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The House of Commons Committee of Trade and the Origins of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, 1664

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

Paul Seaward
Paul Seaward
Affiliation:
Christ's College, Cambridge
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Type
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The Historical Journal , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , June 1987 , pp. 437 - 452
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

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References

1 Journals of the house of commons (London, 1742–), VIII, 548Google Scholar.

2 See Feiling, K. G., British foreign policy 1660–1672 (London, 1930), pp. 129–31Google Scholar, and Wilson, C. H., Profit and power a study of England and the Dutch wars (London, 1957), pp. 122–5Google Scholar.

3 The life of Edward earl of Clarendon.…written by himself (2 vols., Oxford, 1857), II, 48Google Scholar.

4 Ibid. II, 1–10.

5 See The diary of Samuel Pepys, ed. Latham, R. and Matthews, W. (II vols., London, 1970–1983), v, 122, 159–60Google Scholar; British Library, Additional MSS 32094, fos. 50–2, and the letter of Coventry to Falmouth, 1 Apr. 1665, at fos. 48–9, with the endorsement at fo. 49V.

6 British Library, M874/9 (Bath MSS, Coventry papers), vol. 102, fo. 3, memorandum by William Coventry. This paper analyses the origins of the second Anglo-Dutch war, and makes suggestions for the better preparation for a future one: it may have been drawn up soon after the war, and probably before the outbreak of the third Dutch war in 1672. Extracts from the Bath MSS are published here by permission of the marquess of Bath, Longleat House, Warminster, Wiltshire. I have extended contractions to all quotations.

7 The most complete account of Anglo-Dutch relations in the early 1660s is Japikse, N., De verwikkelingen tusschen de republiek en Engeland (The Hague, 1900)Google Scholar; the best accounts in English are in Feiling, British foreign policy, Wilson Profit and power, and Rowen, H. H., John De Witt, grand pensionary of Holland, 1625–1672 (Princeton, 1978)Google Scholar, ch. 23.

8 See especially Rowen, , De Witt, p. 452Google Scholar: for the issues involved, see ibid. pp. 448–52, Wilson, , Profit and power, pp. 104–6Google Scholar, and Feiling, , British foreign policy, pp. 86–97Google Scholar.

9 Downing was also largely responsible for the 1660 re-enactment of the Navigation Act of 1651. See The history of parliament: the house of commons 1660–1690, ed. Henning, B. D. (3 vols., London, 1983), II, 224–5Google Scholar.

10 Although see the more optimistic assessment of Wilson, , Profit and power, p. 109Google Scholar.

11 For a full account of the case, see Feiling, , British foreign policy, pp. 108–11Google Scholar.

12 For a list of all these grievances, see the ‘Report of Messrs Zouch, Exton and Mason concerning the injuries of the Dutch East India Company towards the English Company, Jan. 19, 1661’, in A calendar of the court minutes etc., of the East India Company 1660–1663, ed. Sainsbury, E. B. (Oxford, 1922), pp. 77–81Google Scholar.

13 See the ‘Narrative of abuses, indignities and affronts offered by the Dutch Company to the English, July 1663’, in ibid. pp. 325–8.

14 See Zook, G. F. ‘The Company of Royal Adventurers of England trading into Africa, 1660–1672’, Journal of Negro History, IV (1919), 163—77CrossRefGoogle Scholar; for an account of other tensions, in America, see Wilson, , Profit and power, pp. 116–17Google Scholar, and Schoolcraft, H. C., ‘The capture of New Amsterdam’, English Historical Review, XXII (1907), 674–93CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

15 The instructions are printed in Lister, T. H., The life and administration of Edward, first earl of Clarendon (3 vols., London, 1837), III, 256–8Google Scholar. See Zook, , ‘Company of Royal Adventurers’, pp. 182–4Google Scholar, for his negotiations over the Royal Adventurers' complaints.

16 See Lister, , Clarendon, III, 254–5Google Scholar, Downing to Clarendon, 25 Sept. 1663; see also A calendar of the Clarendon state papers, vol. v: 1660–1726, ed. Routledge, F. J. (Oxford, 1970), p. 342Google Scholar, Downing to Clarendon, 23 Oct. 1663.

17 See Bescheiden wit vreemde archieven outrent de groote nederlandsche zeeoorlogen 1652–1676, ed.Colenbrander, H. T. (The Hague, 1919), 1, 125–6Google Scholar, Wicquefort to Frederick III, 26 Jan. 1664.

18 See e.g. Lister, , Clarendon, III, 300Google Scholar, Downing to Clarendon, 18 Mar. 1664.

19 Bodleian Library, Carte MSS 47, fo. 420, Coventry to Ormonde, 13 Feb. 1664.

20 Lister, , Clarendon, III, 181–2Google Scholar, Downing to Clarendon, 20 Jan. 1662.

21 Ibid. III, 217–8, Downing to Clarendon, 15 Aug. 1662.

22 Ibid. III, 300, Downing to Clarendon, 18 Mar. 1664.

23 See the list of Adventurers in Public Record Office, State papers, SP 29/88/126.

24 British Library, M874/9, vol. 102, fos. 5–6.

25 The diary of Samuel Pepys, v, 59.

26 Ibid. v, 35.

27 Bodleian Library, Clarendon MSS 83, fo. 373.

28 Zook, , ‘Company of Royal Adventurers’, pp. 146–53Google Scholar. The latter figure is based on the summary of company's stock on pp. 152–3.

29 Lister, , Clarendon, 111, 168Google Scholar, Clarendon to Downing, 16 Aug. 1661.

30 See, for example, ibid. 169–70 (Clarendon to Downing, 30 Aug. 1661), 179–80 (Clarendon to Downing, 3 Jan. 1661[2]), 190 (Clarendon to Downing, 14 Feb. 1662), 211–12 (Clarendon to Downing, 31 July 1662).

31 The Life of Edward earl of Clarendon, 11, 7–8.

32 Ibid. 11, 61–2.

33 For the session of 1663 and the background to Bristol's attempts to impeach Clarendon, see my 1985 Oxford University D.Phil dissertation ‘Court and parliament: the making of government policy, 1661–1665’, ch. IVGoogle Scholar. For his reappearance in 1664, see pp. 92–4.

34 Clarendon MSS 107, fo. 92, Downing to Clarendon, 18 February 1664.

35 Miscellanea aulica: or, a collection of state treaties, never before publish'd, ed. Brown, T. (London, 1702), pp. 341–2Google Scholar, Bennet to Orrery, 15 Mar. 1664.

36 Ibid. p. 346, Bennet to Ormonde, 26 mar. 1664.

37 Hartmann, C. H., Charles II and madame (London, 1934), pp. 98, 99Google Scholar, Charles II to the duchess of Orleans, 24 and 28 Mar. 1664.

38 See Clarendon MSS 107, fo. 147, Downing to Clarendon, 1 Apr. 1664.

39 Public Record Office (P.R.O.), SP 29/95/15.

40 Thomas Mun, England's treasure by forraigne trade (reprint, London, 1895), p. 108. The copy on which this edition was based was owned by Sir Winston Churchill by July 1664 (see the introduction, p. iv). Churchill was closely associated with Bennet and Clifford and was an important member of the commons committee of trade in 1664.

41 Bodleian Library, Carte MSS 47, fo. 420, Henry Coventry to Ormonde, 13 Feb. 1664.

41 Commons' journals, VIII, 535–6; P.R.O., SP 29/95/20 (the clothiers' petition).

43 The list is at P.R.O., SP 29/95/21. Unfortunately the annotations are obscure. There are figures beside many of the names (e.g. 33941 Sr Tho. Littleton, or 5477 Mr Clifford, 561 Coll. Kirkby). There is no key to the meaning of these figures, or to the other marks beside some of the names, although it is noticeable that many of those who are marked are more closely associated with the government than most of those who are not. When the committee was enlarged, a similar list was made of the additional members (P.R.O., SP 29/95/53). The notes of the meetings are also at P.R.O., SP 29/95/21 and 34.

44 These meetings, on the afternoons of 23 and 24 March, are minuted in P.R.O., SP 29/95/21 and 34. The committee resolved to send a letter requesting information on the illegal export of wool through Dover to John Strode, lieutenant of Dover castle. Strode's reply, dated 27 March, is at P.R.O., SP 29/95/59.

45 P.R.O., SP 29/95/2 1 an d 34; Commons' journals, VIII, 537.

46 For the sources of statements on individual MPs, see the biographies in the History of parliament.

47 Five members appointed to the second committee were already members of the first: they were ‘Mr’ Coventry (either Henry or William), John Heath (included in the second list under his title of attorney general of the duchy of Lancaster), John Jones, Richard Kirkby, and William Yorke.

48 For the creation and development of this faction, see my ‘Court and parliament: the making of government policy’, pp. 59–68.

49 Clifford may also have been influenced by Downing himself. See the part he (as well as other members of the 1664 committee, such as Sir Thomas Littleton and Sir Thomas Meres) played in legislation which was prompted in the 1663 session by Downing, : Commons' journals, VIII, 480, 494, 532Google Scholar.

50 See my ‘Court and parliament: the making of government policy’, pp. 65–6. Reymes was a deputy treasurer of prizes, rather than a sub-commissioner, but the association with Clifford, William Coventry, and Bennet's circle is nevertheless clear.

51 Sir Theophilus Biddulph, Sir Thomas Bludworth, Sir Nicholas Crisp, Sir John Fredericke, Sir Richard Ford, John Jones, Sir John Knight, Bullen Reymes, Sir John Robinson, Sir John Shaw, Sir William Thompson.

52 See the list of the Adventurers in P.R.O., SP 29/88/126.

53 See the list in P.R.O., SP 29/96/66.

54 Wilson, , Profit and power, p. 121Google Scholar.

55 Another of those present, SirDuncombe, John, may also have been a member of Bennet's faction, although there is little evidence for the History of parliament's assertion (II, 244) that he was one as early as 1662Google Scholar. The ‘Mr Windham’, a member of the committee recorded as being present at this meeting, may have been Edmund Windham, who was one of the sub-commissioners of prizes later in 1664, and thus possibly a Bennet client. See ‘Court and parliament: the making of government policy’, p. 66.

56 Rough minutes of the meeting are at P.R.O., SP 29/95/54 and SP 29/95/55 is a copy of the order of the committee sent to each of the companies. The order is also calendared in A calendar of the court minutes of the East India Company 1664–1667, ed. Sainsbury, E. (Oxford, 1925), p. 26Google Scholar.

57 The diary of Samuel Pepys, V, 105. For Cocke, see the Companion, X, 69.

58 Ibid, V, 121.

59 At the meeting on 29 March, Colonel Strode's reply to the letter ordered by the committee on the 24th was read, but debate on it postponed (see note 44 above, and the note of the meeting of 29 March, on the back of the notes of those of 23 and 24 March, P.R.O., SP 29/95/34).

60 They can be glimpsed preparing them in A calendar of the court minutes of the East India Company 1664–1667, pp. 26–7, and The diary of Samuel Pepys, V, 107.

61 The meetings of 1 April and thereafter are better reported than the previous ones. There are rough notes of the 1 April meeting at P.R.O., SP 29/96/7. P.R.O., SP 29/96/6 is a fairer, and on some points fuller, version. P.R.O., SP 29/96/8 contains notes of the meeting in Thomas Clifford's own hand; P.R.O., SP 29/96/6 was probably copied from these. In addition there are more summary, but nevertheless useful notes, probably unrelated to those among the state papers, in the British Library, Add. MSS 35865, fos. 201–2. There is also a fair copy of brief notes of all the meetings from 26 March to 7 May at P.R.O., 29/98/35.

62 Carew was Clifford's first cousin, and probably close to Bennet's group. For Scawen, , see History of parliament, III, 404–5Google Scholar.

63 There are three accounts of the meeting of 2 April, at P.R.O., SP 29/96/22, 23 and 24. 23 is in Clifford's hand. In none of them is there a list of those present, although 24 contains a list of a sub-committee which includes Sir Robert Atkins, John Joliffe, William Prynne, and John Georges. The ‘fair copy’ account of this meeting, in P.R.O., SP 29/98/35, seems to be a copy of P.R.O., SP 29/96/24.

64 Calendar of the court of minutes of the East India Company 1664–1667, p. 27.

65 The meetings from 5 April to 28 April are recorded only in the ‘fair copy’ of the proceedings of the committee, at P.R.O., SP 29/98/35 (fos. 71–7V).

66 Commons' journals, VIII, 544.

67 P.R.O., SP 29/98/35, fos. 72–7. There were many further meetings of the committee: but these were largely confined to more domestic issues, and internal obstructions to trade. The minutes of these further meetings follow on in P.R.O., SP 29/98/35, fos. 77V–85. There are other notes of the meetings of 28 and 29 April, which were principally concerned with the dispute of the East India Company with Sir Robert Carr and the problems of the cloth trade but also touched on other matters, at P.R.O. SP 29/97/70, 71 and 73, and there are notes of the committee's resolutions and the heads of a bill against the export of wool in 72. P.R.O., SP 29/95 and 97 contain several other papers (petitions, etc.) relating to the committee's business.

68 Miscellanea aulica, pp. 352–3, Bennet to Ormonde, 19 Apr. 1664.

69 Lister, , Clarendon, III, 305–6Google Scholar, Downing to Clarendon, 19 Apr. 1664.

70 Ibid. III, 310, Downing to Clarendon, 22 Apr. 1664.

71 Commons' journals, VIII, 548; the only account of the ensuing debate I have found, from which the above details are taken, is Bodleian Library Carte MSS 215, fos. 29V–30, Sir Allen Brodrick to Ormonde, 23 Apr. 1664.

72 For the proposal of 1624, see Russell, C. S., Parliaments and English politics 1621–1629 (Oxford, 1979) PP. 184–5CrossRefGoogle Scholar; for Vaughan and his group, see my ‘Court and parliament: the making of government policy’, pp. 141, 187–9.

73 For the activity of Anglesey and Bridgewater as government managers in the Lords, see ibid. pp. 69–70.

74 Journals of the house of lords (London, 1767–) XI, 599–600, 602Google Scholar.

75 Miscellanea aulica, pp. 353–4, Bennet to Ormonde, 25 Apr. 1664.

76 Lister, , Clarendon, III, 314Google Scholar, Downing to Clarendon, 29 Apr. 1664.

77 The diary of Samuel Pepys, V, 129.

78 Clarendon MSS 152, fo. 1, Morrice to Clarendon, 28 Apr. [1664].

79 P.R.O., SP 29/97/69.

80 Lords' journals, XI, 603; Commons' journals, VIII, 553.

81 Lister, , Clarendon, III, 329–31Google Scholar, Downing to Clarendon, 20 May 1664.

82 Ibid., III, 322–4, Downing to Clarendon, 13 May 1664, 329, Downing to Clarendon, 20 May 1664.

83 The Life of Edward earl of Clarendon, II, 56.

84 Bodleian Library, Tanner MSS 47, fo. 165; for De Witt's difficulties in arranging this embassy, see Rowen, , De Witt, pp. 459–60Google Scholar.

85 Tanner MSS 47, fo. 179.

86 Ibid. fo. 157

87 Compare The diary of Samuel Pepys, V, 127 and n. 2 (19 April) with 160 (29 May).

88 Ollard, R., Man of war: Sir Robert Holmes and the restoration navy (London, 1969), pp. 85–119Google Scholar.

89 Rowen, , De Witt, pp. 460–4Google Scholar.

90 The diary of Samuel Pepys, V, 352, 353, 355 n. 1.

91 Lister, , Clarendon, III, 346Google Scholar, Downing to Clarendon, 28 Oct. 1664.

92 Ibid. II, 61–2.