ; and upon the Logos.
Dr. Zachary Mudge, vicar of St. Andrew (1731-1769),
born in Plymouth in 1694, 'was educated at Exeter, and

LITERATURE. 461
was at first a Dissenting minister at Bideford, but on con
forming to the Church obtained preferment.' He published
in 1739 a volume of sermons, which gained extensive
circulation. Another work of his was an 'Essay towards
a New English Version of the Book of Psalms.' Mudge
was regarded by Northcote and Reynolds as a man of
extraordinary talents. ' Even Burke bowed to his authority,
and Sir Joshua thought him the wisest man he ever knew.'
The opinions of Johnson and Eeynolds prepossessed them
in his favour, and 'they came to consider hbn a sort of
miracle of virtue and wisdom.'3
Another famous Plymouth divine was Dr. Hawker, who
was born at Exeter in 1752, and became vicar of Charles in
1784. He was a strong Calvinist, possessed exceptional
pulpit powers, and a most voluminous writer. So great was
his popularity that during his ministrations the accommo
dation of the church had to be largely extended by the
addition of galleries. The influence of his teaching has not
disappeared, although High Calvinistic doctrines are very
far from being locally so popular as he left them. Among
his books, which would form a library of themselves, are
'Hints to those who write against Antinomianism ' ; 'Meet
Morsels to Hungry Souls in the Lord's Word for the Lord's
People'; 'Lectures on the Person, Godhead, and Ministry of
the Holy Spirit'; ' Evidence of Plenary Inspiration'; ' Becom-
mendation of Private Prayer'; ' Misericordia ; or, Companion
to the Sorrows of the Heart'; 'Christian's Pocket Companion';
'Youth's Catechism'; 'Specimens of Preaching'; 'Life of
William Combes'; 'Life of Henry Tanner'; 'Letters to a
Barrister on Evangelical Preaching'; 'Letter on the London
Female Penitentiary'; 'The Commentary on the Bible';
the ' Poor Man's Commentary on the Old and New Testa
ments '; 'Morning and Evening Portions.'
Henry Moore, the last Presbyterian (Unitarian) minister
of Liskeard, was born at Plymouth in 1732, and educated
under Dr. Doddridge. He settled at Liskeard about 1787,
and died there. He was a man of very amiable character,
and possessed considerable taste and learning. A small
volume of his poems was published after his death by Dr.
Aikin. Nathaniel Howard, schoolmaster at Tamerton, a native
of Plymouth, was remarkable for his acquaintance with
languages. Proof of his proficiency in Persian was given in
a paper on Persian poetry contributed by him to the first
* Hazutt's Conversations of Northcote.

462 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
volume of the Transactions of the Plymouth Institution.
He published a translation of the ' Inferno,' and (1804) an
original poem on Bickleigh Vale.
The greatest poet whom the South of Devon, since the
days- of Browne, has produced, was born at Plymouth in
1777, though all his life activity was connected with Devon-
port. N. T. Carrington found time amidst the wearisome
duties of a most laborious vocation, that of a schoolmaster,
to write several volumes which place him high in rank
among English poets of the second class. After giving to
the world a number of scattered pieces, he published in 1820
his ' Banks of Tamar.' In 1826 followed, with preface and
notes by Mr. W. Burt, his most important and best known
work, ' Dartmoor,' which went through two editions in twelve
months. Lastly in 1830, the year of the author's death,
appeared ' My Native Village.' Northcote thought Dartmoor
better than its subject. The engravings were 'too fine by
half; and the author had 'shown his genius in creating
beauties where there were none, and in exhibiting enthusiasm
for rocks and quagmires !' So much for the taste of an r.a.
Dr. Bidlake, born at Plymouth in 1751, ' became master of
the Grammar School, and incumbent of the chapelry at
Stonehouse.' He was a man of very varied acquirements;
' music, painting, and poetry, divided his time with pursuits
more strictly professional' He wrote several works, in
cluding sermons and poems, and was a Bampton Lecturer.
His 'Virginia' was published in 1800, and his 'Year' in 1813.
Samuel Eowe, author of the ' Panorama of Plymouth,' and
of the ' Perambulation of Dartmoor,' still the most complete
and important work upon the Forest,4 though not a native of
Plymouth, was chiefly connected with it. Born at Brixton
in 1793, he set up in business at Plymouth at the age of 19
as a stationer. Subsequently he went to College, and
becoming ordained, was successively Curate of St. Andrew ;
St. Budeaux ; St. Paul, Stonehouse ; St. George, Stonehouse ;
and finally Vicar of Crediton. He died in 1853.
Dr. Kitto, the deaf author, is one of the most remarkable
figures in the literary history of Plymouth. Kitto's parents
were Cornish, and he was born in Stillman Street in December,
1804. His father was a mason,5 and Kitto was brought up
4 The Dartmoor Preservation Society, which has its head quarters at
Plymouth, in 1890 published a most important volume of original documents
connected with Dartmoor, reported on by Mr. Stuart Moore. Mr. W. Crossing
has also made valuable contributions to Dartmoor literature ; and Mr. R.
Burnard has admirably illustrated Dartmoor scenery.
5 Kitto's uncle constructed the Embankment Works on the Laira.

LITERATURE. 463
to assist him. In February, 1817, whilst helping his father
on the roof of a house he fell thirty-five feet to the ground,
and when he recovered consciousness was found to have lost
the sense of hearing. His famby were in very humble
circumstances, and he was put into the Workhouse. There
he remained until 1821, when he was bound apprentice to
a shoemaker named Bowden. Circumstances led to his
indenture being cancelled, and to his return to the Work
house. A paper written by him in 1823 came to the notice
of the Hele trustees ; and he was taken in hand by the Eev.
Eobert Lampen, Dr. Woobcombe, Col. Hawker, and Mr. G.
Harvey; and put to board with a good friend, Mr. E.
Burnard, clerk to the Workhouse. Some of his essays then
appeared in print in the Plymouth Herald. After three or
four years he sought to learn dentistry with Mr. Groves, of
Exeter. Not liking tiie occupation, he became connected
with the Church Missionary Society, and under its auspices
went to Malta. Subsequently he joined his old friend Mr.
Groves at Bagdad, where he remained for several years. He
died in 1854 at Cannstadt. His writings are many, but his
principal works are the 'Pictorial Bible' and the 'Ency
clopaedia of Biblical Literature.'
Some very quaint and eccentric works were issued by Mr.
Eobert Webb Stone Baron, who dubbed himself the poet
corporate, and who was quite an authority upon matters
municipal. Among them are ' Mayor-chosing Day at Ply
mouth, or the Lambertine of the Angels ' (1824) ; ' Municipal
Eeform, or the Old Guiled all and the New Gibed ab';
' Our Charter Week ' ; ' Our Act Week ' ; ' Gnothi Seauton :
the Holey Cubender superseded by the Holy Calendar, a
Church Almanac, &c.' (1844) ; ' Mayors and Mayoralties, or
the Annals of the Borough ' (1846).
The first place among modern Plymouthians belongs to
the late Lord Monkswell. Born in 1817, in 1852 he entered
Parliament for Plymouth, for which his father, Mr. John
Colber, had sat from 1832 to 1842. Mr. E. P. Collier, as he
was then, became Solicitor -General in 1863, Attorney-
General in 1868, a member of the Judicial Committee of
the Privy Council in 1871, and was raised to the peerage
as Lord Monkswell in 1885, dying in 1886. He made his
mark alike as a lawyer, a statesman, a man of letters, and
an artist. In the first capacity he pubbshed authoritative
treatises on rabway and mining law ; in the second he took
a leading part in the reform which culminated in the
establishment of the Probate Court, and in the repeal of

464 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
the paper duties; in the third he published admirable
translations of Lucretius and Demosthenes; and as an
amateur artist he was hardly equalled.
Among other deceased literary Plymouthians and their
works should be mentioned : William Burt, solicitor, 1778-
1826, editor of Dock Telegraph, secretary Plymouth Chamber
of Commerce, author of the ' Commerce of the Port of
Plymouth,' poems, and other works. Mortimer Collier,
1827-76, journalist, facile writer of society verse, author
of several novels. Sophie Dixon, d. 1855, ' Castaban Hours,'
' Excursions to Dartmoor.' Edward Gandy, ' Caswallon and
other Dramas ' ; ' Moods and Tenses.' Eev. E. S. Hawker, of
Morwenstow, 1805-76, whose writings are widely known,
author of the current version of ' Shall Trelawny Die.' Eev.
Peter Holmes, sometime headmaster of the Grammar School,
born at Bickleigh, but doing his life-work in Plymouth, d. 1878,
author of many learned 'translations and articles, chiefly
theological. Eichard John King, d. 1879, 'Anschar,' the
' Forest of Dartmoor,' Murray's ' Cathedrals,' and the writer
of numerous historical and antiquarian articles, largely
western, of the highest value. Samuel Prideaux Tregelles,
one of the most distinguished of modern Biblical critics;
not a native of the town, but doing most of his work and
spending the last years of his life there, d. 1875, author of a
valued critical edition of the Greek New Testament. Percy
B. St. John, 1821-1889, novebst and journabst, one of the
most ready writers among Plymouth men.
Plymouth Journalism.
The first printing press in Plymouth was set up in 1696
by D. Jourdaine ; and the first newspaper issued in the town,
though not in the county of Devon, appeared just a quarter
of a century later, under the title of ' The Plymouth Weekly
Journal, or General Post ; containing an impartial account of
all the most material occurrences, foreign and domestic,'
' printed by E. Kent, in Southside Street, near the New Key,
where advertisements are taken in, and all other business
relating to printing done as well and as cheap as in London,
or any other place.' The Journal begun in September, 1721,
and died in September, 1723. It sold for l|d. Nearly
sixty years passed before it had a successor. The Plymouth
Chronicle commenced in May, 1780, and stopped in May,
1782. In March, 1808, another paper of the same name
was started, which lasted just ten years. In August, 1819,

PLYMOUTH JOURNALISM. 465
the Plymouth and Devonport Weekly Journal commenced.
In 1863 it was merged into the Western Daily Mercury,
established by its proprietor in 1860. The Plymouth Gazette
lasted from August, 1819, until October, 1820. In the
following month of the latter year, the Plymouth, Devonport,
and Stonehouse Herald was established. In 1868-9 this
paper was published for a short time as a daily. The
Plymouth, Devonport, and Stonehouse Advertiser lasted from
March, 1831, to March, 1832. The Plymouth, Devonport,
and Stonehouse News, which commenced in September, 1836,
ceased to appear in April, 1837. The Plymouth Times was
started in February, 1842, and after vicissitudes died some
thirty years since. The South- Western Standard only endured
from September to November, 1844. The Three Towns
Mercury was issued for awhile in 1856. In December, 1852,
was started the Plymouth Mail, which in July, 1862, was
amalgamated with the Western Morning News, the oldest
daily paper west of Bristol, established in 1860. The News
also absorbed the oldest Devonport paper, the Telegraph,
established in 1808. The Western Weekly News originated
in October, 1861. The Western Daily Standard, first pub-
bshed March, 1869, ceased to be in March, 1870. It was
revived in September of the latter year as a weekly with a
daby Telegram, but finally stopped in November. The Western
Globe was born and died in 1873. The Evening News and
Evening Mercury had a very ephemeral existence in 1877. The
only newspapers now issued in Plymouth are the News and
Mercury daby, the Weekly News and Weekly Mercury weekly.
Numerous magazines have been pubbshed in the town.
None have had a very successful career. In 1770 appeared
the Plymouth Magazine, which only reached six numbers;
in 1772, the Plymouth Magazine and Devonshire Miscellany ;
in 1781, the Devon and Cornwall Magazine; in 1809, the
Selector, edited by Bidlake, of which but three numbers were
issued; in 1814, the Plymouth Literary Magazine ; in 1815,
the Plymouth Journal. In 1822 came the Magnet, which
reached its third half-yearly volume, and on the discon
tinuance of which the Devon and Cornwall Magazine was
commenced. The first number of the Theatrical Spy appeared
in January, 1828; it continued several months. In 1830
the Philo -Danmonium, which Mr. Wightwick edited, was
started; six parts were issued. In 1833 the South Devon
Monthly Museum, which had a much longer career than any
of its predecessors, and reached the seventh volume, was
commenced by the Messrs. Hearder. In 1834 the Christian
2 H

466 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Witness, a quarterly religious journal, appeared. In 1840
came the West of England Magazine, edited by the Eev. W.
Beal. The South Devon Literary Chronicle was started in
1846 as a weekly magazine, and in the following year was
issued monthly; it did not survive 1847. In January of
the latter year was commenced the Plymouth Health of
Towns Advocate, a monthly journal, devoted to the interests
of sanitary work in Plymouth, and principally promoted by
the Eev. W. J. Odgers; it lasted six months. In 1855 the
Plymouth and Devonport Penny Magazine, and in 1857 the
Plymouth and Devonport Monthly Magazine, appeared, but
only for a short time. The like fate attended the Temperance
Intelligencer, the first number of which was issued in 1861 ;
the Devon and Cornwall Magazine (1862), Clack, a clever
monthly magazine (1865), and the Western Chronicle of Current
Events (1869). The Devon and Cornwall Temperance Journal,
published by the Devon and Cornwall Temperance League,
continued for some years from 1868. In 1870 the Mannamead
School Magazine commenced. In 1871 the Three Towns
Methodist Messenger was sent forth, and comic serials entitled
the Thunderbolt and the Lantern. Neither of these had a
long term of existence, but the Thunderbolt may be regarded
as continuing in the Western Figaro, a comic Ulustrated
weekly, established in 1877. The Western Critic started in
1871, but saw only six numbers. The Devon and Cornwall
Illustrated Weekly and the Western Counties' Herald com
pleted their span in 1874 ; and the fobowing year for a brief
space saw two local Tichborne organs — the Western Magnet
and the Voice of the People. The Men of the West made an
appearance in 1877. The Ratepayer, issued by the Eev.
"William Sharman in 1882, to cab attention to matters of
local politics, had three issues. The first number of the
Girls' High School Magazine was issued in 1880, and that
of the Plymouthian of the Boys' High School (Plymouth
College) in 1883.
The Church in the West, a weekly Church paper, estabbshed
in 1883, continues ; but the Christian Echo, started to repre
sent Protestant anti-clericalism, has ceased to be. Magazines
representing art were issued in 1888 — the Western Art Student
by Mr. H. E. Babb, and the Western Portfolio, which continues,
by Mr. Godfrey Evans. The Western Antiquary, edited by
Mr. W. H. K. Wright, commenced in 1881. Smith's
Plymouth Almanac has reached its thirty-third year; and
Doidge's Plymouth Annual its twenty-third year. There
are several ' localised ' parish magazines.

INSTITUTIONS. 467
Institutions.
In passing from literature to science, it will be convenient
in the first place to trace the history of the literary and
scientific institutions. Mr. Eooker, who wrote an excellent
paper on the 'Literature and Literary Men of Plymouth,'
mentions that at the time of the visit of Dr. Johnson in 1762
there was a literary club6 in Plymouth holding its meetings
at the Pope's Head; and which, having originated in the
casual meeting of gentlemen who were accustomed to bathe
under the Hoe, was called the Otter Club. Another club,
held at the Bunch of Grapes, Kinterbury Street, is memor
able as having been connected with a veritable ghost story.
The president (Dr. Mudge) was lying dangerously ill one
club night, when suddenly what was taken for his ghost
walked in, took the vacant chair, lifted an empty glass, and
departed again. As soon as the terror-stricken members
could muster courage to make enquiries at the president's
residence hard by, they were still more horrified to learn
that he had just died. It was not until the decease of his
nurse, several years afterwards, that she confessed he had
paid the visit to the club in propria persona — the rubng
passion strong in death — whilst she was neglecting her
charge. The Proprietary and Cottonian Library ' originated chiefly
in the bterary zeal' of Mr. George Eastlake, in 1810. The
foundation-stone of the library bubding was laid in 1812,
a porcelain box made at the Pottery being deposited at
the same time. The - Library contains the Cottonian and
Halbweb collections. The former, presented in 1850, con
sists of prints, sketches by celebrated masters, bronzes,
carvings, works in art, and three portraits by Sir Joshua
Eeynolds. The building was extended for its accommodation
at a cost of £1,500. The Halbweb collection of manuscripts
Was the gift of Mr. J. 0. Halbwell-Phibipps, F.R.S., F.S.A. It
comprises many rarities.
The Free Library was opened in August, 1876, mainly
through the exertions of the late Mr. E. C. Serpell. It
has a valuable local section, formed by the librarian, Mr.
W. H. K. Wright. The Free Library Act bad been adopted
in 1871.
' The clubs of Plymouth in the present day are chiefly social or political ;
the leading ones being the Royal Western Yacht Club, the Plymouth Club,
and the clubs representing the great political parties in the State. They are
all, however, more or less social. Then there is also the Plymouth Pedestrians
Club, designed to afford healthy recreation and extend the knowledge of the
neighbourhood. 2 H 2

468 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
The Library of the Law Society was originally founded
in 1815.
The Mechanics' Institute was established in 1825, shortly
after the formation of an institution at Devonport, intended
to embrace the Three Towns. The first Institute bubding
in Princess Square was opened by an introductory address
from Dr. Cookworthy in December, 1827. These premises
were removed and the present capacious edifice erected,
in 1849.
The Plymouth Institution has been for well-nigh four
score years the centre of Plymouthian bterary and scientific
life. Mr. Henry Woobcombe had the honour of being its
founder. It originated in 1812 in a small society, the
members of which used to meet alternately at each other's
houses. Afterwards they assembled in a room in Woolster
Street, then in the committee-room of the Pubbe Library,
then in the Fine Art Gabery, Frankfort Street. In 1818
the Athenaeum was commenced, the foundation-stone being
laid on the 1st of May in that year by Mr. Woollcombe.
' On the 4th of February, 1819,' the Eev. Eobert Lampen
opened the new building, with a discourse 'worthy of the
occasion and of himself.' A museum originated subsequently —
building being commenced in 1828, and finished in 1829.
An attempt on the death of the Prince Consort to extend it
as an Albert Memorial did not succeed. The project was
revived, however, in the presidency of Mr. J. Brooking Eowe,
and carried to completion in the ensuing presidency of Mr.
E. N. Worth — the extensions made more than trebbng the
capacity of the old bubding. The local cobections of birds,
fishes, insects, fossils, rocks, and minerals are large and good,
special interest attaching to the unique series from the local
bone caves. The antiquities are likewise noteworthy.
The pubbshed Transactions of the Institution — the first
volume of which appeared in 1830 — contain many valuable
local papers. The leading writers are : Natural History — 'Sir
J. Lubbock, f.r.s.; Dr. W. E. Leach, F.R.S.; Dr. E. Moore, f.l.s. ;
Mr. J. Brooking Eowe, F.L.S., f.s.a. ; Mr. J. Boswarva ; Mr. J.
J. E. Eeading, M.E.S. ; Mr. F. H. Balkwill; Mr. C. Spence
Bate, F.R.S. ; Mr. G. C. Bignell, F.E.S. Botany— Mr. I. W. N.
Keys ; Mr. T. E. A. Briggs, F.L.S. ; Mr. D. D. Dobell ; Mr. E.
M. Holmes; Mr. F. Brent, f.s.a. Geology — Mr. John
Prideaux; Dr. E. Oxland; Mr. W. Pengeby, F.R.S. ; Mr. E.
N. Worth, F.G.S. ; Mr. J. C. Inglis, C.E. Antiquities and
History — Eev. S. Rowe, Mr. C. Spence Bate, Mr. J. Hine,
F.R.I.B.A., Mr. J. Brooking Eowe, Mr. G. Wareing Ormerod,

SCIENCE. 469
F.G.S., Mr. E. Burnard, Mr. F. Brent, Mr. E. G. Bennett, Mr.
A. J. Jewers, F.S.A., Mr. C. Wade, Mr. H. B. Woodhouse, Mr.
E. N. Worth, Mr. Fabyan Amery, Eev. G. Evans, Mr.
E. Hansford Worth, c.e. Literature — Dr. Weymouth, Eev.
W. S. L. Szyrma, Eev. Dr. Bannister, Mr. J. Shelly, Mr. E.
Windeatt, Eev. Professor Chapman, LL.D., Lord Monkswell,
Mr. E. N. Worth. Art— Mr. W. Eastlake, Mr. J. Hine. And
on miscellaneous topics — Dr. Hearder, Mr. W. F. Collier, Dr.
W. H. Pearse, Dr. Merrifield, F.R.A.S., Mr. D. Slater, Col.
Hamilton Smith, F.R.S., Sir W. Snow Harris, F.R.S., Mr. J. M.
Eendel, c.e., Mr. Nathaniel Howard, Eev. S. Beal.
Mr. Henry Woobcombe, the founder, indefatigably exerted
himself for many years in preparing a history of Plymouth.
His manuscripts, preserved at the Athenaeum, form a rich
storehouse of facts that, but for his industry and zeal, would
in all probability have been lost.
The most important scientific institution associated with
Plymouth has yet to be mentioned. The port was chosen as
the station of the Marine Biological Association, formed in
1884 ; and a site having been given by the Government on
the sea front of the Hoe, below the Citadel, the building
was formaby opened with an address from Professor Flower,
F.R.S., in June, 1888. It contains on the ground-floor a large
tank room ; on the upper floor a laboratory with a number
of working compartments ; numerous accessory rooms and
offices ; and in the eastern wing a residence for the super
intendent. Science.
The physicians and medical men of Plymouth were its
earliest scientific observers. Dr. James Yonge, F.R.S., who
died in 1721, not only practised with great success, but
wrote several phbosophical and medical works, including
' Medicastor Medicatus,' ' Sidrophie Vapulans,' ' Currus Tri-
umphabs,' 'Virtues of Oleum Terebinthinae,' 'Observations
on Chirurgy and Anatomy,' and the 'Natural Use of Can-
tharides,' besides contributing largely to the Philosophical
Transactions. His MS. autobiography is at the Athenaeum.
Dr. Huxham, author of a celebrated treatise on fevers,
practised and died in Plymouth. His work was translated
into several foreign languages; and the adoption of its
principles saving the life of the Queen of Portugal, brought
him much honour. Dr. John Mudge, son of Zachary Mudge,
the Vicar, won for himself an extended reputation by his
skdl, not only in his profession, but in mathematics and

470 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
optics. He wrote several medical works, including disser
tations on smallpox, cough, disease of the lungs, and
fractures. His brother Thomas was an eminent mechanician
and horologist. Dr. Woollcombe (1773-1822) pubbshed
several medical works, edited the last edition of Eisdon,
made large and valuable contributions to the last edition
of Prince's 'Worthies'; and wrote upon the vital statistics
of the town. Dr. Edward Moore dealt extensively with
zoological subjects. Mr. C. N. Moore, who died in 1870, was
the author of several works upon cancer. Mr. J. C. Bellamy,
member of another well-known Plymouth famby (1812-
1854), published in 1839 the 'Natural History of South
Devon' ; in 1843, the ' Housekeeper's Guide to the Fish
Market' ; and in 1850, ' A Thousand Facts in the History of
Devon and Cornwall, with special reference to Plymouth.' 7
Wbliam Elford Leach, some time curator of the British
Museum, was born at Plymouth in 1790. He was a
' naturalist of most indomitable enthusiasm, and very
extraordinary acquirements.' Kirby said of his zoological
labours that he handled everything, and adorned all that
he touched. In 1816 he pubbshed a Systematic Catalogue
of the Indigenous Mammals and Birds in the British
Museum ; and from 1814 to 1817, the Zoological Miscellany.
Among his other works are ' Malacostrata Podophthalmata
Britannica ' ; Mobuscorum Britanniae Synopsis ' ; 'On the
Genera and Species of Eproboscideous Insects'; and 'On
the Arrangement of Ostrideous Insects.' He died of cholera,
in Italy, in 1836.
The earliest geological work of importance in connection
with the locality was pubbshed about the year 1820, by
the Eev. E. Hennah, chaplain of the Garrison. It is en
titled ' A Succinct Account of the Lime Eocks of Plymouth,'
establishing the fossibferous character of these deposits,
and is blustrated with lithographs by a local artist of
ability, long since dead, Mr. Worsley. Peculiar interest
attaches to the limestone rocks of Plymouth, in consequence
of the discovery therein from time to time of caverns con-
7 There have been several noteworthy tidal disturbances recorded in con
nection with Sutton Pool. Thus on the occasion of the earthquake at
Lisbon a great 'bore' came into the harbour. So in 1781, at the time of
the earthquake of Quito, an abnormal flux and reflux were noted. In 1793
a tidal wave rose and fell rapidly, two feet, three times in an hour. In
1795 there was such a ' bore ' that vessels were driven from their anchors
in the Sound. On the 30th June, 1811, between three o'clock and seven,
the tide suddenly fell from eight feet to four feet, and rose again several
times. The rise and fall in five minutes was fully eleven feet.

science. 471
taining the remains of various extinct animals, those of
Oreston being the first scientifically investigated.
Sir William Snow Harris, next to Dr. Leach the best
known man of science Plymouth has produced, was born
in 1791. His father was a draper, and after studying at
Edinburgh University, he became assistant surgeon of the
Lancashire militia. He turned his attention to the physical
sciences, particularly electricity, and in 1828 read a paper at
the Athenaeum, the Duke of Clarence being present, on the
appbcation of lightning conductors to ships. In 1831 his
papers on the elementary laws of electricity procured him
the febowship of the Eoyal Society. In 1835 he gained the
Copley medal, and in 1839 his 'Enquiries concerning the
Elementary Laws of Electricity,' published in the Philosophical
Transactions, obtained the prize as the Bakerian lecture. In
1841 he was awarded a Government pension of £300 ; in
1845 had a vase presented to him by the Emperor of Eussia ;
and in 1847 received the honour of knighthood. He made
improvements in the compass, which were generally adopted ;
but is best known by his patented invention of tubular
lightning conductors for ships. The inertiae of the Govern
ment departments resisted their application for fifteen years ;
and when at length they were adopted he received no com
pensation untb the House of Commons voted him £5,000.
Afterwards came the pension and the knighthood. He died
in 1867. Sir William was a musical amateur of very high
quabfications. One of the most remarkable members of the Plymouth
Institution was Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton Smith. Born
in Flanders in 1776, he entered the English army, and after
a distinguished career, went on half-pay in 1820, shortly
after which he settled in Plymouth. He became a Fellow
of the Eoyal Society in 1824, and of the Linnaean in 1826.
On the formation of the Devon and Cornwall Natural
History Society (amalgamated in 1851 with the Plymouth
Institution), he was elected president. Colonel Smith was
a man of vast and miscellaneous erudition; his artistic
powers were great, and his industry indefatigable. Among
his published writings were the military part of Archdeacon
Coxe's 'Life of Marlborough'; and a narrative of the retreat
of the French from Moscow, written in French, and dis
seminated by the English Government in France. He was
engaged with Sir Samuel Meyrick in the production of his
great works, ' The Ancient Costume of the British Islands,'
and a ' Critical Enquiry into the History of Ancient Armour.'

472 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
As a natural historian he wrote largely. The ' Euminantia '
in Griffiths's edition of Cuvier's 'Animal Kingdom,' were by
him; and he wrote the volumes on 'Dogs,' 'Horses,' the
'Introduction to Mammaba'; and the 'Natural History of
the Human Species,' in the Naturalists' Library. At his
death in 1859 Colonel Smith left behind him more than
twenty thick volumes of manuscript notes upon almost
every conceivable topic, to a large extent blustrative of his
cobection of water-colour drawings, many thousands in
number, all executed by himself, and embracing every variety
of subject.
John Prideaux, another prominent member of the Ply
mouth Institution, and a native of the town, attained to
considerable eminence as a chemist, and became professor of
chemistry in the Cornish Mining School. Born in 1787, he
died in 1859.
Jonathan Hearder, born at Plymouth in 1809, turned his
attention so early to electrical and chemical topics that he
became a public lecturer at the age of 17. At 21 he lost his
sight, through the accidental explosion of silver fulminate.
But this did not prevent the successful prosecution of his
electrical studies and various practical investigations ; whbe
he continued to prove not only an acceptable lecturer, but a
most successful public experimenter. He was one of the
earliest to suggest the practical utilization of the electric
light ; and his inventions of electrical apparatus were
numerous and important. He died in 1876.
Dr. Lethaby, medical officer of the city of London, who
died in 1876, was also a Plymouthian.
Charles Spence Bate, F.R.S., F.L.S., a leading authority on
the Crustacea, died in 1889, after living for many years in
Plymouth, and being most actively engaged in ab its scientific
concerns. Mr. Bate's chief separate works, in addition to
many papers, are a ' Catalogue of the Amphipodan Crustacea
in the British Museum ' ; a ' History of the British Sessile-
eyed Crustacea' (in conjunction with Mr. Westwood); and
one of the ' Eeports on the Challenger Crustacea.'
The important scientific work by another active member
of the Plymouth Institution, happily still bving, demands
special notice. Mr. T. E. A. Briggs, f.l.s., is the leading
authority on the Botany of the locabty, and has published
an admirable text-book — the 'Flora of Plymouth.'
Visits have been paid to Plymouth by the great scientific
and abied societies. The British Association in 1841 and
1877; the Social Science Congress in 1872; the Pharma-

MUSIC AND THE STAGE. 473
ceutical Congress in 1877; the British Archaeological Associa
tion in 1883 ; the Geologists' Association in 1884; the Con
ference of Librarians of the Library Association in 1885.
A party of Colonial and Indian visitors who came to England
in connection with the Colonial Exhibition were entertained
by the Mayor, Mr. W. H. Alger, in 1886.
As connected with science the fact may be mentioned
that in July, 1774, an unfortunate inventor named Day went
down in twenty-four fathoms of water between Drakes
Island and Devils Point in a submarine vessel of his own
construction. His intention was to remain under water
twenty-four hours, but nothing of him or of his vessel has
been seen for more than a hundred years.
Music and the Stage.
That music was appreciated in mediaeval Plymouth we
may gather from the Corporate payments on the Church
choir, but more amusingly from the entry In 1586 that
George Stalbnge had 40s. for his (parish) clerkship, but £4
for ' playing on the waits.' The ' waits ' were a municipal
institution like the town drummer, and they had a tradition,
which record does not warrant, that they were instituted by
Drake — for they had ' tawny' uniforms provided for them as
early as 1496. What with May-Day and Midsummer-Night
observances, guild days and plays, there was plenty of
amusement in the sixteenth -century community. The
musical societies of modern Plymouth deservedly take high
rank. The chief are the Plymouth Vocal Association, and
the Private Choral and Orchestral Society, by whom the
leading masterpieces of the great composers are produced
with very marked success. Plymouth, in fact, was never
more musical than now. One of the best known of English
present-day contraltos, Madame Marian McKenzie, is a
native of Plymouth.
Plymouth has contributed to the stage in the person of
Maria Foote, afterwards the Countess of Harrington, born
in 1798, while her father, who had been an officer of the
army, was lessee of the Plymouth Theatre. She made her
debat at Covent Garden in 1817, and at once became the
favourite of the town in genteel comedy, and in such parts
as Rosalind, Imogen, and Beatrice. The sister town of
Devonport claims that sterling actor of the historic school,
Samuel Phelps, born in 1806, and originally apprenticed to
a printer. For many years the Plymouth Theatre Eoyal

474 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
was under the management of John Eiley Newcombe, who
at the age of eighty displayed the activity and energy of
fifty, and when he died was the oldest theatrical manager
in England. A yet more remarkable veteran, James Doel,
in bis time one of the best low comedians of the old
school, stib treads the stage at his annual benefit. He was
for years the manager of the once famous Theatre Eoyal,
Devonport. Art.
Plymouth has won great repute in matters artistic. It
has given birth to three Eoyal Academicians and to one
President of the Eoyal Academy, whilst another, Sir Joshua
Eeynolds, first practised his art within the town, of which
he may almost be considered a native. At least Plympton,
Sir Joshua's birth-place, is now a suburb of Plymouth. The
town was likewise the home of the greatest water-colour
artist of the West.
Mr. G. Pycrof t in his Art in Devon gives the first place to
Devon as an ' art producing ' county ; and the first place in
the kingdom to Plymouth — ' Of ab English provincial cities
Plymouth with its neighbourhood stands first, as the parent
of six painters of the highest order, whose works have been
held worthy of a place in the National Gallery; viz., Sir
Joshua Eeynolds, Prout, Eastlake, Haydon, Northcote, and
Solomon Hart, and also of Rogers and Johns, the landscape
painters.' The first artist, if he were really entitled to the name,
mentioned in connection with Plymouth was Wm. Stayner,
who in 1497 had Is. for painting the town arms on a
book. Then we have one Robert Sprye, who in the reign of
Elizabeth drew a number of plans for the town; painted
' the picture of the Turke on Mayedaye' ; and generaby
turned his hand to whatever ' limning ' was required. There
must have been special aptitude for this work in the Spryes,
for we find them engaged in the same bne for the Cor
poration for three generations.
In 1616-17 we have the entry (but unfortunately the
name of the artist is not mentioned),
Itm pd for drawinge of Sr Frances Drake's picture
and other charges towards that . . . Iij"
This is the painting, still in the possession of the Cor
poration, which hangs in the Mayor's parlour. The artistic
merit is very small, and the picture is plainly a copy ; but
there is some reason to think it may have been by a

ART. 475
local hand; and it has exceptional interest therefore as
presumably the oldest example of Plymouth art.
We do not know who was the town sculptor at this date,
and who carved the arms in the ' new cundytte ' in 1602 —
possibly those built into the wall at the corner of Mill Lane ;
but it was John Somerton who in 1670 cut the arms now
built in with the other remains of the Old Town Conduit in
the Tavistock Eoad ; and in 1650 there was a ' stone cutter '
named William Gaire.
In 1660 there was a certain William Gefferie who did
artistic work, and painted the King's arms on the New
Shambles. Still it does not seem that local art was repre
sented in the following entry in 1683-4.
Itm paid for the pictures of the Kings most excellent
Matie his Roy11 Highnesse James Duke of York
and John Earle of Bath now remaining in the
GuUdhall . . . . 16 2 0
The portrait of Charles is yet among the ' art treasures '
of the Corporation. There was, however, a Plymouth artist
at this date named Philip Pearse, who in 1683 painted a
portrait of Charles I., put up in St. Andrew Church, and
various coats of arms. And it is not long subsequently that
the names of two other Plymouth painters are duly recorded,
the first in 1696-7 :
Itm pd Mr John Hebier the Lymner for drawing the
Kings picture at large with a gilt carved frame
and for repairinge other pictures in the Guildhall
ffourteene pounds.
The portrait of Queen Anne, still in existence, was painted
by Nathaniel Northcott, jun., in 1703^4, for £6 8s., including
the gilt frame and varnishing other pictures.
Helber, who afterwards became Alderman and Mayor,
also painted George I. in 1715 for £7 5s. ; but in 1737 a
picture of George II. was imported. Pearse died in 1724,
and the painted panel to his memory in St. Andrew Church
may have been in part his own anticipatory work.
James Northcote, R.A., pupb and biographer of Sir Joshua
Eeynolds, the first Plymouthian painter of note, was born in
1746, and died in 1831. His father was a watchmaker ; but
from the occurrence of the name of Nathaniel Northcott
above, art was probably hereditary in the family. He went
to London when he was twenty-five years of age to study
under Eeynolds, subsequently spending five years in Italy.
At first he was chiefly engaged in portrait painting, but by

476 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
degrees turned his attention to historical subjects. His two
best paintings are the ' Murder of the Princes in the Tower,'
and 'Hubert and Arthur.' Many of the drawings for
Boydell's ' Shakspere Gallery' were made by him. Northcote
was a writer as well as a painter. In 1813 he published
'Memoirs of Sir Joshua Eeynolds, with an Analysis of his
Discourses'; and in 1828 an illustrated collection of 'One
Hundred Fables, Original and Select,' a second series ap
pearing in 1833. In his 'Life of Titian,' he is said to have
had the assistance of Hazlitt, who after his decease published
his ' Conversations.'
Ambrose Bowden Johns, though his fame was chiefly
local, and he was never appreciated during his lifetime as
he deserved, stood in reality in the front rank of English
landscape painters, and by some eminent judges was termed
the English Claude. Some idea of his powers may be
gathered from the fact that a ' Sunrise ' of his was repro
duced by Turner's own engraver, under the idea that it was
the work of that greatest of English artists ; and that two of
his works were sold as Turner's. He was apprenticed to
Haydon, father of the artist, and his artistic taste was first
developed by being sent to Port Eliot to arrange some books
in the library. There Johns saw paintings of merit for the
first time, and thence his artistic life dates. He was born in
Plymouth in 1776, and died in 1858.
Samuel Prout, the first distinguished water-colour artist
of the West, was born in Plymouth in 1783, and was an
early companion of Haydon, but preferred to that artist's
historical subjects the 'ivy-mantled bridges, mossy water-
mills, and rock-built cottages, which characterise the lovely
scenery of Devon.' Before he had reached his twentieth
year he had attracted the notice of Britton, the antiquary,
then engaged on the ' Beauties of England and Wales.' Him
he accompanied as draughtsman into Cornwall. In 1802 he
went to London, where his abilities soon won recognition
and success. One of the most important memorials of his
skbl and industry is the lithographed series of reproductions
of sketches made by him in Flanders, Germany, France,
Switzerland, Italy, &c. Few artists have had higher praise
from Mr. Euskin. He died in 1852.
Benjamin Eobert Haydon, most distinguished and most
unfortunate, was born at Plymouth, 1786. His father
carried on a large printing and bookselbng business. Haydon
was a pupb of Bidlake ; and was first taught to draw by an
Italian named Fenzi, foreman of his father's bookbinding

ART. 477
department, who appears to have given the historical cast
to his view of art. Haydon received further aid from
Johns and Prout. He was sent to London in 1804 with
£20 in his pocket; and his first work, 'Joseph and Mary
resting on the road to Egypt,' was sent to the Academy in
1807, and at once purchased by Mr. Hope, of Deepdene.
In 1810 he sought admission to the Eoyal Academy, but
was rejected. The Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg and
the Italian Academy were more ready to recognise his
genius ; and in 1814 he received the freedom of his native
town ' as a testimony of respect for his extraordinary merit
as a historical painter, and particularly for the production of
his recent picture, " The Judgment of Solomon," a ' work of
such superior excellence as to reflect honour on his birth
place, distinction on his name, lustre on the art, and
reputation on the country.' His ' Dentatus ' and ' Solomon '
took prizes in historical competitions at the British Gallery.
Several of Haydon's works were very large; and though
some of his paintings were readby purchased at good prices
('Jerusalem' brought £1700, and the 'Judgment of Solomon'.
£600), various causes combined to throw him into difficulties,
untb, worn out by want of sleep, and harassed by the dread
of impending insolvency, his great aims unattained, he
committed suicide in 1846. Among his pupils were Landseer,
Lance, and Eastlake. His art lectures were highly successful.
England owes him a deep debt of gratitude for his labours
in the establishment of Schools of Design. His great paint
ing of 'The Eaising of Lazarus,' exhibited in 1823, long in
the National Gallery, is now in the Plymouth Guildhall
The most prominent Plymouth artist was Sir Charles
Lock Eastlake, P.R.A., F.R.S., and at the time of his death
Director of the National Gallery. Sir Charles was born in
November, 1793, bis father being, as his nephew Mr. William
Eastlake became, Law Agent to the Admiralty for the port.
His early education was received from Dr. Bidlake. He
next went to the Plympton Grammar School, memorable
for its connection with his great predecessor in the Presiden
tial chair, Sir Joshua. From Plympton he removed to the
Charterhouse, and whilst there, in 1807, announced to his
father that he had resolved to become a painter. He had
shown artistic ability at a much earlier period, and had been
one of the first pupils of Prout. When he finally deter
mined upon devoting himself to art he was placed under the
care of Haydon. He was soon thoroughly introduced to the
artistic world, and we find him writing a letter to his father

478 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
in reference to the visit of Turner to the West. During
the Peace of Amiens he visited Paris ; and in 1815, while
Bonaparte was a prisoner on board the Bellerophon in the
Sound, made his celebrated portrait of the great captive,
now in the possession of Lord Clinton. Not long afterwards
Eastlake went to Eome, where, and in other parts of the
Continent, he spent much of his life. He was elected
associate of the Eoyal Academy in 1827. In 1841 he was
appointed Secretary of the Fine Arts Commission, in which
capacity he laboured much and web. In 1847 appeared his
' Materials of the History of Oil Painting.' In 1850 he was
chosen President of the Royal Academy, and received the
customary honour of knighthood. In 1855 he became
Director of the National Gallery. He died December, 1865,
whilst at Florence, and after being interred there his remains
were brought to England, and buried at Kensal Green.
Some of his essays were published by Lady Eastlake after
his death, with a memoir, and a list of his principal works,
which from 1812 to 1855 number 153.
Philip Hutchins Rogers, a marine and landscape painter of
considerable power, was born at Plymouth in 1794, and bke
Haydon studied under Bidlake. At the doctor's expense he
was sent to London, and maintained there several years.
Mr. Rogers met with considerable success in Germany, where
he died in 1853.
T. H. Williams, who had been an apprentice to the elder
Haydon, commenced in 1801, in company with Mr. H. I.
Johns, an illustrated work in numbers, ' Picturesque Excur
sions in Devonshire and Cornwall' He pubbshed other works
of a simbar character, and did some spirited etchings.
The second water-colour artist of the West of England,
though not a native of Plymouth, was identified with it all
his artist life. Samuel Cook was born at Camelford in 1806,
the child of a poor woman, whose mother kept a bakehouse.
His only education was learning to read and write. At a
very early age he displayed a passion for drawing, his first
tablet being the slate step of his school. When between
eight and nine years of age he was bound apprentice to
Messrs. Pearse, woollen manufacturers ; but the instinct of
bis art was too strong to allow him to remain In that occu
pation. He did sign -painting and graining, obtaining the
name of Limner Cook ; and by degrees his masters were
brought over to consent to his devoting more of his time to
this work, ' seeing that he would never be fit for anything
else.' When his time was out, at the age of twenty-one, he

ART. 479
walked to Plymouth, taking two portraits on the way. At
Plymouth he became an assistant to Mr. Winsford, painter
and glazier, at a salary of eight shillings a week, painting
occasionally on his own account signs, theatrical scenes, and
peep-shows. At length he set up for himself,, having acquired
skill and repute as a decorative painter, and before long his
wonderful artistic powers were recognized. Early friends of
his were Colonel Hamilton Smith, Lady Morley, and Mr.
Wightwick ; and he received the patronage of the Duke of
Devonshire and of the Edgcumbe family. About ten years
before his death, which occurred in June, 1860, he became
a member of the New Water-Colour Society.
Alexander Solomon Hart, R.A., was born at Plymouth in
1806. His early indications of talent being encouraged by
Northcote, he devoted himself to the study of Art under the
most adverse conditions ; and in 1830 made his mark by the
painting of ' The Polish Synagogue ' in the National Gallery.
His works were mainly historical, and the subjects of several
were suggested by his Jewish faith. He became A.E.A. in
1835, and E.A. in 1839. In 1857 he was chosen Professor
of Painting in the Academy ; and in 1865 was appointed
Librarian. He died in 1881. His diploma picture, 'Lady
Jane Grey at the place of Execution,' was given to his
native town by him ; and hangs in the Council Chamber.
Nicholas Condy (1799-1851), a local artist of great merit,
originally in the army, excelled in marine pieces and interiors.
His skill in the latter is seen in the illustrations to the Eev.
J. V. Arundeb's account of Cothele.. Condy's son, Nicholas
Matthews Condy (1816-51), was likewise an artist, but con
fined himself to marine subjects, in which he was highly
successful. Ball, another local artist, has only left behind him one
work of importance, an altar-piece, ' The Crucifixion,' in St.
Andrew Chapel. Like Haydon, he committed suicide.
Lord Monkswell's artistic abbities have already found
mention. Among other deceased Plymouth artists may be
named — Payne, who did some careful water-colour early in
the century, Bath, C: Brittan (animal), F. Lane (portrait), and
J. L. Cobey. Talfourd and W. Gibbons were also long
resident in the town.
Plymouth has been an Art Centre, in a public sense, for
nearly fourscore years. The first exhibition of pictures was
in November 1815, when 167 were hung. Some years later
the Plymouth Society of Artists and Amateurs was formed.
The members used to meet at each other's houses in turn

480 HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
and draw, the sketches being presented to the host of the
evening. It died out for a whde, but was resuscitated in
1848, and continued another ten years. After a further
interval another Society was formed, which met regularly
for study from the life ; and this in the end developed into
the Plymouth Art Club, by which exhibitions have been
held for several years at the Athenaeum.
An annual exhibition of pictures has been held at Messrs.
Harris and Sons' Fine Art Gaberies since 1872.
The rapid spread of amateur photography led to the
formation in 1888 of the Devon and Cornwall Camera Club,
which held its first exhibition in the present year. Plymouth
and its vicinity stand very high in regard to camera work.
Mr. Wbliam Jacobson, who was a member of the original
Society of Artists and Amateurs, drew up the fobowing bst
of 'Artists of Plymouth and neighbourhood by birth or
years of residence: Sir Joshua Eeynolds, Haydon, T. S.
Eobins, Norman, Northcote, Sir Charles Eastlake, Ball,
Bath, Brierley, Johns, King, Ponsford, Dibon, Condy, Cobey,
Harris, Brockedon, Miss Hamlyn, Mrs. Shaw, Worsley, Luny,
Foulston, Owen, Giles, Goldsack, Lane, S. Whiteford, Opie,
S. Cook, P. Mitchell, Penson, Brittan, Cole, Varley. Amateur
Artists, &c. : Countess of Morley, Nelson, Jacobson, Sir W. S.
Harris, Miss Jane Whipple, Sir George Whitmore, Colonel
Hamilton Smith, Wbliam Eastlake, Miss Eastlake, Sir Eobert
Cobier, A. B. Colber, Weale.' This bst, however, does not
Include some of the more prominent members of the Society,
as Mr. Scanlan, Mr. Wightwick, Mr. Holmes, and Mr. C. C.
Whiteford — the last survivor ; while Mr. Arthur Colber has
long been ranked as a professional artist of note. And it
does include some names whose claim to the title of artist
is doubtful, though possessing artistic tastes.
To living artists, Plymouthian by birth or by connection,
we shall only refer briefly. They include Mrs. A. Norman,
Miss F. Eandle, Miss James, Mrs. A. B. Smith, Admiral
Beachey, R.H.A., Hon. John Colber, Messrs. C. Aldridge, H.
Abport, S. Allport, H. E. Babb, J. Barrett, 0. Brierley,
F. Browning, A. Cole, A. B. Collier, T. Dingle, sen., T.
Dingle, jun., J. Darton, W. Darton, Godfrey Evans, J. T.
Fouracre, H. A. Gribble (architect of the Brompton Oratory),
E. Hoskin, G. Jenkins, S. Kerswell, H. A. Luscombe, H.
Martin, Philip Mitchell, R.I., H. Murch, E. Opie, James
Penson, W. H. Pike, E. A. Febowes Prynne, J. Eadford,
A. Sheby, A. B. Smith, J. Whipple, W. Wibiams, Harry
Wibiams, and Sydney Whiteford.

INDEX.

Abbey, 232.
Acadie, French in, 66.
Acland's (Sir John) Charity, 313.
Acland's Charity, 313.
Act-Charter, 183-86.
Adams, R., 411, 412, 413, 416, 439.
Addis's Bequest, 313.
Adventure and Discovery, 40.
Aerolite, 400.
Aldermen, 160, 164, 184, 188, 190-5,
245, 404.
Alfurers, 185, 192.
Algerine Pirates, 88-90.
Allen's Diaries (cited), 143, 420.
All Saints, 246, 247.
Almshouses, 296-307, 309, 311, 312,
330, 349, 383.
 Chapel, 269, 271, 299.
Alured, 152.
Alwyn the Saxon, 18, 19.
America, Early Colonists of, 64.
Ancient Buildings, 376-384.
Antonio, Don, 40, 55.
Aquitaine, Expedition to, 29.
Ardent, Capture of, 141.
Arianism, 254.
Armada, 40, 50-4, 56.
 Memorial, 53, 54.
Arms of Town, 197, 198, 403.
Art Club, 480.
Art in Plymouth, 474-80.
Artists and Amateurs, 479, 480.
 List of, 480.
Arundel, Lord, 328-30.
Asche, 30.
Atmospheric System, 339.
Awter's Well, 275.

e, Sir J., 92, 138,415.
 George, 416.
Bailiffs, 175, 176, 180.
Baldwin of the Isle, 24, 27, 172, 348.
Ball, 385, 479.
Bampfield, Sir J., Ill, 123, 124.

Bancroft (cited), 174, 175.
Banks, 358.
Baptists, 249, 252, 259, 260, 283, 387.
Barbican, 35, 109, 143, 146, 194, 367,
405, 414, 416, 449, 451.
 Gate, 417.
Barfot, N., 299.
Barley House, 372.
Barn, Town, 397.
Baron's (Ben.) Gift, 310.
 (George), Gift, 308.
 R. W. S.,. 463.
Bartholomew Day, 251.
Basket Street, 393, 449.
Bastard, Robert the, 18, 27.
 Family, 179.
Bate, C. Spence, 473.
Bates, Sir E., 352.
Bath, Earl of, 59, 412, 421.
 Prior of, 190.
Baths and Washhouses, 370.
 Union, 339.
Batten Breakwater, 335.
 Mount,7,9,ll,98,127-9,416,417.
 Isthmus, 334.
 Tower, 129, 421.
Batter Street, 209, 292; Congregation,
252, 261 ; Benevolent Institution,
281
Battery Hill, 11, 364, 399.
Beacons, 397.
Bear's Head, 151, 413.
Bedford Street, 21, 383.
- — - Thos., 241.
Bekett, Robert, 300.
Bellamy, Dr. , not swearable, 219 ; 398 ;
Duel, 400.
 J. C. (cited), 10 ; 470.
Bells, 800, 382.
Bennett, Joan, 279.
Berkeley, Sir J., 94, 95, 128, 129.
Berry (John) Bequests, 286, 287.
Bethel, 264.
Bible Christians, 258, 337.

2 I

482

INDEX.

Bibliotheca, 457.
Bickleigh, 171.
Bidlake, Dr., 467.
Bilbury Street (Billabiri), 20, 177,
184, 194, 209, 250, 293, 365.
.  Bridge, 414, 430.
Blachford, Lord, 169.
Black Book, 200.
 Prince, 28, 30, 31.
Blackfriars Lane, 230.
Blake, R., 143, 382.
 S., 218.
Blind Institution, 316.
Board of Health Inquiry, 224.
Bondyn's Inquisition, 173, 174.
Bonfires, 396.
Borough Court, 201, 206.
Borrowes, W., 412.
Boswines, 179.
Bound's Gift, 311.
Boundaries, 185^7, 333.
Botelho, Diego, 55.
Braddock Down, Battle of, 95.
Breakwater, 150-2.
 Fort, 423.
Brent, F. (cited), 6, 7.
Bretons, Descent of the,29,3 1 ,1 90, 406.
Brewers, 355.
Bridgemoor,-- 292.
Briggs, T. R. A., 472.
Brismar, 19,
British Church, 226, 227.
 Coins, 8, 9.
Briton Side, 31, 154, 209, 367, 414.
Brittan, C, 479.
Brittany, Expedition to, 29.
Broadley, 303-5.
Brockadon's Gift, 310.
Bronescombe's Register, 227.
Bronze Age, 8, 9.
 Mirrors, 9.
Bruce's Charity, 313.
Brunei, I. K., 339.
Brutus the Trojan, 1-5.
Bryant, Joseph, 460.
 J., 352.
 W., 362.
Buckingham Steps, 383.
Buckland, Egg, 19, 106, 108, 171,
181, 275, 312.
 Monachorum, 123.
 Abbey, 130, 171, 438.
 Abbot of, 171, 173.
Buckwell Street, 194, 209, 291.
Budockshed, 74.
Bull Ring, 161, 400.
Bulwarks, 406-408.
Buonaparte.Lucien, at Plymouth, 145.
 Napoleon, at Plymouth, 145.
Burial Grounds, 13, 230, 231, 267, 268.

Burnard and Alger, Messrs., 353.
Burnard, R., 92 ; Siege Ship found by,
133 ; Dartmoor, 462.
Burrough's Gift, 312.
Burthogg, Lt., 424.
Burton Boys, 194, 414.
Burt, W.(cited),323,351,352,357; 464.
Butchers Lane, 223, 390.
Butters, Dr., 315.
Bye-Laws and Regulations, 202-6.
Cabots, The, 63.
Cadiz, Expeditions to, 55, 62.
Calais, Siege of, 29.
Calcutta, Mr. Cater at, 141.
Calmady, 347.
Calvinistic Methodists, 256.
Camden (cited), 39, 47, 227, 457.
Camera Obscura, 400.
 Club, 480.
Candish, 40, 49, 61.
Capital of Port, 323.
Carew (cited), 3, 30, 34, 38, 39.
 Sir A., 93, 94, 100.
Carmelites, 227.
Carrington, N. T., 462.
Castell, King of, Landed, 50.
Castle, 93, 98, 178, 289, 397, 403-9,
415, 416.
 Street, 209.
Catharine Street (Lane), 209, 289-
305, 383.
Catholic Apostolic Church, 263.
Cattedown, 6, 11, 19, 25, 90, 98, 102,
126, 153, 292, 363, 364, 367.
Catte Street, 291, 365.
Cattewater, 8, 9, 19, 43, 51, 98, 101,
105, 120, 137, 142, 151, 152, 186,
324, 327,332, 333-5, 364, 403, 415.
 Harbour Commissioners, 335.
Cave, Cattedown, 6.
Cawsand, 35, 58, 61, 101, 116, 150,346,
421.
Cawsey, The, 325-6, 345.
 Hake, 326.
Cemetery, Stamford, 9-11 ; Stone
house, 12-14.
Census, 363.
Chain, Mayor's, 198.
Chamberlains, 222.
Chamber of Commerce, 323.
Chantries, 234, 236.
Chantry Roll, 362.
Chapels, Domestic, 236.
Chaplains of Garrison, 125.
Chapman's Gift, 313.
Charity Commissioners' Report
(1867), 314.
Charities, 286-316.
Charles I. at Plymouth, 90, 119.

INDEX.

483

Charles II. at Plymouth, 143, 420.
Charles Parish, 291, 311, 313.
 Church, 20, 153, 243-5, 248,
249, 290, 367, 383, 384.
 Chapel, 245, 246.
Charters, 67, 72, 81-3, 179, 184,
190-2, 221, 222.
Chastel, Du, 31, 32.
Cheare, Abram. , 249, 251, 252, 350, 460.
Cheigny's Inquisition, 173.
Chelson Meadow, 333, 334.
Chemical Manufactures, 352, 353.
China, Plymouth, 353-5.
Cholera, 157, 224.
Chudleigh, Sir G., 97.
Church Ale, 238.
 Alley, 302, 390.
 and Chapel Accommodation,
266, 267.
 Congress, 248.
 Extension, 245.
 Hill, 22.
 Plate, 239-41.
Circumnavigations, 47, 61.
Citadel, 3, 142, 143, 332, 397-9, 419 -22.
Clarendon (cited), 93.
Cleeves, George, 85, 86.
Clerk of Peace, 222.
Clink, The, 391.
Clock, Public, 388.
 Tower, 388.
Cloth Fair, 349.
Clowter's Gift, 298.
Clubs, 467.
Clynedon's Inquisition, 174.
Cobbler Buoy, 327.
Cobourg Street, 98.
Cochrane at Plymouth, 140.
Cock, Captain, 53.
Cockrem, Martin, 40.
' Cokyng Stoll,' 153.
Cole's Gift, 310.
Collet's Gift, 310.
Colley, J. L., 479.
Collier, John, 398.
Collins, M., 464.
Collins's Gift, 313.
Colmer, Abraham, 274.
Colonization, Progress of, 77.
Commerce, Early, 3.3, 317.
Commissioners, Town, 223, 375.
Committee of Defence, 123 et seg.
 of Public Safety, 133.
Common Hall for Goods, 344.
Compton, 19, 115, 171, 185, 237, 314,
317.
Conduits, 431, 449, 450, 475.
Condy, N., 479.
 N. M.,479.
Coney Yard, 243. 2 I

Congregational Church of Massachu
setts, 81.
Contest of Dignities, 218.
Contone. See Compton.
Conventicles, 202, 203.
Cook, Captain, 142.
Cook, S., 478.
Cookworthy, William, 353-5.
Co-operative Society, 358.
Corinseus, 1-3.
Cornu, Inquisition by, 181.
Cornewall, Sir J., 183, 186.
Cornwall, Duchy of, 25, 30, 174, 175,
186, 327, 331.
Coroners, 184, 222.
Corporation (Commonalty), 33, 35, 36,
48, 50, 53, 58, 68, 155-160, 163,
164, 168-172, 175-180, 184-225,
237-243, 246, 269-280, 287-292,
295-298, 300-313, 319, 324, 325,
327-331, 333, 334, 341-348, 387,
388, 390-392, 397, 398, 404, 408-
410, 419, 423, 429-456, 474.
 Almshouses, 296-302, 312.
 Banquets, 211.
 Cups, 197.
 Dues, 331.
 Finance, 206-208, 373.
 Insignia, 195-8.
 Regulation of, 191, 192.
Corpus Christi, 209, 331, 343.
CosmodeMediciatPlymouth,143,367.Cotton, Bishop, and London Beer, 211.
Cottonian Library, 467.
Couch (cited), 346.
Council of Plymouth, 72, et seq.
 Grants by, 78-80.
Councillors, 184, 191, 192.
County Council, 192.
Courtenays, 24 ; Hugh, 178 ; Sir
Wm., 210, 220 ; Earl Thomas, 183.
Cowche's Gift, 309.
Coxside, 145, 209, 328, 355-64, 411.
 Gate, 411, 417.
Creese, William, 446.
Cremill, 21, 30.
Crockern Tor, 431.
Cromwell at Plymouth, 131.
Cross Down, 209, 287, 290.
 , Stone, 178; Market.,348,401,432.
Crossing, W., 462.
'Crummell, Mr.,' 211.
Crymes, William, 448.
Cundie, Prince of, 56.
Customs, 207, 320, 321, 329, 347,
402, 407.
 Grant by Richard II., 318.
 Houses, 341, 342.
Customers, Controllers, and Col
lectors, 33, 34, 318.
2

484

INDEX.

Dahernon's Chantry, 236.
Danes, 14.
 at Plymouth, 137.
Darell, Madame, 341.
Dartmoor Railway, 338.
Dartmouth, 32.
Davis, John, 40, 49.
Day, 473.
Deadlake, 19, 401.
Debt, Corporate, 373.
Deerhorn Pick, 7.
Defences, Strengthening the, 97, 98.
Derry, W., 389.
De Ruyter off Plymouth, 141.
Descents and Reprisals, 31.
Devils Point, 21, 234, 408.
Devonport, 11, 340.
D'Ewes, Sir S., 433.
Digby, Col., 100, 101, 110, 111.
 Lord, 120, 129.
Discovery, Maritime, 142.
Dispensary, 314.
Dissolution of Monasteries, 241.
Distillery, 230.
Dixon, S., 464.
Dock, 425, 427, 451.
Dockyard, 136, 138, 141.
Doddington, Edward, 59.
Doel, J., 474.
Domesday, 17-20, 22, 23.
Dominicans, 230, 380.
Don, Henry, Pirate, 32.
Douglass, Sir J., 149, 150.
Dove's Court, 416.
Drake, SirF., 40, 44, 45-58, 60-62,
65, 162, 168, 213, 308, 344, 345,
409-11, 432, 443-45, 450, 473;
Portrait, 49, 474; Statue, 54;
Residence, 379.
 Sir F., Recorder, 192, 220, 456.
 Thos., 448.
Drakes Place, 401.
 Island, 98, 151, 233, 252, 433.
Drainage, 376.
Drayton (cited), 2.
Du Chastel, 31, 32.
Ducking Stool, 346.
Ducks Lane, 257.
Dufour, Capt., 423.
Duke of York's Own, 427.
Dunkirkers, 91.
Dunmonii, 5.
Durnford, Stephen, 21, 25.
 Family, 179.
Dutton, Wreck of, 152.
Duxbury, 76.
Ealphage, 456.
East Cross Street, 20.
¦  Gate, 127, 417, 449.

East Street, 209.
Eastlake, Sir C. L., 145, 477.
 G., 467.
 W., 480.
Eastern Eing, 333, 364.
Eddystone, 62 ; Lighthouses, 146-150.
Edgcumbe Family, 25.
 Earl of Mount, 21, 24, 166, 234,
401.
 Mr., 433, 434.
 Piers, 55, 62, 211, 234.
 Mount, 30, 115, 116, 118, 131,
143, 415.
Edinburgh, Duke of, 54,144, 145, 149,
150.
Edmonds, Sir T., 321, 408, 409, 459.
Education, 269-85.
 Higher, 285.
Edwards, Plymouth under the, 28.
Edward III., Order to Fortify, 402.
Egg Buckland. See Buckland, Egg.
'Eggscombe Maister,' 210, 211.
Eldad, 98, 246, 416.
Elford, W., 445.
Eltham, John of, 28.
Embankment Company, 336, 462.
Emigration Dep&t, 341.
Essex, Earl of, 117-119.
Evelegh, 392, 393.
Evens, W. H. (cited), 390.
Exchange, 324.
 Lanyon's, 330.
Executions, 60, 152, 153, 397.
Exeter Street, 31, 449.
Expeditions from Plymouth under
Tudors, 60-2.
Explosions, 152.
Eye Infirmary, 315.
Fairfax at Plymouth, 131.
Feasting and Treatments, 57, 210,211.
Fee Farm Rent, 175, 190, 241.
Ferries, 28, 30.
Fighting French and Spanish in Port,
407.
Finewell, 430.
 Street, 209.
Fires, 379, 385, 386, 423.
Fish, Toll of, 20, 180.
Fisheries, 23, 28, 29, 345-348.
Fishers Nose, 4, 186, 412.
Fishing Boats at Plymouth, 173.
 Feast, 456.
Fish Cage, 349.
 House, 330.
 Jowter's, 332.
 Market, 382.
 Rights, New England, 77.
 Women, 346.
Fitzford, 118.

INDEX.

485

Flemings, unfree, 343.
Fletehenda, 23, 365.
Florida, Spanish in, 65.
 French in, 64.
Foot Association, 425.
Foreign Trade in Eighteenth Century,
321.
Forestalling, 344-346.
Forsland, 431.
Fort, 57, 59,66,73,93,143,409,411-15.
 Arundel, 130.
Fortifications, The, 402-428.
Foulston, J., 381, 384.
Fountains, 400.
Fowell's Charity, 301.
Fowey, 29, 32, 34, 211, 317, 318.
Fownes's. Almshouses, 303, 305.
 John, 381.
 Humphry, 381, 404.
 Family, 347.
Fox at Plymouth, 250.
 John (cited), 109.
Foxhole (and Street), 194, 272, 291.
 Quay, 449.
Fox's Almshouses, 306.
France, Expeditions to, 30.
Francis, Philip, 93, 100, 291, 292.
Franciscans, 230, 380.
Frankfort, 130 ; Street, 21 ; Fields,
209 ; Gate, 386, 417.
Franks, A. W. (cited), 11.
Free Library, 467.
 School, 282, 293.
Freedom Day, 194.
 Fields, 98, 106, 194.
 ' Foreyns ' put out of, 204.
Freeholders, 155, 156, 165.
Freemen, 155, 156, 184, 192-195,
201-205, 219, 239, 343-345 ; Reg
ulations for, 157 ; Guild, 157,
195, 204 ; Early List of, 157, 158 ;
Honorary, 159, 160 ; New, 165 ;
Baron Thompson's Decision in
Favour of, 193 ; Oath, 202, 203.
French Minister, 400.
 French and. Spanish Fleets off
Plymouth, 141.
Friars Minors, 180.
Friary, 227-29, 328, 380, 411, 416,
417 ; Court, 229, 449; Green, 209,
292, 449.
 Gate, 417.
Frobisher, 40, 49, 62, 382.
Froude (cited), 45.
Fyshetore, 186, 364.
Gandy, 464.
Garibaldi at Plymouth, 145.
Garrison, Officers of, at Siege, 133 ;
414-15.

Gascoigne Street, 417, 449.
Gascony, Expedition to, 29.
Gasking, Dr., 400.
 Gate, 417.
Gas Works, 353.
Gates, 417-19.
Gay, Captain, 416.
Gayer's (Sir J.) Bequest, 311.
Gefferie, W., 475.
Geoffrey of Monmouth (cited), 1, 3-5.
George II., Statue of, 423.
George III. at Plymouth, 143, 144.
 Street, 11, 225, 368, 390.
Giant's Cave, 420.
Gibbons, Thomazine, 20.
 Fields, 20.
Giffard, John, 19.
Gilberts, The, 49, 65.
 Sir Adrian, 65.
 Sir Humphry, 40, 57,61, 65, 168.
 Captain, 59.
 Sir John, 415, 448.
Gill, T., 332.
Gilwell Park, 20.
Glanvill, Joseph, 459.
Glass-house, 352.
Glubb, Nickey, 194.
Goddard's Gift, 308.
Goddes howse, 233.
Godolphin, Sidney, 97.
Godwin the Saxon, 18, 19.
Goemagot, 1, 2, 4.
Gog and Magog, 2, 3, 421.
Gogmagog, 2, 3.
Gomme, De, 420.
Goodyear, Moses, 79, 84-86 ; 312.
Gorges, Sir Ferdinando, 66-70, 72, 73,
77-80, 82, 85, 89, 414, 415.
 Ferdinando theYounger, 82, 83.
 Robert, 77, 78.
 Sir William, 74.
Gosnold, Bartholomew, 66, 76.
GoverningBody,FirstTraceofa,175-8. Governor's Dues, 332.
Governorship, 415.
Gould, Colonel. 101, 102, 110, 111.
 Mount, 98, 106, 128.
Grammar School, 269-72.
Great Hill, 209.
 Western Docks, 332.
 Railway, 340.
Green Street, 209, 254, 306, 414.
Grey Friars, 230.
Grey School, 281.
Grenville, Sir Bevil, 94, 95, 97, 100.
 Sir Richard (1),40,49,57, 61, 65.
 Sir Richard (2), 111, 113, 114,
118, 121-3, 127, 128.
Grosse, A., 460.
Growth of Town, 365-72.

486

INDEX.

Guardians, 279, 290-96, 306 ; Acts of
Parliament for, 294-5; Scratching,
296 ; Almshouses transferred to,
301.
Guild, Corpus Christi, 343.
 Freemens', 195.
 Merchants', 184.
 Our Lady and St. George's, 204
Guildhall, 192, 348-9, 383, 385, 389-96
449 ; Tudor, 389 ; Jacobean, 389-91
'Old,' 392, 393; 'New,' 393-96
Great Hall, 393, 394 ; Organ, 394-
Windows, 394, 396; Opening, 396.
Guns, 406, 407, 410.
Gunstones, 406.
Hacker's ('Mother') Gift, 298.
Hackney Carriage Commissioners,336.
Hakluyt (cited), 42.
Halliwell, 467.
Hals (cited), 116.
Ham, 445.
 Street, 417.
Hammer, Mayor's, 198.
Hamoaze, 5, 142, 415.
Hamo's Port, 5.
Handicrafts and Trades, 355-58.
Hampton Shute, 20, 430.
Harfam Executed, 341.
Harrington, Countess of, 473.
Harris (cited), 141, 193, 258, 349,
404, 405, 413.
 Sir W. S., 471.
 Messrs., 480.
Harry's Gift, 301.
Hart, S., 479.
Harter, 453-5.
Hartley, 452.
Harvey, Tar Distillery, 353.
Hastings, Warren, at Plymouth, 145.
Hauedlonde, 177.
Haueknol, 171.
Havener, 30.
Haw Start, 90, 105, 327, 415.
Hawker, Dr., 461.
 John, 246.
 R. S., 464.
Hawkins, Sir John, 40, 42-52, 56, 58,
60-2, 64, 168, 242, 308, 309, 344,
382, 411, 456 ; Residence, 377.
 John, 25.
 Sir Richard, 45, 46, 52, 57, 61,
62, 72, 90, 214, 217, 218, 440, 459.
 William (1), 25, 42, 61, 64, 213,
239 241 407.
 William (2)', 43, 45, 63, 61, 213,
214, 242, 325, 344, 409, 432.
 William (3), 46.
Hawkesley, T., 455.
Haydon, B. R., 476.

Headlands, 20, 177.
Head Weir, 441-3, 445, 453-5.
Hearder, J., 472.
Hele, Elize, 277.
 andLanyon's School, 277-9,290.
 Serjeant, 433, 437-9.
Hellier, John, 475.
Hennah, R., 470.
Henry VII. at Plymouth, 34.
Hermitage, Quarrywell, 234, 240.
Hewers, The, 347.
Heynscott, N, 217.
High Street, 209, 287, 290, 291.
Higher Pomeroy Conduit Street, 449.
Hill's Gift, 312.
Hils' Gift, 309.
Hine, J., 295, 384, 393.
Hingstone, 19, 186, 364 ; Point, 19.
Hoe, The, 1-4, 6, 11, 21, 42, 46, 47,
51,57-60, 98, 104, 141-43, 150-53,
160, 161, 177, 209, 363, 367, 396-
401, 403, 406, 410, 411, 413, 421,
422, 424.
Hoe Gate, 391, 417, 418.
Holiwell, 417, 430.
 Work, 98, 127.
Holmes, P., 464.
Holycross Lane, 179.
Hooe, 11, 12, 28, 57, 101, 406.
Hopkins, R., 452.
Hopton, Sir R., 93-96.
Hopton's Work, 115.
Horspole, Le, 223.
Hospital, South Devon, 315, 388.
Houndiscombe, 7, 98, 106, 186, 363.
Household of Faith, 281.
Howard of Effingham, 51, 52, 61, 62.
 Nathaniel, 401.
Howe, John, 143.
How's Gift, 299.
Hoys to Portsmouth, 340.
Hughes, George,242,249, 251, 252, 280,
460.
Huguenots, 254-56.
 Cruisers, 43.
Hundred Rolls, 172.
Hurst and King's Gift, 313.
Huxham's Gift, 313.
Huxham, Dr., 469.
Inceworth, 123, 131.
Incorporation, 183; Strivings for,173.
Indians brought to Plymouth, 66.
Indulgence, Declaration of, 253.
Inquisitions, 171-4, 180, 189.
Institutions, Literary and Scientific,
467.
Invasion Scares, 58, 140.
Irish, 345.
Izaacke (cited), 30, 31, 36, 40.

INDEX.

487

Jabyen, John, 234 ; Chantry, 236.
Jacobson, W., 480.
James II. at Plymouth, 420.
James, E., 352.
 and Sons, 353.
Jefferies, Judge, 143, 191.
Jelinger, C, 459.
Jennens and Warren, Litigation with,
329.
Jennings, Abraham, 83.
Jews, 264.
Johns, A. B., 476.
 H. I., 478.
Johnson, Dr., 451, 461, 467.
Jordan, Robert, 86.
Jory, Colonel, 197 ; Almshouses, 306,
307.
Jourdaine, D., 464.
Journalism, Plymouth, 464-66.
Judhel of Totnes, 18, 19.
Julians, The, 347.
 Rangers, 425.
Jump, 115.
Katharine of Arragon at Plymouth,35.
Keltic Nomenclature, 15.
Kelway's Charity, 312.
Kempe, W., 456.
Kent, E., 464.
Kerr, Colonel, 117, 123, 129, 130.
Kevern's Workhouse Reform, 295.
Keyham, 7.
King, R. J. (cited), 10 ; 464.
 Street, 18, 21.
 'a Charity, 312.
Kingsley (cited), 51.
Kings Tamerton, 17, 171.
Kinsman, Andrew, 257.
Kinterbury, 130 ; Street, 209.
Kirby and Wade Shot, 153.
Kistvaens, 7, 8.
Kitto, Dr. (cited), 374 ; 462.
Kitchen Midden, 7.
Knackersknowle, 101, 105, 452.
Lacy, Bishop, 403.
Ladywell, 430.
Laira, 16, 19, 94, 98, 106, 107, 125,
143, 186, 275, 420.
 Bridge, 334, 336.
Lake's Gift, 298.
Lambert at Plvmouth, 252.
Lambhay, 4, 3*64, 365, 405.
 Pier, 151.
Lam-Goemagot, 2, 4.
Lampen, Robert, 439-42.
 Rev., R., 468.
Landscore Land, 15, 16.
Lane, F., 479.
Lansdown, Lord (cited), 122,

Lanyon, John, 278, 290, 301.
Launceston Railway, 339.
 Theatre, 386.
Laurence, John, 272.
Law Society, 468.
Leach, W. E., 419, 470.
Leather Hall, 348.
Leat, The, 438 et seq.
Leland (cited), 20, 28, 29, 36, 172,
174, 230, 297, 317, 325, 365, 403.
Lethaby, Dr., 472.
Leuricestone, 18, 19.
Libraries, 467.
Lifeboat, 835.
Lilly, Col., 421.
Lipson, 18, 19, 98, 105-7, 127, 363, 416,
431.
Lisistone, 18, 19.
Literature, 457.
Little Saltram, 92.
Lizard Light, 347.
Loaders Lane, 209.
Local Board formed, 224.
 Government, 171-225.
Lockyer, Edmund, 323, 385.
London Company, 67, 68.
 Inn, 385.
Long Room, 387.
Looe Street, 20, 209, 292,
 Ward, 363.
Lopes, Sir Massey, 453-4.
Lower Ward, 178.
 Street, 449.
Loyal Dock Volunteers, 427.
Ludlow at Plymouth, 421.
Lulyett's Fee, 19, 177.
Lunatic Asylum, 295.
Luttrells, The, 347.
Lyme Street, 209."
Lyneham Street, 209.
Macaulay (cited), 50.
Maces, 197.
Macretone, 17, 22.
Maddock's Gift, 293.
Magazines, Plymouth, 465, 466.
Mails, 391 ; Steamers, 341.
Maker,6,21,22,115, 141,142,171,279.
Manadon, 445.
Mannamead, 11, 119, 121, 372.
Manorial Rights, 207 ; Government,
180.
Mansell, SirR., 90.
Manufactures, 349-355.
Manure Works, 353.
Marine Biological Association, 469.
Mariner's Compass, 397.
Mark, The, 15.
Market Street, 152, 154, 209, 287,
290, 291, 449.

488

INDEX.

Markets, 172, 177, 178, 179, 190, 348,
349, 390-92, 401, 450.
Marshes, The, 209, 368.
Martin, Col., Ill, 115-17.
Martock's Well, 177.
Martyn's Gate, 194, 413, 414.
Mason, Capt., 78.
Massachusetts, 79, 80, 83.
Mathew, Walter, 218, 275.
Maudlyn, The, 20, 233, 298, 301.
 Work, 98, 105, 108, 109, 115,
121, 127.
Maurice, Prince, 101-110, 119.
May-day Watch, 410.
Mayes Cross, 209.
Maynard, Sir J., 220.
Mayoralty House, 193, 212.
 Mayoralty Notes, 217-219.
Mayors, Early, 188 ; List of, 212-17 ;
Mayor Choosing — on Cattedown,
90 ; 192, 218, 219 ; Waiting for
Prior at, 194 ; 33, 34, 45, 48, 57,
59, 68, 85, 86, 90, 93, 100, 105,
123, 124, 155-158, 160, 169, 175,
176, 180-185, 187, 188, 190-8,
201, 206, 207, 210, 211, 245,
269-277, 286-292, 295, 297, 300-
313, 325, 327, 329, 342-8, 404,
408, 409, 411, 415, 426, 433-
446, 449-55.
 Dues, 332.
McKenzie, Madame, 473.
Meavy, 189, 432, 434-6, 439-41, 453.
Mechanics' Institute, 468.
Medal given Mayor, 193.
Members, Right of Election, 155 ;
List of, 161-67 ; Payment of, 169.
' Merchant Paynter,' 36.
Mewstone, 234.
Middleton's (Sir T.) Gift, 308.
Miguel at Plymouth, 145.
Militia, Town, 424.
Milibay, 11, 23, 142, 149, 332-34,
344, 352, 364, 390, 396, 399, 437,
446.
 Grove, 371.
 Pier, 332.
 Station, 339.
Millbrook, 116, 123, 346.
Miller's Almshouse, 303.
Mills, 23, 104, 106, 107, 190, 344,
436-40, 442, 446-49.
 Pool, 287.
Military Authorities, Disputes with,
398.
Ministers Ejected, 252.
 List of, 260-2.
Modbury, 94 ; Battle of, 96.
Modern Plymouth, 384.
 Churches and Chapels, 387.

Modern Forts, 423.
Modlei, 19.
Mohun, Lord, 95.
Monk at Plymouth, 143.
Monkswell, Lord, 166, 167, 463, 477.
Moore Splatt, 290.
 C, 470.
 E., 470.
 H., 461.
Moore's Gift, 313.
Moravians, 257.
Morice, Sir W., 421.
Morris's Gift, 313.
Morshead's Gift, 313.
Mortain, Count of, 18.
Mottoes, 198.
Mudd Street, 274, 275.
Mudge, Z., 382, 460.
— Dr., 467, 470.
 T., 469.
Municipal Charity Trustees, 313.
Museum, 468.
Musgrave, Dr., 418.
Music and Stage, 473.
Mutley, 98, 109, 363, 372.
'My stresses,' 440.
Names of Streets, Changes of, 376.
Napoleon at Plymouth, 145.
Nathan, Jacob, 282, 313.
Naval Station, Plymouth as a, 139.
Newbridge, 114, 116.
 118.
New England— Trade, 68-72, 83-86 ;
Settlers from West in, 83-87.
— — Quay, 367.
 Street, 230.
 Gate, 417.
Newcombe, J. R., 473.
Newfoundland Fishery, 346.
Newnham Park, 10.
Nicholas, Duke, at Plymouth, 145.
Nombre de Dios, 47, 49.
Nonconformity, 248 - 264 ; Early
Meeting-places of Nonconform
ists, 253.
Noplace, 19.
Norman Conquest, Plymouth, at, 363,
364.
 A., 393.
 Arch, 297.
Norriugton, Messrs, 353.
Norris, 40, 55, 62.
Norse Nomenclature, 15.
North Street, 291.
 Gate, 417.
 Hill, 20.
 Road, 340.
 Roger (cited), 367.
Northcot, Sir J., 97.

INDEX.

489

Northcot, James, 475.
 Nathaniel, 475.
 Samuel, 218.
 's Gift, 313.
Notte Street, 184, 209, 365 ; House,
371, 377.
Obelisk, 397.
Odgers, W. J., 224.
Old Mitre, 230.
 Church Lane, 279.
 Fish Cage, 349.
 Mill Lane, 275.
 Page, 458.
 Town,22,177,178,209,288,389.
 Conduit, 450.
 Gate, 417, 418.
 Ward, 178, 251, 363.
Oliver (cited), 230.
Olliver's Gift, 312.
Orange,Princeof,56;atPlymouth,145.  William of, Declaration for, 137 ;
Surrender of Plymouth Citadel to,
by Earl of Bath, 137, 419, 421.
Oreston, 102, 104, 143, 321, 420.
Orphans' Aid, 231, 271-77 ; Cost of,
273 ; Endowment of, 274 ; Seal,
277 ; 289, 311, 328, 453.
Orphan Asylum, 315.
Otter Club, 467.
Outworks, 124, 125.
Oxenham, John, 49, 60.
 Bequest, 313.
Ozen, 143, 420.
Pageant, 343.
'Page of Plymouth,' 458.
Palace Court, 36, 377, 378.
Palmer's Gift, 293.
Panorama of Plymouth. 370.
Paper Mill, 351.
Parade Conduit, 449.
Pardons Burnt, 60.
Parker, Captain, 62.
Parliamentary Representation, 155-
170.
Passour, Humphry^ 179-183.
Passports by Mayor, 202.
Payne, 479.
Paynter, 378.
Peacock Lane, 209, 379.
Pearse, P., 475.
Penruddock's Rising, 417.
Pennycomequick, 19, 144, 363, 431.
 Work, 98, 108, 120, 127, 128,
209, 417.
Pepperell's Gift, 308.
Periodical Literature, 464-66.
Persecutions, 250-53, 259, 260.
Petherick Street, 209.

Pethick, J., 150, 393.
Pestell, Captain, 251.
Phelps, S., 473.
Phillips, 308.
Phillpotts, Bp., 246.
Phoenix Street, 7.
Piciure of Plymouth, 368.
Pie Powder Court, 206.
Pig-Market, 249, 254, 349.
 Conduit, 449.
Pilchards, 345 ; Dues, 412.
Pilgrims, 31.
 Fathers, 74-77.
Pillory, 153, 177.
Pins Lane, 379.
Pioneer Corps, 426.
Piracy, 88-92.
Plagues, 90, 137, 157, 224.
Players, 386.
Plym, 189.
Plymouth Pourtrayed, 375, 376.
 Brethren, 262, 263.
 Company, 63, 67-83.
 Colony, 79, 80.
 Haven, 443-5.
 Institution, 468.
 Origin of Name, 189.
 Port of, 33, 34, 173-76, 189.
Plympton, 5, 11, 20, 26-28, 30, 94,
95, 118, 189.
 Saxon Monastery, 5, 20, 27.
 Priory and Priors, 22-24, 27,
28, 30, 171-84, 194, 207, 211,
241, 297, 324, 325, 331, 347, 348,
397, 402, 448.
Plymstock, 100.
Pocahontas at Plymouth, 68.
Pole (cited), 39.
Political Leaders at Plymouth, 145,
146.
Pol Tor, 364.
Pollexfens, The, 347.
Poll of Town, 455.
Poll Tax and Subsidies, 26, 176, 318,
Pomphlet, 8, 115.
Pontey's Gardens, 372.
Poor Rates, 178.
Poor's Portion, 277, 278, 286, 296 ;
Seal, 291 ; Properties of, 287, 288,
311 312
Pope's Head, 344, 385.
Popham, Chief Justice, 67.
 Fort, 68.
Population Returns, 362, 363.
Portugal, Expedition to, 55, 61.
Post, 335 ; Office, 389.
Prehistoric Times, 6.
Prepositors, 176-82, 185, 188.
Presbyterians, 251, 260, 261, 263.
Pressgang, 140, 428.
I 3

490

INDEX.

Prideaux, John, 472.
Primitive Methodists, 258.
Prince (cited), 42, 49.
 Consort at Plymouth, 144.
 Rock, 11„ 98, 115, 404.
 Town, 338.
 of Wales's Own, 426.
Prisons, 392.
Privateers, 91, 322.
Privy Council Orders, 33.
Prize Office, 137.
Promenade Pier, 399.
Prospect Street, 11.
Prout, S., 476.
Pryn's Almshouses, 304, 311.
Prynne, G. R., 247, 248.
'Prysten House,' 232.
Ptolemy (cited), 5.
Purchase of Goods by Corporation,344.
Puritanism, 248, 249.
Quakers, 249-51.
Quarrying, 399.
Quay Boys, 414.
Queen Anne's Battery, 422.
 of Portugal at Plymouth, 143.
 Victoria at Plymouth, 144.
Quick, John, 459.
Quicksilver Coach, 341.
Raddon's Gift, 292.
Radclyffe, 25.
Ragged Schools, 282.
Railways, 338-40.
Raised Beach, 400.
Ralegh, Sir W., 40, 49, 57, 62, 65, 67.
Ratepayers' Association, 454.
Rates and Levies, 208.
Rating, 373.
Rame, 141, 406, 407.
Randall's Gift, 298.
Ravennat (cited), 10.
Rawlinson (cited), 374.
Rawlyn, Capt., 275, 276.
Receivers, 200, 222.
Recorders, 90, 184, 190, 192 ; List of,
219, 220.
Records, Corporate, 198-202 ; Burnt,
199 ; Lost, 199.
Regulations for Mediaeval Traders,
203-6, 342-47.
Religion, 226-268.
Rendezvous, The Elizabethan, 55.
Rennie and Whidby, 150.
Rescue Work, 316.
Revel's Gift, 309.
Rewbie's Gift, 308.
Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 461, 474.
Richard II. at Plymouth, 31.
 Order to Fortify, 402.

Richmond Walk, 399.
Ridge Road, 10.
Riots, 154.
Risdon (cited), 17, 365, 374.
Roads, 335, 336.
Robartes, Lord, 117-24.
Roborough, 90, 101, 119, 171, 426,
448, 449, 452.
 Stone, 406.
Roche Amoved, 218.
Rochelle, Expedition to, 91.
Rochellers, 70, 91.
Roffe, Inquisition by, 171.
Rogers Family, 168, 169, 346.
 Sir J. (1), 163, 164, 215, 220,
341, 351.
 Sir J. (2), 218-20.
 Sir J. C, 169.
— Sir F., 220.
— Sir F. L., 165, 168, 216, 220.
 Lady, 281.
 P. H., 478.
Roman Period, 10 ; Galley, 10 ; Coins,
11 ; Figure of Mercury, 11 ; Burial
Place, 12, 13.
 Catholics, 264, 265 ; Schools,
283-; Cathedral, 387.
Romisbery, 21.
Rooker, A., 467.
 Statue, 219.
Roper's Piece, 16.
Row's (Margery) Bequest, 292.
Rowe's (Wm.) Bequest, 292.
Rowe, Samuel, 462.
Royal Albert Bridge, U44.
 Hotel and Theatre, 385, 386.
Rudyerd, 147, 148.
Rushworth (cited), 122.
Russell Street, 390.
Ruthven, Col., 94, 95,
' Ruyne and Decaye,' 319.
' Sabbath Day Fyght,' 105-7 ; Sermon
for, 304.
Saffron Row, 304.
Sail-cloth Factory, 351.
Sailors' Home, 316.
Saltash, 30, 33, 94, 95, 116, 118,
123, 138, 144, 186, 327, 346, 407,
 Passage, 227.
Salt Marsh, 368.
Salvation Army, 264.
San Juan de Ulloa, 44.
Saxon Chronicle, 14 ; Nomenclature,
15 ; Settlement, 15.
Scarlet Gowns, 195.
Scawen (cited), 421.
School Board, 283, 284.
Science, 469-474.
Scoble's Gifts, 308, 311.

INDEX.

491

Scotch Ships Seized, 91.
Scott, SirG., 381, 382.
Scrope and Grosvenor Controversy,
227.
Sea Fencibles, 425.
Seals, 179, 195-97, 277, 291.
Seaton, Lord, Statue, 400.
Secularists, 264.
Seneschal, Priors', 181, 182.
Serpell, R. C, 467.
Seventeen Steps, 391.
Seventeenth Century Buildings, 380.
Shambles, 192, 210, 289.
Sharman, Rev. W., 466.
Sheaf, The, 311.
Sheepstor Bridge, 443.
Shepheard, 350.
Sherwell, Nicholas, 252, 253.
 Nicholas and Thomas, 272-4.
 Chapel, 260, 388.
Ship-building, 334.
Ships, Plymouth, in 1571, 320 ;
Shipping Orders,Touching, 29-32,
33, 175, 176 ; Returns, 319.
Ship-money Writs, 321.
'Shoulder of Mutton' Party, 219.
Shute Park, 292, 430, 432.
Siege, 92-135, 416 ; Relics of, 132,
133 ; Goods Supplied for, 134.
Sisters of Mercy, 247, 248.
Sisters of the Poor, &c, 265.
Slanning, Sir N., 95-97.
Smeaton, 148, 149.
Smith, Capt. John, 69-71.
 Col. Hamilton (cited), 197 ; 471.
Soap Manufacture, 352.
Sourepolemylle, 21, 23.
Southcottonians, 264.
South Devon Railway, 339.
 Gate, 417.
 Hospital, 314.
 Western Railway, 340.
Southside, 174, 209, 275, 286, 287,
290, 431.
 Street, 230, 279.
Spa, 339.
Spain, Expeditions against, 43-62, 90.
Spanish in Florida, 64, 65.
 Landing at Cawsand, 58; Squad
ron in Sound, 59.
Sparkes, of Friary, The, 228, 344,
347, 381.
 John, 411, 412, 457.
Speed (cited), 32.
Spencer (cited), 2.
Spiritualists, 264.
Spry, the Painter, 169, 437, 474.
St. Andrew Chapel, 245.
 Hall, 389.
 Street, 365, 375, 449.

St. Andrew, 21, 47-9, 53, 90, 107,
109, 184, 187, 227, 230-243, 251,
290, 291, 293, 306, 311-13, 359,
363, 367, 380-3, 397, 475; Re
stored, 238 ; Monuments, 381,382 ;
Churchyard, 349, 382, 383, 390.
St. Aubyn, Sir John, 457.
St. Budeaux, 74, 108, 114, 130, 226,
237, 312, 439.
St. George, 237.
St. Germans Priory, 187.
St. Indractus, 17.
St. James, 246, 247, 387.
St. John, 246, 247.
— ¦- P. B., 464.
St. Katharine, 233, 234, 396, 397, 412.
St. Lawrence, 234, 237.
St. Luke, 246, 247.
St. Matthias, 246, 247, 387.
St. Michael, 233, 234, 408, 409.
St. Nicholas Island, 23, 38, 57, 93,
98, 100, 103, 142, 233, 234, 318,
408-11, 415, 416, 421.
St. Peter, 246, 247, 387.
St. Saviour, 246, 247.
Staddon, 6, 10, 142.
Stadio Duentia, 10.
Stafford, Bp., 335, 403.
Stamford, Earl of, 95, 97.
 Mount (and Fort), 9, 11, 98,
101-105, 110, 118, 127, 128.
Stannary Privileges, 342.
Star Chamber, 231.
State Prison, 252.
Steamers, 341.
Stentiford (cited), 12.
Stevane, John, 441.
Stevens's Gift, 313.
Stewards, Lord High, 144, 220, 221.
Stillman Street, 7, 184, 209, 275, 365.
Stoches, 18, 21.
Stockam, 441.
Stoke Church, 367.
 Damerel, 363.
 Fleet, 19, 186, 187, 401.
Stonehouse, 7, 12-14, 18, 19, 21, 23,
120, 179, 187, 234-37, 363, 364,
408, 421, 425, 438."
 Lane, 390.
 West, 30.
 Bridge, 336.
Stone Implements, 6.
Stow (cited), 30.
Storms, 92, 146, 147, 151, 152, 330,
331.
Stroud,' W„ 365.
Subsidy Roll, 26, 32.
Sugar Refineries, 352.
Surpool, 18, 21, 23, 186, 187, 364, 365,
368, 446.

492

INDEX.

Sutton (Svdtone), 17-25, 27, 28,
170-80, 182, 188, 226, 317, 318,
328, 364, 365.
 Mrs., 313
 Port of, 317, 324, 346, 348, 397.
 Pill, 25.
 Pool, 18, 19, 22, 25, 28, 51,
174, 186, 188, 243, 274, 275, 308,
323-32, 346, 347, 352, 363, 365,
396, 399, 403-406, 411, 413, 430,
446, 470 ; Courts of, 325 ; Regu
lations for, 325 ; Keys, 325; Leases
of, 327 ; Boundaries of and En
croachments on, 328, 329 ; Liti
gation touching, 328, 329 ; Piers,
331 ; Sutton Harbour Com., 331.
 Prior, 22-24, 27, 28, 172-185,
187, 188, 234, 365.
 Raf, 22, 24, 25, 178, 184, 185,
187, 234.
 Valletort or Vawter, 19, 22, 24,
172, 174, 177-80, 183-87, 234, 365.
Sylvester, 438, 451.
Symonds (cited), 120, 121.
Symonses, The, 347.
Sweden, King of, at Plymouth, 145.
Tabernacle, Old, 257.
 New, 257, 258.
Tailors' Craft, Liberty of, 343.
Tamara, 10, 21.
Tamalary, 209.
Tamarworth, 17, 21.
Tanbretone, 17, 21.
Tavistock Railway, 339.
Taxation of Pope Nicholas, 227.
Taylor, Water Poet, 460.
Teats Hill, 138, 151, 413.
Technical Schools, 285.
Tenth and Fifteenth, 178.
Textile Manufactures, 349-51.
Thatched Dwellings, 368.
Theatres, 385-87.
'Thissellpke,' 16, 311.
Tidal Disturbances, 470.
Tillard, Isaac, 397.
Tin Works Viewed, &c, 333, 334;
434, 448.
 Street, 209.
Tobacco, 351, 355.
Tonnage Dues, 320.
Tor, 312.
Torr Lane, 8, 11.
Touching for the Evil, 143.
Town Lands, List of, 209 ; Sale of,
209 ; Rental, 209, 210.
 Improvements, 223, 224.
 Tavern, 344.
Trade, Commerce, and Manufacture,
317-361.

Traders' Tokens, 359-61.
 List of, 357.
Trainbands, 94, 384, 424.
Traytor of Cornwall, 38.
Treffry, Mr., 408.
Tregarthen Chantry, 236.
Tregelles, S. P., 464.
Trelawny Family, 347, 377.
 Robert, 79, 84-86, 163, 214
274, 299, 311.
 (Sir J.) Gift, 308.
 Letters, 86.
Trematon, 22, 25, 186.
Trenode and Venour, 187.
Trevanion, 95, 97.
Trevill, R., 346.
 St., 209, 252, 375.
Trinity, Holy, 246, 247.
 Chapel, 263.
Turk's Head, 377.
Tumchapel, 138, 416.
Turnpikes, 335.
' Twelve and Twenty Four,' 184.
Tyrwhitt, Sir T., 338.
Ulett's Fee, 20.
Unfree, List of, 159.
Union Street, 18, 209, 336, 364, 390.
 Chapel, 260.
Unitarians, 252, 259.
United Methodists, 258.
Universalists, 263.
Upton, Wm., 347.
Vagrants, Passing Away, 294.
Valletort, James, 21, 25.
 John, 23, 24, 27, 171-4,183,227.
 Philip, 22.
 Ralph, 21.
 Reginald, 18, 21, 22, 23, 171.
 Richard, 24.
 Roger, 22, 24, 171.
 Walter, 23.
 Lord, 166.
Valletorts, The, 21-25, 27, 172, 173,
183, 403.
Vapouring Hill, 121.
Vauter's Fee, 25.
 Ground, 187.
Vautordisparke at Pole, 21, 365.
Vauxhall Street, 292.
'Vawters,' The, 19, 187, 209.
Vennell Street, 209.
Venours Ward, 178, 363.
 Walter, 175 ; John, 175.
Vestments, 299, 300.
Veysey, Bp., 211, 403.
Vicarage Lands, 231.
Vicars, Lists of, 242, 243, 245-47.
Victoria Almshouses, 306.

INDEX.

493

Victualling Office, 139, 145.
Vintners, 355.
Vintry Ward, 178, 313.
 Street, 313.
Virginia, Colonization, 65.
Voluntary Schools, 282.
Volunteers, 423-28 ; of 1779, 424 ;
of 1803, 425 ; Victorian, 428.
Wade and Kerby Shot, 153.
Waits, The, 473.
Walchentone, 17, 171.
Wales, Prince of, 144, 149.
Wall, Town, 412, 413, 416 ; Line of,
416.
Wardlaw, Col., 101, 103, 110, 111.
Warleigh, 116.
Warbeckian Rising, 35.
Wards, 178, 192.
Warleigh Leat, 443.
Warlewast, Bp., 27.
Warren, Wm., 243.
Warwick, Earl of, 118, 125.
Water Bailiff's Extortions, 341.
Waterworks, The Borough, 429-456;
Corporation Records, 429 ; Wells
and Streams, 430 ; Water Act,
432; Cutting the Leat, 438; Cost
of the Works, 442 ; Leat Mills,
446; 'Controversy,' 447; Conduits,
449 ; General History of Water
Property, 451 ; Head Weir and
Harter, 453 ; Water Famine, 455 ;
Fishing Feast, 456.
 Famine, 456.
Webb, F. J., 150.
Webber's Gift, 293.
Weekes's Bequest, 298.
Welden, Col., 129.
Well Park, 209.
Wells and Streams, 430.
Willis Browne (cited), 423.
Wesleyan Methodism, 258 ; Schools,
283.
Wesley at Plymouth, 258.
Westcote (cited), 3, 40.
Western Rebellion, 26; Attack on
Plymouth, 38.
Western College, 262, 388.
West Gate, 417.
West Hoe Pier, 399.
Weston Peveril, 8, 21 ; Charities, 314.
White Book, 201.
Whitefriars, 20.

Whitelock (cited), 116.
Whitfield at Plymouth, 256.
Whitleigh, 445.
Whimple Street, 209, 231, 290, 291.
449.
Whipping, 153.
White's (John) Charity, 307.
 (Martyn) Gift, 308.
Wholesale Business, 358.
Whyttor, 364.
Wicganbeorge, Defeat of Danes at, 14.
Widey, 101, 120, 440, 446, 452.
 Court, 429.
Wightwick, G., 385, 465, 480.
Wilford, Sir W., 32.
Willan's Gift, 311.
William IV. at Plymouth, 143.
Williams's Gift, 313.
Willoughby de Broke, Lord, 36.
Wilson, Aaron, 241.
Windmill, 397.
 Park, 209.
Wine Fountain given to Charles II.,
191.
Winsor, Justin (cited), 76, 77.
Winterbottom, Wm., 259.
Winter, John, 85, 86.
Winstanley, 146, 147.
Wise, Mount, 97, 127, 142, 400.
Woman burnt at Cattedown, 153.
Woollcombe, H. (cited), 7, 199, 200,
305, 323 ; 468.
 Dr., 470.
Woolster Street, 194, 209, 230.
Workhouse, Benefactors to, 293 ;
Reformation of, 295 ; New, 295.
Workmen's Dwellings, 368.
Woulfe, William, 288.
Wrecks, 151, 152.
Wright, W. H. K., 54, 467.
Wylie's Henry IV. (cited), 31.
Wynrigg, 4, 186, 364.
Wyse, Sir T., 445.
Yannadon, 443, 452.
Yarn Market, 348, 349.
Yogge, J., 327.
 Thos., 217, 237, 377.
 Wm., 217, 237.
Yonge, Dr., (cited),164, 424,456 ; 469.
 Biary (cited), 400.
Yoi'k and Lancaster, 34.
Young Men's and Women's Christian
Associations, 264.

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.

Adams, Benjamin, Walmer Villa, Mannamead.
Adams, W., West Hoe Terrace, Plymouth.
Alger, W. H., The Manor House, Stoke Darner el.
Almond, Henry, Portland Square, Plymouth.
Andrews, W., f.r.hs., Hull.
Attwood and Co., Old Town Street, Plymouth. (5 copies.)

Babb, H. E., f.a.s., Portland Square, Plymouth.
Balkwill, B., Kingsbridge.
Balk will, F. H., Princess Square, Plymouth.
Barratt, G. E., Drakesleigh, Plymouth.
Bayly, John, Seventrees, Plymouth. (10 copies.)
Bayly, Eobert, J. p., Torr Grove. (2 copies.)
Bedford, The Duke of, Woburn Abbey. (2 copies.)
Bellamy, J. A., j. p., Southside Street, Plymouth.
Bennett, J. H., Eev. (The late), Lydford.
Bennett, W. S., Escott, Penzance.
Bewes, Eeginald A., Braeside, Mannamead.
Bickford, J., Ashburton Bank, Ashburton.
Bickford, W., Dunsland, North Devon.
Bidgood, N., High Street, Plymouth.
Bignell, G. C., f.b.s., Stonehouse.
Binns, Eev. W., Caer Baden Terrace, Plymouth.
Birmingham, Messrs, Whimple Street, Plymouth. (2 copies.)
Blanchard, J, Bedford Street, Plymouth.
Boase, Eev. Charles W., Exeter College, Oxford.
Boase, G. C, London.
Bolitho, E., Laregan, Penzance.
Bolitho, T. E, J. p., Penalverne, Penzance.
Bond, J. Kinton, The Crescent, Plymouth. (2 copies.)
Bond, J. T., The Right Worshipful the Mayor of Plymouth.
Boolds, C. C, Sea View House, Plymouth.
Boweringand Co., George Street, Plymouth. (3 copies.)

496 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.
Bray, W., St. George's Terrace, Plymouth.
Brent, F., f.s.a., Tothill Avenue, Plymouth.
Briggs, T. E. A., f.l.s., Fursdon, Egg Buckland.
Bright, E. E., Devon and Cornwall Bank, Plymouth.
Brooks, C. J., Sussex Street, Plymouth.
Brown, J., The Abbey, Plymouth.
Brown, J. P., The Abbey, Plymouth.
Browniow, Canon, Bishop's House, Plymouth.
Brushfield, T. N, m.d., The Cliff, Budleigh Salterton.
Burd, J. S., Cress well, Compton.
Burnard, C. F., j. p., Chatsworth Lodge, Mannamead.
Burnard, E., Hillsborough, Mannamead.

Calmady, Miss, Knighton, Plymouth.
Carter, E., Falmouth.
Cater, Samuel, North Devon Place, Plymouth.
Chancellor, The Lord High, Ennismore Gardens, London.
Chanter, J. E., j. p., Fort Hill, Barnstaple.
Clark, Henry, Efford Manor.
Clark, Eichard, j.p., Torrington Place, Plymouth.
Coleridge, The Lord, Lord Chief Justice of England, Heath's
Court, Ottery St. Mary.
Collier, W. F., j.p., Woodtown, Horrabridge. (2 copies.)
Coode, T. Lyne, George Street, Plymouth.
Co-operative Society, The Educational Department, Plymouth.
(2 copies.)
Cornish Brothers, Birmingham.
Cornish, T. (The late), Penzance.
Cotton, E. W., Woodleigh, Newton Abbot.
Courtney, Leonard, The Eight Hon., m.p., Cheyne Walk,
Chelsea.
Cumming, C. H., Sussex Street, Plymouth.
Curgenven, J. Brendon, Middlesex.

Darton, W., Turnchapel.
Daubuz, J. C, Killiow, Truro.
Davy, A. J., Abbeyfield, Torquay.
Davies, Alfred B., Parkham, Bideford.
Debnam, A. E., Marlborough Road, Plymouth.
Derry, W., Houndiscombe House, Plymouth.
Digby, W., c.s.i., Coromandel, Beckenham.
Dillon, W. H., Clifton Place, Plymouth.
Dobell, Douglas D., Auburn Place, Plymouth.
Drake, Sir William, Princes Gardens, South Kensington.
Dyer, J. C, Hill Park, Plymouth.
Dymond, F. W., Mansion House, Exeter.

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 497
Earl, W., Princess Square, Plymouth.
Evans, M., Essex Road, London, N. (2 copies.)
Exeter, The Lord Bishop of, The Palace, Exeter.
Exeter, The Dean of, The Deanery, Exeter.
Fisher, E., Newton Abbot.
Foale, W., Rockville, Mannamead.
Fortescue, J. F., j.p., Crescent Villas, Plymouth.
Foster, E., j.p., Lanwithan, Lostwithiel.
Fouracre, J. T., South Devon Place, Plymouth.
Fox, Howard, f.g.s., Rosehill, Falmouth.
Fox, Mrs., Athenwum Terrace, Plymouth.
Fraser, Eev. W., Saltash.
Free Library, Plymouth.
Gameson, J. Herbert, Portland Square, Plymouth.
Gaylard, J. S., Union Street, Plymouth.
Green, Eev. W. Lionel, St. Budeaux Vicarage.
Greenway, H., Ham Street, Plymouth.
Gentle, Philip, Hill Park, Plymouth.
Gibbs, F. W., c.B., Mount Street, Grosvenor Square.
Goard, T, Portland Square, Plymouth.
Griffin, James, Caprera Terrace, Plymouth.
Harris, A. S., j.p., Gascoigne Place, Plymouth.
Harris, F. W., Woodland Terrace, Plymouth.
Harris, H. V., George Street, Plymouth.
Harris, G. C, George Street, Plymouth.
Harvard Cobege Library, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Hayne, C. Seale, M.P., Kingswear Castle.
Heath, W., George Street, Plymouth.
Hill, H. S., Plymouth.
Hine, J., f.ri.b.a., Lockyer Street, Plymouth.
Hingeston-Eandolph, Prebendary, Ringmore.
Hingston, C. A., m.d., Sussex Terrace, Plymouth.
Hissett, H. J., Buckland Terrace, Plymouth.
Honey, Augustine, Liverpool.
Hoppins, T. W., Southside Street, Plymouth.
Howard, Eev. T. H., St. Jude, Plymouth.
Hudleston, W. H, f.r.s., Stanhope Gardens, London.
HurrelL H. S., Manor House, Kingsbridge.
Inglis, J. G, ce., Buckland Terrace, Plymouth.
Jago, Edward, Coldrennick, Liskeard.
James, Edward, Greenbank House, Plymouth.
Jones, Yarrell, and Co., Bury Street, London.

498 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.
Kent, E. F, Devon and Cornwall Bank, Plymouth.
Kerswell, A. J., Ham Street, Plymouth.
Kerswill, F. J., Portland Villas, Plymouth.
King, C. E. Baker, Oakley Square, London.
King, W., Hoe Park Terrace, Plymouth.
Larcombe, J. S., Exeter.
Lemon, Eev. T. W., d.d., Cheltenham Place, Plymouth.
Lewarn, W., Trafalgar House, Plymouth.
Lewin, T., Clifton Place, Plymouth.
Lovibond, J., Gascoigne Place, Plymouth.
Luxon, W., Courtenay Street, Plymouth.
Mabin, F., Union Street, Plymouth. (2 copies.)
MacAndrew, J. J., f.l.s., j.p., Lukesland, Ivybridge.
Magor, Martin, Penzance.
Marsh, J., Burgholt Crescent, Stamford Hill.
McBryde, H., Bedford Street, Plymouth.
McBryde, J., Bedford Street, Plymouth.
Merrifield, J., ll.d., f.h.a.s., Hobart Terrace, Plymouth.
Micklewood, E. H, St. Michael's Terrace, Plymouth.
Millett, G. B., Penzance Library.
Monk, J. E., Rochester Terrace, Plymouth.
Monkswell, The Lord, Chelsea Embankment, London.
Moon, J. E., Brixton.
Moore, E. E., Antony.
Morley, The Earl of, Saltram.
Morrish, F. A., j.p., Bedford Terrace, Plymouth.
Mount Edgcumbe, The Earl of, Mount Edgcumbe.
Netherton and Worth, Truro.
Nicholson, H. M., Torrington Place, Plymouth.
Norrington, C, J. P., Abbotsfield, Mannamead.
Opie, E., Braidwood Terrace, Plymouth.
Parlby, Eev. J. Hall, Manadon.
Pearn, E. A., Compton Leigh.
Pearse, T., Union Street, Plymouth.
Penn, W. J., Woodland Terrace, Plymouth
Penny, Eev. E. L., d.d., b.n., Cory ton House, Plymouth.
Phillips, F., f.ci., West Hoe Terrace, Plymouth.
Pilgrim Society, Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Pode, J. D., j. p., Slade, Ivybridge.
Poltimore, The Lord, Poltimore, Exeter.
Popham, Eadford, and Co., Bedford Street, Plymouth.

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 499
Prance, C. E., m.d., Princess Square, Plymouth.
Prance, W. H., The Crescent, Plymouth.
Pridham, E., Balmoral Place, Plymouth. (2 copies )
Proprietary Library, Cornwall Street,. Plymouth.
Eadford, Mrs.,, Chiswick House, Surbiton.
Eadford, C. H., Axtown, Yelverton.
Eadford, Dr., Sidmount, Sidmouth.
Eeed, H. M., Hill Park, Plymouth.
Eeform Club, Pall Mall.
Eobartes, The Lord, Lanhydrock.
Bobbins, A. F., Saltoun Road, Brixton.
Eogers, Sir J. C, Blachford.
Eogers, Eev. Edward, Odcombe Rectory, Ilminster.
Eogers, G. P., Seaton House, Plymouth.
Eorie, J., Dunkeld Villas, Plymouth.
Eowe, J. Brooking, f.s.a., f.l.s., Castle Barbican, Plympton.
Sandringham Library, The.
Saunders, W. S., Moor View Lodge, Exeter.
Saunders, J. Symes, m.d., Exminster.
Saunders, Trelawny, Elmfield-on-the-Knouies, Newton Abbot.
Searle, G. W., Devon and Cornwall Bank, Plymouth.
Serpell, E. W., Hill Park, Plymouth.
Serpell, Mrs., Queen Anne Terrace, Plymouth.
Shelly, John, Woodside, Plymouth.
Short, J., Hoe Park Cottage, Plymouth.
Sibbold, J. G. E., Admiralty, Whitehall.
Slater, D., Cheveley Hall, Mannamead.
Smith, J. M., Bedford Chambers, Plymouth.
Smith, John, Old Town Street, Plymouth. (2 copies.)
Smith, E. C, Somerset Place, Stoke.
Soltau-Symons, G., J.p., Chaddlewood, Plympton.
Spencer, Eev. E., Tavistock.
Square, J. Elliot, Portland Square, Plymouth.
Stephenson, George (The late), Elmside, Compton.
Stidston, W., College Road, Compton.
St. Germans, The Earl of, Port Eliot.
St. Levan, The Lord, St. Michael's Mount.
Sydenham, L, Headlands, Plymouth.
Tangye, E., Glendorgal, Newquay.
Taylor, J., Flora Street, Plymouth.
Taylor, F., Flora Street, Plyviouth.
Thomas, F., Athenaeum Terrace, Plymouth.
Trahair, J. W. B., Hemerdon Terrace, Plymouth.
Trevan, F. A., Stoke Terrace, Devonport.

500

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.

Vallack, E, War Office, Pall Mall.
Varnier, A. H., Torrington Place, Plymouth.
Wade, W. C, Portland Square, Plymouth.
Were, N., Osborne Place, Plymouth.
Westlake, W. C., Rosehill House, Calstock.
Whiteford, C. C, Thornhill, Compton.
Whitfeld, H., Torrington Place, Plymouth.
Wilcocks, H. S., Wyndham Square, Plymouth.
Wills, S. J., Helston.
Wilson, J. Walter, Leigham Villas, Plymouth.
Wing, F. W., Restormel Terrace, Plymouth.
Wolferstan, T., Princess Square, Plymouth.
Woodhouse, H. B. S., Portland Square, Plymouth.
Woods, W. Herbert, Bedford Street, Plymouth.
Wright, W. H. K, f.r.h.s., Headlands House, Plymouth.

PLYMOUTH :
WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON, PRINTERS,
GEORGE STREET,

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