ON THE SEALS OF RICHARD DUKE OF GLOUCESTER

AND OTHER

ADMIRALS OF ENGLAND.

BY

THOMAS J. PETTIGREW, ESQ., F.R.S., F.S.A., V.P. AND TREASURER.

THE interest attaching to a seal of which impressions have been repeatedly circulated

and presented to the Association, does not appear hitherto to have been sufficient to give rise either to any particular description of it, or to a minute examination of the office with which it is associated. This induces me to lay before the society the following remarks. The seal (see Plate xv, fig. 1), it must be premised, is that of Richard III when Duke of Gloucester, and, as we learn from the legend, Admiral of England and Earl of Dorset and Somerset. It gives the representation of a fine vessel, having, as common at that time, only one mast, which is surmounted by a cross. The ship has a forecastle and an aftcastle, embattled and adorned with fleur-de-lys, together with a large or mainsail filled by the wind, and on which are emblazoned quarterly the arms of England and France, with a label of three points, ermine, each charged with a canton, gules, a distinction borne by Richard as a younger brother of the Plantagenet family. The aftcastle carries the admiral's flag, on which are depicted his armorial bearings, and is supported by what appears to me to be a greyhound. In the forecastle is a cresset or hollow pan for holding a light or carrying combustibles. An anchor hangs over one side of the bow, and there is a rudder at the other end of the vessel. Around, the legend reads: s' RICI: DUC' GLOUC': ADMIRALLI: ANGL: ET COM DORS.' SOMS.' Sigillum Ricardi Ducis Gloucestriæ Admiralli Angliæ et Comitis Dorset et Somerset. A circle of rosettes surrounds the whole, and similar objects ornament the two castles. The execution of this seal, the original matrix of which is of brass, corresponds with the period and may be placed, be placed, as I shall presently shew, between the years 1471 and 1475. This seal gives rise to many reflections, and a consideration of these cannot be uninteresting, being connected with the history and progress of the royal navy of England, the character of which has been so well and so quaintly stated by Lord Coke, in the fourth of his Institutes. He there says: "The Kings Navy exceeds all others in the world for 3 things, viz., Beauty, Strength, and Safety. For beauty they are so many Royal Palaces; for strength, so many moving castles and barbicans; and for safety they are the most defensive walls of the realm. Amongst the Ships of other nations they are

like lions amongst silly beasts, or falcons amongst fearful fowle." The early history of the navy has not received the attention it deservedly merits. Until the appearance of Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas's work in 1847, in two vols., 8vo, entitled, A History of the Royal Navy, from the Earliest Times to the Wars of the French Revolution, we possess no distinct publication on the subject. This work, however, unfortunately proceeds no further than to the reign of Henry V, much to be regretted as regards the seal now before us; for we have evidence that the author was acquainted with it, and must have thought much of it, for he has given a wood-cut of it on the title page of each of his volumes, and has surmounted it by a royal crown, adding also, very unnecessarily, a circle of foliage and other ornamentation. No description of it, or even allusion to it occurs in Sir Harris Nicolas's work, which, it is deeply to be lamented, this learned author and excellent antiquary did not live to complete.1

Sir Harris Nicolas is the only author who has made any intimate examination into the public records of the kingdom for historical particulars connected with the Royal Navy. This is a reproach to the service, for thereby still remains a desideratum which, it is to be hoped, some one competent will speedily supply.

The origin of the term admiral is even uncertain. Spelman2 derives it from the Arabic amir or emir, a chief; to which, however, it is necessary to add axios from the Greek, signifying marine; whence he deduces admiralius or amiralius, the marine chief. Al miro, it should also be stated, in Arabic means the chief captain. The term as applied to the chief officer of the navy is comparatively modern, for in early times those who filled this high position were denominated "leaders," or "governors," or "justices," or "leaders and constables of fleets."3 From the reign of Henry III to that of Edward I. they were generally styled "keepers of the sea coast," or "captains and keepers of the sea." The word admiral does not appear in any record in this country

1 Since drawing up the account of this seal, I have discovered that an impression of it was exhibited by the Rev. Dr. Milles, Dean of Gloucester and President of the Society of Antiquaries, to that society, April 5, 1781. The seventh volume of the Archeologia has an engraving of it, but not altogether satisfactory. Some foliage behind the dog is made to represent the wings of a dragon, and the animal is described as such. The matrix of the seal is now in the possession of the Rev. James Parkin, of Oakfield, near Bampton, Devon, who has obligingly transmitted it to me, and from him I learn that it descended to him from his father, who had it from the Rev. Richard Haydon, his uncle, rector of Oakfield. Its history can, however, be traced further from the account given by the Dean of Gloucester, who states that it was the property of Mr. Joseph Hankey, an attorney at St. Columb, Cornwall, who purchased it in a lot of old brass and iron amongst the household goods of one Mr. Jackson, an innkeeper of that town. How he came by it does not appear. He was a native of Cumberland, whence he removed to Holdsworthy, afterwards to Crediton, in Devonshire, and thence to St. Columb, where he died. Upon the death of Mr. Hankey in 1782 it became the property of Mr. Dennis, an attorney in Penzance.

Glossarium Archaiologicum. Lond. 1687. Folio.

3 See Nicolas's Hist. i, 391.

prior to the year 1300, but it had some time previously been employed in France. Spelman instances a French Admiral De Coucy, circiter 1280. The earliest application we have of it is probably in the commission of Sir William Leybourne, dated March 8th, 1297, at Bruges, in which he is designated " Admiral of England." The first commission to an admiral in this country, Sir Harris Nicolas thinks, was to Gervase Alard, a native of Winchelsea, dated February 1303, by king Edward I. The pay at this time was per diem. The commission is to be found in the Rot. Patent., 34° Edward I, and in it Alard is named “Captain and Admiral of his Fleet of Ships of his Cinque Ports,” etc. Doubt also exists as to the period of the first formation of a Court of Admiralty or Supreme Court for the trial of maritime causes. It has been generally assigned to the reign of Edward III, but Lord Coke and Prynne consider it to have been in existence prior to that time. Sir Harris Nicholas looks upon king John as the actual founder of the Royal Navy of England. A right of sovereignty of the seas was then asserted for

2s.

England.

From the reign of Edward I. naval officers were admirals and captains, masters or commanders, constables and comitres. There were also a clerk and a carpenter. Twentyone persons are recorded as admirals in the reign of Edward II. Little is known respecting them, but Sir Harris Nicolas has, with his known diligence, collected some particulars regarding them, for which I refer you to his History. No less than forty persons received the commission of admiral in the reign of Edward III, who was himself denominated "OUR LORD KING OF THE SEA."

It is worthy of remark, that the earliest minutes of the king's council are those which relate to the navy, and the first refers to Sir John Roos, one of the admirals of the fleet in 1337.2 Among these minutes is the following: "That the Earl of Arundell be made admiral, for no one can chastise or rule them unless he be a great man." "The king has sent after him."

It was not until Edward III had personally assumed the title and arms of the king of France in 1340 that, having resolved to maintain his right by force of arms, members of the nobility were promoted to the post of admiral. Thus we have in this year appointed for the safety of the sea the Earl of Arundel to the Western Ports, whilst those of the Cinque Ports were assigned to the Earl of Huntingdon. In 1351, Henry Duke of Lancaster, captain and admiral of the western, and the earl of Northampton of the northern fleet. In 1375 the Earl of Suffolk was admiral of the northern, and the Earl of Salisbury of the western fleet. Thus the navy was principally divided into two fleets; but there were also sometimes a southern and likewise detached fleets sent on special purposes. A southern, in 1360, was under the command of Sir John Beauchamp. He 2 Ibid., ii, 188.

1 Hist. i, 127.

was also admiral of the northern and western fleets; therefore of all England. Sir John Beauchamp was succeeded in 1361 by Sir Robert Herle, who retired in 1364 upon the appointment of Sir Ralph Spigurnell. Sir Henry Spelman, in a long and learned article on the term admiral,1 has given a well arranged and copious list of the appointments to the different divisions, northern, western, southern, and also to Ireland, from the eighth year of the reign of Henry III to the sixteenth of James I; the earliest entry being that of "Richardus de Lucy dicitur habere maritimam Angliæ. Patentt. An. 8. Hen. 3. Membr. 4. 29 August."2

Having already made mention of the chief admirals in the reign of Edward III, it may not be without interest to specify the most eminent of some preceding and other succeeding reigns.

In the 22° of Edward I, John de Botetort was admiral of the northern fleet, and William De Leiburne of the southern. And in the 34° same reign, Edward Charles of the northern and Gervase Allard of the western.

The reign of Edward II, a°. 8°, also presents John de Botetort for the northern and William Cranis for the western, who were succeeded, a°. 10, by Johannes Perbrun or Perburn, and Sir Robert Leiburne. Perbrun was reappointed in the 1° of Edward III. The preparations making by the Scots for the invasion of England at this time occasioned an order for vessels for the king's service to proceed to Yarmouth, and they were placed under the authority and direction of this officer, then admiral of the fleet north of the Thames. At this time also (1327) Waresius de Valoignes was appointed "captain and admiral of the king's fleet," which consisted of ships belonging to the Cinque Ports and other places westward of the Thames. The titles "captain" and "admiral" appear at this period to have been employed in a conjoined manner. In 1333, when Perbrun was acting in these capacities, another of the like denomination was created in the person of Henry Randolf, of Great Yarmouth, and he was vested with similar powers. They probably commanded different squadrons, but that circumstance is not recorded. In 1333 another officer of the same description was made, Sir William Clinton for the Cinque Ports, and other places from the Thames westward. Many were made captain and admiral subsequently.

In the reign of Richard II, I find Richard Earl of Arundel, Sir John Roches, Edward Earl of Rutland, afterwards Duke of Albemarle and York, eldest son of the Duke of York and grandson of Edward III; and John, Marquis of Dorset, who is the first whose appointment is made for life, and he was also commissioned for life for the Irish fleet. In the reign of Henry IV there are Thomas Earl of Worcester; Sir Thomas of Lancaster, the second son of the king, afterwards Duke of Clarence, who, it appears,3 was appointed 2 Ibid., p. 14. Rymer's Foedera, viii, 389.

1 Glossarium Archaiologicum, pp. 11-18.

3