MARITIME HISTORY 



Sussex and only one, which belonged to Kent, in the Cinque Ports. Of 'mariners and sailors' 

 the distinction between them is obscure and unnecessary to discuss here there were 400 in Sussex 

 and 396 in the Cinque Ports, which would presumably include Rye, Winchelsea, and Hastings, 

 with their members. This return is certainly incomplete for some of the other counties and may 

 also be so for Sussex, while the number of men is probably only of those ashore at the date of the 

 inquiry. The Cinque Ports were undoubtedly passing through a period of commercial depression at 

 this date. A list of 1563 l compares their then condition with some vague term called 'within the 

 past thirty years ' ; Hastings had then sixteen crayers of 40 and 50 tons and fourteen fishing boats, 

 but in 1563 only four and three respectively ; Winchelsea had lost all its six fishing boats, and Rye 

 instead often 'able ships' had one, and twenty-six fishing boats in place of fifty. This must have 

 been the worst moment, for in 1565 there were 250 fishermen and 450 'servants' to fishermen, 

 besides 60 seamen, living in Rye, and thirteen of the 'barks' were occupied in trade and the 

 passenger traffic with Dieppe ; at Hastings there were 146 fishermen, 57 'servants,' and 16 sailors ; 

 Winchelsea was still last with ten sailors and two fishermen. 2 



The vice-admiral of Sussex was ordered, in 1563, to send in a list of vessels suitable for service 

 and of gentlemen capable of commanding them, 3 but if the return was ever made it is not now to be 

 found ; it is more likely that there were no such ships. When, in July, 1570, there was a general 

 embargo on all vessels of 30 tons and upwards there were no sea-going ships in Sussex in the sense 

 the term had then come to convey. The largest was the Bartholomew of Brighton, of 60 tons, and 

 that town possessed 170 fishermen and seamen out of the total of 321 in the county ; seven of the 

 largest Brighton boats, with 137 men, were absent for the North Sea cod fishery. Only two hoys 

 were owned at Chichester, one at Lancing, and nothing of 30 tons at Selsey or Pagham, although 

 there were twenty-four and eight seafaring men, respectively, at the last two places. 4 It may be, 

 however, judging from the next return, that some of the largest Sussex ships were at sea in 

 July, 1570. In 1572 Thomas Colshill, surveyor of customs at London, compiled a register of 

 coasting traders belonging to the ports of the kingdom. 6 The Sussex section may be thus 

 arranged : 



In 1576 there was a list made out of ships of 100 tons and upwards, built since 1571, in which 

 no Sussex port appears. A year later there is another list of men and 'ships, barks, and hoys,' but 

 probably only of those at home at the time: 6 Rye, 35 vessels and 150 'mariners and seafaring 

 men'; Hastings, 18, and 10 men; Brighton, 34, and 120 men; Newhaven, 8, and 12 men; 

 Shoreham, one vessel, and 30 men : Arundel, one, and 8 men ; Chichester, 4, and 40 men ; and 

 Pevensey, neither ships nor men. The next return, of the same year, of vessels of IOO or more 

 tons shows 135 in England, but none was owned in the county. Under the stimulus of war and 

 favourable economic changes shipbuilding proceeded apace in many places during these years, but 

 Sussex was quite out of the stream of prosperity. In the next list, of 1582, it again shows badly in 

 comparison with other counties ; there was no ship of 100 tons, none of from 80 to IOO tons, and 

 only 139 of from 20 to 80 tons, of which 51 were owned at Rye, 36 at Brighton, and 23 at 

 Hastings. 7 Even in this division the limit of tonnage was not nearly reached, for the largest was 

 one of 65 tons at Rye; in men however the survey was more favourable, for there were 513 in 

 Sussex and 952 in the Cinque Ports, although of these last most would belong to Kent. 8 The 

 following years showed a decline, for a Cinque Ports return of February, 1587, detailed only 

 45 barks and fishing boats at Rye, with 285 masters and men ; 15 vessels and 121 masters and 

 men at Hastings ; and no vessels, and but one sailor, at Winchelsea. 9 Another certificate of 

 October in the same year 10 varies materially from the preceding, for it assigns 34 vessels and 



1 S. P. Dom. Eliz. xxviii, 3. * Ibid, xxxviii, 28. See also ante, p. 145. * Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. vii, App. 6 1 7. 



4 S. P. Dom. Eliz. Ixxi, 76 ; Ixxiii, 48. There is no return for the Cinque Ports. 



* Ibid. Add. xxii. " Ibid, cxx, i. ' S.P. Dom. Eliz. clvi, 45. 



8 Ibid. 9 Ibid, cxcviii, 5. I0 Ibid, cciv, 25. 



