MARITIME HISTORY 



and the continual complaints of the merchant class, as voiced in Parliament, were not to be neglected. 

 The system could not be, and was not, at once abolished, but it became much less frequent" during 

 the fifteenth century, and there is quite a modern note in the establishment of cruisers round the 

 coast in 1 41 5, four vessels being stationed between the Isle of Wight and Orfordness and three from 

 Orfordness northwards. 1 The great fleet of upwards of 1,400 vessels, required for the campaign of 

 Agincourt, included a contingent from Suffolk, but very many were hired in Holland and Zealand, 

 either because the resources of the kingdom were insufficient, or Henry resolved not to tax them unduly. 

 In 1 4 1 6 Orwell Haven was the place of assembly of a large fleet, and the numerous occasions when it 

 served for such a purpose, although they have not called for notice here, must have greatly assisted 

 the business growth of Ipswich as well as of Harwich. Another big fleet was required for Henry's 

 passage to France in 141 7, but out of one list of 238 vessels 117 belonged to Holland and Zealand. 

 Many of the English ports were unrepresented, and it may be surmised that for political reasons the 

 king preferred to hire foreign ships as transports rather than to disturb English trade. For this 

 service, however, Dunwich, Covehithe (' Cooshith '), Orford, and Blythburgheach sent one ship. 2 

 An important branch of English maritime traffic in the fifteenth century was the transport of 

 pilgrims to enable them to perform their devotions at the shrine of St. James of Compostella. 

 They could only be carried in licensed ships, and nobles and merchants seem to have been equally 

 eager to obtain a share in what must have been a profitable trade. Most of the ships so employed 

 belonged to the southern ports, but any taken up for the purpose must necessarily have been of 

 considerable size judged by the standard of that age. For Suffolk there are very few entries in 

 long lists extending over many years, and Ipswich and Southwold are the only ports that appear. 3 

 A late licence, of the reign of Richard III, entitled Thomas Rogers, keeper of the king's ships, to 

 convey pilgrims in four vessels, and one of them was of Woodbridge. 4 



After the death of Henry V one of the first proceedings of the Regency was to sell off the 

 Royal Navy by auction, but the loss was not felt at once because there was no French force capable 

 of contesting the dominion of the sea. There were arrests of shipping in 1428 and 1430, but 

 there was now a general feeling that in this method 'the long coming together of the ships is the 

 destruction of the country.' 5 Vessels were still impressed for the transport of troops, but the 

 cruising service was handed over to contractors who undertook to keep the sea with a certain 

 number of ships and men for a specified time. Of course the contractors desired to obtain as 

 much money and go to as little expense as possible, and in 1442 Parliament, dissatisfied with the 

 results, prepared a scheme by which a squadron was to be made up of selected ships from various 

 ports, but none came from Suffolk. There are existent several lists of ships taken up for the 

 transport of troops in 1439, 1440, 1443, 1447, and 1452. 6 Seeing that they only represent a 

 portion, large or small, of the merchant marine, they show that, notwithstanding war and weak 

 government, it was still flourishing, some of the vessels being of 300 and 400 tons. The large 

 ships, however, all belonged to the southern counties ; those from Suffolk, with the exception of 

 one of 160 and another of 140 tons, owned at Ipswich, were all small. During these years 

 Dunwich sent five vessels, Walberswick six, and Easton, Kirkley, and Southwold each one. A 

 vessel of 240 tons, described as of Orwell, must have belonged to Ipswich or Harwich. 



Sea power played no great part in the Wars of the Roses, but we get some indication in the 

 Paston letters of the insecurity of territorial waters when such legal trammels as had existed were 

 relaxed. On 30 April, 1 350, the duke of Suffolk sailed, exiled, from Ipswich to meet his death in 

 the Straits of Dover, and it need not be imputed to cowardice that his Ipswich crews did not raise 

 a hand to save him. Writing in March of the same year, Agnes Paston notices several occurrences 

 showing how ' perlyous dwellyng be the se cost' was then, 7 and although her letter refers to 

 Norfolk, the coast of Suffolk must have been equally dangerous. The Walberswick Account Books 

 show payments in 1457 and 1463 for powder and cannon shot, and in 1469 for labour in throwing 

 up entrenchments. In 1460 the earl of Warwick, then at Calais, was expected to make a descent 

 in Suffolk, and orders were given to take the necessary precautions. 8 From the fact that in 1463 it 

 was necessary to seize all ships laden with stores intended to supply Edward's enemies the existence 

 of a Lancastrian party in the county may be inferred. 9 



In 1 46 1 Suffolk was invited to join with Essex and Hertfordshire and follow the example of 

 the north by raising a squadron at their own cost to act against the French and Scots. Edward IV 

 was not ignorant of the value of a fleet and slowly set about the re-creation of a Royal Navy. His 

 method was to buy ships rather than to build them for himself. In 1462 he held 'two parts' of 

 the Margaret of Ipswich ; later he purchased one-fourth more from the London possessor, 10 and 



1 Proc. of P. C. (first ser.), ii, 145. * Rut. Norman, (ed. Hardy), 1835, pp. 320-9. 



5 Rot. Franc, pass. ' Harl. MSS. 433, fol. I 7 1 . i Prcc. cfP. C. (first ser.)', v. 102. 



' Exch. Accts. Q. R. bdle. 53, Nos. 23, 24, 25, 39; bdle. 54, Nos. 10, 14. 

 7 Paston Letters (ed. 1872), i, I 14. 8 Pat. 38 Hen. VI, pt. 2, m. 21. 



9 Ibid. 3 Edw. IV, pt. 1, m. \\d. "Ibid. 2 Edw. IV, F t. 2, m. 4. 



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