vice admiral woodhouse and shipkeeping in the tudor navy

13

Click here to load reader

Upload: tom

Post on 21-Dec-2016

214 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: VICE ADMIRAL WOODHOUSE AND SHIPKEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY

This article was downloaded by: [American Public University System]On: 15 January 2014, At: 08:38Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH,UK

The Mariner's MirrorPublication details, including instructions forauthors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rmir20

VICE ADMIRAL WOODHOUSEAND SHIPKEEPING IN THETUDOR NAVYTom Glasgow JrPublished online: 22 Mar 2013.

To cite this article: Tom Glasgow Jr (1977) VICE ADMIRAL WOODHOUSE ANDSHIPKEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY, The Mariner's Mirror, 63:3, 253-263, DOI:10.1080/00253359.1977.10659032

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00253359.1977.10659032

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all theinformation (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform.However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make norepresentations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness,or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and viewsexpressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, andare not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of theContent should not be relied upon and should be independently verified withprimary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for anylosses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages,and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly orindirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of theContent.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes.Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan,sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is

Page 2: VICE ADMIRAL WOODHOUSE AND SHIPKEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY

expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found athttp://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Am

eric

an P

ublic

Uni

vers

ity S

yste

m]

at 0

8:38

15

Janu

ary

2014

Page 3: VICE ADMIRAL WOODHOUSE AND SHIPKEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY

VICE ADMIRAL WOODHOUSE AND SHIP KEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY

by Tom Glasgow, Jr

IN early times, they were called 'shipkeepers'; their descendants, the 'regular navy' - professional navy men, who maintained the royal ships in peace and formed cadres for wartime crews. Probably ship­

keepers of some sort were hired when the first royal ships were launched. However, evidence seems to indicate that it was not until the reign of Elizabeth I that a definite and enduring plan was adopted to maintain sufficient officers, mariners and gunners to provide reasonable care for the royal ships in peacetime harbour.

A I 5 I 7 list of the navy of Henry VIII shows 20 royal ships totalling over S,ooo tons with only 7I shipkeepers employed for them. The giant I,5oo-ton Henry Grace aDieu had only I2 keepers; the new Boo-ton Great Gall~ had Io; all others four or less.1 During the peaceful years midway in this reign, shipkeeping certainly did not improve. In I 5 22, when peace came to the realm, Henry had at least 24 serviceable vessels. A decade later, only six were left, all of which required extensive rebuilding. 2

The creation of a permanent central naval administration at the close of Henry's reign did not appear to improve matters. In I 549, 'A declaration of such persons as be in ordinary wages' shows a total of only 2I ship­keepers employed at all the royal yards combined - Gillingham, Ports­mouth, Deptford, Woolwich, Harwich and Colne. Though quite possibly this document is incomplete, the steady and rapid decline of the royal fleet prior to the preparations for Philip and Mary's war with France in I 5 56 would seem to show that peacetime ship keeping under Edward VI and Mary was lax. Had there been adequate shipkeepers, perhaps the magnificent Henry Grace a Dieu would not have bumed at her mooring in I5 53·3

The first solid evidence of a definite plan or 'proportion' for perpetual shipkeeping in the royal navy appears in a paper prepared by the Chief Officers of the Navy dated 6 March I565 (I566 N.S.). It is actually two documents in one. The page is divided down the centre. On the right is listed 'An estimate made by William Winter, Benjamin Gonson, William Holstoke and George Winter, officers of the Queens Majesty's ships, of the charges for keeping of her Highness ships . . . for one whole year'.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Am

eric

an P

ublic

Uni

vers

ity S

yste

m]

at 0

8:38

15

Janu

ary

2014

Page 4: VICE ADMIRAL WOODHOUSE AND SHIPKEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY

SHIP KEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY

Copied beside it on the left side of the page is an undated document, headed: 'The copy of a book made by Sir William Woodhouse for the keeping of the Queens Majesty's ships in Gillingham.' Vice Admiral Woodhouse had died the previous autumn. 5 As this was the first annual estimate submitted since his death, it appears that his 'book' was included in this manner to provide direct comparison to show the Queen's ministers that the surviving officers of her navy were continuing to follow his direc­tion in the shipkeeping of the ships in the royal dockyards.

Sir William Woodhouse of Hickling was a Norfolk gentleman, whose long and intimate association with the royal navy was first recorded in September I 5 42., when he was appointed to command a ship in a squadron sent to Scotland. In December of that year, he was raised to captain of the Primrose, one of the principal royal ships at sea at that time; and the following spring, he was appointed 'Admiral of the North Seas'. In the large expedition against Scotland in I 5 44, Woodhouse commanded the royal ship Minion and was knighted by the Earl of Hertford at Leith, following the capture of Edinburgh that May. On returning to England, he continued at sea for the remainder of the year in the Great Bark as 'Admiral of the Narrow Seas'. Early the next year, mobilization was begun to meet the pending French attack on England. On 2.6 January, Lord Admiral Lisle recommended that Woodhouse 'take charge of the artillery of the ships'. Shortly afterwards, a 'council of admiralty' was appointed to direct the massive undertaking, which the next year, after the French had been repulsed, was made permanent by awarding of patents to the officers for life. In this, the first permanent Admiralty administration, he was named Master of Ordnance. In December I 5 52., he was named 'Lieutenant of Admiralty', more commonly known as 'vice admiral of England'. In this capacity, he served both Mary and Elizabeth I at sea as well as ashore.4

Some modern writers have raised a question if Woodhouse, as vice admiral, was a working member of the board (later known as the Navy Board) or merely on liaison for the Lord Admiral. This seems to have been answered in the initial directive of I545 in which the officers were created. For it further stated that the vice admiral, master of ordnance, treasurer, comptroller, surveyor and rigger, and clerk of ships were 'to be spoken with' in all matters pertaining to repairing, rigging and caring for the ships except victualling. That he may have had final decision within the group on the matter of the men to be retained for shipkeepers might be inferred by an act of the Privy Council in I 5 57 making the Lord Admiral responsible for the musters aboard the ships.6 This duty Lord Admiral Clinton seems to have delegated to the vice Admiral as the muster rolls

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Am

eric

an P

ublic

Uni

vers

ity S

yste

m]

at 0

8:38

15

Janu

ary

2014

Page 5: VICE ADMIRAL WOODHOUSE AND SHIPKEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY

SHIPKEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY

in victualling quarter books surviving from Elizabeth's early years have the signature of Woodhouse at the bottom of each page. 7 According to Sir John Hawkins, some fifteen years later, William Winter, surveyor of ships and master of naval ordnance, hired the shipkeepers;8 but this paper together with other accumulated evidence seems to indicate that their number and qualifications were formulated by Woodhouse.

The original of the vice admiral's 'book' has not been found, and the Is 66 copy is undated. However, the ships listed conform to the navy as it was in Is 64 and the White Bear, then still under construction, is shown as 'the great new ship'. From this, one might reasonably conclude that the plan was instituted when the navy was laid up following the conclusion of the war with France over Le Havre which ended with the treaty of I2. April I564.9

The IS66 copy of Woodhouse's 'book' is shown below essentially as it appears in the British Museum Additional Manuscript 92.94. Only the annual cost totals have been omitted. Group numbers have been added to show how he grouped the ships according to their rated size in the fleet:

THE COPY OF A BOOK MADE BY SIR WILLIAM WOODHOUSE FOR THE

KEEPING OF THE QUEENS MAJESTY'S SHIPS IN GILLINGHAM, viz. [total]

Men Men [Group I- Boo tons or more] The Great New Ship 2 I

The Triumph 2I

The Elizabeth Jonas 2I

The Vi&tory (a) 18 IS

[Group II - Goo to 700 tons] The Mary Rou I3 Th1 Hope 13 The Philip & Mary I3 The Lion 13 The Jesus (of Lubeck) I 3 [Group ill - 300 to ~oo tons] The Minion IO

The Primrose I o The Antelope IO so The Jennet IO

The St11allo111 IO

That is to say every of them to have a master, a boatswain, a master gunner & 2 gunners besides, a purser, a steward which may be a cook, also 2 carpenters, I 2 mariners for labourers. That is to say a master, a boatswain, a master gunner and 2. gunners besides, a purser, one man for a cook and steward, 2. carpenters and 9 mariners.

That is to say every ship to have a boatswain, a master gunner & 2 gunners, a steward which may be a cook also, 2. carpenters and 6 mariners for labourers.

That is to say every ship to have a boatswain, 2 gunners (b), a steward which may be a cook also, a carpenter and s mariners for labourers.

[Group IV- 1~0 to 2.~0 tons. These ships were omitted by the copyist in 1566, for the men and officers appear in the totals and also agree with those assigned in lists of I s6s and 1 s66]

The Aid 7 The Ne111 Bark 7 2.1

The Mary Willoughby 7 A boatswain, a gunner, a cook and 4 mariners for each ship.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Am

eric

an P

ublic

Uni

vers

ity S

yste

m]

at 0

8:38

15

Janu

ary

2014

Page 6: VICE ADMIRAL WOODHOUSE AND SHIPKEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY

SHIP KEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY

Men Men [Group V- under I,o tons including galleys but excluding brigantines] The Fal&on 3 The Phoenix 3 The Saker 3 The Bark of Bullen 3 The Hare 3 The Sun 3 The Mary Grace, a hoy 3 The George, a hoy 3 The Galley Speedwell 3 The Galley Tryright 3 The French Galley (c) 3

That is to say every of them a boatswain and 2 mariners besides.

[Group VI- small brigantines of 1'62, soon discontinued] The Post That is to say every of them a mariner to The Makeshift 4 keep them. The Guide The Searcher

Sum Total of (d): Masters -4 Boatswains -28

To be only Pursers -4

mariners. Master gunners -4 Gunners -31 2,4 Carpenters -23 Cooks & Stewards-I7 Mariners -I43

Wages and victuals of all the said number, viz. The victuals and necessities after I 2s. the man per month; and his wages 9s 4d. In all after the rate of 2IS 4d the man.

The Castle of Upnore(e): The wages of the master gunner of the castle at 12d the day, besides his victuals. The master gunner which shall take the charge may have monthly out of the fleet IO or 12 gunners and to receive at every victualling day victuals as well for himself as for his IO or 12 gunners, so as the Queens Majesty shall be at no further charge but upon the ordinary to keep the castle. And when the ships shall go to the seas, the gunners may go with them and no more to remain in the castle but the master gunner and a porter.

That there be good men kept and no boys and that the mariners may be changed every year to travel for knowledge. The carpenters being in number 23 may be occupied in calking and ransacking of the ships from time to time and so be well set a work. Also it is considered that the gunners, carpenters and all others may put their hands to all neces­sary business and service as would mariners do in time of need.

The particular wages and victuals for the mariners in harbour, viz. the men for the keep­ing of the ships • • . Masters - 40s per month (f) Boatswains - I 3s 4d per month Master Gunners - I 3s 4d per month Pursers - I os per month Gunners- Bs per month

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Am

eric

an P

ublic

Uni

vers

ity S

yste

m]

at 0

8:38

15

Janu

ary

2014

Page 7: VICE ADMIRAL WOODHOUSE AND SHIPKEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY

SHIP KEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY

Cooks & Stewards - 9s per month Carpenters - Ss per month Mariners - 6s Sd per month Victuals (per man) - us per month.

Memorandum: by the estimate of 21s 4d the man per month for wages & victuals there is more by £x8o 18s 16d than those particular parcels will warrant, which may be distributed for the increase of such wages as agree(?) to title rated, and to Extraordinary Charges. Memorandum: The ordnance to be taken out of the ships; except in every great ship to be left 2 great pieces and 8 other small pieces. The Queen's ship called The Trinity Henry, which is now in a dock at Colne, may be sold and the money to be bestowed in the bringing away of the storehouse at Colne and to set it up at Chatham for the ordnance. (g) [End of Manuscript]

Notes (a) The Victory was usually listed as Soo tons; but her dimensions listed in c. 1591 show her

to be slightly smaller than other ships in this class. This is reflected in both the assignment of shipkeepers and recommended full crew. (M.M., 43, no. 4, 332; s6, no. 3, 304-5).

(b) Apparently Woodhouse made an oversight as to master gunners when drafting this book. For as early as 1562, a master gunner was included on all warships including small barks and fighting pinnaces. The estimate of the Chief Officers appearing in this ms. for 1566 include master gunners for all ships as do all later lists found.

(c) The Galley E//inor (M.M., s6, no. 3, 305). (d) Appears to be another error in the copy as total men agree with totals given for ships,

but totals of individual jobs do not. (e) Oppenheim (p. 149) states the land for Upnore Castle bought for £27 in 1568 and castle

built soon after. However, though only the bulwark at Sheerness mentioned at the start of Elizabeth's reign in 1559, 'the fort at Upnore' with a master gunner and 12 gunners appears in the 'Estimate' dated 10 January 1562 and thereafter. (Salisbury Papers, vol 153, no. 71.)

(f) The figures by the positions are wages only. Victuals, appearing at end of list, were the same for all ranks.

(g) Both ship and storehouse sold 30 June 1566 for £38 9s.

Good shipkeeping in the Elizabethan navy did not begin with this 'book'. The vice admiral's plan appears rather to establish an adequate and economical standard for the future, based upon the experience gained in the years between the all-out naval mobilization in I 55 8 and the large naval activity in I563. During those four years, funds from the annual 'ordinary' warrant established by Mary in I 55 7 and reconfirmed by Eliza­beth in I 5 59 were put to good use to provide and care for the royal vessels lying idle in the dockyards.1o

An 'estimate' dated I.2. December I 55 8, less than a month after Elizabeth ascended to the throne, shows '3 3 5 masters, mariners, gunners serving her Highness in keeping her Majesty's ships afloat in Portsmouth haven, Gillingham water and the river of Thames'. Another, dated .2.4 March I559 shows 37.2. men under the heading: 'Victuals and Wages of Ship­keepers in Harbour.'11 Perhaps inexperience combined with the uncer­tainties of the times might explain why nearly half again as many men were employed at this time as were deemed necessary by Woodhouse to keep

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Am

eric

an P

ublic

Uni

vers

ity S

yste

m]

at 0

8:38

15

Janu

ary

2014

Page 8: VICE ADMIRAL WOODHOUSE AND SHIPKEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY

SHIPKEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY

a slightly larger fleet six years later. For certain, considering that a large part of the navy, as well as both Woodhouse and Winter, had been at sea during a great part of the year and a half since the annual warrant was initially granted, they had not had a great amount of time to learn what could be done with a dependable supply of funds to work with. By I 5 6o, they had substantially reduced the number. Victualling quarter books surviving from that year show II9 men assigned to the I6 ships at Gilling­ham, proportioned among the vessels in a somewhat less but similar manner as recommended in I564. (Group I, 22 men; group II, Io-u; group III, 7-8; group IV, 7; group V, 4-5.)12

Immediately before England's involvement in the French civil war, ship keeping was closely approaching the standard set forth in I 5 64. At this time Woodhouse was still active as an administrator and sea officer. An estimate dated IO January shows 307 men, slightly more than recom­mended in I 5 64. Further insight is provided by the quartet book of Navy Treasurer Gonson. The estimate reveals the number of shipkeepers recom­mended for each ship and Gonson's book gives the number, names and positions of those actually assigned. Here is a sample of how they compare:

Ship Estimate Treasurer's Book (Jan-Mar) Elizabeth ]onar 20 22 men, 3 servants, 2 boys The Mary Ro.re 16 x6 men, I servant, 2 boys The Lion x6 13 men, 2 boys The Philip & Mary x6 13 men The Antelope IZ IZ men The Jennet 10 9 men, I boy

The officers were the same as were directed in I 5 64, except, as foremen­tioned, a master gunner was assigned to each vessel.

Sources have not been found to provide a yeat by year comparison of Elizabethan shipkeeping; but enough has been found to indicate that perpetual shipkeeping was maintained and that the numbers assigned, though they fluctuated, followed generally the pattern set forth by Wood­house. As will be noted below, the lowest ebb appears in I585 at the peak of the austerity program under John Hawkins. The high peak in I6oi perhaps reflects the imminent threat of Spanish intervention in Ireland:

Tonnage Woodhouse 1565 & • Group 1564 1566 157o•• 1578.. 1585• 1601•

I xB-21 18-21 21-24 17-21 17-18 29 II 13 13 13-14 II-13 II-IZ IZ-16 III JO JO 9-II 8--9 9 IZ IV 7 7 7-IO 5 6-7 JO

v 3 3 3-4 3 2-4 •-Recommended ('estimate') ••-Actual (from muster rolls)

Woodhouse does not rule out the using of the men to assist in large jobs on ships other than those to which they were assigned. Though

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Am

eric

an P

ublic

Uni

vers

ity S

yste

m]

at 0

8:38

15

Janu

ary

2014

Page 9: VICE ADMIRAL WOODHOUSE AND SHIPKEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY

SHIPKEEPING IN 'I'HE 'I'UDOR NAVY

likely they were primarily responsible for the care of the vessel to which they belonged, certainly the shipkeepers provided a labour pool for the entire fleet in harbour. By comparing the tons of shipping per man, some idea can be had of the overall availability of manpower for maintaining the ships. This (omitting galleys, hays and vessels stripped for shipyard re­pairs or salvage) compares as follows:

Date: 1517

Tons per man: ns.z

• Woodhouse's 'book'.

1601

H·7

The quarter books of the Navy Treasurer, which lists shipkeepers by name, have been found for only five years, all between I562. and I578. However, as there appears little repetition of the common mariners, it would seem that, as suggested by Woodhouse, they were hired on a short­time basis and released at the end of their tenure to return to sea duty in the merchant marine. This requirement for mariners, who were not allowed to become stale by too long in the dockyards, seems to suggest they were intended as a nucleus for the sailing crew of their ships as well as ship keepers.

Three ranks of officers were certainly retained as permanent crew on the ships: the masters of the great ships, the boatswains and the master gunners. Each of the 'great ships' (Group I) had a full-time master assigned, paid 40s per month, the same as paid a master on sea duty. These men, called 'the principal masters', were all seamen of considerable experience and doubtless were much more important in internal naval affairs than history has recorded. To prove the authority for his 'Treatis Concerning the Navy of England', John Montgomery advised that he had consulted with 'the four principal masters of her Majesty's navy, whom I knew to be men of expert judgement .. .'. Writing in I57o, he was referring to the masters of the great ships Triumph, Elizabeth Jonas, White Bear and Victory.

Elizabeth began her reign with at least one principal master though she had no great ships at the time, William Wood. Wood first appears as master of the royal ship Sweepstake, at sea in a squadron under Woodhouse in I544· In Edward VI's reign, by indenture signed between him and William Broke, surveyor of the navy, he became master of the Great Bark. Though only rated as 6oo tons, the Great Bark might properly be con­sidered as the 'admiral ship' of the navy in the years from I 547 to I 55 8. On the number of occasions that she was at sea in those years, she was always commanded by Lord Admirals Clinton and Howard or Vice Ad­miral Woodhouse. When the great ship Elizabeth Jonas was launched in I 5 59, Wood was appointed her master, a position he still retained 2.0

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Am

eric

an P

ublic

Uni

vers

ity S

yste

m]

at 0

8:38

15

Janu

ary

2014

Page 10: VICE ADMIRAL WOODHOUSE AND SHIPKEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY

z6o SHIPKEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY

years later.14 In I56z, the Triumph and the Victory were launched together at Deptford. Not much is known about William Barnes, assigned as master of the Triumph; but the master hired for the Victory was Stephen Borough, chief pilot of the Muscovy Company, who with Chancellor had pioneered the northern route to Russia. Later, while continuing as master of the Victory, Borough was appointed 'Chief Pilot of England' .16 In I 5 64, The White Bear was launched, last great ship until the Ark Royal of I 5 8 7. William Holland was appointed her master. Holland may have come into 1 oyal service towards the end of Mary's reign, for in I56z, he was employed a master of the Mary Rose, largest of the new ships built for Mary's French War. He probably was 'Holland the master' who commanded a small bark in the campaign of I 5 57. In I 56 I, he had commanded the Galley Speedwell with a crew of I88 men, first 'attending on the Queens Majesty at Harwich', then joining a squadron at sea under William Holstock.16

These principal masters apparently served for the remainder of their lives. For though none survived to fight the Spanish Armada, all were still employed in I 5 78.

One can only conjecture as to why masters were retained for the great ships; but logically it was primarily because of their size. There was little if any difference in the handling of a warship and a merchant ship, so when masters were needed for the smaller ships, they could be drawn from the merchant fleet. But England's merchant fleet had no known vessels nearly so large as these great ships. The largest merchant ship to serve against the Armada was barely half their size. It is probable that a master whose experience was limited to ships of under 500 tons would have prob­lems in understanding the handling of an 8oo-ton warship. Also it was useful for the navy to have several proven masters in its employ to direct the ship­keepers, advise the chief officers and be available for various chores at sea. Ships had to be moved to and from the shipyards and dockyards. Wood was sent with a small bark to Ireland to transport ordnance.17 When John Hawkins returned from his second voyage to America, he left the Queen's Jesus of Lubeck in Cornwall, where William Barnes was sent with a crew to sail her back to Gillingham. IS

The need fot a boatswain on every vessel is quite understandable. For he was the officer responsible for the sails, rigging and ship's boats. When a ship put to sea, he was looked to for her sailing power and, in part, her steering. In harbour, he was needed to rig and unrig the ship, as well as to store, mend and care for the sails and rigging. Rats and rot could des­troy hemp rope and canvas in a short trme. It was the boatswain who was responsible when the ship was ordered to sea to see that her sails and rigging were fit and ready, her boats did not leak and the sailing crew was

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Am

eric

an P

ublic

Uni

vers

ity S

yste

m]

at 0

8:38

15

Janu

ary

2014

Page 11: VICE ADMIRAL WOODHOUSE AND SHIPKEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY

SHIP KEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY 261

intact. No doubt the surveyor of ships was also heavily dependent on them for advice on the maintenance of their ship. Old sailors declare that even now, every sailing ship has its own peculiarities; so having a boat­swain who knew the characteristics of the ship and was experienced in dealing with them was invaluable to the captains and masters, most of whom had never before sailed aboard that particular ship.

Many of these boatswains served the navy for years, periodically enjoy­ing promotions to larger ships. Most notable perhaps was John Austen. In 1570, he appears as boatswain of the 300 ton Swallow. By 1578, he was boatswain of the 500 ton Philip & Mary, and by I588, he had risen to master of the great ship Elizabeth Jonas, a position he still retained in I6or. John Edmonds rose from the 300 ton Primrose in I57o, to the new 5oo ton Revenge in 1578, to the great ship Victory under John Hawkins in I 5 88. Likewise, Robert Baxter rose from the 2oo ton Mary Willoughby in I 5 70 to the great ship White Bear when the Spanish Armada came in 1588. Lawrence Clere started on a IOo-ton ship in 1570 and by 1588, had risen to the Mary Rose.l9

At the time Woodhouse drafted his 'book', perhaps the master gunners were not of great importance and that is why he failed to include them on the smaller vessels. For under his plan, when the ships went into peace­time harbour all the ordnance would be removed from all the ships except for a few pieces on the great ships. With no ordnance aboard, it is difficult to justify the cost of maintaining master gunners the year around in the dockyards. However, in 1569, this changed considerably. Before, William Winter, as master of naval ordnance, was responsible to the Queen's arsenal for all ordnance aboard ships. Pressed with prolonged sea duty and other responsibilities, Winter petitioned the Crown for relief and was granted a new patent in April of that year. Under the new arrangement, Winter would determine what ordnance and other munitions should be supplied to each ship; but they would be delivered directly to the master gunner of the ship, who would be indentured for it to the Queen's master of ordnance and be 'able to answer and yield account for such'. 20 In addi­tion to this accountability, in the mobilization provoked by a Spanish threat from the Low Countries the next year, each master gunner recruited the gunners to serve aboard his ship. 21 As a loose cannon in a rolling sea could literally destroy a ship, it was important that there be some respon­sible officer to insure that all guns were properly secured at all times. Likewise, someone had to make certain that powder stayed dry and safe from fire and shot and other ordnance supplies were on hand and ready for use when needed. Someone had to assign gun crews to each gun. The need for a master gunner at sea was indisputable. The additional

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Am

eric

an P

ublic

Uni

vers

ity S

yste

m]

at 0

8:38

15

Janu

ary

2014

Page 12: VICE ADMIRAL WOODHOUSE AND SHIPKEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY

2.62. SHIP KEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY

responsibilities added in I 5 69 fully justified full-time master gunners in the dockyards also. Having a responsible officer with complete knowledge of each particular ship's weapons, as well as a good knowledge of gunnery and the authority to select his own gunners, was certainly an important asset to the royal navy.

Like the other officers, once hired, the master gunners seemed to have remained in the navy. William Thomas, gunner of the Victory in I 5 88, was the only master gunner she had had since her launching in I 5 62.. Lawrence Dilkes, original master gunner of the Elizabeth Jonas was still in that posi­tion in I578. Possibly the same was true of Stephen Bull on the Triumph. Richard Haynes, gunner on the Jennet in I 5 62. was transferred to the Ante­lope by I 5 70, where he remained for at least eight years longer. When the old Minion was returned worn-out after John Hawkins's last slaving voyage to America, John Harris, her gunner, was transferred to Foresight, then being completed in the royal shipyard. Thomas Foster after years of ser­vice on the little Bark of Bullen was reassigned to the new Revenge in I 5 78. Generally, it appears that the master gunners tended to stay in the ship to which they were originally assigned. Of the 2.2. master gunners listed in the ships in I 570, II were still serving in I 578.

By early Stuart times, it appears that shipkeeping had fallen far below the high standard set by Woodhouse in the quality of the men employed. One commission reported the shipkeepers to be 'a regiment of tapsters, tinkers, cobblers and many common rogues'. The same report reaffirmed the vital importance of this function, stating that the shipkeepers 'have, in effect, the safety of the ships in their power'. 22 Like all areas in the developing government, periodically corruption crept in. However, once firmly established during the early days of Elizabeth I, the navy was always provided with a minimum number of shipkeepers reign after reign, in war and peace. If the document copied by the chief officers of the navy in I 5 66 was what its form and use implies, then certainly Sir William Woodhouse, England's second and last vice admiral, played an important role in establishing this vital phase of the navy's permanent organization.

Notes I Unless otherwise noted, all numbers, comparisons and names of shipkeepers are taken

from the lists noted below: I~I7- Derrick, Memoirs of the Rire & Progrur of the Rf!Ya/ NatJ.Y, London (z8o6), 6. IH9- Bodleian Library, Oxford, Rawlinson Ms. C.846, f.z3~-4o. 1~62- Salisbury Papers, Hatfield House, vol. zn, no. 71 ('estimate'). 1~62- Rawlinson Ms. A.zoo (Quarter book - actual). 1~6~ -Derrick, 23 I~ 66 - as noted in text. zno- Rawlinson Ms. Azoz (Quarter book - actual).

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Am

eric

an P

ublic

Uni

vers

ity S

yste

m]

at 0

8:38

15

Janu

ary

2014

Page 13: VICE ADMIRAL WOODHOUSE AND SHIPKEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY

SHIPKEEPING IN THE TUDOR NAVY

1574- Ibid, A.202 (Quarter book - actual). 1578- Ibid, A.203 (Quarter book -actual). 1585 -Navy Records Society, vol. XI, Corbett, Papers Relating to Spanish War, 283. 1588- Ibid, vol. I, Laughton, Papers Relating to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 324 ff. 16oi - 'Estimate of the Charge for Victualling ..• Ships in Harbour', ms. loaned to author

by Dr. R. C. Anderson from his private collection. Perhaps now with Anderson Library at National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

2 British Museum, Roy. 14 Bxxxi; PRO, Letters & Papers, Henry VIII, III, ii, No. 13; Anderson, List of English Men-of-War, 1509-1649, S.N.R. Occasional Pub. No. 8.

3 The Mariner's Mirror, 53• No. 4 (1967), 32I-322. 4 Blomefield, An E.r.ray towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk .•• , London

(I805-I8Io), IX, 304. Woodhouse died 15 November 1565. 5 PRO, Acts of the Privy Council, I, 32; L. & P., Henry VIII, XVII, Nos. 785, n65; ibid,

XVIII, i, No. 225; Holinshed's Chronicles, 1586 ed., 962; B.M., Add. Mss. 7968, f.6. L .& P. Hen. VIII, XX, ii, No. 27; ibid, XXI, i, No. 7I8.

6 A.P.C., V, 220. 7 B.M., Harleian Mss. 167. 8 J. A. Williamson, Sir john Hawkins, Oxford (I927), 334· 9 M/M, vol. 54, No. 3 (I968), 28I ff. IO PRO, State Papers, II/Io, No. I; ibid, 12j2, 20 February I558; Rawlinson Mss. C.846,

No.4, f. H· 1 I Ibid note 7. Examination of this manuscript reveals that it contains portions of the Navy

Victualling Quarter Books for the years I 5 6o and 15 6 2. I2 Censura Literaria, V (London I805), 29 ff. I4 B.M., Add. Mss. 7968, f.28; Rawlinson Mss. C.846, No. 6. I 5 Rawlinson Mss. A.2oi; Oppenheim, A History of the Rr.ryal Navy • .. , London (I896), 149· I6 PRO, S.P. II/II, No. n; ibid, Declared Accounts, E3p/2I98. I7 PRO, Declared Accounts, E3p/2I98. IS Ibid, E35I/2202. I 9 Ibid note 1.

20 Gloucestershire Records Office, D42I/7. (Winter's copy. The Crown's copy is in the Patent Rolls, Public Record Office.)

21 Rawlinson Mss. A.20I, 'Extra Ordinary Charges'. 22 I. G. Powell, 'Shipkeepers & Minor Officers in the Early Stuart Navy', M.M. vol. 10 (1924),

IH.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Am

eric

an P

ublic

Uni

vers

ity S

yste

m]

at 0

8:38

15

Janu

ary

2014