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The Restoration Regime in Action: the Relationship Between Central and Local in Government in Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire, 1660–1678*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

P. J. Norrey
Affiliation:
University of Bristol

Abstract

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Type
Communications
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

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References

2 Western, J. R., The eighteenth century militia (London, 1965), pp. 1012Google Scholar.

3 Carter, D. P., ‘The Lancashire militia 1660–1688’, Trans. Hist. Soc. Lancs and Cheshire, CXXXII (1983), 155–81Google Scholar. Coleby, A. M., ‘Hampshire and the Isle of Wight 1649–1689’ (unpublished th D.Phil, dissertation, University of Oxford, 1985)Google Scholar, Roberts, S. K., Devon 1646–1670 (Exeter, 1985), pp. 151–2Google Scholar. The Norfolk Lieutenancy Journal 1660–1676’, Dunn, R. Minta (ed.), Norfolk. Rec. Soc. XLV (1977)Google Scholar.

4 British Library (B.L.), Add. MSS 32, 324, fos. 79, 98, 125.

5 B.L., Add. MSS 32, 324, fo. 131.

6 Public Record Office (P.R.O.), S.P. 29/62/57. B.L., Add. MSS 32, 324, fo. 143.

7 Cal. State Papers Domestic 1661–2, p. 439.

8 B.L. Microfilm 904, Thynne MSS 10, fos. 43, 45.

9 B.L., Add MSS 32, 324, fos. 95, 98, 100, 102, 104, 114, 119.

10 Helyar, H. A.The arrest of Colonel William Strode of Barrington in 1661’, Somerset Arch. and Nat. Hist. Soc. Mag., XXXVII (1891), 1539Google Scholar.

11 C.S.P.D. 1661–2, p. 525; 1663–3, pp. 287, 402. Somerset Record Office (S.R.O.), DD/PH/222/59–61. B.L., Add. MSS 32, 324, fos. 89, 92, 93.

12 B.L., Add. MSS 32, 324, fo. 176. P.R.O., S.P. 29/81/16.

13 Colonels Helyar and Phelips acquired a reputation for their zeal which travelled far beyond their native south Somerset. B.L. Microfilm 331, Alnwick MS 550, p. 65.

14 Especially Hutton, R. E., The restoration (Oxford, 1985), p. 207Google Scholar.

15 Wiltshire Record Office (W.R.O.), A1/110, Hilary 1662, H.M.C. Third Report, p. 93Google Scholar. Marsh, A. E. W., A history of the borough and town of Calne (London, 1903), pp. 173–4Google Scholar. Palmer, S. (ed.), Nonconformists memorial (London, 1802)Google Scholar, passim.

16 C.S.P.D. 1661–2, p. 160. Officers were thanked and encouraged as often as they were rebuked. S.R.O., DD/PH/222/63.

17 Thynne MSS 10, fos. 60, 65, 117. B.L., Add. MSS 32, 324, fos. 89, 92.

18 W.R.O., A1/110/ Hilary 1662, petitions.

19 B.L., Add. MSS 32, 324, fo. 131. S.R.O., Q/SR/103/15.

20 Bristol University, Bull/Shapwick MSS DM 155, fo. 107. Henning, B. D., The house of commons 1660–1690 (London, 1983), II, 269–70Google Scholar.

21 , Coleby, ‘Hants’, p. 185Google Scholar. , Roberts, Devon, pp. 151–2Google Scholar.

22 H.M.C. Third report, p. 93.

23 P.R.O., S.P. 29/81/92, C.S.P.D. 1665–6, p. 171. Western, Militia, pp. 44–5.

24 C.S.P.D. 1664–5, PP. 520, 524, 557; 1665–6, pp. 127, 171.

25 C.S.P.D. 1667, p. 183.

26 C.S.P.D. 1665–6, pp. 507–8, 533, 562; 1666–7, PP. 8, 30; 1667, pp. 167–8, 195, 210, 244, 271, 291; 1676–7, p. 118. For Dorset militia activity in early 1666, Dorset Record Office (D.R.O.), D124, Fox/Strangways MSS, Box 255.

27 The Isle of Purbeck experienced similar infringements of traditional liberties in 1664. P.R.O., S.P. 29/449/52. C.S.P.D. 1663–4, PP. 439, 490; 1664–5, PP. 109, 566; 1665–6, PP. 12, 487.

28 C.S.P.D. 1664–5, P. 553; 1666–7, P. 492; 1667, P. 271. B.L., Add. MSS 21, 947, fo. 99.

29 B.L., Add. MSS 21, 947, fo. 176; 21, 948, fos. 78, 116, 120, 147, 172. C.S.P.D. 1673–5 P. 342; 1675–6, p. 526. Calendar of treasury books, V, 1343–4. S.P. 44/29/111; 44/44/30.

30 The papers of Thomas Thynne, a Wiltshire deputy-lieutenant, illustrate the administration of the militia in the late 1670s. Thynne MSS 11, fos. 74–119.

31 Clifton, R., The last popular rebellion (Hounslow, 1984), pp. 164–5Google Scholar. B.L., Add. MSS 41, 803, fos. 303, 305, 308. BL Harl. MS 6845, fo. 277V. Thynne MSS 22, fo. 176.

32 , Fletcher, Reform, pp. 316–48Google Scholar.

33 Ibid. p. 360; , Coleby, ‘Hants’ pp. 210–14Google Scholar.

34 Chandaman, C. D., The English public revenue 1660–1688 (Oxford, 1975), p. 37Google Scholar.

35 C.T.B., I, 339. C.S.P.D. 1660–1, p. 47; Addena 1660–1685, p. 19.

36 P.R.O., T51/11/95–7, Report from the commissioners of the excise.

37 P.R.O., T51/11/106. S.R.O, DD/PH/223/118–9. C.T.B., 1, 401–2.

38 , Chandaman, Public revenue, pp. 8990Google Scholar.

39 P.R.O. T51/11/162; 12/140. C.T.B., 1, 428, 483, 486, 489.

40 P.R.O. T51/11/242–3. C.T.B., 1, 539, 568, 678, 684, 735. C.S.P.D. 1663–4, PP. 477–8, 482–3, 493, 498. Latimer, J., The annals of Bristol in the seventeenth century (Bristol, 1900), pp. 312–15Google Scholar.

41 List and index society, CLIII (1979), 7180, 233–9, 295–9Google Scholar.

42 C.T.B., 11, 307–8, 340; V, 1343–4. C.S.P.D. 1676–7, p. 118.

43 , Chandaman, Public revenue, pp. 91–3Google Scholar.

44 Alnwick MS 550, p. 75. C.T.B., II, 318, 324.

45 Somerset Record Soc., XXXIV, 38, 42. C.T.B., 11, 486, 500.

46 S.R.S., XXXIV, 62.

47 Marshall, Lydia, ‘The levying of the hearth tax 1662–1688’, English Historical Review, LI (1936), 628–46CrossRefGoogle Scholar. P.R.O., PC2.59, pp. 223, 355, 379; 2/60, pp. 199. S.R.O., Q/SR/111/45–6, 112/73.

48 C.S.P.D. 1667–8, pp. 222, 224.

49 W.R.O., A1/150/11, Hilary 1666.

50 W.R.O., A1/150/11, Michaelmas 1667.

51 This is even more evident in Gloucestershire. Add. MSS 33, 589, fos. 39, 41, 47.

52 C.T.B. III, 20, 25, 28, 32, 47, 68.

53 C.T.B., IV, 716.

54 S.R.O., Q/SR/127/44; 131/31. P.R.O. T54/6/117–8.

55 C.S.P.D. 1675–6, p. 223.

56 C.T.B., 1, 688. Thynne MSS 10, fos. 138–42. Alnwick MSS 550, pp. 66, 74.

57 S.P. 29/394/17.

58 C.T.B., II, 157, 190, 267, 274–5; III, 97, 125, 281, 288–9.

59 , Chandaman, Public revenue, p. 96Google Scholar.

60 C.T.B., III, 873.

61 See List and index society, CLXIII (1980)Google Scholar.

62 C.T.B., III, passim.

63 W.R.O., 865/466, Troyte, Bullock/Grove MSS, documents relating to the Pley family. C.T.B. IV, 528, 532; V, 72–3, 171–2, 213, 370, 686, 887, 923, 1069, 1073–4, 1308.

64 P.R.O., T11/4/82, 86, 115. T54/7/179. C.T.B., I, 286; V, 828, 868, 874, 890–1, 1109, 1117, 1135. D.R.O., B7/D2/1.

65 C.S.P.D. 1665–6 and onwards, passim.

66 , Coleby, ‘Hants’, pp. 222–4Google Scholar.

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69 W.R.O., A1/150/11, Quarter Sessions Order Book 1654–1668; A1/110, 1656–65 (Quarter Sessions Great Rolls).

70 The most important of these was issued after Venner's rising in January 1661. C.S.P.D. 1660–1, p. 470.

71 , Marsh, Calne, pp. 173–4Google Scholar. W.R.O., A1/110, Hilary 1662; 1699/18 Palmer, S., Memorial, II, 123–4, 132, 140–156Google Scholar.

72 C.S.P.D. 1661–2, pp. 155, 160.

73 S.P. 29/43/68.

74 Bull/Shapwick MS, DM 155, fo. 96. , Palmer, Memorial, II, 118–58Google Scholar. W.R.O., A1/110, 1662–5, S.R.O., Q/SR/103.

75 S.P. 29/39/63. C.S.P.D. 1663–4, PP. 70, 231, 266, 287, 402, 471.

76 S.P. 29/143/132. For Pley's role in opposing the dissenter candidate in the 1667 election see W.R.O., 865/476.

77 W.R.O., A1/110, 1662–9. The Wiltshire court records are backed up by the Quaker ‘sufferings’ for the county, W.R.O. 1699/18. No sessions rolls survive from Dorset for this period. The indictments surviving from Somerset are patchy in the 1660s, but several examinations and informations from 1663 are recorded in the sessions rolls.

78 S.R.O., Q/Si/120–4; Q/SR/103–113, C.S.P.D. 1667, pp. 419, 428.

79 , Palmer, Memorial, III, 361, 371, 375–6Google Scholar.

80 C.S.P.D. 1668–9, p. 481.

81 C.S.P.D. 1670, pp. 369–70, 417, 424, 428.

82 W.R.O., A1/110, Mich. 1670–Mich. 1671; Seth Ward's Liber Notitiae, III, 54–6. Henning, House of commons, passim. The eight were Walter St John, Oliver Nicholas, Michael Harvey, George Savage, Michael Malet, Henry Eyre, Edward Seymour and George Fulford.

83 Worden, A. B. (ed.), ‘A voice from the watchtower’ (by Ludlow, Edmund), Camden Soc., Fourth series, XXI (1978), 108–10Google Scholar. W.R.O., G20/1/18, Devizes Misc. Entry Book, pp. 9–17. C.S.P.D. 1666–7, p. 466.

84 , Henning, House of commons, III, 613Google Scholar. C.S.P.D. 1671, p. 164.

85 W.R.O., A1/110, Easter 1671.

86 S.R.O., Q/Si/125, 125, 130, 131 (conventicle rolls); Q/SR/114/34–40, 48.

87 Wyndham's anti-nonconformist activities in the house of commons had included reporting a conventicle in his home village of Kentsford. His strong support for the conventicle acts made him hated amongst the dissenters on the north coast of the shire, as did his position as collector at Bridgwater. The attack is detailed in S.R.O., Q/SR/114/79. S.P. 29/277/11.

88 S.R.O., Q/Si/142, 145 (conventicle rolls). W.R.O. A1/110, Mich. 1673–Mich. 1674. In both counties convictions in 1673–4 totalled about two-thirds of those in 1670–1. With some exceptions the conventicles prosecuted in 1673–4 had been fined in 1670–1.

89 W.R.O., A1/110, Mich 1673, Mich. 1674. Doel, W., Twenty golden candlesticks! (Trowbridge, 1890)Google Scholar, ch. I., , Henning, House of commons, III, 143Google Scholar.

90 W.R.O., A1/110, Mich. 1675–Easter 1679. S.R.O., Q/Si/157–60 (indictments).

91 According to the Compton census, there were fewer than 600 catholic recusants in Somerset and Wiltshire, andonly two Jesuit priests were known to be operating in the west of England at this time. After the Great Fire in 1666, the presentment of catholics to the Wiltshire quarter sessions became almost ritual. The benches' treatment of catholics was consistent and uncompromising, contrasting markedly with their irregular application of the Clarendon code. W.R.O., A1/110, 1666–79. S.R.O., Q/SO/7, Quarter Sessions Minute Book 1676–87. Beck, K. M., ‘Catholic recusancy and protestant nonconformity in Devon and Somerset 1660–1714’ (unpublished M.A. thesis, University of Bristol, 1961)Google Scholar.

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93 W.R.O., A1/110, 1680–6. S.R.O., Q/Si/186; Q/SR/150–160.

94 W.R.O., G20/1/18, pp. 11–13. C.S.P.D. 1660–1, p. 193; 1661–2 p. 286. H.M.C., Third report Northumberland MSS, p. 91.

95 Hutchins, J., History and antiquities of the county of Dorset (London, 1861), 1, 31–2Google Scholar. DRO, B7/B6/11, Lyme Register of Freemen, pp. 23–4.

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98 C.S.P.D. 1661–2, p. 539.

99 , Clifton, The last popular rebellion, pp. 43–4Google Scholar. C.S.P.D. 1668–9 pp. 420–1.

100 B.L., Add. MSS 32, 324, fo. 75. W.R.O., 1300, Ailesbury MSS, fos. 224–6.

101 W.R.O., G22/1/22, Marlborough Gen. Entry Book 1646–65, pp. 136–53.

102 W.R.O., G20/1/18, pp. 17–9. Add. MSS 32, 324, fo. 149.

103 W.R.O., G23/1/4, Salisbury Ledger Book D, pp. 118–36.

104 W.R.O., G25/1/21, Wilton Gen. Entry Book 1454–1705.

105 W.R.O. G18/1/1, Calne Guild Stewards' Book 1561–1814, pp. 159–65.

106 Sydenham, J., The history of the town and county of Poole (Poole, 1839), pp. 198–9Google Scholar.

107 D.R.O., B7/B6/11, p. 24; B7/D2/1, Misc. correspondence of the mayor, town clerk, etc. of Lyme Regis 1570–1696, unfoliated, corporation commissioners to the mayor and burgesses, 3 Sept. 1662.

108 B.R.O., Bath Council Book II, pp. 292, 491. In 1671 the king ordered that a city official appointed by the commissioners, who had since been dismissed, be restored. S.P. 44/48/16.

109 W.R.O., G20/1/18, passim.

110 , Henning, House of commons, I, p. 372Google Scholar; III, pp. 346–8.

111 W.R.O., 865/476.