STOCKTON WARD 



HARTLEPOOL 



herrings, boards, hand-mills, faggots, salt, cheese, 

 butter, wood, lime, coal, figs, raisins, oil, nails, iron, 

 tin, brass, copper, dried lish, candles, pitch, tar.'^ 

 To these the charter of 1384 added leather, wax, 

 pepper, almonds, cummin seed, teazles, spices, fine 

 linen, fruit and live animals.-" 



The first recorded appointment of a collector of 

 customs at Hartlepool is on 14 June 1305, when 

 the king appointed Andrew de Bruntoft, afterwards 

 mayor, and Peter du Mareys to collect the new 

 customs (payable by foreign merchants under the 

 Cartti Mercatoria of 1303) at the port of Hartlepool, 

 and to keep one part of the coket seal-*; in 1307 

 Andrew de Brumpton was appointed to collect the 

 custom on wine."^ In the same year, 1307, Bishop 

 Anthony Bek was ordered to restore to the king 

 the custom on wool, hides, and woolfells, which he 

 had been collecting for his own use as part of 

 his royal rights in the bishopric.^" In 1334. the 

 energetic Bishop Richard de Bury made a vigorous 

 effort to assert his prerogative in collecting the 

 customs on wine. He was so far successful that he 

 obtained an acknowledgment of his right from the 

 king, and appointed John de Nesbyt chief butler 

 for the town of Hartlepool in 1334, but although 

 the office was maintained until the beginning of 

 the 15 th century the bishop very soon ceased to 

 obtain any profit by it,'' as the king began again to 

 appoint his own collectors of customs both on wine 

 and wool almost immediately after his recognition 

 of the bishop's right. ^- 



Meanwhile the relations between Newcastle-upon- 

 Tyne and Hartlepool with regard to the customs were 

 becoming involved. The earlier appointments to the 

 office of collector of customs cover only Hartlepool,^-" 

 and down to 1347 the butler or his deputy who 

 collected the customs on wine acted generally for 

 Newcastle, Hartlepool and Yarm.^^"" After 1341 

 no separate collectors of customs seem to have been 

 appointed for Hartlepool.-'-'^ Probably from this 

 date the Newcastle collectors included Hartle- 

 pool in their jurisdiction." There were a troner and 

 a weighing beam at Hartlepool in the 14th centurj',''' 

 and a place called ' le Weyhouse,' which once stood 

 on the east side of Northgate Street, is mentioned 

 in I 545.'^ 



The wool trade of Hartlepool was temporarily 

 destroyed by the statute of the staple of 1353, which 

 made Newcastle the staple town, from whence alone 

 might be shipped the wools of Northumberland, 



Durham, Cumberland, Westmorland, Richmond and 

 Allerton.2'' The mayor and burgesses of Newcastle 

 watched Hartlepool with a jealous eye, and in 1560, 

 on the first symptom of its recovery from this 

 blow, they sent a petition to the government de- 

 claring that Hartlepool was a member of the port of 

 Newcastle, and that hitherto the trade of Hartlepool 

 had been confined to the fisheries, but 



within the space of seven years or thereabouts there be certain 

 persons come from London for such debts as they be there 

 owing, to inhabit at Hartlepool because it is a town of privilege 

 — who not only practice with strangers repairing to Hartlepool 

 to employ the money of the same strangers in wool . . . but 

 also thev ... do ship wools, fells, lead and other merchandise, 

 sometimes paying custom, and many times depart without any 

 custom paying, fur that there is neither searcher, customer, 

 controller, or weigh-master there, saving only one of themselves 

 as deputy to the customers of the port of Newcastle, by whose 

 oversight they may use what liberty they list ; so that without 

 speedy reformation our young men of Newcastle , . . perceiv- 

 ing the liberty there, the small charges, and the transporting of 

 the wool shipped there to Amsterdam, to Haarlem and other 

 towns in Holland, where we are compelled by our ancient grants 

 to ship the wools of Newcastle only to Barro in Brabant, that the 

 same our young men will leave the town and inhabit Hartle- 

 pool. 



Moreover, the merchants of Hartlepool were shipping 

 wool from parts of Yorkshire, such as Pickering Lythe, 

 which were not appropriated to Newcastle, and as 

 this wool was much better and finer than that which 

 was shipped at Newcastle, the Newcastle wools were 

 falling in price and estimation." The Newcastle 

 merchants were crying out long before they were 

 hurt, according to the report of the harbour com- 

 missioners in 1565, who represented Hartlepool as 

 being a very small place, with only one ship belong- 

 ing to the port ; ' the town has been a good haven 

 and is strongly walled, and many ships of 200 tons 

 burden may lie within the town and pier ; but the 

 latter is in decay and many houses also, whereof 

 the greater number are the Queen's and belonged 

 to abbeys, friaries, chantries and gilds.' '^* 



In spite of the opposition from Newcastle the ship- 

 ping of lead from Hartlepool continued, as appears 

 from the will of John Feathcrstone of Hartlepool, 

 6 March 1567 ; he exported lead from Stanhope, the 

 seat of his family, and the inventory of his goods 

 shows the value and quantities of what he sold.^' 



Although it does not appear upon what Newcastle's 

 claim that Hartlepool was a member of the port of 

 Newcastle was based, it was generally acknow- 

 ledged in the 17th century. There is a silver seal of 

 that period belonging to the custom-house which bears 



" Sharp, Hist, of Harrhfool, 144-5, 

 and see above, 



" Ibid. ; App. p. ii. 



'^ Cul. Fine R. 1272-1307, p. 5J2 J 

 see pp. 502> 5i9- 



''Ibid. 1507-19, p. 10. In 1309 

 Andrew de Bruntoft was appointed the 

 chief butler's deputy at Hartlepool 

 (Ca/. Pat. 1307-13, p. 190). 



^"Cal.Pul. 1301-7, p. 543. 



^^ Lapsley, Co. Palal. of Dur, 276. 



'' Cal. Pat. 1334-8, pp. 340-1 ; 1338- 

 40, pp. 12, 163, 210, 211, 349, 350, 

 392,423. 



^-a Cf. Cal.FineR. 1272-1307, pp. 355, 

 384; 1319-27, pp. 81, 145, 194, 205, 

 212,254; 1327-37, pp. 79, 102, 227, 

 z6o, 261, 265, 297,403, 505 ; i337-47i 

 pp. 105 (with which cf. Cj/. Chief 



»337-9. P- 50'). ^2^1 ^^3- 



'-b Cf. Cat. Pat. 1307-13, p. 190; 



1317-21, p. 338; 1324-7. P- 'S4; 

 '327-30> P- >°7 i •33°-4. PP- 39^. 434 

 (cf. Cat. Close, 1333-7, p. 58) i 133+-8, 

 pp. 340, 341 i 1338-40, pp. 12, 210, 

 349; 1343-5. P- 360; '345-8, p. 253. 

 After 1347 only a few notices of a 

 deputy butler at Hartlepool have been 

 fo\md. In 1384 there was a deputy 

 butler for Newcastle and its members, 

 probably including Hartlepool (Cj/. Pat. 

 1381-5, p. 489). There was a deputy 

 butler for Newcastle, Scarborough, Whitby 

 and Hartlepool in 1401 (Ca/. Pat. 

 1399-1401, p. 364}, and in 1405 and 

 1413 one for Hull, Scarborough and 

 Hartlepool (ibid. 1405-S, p. 17; 1413- 

 16, p. 10). In the 17th century a deputy 

 butler acted for Newcastle, Hartlepool 

 and several other port* (Exch. Dep. Mich. 

 14 Cbas, I, no. 14 ; East, i Jai. II, 

 no. 16). 



277 



"c Down to 1 341 controllers of the 

 customs were appointed for Hartlepool, 

 for Hartlepool and Newcastle or for 

 Hartlepool and Yarm [Cat. Pat. 1330-4, 

 Pi-. 68,429,434, 545 ; 1338-40, p. 263 ; 

 1340-3, p. 197). In 134S a controller 

 was appointed for Newcastle and all 

 places to Hartlepool (Ibid. 1348—50, 

 p. 130 i cf. 1391-6, p. 343). 



" Ibid. 1324-7, p. 184. 



"Ibid. 1345-8, p. 362; Cat. Close, 

 1346-9, p. 580 ; 1349-54, p. 67. 



" L. ami P. He,,, nil, xxi (1), 3 5* (4)- 



« Stat. 3 Edw. IV, cap. I ; 4 Edw. IV, 

 cap. 2 and 3 ; 12 Edw. IV, cap. 5 ; 14 Edw. 

 IV, cap. 3 ; Pari. R. (Rec. Com.), v, 273. 



'^ S. P. Dom. Elii. xiii, 13. 



•« Cal. S. P. Dom. 1547-65, p. 573. 



'» Dur. ff'ills and In-vent. (Surt. Soc), 

 i, 274 i cf. L. and P. Hen. llll, xii (i), 

 927. 



