Trade of London and many other parts also The Damage whereof to the City of London Bargemen Country-men and Trade is at least fifty thousand pounds yearly The particulars how I will make out if desired or commanded And it is a misery that the Barges should lye on ground a Month or six Weeks as they did this year and the poor Barge-Masters should be forc't all that time to maintain so many men as of necessity they must besides the Tradesman in London wants the Commodity to sell To the Kings most Excellent Majesty the humble Petition of the Barge-Masters Westward upon the River of Thames and their Servants humbly sheweth THat in the one and twentieth Year of the Reign of King James of blessed Memory there was an Act of Parliament pass'd upon the humble Petition and desire of the City and University of Oxford for making the River of Thames Navigable from the said City to Burcott and for maintaining the same at the charge of the said City and University and by the said Act liberty is given for Bargemen and Water-men to bring Barges and Boats up the said River to carry and recarry all manner of Goods and Merchandises for the good of the City of Oxford and the Publick And of late years the Right Honourable Thomas Lord Windsor and others have made Navigable the River of Avon in the Counties of Worcester Gloucester and Warwick and are about making some other Rivers Navigable which when finished will tend much to the benefit of Trade between Cheshire Shropshire Herefordshire Worcestershire Gloucestershire Staffordshire Warwickshire Oxfordshire Bristol and most part of Wales to London by carrying Commodities down the River Severne and so up the River Avon and from thence to Oxford by Land and so to London by Water whereby the High-ways and Bridges will be preserved and the Goods carried and recarried at two thirds of what they now pay by Land which will be of great advantage to Trade But may it please your Majesty so it is that the River Thames is not as yet made perfectly Navigable as it ought to be and as it was intended by the Act of Parliament whereby the City of Oxford and the rest of your Majesties Subjects and Barge-men are deprived of the benefit intended them by the said Navigation and many times the Barges lye on ground three Weeks or a Month together for want of water which might be prevented by making three Holds for water in the River Sharwell near Oxford to be let down as flushes in dry times as also one Lock to be made at Swift Ditch one pair of Gates at Sutton one Turn-pike a Mile below Sutton with two Flushes to be taken out of the River Kennet with two places to be made for Flushes one near Windsor the other near Chersey all which being done will so plentifully supply the River with water that not only the Barges coming from Oxford and Abington but many other places will have the benefit thereof and bring them clear to London without stay The Premisses considered your Petitioners most humbly pray that your Majeshy will be graciously pleased to appoint Mr. Robert Yarranton a person able in that Affair to survey the defects of the said Navigation and to make Report thereof from time to time to the Commissioners appointed for the same And that your Majesty will be graciously pleased to signify unto the said Commissioners your pleasure that so good a Work may be forthwith perfected according as is directed in the said Act and that your Majesties Subjects and Barge-men may have the benefit of passing and repassing with their Goods and Barges up and down the said River from Oxford to Burcott without paying any Tax or Imposition for the same unless by Law due and that Orders and Rules may be made by the Commissioners for the good and well Governing both of the Navigation Millers and Bargemen as is by the Act directed And your Petitioners as in duty bound shall daily Pray c. When the River Thames is perfectly made Navigable to Oxford as it ought to be then to make the River Sharwell Navigable unto Anslo Bridge will cost about 2500 l. the building of four Granaries each Granary to hold fourteen thousand Quarters of Corn six thousand pounds all Materials being very dear in that place for building of Mills and some Wheels to draw Wire and for other use 500 l. for building of twenty Houses for habitation for persons employed about the Trade and in the Granaries 2000 l. all which is ten thousand pounds which is but one Shilling a piece from each man of the several Companies the Number thereof being two hundred thousand persons as they themselves say If these Granaries were fixt some other Companies may go up the little River to Whitney and build Granaries there and some may go up the Thames as far as Ratcot-bridge and build Granaries there and so the good Corn growing in the heart of England would be applyed to London which will so convenience the people working in the several Manufactures that the Trade will wholly return to the City again for hands being maintained at work with cheap Victuals will make cheap Commodities and cheap Commodities will enlarge Trade I intend to write one Sheet more particularly setting forth the way of bringing the Trade to London again and feeding the Poor with cheap bread and drink which you shall have printed on the one side of a Sheet of Royal Paper and on the other side a Map of the Rivers which will be serviceable to the Design with the places convenient and fit to build Granaries with the Arms of the several Companies in the said Map One of each Map being set in a Frame is intended to be sent to each Hall in London there to receive the opinions of such as the benefit of Granaries is intended for In the multitude of Councellors there is safety Now I must make a step to Westchester and endeavour to find out how the River Dee may be made so Navigable to Bangor-bridge that thereby it may be made communicable with the River Severne In the Month of July 1674. I was prevailed with by a Person of Honour to survey the River Dee running by the City of Chester into the Irish Sea and finding the River choked with the Sands that a Vessel of twenty Tuns could not come to that Noble City and the Ships forc'd to lye at Neason in a very bad Harbour whereby the Ships receive much damage and Trade made so uncertain and chargeable that the Trade of Chester is much decayed and gone to Leverpool and that old great City in danger of being ruin'd if the River Dee be not made Navigable by Act of Parliament and Ships brought to the City I have formerly drawn a Map of the New River to be made to bring up the Ships to the City side which Map was presented to the Duke of York by the Lord Windsor and Colonel Warden and therein
the Reasons are inserted how it may be done and the advantage it will be to Trade and the City also The Map is now at Chester in the keeping of the Mayor His Highness the Duke of York was pleased to promise the recommending of it to the Parliament for the making it Navigable And if it were made to Chester Navigable by a new Cut as is in the Map prescribed there would be three thousand Acres of Land gained out of the Sea and made rich land besides the Coles from Aston will be brought to the City of Chester by Water which now are brought by land and all Goods and other things carried and recarried from England to Ireland and from Ireland into England with much less charge than now it is And Dee being made Navigable to Bangor-bridge will be a means to make the River Severne helpful to convey all Goods to London by sending it down the River Severne and up the River Avon and so down the Thames to London whereby much moneys will be saved and Trade advanced The River Dee must be taken up with a very strong Wear over against the Water Gate of the City of Chester and so the River Dee must be carried in a large Cut or Trench through the lands below Alderman Wrights House along the Sands as far as Flint Castle and then dropt by a large Cut into the Deep Water below the Brewhouse There must also be a Cut drawn along the welch shore and so from Aston Pits and dropt into the Main Trench thereby the waste water that comes from the Hills and Mountains will be voided and the Coles that are now carried by Land to Chester will then be carried by water and at least 1000 l. per Ann. saved in Carriage This Trench must be very large that two Ships may Sail one by the other and the Sea Banks must be made very Firm and Strong not upright but very much sloaping There must also be made five very strong Locks or Sluces of Stone which is there very necessary at the end of the Trench This will be done for 15000 l. The River Dee being let down upon a sudden through the great Trench will cause the Sands to fly and deepen the Channel and thereby make the Harbour safe and help to open and deepen the Bar. But it must be done when the Tyde is going out and when the Wind bloweth hard at East with a strong fresh of Water coming off the Mountains The Map discovering the whole Design is hereunto Affixed REader I beg thy pardon if I have kept thee long in reading this Discourse but I hope thou wilt not be angry for when I put Pen to Paper I intended to be brief I know there are many before they have well weighed the Contents of this Book will think that it may much shake their Interests and so will be enquiring after the Compiler and of his Education And how it is possible that one man should know all that is in this Book asserted and will say these are notions of a hot Brain I know others whose Sores are great and Wounds dangerous and desire a cure thereby to live at peace both in their Estates and Persons will be apt to ascribe more to the Compiler than is due For in this Age most of the present humours are to detract and abuse where Interest is pinched or laid open to the World and on the other hand too much to cry up and extol those that expect benefit and relief As to both sorts of Inquisitors I will save them a labour and give them a short Account of my Education and Improvement I was an Apprentice to a Linnen Draper when this King was born and continued at the Trade some years But the Shop being too narrow and short for my large mind I took leave of my Master but said nothing Then I lived a Countrey-life for some years and in the late Wars I was a Soldier and sometimes had the Honour and Misfortune to lodg and dislodg an Army In the year One thousand Six hundred Fifty two I entred upon Iron-works and pli'd them several years and in them times I made it my business to survey the three great Rivers of England and some small ones and made two Navigable and a third almost compleated I next studied the great weakness of the Rye-lands and the Surfeit it was then under by reason of their long Tillage I did by Practick and Theorick find out the reason of its defection as also of its recovery and applyed the remedy in putting out Two Books which were so fitted to the Countrey-mans capacity that he fell on Pell-Mell and I hope and partly know that great part of Worcestershire Glocestershire Herefordshire Shropshire and Staffordshire have doubled the value of the Land by the Husbandry discovered to them See my Two Books Printed by Mr. Sawbridg on Ludgate-hill Entituled Yarranton's Improvement by Clover and there thou maist be further satisfied I also for many years served the Countreys with the Seed and at last gave them the knowledg of getting it with ease and small trouble and what I have been doing since my Book tells you at large And as to any that are my enemies upon the account of this Subject or of such as speak or assert my pains to be to them acceptable both parties are to me a-like I only wish and pray that what is here treated upon may by the Powers above us be seriously considered of and if it be found it tends to the benefit of this present Age and for the good of the Generations to come then let them pursue the ends to bring it to pass If any Gentleman or other please to put Pen to Paper in opposition to what is here asserted I shall give him a Civil return bound up with the Second part where these Seven Heads shall be Treated on 1st Demonstrate and make it appear That England and Ireland are the only Northern-Kingdoms unimproved 2dly Discover That it is a great and wonderful providence of God it is so at this time 3dly Shew how England may be improved in all its parts to Thirty years purchase and how things may be fitted for the doing thereof as also how Ireland may be brought to Twenty years purchase and made as useful to England and of as great strength as Norway is to Denmark 4thly Where Manufactures may be fitted and where setled and how they must be ordered for the benefit of the Kingdom and Trade Universal 5thly Shew how and where all manner of Naval-Stores are to be had and provided at Three fifths they now cost the King with the way means and manner of accomplishing them 6thly How to imploy Six thousand young Lawyers and Three thousand Priests for the good of the Publick and mankind vvho novv have neither practice nor cure of Souls 7thly VVith Observations of the Balance of Europe and of the Publick Banks therein vvith their Use Order Rule and Riches FINIS
ENGLAND'S Improvement BY SEA and LAND TO Out-do the Dutch without Fighting TO Pay Debts without Moneys To set at Work all the POOR of England with the Growth of our own Lands To prevent unnecessary SUITS in Law With the Benefit of a Voluntary REGISTER Directions where vast quantities of Timber are to be had for the Building of SHIPS With the Advantage of making the Great RIVERS of England Navigable RULES to prevent FIRES in London and other Great CITIES With Directions how the several Companies of Handicraftsmen in London may always have cheap Bread and Drink BY ANDREW YARRANTON Gent. LONDON Printed by R. Everingham for the Author and are to be sold by T. Parkhurst at the Bible and three Crowns in Cheap-side and N. Simmons at the Princes Arms in S. Paul's Church-yard MDCLXXVII LICENSED Octob. 4. 1676. Roger L'estrange TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE ARTHUR Earl of Anglesey Lord Privy-Seal And to the RIGHT WORSHIPFUL Sir THOMAS PLAYER Knight Chamberlain of the City of London Right Honourable and Right Worshipful THat I here not only present you with these my weak Endeavours for the vigorous Improvements of those unparallel'd Advantages which the situation of our Climate the Nature of our Soil and the Constitution of both our People and Government affords us in order to the making us every way great beyond any Nation in the World but have also at their peeping abroad into the severe light taken the boldness to seek their shelter under the secure umbrage of your joint Protections your own real worth which has deservedly purchased each of you such great Honour and Esteem in the Breasts of all the Nation is the only Argument that I shall plead for this presumption it being sufficient security for my Pardon I could not imagine which way what I lay down in my Book as matter of Fact should in this unsteady Age ever come to be put into Practice without the favour and encouragement of those who might not only obtain for it a free Access to his Majesty but such also whose very smilings on its Design might be a sufficient Shield to guard it against all the Arrows of Obloquy and Envy that are usually shot at the Projector be the Undertaking never so Noble My humble Address therefore to both your Honours is That as one may be an Advocate for it to the Prince whose increase of Wealth Strength and Honour are the chief things aimed at in this Undertaking so the other may procure for it a favourable Reception amongst those honourable Gentlemen of the City whose Wealth and Grandeur are the chief support of Trade and consequently of England the Improvement of which hath been my whole study for many years and which I now make publick meerly out of a real love to my Country whose future flourishing is the only Reward I ever hope to see of all my Labours Might I once but see our Titles to Lands and Houses secured our Rivers made communicable the Poor provided for by Bank Granaries the Manufactures of the Land incouraged and as the result of all our Trade upon the Increase I should not doubt then in few years to see this Kingdom enricht above Ten Millions per An. which is but a moderate Account of what Profit must inevitably arise from a due Execution of these Reasonable Proposals I have chalkt out the Way and given a fair Prospect of the whole and I hope clearly Evidenced that it is all feasible and matter of Fact That God may therefore give his blessing on your Pious Endeavours for the promotion of so Glorious a Work as it is the unanimous Prayer of the Nation in General it is also and always shall be the humble Petition of Your most obedient Servant A. Y. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THOMAS Lord WINDSOR My Lord FRom the great Incouragement your Lordship hath been pleased to afford me in those indefatigable Pains you have taken in the Survey of several Rivers and contriving with me effectually which way these might be rendred so far Navigable that the Publick might thereby receive a general Advantage I am emboldened to make my humble return of Thanks in this small Dedication in which should I as the usual Custom is enumerate your Lordships Favours wherewith you have been pleased to honour me beyond my Desert although in so doing I should only discharge my Duty yet the captious Reader would be apt to mis-interpret my grateful Acknowledgments for crafty Insinuations as if design'd only to court your Noble Protection And by declaring to the World how far your Lordship hath dived into these Mysteries of Navigation and what a fair Prospect you have given your Country of the great Profit necessarily arising from those Vndertakings I should give my Adversaries occasion to suspect that I make use of so unquestionable a Testimony for one part of my Book meerly in design to wheedle them into an easier credence of the whole But I hope Your Lordship is assured that I have a greater veneration for your Honour than to make a Stale of either your Name Favour or Authority or that I should presume to abuse them on any occasion as young Swimmers do their Bladders with which they too too often boldly adventure beyond their depth I know indeed some speculative Gentlemen have of late plunged themselves so far into the deep that they have not only sunk in their Vndertakings to their everlasting reproach but their Ignorance buoyed up with Pride being the only thing that hath been able to keep above water they have given the World sufficient Tests of the vast difference betwixt Speculative Notions and Practical Experiments But what I here Present Your Lordship hath been for the most part already experienced in Neighbour Nations and the rest sufficiently proved by such undeniable Demonstrations that I doubt not in some few Years to see England in spight of my Opposers a flourishing Kingdom Which together with Your Lordships pardon for this rude Address and the continuance of your Favour to protect me in this bold Vndertaking is all that is aimed at or desired by My Lord Your Honours faithful and most humble Servant Andrew Yarranton To Sir Walter Kirtham Blount Baronet Sir Samuel Baldwin Sir Timothy Baldwin Knights Thomas Foley Philip Foley Esquires Thomas Smith Esquire Joseph Newbrook Samuel Whyle Nicholas Baker John Finch and Nicholas Harrison Gent. My Noble Patriots THat I have not return'd you an earlier Account of those Travels in which out of a pure love to your Country you were pleased some years since to employ me I had rather in few words submit to your just Reprehension than by making a tedious Apology tell my Readers a long story that little or nothing concerns them It is I hope sufficient that I acquaint them that if from the Remarks I have made on the Ballance of Europe or my studious prying into the curious intreagues of Trade and the thriving Politicks of our Neighbour Nations any Advantage shall arise unto us in
from whence issue these delightful Golden Streams of Banks Lumber-houses Honour Honesty Riches Strength and Trade You may read in Sir William Temples Book of his Observations of the Nether-lands this Expression When the States send to Persons who have lent them Moneys to come and receive their Moneys and Interest saith he they come with Tears in their Eyes desiring them to continue it longer And the Reason is they know the Security is good And when ever they give Notice they will take up a Sum of Moneys there is great striving who can get in his first But you will say I talk that Gentlemen of England cannot have Moneys for Land It is not so And that I say Lawyers know no Titles I ought to have my pate crackt for money is plentiful and Lawyers are cunning enough to spy out good Titles As to both I would it were true for the sake of the poor Gentlemen and the Lawyers too But as to the greatest part of them that have Thousand pounds a year the World knows they are so far from borrowing Four thousand pounds that they cannot borrow Four hundred pounds and I dare say some Lords also Nay to my knowledge three eminent Lawyers have been put to much charge and trouble in their Estates lately purchased by them in Montgomery Hereford and Worcester Shires by reason of former Incumbrances Now if an Eminent Lawyer cannot purchase an Estate without so much trouble hazard and charge upon a Title settled at least fifty years ago by all the Judges of England and in the Exchequer-Chamber upon what Security can the Bankers be understood to lay out their Money safe And the poor Country-men are yet in a worse condition I will now shoot a Granado into London not to fire them but I hope 't will make them look about them and enquire after the Engineer and demand how such combustible matter can be made and do good and no harm and how it may be fixt so that Lumbard-street and thereabouts may both preserve and encrease their Credit I will now shew you the Condition of London as at present it stands and how it would have been if the Houses new built had been by Law to be Registerd at Guild-Hall Admit the Green Dragon Tavern in Fleet Street were mine and Set at One hundred pounds a year and I owe six hundred pounds and go to the Scriveners and desire them to lend me six hundred pounds upon the Green Dragon Tavern I Shew them the Purchase of the Ground Rent the Patent from the Judges taken in and all other Titles bought I presume I cannot have the Six hundred pounds upon my house but I must give great Security for my Covenants I present such Security as I can get which will not be accepted Now for want of this six hundred pounds on a sudden to pay my Debts I am undone Wife Children and many more whom I owed moneys to my Goods seized my House taken from me and it 's possible a Prison too or a Statute of Bankrupt taken out to the Ruine of all But if it had been foreseen when the Act past for the building the City that there had been put into the Bill these few Lines Be it Enacted by the Kings most Excellent Majesty c. That all Houses which shall hereafter be new built in and near the City of London destroyed by the late dreadful Fire may if they please he Registred by the Owners at the Guild-Hall within the City of London And all such Houses so Registred shall be a good Title to the Party Registring such Houses and shall Barre all persons whatsoever The King not Excepted Provided there be no Claym entred within six Months next after the Registring of such House and Houses And such Clayms as are entred shall be proceeded upon in the said City and no where else in due form as the Law directs And if this had been done I then go to any Scrivener that deals that way and desire to borrow a Thousand pounds on the Green Dragon Tavern in Fleetstreet being Rented at One hundred pounds a year there will be then no more to be done but their Servant is sent to the Guild-Hall to see whose the Green Dragon Tavern is and he brings word it is mine There is no more ado I say but the Thousand pounds is told out and I give Security for it by a Mortgage put into the Register of my House Then I go and pay my Debts prevent Law-suits preserve my self Wife Children and Reputation and all is well And that which is best of all the Party lending the Moneys is safe well and surely secured It is possible great part of the Thousand pounds lent might be the Moneys of poor Widows and Orphans here are both to the Lender and borrower great Advantages To the one there is undeniable Security and to the other present Relief upon all occasions The wanting whereof hath been the ruine of some thousand Families since the firing of London And this is that which will encrease and enliven Trade and the Houses Registred will be equal with ready Moneys at all times according to the value of the Houses And if this we treat on had been done there needed not one House to stand empty and untenanted as now they do nor the Trade to depart out of the City as it hath done since the Fire I desire and heartily wish that the Governours of the City would prepare a Bill against the next Sitting of Parliament to put the new Buildings under a Register I will not Prophesie that a Bank shall rise in London equal with that of Amsterdam London being put under a voluntary Register but I will make it out when ever the Heads of the City please to desire it That if London with the Free Lands of Middlesex Essex Kent and Surrey were under a voluntary Register two of the Ridings of Yorkshire Lincolneshire Suffolk and Norfolk were under another voluntary Register Glocestershire Somersetshire and Monmouthshire under another voluntary Register and Devonshire under another then there would be as great a Bank at London as at Amsterdam and would be able to do much more in Trade Credit and all great things than they can and as great a Bank at Bristol as at Hamburgh and would be able to drive as great a Trade and set up the neglected and I may say decayed Trade of Fishing upon the Coast of Wales and Ireland and as great Banks at the two Towns of Lynne in Norfolk and at Hull in Yorkshire and drive as good a Trade as at Dantzick and enliven the Clothing Trade now brought very low and set on foot that great and desirable Rich Trade of Fishing on their Coasts which so advantageously offers it self O yes O yes O yes what is become of the Moneys given voluntarily for the setting forward this good work of Fishing about twelve years since If any one will help me to the twenty shillings I gave I will give
ever will be of any great Riches or are capable thereof But such will as have these things abounding in them good Ports advantageous Laws for Trade good Wooll and good quantities thereof much and well Wooded with plenty of Iron Stone and Pit Coales with Lands fit to bear Flax with Mynes of Tin and Lead Scotland is a thin and lean Kingdom and wanting in these things England is a fat Kingdom and hath all these things in it Yet the Lothean Lands in Scotland are twenty four years purchase At Edinburgh there is a Grand Register and in each County a particular one and no man can be there deceived in a Purchase unless it be his own fault England is at sixteen years Purchase The reason is obvious why Scotland must be so and why England is so But a voluntary Register in England will cure all and put us six years purchase above Scotland For as I formerly said as our Honour and Honesty is so will be our Riches and Riches bring Trade and Trade brings strength to an Island And for want of good Titles let the world judge what a Condition we are coming into I will give you one small Instance what the poor decayed Trade and Clothiers of England would be able to do in easing themselves and making their Trade comfortable if they had but the Authority of the Law to Register all their Houses and Lands Take it from the City of Salisbury there I make the Precedent and as it would be with them so it would be with all the Towns in England who deal in the Wollen and Iron Manufacture Suppose the Clothiers in and near Salisbury have two thousand pounds a year in free Lands and their Lands were by Law fixt under a Register then the Anchorage and Foundation of a Bank will be at least fifty thousand pounds And immediately tumbles into them all the idle Moneys nay Moneys now under Ground and good part of the plate ten Miles round The Usurer will pray and the Men and Maid-servants will beg to take in their Moneys Immediately one hundred thousand pounds will be brought in and at four in the hundred What will this do to the poor Clothiers Nay what will it do to each Gentleman and all men near Salisbury that have or keep Sheep I say the help and present Credit of this great Bank and Cash will raise the price of Wooll and set the Poor at work Thereby enabling the Tenants to pay their Rents keep the poor of the Parish bring the Clothiers and the City into a Comfortable Condition but most of all it will prevent the Trade departing this Kingdom which of necessity it will do if not timely prevented For the Irish Wooll carried away with their Beef to Holland France and Germany their making Cloth of cheap Wooll with cheap Victuals with Moneys at three in the hundred will out do us and undo us too if 〈…〉 prevented Eight years since I discovered 〈…〉 of the Worse Manufacture and the Reasons which he made publique in his first Book The same that may be done at Salisbury by this way may be done by all the Towns in England that depend upon any of our own Manufactures And in this case here 's nothing desired but that Men thus qualified with Lands may employ it by the Authority of the Law to the good of themselves and mankind and to be justly honest to all Now methinks I hear many of Salisbury say But how may this be done which you say I tell you how desire your Parliament Man to draw you up a Bill and carry it into the House the next sitting But you will say he will not do it Then get your Bishop to do it You will say he is no Lawyer Pray tell him it is easier than making the River Navigable But a Register and the River Navigable together will do rarely well Well if the Bishop will do the one I will do the other I will only tumble over a few papers wherein are my Observations when I surveyed the River The Preamble of the Bill to be carried into the House of Commons for putting the City of Salisbury and the Free Lands within ten Miles thereof under a voluntary Register with some Heads of the said Bill WHereas there past an Act of Parliament in the _____ Year of his Majesties Reign that now is for making the River Avon Navigable from the City of Salisbury to the Town of Christ-Church and so into the Sea so as Boats Barges and Lighters may come up the said River to the City of Salisbury and so down again into the Sea for carrying and recarrying of Wood Coles Corn and all other Commodities to and fro And whereas the said River is begun to be made Navigable and some considerable Sums of Money are laid out about the said Work which if once finished will tend much to the benefit and fur therance of Trade to the said City and Country thereabouts And whereas there hath formerly been a great Trade in the said City and Country adjacent in the making and working in the Wollen Manufacture which is now much decayed and if not timely prevented will be worse the occasion whereof is the want of present Money and Credit for the Clothiers to drive their Trades to be by them had when wanted and that at low and easie Interest And finding that in many places beyond the Seas Trade is much advanted by the Lands being under a Register and in Taunton Dean in England the Town and Mannor there being under a Register hath in a strange manner given life ease and benefit to the Trade there and thereabouts whereupon that place is much enviched And to the end that the River of Avon when made Navigable may answer the Charge of making it so and the wollen Trade in Salisbury and thereabouts may be encouraged Wherefore be it Enacted by the Kings most Excellent Majesty by and with the consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in this present Parliament Assembled That from and after the twenty fifth day of June one thousand six hundred seventy and seven all manner of person or persons that shall desire it may and shall have their Free-hold Lands and Houses Registred at the Registers Office within the City of Salisbury which shall lye within the said City and within ten Miles thereof accompting two thousand yards to the Mise Provided such Houses and Lands so to be Registred with their Names Metes and Bounds be first set up and affixed three Lords Days upon the Church Door of the Parish where such Lands are And that the Minister with one of the Church-Mardens and one of the Overseers of the Poor first certifie under their Hands and Seals the doing of the same with a true Copy of the Paper so affixed to the Register with forfeiture of twenty pounds and three Months imprisonment to any person or persons that shall take down or deface the said Writing during the time
and some Upholsterers consulted how to bring the Kidderminster Trade to be good to both it being a Trade that is much debased and spoiled by the Factors and having brought it near to pass the best of the Factors sent Letters to the Clothiers and acquaints them that the Stuffs may be made elsewhere as well as there and much more which did so affright the Clothiers that they durst not agree to fix their Trade in two hands although it might have been Five or six thousand pounds a year in the Trades way Dr. Doth any one know this besides you Cl. Yes all the Town will tell you it is so and I can bring you to a Man in London can tell you the whole Story who treated the Upholsterers and got two Merchants to lend the Trade Five or six thousand pounds to help to drive the Trade that so it might be done with profit and ease Dr. Well old Friend I do believe you for Kidderminster Factors have spoiled the Weavers and the Upholsterers Trade as our Blackwell-hall Factors Packers and Drawers have spoiled your Trade and ours Cl. Indeed Sir it is even so and what can such a one as I do seeing a whole Town stand in fear of Three or four Factors Dr. Friend you know when you and I dealt together first when I. A. was a good Clothier and I. of Leck a good Wool-man it was not so then the Factors were your Servants and the Packers and Drawers were ours Will you Clothiers joyn with us Drapers to see if we can reduce the Trade to the old good condition it was in formerly Cl. I will with all my heart and so will all the Clothiers in our Country too I will undertake for them for we are almost at Beggars-bush and we cannot tell how to help our selves And our Trade grows worse and worse we make no profit of our Commodities Coun. Gentlemen I understand you are discoursing of your Trade of making Cloth and selling Cloth as I have club'd with you for Supper so I pray let me club a little with you in Discourse for I am as highly concerned in the thing you Discourse of as you are for every Acre of my Land rises price according as the Woollen Manufacture flourishes If Wool be dear my Tenants Wife and Children have work in Spinning and Carding and Rent's paid at the day and none left in arrears And then we have a merry Sheep-sheering and with Two years Wool I can Marry Jugg or Bess Dr. Sir You speak like one that hath a Fellow-feeling in our misery I shall be and am very heartily glad of your good company and shall with this old Friend of mine joyn in any thing that may be for all our goods so as the publick good of the Wool Cloth and Trade may be advanced Coun. Sir I shall do as much as I can but you must know we in the Countrey are ignorant men and do not know how to do much but we know where the Shooe pinches us My Brains shall go with yours a Wool-gathering this one bout Cl. Friend I am glad we have so happily met with this honest Country-man I hope we may amongst us Three consider after one Bottle more is off how things may be mended what say you Country man will you make one with us in so good a work Coun. Pray what Country-man are you I live at Salisbury Indeed a fine Town of Trading in the Woollen Manufactures but much decayed of late years What Country-man is this Gentleman your Friend He lives at London Well must he Dr. Come Country-man what say you will you make one with us Coun. I will not joyn with the Salisbury Clothier for I thought all Clothiers had of late removed to Tanton-Dean and there-abouts because that place is under a Register and Moneys may be had at Five in the Hundred at any time to drive their Trades with ease comfort and profit Dr. Sir I confess they are at a loss and yet they have the wisest Bishop of late that hath been there a great while and some good things have been doing of late for that City as making the River Avon Navigable and they are preparing to come under a Register and all the Free-land within Ten miles of the City likewise Cl. Look you there Country-man you talk of Tanton-Dean under a Register you see Salisbury and Ten miles round is to be under a Register likewise Coun. Now I am well satisfied with corresponding with the Clothier Salisbury hanging Register fashion that is a bit I love Dr. Come come now let us fall too and consider of some good things to advance the Woollen Manufactures I will acquaint the Drapers and you must the Clothiers and you the Country-men and so every one use his interest with the Authority to amend what is amiss Coun. Hold hold you drive too fast there is a snake in the Bush although I live in the Country yet I come to London sometimes and at the Coffee-houses I heard strange News which made me stare And now we are to set forward so good a work let us see how to clear the foundation and take away the Rubbish Dr. Pray Sir what is the strange News you hear at Coffee-houses It is generally idle Twit twot Discourse not worth ones minding Coun. I heard at the Rainbow Coffee-house That the people in and near London have of late years lent about One hundred thousand pounds without Interest for Four years to be imployed in the Woollen Manufacture near Conmell in Ireland and by the strength of that Moneys to carry away our people out of the West of England into Ireland and there make Cloth and Stuffs and when made then carried to Spain France Holland and Germany And there with cheap Wool and cheap Victuals Manufactured and so do mighty things Cl. You live in London and you know whether there be any such thing as this is if it be so we Clothiers may go hang our selves Moneys without Interest for Four years cheap Wool and cheap Beef carried to Holland together and made Cloth there If this be so I 'le never weave more I will burn my Beam and run away by the Light Dr. No no Old Friend our Country-man is under a mistake be not in such a passion he told you he heard so in a Coffee-house Cl. I pray Sir is there any thing like it for there cannot be such a smoke as this is and no fire Dr. I will tell you what the thing is he means There are a certain number of persons who they say have imployed some such Sum as is spoken of to set up the Woollen Manufacture in Ireland and indeed now it comes into my mind I remember I have heard of their taking over many People out of the West of England and sending the Cloth and Stuffs when made to Holland and Germany and also Wool and Beef with it Cl. I pray had they the Moneys without interest for Four years to do
England and the Clothing Trade this good turn Dr. No matter upon what terms so the thing be done Cl. Friend Now I see this Country-man was near the mark and I will even burn my Loom and Beam too for I see all the World are mad Here is the Moneys gone and taken out of Trade in England and carried into Ireland and our People too with this Money make Cloth and serve it cheap in all places where we send our Cloth and carry to Holland cheap Wool and cheap Victuals and pay the Moneys back again in Four years I will go to London and tell my Lord Mayor of this fine Jig let who will go to Salisbury for me Dr. Old Friend the worst is over do not trouble your self That which is past cannot be help'd But you will see no more such doings as has been of late Coun. Heaven grant it prove so There is now a great Art in trade as they say at Coffee-houses and we must do as we may or else not trade at all Cl. Do as we may pray speak out What is that we must do Coun. Get great sums of Money upon credit and imploy it hoodwinkt Have at this have at that and have at the other and if we lose all we lose none of our own Dr. You my two Friends let us see how we may proceed to do the Trade some good for it is high time Cl. Is it not over and past is it not too late to set out Dr. No no Let us prepare a Bill for the next Session of Parliament and Petition for prohibiting of Irish-Wools Transportation and the Inspecting of the Allnagers Office And let the Factors Packers and Drawers be put in their right places And let the Western-Cloths be Shipt of at Plymouth to prevent the charge of carriage to London and let the Fullers earth be secured and let all Cloth and Stuffs be made to the Standard and let all the Free-land in and near the Cloathing Towns and Cities be put into a voluntary Register And then nothing will be able to harm our Woollen-Trade any more Cl. Friend Now I like you I will do any thing I can but pray what is that you say of putting our Houses and Free-land under a Voluntary Register what good will that do to our Trade Dr. it will strangely advance Trade and bring Moneys to Four in the hundred and your Lands Registred will be ready Money at all times as you have occasion to use it and your Land rise purchase to Thirty years and then you may at any time have Spanish-Wool in London or Wool in the Country or Monies to answer your occasions and all upon a Ticket upon your Lands Registered So there will be no need of Friends to be bound or Lawyers to make Conveyances or hindring your business and then the Tables will be turned For you Clothiers will be then the Bankers for now all Money runs out of Trade then all Money will run into Trade because your Land is Registred and your personal Estates together will be firm Security for all Moneys borrowed Cl. Sir This as you say is already at Tanton Dean and People say it is in Holland and Scotland too but if we shall have it at Salisbury I will keep Loom and Beam too and put Tom and Jack to my own Trade I thought to put them to Sea for I could see nothing for them to do with me as things were But when shall we have this Office of Voluntary Register set up For I like one word very well as you say A Voluntary Register I like that marvellous well and I have nothing to say against it for it seems he that will Register may and he that will not may chuse This is no more in plain English then give us leave to be honest Sir This is good News I will tell all our Trade of this for now we may be honest if we will I am sure it is high time for as things are the Lawyers cannot make us honest But still I beg to know when this must be Dr. The Bill is to be carried into the House the next sitting of Parliament and some Lords Parliament-men and Gentlemen and some honest and great Lawyers are for it because it will pay the Gentlemans Debts without Money and beat the Dutch without Fighting and bring Honour Honesty Riches and Strength and a great Trade to England And it is said it will double the Kings Revenue and make him Potent and Strong Cl. Bores this is the best News that ever I heard I 'le go home to Salisbury now and tell all my Friends of this and I hope to see then this good Voluntary Register brought to pass Dr. Well Old aquaintance I am glad to see you so well satisfied now If you once get a Voluntary Register you will want Men of your own Trade in Parliament to let them know what is best to be done for the good of the Trade which Lawyers and Gentlemen cannot tell how to do For in Queen Elizabeths time a Cobler taught the Council how Leather might be Ordered Tanned and Dressed for the good of the Publique and thereupon many good Laws were made for that purpose you may see the Story in Print It is a Discourse between my Lord Burley and a Cobler Cl. Now you speak to the purpose for what you say has been in my Noddle these Six or Seven years and I am sure I have told a Neighbour of mine I did not like it and I feared our Parliament-Men did not know where our Grief lay But now I see the Old saying is true Every Man is a Fool when he is out of his own way Come let us Clothiers be all for the Good Old way again And if ever it should so fall out to have Men of our own Trades for Members of Parliament then up goes the Golden-Fleece again Coun. I like your Discourse very well and now you have brought your Discourse to something I was the silenter because I did see all tended to the good of the Wool and the Trade and Manufacture And all these things being upon the Wheel for the Publique good truly I will give my Clothing-Friend home with him to Salisbury two patterns of Falling-Mills one to go by Water to be set up in a Barge upon the River Avon at Harnam-Bridg by the City to Scour and Thicken their course-Clothes and another to go by Wind to be set up near the Town-side to Full and Thicken the fine Clothes which will much out-do all other Mills now in use in England as to make the Cloth feel fine and soft The Pattern of the Wind-Mill for thickning fine Clothes is taken from the Dutch at Harlem in Holland the Pattern of the Mill in a Barge to thicken and scour course Clothes is taken from one upon the Elb near the Bridg at Draisden in Saxony Cl. Sir I am now infinitely beholding to you and this you say of a Wind-Mill to Scoure and
Thicken our fine Clothes and make them feel fine and soft will do our business for indeed they are the Dutch that out-do us that way and you say it is so done at Harlem and I hear at Blackwell Hall that the fine Clothes were made at Harlem Good Sir how are these Mills made and in what manner and what do they do when the Wind ceases blowing the Cloth being in the middle of its thickning and what do they do for Water to come into the Cloth when it is Thickning and Scouring Coun. Sir I will acquaint you with all particulars and then I will give you afterward the description of the Mill in the Barge and the Mill that goeth by Wind. At Harlem in Holland they have Windmills to thicken and scour their fine and super-fine clothes built close by the City-side the Mill is are made in all points as the Saw-Windmill on the Bank-side in Southwark over-against the Savoy and it turns round that is the whole Fabrick turns whereby it catches the Wind at all points And there are Six or Eight Fallers or Feet which are taken and lifted up by the Axle-tree which the Fanns are fastned in and so fall down-right into a Box or Chest wherein the Cloth lyeth and the Chest is so made and ordered and the Fallers so fitted that the Cloth turns round in the Chest and the Square or hole the Faller drops into is so curiously and close made that a Man cannot get his Knife into the Chest betwixt the Wood and the Faller and all other parts of the Trough and Chest where the Cloth lyeth is made close and tite and thereby the Wind and Air is kept from coming into the Chest when the Cloth is thickning and in case the Wind ceases blowing they do either take the Cloth out of the Chest and lay it on drift whereby it takes no harm or else keep it close in the Chest that no Air can come to it But the Mills are so ordered that they are made to scour more Clothes than they thicken and if the Wind ceases they let the Fallers that are to scour stand still And for Water it is pumpt up by force of the Wind to a good height and so conveyed into the Chest to the Cloths by little Spouts as there is occasion In Germany near Poland by reason of the dryness of the Countrey and smallness of the Rains in Summer-time most Rivers are much wanting in Water Therefore the Mills for grinding of Corn and thickning of Clothes are made and fixt in Barges upon the Elbe near some Bridg or in a quick stream And near the Bridg at Draisden in Saxony there they scour and thicken their Clothes in Barges the Mill is fixed in a Barge and in some Barges are Two Mills Observe the Pattern and I will save my labour of Writing for by it you will see how it is in every particular Cl. Sir Now I thank you a Thousand times for now we shall be all Made at Salisbury our River Made Navigable to fetch Mills from Holland and Germany and our City and the Lands Ten Miles round it put into a Register and one Fulling-Mill made at Harlem-Bridg in a Barge to scour our Clothes and a Windmill to thicken our Cloth set up by the City-side so that it may be as fine and soft as Dutch Cloth Well if I see you at Salisbury you shall be made Free of that Corporation and pay nothing and Dine with our Bishop too for he loves all those things we have so much discoursed of Dr. Friend Now we see we have met with a Traveller and one that hath given us good Discourse and he speaks as though he were practical in things when I saw him first I did not expect this from him And this last Discourse is convenient for all the Clothing-Towns in England to know as well as Salisbury for all Towns have need of these Fulling-Mills And I will get it Printed Cl. No no good Friend do not Print it for we will have all the benefit of these Mills to our selves at Salisbury for I have beat my Noddle a good while considering of the reasons why the Mills by Wind should make the Cloth look the more fine and feel more soft than if Fulled with our Mills by the open fleet or Fullers And I have it now and I will send some Queries to the Virtuosoes about it but I will tell you how the Trick is And if I had not been an old Clothier and a Fulling-Boy when I was young I could not have learnt it out And it is sure our Fulling-Mills that we now have our Fallers are taken up a great height and so fall down into the Stock upon the Cloth and in its quick motion down it contracts Wind and brings it down with it into the Stock where the Cloth is and so the Wind and the Air being forced upon the Cloth makes it hard and cools it and the Stock being open and the Cloth in it turning round in the Stock doth also by the Wind and the Air it attracts help to cool and harden the Cloth whereas the Mills that go by Wind the Fallers or Feet fall down perpendicular into the Stock through a square hole where the Cloth is and so attracts no Wind nor can any Air get into the Stock or Chest where the Cloth is and therefore the Cloth is always kept in a constant heat and temper which must of necessity bring it to good proof and make it look very fine and feel very soft I am resolved now I have got this knack I 'le pay the Reckoning Dr. Now Friend you are not a good Commonwealths-man if you do not give me leave to Print this for it will be a general good to the Clothing-Trade Cl. Sir Then print it all together all that we have discoursed of this Night and I will pay Five pounds towards the charge and send the Printed Papers all over Wilt-shire Dorset-shire and Summerset-shire except Taunton Dean For they ought to have no benefit of Mills because they have had such a benefit of a Register Dr. Good Old Friend it shall be done and I will get it put in and bound up in a Book which an acquaintance of mine is printing concerning Trade and there is something in the Book that will sute well with this discourse of ours at this time Cl. I 'le pay the reckoning and quit this honest Countrey-mans Charge this Night and to morrow too And when I come to London I 'le tell our Friends all our good Fortunes how we should rout those that carried our Trade to Ireland Holland and Germany and how we shall out-do the Dutch in fine Cloth by a Fulling-Mill to go by Wind and that we shall never want Moneys again and that Salisbury Clothiers shall have no more need of Lawyers A Voluntary Register a pretty Trick we now may be honest if we please I would I had met this Countrey-man Forty years ago
one of Iron Tinn and Copper another of Linnen and spun Threds of all sorts the third of Sawed Timbers of all sorts He hath convenienced them thus As to his Iron Tinn and Copper he hath fixt these works in the Valley running from Segar-hutton clear a-long by the Cities of Anaburgh Sneburgh and Mareauburgh and down as far as Awe and in the Hills and Mountains are his Minerals In the Valleys are the Rivers whereon are set the Works The Hills and Mountains and at least Ten Miles round are full of Woods to supply his Works not one Acre of common-Land lyes waste At the descent of the Hills are infinite of Saw-Mills that go by Water which Saw all manner of Firr and Oak and in the Summer-time it is dragged to the River Elb and so sent down to Hamborough And things being thus fixt with all advantages that Trade can desire that Place is strangely populous and vastly Rich and yields to the Duke a great Revenue And it lies as Wales and as the Forest of Dean doth to England Next to these Wood-land Countries lies the delightful Plain Countrey wherein is the famous City of Lepsick very Rich in Corn and Flax and so it holds to Dresden upon the Left-hand of Myson with some Vineyards And in these delightful Countries there is no waste Lands but all under improvement In all the great Towns there are great Granaries for Corn and in the Time of Plenty they lay up for a Rainy-day And so there is sufficient for the Poor at easie rates at all times whereby the Manufacture is always cheaply done and thereby hath the advantage of sending it to foreign Markets and under-sell others The next Country joyning to Saxony is the Prince of Hainaults the Prince of Parmburghs with the Bishoprick of Hall wherein stands the Cities of Salts Wadell Shenibank and that brave old City of Magdenburgh destroyed by Fire and Sword by Count Tilly These Countreys for Corn as to Rye and Wheat are so plentiful that no part of Europe can go before them there being much Corn to spare In the Two Cities of Shenibank and Magdenburgh are many Granaries they lying upon the side of the Elbe And in the City of Magdenburgh I was credibly informed being Twice in that City that there were Three hundred Granaries of all sorts wherein Corn is kept sweet and safe from vermin to admiration The manner of the Granaries built with the way of ordering of the Corn and the benefit which is received thereby you shall have when I speak of Granaries setting up in England From hence the Brunswick People fetch their Wheat they make there Mum of and down the Elb to Hamborough is sent infinite of Corn out of the Granaries and from thence to all parts that stand in need thereof In these Countreys there is very little Manufacture only some course Linnen and Linnen-yarn These Granaries preserve the Corn Six Eight or Ten years as good and sweet as when it was first put in There are great Merchants for Corn and the Farmers lay up their Corn at easie Rates and so have the benefit of their Straw yearly and not Rick it up as we do in England to be devoured by Rats and Mice There Men and Maid-servants and all other persons that have Monies buy Corn when it is cheap and lay it up till it be dear And in these publick Granaries the Corn is kept safe sweet and well a whole year for a Half-peny a Bushel and the Granary-Man gets by it The like may be done in England and that which now feeds Rats and Mice and otherways consumed will supply the greatest part of the poor People of England with Bread being preserved in Granaries Now I am for saving the Corn in England and keeping it safe and sweet in Granaries which is consumed at present by Rats and Mice until there shall be want and necessity for it to be delivered to the Poor In the Four Counties I name for the Linnen Manufacture Oxford Warwick Leicester and Northamptonshire there ought to be Granaries to lay up Corn these Counties being great Corn-Counties And at the head of the Navigable Rivers are the places fit for such Granaries and first Wellinborough in Northamptonshire or thereabouts Secondly some Town in Leicestershire within Four Miles of Kings-Mills unto which Place Trent is Navigable Thirdly Banbury if the River Sharwell be made Navigable to Banbury or else about Bleckington the Earl of Angleses Land near Anslo-Bridg And fifthly Stratford upon Avon in Warwickshire If Granaries were built in those Places to hold Corn there it would be brought in with ease and when want and scarcity of Corn comes it is then ready to be sent down the Navigable Rivers or to be disperst for the benefit of the Poor in the Countrey Leicestershire is abounding in Corn and when plenty there it is very cheap having no Navigable River near to carry it away the like is Northamptonshire But if Granaries were well setled in these Places near Trent and St. Ives River then it is ready for a Market when it offers it self Lechload at the Head of the River Isis Ten Miles above Oxford will be a very fit place for a Granary for in thither will come great quantities of Corn out of Oxford Glocester and Berkshire And there it will be ready upon all occasions when wanted either for the Poor or to be transported down the River to London and other parts Stratford upon Avon in Warwickshire will be a very good place to build Granaries to receive Corn and I will affirm if there were Three or Four large Granaries built in the Lands of Sir John Clapton near the Bridg at Stratford and well managed for the good of the Poor and Linnen Trade That on that side the River there would be in a very short time as great a Town built as Stratford now is and there have as great a Trade as any City in those parts of England Bristol only excepted And these are my Reasons First the River Avon being made Navigable to Stratford the Barges that come up with Coles and Merchants goods by them Corn will be taken back to Bristol and up the River Severn as far as the Welsh-Pool And Secondly the Country near Stratford as far as Banbury Ayno-Dedinton Bister and so to Brakley and round ot Daventry is very full and abounds with good Corn and the Carts that come to Stratford for Coles would never come empty down but bring Corn with them if there were Granaries sufficient to receive it So you see all things would be fitted for sore and back carriage And I will affirm No place in England can expect the benefit or advantage by any such Granaries as Stratford upon Avon may for that great and vast quantities of Corn is raised in those parts and when cheap they cannot tell what to do with it the ways being so dirty and deep But the advantage of the Navigation will send it to serve
and without such Granaries it is impossible to set on that Trade For Corn must be bought in such times as this year is it being not only now very good but cheap also and in a cheap year they may take in Four or Five years Stock as they do at Magdenburgh and Shenibank Then suppose the Wheat now cost two Shillings Four-pence the Bushel at New Brunswick and that be kept Four years in the Granary at Two-pence the Bushel for Granary Rent then the Corn will lye the Mum-Brewers in Two Shillings Six-pence per Bushel and that is cheaper than it is sold in any time at Old Brunswick and it is seldom but once in Four years there is a plentiful year of Corn in England and in this year the Brewers may supply their Granaries again And as I said before here is cheap Corn good Corn and a multitude of it the place of Trade fixt at the Head of a Navigable River good and cheap Fuel to be made use of with a quick passage to the East and West Indies Ireland Mediteranian Spain France Holland and a large passage at Sea to bring it to London to help and make the Mum good by putting it into a second fermentation And I say here this Trade of making Mum may be fixt with very great advantage and if once well fixt from thence it cannot depart no place in England being of that advantage to answer all the ends as this place is The Second Granary which is to be supplyed by the Country with Corn and there to be kept safe for the benefit of those that work in the County in the Linnen-Manufacture and to supply the Poor when a dearth comes Corn will be kept Four years in the Granaries and the Rate then will be but Two Shillings Six-pence the Bushel and with this cheap Corn the People will be supplyed with Bread whereby they will make and perfect the intended Linnen-Manufacture very cheap and this constancy of Bread and at cheap rates will certainly be a great and certain means of fixing the fine Linnen Trade at New Brunswick and New Harlem And the Reasons are these near the very Place are great quantities of Land excellent good to bear Flax and very good places may with a little art be made by the Town-sides to Whiten and Bleach Linnens and within one Mile of New Brunswick there is the Mannor of Milcot being the Lands of the Earl of Middâ—â—â—â—â— â—â—on which Mannor there will be sufficient Fla◠〈…〉 to imploy Ten thousand People to work it into Manufacture And there are in these Lands by the River Avon side convenient places to make Bleachingâ— and near Milcot-House very plain good Land to build a City for the fine Linnen Trade with good places to set up Engines to Weave Tape to go by Water The Maps of the Two Cities with the Granaries are annexed the one being New Brunswick the other I name New Harlem Now I will demonstrate and shew you the length breadth and height the Granaries ought to be of to hold this Corn as also the charge of building one of them at New Brunswick being the Land of Sir John Clapton as also I will demonstrate the way how it should be built for the best advantage with the way of ordering and managing the Corn that it may keep good sweet and clean Eight or Ten years The Granaries must be Three hundred foot long Eighteen foot wide betwixt inside and inside Seven stories high each Story Seven foot high all to be built of good well-burnt Brick and laid in Lime and Sand very well the ends of the Granaries must be set North and South so the sides will then be East and West and in the sides of the Granaries there must be large Windows to open and shut close that when the Wind blows at West the Windows may be laid open and then the Granary-Man will be turning and winding the Corn and all filth and dross will be blown out at the Window on the East-side and in all times when the Weather is fair and open then throw open the Windows to let in Air to the Corn at 〈◊〉 end of the Granary and in the middle there 〈…〉 â—toves to be kept with fire in them in all moist 〈…〉 or at the going away of great Frosts and Snows to prevent moistness either in the Brick Walls Timber Boards or Corn there must be in each side of tâ—e Granaries Three or Four long Troughs or Spouts fixt in the uppermost Loft which must run about Twenty foot out of the Granary and in fine weather the Granary-men must be throwing the Corn out of the upermost Loft and so it will fall into another Spout made Ten foot wide at the top and through that Spout the Corn descends into the lowermust Loft and then wound up on the inside of the Granary by a Crane fixt for that purpose and so the Corn receiving the benefit of the Air falling down Thirty foot before it comes into the second Spout cleanseth it from all its filth and Chaff These Spouts are to be taken off and on as occasion requires and to be fixt to any other of the Lofts that when Vessels come to load Corn they may through these Spouts convey the Corn into the Barges without any thing of labour by carrying it on the backs of Men. The charge of one Granary Three hundred foot long Eighteen foot wide Seven Stories high Seven foot betwixt each Story being built with Brick at New Brunswick or New Harlem in the Mannor of Milcot Six hundred thousand of Bricks builds a Granary Two Brick and half thick the Two first Stories Two Brick thick the Three next Stories Brick and half thick the Two uppermost Stories and the Brick will be made and delivered on the place for Eight Shillings the Thousand the laying of Brick Three Shillings the Thousand Lime and Sand Two Shillings the Thousand so Brick-laying Lime and Sand will be Thirteen Shillings the Thousand One hundred and fifty Tuns of Oak and Elm for Somers Joists and Roof 100 and 70 l. Boards for the Six Stories Sixty thousand foot at 13 s. 4 d. the One hundred foot and Ten thousand foot for Window Doors and Spouts at the same rate 48 l. Laths and Tiles 100 l. Carpenters work 70 l. Iron Nails and odd things 60 l. So the charge of a Granary will be 820 l. built either at New Brunswick or at New Harlem There will be kept in this Granary Fourteen thousand Quarters of Corn which is Two thousand Quarters in every Loft which will be a Thousand Bushels to every Bay Six labouring Men with One Clerk will be sufficient to manage this Granary to turn and wind the Corn and keep the Books of accounts Fifteen pounds a piece allowed to the Six men and Thirty pound a year to the Clerk or Register will be wages sufficient so the Servants wages will be 120 l. per An. Allow Ten in the Hundred for Moneys laid out
London I have said in my former Discourse wherever there is cheapness of Victuals good Laws and a Navigable River there Trade may be most advanced For Herefordshire part of that County is already well improved First it hath a Navigable River unto the City made by Art but imperfect at present and ought to be mended Secondly all Vrchinfield is now under a great improvement by Clover which improvement I sent into them parts by sending the seed with Books fully directing the Husbandry and all persons at first had liberty to receive Seed from Mr. Belamy of Ross and Books of Directions If the Husbandry did take and the profit made as in the Book was prescribed then they were to pay Seven-pence a pound for the Seed if not nothing By this way the Seed was put into the Husbandmans hand and no venture to him and there was no other way to force that Husbandry upon the People all former people failing in that design for want of good directions And at present certainly Vrchinfield is doubled in the value of their Lands by the Clover Husbandry The second improvement Herefordshire is under is sending their Sider to London ready Bottled which Husbandry or Art I and my Partner several years since put there on foot and caused vast quantities to be Bottled up and sent to Glocester from thence to Lechload and so to London by Water we had not been in that method above two years but others did begin to tread the same steps and now it is a great Trade and a great number of persons are now driving great Trades with Bottle-Sider and it hath been the occasion of erecting Five or Six Glass-Houses in them parts And in VVorcestershire I having been succesful in putting that County under Two improvements I shall in its place venture at a Third I know it is very capable to receive it there is one publick spirited Man lately come into that Countrey who hath several times desired me to acquaint him which way the Countrey might be improved and Manufacture setled and declared that he would lay out Moneys and his pains for the good of the Publick At present there is no settled Trade at Hereford but the Poor of that Town and the Countrey round have little imploy notwithstanding they have there very great conveniences and a Navigable River to the very City with much Corn and that excellent good and in all such times as this is Corn is there very cheap and plentiful and when cheap they have no Market to go unto thereby to vend their Corn Formerly VVales took away their Corn when plentiful but since the VVelsh took to break up their Mountains and sow them with Corn they have Corn sufficient for themselves and much to spare so that County shall be always under a plenty unless some setled Manufacture be there fixt thereby to bring People and imploy the Poor which are there already But it is impossible ever to fix any New Manufacture with success unless all things that are required for the doing thereof be well ordered as to cheapness of Victuals and all other conveniences Therefore at Hereford in the first place there must be Granaries built to hold Corn and there stow'd in the time of plenty and this Corn must be apropriated wholly for the use of these People that work in the Manufacture and thereby they never will eat dear Bread or drink dear Drink and the Granaries must be made as I have directed And the best Trade that I know which will most fit that place because it can never miss of a plenty as to Bread and Drink will be fine-spun Threds and Tape and my Reasons why that will be most fittest for that place are these First Hereford is at the head of a Navigable River Secondly It is on the Borders of VVales and if they want hands and the Trade should enlarge it self from VVales there would pour down People upon them when they see there is Moneys to be gained Thirdly By the advantage of the Navigable River all things will be carried to and from them to supply the Trade with ease and cheapness Fourthly At present there is no setled Manufacture Fifthly That place will answer well to furnish with their Commodities all VVales up Seavern Bristol and Ireland And where that Trade is setled in foreign parts the Places are very Rich witness Friburgh in Germany and Dort in Holland These Two Towns are the great Masters of these Trades Friburgh for Tape and Dort in Holland for Threds And certainly at Hereford these Commodities may be made as cheap as in any part of Germany or Holland But still regard is to be had to these things cheap Bread and Drink and always certain Moneys at low interest with Spinning-Schools as I have directed in this Discourse with Four shillings in the pound advance of Customs to be laid upon all Threds and Tapes brought from beyond the Seas I know there are some Gentlemen of the Country I now treat of will be very inquisitive and desirous to know how this Trade shall be fixt at first and when fixt how to govern it that it may not miscarry as did the Linnen Manufacture at Clerkenwell and many other Publick Linnen Manufactures formerly set up in England I will give them my thoughts at present which is the best and convenientest way for the ordering of the Thred and Tape-Trade at Hereford 1. Build your Granary and Stock it with Corn and Malt for Three years sufficient for so many People as are to be imployed then build a Brew-house and a Bake-house both together close by your Granaries for your Manufacturing People and to be delivered to them as they spend it for it is a great Error with us in England that Publick Bake houses and Brew-houses are not fixt for the supply of the several Handicraft Trades thereby to save all the time now spent in providing Bread and Drink for the family which time might be better imployed in their several Trades and having the Bread and Drink at all times provided to their hands will prevent the laying out of Moneys for such uses and Houses of less Rent will serve their turns and then all the People in the Family will be in the constant imploy of the Trade 2. Send for one Man from Friburgh to put you in the true way and Method of making of the Tape and to bring over two Engines one to Weave Narrow Tape and the other to weave Broad Tape with Wheels to Spin. 3. Send for one Man from Dort in Holland to put you in the true way of ordering the fine Threds 4. Send for a Spinning Mistriss out of Germany to order and govern the little Maids and instruct them in the Art of Spinning 5. Send for a Man from Harlem in Holland to Whiten your Tapes and Threds This being done with all things before specified That Trade cannot miss taking great root at Hereford and in process of time will be the
Moneys shall be paid for the quantity of Land to be made use of and such order being made Signed and Sealed by the said Mayor and Aldermen shall bind all Parties concerned and their Heirs And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid That all Corn and parcels of Corn in Granary shall be affixed and writ in a plain Table and in the said Granary hung up to be viewed by any that desire to see the same and that all such Corn when in Granary may be transferred by the party owning the same with the Register of the said Granary being fairly entred into a Book to be kept for that purpose And be it further enacted that no Sale Mortgage or any other Act shall be good for any Corn brought into Bank-Granary unless entred with the said Register And be it further enacted That all Corn or Malt laid up in the said Granary or Granaries at New Brunswick which is the proper Corn of the said companies may pass down the River of Avon into the River of Seavern through all Locks Sluces Wears or Turn-picks without paying any Tax or Tunage for the same provided that they the said companies of Cothiers and Cappers first get License under the Hands and Seals of the Right Honourable Thomas Lord Windsor Andrew Yarranton Gent. and the rest who have an Interest in the said River of Avon to pass as aforesaid and after such Licence obtained free and quiet passage shall be and remain unto the said Companies of Clothiers and Cappers and to their Successors for ever for all such Corn as shall be taken out of the said Granary Now my Loving Countrymen I must leave you and at Christmas when you have time to Chat by the Fire with your Wives then let Nic. Baker at Worcester Sim. Wood at Bewdley and Ned Momford at Kidderminster be your Oracles and discourse of this Affair of Corn in Granary And in the mean time I will fetch a March up Avon and so up Stower to Shopson and from thence to Banbury and so down the Sharwel to Oxford and so down Thames to London and I will see whether Thames River may be so perfected as Trade by a Water Carriage may be made Communicable and Easy and I will Do my utmost endeavour to find out some convenient place upon the Sharwel to build Granaries But I must Beg leave in the first place that I may give some Reasons which have occasioned the Abatement of Trade in the City of London and when I have done with them then I will apply the best Remedyes that lye in my knowledge how the Trade may be recovered into the City again whereby it will clearly appear that Trade will be forc't to come and take her aboad in the City of London as formerly 1. Reason In the Building the City of London there were two great Errors committed one was of Omission the other of Commission That of Commission is The Buildings being made so great thereby the Rents were very High at first and when a Tradesman had paid his Fine fixt his Counters and Presses and furnished his house according as his Wife pleased to have it or as he thought fit to have it furnished to get a Wife that great Charge being at first Contracted did so lessen the Tradesmans Stock that many were forc't to go into the Suburbs and some into the Countries The thing of Omission was the Neglect of putting Houses to be new built under a Register when the Act past for Building the City the Credit of which if done would have been better than Ready Moneys for by vertue of such undeniable Security as Registred Houses Banks yea many just Banks and Lumber Houses would have sprang up which had so enliven'd Trade and preserved the Poor out of the hands of the Usurers and pawn-Brokers that the City would have been like a Bee Hive all would have crept in as long as there was any room and when no more room then they would have swarm'd abroad II. Reason is The very great Charge which some Companies put their Members to in the City of London proves many times the ruine of some poor Tradesmen III. The severe customs and practices that some of the greatest Traders in the Mechanick Arts use unto some of their own Trade by scruing and pinching them in such things they sell them in their necessity But I will say no more of that here being Relief to be had in that case for all the poor that work in the Mechanick way if it be not their faults IV. There is no care taken for the amendment of the River Lee which runs from Ware to Bow in all dry times much out of order nor any notice or regard taken of the great defects that are in the Navigation upon the River Thames from Oxford to London which River would be the best Servant the City hath if compleated as it ought to be If I were a Doctor and could read a Lecture of the Circulation of the Blood I should by that awaken all the City For London is as the Heart is in the Body and the great Rivers are as its Veins let them be stopt there will then be great danger either of death or else such Veins will apply themselves to feed some other part of the Body which it was not properly intended for For I tell you Trade will creep and steal away from any place provided she may be better treated elsewhere Consider the two great Rivers of England viz. Severne and Thames they must be the occasion of administring the benefit of Trade to London but as things now are with these Rivers under their several defects and imperfections in their Navigations these Rivers administer very little benefit to London or the Trade therein My whole Design at this time and in this Sheet is to relieve the honest poor laborious Handicraft Tradesman in the City of London and thereby invite Trade into the City again and also line out the way how it may be done whereby it shall evidently appear to be his own fault if he be not rich and happy and his Wife and Children after his Decease be left in a comfortable condition with the great Advantages it will administer to such as shall be their Apprentices and Servants But all you Handicraftsmen whose Cause I here plead must take especial notice of my Maxims First Remember Honesty and Honour is as necessary for Trade as Discipline is for an Army Secondly Remember that Honour and Honesty bring Riches Riches bring Strength and Strength brings Trade Thirdly Observe and consider that all manufactured Commodities made with cheap Materials cheap Victuals with Moneys at all times when wanted at easie Interest and beneficial Laws well made and well applyed to the proper just ends of things manufactured will make cheap Commodities and thereby increase the Manufactures to great quantities and so increase the Trade I have already shewed you in five several particulars some of the Causes which
have forc'd Trade out of your City some of them are not within the power either of the Law or your Magistrates to prevent but some are and these which may be done with ease I question not but your Magistrates will use their endeavours to bring them to pass The which are putting all the New Buildings in the City of London under a Register and procuring a Law to pass to enable the several Companies of Handicraft Tradesmen in London hereafter mentioned to have power to make the River Sharwell Navigable from Oxford to Banbury to build Granaries to hold Corn with Mills or any other Engines to go by Water to be made use of for the good and benefit of the several Companies whereby Art will be incouraged and Trade convenienced The Names of the Companies are as followeth and the Copy of the Bill to be carried into Parliament for the accomplishing of the same follows after The Company of Weavers the Company of Pin-Makers the Company of Turners the Company of Water-men the Company of Silk-Throwers the Company of Felt-Makers the Company of Pavers the Company of Cloth-Workers the Company of Plasterers the Company of Joyners the Company of Embroiderers the Company of Brick-Layers the Company of Smiths the Company of Armourers and the Company of Carpenters The Form of the Bill to be carried into Parliament for the making of the River Sharwell Navigable from Oxford to Banbury and for building Publick Granaries near the said River with liberty to set up Mills and Engines to go by Water for the use and benefit of the several Companies of the Handicraft Trades in the City of London called by the Names of Weavers Pin-Makers Turners Water-men Silk-Throwers Felt-Makers Pavers Cloth-Workers Plasterers Joyners Embroiderers Brick-Layers Smiths Armourers and Carpenters WHereas it is evidently made appear That all Manufactures in England may by the advantage of having constantly good and cheap Uictuals as also ready Moneys at all times to drive their several Trades live comfortably and thereby provide plentifully for their Wives and Children And whereas it is lately found out and discovered that the said Benefits may with much ease be made applicable unto several of the Companies of Handicrafts within the City of London and the way for the doing thereof is to have liberty to make the River Sharwell Navigable from Oxford to Banbury and to set up publick Granaries and Engines near the said River for the use of the said Companies Therefore be it Enacted by the Kings most Excellent Majesty by and with the consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in this present Parliament Assembled and by the Authority of the same That it shall and may be lawful to and for the Incorporated Companies of Meavers Pin-Makers Turners Mater-men Silk Throwers Felt-Makers Pavers Cloth-Morkers Plasterers Ioyners Embroiderers Bricklayers Smiths Armourers and Carpenters to make the River Sharwell Navigable from the City of Oxford to the Town of Banbury in the County of Oxford and to build Granaries for holding of Corn with liberty for making of Mills for grinding thereof with Licence and leave to set up Engines to go by Mater for the use and benefit of the several Trades mentioned in this Act. And for that it shall not be any ways prejudicial to the Owners of any Land which shall be Cut or made use of for making the said River Navigable or building the said Granaries Hills or Engines Therefore be it Enacted That it shall and may be lawful to and for the Lord Keeper or Lord Chancellor of England to grant a Commission under the Great Seal of England thereby Authorising Fifteen of the knowingest able Gentlemen of the County of Oxford to be Commissioners to set down and settle what and how much shall be paid for the Lands so to be Cut or made use of and the Moneys to be paid before there is any act or thing done in cutting any of the said Lands so to be made use of And it is further Enacted That any Seven of the said Commissioners shall be sufficient to make or do any act according to Iustice and good Conscience and all Rules Orders Decrees being so made done shall bind all Parties concerned their Heirs all other Persons whatsoever And be it further Enacted That all the Benefit of the said River Sharwell and the Barges and Boats employed thereupon with the Granaries Hills and Engines to be built shall be and enure to the several Companies named in this Act and to their Successors for ever And be it further Enacted That it shall and may be lawful to and for the said Companies and their Successors to put Corn in the said Granaries and the same to be Registred with the Clark of each Company as to the time it was put in and the nature kind and quantities of the said Corn And from and after such time the said Corn is in Granary no Sale Mortgage or Conveyance shall be good but such as is Entered with the Clark of the particular Companies and at the Guild-Hill with the Register there employed for that purpose And in case any of the said Parties dye having Corn in Bank it shall go and enure one Third part to the Midow of the Party deceased the other two Third parts thereof to be dirided share and share like amongst all the Children of the Party deceased only the youngest Child excepted which shall have one share and a half being in most necessity the better to help to breed him or her up And that the Husband is and shall be for ever disabled to make any Incumbrance upon the said Corn in Bank without the consent of his Wife and she joining with him under her Hand and Entred in the Clark of the Companies Book and with the Register at the Guild-Hall then the property of the said Bank Corn shall be legally altered and not otherwise any Law Statute Usage or Custom to the contrary notwithstanding In reading my Book of England's Improvement by Sea and Land you will see the Causes laid open and plain of the decay of Trade and Manufactures in England and the Reasons of the low Rates the things must of necessity be sold for I have already set and appropriated the Clothiers of Worcester the Weavers of Kidderminster and the Cappers of Bewdley to have the benefit of a Granary near Stratford upon Avon Now I am for fixing the several Companies of London who work in the laborious Arts in Granaries upon the River Sharwel near Anslo Bridge in the County of Oxford about seven Miles from Oxford The Arms of the several Companies are in the Map of Rivers in this Book affixed wherein you may plainly see That if the River Sharwel were once made Navigable from Oxford to Anslo Bridge and the Granaries built in that place for the several Companies then all the Rich Corn Countries toward Banbury and Brackley would be on the Back-side of the Granaries and would at all times
supply the Granaries with good Corn and at cheap Rates those Parts being the only places for good Corn and plentiful in England and the Corn may be ground at Mills to be built close by the Granaries upon the River Sharwel and the Meal and Mault carried down by Water to London and there baked and brewed into Bread and Drink and the Corn and Mault taken and put into Granary in times that Corn is cheap will cause the poor Tradesmen never to eat dear Bread or Drink dear Drink and upon the Credit of his Bank Corn he will be able to take up Moneys at all times to drive his Trade And then by vertue of cheap Bread and cheap Drink with Credit out of Bank with the advantage he may have of employing many hands both Children and Servants the Mechanick Artificer must then of necessity if a good husband advance his Fortunes And this way and this way alone is the true way of bringing the Trade again into the City of London And the Granaries being once well settled and Corn therein well fixt happy is he then that can get the Poor of S. Gyles or Cripplegate to be by him employed I will now give you one Instance what this way of Corn and Mault in Granary will do if once well fixt at Anslo Bridge in Oxfordshire with Mills to grind Corn and Engines set up there to go by Water to accommodate Trade Suppose I were to make Pins I know that is the smallest Manufacture that is now made and there are many Poor of that Trade that make hard shift to live I think I could make Pins three pence in the Shilling cheaper than they can now be made in London by the greatest Dealers in that Trade and all done by the Poor People that are now chargeable to the Parish The manner and way of making the Pins so cheap is or may be very obvious if People are not ignorantly blind First the Wyer must be bought at the best hand and sent to Anslo Bridge and there drawn and made sizeable and fit to make all sorts of Pins and this to be done by the force and power of a Water Wheel which will draw more Wire in one day than six men can by the way used by arm labour in the same time Secondly These Poor to make Pins must be fixt and settled near the Granaries at Anslo Bridge there to work by good Rules and strict Orders Thirdly There they must have a publick Brew-house and Bake house then all Bread and Drink will be made very cheap and when the Pins are made they are in the heart of England and may be sent down the River Avon into Severne and so for Bristol Ireland and Westchester and in the way of barter the Pin-Makers may have Cheese from Chester and Bacon from Shrewsbury for Pins and the Cheese and Bacon may be brought down the River Severne and up the River Avon and so to Anslo Bridge by Land to feed the Pin-Makers And all this will be performed at far easier and much cheaper Rates than Cheese and Bacon are sold for at London Now if Bread and Drink may always be had at half the Rate at Anslo Bridge for the Pin-Makers as they pay at London for it and if the Wyer be drawn cheaper at Anslo Bridge than now it is at London and if good Cheshire Cheese and Bacon can be had at Anslo Bridge at cheaper Rates than at London and House Rent at half the Rate as at London all these things being put together will certainly be the means of making Pins three pence in the Shilling cheaper at Anslo Bridge than now they are or can be made in London And for hands to work every Parish abounds in Poor and would willingly be freed of them But observe if bread and drink were always certain and cheap at London for the benefit of the Mechanick Trades and well settled to be at all times delivered to the Members of the several Companies then in London could be no Poor nor want of Trade for then men would strive who should employ most hands he that employed most would get most Suppose you were at this time to begin to put your Corn and Mault into Granary at Anslo Bridge there you may have sixscore Bushels of Wheat and threescore Bushels of Malt for twenty pounds and such quantity being laid in will maintain a Family of seven Persons with bread and drink for three years which is but twenty Shillings per year for each Person And as things are managed in London and near London take three years together one year with another it is not less than three Pounds per year that maintains a man in bread and drink But you will say these are good things but we shall never see them come to pass but if done I confess it would relieve all the Poor in the City and increase the Trade and draw Trade into the City again and would be the great benefit of the Widdows and the Fatherless and prevent the Pawn-brokers from Raking and Screwing the Poor as now they do Well I will acquaint you that there are some Persons that have for some years last past foreseen the Misery that would unavoidably come upon the Mechanick Trades in the City of London and there hath been much Pains taken and some Moneys expended by surveying the River Thames and the Sharwell to find if they might be so made Navigable and Communicable with the River Severne and Avon that thereby a large Trade might be brought to the City of London and all Poor Mechanicks fed with cheap bread and cheap drink and it is very evident that if the River Thames were perfected and made compleatly Navigable as it ought to be and the Sharwel made Navigable as is prescribed only to Anslo Bridge then the great things here mentioned would come to pass for the benefit of the City as to the inlarging of its Trade and accommodating the persons working in the Mechanick-Arts and relieving the whole Mass of Poor that are in and about the City of London who now want not only work but bread also which is a great reproach besides the damage it brings to the Publick You have here a Copy of the Petition which is now in my hands to be delivered to the Kings Majesty for perfecting the Navigation upon the River Thames as it ought to be done with the Water mens Grievances which are many I having this Summer surveyed the River Thames from Oxford to London and my Son twice and the River Sharwel also we find the Water-men much abused being forc't to pay several Taxes at several Sluces betwixt Oxford and Burcot that part of the River being made Navigable in the 21. of King James and by that Law all People and Barges are to pass and repass without Tax And we find that the great defects in not compleating the said River with the charge trouble and delays occasioned thereby is a great hindrance to the