Writ for levying ‘ship money’ directed to the mayors and other officers of Rochester, Maidstone, Sandwich, Dover, Hythe, New Romney and Canterbury, co. Kent, and Rye, Winchelsea, Hastings, Pevensey, Shoreham, Arundel and Chichester, Isle of Sheppey, Isle

Description: To provide 1 ship of war, 800 tons burden, with 260 men, arms and stores for 26 weeks to be at Portsmouth by 1 March 1635. (This was the first of the 'ship money' writs which played their part in the origin of the Civil War. The monetary equivalent, which was in fact raised and paid to the treasurer of the navy, was £6,000. A meeting of the sheriff, mayors and other officers to whom the writs were addressed was usually held to apportion the sum required. See Kentish Sources II, 'Kent and the Civil War,' ed. E. Melling (1960), p. 5.) Seal and tongue missing.

Date: 20/10/1634

Last import: September 11, 2017