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John Hawkins's Troublesome Voyages: Merchants, Bureaucrats, and the Origin of the Slave Trade*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2014

Ronald Pollitt
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Extract

There is nothing particularly subtle about a coat of arms with a crest depicting “a demi-Moor proper bound in a cord.” Nearly anyone can deduce from it that the bearer of these arms was probably a figure in the black-slave trade. Deductions along those lines would be right on the mark in the case of this particular heraldic device, for it was granted in 1565 by Queen Elizabeth I to John Hawkins on the recommendation of Sir William Cecil and the Earl of Leicester. The arms commemorate the origin of the English slave trade during the first decade of Elizabeth's reign. Under closer scrutiny, they reveal a wealth of further information about late Tudor history, telling us something about the nature and direction of economic enterprise in the 1560s, the interests of some of the key personalities of the period, and the ways in which diverse elements of society and the state combined their resources for mercantile purposes. Altogether, the crest of John Hawkins constitutes a remarkable lens through which can be seen in microcosm the variety, aggressiveness, and daring which have come to characterize Elizabethan England.

During the past quarter century, a number of distinguished scholars have analyzed Elizabethan overseas enterprise, of which the Hawkins slaving voyages were an important part. Lawrence Stone was the first to ask fundamental questions about the late Tudor economy in a provocative essay published in 1949. The same year saw the appearance of James Williamson's revised biography of John Hawkins, replete with substantial new material drawn from Spanish sources.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of British Studies , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , May 1973 , pp. 26 - 40
Copyright
Copyright © North American Conference of British Studies 1973

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Footnotes

*

The research for this article was supported by a Faculty Research Fellowship of the University of Cincinnati, and the author is indebted to W. D. Aeschbacher for advice and critical assistance.

References

1. The following works are the sources consulted for this historiographical survey: Stone, L., “Elizabethan Overseas Trade,” Economic History Review, 2nd series, II (1949), 30–58CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Williamson, J. A., Hawkins of Plymouth (London, 1949)Google Scholar. Also Willan, T. S., The Muscovy Merchants of 1555 (Manchester, 1953)Google Scholar; The Early History of the Russia Company (Manchester, 1956)Google Scholar; Studies in Elizabethan Foreign Trade (Manchester, 1959)Google Scholar. See also McCann, F., English Discovery of America to 1585 (New York, 1952)Google Scholar; Connell-Smith, G., Forerunners of Drake (London, 1954)Google Scholar; Rabb, T. K., Enterprise and Empire (Cambridge, 1967)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Andrews, K. R., Drake's Voyages (London, 1967)Google Scholar; and Jordan, W. D., White over Black (Chapel Hill, 1968)Google Scholar.

2. Two such accounts are: Black, J. B., The Reign of Elizabeth, (London, 1959), pp. 123–26Google Scholar; and Wernham, R. B., Before the Armada (New York, 1966), pp. 287–89Google Scholar. A more detailed account of the third voyage can be found in Unwin, R., The Defeat of John Hawkins (London, 1960)Google Scholar.

3. Hakluyt, R., The Principal Navigations, Voiages and Discoveries of the English Nation (London, 1589), p. 522Google Scholar, S.T.C. No. 12625.

4. None of the historians interested in the slaving voyages have noted the significance of Spinola's name in the letter from de Silva to Philip II in Great Britain, Calendar of Letters and State Papers Relating to English Affairs, Preserved Principally in the Archives of Simancas (London, 1892), I, No. 330Google Scholar. Hereafter cited as C.S.P., Span. For an example of Spinola's business interests in Southampton, see Merson, A. (ed.), The Third Book of Remembrance of Southampton, 1514-1602 (Southampton, 1955), II, 124nGoogle Scholar.

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6. PRO, State Papers Domestic, Elizabeth, LIIIGoogle Scholar, is a record of the Court of Admiralty inquiry undertaken in the names of Garrard and Heyward. Hereinafter cited as P.R.O., S.P. 12/Vol./No.

7. C.S.P., Span., I, No. 423.

8. Williamson, J. A., Sir John Hawkins, (Oxford, 1927), p. 129Google Scholar. Williamson makes his argument for a smaller group of investors he had identified, but his reasoning is still sound.

9. For Lodge see Stephen, L. and Lee, S. (eds.), Dictionary of National Biography (London, 1921), XII, 59Google Scholar. Hereafter cited as D.N.B. For Duckett see Willan, , Muscovy Merchants, p. 92Google Scholar.

10. For Chester see D.N.B., VI, 204. For Garrard see Strype, J., ed., Stow, J., A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster (London, 1720) II, 133Google Scholar.

11. Willan, , Muscovy Merchants, p. 102Google Scholar. Castlyn and Hickman have been deleted from the account of the merchant's careers principally to keep the analysis from becoming too complex and lengthy.

12. D.N.B., XII, p. 59.

13. For Duckett see Willan, , Muscovy Merchants, p. 93Google Scholar; for Chester see D.N.B., IV, 204; for Garrard see Herbert, W., The History of the Twelve Great Livery Companies of London (London, 1837), II, 539Google Scholar; and for Heyward see Willan, , Muscovy Merchants, p. 102Google Scholar.

14. P.R.O., S.P. 12/1/6.

15. See Willan, , Foreign Trade, p. 98Google Scholar for his Barbary adventures, and Marsden, R. G. (ed.), Select Pleas in the Court of Admiralty (London, 1897), II, lxxxviiGoogle Scholar; and Hakluyt, , Principal Navigations, p. 130Google Scholar for the Guinea trade.

16. For Duckett's various investments and positions see: Willan, , Muscovy Merchants, p. 93Google Scholar; Carr, C. T. (ed.), Select Charters of Trading Companies, A.D. 1530-1707 (London, 1913), pp. 5, 7, and 28Google Scholar; Great Britain, Calendar of Patent Rolls, Elizabeth (London, 1964), IV, No. 1195Google Scholar. Hereafter cited as C.P.R. Rabb, , Enterprise, p. 283Google Scholar; and Great Britain, Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, East Indies, China and Japan, 1513-1616 (London, 1862). No. 31Google Scholar. Hereafter cited as C.S.P., Col.

17. For an example of Chester's involvement in the Russian and Persian trades see Morgan, E. and Coote, C. (eds.), Early Voyages and Travels to Russia and Persia (London, 1886), II, 266 and 403Google Scholar; and also Historical Manuscripts Commission (eds.), Calendar of the Manuscripts of the Most Honorable the Marquis of Salisbury (London, 1883), I, No. 1140Google Scholar. Hereafter cited as C.C.P.

18. For his position as Alderman see D.N.B., XII, 59. There is same confusing evidence about Lodge as London Sheriff. D.N.B. states that he was selected in 1556, but Stow, J., A Survay of London (London, 1598), p. 447Google Scholar, S.T.C. No. 23341 states that he was Sheriff in 1559. Both sources agree that he was Lord Mayor in 1562.

19. Great Britain, Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series (London, 1856), I, 105Google Scholar. Hereafter cited as C.S.P., Dom.

20. C.P.R., Eliz., I, 29Google Scholar; C.S.P., Dom., I, 164Google Scholar; C.C.P., I, No. 834.

21. See C.C.P., XIII, No. 186.56 and C.P.R., Eliz., V, No. 199 for examples.

22. Willan, , Muscovy Merchants, p. 93Google Scholar states that he was an Alderman from 1564 to 1587. Stow, , A Survay, p. 447Google Scholar indicates that he became Sheriff in 1564, an unusually rapid rise. There is some confusion about Duckett's mayoralty. Willan, , Muscovy Merchants, p. 93Google Scholar claims that it was in 1572-73, but Stow, , A Survay, p. 447Google Scholar states that it was in 1571.

23. D.N.B., IV, 204 and Stow, , A Survay, pp. 446–47Google Scholar. D.N.B. states that he sat only in the Parliament of 1562, but Cobbett, W., Parliamentary History of England (London, 1806), IGoogle Scholar, cols. 708-09 lists him for the 1566 Parliament as well.

24. For his Protestant sympathies see Foxe, J., Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Days (London, 1563), p. 1215Google Scholar, S.T.C. No. 11222. His appointment to the commission is in C.P.R., Eliz., I, 118Google Scholar.

25. For some examples of his many services see Great Britain, Acts of the Privy Council of England (London, 1893), VII, 57Google Scholar. Hereafter cited as A.P.C.; C.S.P., Dom., I, 181Google Scholar; and C.P.R., Eliz., V, Nos. 1852, 1858, and 1860.

26. For Garrard's offices see Strype, , Stow's Survey, II, 133Google Scholar. For Heyward's career see C.P.R., Eliz., III, Nos. 395 and 2257 for his role as Alderman and Sheriff. For details of his two terms as Lord Mayor see Collier, J. P., “The Lord Mayor and Corporation of London,” Archaeologia, XXXVI (1855), 98Google Scholar, and Stow, , A Survay, pp. 447–48Google Scholar.

27. For Garrard see Marsden, R. G. (ed.), Select Pleas, II, lxviiGoogle Scholar, for his insurance work, and C.P.R., Eliz., V, No. 194 for the archery example. Heyward's national service can be found in C.P.R., Eliz., V, Nos. 1847, 1852, 1858, 1860, 1862, and 1869.

28. C.P.R., P.&M., II, 230Google Scholar, and C.P.R., Eliz., II, 239Google Scholar.

29. See Willan, , Muscovy Merchants, p. 98Google Scholar for his early purchases, and C.P.R., Eliz., III, No. 1249 for those in Kent.

30. For Heyward's largest purchase see C.P.R., P.&M., I, 478Google Scholar, and for the impressive list of his holdings at his death see Fry, E. (ed.), Abstracts of Inquisitiones Post Mortem for the City of London (Aberdeen, 1908), III, 202–10Google Scholar.

31. For a general sketch of William Gonson's work see Davies, C. S. L., “The Administration of the Royal Navy under Henry VIII,” English Historical Review, LXXX (1965), 271–75CrossRefGoogle Scholar. The author's paper, “Henry VIII and the Founding of the Admiralty,” given at the Ohio Academy of History, April, 1971, deals with the elder Gonson's career in more detail.

32. For his original appointment see Great Britain, Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic of the Reign of Henry VIII (London, 1864), XXIGoogle Scholar, pt. 1, No. 650(79). For his rise to Treasurer and its apparently precedental importance see C.P.R., Ed. VI, Vol. III, 164Google Scholar and P.R.O., Audit Office, Declared Accounts, Bundle 1686, Roll 23, f. 1, lines 6 and 7.

33. C.P.R., P.&M., III, 128–29Google Scholar. A dissertation in progress by one of the author's students, Timothy West, entitled “The Wynters of Bristol,” promises to unravel the intricacies of Winter's career at last.

34. C.P.R., Eliz., I, 359Google Scholar.

35. C.P.R, P.&M., III, 302Google Scholar.

36. D.N.B., IX, 673.

37. The author is currently at work on a biography of Lincoln, who inexplicably has never been recognized for the importance of his role in Tudor history.

38. Williamson, , Hawkins, p. 48Google Scholar.

39. C.P.R., P.&M., I, 73–74Google Scholar, and II, 56.

40. For the loan see C.P.R., Eliz., I, 353–54Google Scholar; see Ibid., p. 381 for an example of a land purchase, and C.C.P., I, No. 1409 for an example of a commission. The partnership for the Persian trade is in C.S.P., Col., No. 16.

41. Hakluyt, , Principal Navigations, p. 120Google Scholar.

42. Ibid., p. 135.

43. One of the many examples is a commission of sewers appointed in May 1564 containing, among others, Cecil, Garrard, Winter and Gonson. See C.P.R., Eliz., III, No. 216.

44. Great Britain, Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Series, of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth (London, 1869), IGoogle Scholar, No. 369. Hereafter cited as C.S.P., For.

45. C.P.R., Eliz., II, 205Google Scholar.

46. For an example of the government's waning see the prohibition placed by Queen Mary on a voyage in 1555 in A.P.C., V, 214.

47. See note No. 5 above.

48. C.S.P., Span., I, No. 385.

49. P.R.O., S.P. 12/48/50.

50. Anonymous, Cabala, She Scrivia Sacra: Mysteries of State and Government (3rd ed.; London, 1691), p. 148Google Scholar.

51. For a full account of the pay-ship seizure, which somewhat understates Spinola's role, see Read, C., “Queen Elizabeth's Seizure of the Duke of Alva's Pay-Ships,” Journal of Modern History, V (1933), 443–64CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

52. Scott, W., The Constitution and Finance of English, Scottish and Irish Joint-Stock Companies to 1720 (Cambridge, 1912), I, 41–43Google Scholar.