MARITIME HISTORY 



Admiralty Court at Southwold were very irregular and were complained about by Lloyds, while in 

 1835 some of the inhabitants stated, in a petition to the House of Commons, that they were 'an 

 intolerable nuisance.' Eventually all these jurisdictions, except that of the Cinque Ports, were 

 abolished by 5 and 6 Will. IV, cap. 76. The Ipswich corporation held an Admiralty Court on the 

 Andrews Shoal as late as 23 July, 1827.* 



The first naval armanent of moment during the reign of James I was that under Sir Robert 

 Mansell intended to act against Algiers. The western ports were the greatest sufferers from the 

 Mediterranean pirates, but the king thought that all the trading ports, as more or less interested, 

 should bear most of the expense. A circular letter from the Privy Council in February, 1618-19, 

 related that the Algerine and Tunisian pirates had taken 300 ships and many hundreds of men in a 

 few years, but in reality the expedition was more immediately occasioned by European politics than 

 by the sufferings of James's subjects. 2 Ipswich was required to find i$o; 3 the other Suffolk 

 ports were to assist Yarmouth, but the mayor complained that Woodbridge had not answered their 

 application, while Lowestoft repudiated any liability and owned nothing but fishing boats. Aldeburgh, 

 Southwold, and Walberswick flatly refused as not being members of Yarmouth, and Orford would only 

 contribute if Aldeburgh did. 4 A month later the mayor wrote that Woodbridge was richer than 

 Yarmouth and its members combined, but that it still refused any payment ; the constable of Wood- 

 bridge deposed that he delivered the Yarmouth letter to Thomas Boughton, the chief shipowner 

 there, who refused to show it to the townsmen. 4 The Ipswich corporation seems to have paid the 

 assessment without trouble, but in September, 1621, further payments were requested as Mansell's 

 fleet was staying in the Mediterranean (and doing nothing there) longer than had been expected. 

 To this Ipswich and Harwich replied conjointly that they had already contributed more than they 

 were justified in expending considering their losses at sea. 6 



The war with Spain caused preparations for the Cadiz fleet of 1625. It was made up of 

 men-of-war and hired transports, the counties not being required to find any armed ships. The 

 port of origin is not always given in the fleet list, but it contains eight Woodbridge and three 

 Aldeburgh vessels ; 7 from another source we learn that Ipswich sent twenty-four vessels, of which 

 one, the Robert, Captain Edmond Curling, was lost with all hands. 8 A year later the owners of 

 these ships had received nothing and were petitioning for payment ; in 1627, and no doubt long 

 afterwards, they were in the same plight. In 1626 Charles, on the brink of war with France, 

 resolved to follow the precedents of Elizabeth's reign, and called upon the maritime shires for fifty- 

 six ships to join the royal fleet. Harwich, Ipswich, and Woodbridge were associated for three 

 vessels, each to be of 200 tons, and victualled and stored for three months. 9 All the towns 

 immediately represented their poverty in urgent terms, and an offer of the county to bear one-third 

 of the expense was refused. 10 In July the Council reduced the demand to two ships, but this also 

 gave no satisfaction. In September the bailiffs and aldermen of Ipswich passed a formal resolution 

 that they had met several times to consider the Council Order, and had made rates for a levy, but 

 that ' the most part of the inhabitants of this town are not able to undergo the charge thereof, and 

 likewise understanding from the coast towns that they are altogether disabled by reason of their 

 many losses to contribute their proportions,' determined to send a bailiff to London to beg the 

 Council to relieve Ipswich and Woodbridge. 11 Another paper, perhaps a little later in date, says that 

 not a fourth part of the rate had been collected in Ipswich. 12 In February, 1627, Woodbridge 

 petitioned on its own account, and in March the Council directed that the county as a whole was to 

 pay half the cost of the two ships. 13 In April the Ipswich corporation petitioned again and referred 

 sullenly to their outlay for the Cadiz voyage of 1625 as yet unpaid ; 14 no doubt this was the expla- 

 nation of much of the backwardness at Ipswich and elsewhere. 



In Lord Willoughby's fleet of 1627 there were seven vessels from Ipswich, one from 

 Aldeburgh, and one from Woodbridge ; in Buckingham's Rhi expedition thirteen from Ipswich, two 

 from Aldeburgh, and one from Woodbridge. These were all transports, but evidently there were plenty 

 of vessels available if there was any hope of being paid for them. A list of ships for which letters 

 of marque were granted between 1625-8 shows the Rainbow, 160 tons, of Aldeburgh, and 

 Margaret, 200, of Ipswich, besides others. 16 A return of 1634 states that in 1628 Ipswich possessed 

 sixty-three vessels of from 100 to 300 tons, and four of from forty to sixty tons; Woodbridge 



1 Clarke, Hist, of Ipswich, 1 6 1. For the disputes between Harwich and Ipswich concerning Orwell 

 Haven see f.C.H Essex, ii, ' Maritime Hist.' 



1 S.P. Dom. Jas. I, cv, 88. * Ibid. 89. 4 Ibid, cvii, 26 (12 March, 1618-19). 



4 Ibid, cviii, 8 1 ; Hilt. MSS. Com. Rep. ix, App. i, 309. ' S.P. Dom. Jas. I, cxxx, 42, 43. 



I Pipe Off. Dec. Accts. 2263. ' S.P. Dom. Chas. I, xxxiv, 85, 86. 

 ' Ibid, xxx, 81 (June, 1626). 10 Hist. MSS. Com. Wodehouse MSS. 446. 



II Ibid. Rep. ix, App. i, 254. " S.P. Dom. Chas. I, xlii, 132 (undated). 



13 Ibid. Iv, 59 ; Hist. MSS. Com. Wodehouse MSS. 449. " S.P. Dom. Chas. I, Ixi, 80. 



15 Ibid. cxv. 



2 225 29 



