282 
THE MASTER-GUNNERS OR ENGLAND. 
SUCCESSION LIST OF THE MASTER-GUNNERS OF ENGLAND. 
Reign. 
Date of 
Appt. 
Name. 
War Services, &c. 
Clias, II. 
( Contd.) 
1677 
Captain 
Richard 
Leake. 
f 1670. Sir Thomas Critcheley appointed 
| Master-General of the Ordnance , and in 1678 
■<j Sir Thomas was appointed also Master-General 
I of the Ordnance in Ireland , with other plur- 
t alities. 
r Captain Leake was Master-Gunner of 
H.M.S. Speedwell , and transferred to the 
Princess (a fourth-rate, of 52 guns) in 
October 1664. Appointed Master-Gunner of 
Fort Gillingham (Kent) in 1672. The 
grounds assigned for his preferment as 
Master-Gunner of England were his “ good 
service during the warr with the French, 
Deane, and Dutch, by sea and land.” 
In 1678 Colonel George Legge (afterwards 
Lord Dartmouth) was appointed “ General of 
the Artillery ” with the army in the Nether¬ 
lands ; but the Master-Gunner of England 
does not appear in the details. In 1682 
Colonel Legge (then Lord Dartmouth) became 
Master-General of the Ordnance (he had been 
Lieutenant of the Ordnance since 1679): and 
his first effort, in conjunction with Captain 
Leake, was to bring all the Master-Gunners 
of Great Britain under the direct authority of 
the Master-General of the Ordnance (instead 
of under the Master-Gunner of England), a 
course which continued until 1855, when the 
' Board of Ordnance was abolished. Since 
1859 the Master-Gunners have been incor¬ 
porated into the Coast Brigade (now called 
“ District Establishment ”). 
1682. A residence at Woolwich (in the 
“ great house ”—now the model room, Labor¬ 
atories, Royal Arsenal)—was provided for the 
Master-Gunner of England , and a stable for 
his horses. 
1683. Functions of the Master-Gunner 
of England further defined; and his pay raised 
to £190 per annum. At this time one of the 
sons of the Master-Gunner of England (John 
Leake) was appointed one of the Master- 
Gunners attached to Regiments with battalion 
guns (instituted by Charles II.) : and he 
subsequently became one of the three deputies 
or “mates ” to the Master-Gunner of England. 
On 24th December, 1714, Richard Leake, son 
of John, and grandson of the Master-Gunner 
of England, was warranted Master-Gunner’s 
mate (i.e., Deputy of the Master-Gunner of 
^England). 
