COMMISSIONERS OF THE NAVY APPOINTED TO RESIDE AT CHATHAM,

From the first establishment of that office in 1630 to the commencement of the 18th century.

Date of Appointment. Name. Authority.
1630 Phineas Pett. Phineas Pett’s Autobiography (Addit. MS. 9298).
This interesting MS., in Pett’s own handwriting, contains full details of the life of the celebrated builder of the “Royal Sovereign,” or “Sovereign of the Seas,” from his birth in 1570 until 1637, when it breaks off abruptly. It is endorsed, in a much later handwriting: “The life of Comr. Pett’s father, whose place he did enjoy.” A few leaves are wanting, but their contents are supplied by a complete transcript in the Harleian MS. 6279, in which, however (as well as in another transcript in the Pepysian Library), the orthography is somewhat modernized, and the handwriting is that of the latter part of the 17th century. Extracts from a copy of the Harleian transcript are printed in “Archæologia,” vol. xii.
Pett died in 1647, at Chatham. Having submitted to the Parliament in 1642, he retained his office until his death in 1647.[409]
1647 Peter Pett. Addit. MSS. vol. 9306 (Navy Board Letter-book), shows that in Nov. 1648, Peter Pett held this office.
I have not met with Peter Pett’s original appointment, but I have no doubt that he immediately succeeded his father Phineas, on the death of the latter in 1647. He was continued in the same office after the Restoration. In 1667, in consequence of the Dutch attack on Chatham, he was superseded, sent to the Tower, and threatened with impeachment. The threat was not carried out, but he was never restored to office.
1667 Vacant.  
No new appointment was made for nearly two years after Pett’s removal.
1669 *Sir John Cox. Pepys’ Diary: Narborough’s Diary.
Cox was master of the Duke of York’s flagship, “Royal Charles,” in the victory over the Dutch Admiral Opdam, 3rd June, 1665. Was captain of the “Sovereign” in the three days’ battle with the Dutch fleet in June, 1666. Master Attendant at Deptford in 1667. Resident Commissioner at Chatham, March, 1669. Appointed, 15th Jan. 1672, Flag-Captain to the Duke of York in the “Prince,” without vacating his office at Chatham. Knighted by King Charles II., on board the “Prince,” at the Nore, on the 27th April. Killed at the Battle of Sole Bay, on the 28th May in the same year.
(See “Diary” of Captain John Narborough (afterwards Sir John), whilst serving as First Lieutenant on board the “Prince.” It is amongst the Pepysian MSS. at Magdalene College, and there is a transcript in the Admiralty Library.)
1672 Colonel Thomas Middleton. Duke of York’s Instructions (MS. in Admiralty Library).
Colonel Middleton was one of the Commissioners of the Admiralty appointed by the Rump in January, 1660. Engaged in the West India trade after the Restoration (see Duke of York’s “Memoirs,” p. 9). Appointed Commissioner at Portsmouth in 1664, and Surveyor of the Navy in 1667. Removed to Chatham as Resident Commissioner in June, 1672. Died in December of the same year.
1672 *Sir Richard Beach. Duke of York’s Instructions (MS. in Admiralty Library).
Captain of H.M.S. the “Crown” in February, 1663. Served at sea till 1672, in which year he captured an Algerine man-of-war. Appointed Resident Commissioner at Chatham in Dec. 1672, and transferred to Portsmouth in the same capacity in 1679. Removed to the Board in London as Comptroller of Victualling Accounts in 1690. Died in May, 1692.
1679 *Sir John Godwin. Addit. MS. 9312.
Served in the navy as a lieutenant, and subsequently in the Victualling Department. Appointed Commissioner at Chatham in Dec. 1679; removed to the Board in London, March, 1686; died in 1689.
1686 Sir Phineas Pett. Pepys’s Memoirs.
Son of Peter Pett, shipbuilder, of Ratcliffe, and grand-nephew of Phineas Pett, the first Commissioner at Chatham. Appointed Master Shipwright at Portsmouth in June, 1660, and transferred to Chatham in the same capacity in the following month. Dismissed for misbehaviour in office on the 25th Sept., 1668, but restored three months afterwards on making submission and surrendering his patent. Promoted to the Board in London as Comptroller of Victualling Accounts on the 5th August, 1680, and knighted by the King on the same day. Transferred to Chatham as Commissioner in 1686. Dismissed on account of his political opinions on the accession of William and Mary.[410]
1689 *Sir Edward Gregory. Admiralty Orders, 1688–9 (MS. in the Public Record Office).
Served as a purser in the navy in 1662–3. Succeeded his father as Clerk of the Cheque in Chatham Yard in Feb. 1665, which office he resigned after holding it nearly twenty years. Appointed Commissioner at Chatham on the 20th April, 1689. Knighted by William III. in Jan. 1691. Retired on a pension of £300 a year in June, 1703. Died in 1713.
1703 Captain George St. Lo. Chatham Records.
Attained the rank of captain in 1682. When in command of the “Portsmouth,” in 1689, was captured with his ship, and taken into Brest severely wounded. In 1693 he published a tract, entitled, “England’s Safety or a bridle to the French King.” In the same year he was appointed a member of the Navy Board. Transferred to Plymouth as Commissioner in 1695, and from thence to Chatham in 1703. Superseded on the accession of George I., in 1714, by the omission of his name from the new patent for the Navy Board.

FOOTNOTES:

  • [409] Chatham Parish Register, quoted in “Archæologia,” vol. xii. p. 284.
  • [410] Note respecting Sir Phineas Pett.—There were so many shipbuilders of the name of Phineas Pett, that it is often difficult to trace the history of any one of them. In February, 1660, Phineas Pett, son of John Pett, and grandson of Commissioner Phineas Pett, being then Assistant-Master Shipwright at Chatham, petitioned to be promoted, and was appointed Master Shipwright at Chatham in the same month. But it would appear that the appointment was revoked, or never carried into effect, for in the following July we find Phineas Pett, “of Ratcliffe,” who had been appointed Master Shipwright at Portsmouth in June, transferred to Chatham in the same capacity. And in September Phineas Pett, Assistant-Master Shipwright at Chatham, was suspended from office on the accusation of having, when a child, spoken contemptuously of the King! For this offence he was dismissed in the following month.