During the reign of Elizabeth I, England was transformed from an insular nation that traded with immediate neighbors across the Strait of Dover, into a global player seeking new outlets for commercial expansion across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. They key to this change was England’s seafaring heritage, naval innovations, and venture capitalism. England’s major export was woolen-cloth, but the old overseas markets were insufficient for this growing domestic industry. England eyed the far-flung settlements of the New World as an outlet, but imperial Spain refused to allow English ships to trade with her colonies. Nevertheless, joint-stock companies sprung up and armed trading ventures were sent to the Americas to force the locals at gunpoint to trade with them.
Conflicts with Spanish authorities were inevitable, and several armed clashes occurred. During the 1568 Battle of San Juan de Ulua , six English merchant ships under John Hawkins (accompanied by a young Francis Drake) were set upon by two royal Spanish galleons and 11 other ships. Only one English vessel escaped from what was viewed as a treacherous attack.
The ill will caused by such clashes was exacerbated by Elizabeth’s financial and military support to rebellious Dutch forces fighting the Spanish occupation of the Netherlands. Efforts by King Phillip II to assassinate the Queen and replace her with a more compliant Catholic monarch also heightened tensions. As geopolitical crises unfolded, Elizabeth began to dispatch heavily armed private vessels to plunder Spanish ships and settlements in the New World and bring her back a share of the profits. These “reprisal ventures” were made possible by the many port towns throughout the realm that collectively supported a robust shipping infrastructure while providing a pool of experienced mariners.
English Channel town’s such as Plymouth and Portsmouth are well-known sources of English privateers during this period, but many smaller towns along the Strait of Dover and up the river Thames contributed as well. When open war broke out and England awaited an onslaught by the Spanish Armada, the new royal dockyard at Chatham (along the river Medway below the mouth of the Thames) hosted the eastern squadron of the English fleet which, after merging with the western squadron at Plymouth, brought 21 royal galleons and 180 private vessels to bear against the 130 ships of the Spanish Armada.
Other small towns along the Foreland, such as Margate, Ramsgate, Dover, and Broadstairs, were nests of smugglers and pirates during the 16th century. For a time, they hosted seaborne Dutch rebels (known as “Sea Beggars”) who were granted safe passage by Queen Elizabeth while harassing Spanish shipping. The Sea Beggars were joined by many English merchant ships and crews from the adjacent coast, who in turn undertook piratical actions against Spanish shipping in the English Channel, Strait of Dover, and North Sea.
Small north Kent towns such as Faversham, with its tidal creek snaking through meandering marshlands, exploited proximities to shipping lanes to mount piratical raids and to smuggle ill-gotten gains back home through waterways that were hard for customs officials to police. Official records reflect that a local sea-captain was charged with piracy in Faversham in the mid-1500s. The most famous Faversham pirate was Jack Ward who worked in local fisheries until he became a privateer in 1588. He participated in multiple attacks on Spanish shipping, even after incoming King James I revoked all “letters of Reprisal” and outlawed attacks on Spain. By 1604 Ward had gone “on the account” (become a pirate), attacking ships of any nation, including England. He eventually operated out of Tunis with the Barbary corsairs where he was known as “Yusuf Reis” or "Yusuf Asfur."
Adjacent to London was an area of river towns with thriving maritime industries along a stretch of the Thames known as “London Pool.” St. Katherine’s, Limehouse, Wapping, and Rotherhithe were considered official ports of London. Despite the proximity of royal customs officials, smuggling and maritime theft were rampant along the crowded quays. Local maritime industries along the “pool” provisioned and manned many privateering vessels and many unsanctioned pirate vessels.
Oftentimes the distinction between privateers and pirates was blurry. Those pirates who were caught and convicted by the Admiralty Court at Marshalsea were hanged to death upon the docks of Wapping. Their bodies were displayed in metal cages along the river’s edge and were inundated for three successive tides. Despite the risks, England’s small port towns provided many “sea dogs” to the Elizabethan naval war machine and to many pirate ventures.
My sea-adventure, nautical fiction novels, “Voyage of Reprisal” and “The English Corsair” highlight some of these towns. The two main protagonists hail from Faversham which is also the setting and focus of a chapter. Rotherhithe is also featured, along with “The Ship” tavern on the site of the present-day Mayflower Pub. Broadstairs is a base of operations for a privateer/smuggler character. These books are part of my “Elizabethan Sea Dogs” series. Please find the links to relevant web pages on the upper left-hand side of this blog page.
