PART II: 1485-1660

SECTION I

RURAL CONDITIONS

1. Villeinage in the Reign of Elizabeth, 1561 231

2. Customs of the Manor of High Furness, 1576 232

3. Petition in Chancery for Restoration to a Copyhold, _c._ 1550 234

4. Petition in Chancery for Protection against Breach of Manorial Customs, 1568 241

5. Lease of the manor of Ablode to a Farmer, 1516 245

6. Lease of the Manor of South Newton to a Farmer, 1568 246

7. The Agrarian Programme of the Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536 247

8. The Demands of the Rebels led by Ket, 1549 247

9. Petition to Court of Requests from Tenants Ruined by Transference of a Monastic Estate to lay hands, 1553 251

10. Petition to Court of Requests to stay Proceedings against Tenants Pending the Hearing of their Case by the Council of the North, 1576 254

11. Petition from Freeholders of Wootton Bassett for Restoration of Rights of Common, _temp._ Charles I 255

12. Petition to Crown of Copyholders of North Wheatley, 1629 258

13. An Act Avoiding Pulling Down of Towns, 1515 260

14. The Commission of Enquiry Touching Enclosures, 1517 262

15. An Act Concerning Farms and Sheep, 1533 264

16. Intervention of Privy Council under Somerset to Protect Tenants, 1549 266

17. An Act for the Maintenance of Husbandry and Tillage, 1597 268

18. Speech in House of Commons on Enclosures, 1597 270

19. Speeches in House of Commons on Enclosures, 1601 274

20. Return to Privy Council of Enclosers furnished by Justices of Lincolnshire, 1637 275

21. Complaint of Laud's Action on the Commission for Depopulation, 1641 276

SECTION II

TOWNS AND GILDS

1. A Protest at Coventry against a Gild's Exclusiveness, 1495 282

2. A Complaint from Coventry as to Inter-Municipal Tariffs, 1498 282

3. The Municipal Regulation of Wages at Norwich, 1518 282

4. The Municipal Regulation of Markets at Coventry, 1520 283

5. The Municipal Regulation of Wages at Coventry, 1524 284

6. An Act for Avoiding of Exactions taken upon Apprentices in Cities, Boroughs, and Towns Corporate, 1536 284

7. An Act whereby certain Chantries, Colleges, Free Chapels and the Possessions of the same be given to the King's Majesty, 1547 286

8. Regrant to Coventry and Lynn of Gild Lands Confiscated under 1 Edward VI, c. xiv (the preceding Act), 1548 291

9. A Petition of the Bakers of Rye to the Mayor, Jurats, and Council to prevent the Brewers taking their trade, 1575 294

10. Letter to Lord Cobham from the Mayor and Jurats of Rye concerning the Preceding Petition, 1575 295

11. The Municipal Regulation of the Entry into Trade at Nottingham, 1578-9 295

12. The Municipal Regulation of Markets at Southampton, 1587 296

13. The Municipal Regulation of Wages at Chester, 1591 296

14. The Company of Journeymen Weavers of Gloucester, 1602 297

15. Petition of Weavers who are not Burgesses, 1604-5 299

16. Extracts from the London Clothworkers' Court Book. 1537-1627 300

17. The Feltmakers Joint-Stock Project, 1611 302

18. The Case of the Tailors of Ipswich, 1615 305

19. The Grievances of the Journeymen Weavers of London, _c._ 1649 307

SECTION III

THE REGULATION OF INDUSTRY BY THE STATE

1. Proposals for the Regulation of the Cloth Manufacture (_temp._ Henry VIII) 317

2. Administrative Difficulties in the Regulation of the Manufacture of Cloth, 1537 319

3. An Act Touching Weavers, 1555 320

4. Enactment of Common Council of London as to Age of Ending Apprenticeship, 1556 323

5. William Cecil's Industrial Programme, 1559 323

6. The Statute of Artificers, 1563 325

7. Proposals for the Better Administration of the Statute of Artificers, 1572 333

8. Draft of a Bill Fixing Minimum Rates for Spinners and Weavers, 1593 336

9. Draft Piece-list Submitted for Ratification to the Wiltshire Justices by Clothiers and Weavers, 1602 341

10. An Act empowering Justices to fix Minimum Rates of Payment, 1603-04 342

11. Administration of Acts Regulating the Manufacture of Cloth, 1603 344

12. Assessment made by the Justices of Wiltshire, dealing mainly with other than Textile Workers, 1604 345

13. Assessment made by the Justices of Wiltshire, dealing mainly with Textile Workers, 1605 351

14. Administration of Wage Clauses of Statute of Artificers, 1605-08 352

15. Administration of Apprenticeship Clauses of the Statute of Artificers, 1607-08 353

16. The Organisation of the Woollen Industry, 1615 354

17. Proceedings on the Apprenticeship Clauses of the Statute of Artificers, 1615 356

18. A Petition to Fix Wages Addressed to the Justices by the Textile Workers of Wiltshire, 1623 356

19. Appointment by Privy Council of Commissioners to Investigate Grievances of Textile Workers in East Anglia, 1630 357

20. Report to Privy Council of Commissioners appointed above, 1630 358

21. High Wages in the New World, 1645 360

22. Young Men and Maids ordered to enter Service, 1655 360

23. Request to Justices of Grand Jury of Worcestershire to assess Wages, 1661 361

24. Proceedings on the Apprenticeship Clauses of the Statute of Artificers, 1669 361

SECTION IV

THE RELIEF OF THE POOR AND THE REGULATION OF PRICES

1. Regulations made at Chester as to Beggars, 1539 366

2. A Proclamation concerning Corn and Grain to be brought into open Markets to be sold, 1545 367

3. Administration of Poor Relief at Norwich, 1571 369

4. The first Act Directing the Levy of a Compulsory Poor Rate, 1572 372

5. The first Act requiring the Unemployed to be set to Work, 1575-6 373

6. Report of Justices to Council Concerning Scarcity in Norfolk, 1586 373

7. Orders devised by the Special Commandment of the Queen's Majesty for the Relief and Ease of the Present Dearth of Grain within the Realm, 1586 374

8. The Poor Law Act, 1601 380

9. A note of the Grievances of the Parish of Eldersfield, 1618 381

10. Petition to Justices of Wiltshire for Permission to Settle in a Parish, 1618 382

11. Letter from Privy Council to Justices of Cloth-making Counties, 1621-2 382

12. Letter from Privy Council to the Deputy Lieutenants and Justices of the Peace in the Counties of Suffolk and Essex concerning the Employment of the Poor, 1629 383

13. The Licensing of Badgers in Somersetshire, 1630 385

14. Badgers Licensed at Somersetshire Quarter Sessions, 1630 385

15. The Supplying of Bristol with Grain, 1630-1 385

16. Proceedings against Engrossers and other Offenders, 1631 386

17. Order of Somersetshire Justices Granting a Settlement to a Labourer, 1630-1 386

18. Report of Derbyshire Justices on their Proceedings, 1631 387

19. Letter from Privy Council to Justices of Rutlandshire, 1631 390

20. Judgment in the Star Chamber against an Engrosser of Corn, 1631 391

SECTION V

THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE

1. Letters Patent granted to the Cabots by Henry VII, 1496 400

2. The Merchant Adventurers' Case for Allowing the Export of Undressed Cloth, 1514-36 402

3. The Rise in Prices, the Encouragement of Corn growing, and the Protection of Manufactures, c. 1549 404

4. Sir Thomas Gresham on the Fall of the Exchanges, 1558 416

5. The reasons why Bullion is Exported (_temp. Eliz._) 419

6. The Italian Merchants Explain the Foreign Exchanges, 1576 420

7. An Act Avoiding divers Foreign Wares made by Handicraftsmen Beyond the Seas, 1562 424

8. An Act Touching Cloth Workers and Cloth Ready Wrought to be Shipped over the Sea, 1566 426

9. Incorporation of a Joint Stock Mining Company, 1568 427

10. An Act for the Increase of Tillage, 1571 428

11. Instructions for an English Factor in Turkey, 1582 431

12. The Advantages of Colonies, 1583 434

13. Lord Burghley to Sir Christopher Hatton on the State of Trade, 1587 438

14. A List of Patents and Monopolies, 1603 440

15. Instructions Touching the Bill for Free Trade, 1604 443

16. The Establishment of a Company to export Dyed and Dressed Cloth in place of the Merchant Adventurers, 1616-17 454

17. Sir Julius Cæsar's proposals for Reviving the Trade in Cloths, 1616 460

18. The Grant of a Monopoly for the Manufacture of Soap, 1623 461

19. The Statute of Monopolies, 1623-4 465

20. An Act for the Free Trade of Welsh Cloths, 1623-4 468

21. The Economic Policy of Strafford in Ireland, 1636 470

22. Revocation of Commissions, Patents and Monopolies Granted by the Crown, 1639 472

23. Ordinance establishing an Excise, 1643 475