Appendix VI
Lists
Of the Secretaries of the Admiralty, and Principal Officers of the Navy; viz., Treasurers, Comptrollers, Surveyors, Clerks of the Acts, and Commissioners of the Navy at Chatham; to the beginning of the 18th century. (Compiled by Colonel Pasley, C.B., R.E.)
From the middle of the 16th to the end of the 17th century, Chatham was by far the most important of the English naval stations, and the Commissioner resident there had from the first a seat and vote at the Board in London—a privilege which was not extended to his colleague at Portsmouth until a much later date. The rise of the latter port dates from the alliance with the Dutch, and war with France which followed the accession of William and Mary, and which made it necessary to establish a first-class naval yard at a less distance from the French coast than Chatham. The same cause led to the construction of a dry dock at Plymouth. See “Edmund Dummer,” in the list of Surveyors of the Navy.
The figures in the first column represent the year of appointment, when that can be ascertained. The prefix “circ.” implies that the person named in the second column is known to have held the office at the time stated, although the date of first appointment is not known. In some cases the only date that can be found is that of an order to the Attorney-General to prepare letters patent; sometimes that of the patent itself; sometimes of a warrant to execute the office, notwithstanding that the patent is not yet passed; and occasionally that of a letter from some person at Court informing his correspondent that the King or Queen has signed such and such a patent. It has been thought better, therefore, to state only the year of appointment, as the insertion in lists of this kind of the month and day tends to give them a delusive appearance of accuracy.
The scantiness of MS. records before the Revolution arises from the practice which existed of retiring Officers taking away with them their office books and papers, which they regarded as their own property. This was put a stop to in the Dockyards by a Navy Board Order of the 18th August, 1692. Unless otherwise stated, the manuscripts in the following lists are in the British Museum.
Secretaries of the Admiralty
From the first placing of the Office of Lord High Admiral in Commission to the commencement of the 18th century.
Note.—An asterisk (*) before the name of a titled office-holder signifies that the title (knighthood or other) was conferred upon him during his tenure of that office.
| Date of Appointment. | Name. | Authority. | Lord High Admiral. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1628 | Edward Nicholas. | Cal. Stte Papers (Domestic Series). | In Commission. |
| Nicholas had been Secretary to Lord Zouch, Warden of the Cinque Ports, and afterwards to the Duke of Buckingham, Lord High Admiral. On the assassination of the latter, in 1628, the office of Lord High Admiral was for the first time entrusted to a body of commissioners instead of to an individual, and Nicholas was appointed Secretary of the Admiralty. When the Earl of Northumberland was appointed Lord High Admiral, ten years later, Nicholas ceased to hold any office immediately connected with the Navy, but retained the post of Clerk of the Council. He was afterwards knighted, and became Secretary of State to Charles I., and (after the Restoration) to Charles II. | |||
| 1638 | Thomas Smith. | Cal. St. Pap. | Earl of Northumberland. |
| 1643 | ——? | Earl of Warwick. | |
| 1645 | ——? | A Committee of both Houses of Parliament. | |
| 1648 | ——? | Earl of Warwick again. | |
| I have not met with any record of the names of the Secretaries during the period from 1643 to 1649. | |||
| 1649 | Robert Coytmor. | Cal. St. Pap. | A Committee of the Council of State. |
| 1652 | Robert Blackborne. | Cal. St. Pap. | Commissioners appointed by Act of Parliament. |
| Blackborne had previously held the office of Secretary to the “Navy Committee,” a Committee of the House of Commons. The precise relations existing between the numerous committees and commissions at this period are not very clear. | |||
| 1653 | Robert Blackborne. | Cal. St. Pap. | Commissioners appointed by Act of the Convention. |
| 1654 | Robert Blackborne. | Addit. MS. 18,986, fo. 150 (Letter to Blackborne from Commissr. Pett). | Do. by Patent of the Protector Oliver. |
| 1658 | Robert Blackborne. | Admiralty Orders and Instructions, 1656 to 1658 (Admiralty Library MS.). | Do. by Patent of the Protector Richard. |
| 1659 | Robert Blackborne. | Addit. MS. 9,302, fo. 183 (List of Officers and Salaries of the Admiralty and Navy before the Restoration) | Commissioners appointed by the Rump. |
| Blackborne continued to hold the office of Secretary until the appointment of the Duke of York as Lord High Admiral in July, 1660. He is frequently mentioned by Pepys. | |||
| 1660 | *Sir William Coventry. | From “Mr. Hewer’s account of the Secretaries of the Admiralty from King Charles II.’s restoration to King James II.’s withdrawing, December, 1688. (MS. in Pepysian Collection, “Naval Minutes.”) | Duke of York. |
| 1667 | Matthew Wren. | Duke of York. | |
| 1672 | Sir John Werden. | Duke of York. | |
| 1673 | Samuel Pepys. | King Charles II, with a Commission. | |
| 1679 | Thomas Hayter. | In Commission. | |
| 1680 | John Brisband. | In Commission. | |
| 1684 | Samuel Pepys. | King Charles II. (assisted by the Duke of York). | |
| 1685 | Samuel Pepys. | King James II. | |
| 1688 | Samuel Pepys. | Prince of Orange. | |
| 1689 | Phineas Bowles. | In Commission. | |
| 1690 | James Sotherne. | Luttrell, ii p. 10. | In Commission. |
| 1694 | William Bridgman. | Luttrell, iii. p. 341. | In Commission. |
| 1695 | William Bridgman and Josiah Burchett, joint Secretaries | Haydn’s “Book of Dignities.” | In Commission. |
| The date of the joint appointment is taken from Haydn, but the fact is proved by Admiralty letters in the Chatham Dockyard Records, which about this time bear the signature sometimes of Bridgman and sometimes of Burchett as Secretary. | |||
| 1698 | Josiah Burchett, alone. | Luttrell, iv. 396. | In Commission. |
| 1702 | Josiah Burchett. | Earl of Pembroke. | |
| 1702 | Josiah Burchett, George Clark, joint. | Luttrell, v. 176. | Prince George of Denmark. |
| 1705 | Josiah Burchett, alone. | Luttrell, v. 605. | Prince George of Denmark. |
| 1708 | Josiah Burchett. | Earl of Pembroke. | |
| 1709 | Josiah Burchett. | In Commission. | |
| Note.—Mr. Burchett continued to hold this office until 1742, when he retired. (“British Chronologist,” 29th Oct., 1742.) | |||
Treasurers of the Navy
To the commencement of the 18th century.
| Date of Appointment. | Name. | Authority. |
|---|---|---|
| circ. 1546 | Robert Legg. | Harleian MS. 249. |
| The first paper in this volume of the Harleian Collection is a “Confession taken of 23 of the crediblest forfathers at Deptford-Strande the 29th day of October (anno R. R. Hen. VIII. 38vo.) consernynge the taking of the Gallye Blancherd, in the presens of Sir Thomas Cleire, Lieuftennaunt, Robert Legg Esq. Treasourer, Will. Brocke, Comptroller, Benjamin Gonson, Surveour, and Rich Brocke, Capitaigne of the Kynges Majesties Gallye Subtill.” I have not found any record of the date of Legg’s appointment. | ||
| 1549 | Benjamin Gonson. | Additl. MSS. vol. 9295, fo. 56. |
| 1577 | Benjamin Gonson and *Sir John Hawkins, joint. | Additl. MSS. vol. 9295, fo. 56. |
| 1578 | Sir John Hawkins, alone. | Cal. St. Papers. |
| 1595 | Vacant. | Cal. St. Papers. |
| On Sir John Hawkins’s death in 1595, Roger Langford, his deputy, was appointed to do the duty of Treasurer, with the title of “Paymaster of Marine Causes,” pending the appointment of a new Treasurer, which did not take place till 1598. | ||
| 1598 | *Sir Fulke Greville.406 | Cal. St. Pap. |
| 1604 | Sir Robert Mansell. | Cal. St. Pap., and Phineas Pett’s Autobiography. |
| 1618 | Sir William Russell. | Cal. St. Pap. |
| 1627 | *Sir Sackville Crowe, Bart. | Cal. St. Pap. |
| Sir Sackville Crowe was one of the Special Commissioners appointed in 1618 by James I. to inquire into abuses in the navy. In 1627 Sir W. Russell was superseded in his favour, but three years later he was charged with misappropriation, or embezzlement, and was compelled to resign, when Russell was reinstated. | ||
| 1630 | Sir William Russell, again. | Cal. St. Pap. |
| 1639 | Sir William Russell, and *Sir Henry Vane, joint. | Cal. St. Pap. |
| 1642 | Sir Henry Vane, alone. | Forster, “Statesmen of the Commonwealth.” |
| 1651 | Richard Hutchinson. | Cal. St. Pap. |
| Hutchinson had been Deputy Treasurer to Sir H. Vane, whom he succeeded as Treasurer in 1651. He continued to hold that office until the Restoration. He is several times mentioned in Pepys’s “Diary.” | ||
| 1660 | Sir George Carteret. | Pepys, &c. |
| Sir George Carteret had been Comptroller of the Navy before the Civil War. | ||
| 1667 | Earl of Anglesey. | Duke of York’s Memoirs, p. 235. |
| 1668 | Sir Thomas Osborne, Bart., Sir Thomas Littleton, Bart., joint. | Duke of York’s Memoirs, p. 236. |
| 1671 | Sir Thomas Osborne, alone. | Duke of York’s Memoirs, p. 236. |
| The patent of Sir Thomas Osborne (afterwards Duke of Leeds) to be sole Treasurer is printed in the Duke of York’s “Memoirs of the English Affairs,” pp. 235–238. It recites and revokes the appointments of 1667 and 1668. | ||
| 1673 | Edward Seymour. | Collins’s “Peerage of England” (Sir E. Brydges’ edition), vol. i. p. 195. |
| Afterwards Sir Edward Seymour, Bart. The Duke of Somerset and the Marquis of Hertford are descended from him. | ||
| 1681 | Viscount Falkland. | Luttrell, vol. i. p. 76. |
| Lord Falkland died in 1694. (Luttrell, iii. 317.) | ||
| 1689 | Edward Russell. | Collins’s “Peerage,” vol. i. p. 283. |
| A distinguished naval commander. Afterwards Earl of Orford, which title became extinct at his death. | ||
| 1699 | Sir Thomas Littleton, Bart. | Luttrell, v. 521. |
| Died in 1710. (Luttrell, vi. 530.) | ||
| 1710 | Robert Walpole. | Luttrell, vi. 534. |
| Afterwards Prime Minister and Earl of Orford. | ||
Comptrollers of the Navy
To the commencement of the 18th century.
| Date of Appointment. | Name. | Authority. |
|---|---|---|
| circ. 1514 | John Hopton. | Cal. of Letters, &c., Henry VIII. |
| Hopton certainly held the office of Comptroller in 1514, but I have been unable to ascertain the date of his appointment. He died about 1524. | ||
| circ. 1542 | John Osburne. | Byng MSS. vol. x.407 Admiralty Library (Pepys’s Naval Collections). |
| circ. 1546 | William Brock. | Harleian MS. 249, No. 1. |
| 1562 | William Holstock. | Cal. St. Pap. |
| circ. 1585 | William Holstock and William Borough, joint. | Lansdowne MS. 43, No. 33. |
| At this period (1585) W. Borough was Clerk and Comptroller of the Ships, but as Holstock certainly retained the office of Comptroller till 1589, I presume they must have held it jointly. | ||
| circ. 1590 | William Borough, alone. | Cal. St. Pap. |
| After 1589 Holstock’s name appears no more at the foot of certificates or other papers connected with the navy recorded in the Calendars of State Papers, and it is probable that he died or retired then, leaving Borough sole Comptroller. The latter died about the end of 1598. (Cal. St. Pap.) | ||
| 1598 | Sir Henry Palmer. | Cal. St. Pap. |
| 1611 | Sir Guilford Slingsby. | Cal. St. Pap. |
| 1631 | Sir Henry Palmer, junior. | Cal. St. Pap. |
| 1639 | Sir Hen. Palmer, jun., and Capt. George Carteret,408 joint. | Cal. St. Pap. |
| 1642 | In abeyance. | Addit. MSS. vol. 9311, fo. 188. |
| In 1642 the Parliament abolished the offices of Comptroller, Surveyor, and Clerk of the Acts, and constituted instead of them a Board of equal Commissioners. The Treasurer remained, but was no longer a member of the Navy Board. | ||
| 1660 | *Sir Robert Slingsby. | Cal. St. Pap.; Pepys’s Diary. |
| The Navy Board in its old form was re-established at the Restoration. | ||
| 1661 | Sir John Minnes. | Pepys’s Diary. |
| 1671 | Sir Thomas Allen. | Duke of York’s Instructions (MS. Admiralty Library). |
| Died in 1685. (Luttrell, i. p. 358.) | ||
| 1685 | Sir Richard Haddock. | Addit. MS. 9322. |
| 1686 | In abeyance. | Pepys’s Memoir. |
| The principal officers (except the Treasurer) were suspended, and the office placed temporarily under the charge of a body of equal Commissioners, as described in Pepys’s “Memoir.” | ||
| 1688 | Sir Richard Haddock, restored. | Pepys’s Memoir. |
| Special Commission revoked, and former officers restored. | ||
| 1715 | Sir Charles Wager. | Byng MSS. vol. 13 (Admiralty Library). |
Surveyors of the Navy
To the commencement of the 18th century.
| Date of Appointment. | Name. | Authority. |
|---|---|---|
| circ. 1546 | Benjamin Gonson. | Harleian MS. 249. (See Robert Legg, Treasurer.) |
| Gonson was appointed Treasurer of the Navy in 1549. | ||
| 1549 | *Sir William Winter. | Addit. MS. 5752, fo. 6b. |
| Letters Patent of Philip and Mary, dated 2nd Nov. 1557, recite a patent of Edward VI. appointing William Wynter to be “Surveyor of our Ships,” and go on to appoint him “Master of our Ordnance of our Ships,” in addition to the Surveyorship. He continued to hold the joint offices for many years—certainly till 1589, perhaps later. The date of his death is uncertain. | ||
| 1598 | *Sir John Trevor. | Cal. St. Pap. |
| 1611 | *Sir Richard Bingley. | Phineas Pett’s Autobiography. |
| 1616 | *Sir Thomas Aylesbury. | Cal. St. Pap. |
| 1632 | Kenrick Edisbury. | Cal. St. Pap. |
| This is the “Old Edgborough,” whose ghost was supposed to haunt the Hill House at Chatham. (Pepys’s Diary, 8th April, 1661.) He died in 1638. | ||
| 1638 | William Batten. | Cal. St. Pap. |
| Afterwards Sir William. (See 1660 below.) | ||
| 1642 | In abeyance. | Addit. MSS. vol. 9311 fo. 188. |
| A body of Commissioners appointed by Parliament instead of the principal officers. | ||
| 1660 | Sir William Batten, restored. | Cal. St. Pap., and Pepys’s Diary. |
| Died in 1667. | ||
| 1667 | Colonel Thomas Middleton. | Pepys’s Diary, 10th Dec. 1667. |
| See Middleton in List of Commissioners at Chatham, 1672. | ||
| 1672 | *Sir John Tippetts. | Duke of York’s Instructions (MS. in Admiralty Library). |
| 1686 | In abeyance. | Pepys’s Memoir. |
| 1688 | Sir John Tippetts, restored. | Pepys’s Memoir. |
| 1692 | Edmund Dummer. | Luttrell, ii. 522. |
| In the British Museum (King’s MS. 40) there is an interesting account by Dummer of a tour made by him in the Mediterranean on board H.M.S. “Woolwich” in 1682–84. The volume contains many plans and drawings. In the reign of William III., Dummer contrived a simple and ingenious method of pumping water from dry docks below the level of low tide, which enabled Portsmouth for the first time to possess a dry dock capable of taking in a first-rate man-of-war, previously regarded as impracticable, owing to the small rise of tide there as compared with that at Woolwich, Deptford, Chatham, and Plymouth. He also designed and constructed the first docks at Plymouth. (See Harl. MS. 4318; Lansdowne MS. 847; King’s MSS. 40, 43.) | ||
| 1699 | Daniel Furzer. | Luttrell, iv. 556. |
| 1715 | Jacob Acworth. | Byng Collection, vol. xiii. (MS. in Admiralty Library). |
Clerks of the Ships, of the Navy, or of the Acts
To the commencement of the 18th century.
| Date of Appointment. | Name. | Authority. |
|---|---|---|
| circ. 1482 | Thomas Roger, or Rogiers. | Pepys’s “Miscellanies” (MS.) and Harleian MS. 433. |
| The office of “Clerk of the King’s Ships,” or of the Navy, afterwards “Clerk of the Acts of the Navy,” is in all probability a very ancient one; but the first holder of the office whose name I have met with is Thomas Roger or Rogiers, who seems to have held it in the reigns of Edward IV., Edward V., and Richard III. In the third volume of Pepys’s MS. “Miscellanies,” p. 87, is an entry of an order dated 18th May, 22nd Edward IV. (1482), to the Treasurer and Chamberlain of the Exchequer to examine and clear the account of “our well beloved Thomas Roger Esq. Clerk of our Ships.” Harleian MS. 433 (supposed to have belonged to Lord Burghley) is a register of grants, &c., passing the Privy Seal, &c., during the reigns of Edward V. and Richard III., with some entries of other reigns. No. 1690 is the appointment of “Thomas Rogiers to be Clerc of all maner shippes to the King belonging.” It has no date, but is very probably a reappointment by Richard III. on his assumption of the throne. | ||
| Temp. Henry VII. | William Comersale. | “Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.,” vol. i. p. 48. |
| Temp. Henry VII. 1509 | Robert Brigandyne, or Brikenden. | |
| “Privy Seal 28 July 1509 for Robert Brikenden to be Keeper or Clerk of the King’s Ships in the Realm of England, with 12d. a day for himself, and 6d. a day for his Clerk, in the same manner as William Comersale,—out of the customs of Exeter and Dartmouth.” | ||
| “Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.,” vol. iii. pt. 2, p. 1263. | ||
| “Grant 21 April 1523:—Rob. Briganden, of Smalhed, Kent, alias of Portesmouth. Release, as Clerk of the King’s Ships to Henry VII. and Henry VIII., and purveyor of Stuffs and timber for the same.” | ||
| From these two documents it appears that Brigandyne’s appointment as Clerk of the Ships in 1509 was a reappointment on the accession of Henry VIII., and that he had held the same office under Henry VII. after Comersale, who may very probably have succeeded Rogiers. | ||
| Brigandyne’s name appears very frequently in connection with naval matters down to October, 1525, after which there is no mention of him in the Calendar of letters and papers. | ||
| 1526 | Thomas Jermyn, or Germyn. | “Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.,” vol. iv. pt. 1, p. 954. |
| Patent 1526, April 3rd. Thomas Jermyn, Yeoman of the Guard and Crown, to be Keeper or Clerk of the Navy, and Keeper of the Dock at Portsmouth, with 12d. a day, and 6d. a day for a Clerk, out of the issues of the Ports of Exeter and Dartmouth. | ||
| From this date to 1530 there are numerous entries connected with Jermyn’s accounts as Clerk of the Ships. | ||
| circ. 1540 | Sir Thomas Spert. | Pepys’s “Miscellanies,” vol. vii. (MS. at Magdalene College). |
| This volume of the “Miscellanies” includes a collection of payments made to the navy between 1537 and 1541. Amongst these are regular half-yearly payments at the rate of £33 6s. 8d. to “Sir Thomas Spert, Clerke of the King’s Ships.” | ||
| circ. 1563 | George Winter. | Addit. MSS. vol. 5752. |
| This volume contains an order of Queen Elizabeth, dated 16th July, 1563, to Lord Clinton, Lord High Admiral, to deliver certain stores to George Winter, “Clerk of our Ships.” I have been unable to find the date of his appointment to this office, which he continued to hold till his death in 1581. His epitaph in Dyrham Church, Gloucestershire, is printed in Bigland’s Collection. He was brother to Sir William Winter, Surveyor of the Navy and Master of Sea Ordnance. | ||
| circ. 1585 | William Borough. | Lansdowne MS. 43, No. 33. |
| In February of this year Borough was Clerk and Comptroller: see his letter of this date (Feb. 1584, meaning no doubt 1585 as years are counted now) to Lord Burghley (Lansd. MSS. 43, 33) beginning, “To the righte honnorable the L. Burghley Lord Highe Treasourer of Englande—your suppliant William Borough Clarke and Comptroller of her Matie Shippes,” &c. The paper is endorsed, “A dewtifull declaration, February Ano. 1584. By William Borough Clarke and Comptroller of her Matie Navie.” It is an original letter, the body written in a very neat hand of the period, and signed by Borough himself in a different, but also very neat, hand. As William Holstock was certainly Comptroller at this time, and had been so for more than twenty years, it is probable that he and Borough held that office jointly, whilst Borough also performed the functions of Clerk of the Ships. (See List of Comptrollers.) As Winter died in 1581, and Borough had certainly been Clerk for some time before the date of his letter, it is probable that he immediately succeeded Winter. | ||
| circ. 1600 | *Sir Peter Buck. | Phineas Pett’s Autobiography. |
| As Borough died in 1598 (Cal. St. Pap.), it is probable he was succeeded about that time by Peter Buck; but the first occasion on which I find the name of the latter mentioned as Clerk of the Ships is in the year 1600, by Phineas Pett. Sir Henry Palmer certainly succeeded Borough in the Comptrollership in 1598 (Cal. St. Pap.). Buck died in 1625. He had been for some years Clerk of the Cheque at Chatham before his appointment to the Board. He is mentioned by Pepys as one of his predecessors (“Diary,” 14 Dec. 1660), who was not a little proud of his office having once been held by a knight. Lord Braybrooke, in his note to this entry, says that Buck was Secretary to Algernon Percy, Earl of Northumberland; but Buck was Clerk of the Navy at least two years before the Earl was born, and died when the latter was only twenty-three years of age. | ||
| 1625 | Dennis Fleming. | Cal. St. Pap. |
| 1638 | Dennis Fleming and Thomas Barlow, joint. | Cal. St. Pap. |
| 1642 | In abeyance. | Addit. MSS. vol. 9311 fo. 188. |
| A body of Commissioners appointed by Parliament instead of the principal officers. | ||
| 1660 | Samuel Pepys. | |
| Lord Braybrooke, in his note to the entry of the 27th June, 1660, quotes Pepys’s patent, in which Fleming and Barlow’s joint patent is recited and revoked, and Pepys was appointed Clerk of the Acts at a salary of £33 6s. 8d. per annum. But this amount was only the ancient “fee out of the Exchequer” which had been attached to the office for more than a century. Pepys’s salary had been previously fixed at £350 a year. Lord Braybrooke says, in a note to 9th Feb. 1664–65, that “Barlow had previously been Secretary to Algernon, Earl of Northumberland, when High Admiral;” but he was appointed Clerk of the Acts two months before the Earl became Lord High Admiral. Barlow had, however, been in his service at an earlier date, and had been appointed by the Earl Muster-Master of the Fleet under his command in 1636. (Cal. St. Pap.) | ||
| 1674 | Thomas Hayter and John Pepys, joint. | Addit. MSS. vol. 9307. |
| When Pepys was promoted to be Secretary of the Admiralty, he was succeeded in the office of Clerk of the Acts by his clerk and his brother jointly. | ||
| 1677 | Thomas Hayter and James Sotherne, joint. | Orders and Warrants, 1676–78 (MS. in Admiralty Library). |
| Sotherne was appointed “one of the Clerkes of ye Acts of our Navy Royall,” in the place of John Pepys “lately deceased:” 12th March, 1676–77. | ||
| 1679 | James Sotherne, alone. | |
| Hayter was promoted to be Secretary of the Admiralty when Pepys was thrown into prison. | ||
| 1686 | In abeyance. | Pepys’s Memoir. |
| Special temporary Commission appointed, and the principal officers suspended. | ||
| 1688 | James Sotherne, restored. | Pepys’s Memoir. |
| Special Commission revoked. | ||
| circ. 1690 | Charles Sergison. | |
| Sotherne was made Secretary of the Admiralty in January, 1690, and it is probable that Sergison immediately succeeded him. The Letter-books of the Navy Board at Chatham show that he held the office in 1691, and held it until 1719. | ||
| 1719 | Tempest Holmes. | Byng Collection, vol. xiii. (MS. in Admiralty Library). |
Commissioners of the Navy Appointed to Reside at Chatham
From the first establishment of that office in 1630 to the commencement of the 18th century.
| Date of Appointment. | Name. | Authority. |
|---|---|---|
| 1630 | Phineas Pett. | Phineas Pett’s Autobiography (Addit. MS. 9298). |
| This interesting MS., in Pett’s own handwriting, contains full details of the life of the celebrated builder of the “Royal Sovereign,” or “Sovereign of the Seas,” from his birth in 1570 until 1637, when it breaks off abruptly. It is endorsed, in a much later handwriting: “The life of Comr. Pett’s father, whose place he did enjoy.” A few leaves are wanting, but their contents are supplied by a complete transcript in the Harleian MS. 6279, in which, however (as well as in another transcript in the Pepysian Library), the orthography is somewhat modernized, and the handwriting is that of the latter part of the 17th century. Extracts from a copy of the Harleian transcript are printed in “Archæologia,” vol. xii. | ||
| Pett died in 1647, at Chatham. Having submitted to the Parliament in 1642, he retained his office until his death in 1647.409 | ||
| 1647 | Peter Pett. | Addit. MSS. vol. 9306 (Navy Board Letter-book), shows that in Nov. 1648, Peter Pett held this office. |
| I have not met with Peter Pett’s original appointment, but I have no doubt that he immediately succeeded his father Phineas, on the death of the latter in 1647. He was continued in the same office after the Restoration. In 1667, in consequence of the Dutch attack on Chatham, he was superseded, sent to the Tower, and threatened with impeachment. The threat was not carried out, but he was never restored to office. | ||
| 1667 | Vacant. | |
| No new appointment was made for nearly two years after Pett’s removal. | ||
| 1669 | *Sir John Cox. | Pepys’ Diary: Narborough’s Diary. |
| Cox was master of the Duke of York’s flagship, “Royal Charles,” in the victory over the Dutch Admiral Opdam, 3rd June, 1665. Was captain of the “Sovereign” in the three days’ battle with the Dutch fleet in June, 1666. Master Attendant at Deptford in 1667. Resident Commissioner at Chatham, March, 1669. Appointed, 15th Jan. 1672, Flag-Captain to the Duke of York in the “Prince,” without vacating his office at Chatham. Knighted by King Charles II., on board the “Prince,” at the Nore, on the 27th April. Killed at the Battle of Sole Bay, on the 28th May in the same year. | ||
| (See “Diary” of Captain John Narborough (afterwards Sir John), whilst serving as First Lieutenant on board the “Prince.” It is amongst the Pepysian MSS. at Magdalene College, and there is a transcript in the Admiralty Library.) | ||
| 1672 | Colonel Thomas Middleton. | Duke of York’s Instructions (MS. in Admiralty Library). |
| Colonel Middleton was one of the Commissioners of the Admiralty appointed by the Rump in January, 1660. Engaged in the West India trade after the Restoration (see Duke of York’s “Memoirs,” p. 9). Appointed Commissioner at Portsmouth in 1664, and Surveyor of the Navy in 1667. Removed to Chatham as Resident Commissioner in June, 1672. Died in December of the same year. | ||
| 1672 | *Sir Richard Beach. | Duke of York’s Instructions (MS. in Admiralty Library). |
| Captain of H.M.S. the “Crown” in February, 1663. Served at sea till 1672, in which year he captured an Algerine man-of-war. Appointed Resident Commissioner at Chatham in Dec. 1672, and transferred to Portsmouth in the same capacity in 1679. Removed to the Board in London as Comptroller of Victualling Accounts in 1690. Died in May, 1692. | ||
| 1679 | *Sir John Godwin. | Addit. MS. 9312. |
| Served in the navy as a lieutenant, and subsequently in the Victualling Department. Appointed Commissioner at Chatham in Dec. 1679; removed to the Board in London, March, 1686; died in 1689. | ||
| 1686 | Sir Phineas Pett. | Pepys’s Memoirs. |
| Son of Peter Pett, shipbuilder, of Ratcliffe, and grand-nephew of Phineas Pett, the first Commissioner at Chatham. Appointed Master Shipwright at Portsmouth in June, 1660, and transferred to Chatham in the same capacity in the following month. Dismissed for misbehaviour in office on the 25th Sept., 1668, but restored three months afterwards on making submission and surrendering his patent. Promoted to the Board in London as Comptroller of Victualling Accounts on the 5th August, 1680, and knighted by the King on the same day. Transferred to Chatham as Commissioner in 1686. Dismissed on account of his political opinions on the accession of William and Mary.410 | ||
| 1689 | *Sir Edward Gregory. | Admiralty Orders, 1688–9 (MS. in the Public Record Office). |
| Served as a purser in the navy in 1662–3. Succeeded his father as Clerk of the Cheque in Chatham Yard in Feb. 1665, which office he resigned after holding it nearly twenty years. Appointed Commissioner at Chatham on the 20th April, 1689. Knighted by William III. in Jan. 1691. Retired on a pension of £300 a year in June, 1703. Died in 1713. | ||
| 1703 | Captain George St. Lo. | Chatham Records. |
| Attained the rank of captain in 1682. When in command of the “Portsmouth,” in 1689, was captured with his ship, and taken into Brest severely wounded. In 1693 he published a tract, entitled, “England’s Safety or a bridle to the French King.” In the same year he was appointed a member of the Navy Board. Transferred to Plymouth as Commissioner in 1695, and from thence to Chatham in 1703. Superseded on the accession of George I., in 1714, by the omission of his name from the new patent for the Navy Board. | ||
Footnotes
406 Afterwards Lord Brooke.
407 This volume contains a transcript of part of Pepys’s Naval Collections in the Library of Magdalene College, Cambridge. It comprises some extracts from Lord Clarendon’s copy of the Council Books of King Henry VIII. from 1541 to 1543, one of which records a letter being written to Mr. Stanhopp and John Osburne, “Comptroller of the King’s H.’s Ships.” I cannot find the date of his first appointment.
408 Afterwards Sir George Carteret, Treasurer of the Navy.
409 Chatham Parish Register, quoted in “Archæologia,” vol. xii. p. 284.
410 Note respecting Sir Phineas Pett.—There were so many shipbuilders of the name of Phineas Pett, that it is often difficult to trace the history of any one of them. In February, 1660, Phineas Pett, son of John Pett, and grandson of Commissioner Phineas Pett, being then Assistant-Master Shipwright at Chatham, petitioned to be promoted, and was appointed Master Shipwright at Chatham in the same month. But it would appear that the appointment was revoked, or never carried into effect, for in the following July we find Phineas Pett, “of Ratcliffe,” who had been appointed Master Shipwright at Portsmouth in June, transferred to Chatham in the same capacity. And in September Phineas Pett, Assistant-Master Shipwright at Chatham, was suspended from office on the accusation of having, when a child, spoken contemptuously of the King! For this offence he was dismissed in the following month.