{"id":1636,"date":"2020-06-15T08:30:31","date_gmt":"2020-06-15T08:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/?p=1636"},"modified":"2020-06-10T12:21:28","modified_gmt":"2020-06-10T12:21:28","slug":"disaffected-and-unruly-people-poole-in-the-1680s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/2020\/06\/15\/disaffected-and-unruly-people-poole-in-the-1680s\/","title":{"rendered":"Disaffected and Unruly People \u2013 Poole in the 1680s"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this blog, Jenny Oliver and David Watkins from Poole Museum<\/a> explore a recent purchase made by Dorset Archives Trust<\/a> and what it can tell us about the history of Poole…<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dorset History Centre with funding from Dorset Archives Trust<\/span><\/span>\u00a0has recently acquired a letter<\/span><\/span>, undated but probably late 17<\/span><\/span>th<\/span><\/span>\u00a0century, making\u00a0<\/span><\/span>a number of<\/span><\/span>\u00a0apparently unrelated points on Poole. It mentions the town\u2019s fortifications, the management of ballast and the suitability of certain individuals to keep the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u2018disaffected and unruly people\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/span>of Poole under control. The writer is<\/span><\/span>\u00a0unknown, but the recipient is believed to be Lord North, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Detail of Charles II charter granted to Poole in 1666<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The document relates to Poole at a critical time in the town\u2019s and the nation\u2019s history. Charles II was tightening his control of towns and boroughs, particularly th<\/span><\/span>ose seen as disloyal, by pressuring them to surrender their charters and accept new ones, giving him powers to appoint key officials. Many boroughs submitted to this process, but a few did not, and Poole was one of them.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

On 27<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0June 1683, a writ of\u00a0<\/span>quo\u00a0<\/span><\/i>warranto<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>was issued against Poole, suspending all its cherished rights and privileges.\u00a0 The mayor, James\u00a0<\/span>Hallybread<\/span>\u00a0and the corporation responded with a humble petition to the king, expressing the town\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0loyalty and pleading to retain their ancient rights. Merchant Benjamin\u00a0<\/span>Skutt<\/span>\u00a0delivered it to the king who gave a gracious answer that it<\/span>\u00a0\u2018should\u00a0<\/span><\/i>bee<\/span><\/i>\u00a0settled as you prayed for\u2019.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The writer of the document is clearly listing reasons why Poole should\u00a0<\/span>not\u00a0<\/span><\/i>ha<\/span>ve its charter restored. One point is that the town\u2019s defences, the ditch, walls and\u00a0<\/span>towngate<\/span>, have still not been completely removed, in defiance of a 1665 warrant for\u00a0<\/span>\u2018immediate completion of demolishing the works at Poole, levelling the fences, ramparts<\/span><\/i>\u00a0etc.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another point concerns the ballast quay built by the corporation under a king\u2019s council order allowing them to regulate ballast in the harbour. They now intend to use the quay\u2019s revenues to defend their charter. The writer suggests that\u00a0<\/span>\u2018there bei<\/span><\/i>ng now no mayor\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/i>a new order could be obtained, and the quay removed so that the town no longer benefits. The fact that there is no mayor dates the document between November 1683, when James\u00a0<\/span>Hallybread<\/span>\u00a0signed his last entry as mayor, and March 1685, the da<\/span>te of the first entry by the new mayor.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As a candidate for mayor, the writer names John Wyndham, M.P. for Salisbury and colonel of militia. For Collector of Customs, he suggests\u00a0<\/span>\u2018Mr. Constantine\u2019,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>probably Henry Constantine of\u00a0<\/span>Merley<\/span>, rejecting\u00a0<\/span>\u2018his competitor\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Skutt<\/span><\/i>\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/i>as\u00a0<\/span>\u2018notoriously\u00a0<\/span><\/i>unfitt<\/span><\/i>\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>This is possibly Allen\u00a0<\/span>Skutt<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>a former mayor of Poole.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Early in 1684 the Justices and Grand Jury of Dorset wrote to the king petitioning against the incorporation of Poole,\u00a0<\/span>\u2018a sanctuary to debtors and\u00a0<\/span><\/i>crimina<\/span><\/i>ls\u2019<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>They asked particularly that Poole<\/span>\u00a0\u2018be not again created a county\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i>U<\/span>nsurprisingly, the charter was not restored. In February 1685, King Charles died and was succeeded by his brother James. John Wyndham was appointed mayor of Poole by commission and\u00a0<\/span>remained in office until 1688 with Allen\u00a0<\/span>Skutt<\/span>\u00a0as his deputy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this blog, Jenny Oliver and David Watkins from Poole Museum explore a recent purchase made by Dorset Archives Trust and what it can tell us about the history of Poole… — Dorset History Centre with funding from Dorset Archives Trust\u00a0has recently acquired a letter, undated but probably late 17th\u00a0century, making\u00a0a number of\u00a0apparently unrelated points… Read more Disaffected and Unruly People \u2013 Poole in the 1680s<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1892,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,36],"tags":[82,4,179,109],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1636"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1892"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1636"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1642,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1636\/revisions\/1642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}