port and arm aforesaid, coming and going forth to other places, ought to take and have taken as appurtenances to the borough aforesaid, the particulars of which are thereafter set forth. And of all other fresh customs to belong to the king to be taken of all things and merchandize saleable, of which the particulars in certain cannot appear to the jurors, but which they have taken as belonging to the borough aforesaid, and the Bailiffs and officers of our lord the king of the borough aforesaid, and not other distresses and attachments in the port and arm afforesaid every where have made and ought to make and tholls and other customs aforesaid of things and saleable merchandizes coming to the said port or borough, or from thence going, ought to take, from the time therein. Lord John, formerly king of England, progenitor of our now lord the king, the borough aforesaid with its appurtenances, to the Burgesses of Ipswich did grant and demise, to have and to hold to its said Burgesses and their heirs and successors for ever of the aforesaid Lord John, formerly king and his heirs of his crown by certain ferm to him and his heirs yearly and his Exchequer to be returned and paid, as belonging to the said borough, for its better enabling the said ferm of our lord the king. And further certify that no other person hath taken or ought to take distresses, &c, or tholls, &c., until of late the men of Harwich, &c."

We find again by reference to the Domesday Book of Ipswich, that in the year 1380 (4th Richard II) the townsmen petitioned the king that they might have their haven to Polleshead granted to them, their heirs, and successors, to hold in fee-ferm which they had time out of memory belonging to them, but not expressed in their charters in particular words.

The king on this application granted a commission of enquiry, and appointed John de Sutton, Richard de Waldegrave, Knights, and the Sheriff of Suffolk, or two of them, to enquire upon oath, if the port to the place aforesaid had formerly and did still pertain to the town as parcel of the farm thereof, and if it would be to the prejudice of the town, or otherwise, that it should be granted unto them unto the place aforesaid in aid of their fee-ferm. The date of this commission is the 16th October, 1380.

The commissioners met at Shotley, on Thursday after Allsaints of the same year, and took on oath the evidence of Nicholas Norman and eleven others, who said that the port of the town of Ipswich extended from the said town unto Polleshead, and so had done time out of mind, and remained at the present parcel of the fee and farm of the same town, and that it would not be to the damage or prejudice of the king or others, if the king granted the same to the Burgesses of the said town, their heirs or successors.

In the 3rd Edward IV, (1463) that king granted by charter under the great seal, bearing date at Westminster the 18th of March, in that year, to the Bailiffs, Burgesses, and Commonalty of the town and borough of Ipswich in the county of Suffolk, and their successors for ever, the authority and power of doing and executing within the said town of Ipswich the liberties and precincts of the same-All and singular the things which belong to the Admiral or the office of Admiral there by the Bailiffs of the town aforesaid for the time being to be done. That no Admiral of the said king or his heirs, nor any deputy or deputies or servants of such Admiral should enter or sit within the said town, liberties, suburbs, or precincts to enquire or cause enquiry to be made con

cerning anything done or thereafter to be done, or happening, or arising within the town, under any pretence, nor should intrude himself or themselves within the said town, liberties, or suburbs, or precincts, concerning anything that belonged to the said office. of Admiral, and that it should be lawful for the said Bailiffs, Burgesses, and Commonalty and their successors to resist such Admiral, deputies, and servants, who shall attempt to execute and perform anything belonging to their office within the borough, liberties, suburbs and precincts aforesaid by land or by water, and by no means to permit him or them to perform any office there or in any manner to exercise the same.

In the 8th Henry VII, the Earl of Oxford, Admiral of England, sent a precept to the Bailiffs to attach shipps in the rode of Ipswich," for the Admiralty of the kingdom, which the Bailiffs refused to do. The Bailiffs afterwards sent John Balked with the charter to Heveningham castle to shew the same to the Admiral, where also were present James Hobard, Attorney General, Robert Drury, John Yaxley, and Thomas Appleton, who all agreed to the liberty of the town.

Disputes however arose between the people of Harwich and Ipswich as to the extent of the franchise, and continued until the time of Henry VIII, in the 10th year of whose reign a charter was granted which defined the extent of the Admiralty Jurisdiction.

A copy of this charter, important as respects the Admiralty, will be found in a printed volume of Ipswich Charters, published in 1754, but in order that full information may be afforded of the authority on which the Admiralty Jurisdiction of Ipswich is founded, the portion relating to the subject is now given in the form of an abstract.

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The document bears date at Westminster, March 3rd, in the 10th year of the king's reign, and describes the bounds of the river and the port thus:—“ And whereas the port of the town aforesaid, and the water running and returning as the case shall happen, from the same port by the flow and ebb of the sea towards the South-east at a certain place called Polleshead, and also all the land and soil, which by such flow and ebb of the sea at any time shall be overflown or covered with water, are within the liberty of the town aforesaid, and from whereof the memory of man hath not been to the contrary." The Charter then proceeds to say, that although this extent had been acknowledged, nevertheless, through certain evil disposed persons by reason of the ambiguity of former charters cunningly alleged, the Bailiffs had been frequently disquieted and disturbed concerning the enjoyment of their liberties; and on account of the "singular love' which the king bore towards the Bailiffs, Burgesses, and Commonalty of the town, and moreover, being willing to do away with such ambiguities and doubts, he now declared and notified, that the said port and the water running by the flow and ebb of the sea, from the said port towards the South-east, unto the said place called the Polleshead, and all the land and soil overflown by the sea, though before that period such land had not been parcel of the liberty of the town, be annexed and united by these presents to the said liberty, with power to the Bailiffs, Burgesses, &c. to have and to hold them. The king also granted that the Bailiffs, Burgesses and Commonalty should be Admirals for the king throughout the town, precinct, suburb, water and course of the water, and the land and soil overflown by the flow and ebb of the sea, exercising their right as well upon the sea as on the sea shore,

in as ample a manner and form as any Admiral of England; and that no Admiral of England should be allowed to interfere with these local rights. The Charter then, for the purpose of more ample grace, and for the relief and improvement of the town which was said to be impoverished, and in aid of the feeferm grants the Bailiffs, &c. both fletson and jetson, and also all goods lost in the sea, found and thrown from the sea, with deodands within the liberty of the town both by land and water.

This Charter was fully recognized in the 11th year of Henry VIII, when Thomas Earl of Surrey, the Lord High Admiral of England, by warrant under his hand and under the Admiralty's seal dated 10th February, called upon the Bailiffs of Ipswich to shew by what title they claimed to have Admiral Jurisdiction, and having examined divers charters and other records produced by the Bailiffs, certified that it clearly appeared that the Bailiffs, Burgesses, and Commonalty of the said town had full power and authority to make within the said town liberties and precincts, all things that to the said office of the Admiralty did appertain. And as by the king's letters patent that then had been granted, the High Admiral therefore commanded his deputies and other officers of the Admiralty to permit and suffer the Bailiffs, their successors, and their officers, from thenceforth peaceably to enjoy, use, and occupy, all that to their office of the Admiralty belonged, without any interruption whatsoever to be made.

This grant is as follows:

"Graunte made by Thom's Erle of Surrey, Grette Admyralle of England, concernyng the Jurisdicc on Admyrall, w tin the Libertyes of the Town off Ippiswiche.