91. DARTMOUTH, Militia Rate, 1601

DHC, DD61642

Note: More properly termed a muster book, this account was written on seven pieces of paper which measured 12 inches in width and 13 inches in length and which have been folded and stitched with brown string to make up a booklet of twenty-eight pages. There has been considerable damage by the chewing of at least one rodent. There are a considerable number of other ward lists including a partial muster book for 1618 and lists of the borough's free tenants who owed suit to the manorial court between 1600 and 1632. A total of 494 men were listed while in 1642 there were 776 Dartmouth men who signed the Protestation Return. The difference between these figures may relate to a population increase or to the number of men unfit for military service being included in 1642. The number of tenants recorded also varied between some 500 and nearly 1,000.