To the commencement of the 18th century.
| Date of Appointment. | Name. | Authority. |
|---|---|---|
| circ. 1482 | Thomas Roger, or Rogiers. | Pepys’s “Miscellanies” (MS.) and Harleian MS. 433. |
| The office of “Clerk of the King’s Ships,” or of the Navy, afterwards “Clerk of the Acts of the Navy,” is in all probability a very ancient one; but the first holder of the office whose name I have met with is Thomas Roger or Rogiers, who seems to have held it in the reigns of Edward IV., Edward V., and Richard III. In the third volume of Pepys’s MS. “Miscellanies,” p. 87, is an entry of an order dated 18th May, 22nd Edward IV. (1482), to the Treasurer and Chamberlain of the Exchequer to examine and clear the account of “our well beloved Thomas Roger Esq. Clerk of our Ships.” Harleian MS. 433 (supposed to have belonged to Lord Burghley) is a register of grants, &c., passing the Privy Seal, &c., during the reigns of Edward V. and Richard III., with some entries of other reigns. No. 1690 is the appointment of “Thomas Rogiers to be Clerc of all maner shippes to the King belonging.” It has no date, but is very probably a reappointment by Richard III. on his assumption of the throne. | ||
| Temp. Henry VII. | William Comersale. | “Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.,” vol. i. p. 48. |
| Temp. Henry VII. 1509 | Robert Brigandyne, or Brikenden. | |
| “Privy Seal 28 July 1509 for Robert Brikenden to be Keeper or Clerk of the King’s Ships in the Realm of England, with 12d. a day for himself, and 6d. a day for his Clerk, in the same manner as William Comersale,—out of the customs of Exeter and Dartmouth.” | ||
| “Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.,” vol. iii. pt. 2, p. 1263. | ||
| “Grant 21 April 1523:—Rob. Briganden, of Smalhed, Kent, alias of Portesmouth. Release, as Clerk of the King’s Ships to Henry VII. and Henry VIII., and purveyor of Stuffs and timber for the same.” | ||
| From these two documents it appears that Brigandyne’s appointment as Clerk of the Ships in 1509 was a reappointment on the accession of Henry VIII., and that he had held the same office under Henry VII. after Comersale, who may very probably have succeeded Rogiers. | ||
| Brigandyne’s name appears very frequently in connection with naval matters down to October, 1525, after which there is no mention of him in the Calendar of letters and papers. | ||
| 1526 | Thomas Jermyn, or Germyn. | “Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.,” vol. iv. pt. 1, p. 954. |
| Patent 1526, April 3rd. Thomas Jermyn, Yeoman of the Guard and Crown, to be Keeper or Clerk of the Navy, and Keeper of the Dock at Portsmouth, with 12d. a day, and 6d. a day for a Clerk, out of the issues of the Ports of Exeter and Dartmouth. | ||
| From this date to 1530 there are numerous entries connected with Jermyn’s accounts as Clerk of the Ships. | ||
| circ. 1540 | Sir Thomas Spert. | Pepys’s “Miscellanies,” vol. vii. (MS. at Magdalene College). |
| This volume of the “Miscellanies” includes a collection of payments made to the navy between 1537 and 1541. Amongst these are regular half-yearly payments at the rate of £33 6s. 8d. to “Sir Thomas Spert, Clerke of the King’s Ships.” | ||
| circ. 1563 | George Winter. | Addit. MSS. vol. 5752. |
| This volume contains an order of Queen Elizabeth, dated 16th July, 1563, to Lord Clinton, Lord High Admiral, to deliver certain stores to George Winter, “Clerk of our Ships.” I have been unable to find the date of his appointment to this office, which he continued to hold till his death in 1581. His epitaph in Dyrham Church, Gloucestershire, is printed in Bigland’s Collection. He was brother to Sir William Winter, Surveyor of the Navy and Master of Sea Ordnance. | ||
| circ. 1585 | William Borough. | Lansdowne MS. 43, No. 33. |
| In February of this year Borough was Clerk and Comptroller: see his letter of this date (Feb. 1584, meaning no doubt 1585 as years are counted now) to Lord Burghley (Lansd. MSS. 43, 33) beginning, “To the righte honnorable the L. Burghley Lord Highe Treasourer of Englande—your suppliant William Borough Clarke and Comptroller of her Matie Shippes,” &c. The paper is endorsed, “A dewtifull declaration, February Ano. 1584. By William Borough Clarke and Comptroller of her Matie Navie.” It is an original letter, the body written in a very neat hand of the period, and signed by Borough himself in a different, but also very neat, hand. As William Holstock was certainly Comptroller at this time, and had been so for more than twenty years, it is probable that he and Borough held that office jointly, whilst Borough also performed the functions of Clerk of the Ships. (See List of Comptrollers.) As Winter died in 1581, and Borough had certainly been Clerk for some time before the date of his letter, it is probable that he immediately succeeded Winter. | ||
| circ. 1600 | *Sir Peter Buck. | Phineas Pett’s Autobiography. |
| As Borough died in 1598 (Cal. St. Pap.), it is probable he was succeeded about that time by Peter Buck; but the first occasion on which I find the name of the latter mentioned as Clerk of the Ships is in the year 1600, by Phineas Pett. Sir Henry Palmer certainly succeeded Borough in the Comptrollership in 1598 (Cal. St. Pap.). Buck died in 1625. He had been for some years Clerk of the Cheque at Chatham before his appointment to the Board. He is mentioned by Pepys as one of his predecessors (“Diary,” 14 Dec. 1660), who was not a little proud of his office having once been held by a knight. Lord Braybrooke, in his note to this entry, says that Buck was Secretary to Algernon Percy, Earl of Northumberland; but Buck was Clerk of the Navy at least two years before the Earl was born, and died when the latter was only twenty-three years of age. | ||
| 1625 | Dennis Fleming. | Cal. St. Pap. |
| 1638 | Dennis Fleming and Thomas Barlow, joint. | Cal. St. Pap. |
| 1642 | In abeyance. | Addit. MSS. vol. 9311 fo. 188. |
| A body of Commissioners appointed by Parliament instead of the principal officers. | ||
| 1660 | Samuel Pepys. | |
| Lord Braybrooke, in his note to the entry of the 27th June, 1660, quotes Pepys’s patent, in which Fleming and Barlow’s joint patent is recited and revoked, and Pepys was appointed Clerk of the Acts at a salary of £33 6s. 8d. per annum. But this amount was only the ancient “fee out of the Exchequer” which had been attached to the office for more than a century. Pepys’s salary had been previously fixed at £350 a year. Lord Braybrooke says, in a note to 9th Feb. 1664–65, that “Barlow had previously been Secretary to Algernon, Earl of Northumberland, when High Admiral;” but he was appointed Clerk of the Acts two months before the Earl became Lord High Admiral. Barlow had, however, been in his service at an earlier date, and had been appointed by the Earl Muster-Master of the Fleet under his command in 1636. (Cal. St. Pap.) | ||
| 1674 | Thomas Hayter and John Pepys, joint. | Addit. MSS. vol. 9307. |
| When Pepys was promoted to be Secretary of the Admiralty, he was succeeded in the office of Clerk of the Acts by his clerk and his brother jointly. | ||
| 1677 | Thomas Hayter and James Sotherne, joint. | Orders and Warrants, 1676–78 (MS. in Admiralty Library). |
| Sotherne was appointed “one of the Clerkes of ye Acts of our Navy Royall,” in the place of John Pepys “lately deceased:” 12th March, 1676–77. | ||
| 1679 | James Sotherne, alone. | |
| Hayter was promoted to be Secretary of the Admiralty when Pepys was thrown into prison. | ||
| 1686 | In abeyance. | Pepys’s Memoir. |
| Special temporary Commission appointed, and the principal officers suspended. | ||
| 1688 | James Sotherne, restored. | Pepys’s Memoir. |
| Special Commission revoked. | ||
| circ. 1690 | Charles Sergison. | |
| Sotherne was made Secretary of the Admiralty in January, 1690, and it is probable that Sergison immediately succeeded him. The Letter-books of the Navy Board at Chatham show that he held the office in 1691, and held it until 1719. | ||
| 1719 | Tempest Holmes. | Byng Collection, vol. xiii. (MS. in Admiralty Library). |