In forming any just appreciation of the character and abilities of Phineas Pett, regard must be had to the circumstances of age in which he lived. It was a time of great political and religious unrest, and expressions of religious devotion which might now be thought extravagant were then normal, and were apparently not thought incongruous with dishonesty in money matters. The chronic maladministration of the Navy, and the arrears in payment of the relatively small salaries allotted to responsible posts, may to some extent justify methods of acquiring additional emoluments that nowadays are judged more severely.
Pett's kindness towards his unfortunate brothers and sisters shows a good heart, and there must have been something attractive in his character to secure him the steady support of Nottingham, James I, and Charles I, which went so far as to shield him against the consequences of his misdeeds.
The favoured position which he held, and the privilege he enjoyed of direct intercourse with the supreme heads of the Navy behind the backs of his immediate superiors, brought Pett into conflict with the latter on many occasions. It is not necessary to accept the explanation of Phineas that these incidents were the results of conspiracies directed against him. To oppose him was a deadly sin; thus, Burrell, who was 'a worthy gentleman and good friend' when he stood on Pett's side in the Prince Royal inquiry, became Pett's 'greatest enemy,' engaged in the 'malicious practice' of 'tending to overthrow me and root my name out of the earth' because he was appointed one of the Commissioners of Inquiry in 1618.
Pett was evidently interested in the various efforts made in the early seventeenth century to explore and colonise the coasts of North America. He frequently refers to his friendship with Button, and states that he assisted in the selection of the Resolution for the voyage of 1612. He was, moreover, a kinsman of Hawkridge and an acquaintance of Foxe; while Gibbons was the master of his ship the Resistance. The disparaging remark on Waymouth's 'mistaking his course (as he did in the North-West Passage)'[176] shows that he was acquainted with the story of the voyage of 1602, but the most competent modern authorities do not agree with this opinion of Pett (and of his contemporary Foxe), and hold that Waymouth did in fact enter the straits subsequently called after Hudson and sail along them for a considerable distance.[177] Pett was also a member of the Virginia Company, though he does not mention this fact. His name appears in the second and third Charters of the Company (1609 and 1612), and in 1611 he subscribed the sum of 37l. 10s. This was the lowest subscription allowable for members, but it was a comparatively large sum for those days.
Evidently Phineas, in spite of his large and growing family, was at this time fairly prosperous, and had an income considerably greater than the 54l. 15s. which represented his official salary and allowance. No doubt this income was augmented by the trading ventures in the Resistance and by shipbuilding for private owners and by various official 'perquisites.' In 1614 it was increased by 40l., granted him by the King under writ of Privy Seal, but in 1617 and the following years his bad speculations in regard to the Destiny, the pinnace built for Lord Zouch, the Mercury, and the Spy, made serious inroads into his capital and burdened him with a load of debt which seems to have weighed upon him for many years and given him much trouble. James came to his assistance in 1620 by presenting him with a patent for a baronetcy which brought him about 650l., and Charles gave him another in 1628 which only fetched 200l. His appointment as a Commissioner of the Navy in 1631 increased his official income to 200l., exclusive of the 40l. payable on the writ of Privy Seal. With this substantial addition to his salary he was in a position to gradually improve his finances, and after 1634 we hear no more of the actions for debt.
From the story of his life as now unfolded it is clear that Phineas Pett was a man of considerable ability and industry, kindly to his friends, but impetuous and quick-tempered; 'well-in' with the authorities, and apt to take advantage of that fact when he disagreed with his equals or superiors. It is probable that he was slightly in advance of his contemporaries in the profession of shipbuilding, but not to the extent commonly supposed. Here his autobiography has stood him in good stead, for it has attached to his name a personality that makes his existence seem more real and of more moment to a later age in which his professional contemporaries have become shadowy names. It is difficult to say what was his real motive in writing it, but it was probably commenced as an explanation of his position in regard to the Prince Royal dispute of 1608, and afterwards continued partly for recreation; partly, perhaps, for the edification of his children. Pepys appears to have thought much of it, for he took the trouble to copy it into his collection of miscellanea; but it is certainly wanting in the candour and honesty of the celebrated Diary, and seems to have been written in order to convey a favourable impression to the reader, and explain away doubtful deeds, rather than as a real revelation of self.
[94] 'The rage for Bible names dates from the decade 1560-1570, which decade marks the rise of Puritanism.'—Bardsley, Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature, p. 39.
[95] Numbers xxvi. 11-13.
[96] Cott. MSS., Otho E. vii. fol. 155.
[97] Misc. x. 353. There are errors in this transcript, which has been corrected, so far as possible, from the original.
[98] Double-dealer; probably he refers to Bright.
[99] MS. flattsheate.' Pepys has transcribed this 'flat cheat.'
[100] Sic in transcript, probably 'far.'
[101] Cal. S.P. Dom., 26 Feb. 1626.
[102] Monson Tracts, ii. 140.
[103] Miscell., vol. x. pp. 257-262: A large and particular complaint against Phineas Pett relating to abuses in the Navy about the end of the Queen's and beginning of King James's Reign. Cf. Dr. Tanner's Introduction in Hollond's Discourses of the Navy (N.R.S., vol. vii.). What is probably the same account is calendared by the Hist. MSS. Commission (Coke MSS, vol. i. p. 36) as '1602 Oct 14} 1603 June 19} allegations by George Colyson of abstraction of sea stores, and other frauds by Phineas Pett.'
[106] Cott. MSS., Julius F. 111—the depositions of Pett and various witnesses; S.P.D. James I, xxxi. 51—memorandum drawn up from the above; S.P.D. James I, xli.—report of the Commission, drawn up by Sir Robert Cotton, with analytical draft and notes attached.
[107] The capital of Spain from 1601 to 1606.
[108] Pat. Roll, 1771.
[109] The names were as follows: Henry, Earl of Northampton; Charles, Earl of Nottingham; Lord Zouch; Lord Wotton, Comptroller of the Household; Sir Julius Cæsar, Chancellor of the Exchequer; Sir Thomas Parry, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster; Sir Edward Phillips and Sir John Doderidge, Serjeants-at-Law; Sir Henry Hobart, Attorney-General; Sir Francis Bacon, Solicitor-General; Sir William Waade, Lieutenant of the Tower; Sir Charles Parkins; Sir Robert Cotton; Sir Thomas Crompton; and John Corbett, a Clerk of the Privy Council. Pat. Roll, 1770.
[110] Cott. MSS., Julius F. 111.
[111] S.P. Dom. James I, xli. The 'book of reformation' referred to at p. 37. Northampton also made a report direct to the King, which deals, however, only in generalities.—Royal MSS. 18 A, xxxiv.
[113] Pipe Off. Dec. Accts. 2247. 'New Building the Victory in dry dock at Woolwich;' ibid. 2248, 'Shipkeepers attending the Victory, now named the Prince Royal'; 'New Building the Victory now named the Prince Royal.'
[114] The relative dimensions were: Prince Royal—length of keel 115 ft.; breadth 43 ft.; depth 18 ft. Merhonour—length of keel 110 ft.; breadth 37 ft.; depth 17 ft. Baker built the Merhonour by contract for £3600.
[115] The Resistance.
[116] The Answer. He does not include the Anne Royal, which had just been finished.
[117] The Moon.
[118] 'There are two kinds of furring, the one is after a ship is built, to lay on another plank upon the side of her (which is called plank upon plank). The other, which is more eminent, and more properly furring, is to rip off the first planks and to put other timbers upon the first, and so to put on the planks upon these timbers. The occasion of it is to make a ship bear a better sail, for when a ship is too narrow, and the bearing either not laid out enough, or too low, then they must make her broader, and lay her bearing higher. They commonly fur some two or three strakes under water and as much above, according as the ship requires, more or less. I think in all the world there are not so many ships furred as are in England, and it is a pity that there is no order taken, either for the punishing of those who build such ships, or the utter preventing of it, for it is an infinite loss to the owners, and an utter spoiling and disgrace to all ships that are so handled.'—Mainwaring, Seaman's Dictionary, s.v. Fur.
[119] Addl. MS. 19889.
[120] Harl. MS. 309, f. 68.
[121] S.P. Dom., James I, xlv. 33.
[122] See note on p. lxviii. In this case pieces were laid upon the outsides of the timbers to make the mould broader.
[123] See note on p. 37.
[125] 'The Harpings of a Ship is the breadth of her at the bow: also some call the ends of the bends, which are fastened into the stem, the Harpings.'—Mainwaring, Seaman's Dictionary.
[126] Overhang.
[127] Holes cut through the timbers over the keel to allow the bilge water to run to the pump.
[128] See note on p. 60.
[129] I.e. the overlap of the joint was not sufficient.
[130] The inside planking upon the floor timbers, sometimes called 'seeling' or 'ceiling.'
[131] The rungheads at the ends of the floor timbers, where these begin to curve upward into the lower (or runghead) sweep.
[132] I.e. shortened the futtock sweep.
[133] The moulds fore and aft in which the lower sweeps become concave instead of convex exteriorly.
[134] Addl. MS. 18037.
[135] At Hinchinbrook, Hampton Court, and Windsor Castle. See R. C. Anderson, 'The Prince Royal and other Ships of James I,' in Mariner's Mirror, vol. iii. (1913), in which these pictures are reproduced.
[136] Pepysian MS. 2820.
[137] Addl. MS. 9299, f. 206.
[139] Add. MSS. 9294 f. 409 and 9300.
[140] I.e. in 1621.
[142] It need scarcely be pointed out that the illustrations in Charnock's Marine Architecture do not remotely resemble the real ship.
[143] Burrell quarrelled with the Company in 1626 and was dismissed their service. He died in 1630.
[144] See especially Playfair, The Scourge of Christendom; Corbett, England in the Mediterranean, vol. i., chap. viii.; and Oppenheim, Monson Tracts, vol. iii. p. 94 et seq.
[145] S.P. Dom., James I, cxxxiv. 60.
[146] I.e. his wages as captain of the Mercury.
[148] About 1631. In January 1634 he is stated to have been dead three years.
[149] He refers especially to his loss on the Destiny. For this use of 'main' in the sense of considerable,' cf. 'a very main loss.'—N.E.D.
[150] Infra, p. 154. The above account has been collected from the S.P. Dom., James I, ccxv. p. 98; ccxxviii. f. 14, 84a; ccxxi. 45; ccxxxii. 27; ccxxxiii. 10; ccxxxviii. 89; ccxlii. 3, 36; ccxlvii. 84; ccli. 18; cclix. 10.
[154] S.P. Dom., Chas. I., ccli. 74.
[156] It was 252l. 6s. 9d.
[157] S.P. Dom., Chas. I, cclx. 108, ccxxviii. f. 122.
[159] S.P. Dom., Chas. I, cclxiv. ff. 67a, 87a.
[160] Storekeeper at Deptford. He seems to have had some knowledge of design, for in 1626 and 1627 he had been associated with Pett, Stevens, Lydiard, and Gunter, the mathematician, in drawing up new rules for ship measurement.
[161] S.P. Dom., Chas. I, cclxxxvi. 44.
[162] The transverse section at the greatest breadth.
[163] The curves passing through the ends of the floor timbers, as referred to the plan and elevation respectively.
[164] S.P. Dom., Chas. I, cclxxxvi. 105.
[165] Add. MSS. 9300 f. 64; 9336 f. 53. S.P. Dom., Chas. I, ccclxviii. 121. In this list, which is dated September 1637, the ship is not named. The keel length is given as 127 ft., depth from breadth to top of keel as 19 ft. 4 ins., and breadth as 46 ft. 6 ins.
[166] S.P. Dom., Chas. I, cccvi. 83.
[167] Diary, Jan. 31, 1663.
[168] S.P. Dom., Chas. I, ccxcviii. 20.
[169] S.P. Dom., Chas. I, ccxcix. 2, 12.
[170] Hist. MSS. Report, v. 33.
[171] Hist. MSS. Report, v. 46.
[172] Firth, Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum, i. 27.
[173] He was buried in Chatham Church on August 21.
[174] Pipe Office Dec. Accts. 2286.
'Phineas Pett, Esq., another of the said Commissioners and one of the principal officers of the Navy, for his salary at 200l. per annum, 8d. per diem for one clerk and 6l. per annum for paper, pens etc., due to him for the same time ended as the former [i.e. the year ended September 29, 1647]
217l. 3s. 4d.
'Thomas Smith, Esq., now one of the Commissioners of the Navy in the room and place of (blank) for the entertainment of himself at 200l. per annum and two clerks at 16d. per diem and 6l. per annum for paper money due to him for 34 days begun the 28th of August 1647 and ended the 30th of September following
22l. 9s. 4d.'
[175] Smith, who had been Northumberland's secretary, had been appointed Secretary of the Admiralty by Ordinance of the same date as the one by which Pett had been re-appointed a Commissioner of the Navy in 1642.
[177] See Christy, Voyages of Foxe and James (Hakl. Soc.) and Asher, Henry Hudson the Navigator (Hakl. Soc.).