Men of Invention and Industry | Page 5

our piers and harbours, and even to pump our water at London Bridge. Though a seafaring population lived round our coasts, we did not fish our own seas, but left it to the industrious Dutchmen to catch the fish, and supply our markets. It was not until the year 1787 that the Yarmouth people began the deep-sea herring fishery; and yet these were the most enterprising amongst the English fishermen.
English commerce also had very slender beginnings. At the commencement of the fifteenth century, England was of very little account in the affairs of Europe. Indeed, the history of modern England is nearly coincident with the accession of the Tudors to the throne. With the exception of Calais and Dunkirk, her dominions on the Continent had been wrested from her by the French. The country at home had been made desolate by the Wars of the Roses. The population was very small, and had been kept down by war, pestilence, and famine.[3] The chief staple was wool, which was exported to Flanders in foreign ships, there to be manufactured into cloth. Nearly every article of importance was brought from abroad; and the little commerce which existed was in the hands of foreigners. The seas were swept by privateers, little better than pirates, who plundered without scruple every vessel, whether friend or foe, which fell in their way.
The British navy has risen from very low beginnings. The English fleet had fallen from its high estate since the reign of Edward III., who won a battle from the French and Flemings in 1340, with 260 ships; but his vessels were all of moderate size, being boats, yachts, and caravels, of very small tonnage. According to the contemporary chronicles, Weymouth, Fowey, Sandwich, and Bristol, were then of nearly almost as much importance as London;[4] which latter city only furnished twenty-five vessels, with 662 mariners.
The Royal Fleet began in the reign of Henry VII. Only six or seven vessels then belonged to the King, the largest being the Grace de Dieu, of comparatively small tonnage. The custom then was, to hire ships from the Venetians, the Genoese, the Hanse towns, and other trading people; and as soon as the service for which the vessels so hired was performed, they were dismissed.
When Henry VIII. ascended the throne in 1509, he directed his attention to the state of the navy. Although the insular position of England was calculated to stimulate the art of shipbuilding more than in most continental countries, our best ships long continued to be built by foreigners. Henry invited from abroad, especially from Italy, where the art of shipbuilding had made the greatest progress, as many skilful artists and workmen as he could procure, either by the hope of gain, or the high honours and distinguished countenance which he paid them. "By incorporating," says Charnock, "these useful persons among his own subjects, he soon formed a corps sufficient to rival those states which had rendered themselves most distinguished by their knowledge in this art; so that the fame of Genoa and Venice, which had long excited the envy of the greater part of Europe, became suddenly transferred to the shores of Britain."[5]
In fitting out his fleet, we find Henry disbursing large sums to foreigners for shipbuilding, for "harness" or armour, and for munitions of all sorts. The State Papers[6] particularize the amounts paid to Lewez de la Fava for "harness;" to William Gurre, "bregandy-maker;" and to Leonard Friscobald for "almayn ryvetts."
Francis de Errona, a Spaniard, supplied the gunpowder. Among the foreign mechanics and artizans employed were Hans Popenruyter, gunfounder of Mechlin; Robert Sakfeld, Robert Skorer, Fortuno de Catalenago, and John Cavelcant. On one occasion 2,797L. 19s. 4 1/2d. was disbursed for guns and grindstones. This sum must be multiplied by about four, to give the proper present value. Popenruyter seems to have been the great gunfounder of the age; he supplied the principal guns and gun stores for the English navy, and his name occurs in every Ordnance account of the series, generally for sums of the largest amounts.
Henry VIII. was the first to establish Royal dockyards, first at Woolwich, then at Portsmouth, and thirdly at Deptford, for the erection and repair of ships. Before then, England had been principally dependent upon Dutchmen and Venetians, both for ships of war and merchantmen. The sovereign had neither naval arsenals nor dockyards, nor any regular establishment of civil or naval affairs to provide ships of war. Sir Edward Howard, Lord High Admiral of England, at the accession of Henry VIII., actually entered into a "contract" with that monarch to fight his enemies.
This singular document is still preserved in the State Paper office. Even after the establishment of royal dockyards, the sovereign--as late as the reign of Elizabeth--entered into formal contracts with shipwrights for the repair and