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THE PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENDING HULL AGAINST INVASION Verbatim extract of PhD Thesis by Dr. Marjie. Bloy, concerning preparations made at Hull during the John Paul Jones scare. Pages 212 – 227 inclusive. WWM is the abbreviation for the Wentworth Woodhouse Muniments, which are held in Sheffield Archives. The "R" series is the Rockingham papers. www.yorkshirehistory.com wishes to thank Dr. Bloy most sincerely for her generosity in allowing the publication of her research in this subject. It is the first time this has been published in any format, and www.yorkshirehistory.com id therefore privileged to present this material for the first time anywhere. Those with a wider interest in history should also visit her web site at: http://www.historyhome.co.uk Here then is a unique view of the political and civic upheavals caused by the appearance of John Paul Jones and his squadron off the east coast of Yorkshire in September, 1779. Any requests to borrow from Dr. Bloy’s work must be addressed to her directly via the contact details on her web site. We all know the rules, so let’s ensure that we here all abide by them please. Dr. Bloy sent this as a PDF file, which did not so easily transfer to MS Word, therefore in order to preserve the document’s integrity in full it has been found necessary to insert bracketed [continue]’s at the original page breaks so that the original footnotes were not lost or misplaced. These footnotes have been highlighted in red but are not interactive. Page 212 The Attack of John Paul Jones on Hull in 1779 In the eighteenth century, Hull was the only port of any consequence on the Humber estuary. The estuary was the outlet for the rivers Don, Ouse and Trent, which formed part of one of the major communications routes in the country. Hull provided an outlet for goods to America, the Baltic and Europe and was the centre for imports from the Baltic. Goods were sent to Hull from Sheffield and other parts of Yorkshire, and from Lancashire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and the west midlands [Birmingham and the Potteries]. The importance of Hull as a trade centre had been enhanced by the development of the Aire-Calder Navigation and the improvements in the Don, both of which allowed an increase of traffic to the port. 1 Trinity House at Hull controlled the collection of customs dues and was responsible for the welfare of seamen and maritime trade in the town. It provided men to pilot shipping entering and leaving the Humber; it maintained marker buoys which showed safe channels; and it was responsible for a number of almshouses for mariners and their dependents 2. Trinity House was organized as a guild under the Wardens, Elder Brethren, [continue] 1. Arthur Young, Northern Tour 1, 175-176. [continue], Assistants and Younger Brethren who made up the Board. Two Wardens were elected annually on Trinity Monday and they had considerable influence in Hull. Several of them later became mayors of the town. So far as local government was concerned, Hull was a burgess borough, oligarchic and corrupt. The corporation usually supported whichever government had power, although the Rockinghamites dubbed them 'Tory'. Any M.P. for Hull needed the support of either the powerful merchants or the ruling group. The parliamentary seats were expensive to win and of uncertain tenure. In 1767 Rockingham refused to try to influence the elections in Hull, saying that he was bound 'to take no steps whatever in relation to Candidates at Hull, but entirely to make it my object to be guided by the Inclination of many & respectable persons ... who are &have been our kind and valuable Friends. 1 Rockingham had a great deal of influence in Hull where he was personally very popular. The office of High Steward of Hull had been revived in 1766 and had been bestowed on the marquis after the repeal of the Stamp Act. The office of High Steward dated back to 1663 and the corporation was empowered to nominate a candidate for the post, which had been vacant for many years. On 17th March 1766 the corporation asked for Rockingham to be made High Steward and the request was granted by George IlI on 7th April. 2 There seems to have been a conflict of long standing between Trinity House and Hull corporation. In 1756, for example, there was a concerted effort by merchants, traders, leading townsmen and the Wardens to have an extra jetty built. The attempt was blocked by the corporation. [continue] 1 G. Jackson, 'The Economic Development of Hull in the Eighteenth Century' (University of Hull Ph.D. thesis, 1960), p. 56. I am grateful to Dr. Jackson for permission to quote from his thesis. [continue] until pressure was brought to bear by the Commissioners of Customs in London. They became involved because smuggling was easy in Hull: of all the English ports, it was the only one to be exempt from the landing and shipping of goods from a legal quay. This was because of the lack of available space due to Hull's geographical position. In 1767 the corporation applied for part of the royal lands on the site of the garrison to enlarge the harbour. The request was turned down because they failed to specify the building of a legal quay (which they did not want) . Eventually they met the requirement and in 1774 received a grant of £15,000 from the Customs Office for their extensions, which were opened in 1778. The Dock Bill of 1774 was helped through parliament by Rockingham whose assistance was duly acknowledged by the Mayor and corporatlon. 1 By the 1770 s the Marquis of Rockingham was well known to Hull's corporation and to Trinity House. Politically he had many supporters there and one M.P. was almost always a Rockinghamite. The repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766 had called forth an Address from seventy Hull gentlemen, 2 seven of whom Rockingham thought were of 'the most principal Interest in the Trinity House and Corporation of Hull,. 3 When Hull's seamen went on strike in 1768 4 the information was passed on to the marquis by William Hammond, a man who was not only a supporter of Rockingham but also carried much weight in Hull corporation and Trinity House. He was the first President of the Hull Dock Company (1785) and [continue] 1 . W.W.M. Rl-1493, Hull Corporation to Rockingham, 14th June 1774 and Rl-1494, Mayor P. Bell of Hull to Rockingham, 2nd July 1774. [continue] was Warden of Trinity House in 1779. 1 The original letter had been sent to the Right Honourable Thomas Harley~ Lord Mayor of Hull ~ but Hammond wanted help quickly and he apparently believed that Rockingham was more likely to do something than Harley was. 2 The sailors had brought all Hull's shipping to a halt and had caused much unemployment and distress since many in Hull owed their livelihoods to trade and the river. Hammond estimated that there were between six and seven thousand seamen in Hull at the time and believed that the next step was probably going to be a full-scale riot. He asked for some temporary expedient from parliament to solve the problem~ suggesting that if all else failed~ armed men and vessels might be needed to open the river. Rockingham tackled the problem in his usual thorough manner. His notes 3 set out the seamen's demands for more pay~ which were far from unreasonable. They wanted an extra l2s. per month for voyages 'In the Beltique' [sic] and an extra 10s. a month for voyages to the Straits~ the West Indies and America. For shorter journeys they asked £5 per voyage to Norway~ an increase of £2; and on coal trips to London they asked for 15s. extra ~ giving a new total of £2. 10s. 0d. The strike was a success for the sailors. Rockingham felt that the pay c1aiill was realistic and the corporation and Trinity House could not afford to waste time in settling the demands. Troops were not called in; that was against all of Rockingham's principles concerning the use of civil rather than military authority~ although other seamen's strikes also ended peacefully and successfully. Rockingham received goods for himself through the port of Hull and shipped goods out from there. In 1769 Thomas Williamson~ 'the most [continue] 1 . A.S. Harvey~ Trinity House~ pp. 31 and 24. [continue] powerful interest in Hull 1 took the liberty of sending Rockingham 'by one of Messrs. Walkers Vessels to Rotherham, three China Geese and Two horned Owles [sic], the latter were lately brought from Sweden' 2 Rockingham tried to supply his London homes with coal from his Wentworth estates sent via Hull, although the experiment proved expensive. Hull was hit by the American non-importation agreements in 1765 and 1768-69 and again when the war against America began in 1775. The extension of the conflict to include France in 1778 merely increased Hull's problems. Then in September 1779 William Hammond wrote to Rockingham informing him that John Paul Jones, the American privateer, had attacked some coal ships at Newcastle-on-Tyne and was heading down the east coast towards Hull. The corporation had decided that the citizens should defend themselves but had agreed that 'there was not in the whole place a single Gun safe to fire. 3 On his way down the east coast Jones attacked another fleet of colliers off Burlington and drove them back into harbour. 4 Jones' ships were 'seen hovering all the day S. E. 3 leagues from Flambro’ Head'. 5 Hammond was concerned that there were no warships on the east coast, particularly since Hull was expecting about a hundred laden ships from the Baltic under a very weak escort, and 'which fleet from their time of Sailing must be very near the Coast. 6 Trinity House had sent seamen to Patrington, Hornsea and other places on the east coast to keep watch for enemy ships entering the Humber. They also gave orders for marker buoys to be lifted in case Jones approached the estuary. Also on 21 st [continue] 1 . W.W.M. R12-54. [continue] September a meeting of Hull's corporation had decided to notify the Admiralty of the danger of an attack and the town's lack of defences. They agreed to ask for artillery and gun carriages and working small-arms, and to ask the Secretary-at-War for permission to establish a two thousand strong militia. They also voted to clear the rubbish from the fort known as the artillery ground, but vetoed a suggestion of setting up a subscription to pay for their decisions to be carried out. 1 The following day Alderman Pool and William Hammond were asked to go to the Lords of the Admiralty to tell them in person of the state of affairs in Hull. By 22nd September the danger of attack seemed to be imminent. Jones' squadron consisted of 'one Capital Ship, four friggates [sic] and a lugger'. 2 Hammond had not left from London immediately and made sure that the marquis was kept up-to-date with the drama which was being played off the east coast. He informed Rockingham that the enemy was tacking across the Humber estuary and 'by their actions seem's inclinable [sic] to proceed into the Humber when the Tide might admit'. Hammond had realized that Jones could just wait in the mouth of the Humber and 'capture such ships as may fall in their way', while the people of Hull, who were paying dearly for a garrison which was powerless because of the useless weapons they had, would 'have to trust too [sic] the blunders of our Enemies - which we trust will keep pace with our own. 3 Meanwhile, on the evening of 23rd September the East Country Fleet had been engaged by the enemy. The cannonade began at 9 p.m. and continued for two hours. The English fleet had not seen, or had ignored, [continue] 1 . W.W.M. R12-4. Minutes of the Meeting in Hull, 21st September 1779. [continue] the signals from Bridlington warning it of the size of the French fleet; at 9 a.m. on 24th September Jones' ships were again seen off Flamborough Head but this time they were accompanied by the Serapis and the Countess of Scarborough, which had been captured on the previous evening. 'The Serapis had lost her main mast, bowsprit end and Mizzen topmast and other-ways shattered. The Countess' masts were standing but seemed repairing rigging ... The French supposed to be one ship of fifty guns, two [ships] from thirty to forty guns and one scow supposed eighteen guns and two cutters'. 1 Rockingham was already in Hull when these events took place. Hammond's letter had reached him at Wentworth very quickly and the marquis decided to go to Hull immediately. Lady Rockingham wrote to Burke telling him of the marquis' journey 'as your astonishment would be more than equal to the Event, if you read it first in the Newspapers; 2 probably with very edifying comments'. From the marchioness' comments, Rockingham was aware of the interpretations which would be put on his journey: 'His going, call'd Officious, his not going negligent'. Either way, the marquis would be criticized but he went anyway because 'as Admiral of the Coasts, he thought he might as well step over there and see a little of the state of things. 3 He had received two letters describing the poor defences of Hull and the state of near panic in the town, but Rockingham had no intention of staying long in Hull. He had left Wentworth on the Thursday morning but 'My Lord means to be very alertly back again by the Monday [i.e. 27t1]7 at Doncaster, where the Meeting of the Races begins on Tuesday. 4 John Paul Jones had already entered the Humber on the flood tide [continue] 1 . W.W.M. R12-58a. [continue] of 23rd September with the help of two pilots whom he had captured. 1 While there he had sunk fifteen ships off the Holderness coast. According to Rockingham's notes 2 Jones had seven ships altogether, carrying a total fire power of 186 guns, although obviously the cutter's guns would be much smaller than those of the frigates'. Charles Pool and William Hammond had told their story to the Admiralty and had been promised a total of nineteen ships to defend the east coast, with a combined firepower of over 250 guns. Four of them were copper-sheathed frigates, the fastest ships the navy had. 3 On 24th September a public meeting was called in Hull and Rockingham 'made them an omnium gatherum speech rather confused, but my chief object was to persuade them that Government had neglected them and perhaps that they themselves had been too flattering and too courtly in their late Addresses. 4 His visit therefore was partly a political manoeuvre. He did not miss many opportunities to oppose North's policy towards America, or promote his own ideas. Having made his political point, the marquis 'offered to erect at his own Expense a Battery of Six Eighteen pounders near Marfleet provided Government will grant leave for it and the Corporation of Hull be willing to provide at their own expense a sufficient number of Seamen to work it. 5 The batteries were to be erected immediately on the artillery ground, and to be completed by 9 p.m. on 25th September, using twenty eighteen-pounders taken from Captain Gildert's ship. These guns had been cast in Rotherham by Samuel Walker for the Ordnance and were on their way to the arsenal at Woolwich. [continue] 1 . W.W.M. R12-6. Hammond to Rockingham, 24th September 1779. Gildert was not very pleased at his cargo being commandeered, and the meeting indemnified him of any blame. The meeting also voted to provide 'Spunges [sic], Ramrods and other necessary things' for those cannon. The Office of Ordnance had also agreed to replace the dangerous cannon and unusable small arms, and would send the replacements 'next week'. 1 Given the appalling condition of many roads and the difficulties likely to be experienced in transporting heavy artillery by road - obviously the guns could not be sent by sea because of the danger of their being captured by Jones - the chances of their arriving in time was remote. Rockingham's presence in Hull prodded the corporation into action. The mere fact that he rode up from Wentworth and spoke to the public meeting would have brought home to the citizens the seriousness of the situation, and his offer to pay for some defence of the town would have enhanced his standing in Hull. He wasted no time in fulfilling his promise. As soon as the king had given his permission for the marquis to 'make a Present of some Artillery for the defence of the Town and Port of Hull' Rockingham had ordered six eighteen-pounders from Samuel Walker which were to be delivered within three weeks. 2 Rockingham then discussed the placement of the batteries and judging from his letter, he knew what he was talking about. He thought that the batteries at the fort and artillery ground were inadequate because the town, which had a population of about thirty thousand, could be demolished from ships positioned in the Humber. He suggested that new batteries should be erected at Paulls and Marfleet: this could be done cheaply since a fort would only be needed at Paulls. Rockingham believed that Hull was [continue] 1 . W.W.M. R12-13. Office of Ordnance to Mr. Codd, Deputy Town Clerk of Hull, 25th September 1779. [continue] was important for its own sake and also because it was a great east coast port 'for Exportation of the Commerce and Manufactures of Yorkshire, Derbyshire (Sic;) & now becoming of more & more consequence to Many Branches of the Commerce & Manufactures of Lancashire. The Trade to the Baltic is now almost all that is left [to England]. 1 On 27th and 28th September when he was back at Wentworth, the Marquis of Rockingham wrote two long letters, one to Lord Amherst at the Admiralty and the other to Lord Weymouth, the Secretary of State. In the first he took personal responsibility for Captain Gildert's cargo of cannon being removed from his ship, explaining that although Hull’s garrison nominally had fifty-four guns, 'from the State of the Cannon and Carriages are in they could avail very, very little indeed to the defence of the Town'. He had ordered the gun carriages to be made, and was pleased that his deadline would be met. When the news arrived on Saturday 25th September that Jones had left the Hull coast, it 'rather occasioned a slackness in the alertness' but he hoped that the batteries at the artillery ground and the fort would be completed by 28th or 29th September. 2 The letter to Weymouth stated very clearly why the Marquis of Rockingham took upon himself the responsibility for making sure that Hull was defended adequately when in fact he had no obligation to do so. The office of Admiral of the Coasts had no power or duty attached to it, but Rockingham had accepted the post in the reign of George II ‘ to prevent it falling into Hands who might trouble and incommode many Gentlemen on the coast, by reviving old, obsolete Claims of Rights in regard to Wrecks .. &c. &c.' He also knew that the office of High Steward of Hull was merely nominal, 'yet the very Imagination that such High Offices [continue] 1 . W.W.M. R12-19. [continue] did contain power appeared to me to give a sort of weight to me which might possibly be of some service. 1 John Paul Jones' departure from the coasts of Hull proved to be the turning point of the corporation's activities. By 9th October their main concern was that of 'getting rid of every expense, [so] the Cannon were re-embarked, the Carpenter who made the Gun Carriages sent for, & order'd to take them again. 2 The people believed that the river would give them sufficient protection in spite of the fact that Rockingham had said that a 60-gun ship 'even at low Water' could 'lay ... within less than four hundred yards of the town [and] in Paul Jones' squadron, the largest Vessel was a forty gun-ship, so that whatever force he had could have come up'. 3 Harvey was worried that a 30-gun frigate would be able to sail up river, burn the town 'and in it's [sic] present defenceless state ... return without any danger'. 4 The Mayor of Hull, Mr. Scott, also wrote to the marquis on 9th October telling him that the corporation had decided to refuse the marquis' offer of the six cannon. The initial agreement, made two weeks earlier, was for Rockingham to pay for the cannon and the corporation to pay for their manning. Judging from Harvey's comments, it would seem likely that the corporation refused the cannon so that they would not have to foot the bill for their crews once the threat of attack was over. William Hammond of Trinity House was quick to advise the marquis that the artillery ground was Crown property and therefore not the concern of Hull's corporation. He suggested that Weymouth should be asked to require the corporation to put the artillery ground into good defensive [continue] 1 . W.W.M. Rl-1851. Rockingham to Weymouth, 28th September 1779. [continue] order. They would have been obliged to comply, and Rockingham's cannon could be used for the purpose. Hammond hoped that the marquis would contact Weymouth, since a peer of the realm would have more influence with the Secretary of State than would a mere Elder Brother of Trinity House. 1 Rockingham reacted typical1y. He wrote to Mayor Scott saying that he was not prepared to give up lightly his object of helping a defenceless town and virtually insisted that the corporation should accept the guns. 2 He also wrote to an Alderman Joseph Sykes of West Ella near Hull, a 'powerful Interest' in the town, asking for Sykes' support. 3 Rockingham felt that since his offer was accepted by a general meeting of the freeholders, corporation, Trinity House and neighbouring gentry connected with Hull, that it was only right that the offer should be rejected by a similar assembly. 4 Rockingham also refused to write to Weymouth because he believed it would be hard to explain that Hull had rejected the cannon after the king had approved of the idea. But, he continued, he was used to being reproached for trying to help England. 5 There was no need for Rockingham to tell Weymouth of Hull corporation's decision: the Mayor had written to the Secretary of State on 9th October saying that they had refused Rockingham's offer 'as they have that confidence in Government as to rest their security and defence entirely on their attention. 6 The marquis was only informed of this after 22nd November when Richard Bell of Welton Grange found a copy of the letter and passed on its contents. Rockingham had already cancelled the order he had given to Walker. The only conclusion he could draw from [continue] 1 . W.W.M. R12-26. William Harrmond to Rockingham, 12th October 1779. [continue] Mayor Scott's letter of 9th October was 'that it was to convey to Me that no friendly aid from me was deem'd necessary, or perhaps deem'd advisable to accept'. 1 The corporation had received new ordnance from the government, however, in the shape of eight l8-pounders, eight 9-pounders and four 3pounders, each with new gun carriages. They had been mounted in the fort and replaced those unserviceable guns which Rockingham had condemned. The town had no more guns that it had had before. The only defence which Hull had by the end of 1779 were the guns which would be mounted on the town's parapets facing the Humber - except that the parapets needed repairing and increasing to a thickness of twelve feet at a cost of £1,500, and that work was not to be started until the spring of 1780. There were twenty 3-pounder cannon in Hull which belonged to the fort but they pointed into the centre of the town. They were 'only useful for salutes, unless they were employed to knock our Warehouses about our Ears. 2 Because of the pro-government faction in Hull's-corporation and the dislike of many to pay more than they thought necessary, Hull was as poorly defended at the end of 1779 as it had been during the crisis, despite all the efforts of Rockingham, who had been willing to pay for defending the town out of his own pocket. He had also gone to a great deal of personal trouble to justify his actions to the government and the king. It is surprising that he continued to take an active interest in the town's affairs after he had been almost overtly insulted by the corporation. An odd incident concerning the local press occurred during the period of the crisis. The Leeds Intelligencer of 12th October printed [continue] 1 . W.W.M. R12-49. Rockingham to Bell, 14th November 1779. [continue] the following item: 'We hear from Hull, that a few days ago, a certain most noble Marquis, together with his very aimiable [sic] companion, E----d B----ke, Esq; narrowly escaped being torn to pieces by a furious mob at that place; who actually pursued them for some miles after they had got out at a back part of the town. 1 The paragraph was quoted by the Morning Post on 15th October and by the Leeds Chronicle shortly afterwards. John Lee informed the marchioness of the 'very scandalous and false Account of Lord Rockingham's Reception at Hull' saying how irrational and absurd the report was, and that he had no difficulty in rejecting the whole story. 2 Rockingham seems to have been quite amused by the account. He told Burke that he was 'joyn' d {sic) with me in a false and scandalous Paragraph of news in the Leeds Intelligencer; I had taken Captain Buck [of Doncaster] with me to Hull, so that a similarity of sound and an Initial Letter were the only ground of foundation whereon the Imitator ... had raised his whole superstructure'. 3 He was apparently gratified to know that 'the Trinity House ... resented it warmly and publickly': a resolution by the Trinity House Brethren had appeared in the St. James' Chronicle in the 2lst-23rd October issue, repudiating the account. Even the corporation '<Wherein there is a mixture of cautious Government Friends) express'd anger '. They had sent a 'private letter of Wrath, to the Leeds Printer' asking who was the author of the lies. The corporation had further instructed Alderman Richard Bell to write to the marquis to tell him that an order had been sent by Hull's corporation to Leeds' Town Clerk demanding to know who the writer was, so that he could be prosecuted. 4 Rockingham was content [continue] 1 . Leeds Intelligencer, 12th October 1779 [continue] to let the matter rest, once denials had appeared in the Leeds Intelligencer and St. James' Chronicle. Even so, it is strange that such an article should have appeared at all since Rockingham had been so well received in the town and had gone beyond the bounds of his duty to help the citizens. One can only assume that one of his opponents was responsible for the 'news'. The defence of Hull continued to be a problem and was a major concern for Trinity House. The Brethren tried to persuade the corporation to act in December 1780, with little success. The corporation discussed the best sites for batteries but created none. Once Rockingham became Prime Minister in 1782 he again attempted to help the town. He sent for a map of the Humber estuary and asked for batteries to be placed at Paulls and Marfleet, where the river was narrow enough to be defended by shore emplacements. His request was a repeat of the plans he had laid in 1779. He had made many enquiries into the range and uses of the ordnance he wanted and had asked the Duke of Richmond to undertake a feasibility study. The result was a long letter from Richmond to Rockingham which discussed the plan. 1 Richmond agreed with the marquis that Paulls and Marfleet were the best sites. Lord Rockingham died before anything constructive could be done, and Hull's defences were unimproved. The effective end of the American war in 1781 removed the threat of attack, which was probably fortunate since Hull was not keen to recruit men into the militia and no gentlemen had volunteered as officers. Once again the corporation put cost above security. 2 They were only prepared to put militia recruits on half-pay for ten months of the year and exercise them for one week during the summer, which fell far short of the provisions of the 1762 Militia Act. By 1782 the Act [continue] 1 . W.W.M. Rl-2076. Richmond to Rockingham, 11th May 1782. Page 227 [continue] had become almost a dead letter in the East Riding. In each of these four episodes the Marquis of Rockingham showed himself to be willing to act first and ask permission afterwards - a sure mark of a man who knew exactly how the government operated. By the time the news had reached London it was too late for Rockingham's orders to be countermanded: the most that could be done was to censure the marquis. On each occasion however, his actions were approved of both by the king and cabinet. His value in a crisis was appreciated in Yorkshire and London alike. He, more than anyone else, seems to have been able to hold the affections of Yorkshiremen through his concern for their safety and welfare at a time when the county felt neglected by central government. His r6le as Lord Lieutenant gave him direct access to parliament although his extensive personal connections probably had more effect. He was able to, and did, short-circuit 'the system' when he felt it necessary. These are all traits of a person who had a genuine concern about his local responsibilities. |
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