MARITIME HISTORY 



could have enlightened them, for not long before that body had had represented to it the exploits of 

 Lancelot Greenwell, of Chichester, ' a notorious pirate,' who had so far enriched himself at the 

 expense of the Hull merchants that they had been exasperated into sending out their own ships 

 after him. 1 Somewhat later the West Sussex commissioners were more successful, and returned the 

 names of various traders with pirates, including George Fenner of Chichester and one of his 

 brothers, Captain Henry Bellingham and William Oglander ; at the other end of the county six 

 persons belonging to Rye were held guilty of the same offence. 8 Many of those fined in the Cinque 

 Ports refused to pay, alleging that they had bought the property in good faith. 3 As a rule such 

 recalcitrancy was dealt with by ordering the offenders to appear before the Council ; the expense, 

 direct and indirect, of awaiting the pleasure of the Council in London might be made a much more 

 severe punishment than the original fine. The Cinque Ports commissioners * were still more 

 successful later on in Rye, for they found 23 persons to fine there, but the people of Seaford and 

 Pevensey were returned as innocent of any complicity. 



Incidental notices show that the activity of the commissioners continued ; in August, 1579, 

 the mayor of Chichester had sixteen pirates in gaol, and in 1580 one of the Lewkenor family was 

 ordered to appear before the Council for dealing with them. 4 In 1580 a proclamation against 

 pirates stated that 'at this day they commit more spoils and robberies on all sides' than ever. 6 In 

 1582 an Order in Council suspended the jurisdiction of the privileged ports in matters of piracy for 

 three years on account of the conflict of authority between their officials and the commissioners, 

 and this must have applied to the Cinque Ports. Not the least of the difficulties experienced by 

 the government lay in the general sympathy given to the pirates and the assistance afforded 

 them even by those who made no profit by their action at sea; in 1581 four Sussex pirates, 

 on their way from Arundel to London, were suffered to escape, and such occurrences were 

 not peculiar to this county. 7 Rye, of the Sussex ports, still had sufficient maritime traffic 

 to attract robbers from elsewhere. In September, 1581, the mayor wrote to the Lord Warden 

 that Captain Piers 8 had been blockading the port for a month 'as that none can go forth or 

 come in,' and inclosed a list of his captures. When details were obtained it appeared that the 

 pirate flagship was only of some 35 tons, with a consort of 1 8 tons; the naval strength of Rye 

 was quite equal to dealing with them, but ' those that are willing to venture would gladly be 

 entertained with some consideration ' before taking over the duty of the government. 9 Such an 

 argument, however, denoted a great change in the ancient spirit of the Ports. Elizabeth expected 

 her subjects to pay the crown for the support of a fleet, only a fraction of which was ever in use, 

 and also to protect themselves at sea. In 1587 the slackness of the Cinque Ports provoked a furious 

 outburst from her on the subject of the spoils made by the Dunkirkers. She wrote to the Lord 

 Warden that the Ports had been granted their privileges in consideration of services to be rendered 

 in the Narrow Seas, ' whereof there is at this time no use, neither have they been called upon to 

 perform the same' ; she noticed that ' they have never at any time made offer' of aid in putting 

 down piracy, but that if they did not she would revoke their privileges. 10 It happened that Rye, in 

 particular, was unwilling to attack anything sailing from Dunkirk, for there seems to have been an 

 especial trade relation between the two towns. In 1583 Dunkirk vessels had ceased to come to 

 Rye on account of a lawsuit commenced by one of the barons ; the mayor and jurats wrote to the 

 Dunkirk magistrates reminding them of the old friendship between the two towns, assuring them 

 that their traders might come and go in perfect safety, and hoping that the ancient connexion 

 would be resumed. 11 In 1576 the mayor had asked the burgomaster of Dunkirk to send over experts 

 to give an opinion about the harbour ; three came, who took a pessimistic view of the prospect of 

 any great improvement. 12 



It was decided in 1551 to disarm, as useless and expensive, several of the fortifications built 

 by Henry VIII, but Camber Castle is not known to have been affected by this measure, perhaps 

 because it was already deserted and falling into ruin. In 1549 the mayor and jurats of Rye had 

 requested leave to use the materials for the stone quays with which they proposed to replace their 



1 Acti afP.C. 29 Oct. 1577. 



' S.P. Dom. Eliz. ocxiv, 1 6. Four Fenners George, William, Thomas, and Edward were Elizabethan 

 sea captains, and William Fenner reached the rank of rear-admiral. Henry Bellingham commanded men-of- 

 war before and after 1588, and, in that year, a London ship commissioned against the Armada. 



3 Ibid, cxxix, 18 ; Acts ofP.C. 16 Jan. 1578-9. 



4 Including Lord Buckhurst, Sir Thos. Sherley, Sir John Pelham, and Richard Shelley, among the Sussex 

 county families. 



6 Acts ofP.C. iz Aug. 1579, 17 Mar. 1579-80. * S.P. Dom. Eliz. cxlvi, n. 



' Acts ofP.C. 30 Aug. 1581. The constable and others held responsible were committed to prison. 

 * He was a Cornish pirate ; see f.C.H. Cornwall, \, 489. 



' Hist. AfSS. Com. Rep. xiii, App. iv, 78, 79. Probably the passenger boats to Dieppe attracted Piers. 

 10 Lansd. MSS. xciv, fol. 92. " Hut. MSS. Com. Rep. xiii, App. iv, 83. " Ibid. 53. 



149 



