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 7927732

WILLIAMS, CARLTON ROWE

SIR THOMAS MODYFORD, 1620-1679: "THAT GRAND
PROPAGATOR OF'ENGLISH HONOUR AND POWER IN THE
WEST INDIES."

UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY, PH.D., 1979

COPR. 1978 WILLIAMS, CARLTON ROWE

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 DISSERTATION

Carlton Rowe Williams

The Graduate School

University of Kentucky
 SIR THOMAS MODIFORD
1620-1679:
"That grand propagator of English honour and power in the West Indies.

DISSERTATION

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
at the University of Kentucky

BY-

CARLTON ROWE WILLIAMS

Lexington, Kentucky

Director: Dr. Carl B. Cone, Professor of History

Lexington, Kentucky
 NOTE ON DOCUMENTATION

The typical page of this work— especially of the later chapters

— is composed of facts, incidents, statistics, and quotations drawn

from multiple sources. Therefore, to avoid cluttering each page with

a swarm of footnote numbers and to prevent compiling upwards of three

hundred notes per chapter, I have resorted to a pattern of documenting

paragraphs. This schema of documentation was suggested to me by the

usage of Carl Bridenbaugh in his two books: Vexed and Troubled English­

men (New York: Oxford University Press, 1968), and No Peace Beyond the

Line (New York: Oxford University Press, 1972). The pattern is quite

simple. If there are quotations of a substantial phrase or more any­

where in the paragraph, these are documented first, in sequence. Then,

the remaining materials of the paragraph are cited in the general

order in which they are presented— with one minor exception. When a

source is introduced in the footnote, all the debts owed to that source

by the paragraph are there cited in sequence. Moreover, for clarity's

sake, now and again an individual citation is added and a content note

is featured. Once the reader is aware of the pattern, the notes

function unobtrusively and flow smoothly.

To reduce verbiage in the notes, shortened titles are used fol­

lowing the initial citation of a source. Easily recognizable abbrevia­

tions identify the names of principal sources and the sources most often

cited. A list of these abbreviations constitutes the page which follows.

iii
 ABBREVIATIONS

Repositories

BA Barbados Archives, Lazaretto, St. Michael

Bodleian Bodleian Library, Oxford, England
EL British Library, British Museum, London
DCRQ Devon County Record Office, Exeter, England
ERO Exeter City Record Office, Exeter
Inst. Jam. West India Reference Library of the Institute
of Jamaica, Kingston
IRO Island Record Office, Spanish Town, Jamaica
JA Jamaica Archives, Spanish T o m
LC Library of Congress, Washington, D. C.
PRO Public Record Office, London
RCS Lib. Royal Commonwealth Society Library, London
UWI Lib. University of the West Indies Library, Mona, Jamaica
WAM Westminster Abbey Muniments, London

Sources Frequently Cited

Add. MSS Additional Manuscripts, British Library

AHR American Historical Review
APC Col. Acts of the Privy Council, Colonial Series
CCC Calendar of the Proceedings of theCommittee of
Compounding, 16U3-1660
CCSP Calendar of Clarendon State Papers, Bodleian
CO Colonial Office Papers, Public Record Office
CSPC Calendar of State Papers, Colonial, America and the
West Indies
CSPD Calendar of State Papers, Domestic
CSPV Calendar of State Papers, Venetian
Cov. MSS Correspondence of Henry Coventry, Secretary of State
(1671-1680), Longleat House, Wiltshire
Davis Papers N. Darnell Davis*s collection of sources and notes on
the early history of Barbados, Royal Commonwealth
Society Library
DCNQ Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries
DNB Dictionary of National Biography
Helyar MSS Helyar Manuscripts, Somerset Record Office, Taunton,
England
HAHR Hispanic American Historical Review
HMC Historic Manuscripts Commission, Reports
JHR Jamaican Historical Review
JHMHS Journal of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society

iv
Taylor MS. John Taylor, Multum in Parvo or Parvum in Multo.
Part H of the Historie of Taylor*s Life and
Travels in America. MS. 105, Institute of Jamaica
Thurloe SP State Papers of John Thurloe, Secretary to the
Council of State and to Lords Protector Oliver
and Richard Cromwell
IDA Reports and Transactions of the Devonshire
Association
WAM MSS Manuscripts chiefly relating to the business affairs
of Sir James Modyford. his kindred, and
associates (1667-1673), Westminster Abbey
Muniments
WM3 William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series
 CONTENTS

Page

NOTE ON DOCUMENTATION........................................ iii

ABBREVIATIONS................................................ iv

Chapter

I. EXETER: HOME AND HERITAGE............................. 1

II. MERCHANT-MAYOR'S SON, 1620-1632 ..........................52

IH. APPRENTICE -AT -LAW, 1632-161*0...........................119

IV. CAVALIER-BARRISTER, 161*0-161*7...........................172

V. PLANTER -POLITICIAN IN BARBADOS, 161*7-1652 .............. 217

VI. A BID FOR HIGH OFFICE, 1652-1661*.................... 272

VH. DEVELOPING AND DEFENDING JAMAICA, 1661*-1667 ........... 31*0

vnr. CONNIVANCE ANDCONSEQUENCES, 1667-1671 1*19

IX. THE TOWER AND AFTERWARDS, 1671-1679..................... 589

EPILOGUE: AN EVALUATION...................................... 61*9

NOTES TO THE T E X T ............................................655

BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................. 7U0

vi
 I. EXETER: HOME AMD HERITAGE

Exeter, Devonshire, 1620. At his house on Northgate Street, John

Modyford, prosperous merchant and member of the city's governing

council, anxiously awaited the birth of his fifth child. Marie, his

wife, abed the canopied four-poster with "trundell bed" attached in the

parlor chamber of the rear block of the house, had just gone into

labor.^ Mrs. Turner, the midwife, had been fetched; the women servants

stood by to assist. Marie was in good hands. It was simply a matter

2
of waiting.

The child who was to be born this day is the subject of this

study.

Imaginatively, we can picture John Modyford anticipating the birth

of this child. Perhaps he shifted about a bit in the house to make the

waiting more tolerable. Now pacing to the window of the hall, the

family's principal living-dining room, located on the first floor just

above his shop which faced the street below; a moment later, trying to

sit calmly in the large embroidered chair of the parlor, one room

behind, with his feet propped upon one of the red leather stools at

hand; then, stepping across the gallery to the kitchen chamber and the

stairway leading to the parlor chamber above to check on the latest

developments; again, returning to the hall for a glimpse of the street

 2

■3
below.

The Modyford house stood on the western side of Northgate Street

just below the crest of the hill. The bay windows of the upper three

stories— each slightly oversailing the story and the street below

— commanded a fair prospect in several directions (see Map 1, page 3).^

Standing at his hall window, to the right, only a few paces away,

John could observe Waterbeare Street intersecting Northgate Street from

the east. Another fifty paces beyond, on past the George Inn, North­

gate Street intersected High Street, the main thoroughfare of the city,

and then flowed across into Cookrow, running on down toward South Gate.

In the midst of this principal intersection— known as the Carfoix

— stood an imposing conduit (fountain) to which water was brought

through underground lead pipes from an abundant spring outside the city

walls some half mile away. The Carfoix Conduit was the city's

principal public source of water.^

Looking across Northgate Street to the eastern side, the council­

man noted the large house built a century before by William Crugge,

sometime tanner who rose to serve the city as mayor four times and to

be the wealthiest merchant in Exeter when he died in 1520. The house

stood as a monument to the opportunity offered by Exeter to a man, from

whatever station in life, who possessed the initiative, industry, and

insight to become a commercial success. It was a perennial inspiration

to one like John Modyford. Just below stood St. Kerrian's Church, the

parson's house alongside. St. Kerrian's bore the name of the Cornish

miner's patron saint. To this parish church many of the tinners

resorted when they came into Exeter with the tin from the Dartmoor

streamings, the export of which had made Exeter renouned for the white
Map 1. The City of Exeter: Late l6tt
(Fran William Cotton, An KLlaabc
City or Exeterj
Map 1. The City of Exeter: Late l6th-Early 17th Centuries
(From William Cotton, An Elizabethan Guild of the
CttjrjMMsxeter/
 ClVITAS EXONI,fc
1587,' ;

•** *
.„va*. . -"
- «.
- ■ ..
r* - "i; V” „ + - " * *
- * M i;; * —- 'J* -*- **. . **■ , . » *-*•*- —;
,.
;p^ —
• • ’• , »*y ,a
f
_ * .im
.L- -- a— *-;•r,• _ •#*»*,
.. Flryrrft^r**^
~£—
>
»• * v .. •..
. *■ • .’ ...*=*»’'. *. ,"*A*
»/Tt
*„
■

■iafc-iafc.-TJLirg-.^
16th-Early 17th Centuries
[Elizabethan Guild of the
fxeter;
 It

metal.^

To the left and downward, for here the street increasingly de­

clined, Modyford gazed along a row of houses the gabled roofs of which

paralleled the streetj their continuity was only occasionally broken by

a traverse gable or dormered window facing the roadway. These struc­

tures bore witness that building space in this desirable section of the

city had not always been at such a premium as it was at the moment.

Amidst these houses stood the Elephant Inn, its sign beckoning to the

traveller entering the city from points north.^

The street itself was paved and fairly clean. It was strictly

forbidden to throw any household filth or any waste water into the

street. Also, each householder having a house, garden, or stable in

the city was required to sweep the street before his premises once a

week. Moreover, since the hill was somewhat precipitous, each thunder­

shower swept what refuse there might be into the "cannells" (i.e., the

gutter in the middle of the street) and down to Longbrook below,

O
bringing refreshment to the neighborhood.

To the extreme left, John Modyford's eye followed the roadway down

the hill, through the North Gate, deep into the vale of Longbrook, and

up the other side, lined as it was by a straggling suburb. Looking

over the top of the city wall, John could see the roadway climb sharply

up the hill of Duryard Manor, run past St. David's Church into the open

countryside, and disappear over the gently molded knoll of St. David's

Down on its way to Cowley Bridge, Crediton, and North Devon. Scanning

St. David's Down, Bury Meadow, and the hills to the east, John savored

the passive beauty of this crazy-quilt tableau created by ancient hedge

banks tracing time-honored tenures upon the Devon landscape. It was

 5

spring. Abundant rainfall of the late winter combined with rapidly

rising terrperatures to carpet the countryside with lush new growth.

o
It was a grand time for a child to be bora!

The merchant-magistrate's family was growing steadily. Marie had

already presented her husband with four girls: Grace, Marie, Sara, and

Anne. Now she was expecting her fifth child. The little girls were

the delight of their father's heartj but, like most seventeenth-century

Englishmen who aspired to establish a family of quality and status,

John Modyford longed for a son and heir. There is no evidence to

indicate that Marie Modyford had unusual difficulty with the birth of

any of her children. It was this deep yearning for a son which gave a

special character of anticipation and apprehension to John Modyford's

waiting on this day. But to appreciate the importance of this birth

to him, we must first understand something of the city of Exeter in

1620: its physical setting, its political and social structure, and the

role which John Modyford and his merchant "brethren" played therein.^

A glance at a topographical map of Devon reveals the hilly though

less than rugged nature of the shire's geography. Equally prominent

among its geographical features is the series of rivers which cut

transversely from north to south through the hills— the Axe, the Otter,

the Clyst— each with its broad shallow valley descending gently to the

ocean, eroding a path through the long line of shore cliffs. Deepest

and longest of these, reaching far up into North Devon, is the Exe

(see Map 2, page 6).11

This stream, with its principal tributaries, resembles a crowsfoot

 6

SOMERSET

[EVON

rQMMtUPftTCtt

CORNWALL

. cochwioh.

Map 2. A Map of Devon

(Frontispiece to M. M. Oppenheim, The Maritime
History of Devon)
 7

sinking its grasp deeply into the surface of the rolling terrain. The

Upper Exe and tributaries Yeo-Creedy and Culm form the forward appen­

dages of the crowsfoot, their valleys providing pathways into the heart

of North Devon and into western Somerset beyond. The Lower Exe, con­

stituting the rearward appendage of the crowsfoot, opens out quickly

and widely into a tidal estuary about five miles long, its channels

made into a haven for ships by the natural breakwaters of Dawlish

Warren and Exmouth Point. Near the axis of this crowsfoot, just below

the junction of the Yeo, Exe, and Culm and some four miles above the
12
head of this estuary, stands the city of Exeter.

Three and a half centuries ago, Exeter's beauty must have been

more striking than today; the dignity of its site was then less

obscured by sprawling suburbs. Castle, cathedral and city, compactly

ringed by medieval wall, occupied an area just under ninety-three

acres. The wall encompassed the whole of a gravel-topped hill, a ridge

with adjoining plateau, and the slopes that stretched away from these,

southward and westward, toward the rivei1^ The characteristic color

contrasts of Devon were surely even more apparent when the yet un­

spoiled green of the encircling hills was set off by the dusty red of

fallow field, of castle, parish church, and city walls, as well as by

the solemn grey of the cathedral. Altogether, even at its busiest, to

the traveller approaching the city atop a neighboring hillock, Exeter

must have presented a pastoral prospect of great charm, inextricably

mingling town and countryside.^

Within the city's stone wall— over a mile and half in circum­

ference and raised upon the footings of the original Roman defenses— a

number of open spaces intermingled with other areas already crowded

 8

with shops and dwellings. Altogether, about one-third of the enclosed

area remained as open spaces. These open sectors of the city consti­

tuted the environs of ancient Rougemont Castle, of St. Peter's

Cathedral, of the Earls' of Bedford town house, and of various closes

and gardens.

The area given over to private dwellings was even further limited

by the presence within the walls of sixteen parish churches. In this

restricted setting, only the town houses of the aristocracy and of

ecclesiastical dignitaries could command enough space to expand

laterally. Elsewhere the townspeople were forced to accommodate them­

selves on narrow rectangular sites. In general, the wealthier merchants

tended to gravitate to the main thoroughfares to establish their homes

and shops, indeed, toward the Carfoix, the focal point of the life of

the city. Symbolic of this focus, on High Street, between its inter­

section with Goldsmith Street and the Carfoix, stood the Guildhall.

Its splendid Baroque portico bore witness to the extensive remodeling

the hall had undergone just twenty-five years earlier. The Guildhall

was the center of the city's civil life. A short distance away— perhaps

160 paces— within St. Kerrian's Parish and the affluent northwest

quarter of the city, stood John Modyford's house on Northgate Street.^

If the open space of the countryside appeared to invade the en­

closed city here and there, in like fashion, by 1620, the city had over­

flowed its bounds into the surrounding countryside. In spite of

periodic visitations of the plague and of the high incidence of infant

mortality, Exeter's population now approached nine thousand. Already,

perhaps one-fourth lived outside the city walls. Both the total and

the extramural population continued to expand throughout the

 9

seventeenth century.’*'-’

We have noted the suburb developing along the road leading from

North Gate up St. David's Hill. In Northern Hay, between the North

Gate and the East Gate, little building had occurred; some residents

had gardens and orchards under lease in this area. Outside the East

Gate, however, St. Sidwell's Parish was built up well beyond the parish

church and was still expanding along Longbrook Street. Its sprawling

tenements already housed a large portion of Exeter's laborers and

paupers. Farther around the wall, adjacent to South Gate, a cluster of

tenements had arisen around the Wynard and Magdalen almshouses. Beyond,

stood the imposing mansions, Larkbeare and Radford Place.^

It was under the western walls of the city, however, along the

River Exe, that the exterior development of most vital import to the

city had taken place. Here, where once had spread a wide tidal marsh,

draining and filling had occurred; several mill leats had been con­

structed and islands had emerged. Over the leats, making use of the

flowing water for power, were built the city's fulling mills for

finishing cloth and c o m mills for grinding grain. Gardens and rack

fields stretched out across the Exe and Shilhay islands, and tenements

emerged alongside to house folk involved in these industrial pursuits.

A thriving salmon fishery emerged just below Callabear Weir using the

point of the Bonhay as a base. At the opposite end of this complex

where the mill leats again joined the river, the recently enlarged quay

— 150 by 80 feet with its crane for loading and unloading cargo— stood

ready to receive boats emerging into the "Haven of Exe" from the mouth

of the Exeter Shipping Canal just above St. Leonard's Weir. The canal

— 2 miles long, 16 feet wide, and 3 feet deep— was capable at high tide
 10

of passing up boats of 16 tons from the estuary below.^

The canal and the quay— both completed about 1£66— were monuments

to the boldness of purpose and the tenacity of enterprise of Exeter's

merchant city fathers during the late sixteenth century. Between the

early fourteenth century and the mid fifteenth century, the Courtenays,

powerful Earls of Devon, had dominated the lower river from Powderham

Castle. With a series of weirs, they had blocked all river traffic,

forcing all shippers to unload at Topsham and pay port fees before

transferring goods to packhorse for the four-mile trek to Exeter. Now,

in 1620, through the canal, by-passing the shoals and weirs of the

lower Exe, small coastal vessels and the "lighters" (small intercoastal

sailing craft) of the estuary came and went at will on the highest

tides, docking in the shadow of Exeter's wall. Exeter had once again

joined the ranks of the seaports of the southern coast. Her economy

prospered concurrently. As she entered the seventeenth century, Exeter

ranked fifth or sixth in both population and wealth among England's

1A
provincial cities.

John Modyford was heavily engaged in the traffic which entered and

left the "Haven of Exe." By means of it, he was reaping his propor-
19
tionate share of the prosperity afforded by the times and the place. 7

The advantages to Exeter— especially to inhabitants like John

Modyford and his merchant colleagues— of the city's physical setting

on the banks of the Exe are readily apparent. Its location at the

intersection of lines of inland communications and sea-routes to the

continent strategically placed it in a position to tap the economic

 11

activity of a large, rich hinterland. The valleys of the Exe and its

tributaries provided access to the interior of a shire which, in this

era, ranked among the first two or three counties in England in

population and wealth. Down these valleys to Exeter as a market town

came the products of mixed agriculture, sheep raising, and mining:

sufficient grain in most years to provide the county's population of

near 225>,000 with bread and beer; growing quantities of cider from the

apple orchards to the west; a flood of raw wool from the innumerable

small flocks grazing the enclosed pastures of the county which, perhaps,

boasted more sheep than any other in England; tin from the reaches of

Dartmoor. Skillful artisans— at farmstead-cottage spinning wheels and

looms, in the shops of Devon hamlets, and in the water-powered mills of

Exeter and other boroughs— converted the wool and tin into goods to be

sold throughout England and on the continent. From Exeter, southward,

the Exe Estuary looked out directly across the seas to a wide span of

the continental coast— from the mouth of the Seine along the coasts of

Normandy, around Breton shores, along the west coast of France to

Bordeaux, and beyond, to the northwestern ports of Spain and those of

Portugal, southward to Cadiz and the Straits, and westward to the

Canary and Madeira Islands. All these coasts were the targets of

Exeter's shipping. It is clearly safe to assert that Exeter was, in

1620, the commercial entrepot of one of the richer provinces of England

and the market place in which was centered much of the economic life

of the West.^®

The city was not only an economic center, however; it was a pro­

vincial capital as well. Its stately Cathedral of St. Peter was the

seat of the large diocese of Exeter, comprehending both Devon and

 12

Cornwall. It was the custom for folk from all parts of these counties

and from many stations in life to come to the Mother Church to solem­

nize their weddings. Occasionally, persons of note, in addition to

those living in the precinct of the Cathedral Close, would be buried

21
there.

Exeter was also the center of secular administration in the West.

Within Rougemont, in a spacious hall and rooms newly refurbished for

the purpose, the justices of assize as well as the judge admiral of

Devon held court. Quarter sessions brought the shire's justices of the

peace to the castle and, synonymously, representatives of the most

eminent county families— the Bouchiers, Seymours, Courtenays, Gren­

villes, Drewes, Gilberts, Drakes, Carys, Carews, Aclands, Moncks,

Fortescues, Edgcumbes, and Reynells, to mention but a few. The shire

clerk held his monthly courts at the castle as well. And since the

country gentlemen of Devon and Cornwall found it necessary to come to

Exeter so often on business, it follows that they should find it con­

venient to live much of their social life in the city also. Some built,

bought, or leased town houses in Exeter, especially around the Cathe­

dral Close, or on outlying hills nearby, where they and their families

lived while visiting the provincial capital. Many more came to the

fairs, attended cathedral services on high holy days, and traditionally

22
kept such feasts as Christmas in Exeter.

But even more important as regards advantages afforded to men like

John Modyford— more important than being the economic, religious, admin­

istrative, and social capital of the West— Exeter was also a political

community unto itself. Therein, the affluent merchants exercised an

23
unusual degree of influence. ^
 13

Throughout the Middle Ages, Exeter had largely followed the general

path of English urban growth. During the reign of Henry II, the town

received its first royal charters, granting it a degree of "liberty"

from the influence of local landed magnates and the authority of the

king's officers. The chief beneficiaries of the charters were the

town's leading merchants. Gradually they developed a strong civic

oligarchy through which they exercised a measure of local political

power and secured for themselves a monopoly of the local market,

reserving the opportunities for profit for a privileged few.^

From the early thirteenth century through the late sixteenth

century, Exeter's borough constitution gradually took shape. In the

thirteenth century, a mayor emerged, assisted in his duties by four

stewards (bailiffs). During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, a

council developed (also known as the Chamber); and by llt50, its member­

ship was stabilized at twenty-four councillors who were annually

elected by a group of thirty-six. By 1500, the Twenty-Four ceased to

be annually elected and became a self-perpetuating body. In 1509,

Henry V I H confirmed the pattern which had evolved, prescribing by

privy seal writ that members of the Twenty-Four should sit for life

unless removed for certain causes by their brethren and that the re­

placement of council members would be made by the Twenty-Four them­

selves. In the annual selection of the mayor, the freemen of the city

were to be allowed to choose between two candidates nominated by the

Twenty-Four. These candidates were to be members of the Council who

had previously held the office of receiver. The receiver was respon­

sible for the collection and disbursement of all city funds. Moreover,

the custom arose wherein the receiver was expected to supply, out of
 Ill

his own pocket, any supplementary funds the city might need to meet

its ordinary obligations during his year in off ice ; he was ejected to

extend this credit as an interest-free loan until the city had ample
pc
time to collect or acquire the funds needed to reimburse him. J

In this way the evolving structure of local political power in

Exeter progressively aligned itself with economic realities. From

whatever station in life the resident of Exeter set out in pursuit of

his fame and fortune, unless he followed the route of professional

studies for the clergy, law, or medicine, ascendancy within the city

required treading a well-established pathway. First, he must gain

admission as a ''freeman1' of the city. This could be attained in one

of four different ways: by inheritance at his father's death if his

father had been a freeman; by serving an apprenticeship in trade; by

purchasing the privilege at a fee set variously by the Chamber

according to one's ability to pay; by receiving it as a gift from the

city in recognition or honor. Once admitted as a freeman, the door was

open for upward movement. This admission enfranchised him politically,

giving him a voice, albeit a limited one, in the annual election of the

mayor and the occasional election of Members of Parliament. More

important, it enabled him to trade freely in Exeter's markets. None

other than freemen of the city was permitted to do so except on

special fair days or under special license from the Chamber, such
of.
licenses requiring the payment of annual "shop fees."*'0

Once possessed of the freeman’s right to trade, further upward

movement depended entirely upon his commercial success. If he pros­

pered and demonstrated ability and good judgment, he might be called

upon to serve the city as a steward or bailiff. Having served well in

 15

this capacity, when a vacancy occurred among the Twenty-Four, he could

be appointed to the Common Council for life, sustained in this position

by good behavior and continuing prosperity. Shortly thereafter (after

certain changes were instituted in 1537), he would likely be asked to

serve as sheriff. Four or five years later— again if his personal

fortune continued to grow— he would be named receiver. Some two years

after successfully handling the city's fiscal affairs, he might well be

elected mayor. After his mayoralty, he would probably continue indef­

initely to share heavily in the city's governance as one of the eight

aldermen, some of whom would function as deputy lieutenants as well.

Finally, he could be called upon some eight years hence to serve as

mayor again. One fact is abundantly clear. To ascend within these

ranks to the highest offices of the city required, among other things,

substantial means. In Exeter, wealth— usually wealth acquired in the

market place— preceded political power and social status.^

Up to and into the early sixteenth century, the shaping of Exeter's

civic corporation was similar to that of many other English towns.

During the sixteenth century, however, when the local oligarchies of

many towns were losing their commercial dominance to new industries and

new forms of business organization and losing political influence to

local magnates appropriating borough seats in Parliament for members of

their families, Exeter's development proved the exception. Under the

Tudors, the economic controls and political powers of Exeter's merchant-

councilmen grew rather than diminished. Throughout this century of

sweeping changes in English life, through the local "commotions"

prompted by those changes— the siege of the Cornish rebels on the eve

of the century, the suppression of the monastic houses within the city's
 16

walls in 1^36, and the long-remembered Prayer Book Rebellion of lSh9

— Exeter's Twenty-Four prized unity above personal persuasion, identi­

fied with the cause of order regardless of the banner borne, and

displayed a consistent, common sense loyalty to the duly constituted

OQ
royal government.

This path of enlightened self-interest bore fruit. In 1535, the

mayor, recorder, and ex-mayors who ranked as aldermen were made

justices of the peace with power to hear and determine felonies,

trespasses, and misdemeanors. Two years later, the Crown constituted

the County of the City of Exeter. The mayor, recorder and aldermen

became justices of goal delivery, and a sheriff was added to the list

of Exeter's officials. Exeter's civic corporation— "The Mayor,

Bailiffs, and Commonality of Exeter" traditionally styled— no longer

functioned merely as a chartered liberty within the realm of England.

It became an extended arm of the royal government, responsible to the

Privy Council in London and to the lord lieutenant locally, account­

able for carrying out within its jurisdiction a thorough-going policing

of society. With these actions on the part of the Crown, Exeter's

municipal constitution assumed a form it would retain for the next

three centuries. Simultaneously, Exeter's Twenty-Four were elevated

to a still stronger position of economic control, a larger measure of

political power, and a higher level of social prestige, at least

within the ancient walls of Exeter. Now, in 1620, in their midst

29
— indeed, as a rising star among them— stood John Modyford. '

Awaiting the birth of a longed-for child often prompts a man to

 17

reflect upon his life as a whole: from whence he has come, where he is

at the moment, the hopes he projects for his future and that of his

family. Impatiently pacing to the rear block of his house on Northgate

Street, grasped by the echoing moans accompanying Marie's accelerating

birth pains in the chamber above, John Modyford could not avoid being

thoughtful about his own pilgrimage to date and the special meaning

this child might well have for the future of his family.

To Exeter came John Modyford's parents, John and Alse Moddifild,

31
apparently in the 1550's. There is no evidence to indicate that a

Modyford family dwelt in Exeter prior to that date. Moreover, in vain

do we search the calendars of wills, parish registers, and monument

inscriptions of much of Devon at large for Modyfords prior to the

seventeenth century. Thus, it seems that, like so many of the families

who came to dominate Exeter's affairs in the sixteenth and seventeenth

centuries, the Modyfords were— until recently— outsiders.^

Whence they came remains a mystery. The family may have originally

migrated from the manor and village near Yeovil in neighboring Somerset

from which their name was probably derived— Modiforde. Be that as it

may, it is likely that before settling in Exeter the Modyford family

spent some time in Bradninch— a small market town and center of woolens

and lace manufacture lying in a fold of the Devon hills that rise

westward from the Culm River. Indeed, a branch of the family seemingly

remained therej the records reflect that William Modyford, Nicholas and

Walter Muddaford, were living in this area in the l630's and 161*0*s.

Moreover, a few Maddafords are known to have lived in West Devon in the

Tavistock area during the eighteenth century, possibly descendants of

the Bradninch branch. ^

 18

It may well have been no coincidence then that, upon arriving in

Exeter, John Modyford the elder and his wife Alse settled in St. Paul's

Parish. Here, certain tenements, situated along the western wall and

ditch of Rougemont Castle in the district called Bradninch Precinct,

constituted a part of the Duchy of Cornwall and were held from the

Prince of Wales as was the whole of Bradninch borough on the Culm.

Perhaps through some previous connection it was arranged for Modyford

to establish himself in one of these te n e m e n ts .^

John was a joiner by trade. The homes of Exeter's prosperous

tradesmen and merchants and the manor houses of the gentry who visited

the city periodically required cabinetry and furniture of quality.

Moreover, wainscot panelling was becoming fashionable; many who could

afford it desired at least one room so decorated. Exeter was a far

superior market for his labors and his wares than what Modyford had

known before. On October lU, 1 John applied to the Chamber for

admission as a freeman of the city, paying his fine of Jtl. Then he set

to work to capitalize upon the market advantage this status provided

him. The quality of his craftsmanship was soon recognized; taking an

occasional apprentice swelled the volume of his production; he and his

qcf
family prospered.

To John Modyford the elder and Alse were born several children;

just how many and in what order we do not know (St. Paul's registers

begin in the l£60's, appear to be incomplete during the first few

years they were kept, and are lost for the period lf>87-lf>91). There

is an outside possibility that John Modyford the younger and his known

sisters were nephew and neices of John the elder and Alse. Assuming

they were children of John and Alse, however— and this is highly
 19

probable— the family was likely constituted as follows. Katherine was

b o m first; she died in August, 1573, shortly before her father's

death. Richaurd (here the name of a daughter) next; she married Robert

Skibbowe and produced four children; she and her two daughters were

provided for in the will of John the younger filed in 1625. Then

Margaret; she remained a spinster and was pensioned by the will of John

the younger. Then John Modyford; he was probably born in the mid or

late 1560's. Finally, a younger sister (name unknown); she married

Christopher Hatton and had two children but died before they reached

adulthood. Alse, the mother, was buried at St. Paul's on May U, 1571.

It appears that John the elder took a second wife and produced a second

son who was born posthumously. John was buried September 8, 1573j the
36
child, Thomas was not christened until February 15, 1575.

Thus, the early years of John Modyford the younger were spent

growing up in his father's house and the shop of a busy craftsman.

What arrangement his father made for his dependent children at his

death we do not know. Perhaps John and his younger brother, Thomas,

were both taught their father's trade in the shop of their father's

last apprentice, Nicholas Wheeler, who attained the freedom of the city

and set up on his own in December, 1577. At any rate, John undoubtedly

talked with enough affluent customers coming into the joiner's shop and

helped to deliver furniture to a sufficient number of the better homes

in Exeter to perceive that there was a better life to be had and a

better way to attain it than by planing planks and sawing mitres. The

merchant I In the city, he was the one who made money, gained influence,

and was most respected. John was ambitious. Consequently, while his

brother, Thomas, went on to complete his training as a joiner, secured

 20

his freedom of the city in the fall of 1600, and continued to practice

his father's trade, John strategically altered his direction. He

determined to become learned in the "art of merchandise."^

In the early 1£>90's, John Modyford indentured himself to one of

the most prosperous and influential merchants in Exeter— Thomas Walker.

As was customary, John undoubtedly moved into Walker's "mansion house"

located on St. Mary Arches Street apparently in the "crook" of the lane

just north of St. Mary Arches Church. Walker's spacious town house,

flanked by tenements on the east and west which also belonged to him,

faced somewhat toward the south, affording a view up the street, past

the church, to the intersection with High Street beyond. In this house

John Modyford evidently passed the years of his near decade of appren­

ticeship, close at hand to the shop which was probably located on the

same premises. John applied himself, worked hard, and learned quickly;

he demonstrated both an acumen for business and a sterling integrity.

As the first of a succession of apprentices which Thomas Walker

attracted to himself, John appears to have won his master's confidence,

affection, and support early in their relationship. Through associa­

tion with this family of affluence and influence, John Modyford's

ambitions were further fired; his appetite for wealth and position

grew. Thomas Walker encouraged Modyford's concern to improve himself

and increasingly lent his support. The bonds between the two men grew

as the years passed. Those bonds were measurably enhanced when John,

living amidst the Walker household and being attracted to one of the

younger daughters, Marie, declared his intention to wait until she was
 21

of age for marriage. But after the identure was fulfilled and even

before the marriage of John and Marie made them kinsmen, John Modyford

and Thomas Walker continued a close association in their business

affairs.^

In more ways than one, Thomas Walker became model and mentor to

John Modyford. As an enterprising merchant, few surpassed Walker.

Although it was the generation of his father, James Walker, who pro­

cured a charter in 1560 for the regulated company of ’’Merchant

Adventurers of the Citie of Exon Traffiquinge the realme of France"

(designed to monopolize and protect for its members the wholesale over­

seas trade of Exeter) and who assertively pushed through to completion

in 1566-68 the Exeter Shipping Canal, no man more actively pursued the

advantages provided by both than did Thomas. In what range of com­

modities he dealt, we do not precisely know. Since Exeter was both a

funnel through which came and went the imports and exports of the West

and a distribution center busily engaged in providing goods and ser­

vices for the folk of two western counties, the opportunities were

numerous. Some merchants— especially merchant grocers like Christopher

Lethbridge and John Arundell whose shops were in the vicinity of

Walker's establishment in St. Mary Arches Parish— diversified, dealing

in a wide variety of items.^

Perhaps most Exeter merchants functioned both as wholesalers and

retailers. They exported Devon products, bringing in English and

foreign goods on return; they offered to the local populace both goods

of Devon production and imports. As exporters they could choose to

ship Devon cloths, stockings, lace, gloves, hats, skins, wax, pewter,

and tin. In return, they brought in: from France— canvas, linen,
 22

hempen cloths, paper, glass, brushes, combs, wool cards, thread, soap,

alum, vinegar, wine, prunes, grain, salt, and woad (a mustard plant

yielding a blue dye); from Spain and the Atlantic Islands— iron,

dyeing wood, kidskins, wool, tobacco, wines, raisins, figs, oranges,

lemons, sugar, and woad; from Newfoundland— fish and oil; from the

Netherlands— madder, hops, and (as re-exports) masts, spars, pitch, and

tar; from the Baltic— occasional shiploads of grain; from the home

islands— hops and malt from Kent, hardwares, books, and spices from

London, coal from Wales, Newcastle, or Scotland. It may be that

Thomas Walker was involved somewhat in the tin trade (as was his

brother-in-law, George Smith, during this period and his grandson,

Thomas Walker, sixty years later) and in the export-import of other

minor products. The current prosperity of Devon and Exeter, however,

hinged preeminently upon one commodity— wool. Thomas Walker was a

merchant-clothier. It was to the procedures and profits of this trade

that he oriented his apprentice, John Modyford.^

From the mid thirteenth century, the manufacture of coarse woolen

cloths called "straits'' was an important cottage industry in Devon.

After a period of serious contraction in production toward the end of

the fifteenth century, however, the introduction of kersey (finer

cloths) manufacture altered the scene considerably. By the 1580's and

1590's, the demand for kerseys had made Devon one of the leading

textile counties in England. Moreover, about the year 1570, there

began to appear in England the "new draperies"— still lighter fabrics

of the worsted type introduced by refugee Flemish weavers. Soon after

1600, the new draperies appeared in Devon; around Exeter, serges (long

wearing cloths of a smooth, tightly woven appearance) began to appear

 23

in the market. This trade was destined to oust all others by the end

of the seventeenth century.^

Into the early decades of the seventeenth century, the pattern of

manufacture and marketing of woolens remained a simple one. The work

of manufacture was done in the households, but the purchase of raw

materials and the sale of finished products took place in the various

market towns, especially in Exeter on market days (Wednesdays, Fridays,

Saturdays). The typical pattern was as follows. Spinners came to the

wool-yarn market alongside St. George's Church and purchased raw wool

— both local wool sold there by the Devon farmer and long-fleeced,

Spanish wool provided by the merchant-clothiers. They returned there

to sell their unfinished "Devon dozens" (kerseys and the coarser

straits, twelve yards long by one wide), serges, and other more

specialized cloths in Merchants Hall (New Inn). Here the merchants

purchased the raw cloths, sent them to the fulling mills for finishing

and dyeing, and later packaged and labeled them for export, largely

overseas. Through the Merchant Adventurers Company, several merchants

(mostely from Exeter; some from smaller Devon towns) would combine

their interests, decide on cargo and destination, organize a voyage,

hire a ship, and export. Upon return, the ship brought in select

imports which each participating merchant then placed upon a local

wholesale or retail market. Around 1600, some thirty packages of cloth

per week were being bought in Merchants Hall; much more exchanged hands

during the four principal Exeter fairs (eight-day periods each);

additional cloth was purchased by Exeter merchants in the local markets

of towns like Tiverton, Crediton, and Cullompton.^

During the late 1500's and early 1600's— the peak era of Devon
 2h

trade in kersies and the beginning era of trade in serge— the risks of

overseas trade were great (intermittent wars made the demand in and

access to principal French and Spanish ports precarious) ; but profits

were high. Dunsford calculates that the profits on the kersey trade

were little less than a hundred percent during these years. Through

forty-five years of active trading, by 1625 Thomas Walker had amassed

a fortune estimated at £70,000. Though this figure may have been

somewhat exaggerated, it surely was not less than the £^0,000 accumu­

lated by his merchant-clothier colleague, Peter Blundell of Tiverton,

during the same period. Off to a good start with Walker's counsel and

support, John Modyford would not be far behind.^

In another way, Thomas Walker was model and mentor to his appren­

tice, John Modyford. Walker became a common councilman of extra­

ordinary local political influence. He gained his admission as a

freeman of the city by succession in December, 1576. Subsequently, his

business affairs prospered. Just five years later, in 1581— undoubt­

edly due to the weighty influence in the Chamber of his stepfather,

Thomas Brewerton (mayor 1571, 1580), and his two older brothers-in-law,

George Smith (bailiff 1575; receiver 1582) and John Howell (bailiff

1556, 1582)— Thomas became one of the Twenty-Four. In 1583, he was

appointed to the office of bailiff; he served the city with energy and

devotion. Another opportunity arose in 1588. Around April 1, the West

Country ports received orders from the Privy Council to fit out and

furnish ships which were to rendezvous as a fleet at Plymouth on the

29th under Sir Francis Drake— preparation for the defense of England

against an anticipated attack by the Spanish Armada. The Chamber of

Exeter agreed to supply one ship and one pinnace (small sailing craft
 29

used for scouting), calling upon the other ports of the estuary to do

likewise. Thomas Walker took the initiative; he and his brothers-in-

law, among others, lent the city the funds needed to hire and equip

the Gift of God and the Rose of Exeter and to underwrite their service

— some £398 in all. Accordingly, the Chamber appointed Thomas as

deputy receiver, as it were, to oversee the subscription, collection,

and disbursement of these funds. During the 1590's, while John Mody­

ford was with him as apprentice, Thomas went on to fill the important

offices of receiver (1991) and sheriff (1993). By assisting with

Walker's business enterprises, John Modyford was undoubtedly a great

help to him during these demanding years of service to the city.

Modyford, in turn, matured in the heady atmosphere of life at the

center of the community's affairs.

Thomas Walker served his first term as mayor in 1601. Afterwards,

as alderman for life, his continuing stature in the city was assured.

In 1603, when Sir Walter Raleigh was indicted for treason and his trial

was held at Winchester due to an outbreak of the plague in London,

Walker was summoned to serve on the jury. He and his colleagues

brought in a verdict of guilty against their fellow West Countryman.

In l6lU and again in 1629, Walker served the city a second and a third

time as its mayor. By the 1620's— the last decade of his life— after

forty years of active service as a common councilman of Exeter, the

terms and tone of letters written to the Chamber by Exeter's Members of

Parliament and others attest that Thomas Walker was then perhaps the

most influential and revered member of the city's government.^

 26

Given the potential for profit in the cloth trade and the backing

of men like Thomas Walker and his brothers-in-law, George Smith and

John Howell, John Modyford had ample opportunity to realize his am­

bitions. He made the most of it. Completing his apprenticeship, he

acquired his admission to the city as freeman and entered the Merchant

Adventurers Company in the spring of 1$ 9 9 - He moved into a small

establishment of his own, renting a tenement not far from the Walker

town house in St. Mary Arches Parish. He settled among a number of

other rising young hopefuls— Ignatius Jourden, John Marshall, Thomas

and Lewis Martin, Richard Sweet, Peter Bolte, Peter Colton (Colleton)

— all of whom would eventually serve in city offices. In the same

vicinity was also located what probably was the law office of Nicholas

Duck, barrister of Lincoln's Inn, London, and soon to be appointed

recorder of Exeter. Duck had recently married Grace Walker, one of

Thomas Walker's older daughters. It is likely that here began a close

association between the families Duck and Modyford which was to extend

through three generations. From this prosperous business district,

John carried on his trading and grew in the esteem of his fellows.^7

The Twenty-Four already had their eye on him. In 1602, at the

close of Thomas Walker's first mayoralty, Modyford was appointed a

bailiff. He fulfilled his duties admirably and was probably admitted

to the Chamber a short time thereafter. Within a few years— as his

fortune grew— he was in line for more serious responsibilities. In

1612 he was appointed to the strategic office of receiver, a sure

indication of his growing affluence and political stature. While in

this capacity, he handled all the financial arrangements for the

important improvement the city undertook that year— the leveling,

terracing, planting, and beautifying of Northern Hay— creating out of

the steep slopes just outside the city's north wall a park-like area

for the enjoyment of all of Exeter's residents. This was an achieve­

ment in which he and his colleagues could take pride for many years to

come. Having weathered the financial burden of the receivership, the

following year he served as sheriff. With the successful rendering of

these services to the city, then, it was simply a matter of time before

he would be called upon to fill Exeter's highest office— the

mayoralty.^®

Consequently, it was at this juncture in his affairs, it seems,

that he felt financially secure enough and sufficiently accomplished

in the course of his career to marry, start a family, and reestablish

himself in lodgings more appropriate to his means and station. Marie

Walker was now of agej John's long period of waiting was over. Some­

time between October, 1613 and early l6l£, it appears, they married in

St. Mary Arches Church. Then, they moved to their house on Northgate

Street shortly after its purchase in August, l6lLu Subsequently, the

children began to arrive with amazing regularity.^

Meantime, while continuing to play an active role in the city's

affairs as one of the Twenty-Four, John pursued his trading assertively.

In order to expand somewhat the scope of his activities and to be

prepared to maintain his operation when the city did call for his

services as mayor, John arranged an indenture and took on an apprentice

— young Anthony Wattes. During these years, it seems, he evolved a

specialized pattern of trade— eminently profitable— which he followed

 28

basically for the remainder of his life. As serges began to appear in

the market and demand for these improved cloths accelerated, he dropped

kersies and switched to serges as his chief export item. In Exeter's

Merchants Hall (and perhaps in the markets of adjoining towns) he

purchased serges, had them finished in various colors— near white, grey,

black, blue, yellow, willow green, scarlet— and exported them, largely,

it seems, to ports of Normandy and Brittany. In return, from French

towns like Eouen, Marlaix, and Brest, he imported for wholesale in

Merchants Hall goods such as buckram (coarse cloth of hemp or flax),

dowlas (a coarse linen), and veilette (thin, gauze-like materials).

For the gathering of his purchases and displaying of his imports in

Merchants Hall, he kept somewhere in the vicinity of the hall twenty

long boards from which he erected his display tables on market days.^

Concurrently, he opened his new shop at the front of the ground

floor of his house on Northgate Street. He equipped it with a press

for preparing his serges for shipment, scales and weights, a large

chest for storing fine goods, and a large "puncheon" slab for displaying

goods to customers. Probably shelves also lined the walls. He soon

turned the shop into what appears to have been a retail establishment

offering an inventory of fine linens and tableware. Bedsheets and

"pillaties" of canvas (coarse, unbleached cotton and linen), dowlas

(coarse linen), holland (glazed linen or cotton cloth), and "rosterne"

(?) were regularly stocked. Towels of canvas, dowlas, rosterne, and

diaper (white cotton or linen ornamented with a diamond-shaped pattern)

were also available. The speciality of Modyford's shop, however, seems

to have been the wide selection of fine table linens which he offered.

Assorted sizes of table cloths and napkins of canvas, dowlas, holland,

 29

diaper, and even fine damask (reversable fabric of silk or linen) were

featured. Fine cloths for the display of gold and silver plate and for

the adornment of plate "cubbordes" were carried. And to accompany this

array of fine linens, John also marketed pewter tableware— in all

probability, chargers (large platters), trenchers (plates), saucers,

^1
tankards— a variety of items with which to set a handsome table.^

It could have been because of the speciality of his shop that John

Modyford also arrangedin his home, evidently just to the rear of his

shop and study, a room uniquely designated as the "Dyninge Room.1' The

room was furnished with a long "table board" surrounded by six chairs

of gilded leather. Flanking the dining table were additional serving

tables and a large, embroidered parlor chair. Additional stools stood

nearby. The windows, which opened onto the courtyard behind, were

curtained with green serge. On the walls hung five paintings from

Spain. The whole arrangement focused upon a fireplace with brass

equipage. It may well have been that John Modyford used this room

adjacent to his shop on business days further to display appealing

settings of his fine table wares, thereby prompting affluent customers

to aspire toward more sumptuous dining appointments. Be that as it

may, the room served a further purpose. It was a continuing testimony

to the common councilmen and other freemen of the city who visited his

shop that John Modyford was equipped and ready to handle the enter­

tainment responsibilities of the mayoralty. Indeed, later, in 1622,

when he was selected mayor, it was in this room on the day of his

assumption of office that he would entertain the Twenty-Four and,

weekly thereafter, the officers of his court

 30

Thus, in 1620, as John Modyford anxiously awaited the birth of his

fifth child, he was rapidly approaching the summit of his career.

Prosperous in business, he had risen from humble beginnings to become

one of the wealthiest merchants of Exeter. Esteemed member of the

city's oligarchic Chamber, soon to be tapped to serve as mayor, there

were few men in Exeter possessed of a larger local political influence.

Having served the city honorably in the offices he had previously held,

he was a man "well approved of" by peers and populace alike.$3 Having

married into a "clan" of inter-linked wealthy and influential families,

his "connexions" had served well his ambitions and would likely so

serve those of his children. His beloved family was growing around him

about as rapidly as possible. During the thirty years of his active

career, he had come a long way. Wealth, a prominent role in the gover­

nance of his community, the highest rank in the city's social strata,

the respect of his colleagues, the esteem of his kinsmen, the affection

of his wife and children. To what else could John Modyford aspire?

Surely, he had virtually achieved that which mattered to him. Not sol

A prosperous commercial town like Exeter constituted an enclave of

economic and social mobility within the larger, highly stratified frame­

work of English life. As MacCaffrey has noted: "The city was a kind of

neutral ground where scions of the gentry, the yeomanry, and of husband­

men met on equal terms to contend for the prize of economic success and

the rewards of social prestige which followed it."^ in such an

enclave, a successful merchant like John Modyford could, within the

f course of his own lifetime, rise to the top, attaining wealth, social
 31

status, and political power. Indeed, as officers of the city and of

the Crown, John and his most influential "brethren" were vested with

all the delegated powers enjoyed by the landowning gentry of Devon and

were officially their equals. Immediately upon moving beyond the walls

of Exeter, however, Modyford and his colleagues stepped into an aristo­

cratic society which recognized an hereditary social hierarchy. The

traditional values of this society largely opposed ascent from the

level in which one was bora.

Thus, in this larger society, merchant-magistrates like Modyford

were considered upstarts. They lacked the intangible but all-important

prestige of birth; and, as merchants, they followed a calling which was

a notch below that of the landowner in dignity. Moreover, whereas the

landed gentleman frequently added to his dignity of birth the dis­

tinction of a military career, the borough oligarch was distinctly

disadvantaged even in the performance of the military duties that fell

upon him. To be sure, there was good correspondence between these two

groups in English society. Frequent marriages linking merchant and

county families; portionless younger sons of the gentry entering com­

merce in pursuit of their own fortunes; merchants extending loans to

gentry who had fallen on hard times— all tended to produce a mutually

friendly relationship. But in a thousand little ways the magistrate

who was b o m to office asserted his preeminence over the citizen who

had climbed there. There was no true social equality between them.

These circumstances made the position in English society of a

merchant-magistrate like John Modyford anomalous. The vagaries of the

market place could take away his hard won wealth as quickly as it had

been attained. If such should occur, with the wealth would go the
 32

corresponding political power and social status. Most members of the

borough oligarchy, therefore, regarded it merely as an intermediate

stage in their passage to a higher and more secure status.^ John

Hooker commented on this trend when he noted that the merchants "do

attain to great wealth and riches, which for the most part they do

employ in purchasing land and little by little they do creep and seek

to be gentlemen."^

John Modyford was no exception. Both social ambition and the

desire for an enduring economic security urged him to reach beyond the

position and role he had attained in Exeter. The ultimate goal, then,

of the personal struggle in which Modyford had been engaged for thirty
tn
years was clear— to establish a landed county family. 1

If this dream had not accompanied him throughout his ascendancy

from humble beginnings, it surely dominated his thoughts now, in the

spring of 1620, on the eve of the birth to him and Marie of yet another

babe. Why? Because in the family-kindred into which John Modyford had

married, this aspiration had revealed itself again and again; therein a

pattern and a pace toward its attainment had been demonstrated. Extra­

ordinary examples of its realization had been vividly set before him,

and recently. His hopes had been quickened by their power and

proximity. Thus, although a recital of the links among kindred and of

the efforts of related families to acquire landed estates seldom makes

exciting reading, it is important that we know John Modyford's "con­

nexions"; it is imperative that we understand the impact of their

example upon his course of action and that of his children to come.

(The genealogical chart on page 33 illustrates the family relationships

discussed in the following paragraphs.)

 t i g jco m w p n n n » and trmmrnom

John Selth * Alice (dau. or Alexander WillU s Totblll ♦ Elisabeth Hatthsv

of Borne* HtttUeburj of Dorset) myor Szstor 155* (dsn. of Geoffrey Hxttbew)
( ? ) T tio eaa Browsrton * QEUCE TOTHILL ♦ ( 1 ) JA1CS WAJJEH
of Exeter (6th child) I (goldswith or Exstar,
bsuirr 155?, 1562)

(2) Ones * Sir George Smith * (1) Joan Walker THOMAS WAtKSt * MARGE*T BAKER Joyed a John Howell
(dau. of myor Exetar ** (sayor 1601, (d. 1622)
Ve. Wlell) 1S66, 1597* 1607 I6U 4, 1625
4* 1629) Thoaaa
d. 1619 r-Sir Nicholas Ssith ♦ Dorothy Horsey
of Larkbear Exeter I of Dorset

Samel (died young) I

Ones * Sir Bovii Grenville
(son It heir of Sir Jons ♦ Richard Hewing

I Barnard Grenrllls)

sir John Grenville

of Dorset

__ nitabetta + Sir Thoms Honck

I of Potheridga Devon
El lube til * John Dowriah
One* * glcbolaa Duck
3era
Jaaaa (resided at Catpola,
d. I6bli
Karla
Orece ♦ Thoaaa Kendall
Sara * Thouaa Tothill
Anna (not aarriad
In 1651)
John
JURIS
rJOHN JDDTPOHD
TIOUS KWTFOIB ♦ EUZAKTK PADfHt
(d. 1668)
pThome ♦ Mary Gould S children (d. 1628)
George + h M Charges John
including:
Joana
(Duke of
Albemrle)
"I
Chriatophar llcholaa But*
Anna * T i m a Aay
(widowed Jaaaa * SHaabatb 3laming
Nicholas (•on I by 1631) Margary (apinatar, d. 1652)
Arthur _ hair. b. 1M6) Robart ♦ (2) Mary Cotton Hanry (d. 16b7)
(1) Har£aret *
‘Trances (d. 1629) (d. 1665) Robart (d. in infancy)
George Haatar
-Henry

■9 children
including: — Thouaa
Richard Dock * Joan Catherine
of Heavitree I Arthur luck * Margaret Ann
Dena, aon ofML ■ — (dau, of Henry rHartha ♦ (1) Williaa Duck Kargary
(d. I61i9)
Philipp Duck of Soutbworth of (2) gicholaa Duck Edward
Banaltma. d. 1603 London k Wells) of Ht. Radford 7 children Ellxabath
(3) Sir. Tboa. including: “ Jiuai
Nicholas Dock ♦ Ones Walker Care*
(recorder of *» Itary ♦ Vllliaa Harbord Sir Tboaaa Walker
Exeter, treasurer (ahariff 166b, uayor
of Lincoln's Inn, 1667, ooualaaloner of
. d. 1628) prlraa, d. 1682)

-10 children Jaaaa ♦ Dorothy Soutbcott

including; (aayor 168b, (d. 1677)
-Richard Duck * Bridget aldarean,
(aao t hair I {dau. of Sir co11actor of cuatona,
Thoaaa (!|th child)
b. 1603, I Thouaa Draw of . d. 1690)
(b. 1632, d. 1667
d. 1656) I tba Qranga
Chinock)
Philip Duck ♦ Mary Edaund (7th child)
•{d. 1667) (b. 1636, d. 1683
- laualna)

.Figure 1, (see footnote 58)

 3h

The larger kindred into which Councilman John Modyford married had

its beginnings when James Walker, goldsmith, moved into Exeter around

1550. It is probable that his family came originally from Lancashire.

Becoming a freeman of the city in 1553, James married Grace Tothill

(daugnter of William Tothill, alderman and mayor [1552], and Elisabeth

Matthew, descendant of the Matthews, Flewillans, and Herberts of

Wales). They settled in St. Martin's Parish. Their offspring were

three— Joan, Thomas and Joyce. James Walker had just begun his poli­

tical ascendancy (bailiff 1559) and had only taken a first step toward

acquiring a landed estate (in partnership with others) when death cut

short his earthly pilgrimage in late 1562. His widow married, secondly,

Thomas Brewerton (mayor 1571).^

As wards of the Exeter City Orphans Court, James Walker's children

all married well. Joan Walker married George Smith (1572), Exeter

merchant from Matford in Heavitree (son of John Smith of Borrage

[receiver of Exeter 15614, sheriff 1565, mayor 1567] and Alice, daughter

of Alexander Kuttleberie of Dorset) who could trace his lineage through

male and female lines back to a daughter of Edward I. The younger

daughter, Joyce, married John Howell. Thomas Walker married Mariery

(Margery) Baker (a granddaughter of John Smith of Borrage and niece of

George Smith, Walker's brother-in-law).^ A brief focus upon the family

and fortune of each in turn reveals the pattern they established in

pursuit of the ultimate goal.

George Smith and Joan Walker. We have examined the career of

George Smith briefly. His political ascendancy and public service in

 35

Exeter were mayor If?86, l£97 > 1607; Member of Parliament 160U-5j 1606,

1606-7; knighted 160U. With his wife, Joan Walker, Sir George produced

several children, of whom three lived to adulthood: Elizabeth,

Nicholas, and Jane. After Joan's death, Sir George married (1$?8)

Grace Viell (daughter and co-heiress of William Viell of Madford near

Launceston) and with her produced one daughter, Grace. While producing

his family and rising to the uppermost ranks of Exeter's oligarchy,

Sir George was also eminently successful in his commercial affairs.

Available evidence does not make possible an approximate estimate of

his worth; it leaves no doubt, however, that, before his death in 1619,

he became the richest merchant in Exeter.^ How did he arrange for his

family's future? How did he provide for their financial security?

Only a partial answer can be given to these questions, but enough

can be documented to show clearly the pattern he established. For each

of his children he arranged marriages with offspring of established

gentry. Elizabeth married Sir Thomas Monck of Potheridge near Tor-

rington who was of the seventeenth generation of Moncks to draw their

living from this manor origianlly granted to Hugh le Moyne by Edward I,

probably as a knight's fee. Of their ten children, the second son,

George, was destined to distinguish himself most, earning through his

military career and assistance with the Restoration of Charles IX

titles (Duke of Albemarle), positions, and estates which would have

staggered his grandfather's imagination. Jane married Richard Hening,

Gentleman, of Dorsetshire. Grace married Sir Bevil Grenville, son and

heir of Sir Barnard Grenville of Stow, Cornwall. The Grenvilles were

an ancient, established family with seats in both Devon and Cornwall.

Of the eleven children b o m to Grace and Sir Bevil, John, alongside his
 36

father, would most distinguish himself fighting for the king's cause in

various battles of the Civil War in the West Country. The marriage

arrangements for each of the girls was sweetened with handsome dowries

and definite settlements of certain properties, all except the arrange­

ment for Elizabeth and Sir Thomas Monck. Aside from Nicholas, Sir

George's chief heir, they alone were left open to benefit from a final

settlement of his estate. It required a suit in Chancery to prompt

this final settlement in 1622. Lastly, Nicholas married Dorothy

Horsey, daughter of Sir Ralph Horsey of Dorset whose ancestors had

62
married heiresses of the Tourges and Malbanke families of that county.

Meantime, beginning as early as l£8l, Sir George began investing

heavily in lands. He continued to do so for the next thirty years or

more. He made investments of at least three types: (1) short-term

leases of forty-to-sixty years from which he expected to derive some

immediate benefit to himself; (2) long-term leases of ninety-nine years

or the lives of three persons then living (the most common form of land

tenure in Devon during this period) through which he sought an assured

annual income for his children; and (3) outright purchases in fee simple

(the most difficult to arrange due to the extreme reluctance of the

landed to part permanently with their lands) through which he expected

to establish and endow his family among the gentry. A survey of his

known holdings illustrates this pattern.

In the early l£80's, Sir George began to purchase property within

Exeter in St. Stephen's Parish. Chief among his acquisitions was a

town house on the comer of High and Gandy streets which, after being

completely remodeled in l£8U-l£8£, became his opulent family dwelling

in time for his first mayoralty. With delicately decorated plastered

 37

ceilings, with a large kitchen in the cellar having a massive fireplace

and extensive equipage for preparing the family meals, with a huge

fireplace in the hall framed by an ornately carved wooden mantlepiece

ten feet and six inches high— Smith's town house lavishly displayed

his wealth and growing political influence in the city. Simultaneously,

he acquired a forty-nine year lease on two gardens in nearby Northern

Hay, undoubtedly for purposes of properly supplying his table. By the

close of the century, the merchant-magistrate had acquired sufficient

additional lands and tenements along the western side of High Street

to be listed as the single largest landowner in the city subject to the

Subsidy of 1602. His properties in St. Stephen's were assessed as

having an annual value of £30. Next in value to Smith's properties

were those of John Davy (£20— St. Mary Arches'), Nicholas Hurst (£13

--St. Olave's), and Thomas Walker (£10— St. Mary Arches'). W. G.

Hoskins notes that these assessments were notoriously unreal— somewhere

between one-tenth and one-thirtieth of actual value. Taking the con­

servative estimate, then, this would have made Smith's city properties

alone worth £300 in annual income.^

As he built up his estate within the city, Sir George also

acquired extensive holdings throughout the countryside. In the im­

mediate vicinity of Exeter, just outside the city on the road to Top-

sham, he purchased the castellated medieval mansion of Larkbeare built

in the thirteenth century— a fitting seat for his son and principal

heir, Nicholas, upon his coming of age. To add to the ancestral lands

of Larkbeare, he purchased or leased additional plots of ground between

the deep, wooded valley on the edge of which Larkbeare was situated and

Magdalen Street. Later, after his second marriage, he built himself

 38

another country house. Still within Wonford Hundred* on the lane

leading from Mount Radford toward Wonford, Sir George built Madford

House, completing it during the period 1596-1600 and occupying it

during the latter years of his life. Nearby, he purchased the Manor of

East Wonford to provide an extension of the home estate.^

In more remote parts of the shire as well, his money tempted the

heirs of ancient patrimonies. To the south, in Exminister Hundred,

amidst the deep red soils and fine timber of the Parish of Kenn (some

three miles west of Topsham), Sir George purchased forty acres of the

Manor of Frankaller which included Bearewell Quarry. Farther south, in

Haytor Hundred, midway between Newton Abbott and Torquay, he bought

one-fourth of the manor known as Kingskerswell. To the east, in

Cliston Hundred, midway between Exeter and Honiton, Smith bought the

Manor of Whimple. Farther east, in the valley of the Otter River, he

purchased portions of Harpford Manor astride the river some three miles

northwest of Sidmouth; he bought Cadhay Manor on the western side of

the river in the same vicinity; he took a lease for the lives of

Nicholas, Elizabeth, and Jane on twenty acres of the Awliscombe Manor

lying along the edge of Combe Rawleigh Down; and he purchased half of

Ivedon Manor in Awliscombe Parish. To the north, near Tiverton, Sir

George took a lease for the lives of Thomas (died a youth), Elizabeth,

and Jane on Middlehill, a fourth part (250 acres) of the Manor of

Ashley Park. To the northwest, in Shebbear Hundred, he purchased the

Manor of Bulkworthy. This estate lay not far from Sir Thomas Monck's

Potheridge and not far from Bideford, the ancient inheritance of the

Grenvilles into whose family his youngest daughter, Grace, married.

Finally, Sir George purchased the Manor of Mycklmorton, the members of

 39

which were scattered in several locations in Devon and in Kilkampton,

Cornwall.

In summary, then, it is apparent that, in his own lifetime, Sir

George Smith more than realized the dream to which he and his fellow

merchant-magistrates aspired— to found a county family. Titled, landed,

his children married into the established gentry of three counties and

secured with landed annuities, his son and heir established in an

adequate estate of his own— during the last decade of his life, Sir

George retired from commerce to Madford House to live the life of a

country gentleman. When he died in 1619, after a funeral so osten­

tatious that the College of Arms felt obliged to investigate, there

passed on to Nicholas at Larkbeare his name, his title, and the bulk

of his holdings. Sir Nicholas Smith, secure in the revenues not from

one estate alone but from a half dozen or so, never had to learn or
66
practice the "art of merchandise." A new county family had emerged.

Were all of James Walker's offspring destined to be so fortunate?

John Howell and Joyce Walker. After completing his merchant's

apprenticeship to his older brother-in-law, George Smith, gaining his

freedom of the city in 1576, John Howell also pursued a commercial

career of creditable success. In turn, this enabled him to distin­

guish himself somewhat in public service to the city and the nation:

bailiff 1556, 1582; receiver 1590; governor of the Exeter Merchant

Adventurers Company 1591; sheriff 1592; mayor 1599; afterwards alderman

for life; Member of Parliament 1601. As indicated in a personal

letter from the king to Exeter's Twenty-Four (1603), John seems to have

found special favor in the eyes of James I. The Chamber were invited

by the king to address him with "any your reasonable suites that may
 Uo

be for your good and somewhat the rather if they shall be preferred

unto us by our welbeloved servant, John Howell, one of your brethrene,

of whose loyaltie and good service we have experienced." His greatest

opportunity, perhaps, for crowning his career with an achievement which

would have lifted him above the local oligarchy and the social stigma

of the market place came when he proposed to the Twenty-Four to capi­

talize upon his favor with the king by pressing suit to establish a

royal mint in Exeter. No doubt, he had in mind becoming the master of

that mint. The Chamber, however, not being able to see the advantage

to themselves in such a move, declined to support his suit. Conse­

quently, he and his son, Thomas, appear to have remained merchants

throughout their lives. They are known to have leased small plots of

land just outside the city walls from time to time, but evidence is

lacking to link them with heavy investments in land. With such a one

as Sir George Smith as his early master in the merchants' guild, how

could John Howell have escaped the infection of this dream? Likely he

did not. His commercial success was simply not adequate to the reali­

zation of that dream, even in the second generation. Howell's career

illustrates a further point. A significant number of Exeter's merchant

magistrates rose to enjoy the sweets of power and prestige within the

confines of the city. Few, however, actually succeeded in establishing

a county family. Those who did were distinct exceptions rather than

the rule.^

Thomas Walker and his wife, Margery. We have followed the career

of Thomas Walker, merchant-magistrate, in some depth to 1620, by which

time he had accrued substantial wealth and an unchallenged political

influence in the city of Exeter. During this active career of forty

years, he and Margery had procreated a large family in their "mansion

house" on St. Mary Arches' Street. Though precise registries of births

are lacking, the children who survived infancy appear to have been b o m

approximately between 1580 and 1600 and in the following order:

Elizabeth, Grace, Sara, James, John, Marie, Ann, Robert, and Henry.

Now that he was approaching retirement from a lucrative career of trade

with his children having reached or being upon the threshold of adult­

hood, what steps had he been taking (or would take in the next few

years) to insure their future? How would he seek to effect that grand

and final barter, i.e., exchange the life of the market place for that
68
of the country house?

Like his brother-in-law, Sir George Smith, early in his career

Thomas began investing the profits of trade in land— arranging short

and long-term leases, taking up mortgages, and purchasing outright.

Several examples will suffice to show the pattern by which he built up

his holdings.

His initial acquisitions were made in partnership with others. In

1581, joining Richard Burnbery and John Tothill, Thomas arranged with

Arthur Halse a long-term lease on the manors of Ashebeare, Rose Ash,

and Ivedon, their member lands scattered in sixteen different locations

over the county of Devon, and their member tenements located in the

towns of Monkton, Brentor, and Tavistock. During the same year, Thomas

and his stepfather, Thomas Brewerton, took a mortgage from Jherome

Maynowe of Plymouth on his Manor of Boringdon in Plympton St. Mary and

adjoining estates called Brixton and Coloroke. They advanced Maynowe

the sum of £1,980. Later, Maynowe granted Walker and Brewerton clear

title to these estates; but it appears that they, in turn, sold them
to Sir Arthur Bassett, Sir Francis Drake, and Anthony Monck. In 1606,

Thomas and his past-apprentice, John Modyford, took a mortgage from

Edward Fortescue on his Manor of Wymston with its members in Modbury

and elsewhere. Six months later, however, Fortescue paid this mortgage

and redeemed his properties. Sometime before 1612, Walker and Sir

Nicholas Hale of Pentongolleth, Cornwall, acquired in partnership the

Manor of Efford (Stratton Hundred, Cornwall) with one-fourth part of

the borough rents and franchises of Okehampton attached. In 1612, they

sold this estate to Henry Tothill of Peamore.^ It appears, then, that

much of the traffic in lands in which Thomas Walker engaged In partner­

ship with others was not aimed primarily at acquisition for himself.

Rather, he sought to bring his ready money to the assistance of various

of the gentry, thereby enhancing his stature among them and establishing

ties which would later benefit him and his family.

Meanwhile, however, throughout the forty-five years of his active

career as a merchant and local magistrate, Thomas was also engaged in

acquiring lands for himself. Within Exeter and its immediate vicinity,

he accumulated extensive holdings. From the city, by short-or long­

term lease, he held one or more tenements in each of the parishes of

St. Kerrian, St. Mary Major, Allhallows, St. Sidwell, and Trinity;

another in Southgate Street; and one on each side of St. Edmund's

Church near Exe Bridge. On similar tenure, he held two gardens in

Preston Street, another garden on Paul Street, and both tenements and

land— part of Duryard Manor— in St. David's Parish. Furthermore, he

also purchased one or more houses in each of the parishes of St. Mary

Major, St. Paul, St. Olave, St. Petrock, and St. Sidwell. Finally, as

we noted, in St. Mary Arches he owned the town house in which his
family lived and a substantial tenement on each side of it. Again,

applying Hoskins's calculations to the assessed value of these tene­

ments for the Subsidy of 1602, the properties on St. Mary Arches'

Street alone were easily worth JSlOO per annum.

Elsewhere in Devonshire, Walker acquired selected estates as well.

To the northeast of Exeter, Thomas purchased the Manor of Catpole,

lying in the placid and tidy cider-orchard country, with certain

members in Whimple Parish and others in the parish of Broad Clyst. It

was upon the home farm (the "barton") in Whimple Parish that Thomas

determined to establish his retirement home and new family seat. To

the southeast of Exeter, he bought a series of lands and tenements in

the parishes of Otterton and Topsham. Some eight miles southwest of

the city, in the wild and hilly parish of Bridford just beyond the

River Teign, Thomas purchased the ancient farm of Laployd Barton with

adjoining tracts of Beacon Down and woodland. In the same vicinity,

he arranged for a long-term lease on "several Messuages, Cottages,

landes, tenements, and hereditaments" in Christowe, altogether occupied

by some thirty-five tenants. Still farther south, Thomas acquired a

tract of land around Stockingham (Stockenham) just inland from Start

Bay; these lands he, in turn, let on long-term lease to Sir Samuel
71
Somaster of Painesford.1

Moreover, somewhat in variance to the practice of Sir George

Smith, Thomas Walker also invested heavily in Cornish lands. In

northern Cornwall, Lesnewth Hundred, some eight miles west of Laun­

ceston, Thomas purchased from Richard Lanyon the Barton of Treneglos.

To the southwest, just above Wadebridge at the head of the Padstow

Estuary, he took a long-term lease on the rectory and ecclesiastical

lands attached to the Parish of Eglsfhell (Egloshayle). Farther south,

he acquired the Manor of Talveme, a long time possession of the

Arundell family, lying along the eastern shore of the Fal Estuary. Due

west of this estate, located near Redruth, he purchased the Manor of

Talbeane St. Marie's, alias Redruth. Directly south of this trace, he

bought lands and tenements in Helston borough and the properties known

as Boscassarkt, Wartha, Nansathonan (Nancegollan?), and Parke Anger"

in or close by Sithney. Finally, he purchased the manors of Trebeneage

and Penberthy, apparently near the village of Trebegean (Lands End),

and bought the advowson, rectory, and right of patronage of the Parish

of St. Just nearby.^

Consequently, by 1620, Thomas Walker had built up a splendid en­

dowment in lands and had established through his business dealings

close ties with a number of influential squires of both Devon and Corn­

wall— strong foundations upon which to establish a new county family.

Already, he was laying plans for the building of a "proper handsome

house" on his principal estate at Catpole and for his move from the

bustle of St. Mary Arches' Street to the peaceful valleys of Whimple

Parish. But with nine children— even with the sizeable fortune he had

accumulated— how did he purpose to secure their futures, to effect his

own transformation from merchant-magistrate to country squire, and to

endow sufficiently a new family seat to enable the second and third

generations of Walker gentry to live in a dignity befitting their new

status in life? The will which Thomas Walker filed in November, 1628,

and codicils added soon thereafter reveal the basic course of his
73
thought and action during his latter years.

Walker was a realist. He could not expect to translate all of his

children into the comfortable, endowed life of the gentry. His hope

for a new family seat and generations to come of Walker Esquires was

invested in his eldest son— James. To each of the others he would give

a good start; the rest depended upon how they used their assets and

opportunities.

As each of the girls approached marriage, it appears that her

father presented her with a dowry worth between £800 and £1 ,200. This

is what he had in mind for Sara, the one daughter yet unmarried when

he died. Accordingly, each married reasonably well. Elizabeth, the

eldest, probably married early but lost her husband after a few years.

She would marry again, this time to John Dowrish, son and heir of

Thomas Dowrish of Dowrish (Dawlish?), graduate of Exeter College,

Oxford, and representative of the university abroad. He had a comfort­

able living and station in life. Grace did well, indeed. She married

Nicholas Duck, by now recorder of Exeter and treasurer-bencher of

Lincoln's Inn. Revenues from lands inherited from his father (Richard

Duck of Heavitree), pensions received from his official positions, and

fees from a lucrative practice of law in London— all contributed to the

security of the Ducks. In 161U, Nicholas had purchased for his family

home Radford Place (Mount Radford). Next to Larkbeare and Sir George

Smith's Madford House, Radford Place was the most imposing manor house

in close proximity to Exeter. Of their children, Richard and Phillip

survived and were now near grown. Marie, of course, had married John

Modyford. Anne had married Thomas Amy, another enterprising merchant

of Exeter, who was advancing steadily in his political ascendancy in

in the city as well. Of their children, seven would survive: Thomas,

nJ
Katherine, Anne, Margery, Edward, Elizabeth, and James. 4
 1*6

As Thomas Walker's sons neared manhood, each was assisted in a

different way. John, the second son, was oriented to special trading

activities in the neighboring town of Chudleigh. Later, he was

presented with all his father's estate, franchises, and trading rights

in the fairs and markets of this town as a contribution to his advance­

ment. Robert, third son, was indentured as a merchant to his brother-

in-law, Thomas Amy, and would soon take up the mantle of his father as

merchant-magistrate in Exeter. Toward his advancement, eventually his

father would endow him with most of his leased and owned tenements in

Exeter, Otterton, and Topsham, about half of the leased properties in

Christowe, the Barton of Laployd in the Parish of Bridford, and the use

of his mansion house on St. Mary Arches' Street. For the latter he was

to pay his brother James an annual rent. Robert would marry twice;

secondly, Mary, daughter of William Cotton, rector of Silverton. Of

his children, six would survive: Margaret, Thomas, William, James,

Elizabeth, and Maria. Henry, Thomas Walker's fourth son, eventually

received £1,000 either to start him in trade or to help him attract an

advantageous marriage; also reserved for him was a comfortable dwelling

in St. Kerrian's Parish and a lease on a tenement and land, parcels of

Duryard Manor.7?

As for James, the eldest, in preparation for his future life among

the squirearchy of Devon and Cornwall, he was sent to Lincoln's Inn for

a few terms following his admission on January 25, 1606. Here he

learned enough law to manage the estates his father was busy acquiring

and to serve as a justice of the peace when the opportunity presented

itself. It is not clear whom he married. To endow his life as a

gentleman, he was eventually given Catpole, ample furnishings for its

 hi

newly erected manor house and a large flock of sheep for its fields,

all the adjacent properties in Whimple and Broad Clyst, half the leases

on the properties in Christowe, the ownership and rents of the houses

on St. Mary Arches' Street, the entire collection of properties in

76
Cornwall, all his father's plate, and Jt700 in ready money.

Thus, it is apparent that by 1620 Thomas Walker, followingin the

footsteps of Sir George Smith, was on the verge of his transformation

from merchant-magistrate to country gentleman. With God's blessing,

he would soon be settled into his new country house. After his death,

from this new family seat his son,James— trained and endowed for the

role— was ready to carry on with the affairs of a new county family.

Clearly the dream was within his reachj only a little more time was

needed for its fulfillment.

Here, then, in the spring of 1620, at his town house on Northgate

Street, was John Modyford— Thomas Walker's son-in-law, Sir George

Smith's nephew by marriage, for twenty years or more the almost daily

associate of both— awaiting yet another addition to his family. Re­

flecting upon the overall direction and promise of his family's affairs

as a man is prone to do on such occasions, Modyford could not help but

be grasped and inspired by the dramatic example set before him by each

of these men. They had made it! Each had realized his aspiration and

within his own lifetime. In their examples, John took hearty hope. As

in so many other things, here too they were his models. Their dream

was his dream.

John had been following their proven pattern well enough. For
some time he had been investing the profits of trade in lands. In

addition to his town house on Horthgate Street, he had purchased an

estate in Halberton Parish lying in and around Shuthanger, just south

of which there lies a farm that bears his name yet today. Perhaps he

could already envision— if his business affairs continued to prosper

— erecting a new manor house overlooking the small stream in this

pleasant valley in the not-too-distant future. Of more immediate

importance, however, he was busily engaged in buying up long-term

leases on other properties. For some reason, he favored lands and

tenements in coastal areas and fishing villages such as Salcombe,

Chivelstone, Stockenham, and Beer in Devon and Lyme Regis in Dorset.

His purpose seems to have been to establish an endowment which would

provide a secure annuity of not less than |100, first to his wife,

later to his principal heir, for the duration of their lives. He was

not far short of that goal in 1620. His affairs were going well. He

might just be the third member of his family-kindred to make that

coveted shift from the counting house to the country house before the

end of his days. It was worth striving for.^?

But John Modyford also was a realist. More likely his thoughts

ran in a slightly different vein as he eagerly awaited the birth of his

next child. Kinsmen Smith and Walker had realized the dream after

forty years of eminently successful merchandising. He, himself, had

made a late start. He was approaching fifty years of age if he had

not already there arrived. After twenty years of active trading his

accumulated assets were enviablej but they would have measured no more

than half or perhaps a third of his kinsmen's respective fortunes.

Could he acquire enough to climb that last rung of the ladder before
arriving at the full measure of his years? He wondered. Was it not

more practical to wager the fulfillment of the dream upon a second

generation? Was it not more realistic to think of bequeathing a strong

foundation of wealth and influence, along with the dream and the

challenge of the final step, to a principal heir? Should he not con­

cern himself most with providing that heir— as Richard Duck of Heavi-

tree had his son, Nicholas— the education and "connexions" needed to

secure a position of service under the Crown at the national level

which could well bring with it title, pension, and an attractive

marriage? Did not his best hope lie in seeing the second generation

multiply the legacy of the first and establish a county family of

Modyfords securely endowed for generations to come? Probably so.?®

For John Modyford, then, the one requisite for any further mean­

ingful movement toward the goal was a son and heir I But John had

married late. Though his union with Marie Walker had been repeatedly

blessed— including the possibility of one or two children lost in

infancy— the sum total to date was four little girls. As a man of his

era, John Modyford was ominously conscious of the ever present hand of

death. Periodic visitations of the plague, the prevalence of other

infectious diseases, the high incidence of infant mortality— all contin

ually reminded the man of the seventeenth century that his own personal

quest might be interrupted at any time, permanently, with little or no

warning. Time was running outL Was he condemned to produce a contin­

uous succession of daughters? Was there to be no one to take up where

he might be destined to leave off and carry forth the Modyford name and

the Modyford dream to their fulfillment??^

 50

10

Left to our imagination is the denouement of this scene. Perhaps

John's troubled reflections are interrupted abruptly by an excited

servant with news. The child is bomI It is a boy! He appears

healthy and strong; his mother is exhausted but well. John hurries to

the rear of the house and up the stairs to the parlor chamber above.

A few more minutes of waiting while the midwife cleans and tidies the

room. Then Mrs. Turner ushers in the common councilman to view his son

and heir. It is difficult to imagine with what pride the greying

Exeter merchant holds this boy in his arms. After a few minutes of

adoration and sharing with Marie and the babe, it is confirmed— what

they had probably decided long before; he would be called "Thomas"

after his Grandfather Walker.80

Being assured that mother and child are well and their every need

provided for, John Modyford prepares to spread the news of his good

fortune. He pays Mrs. Turner her usual fee of 20s with a handsome

gratuity on the side and his warmest thanks. Donning coat and hat, he

descends the stairs, passes through the kitchen and out the back way

to saddle his gelding. He would stop first at the Walker mansion house

on St. Mary Arches' Street to inform Grandfather Thomas, Grandmother

Margery, Aunt Sara, and the little Modyford girls who were being looked

after there during their mother's delivery. Thomas Walker would be so

pleased; it was only his second grandson and the first to be a namesake

as well. From there to St. Mary Arches' Rectory to arrange for the

boy's baptism. A short distance beyond, a stop would be made in St.

Olave's Parish at the residence of Aunt Anne and Uncle Thomas Amy.
 51

Then out through South Gate and down Topshara Road to Radford Place to

inform the Ducks. On the return trip, he would pause briefly at

Larkbeare to share the news with Sir Nicholas and Lady Smith. Once

back in town, there were many other kinsmen and friends to notify.

Mounting his horse, the merchant-magistrate rides forth with a well-

spring of gratitude and joy in his heart. God's smile is upon himI

With the birth of his son, his future and the future of his family are

open once again.®1

We may picture such a probable scene if we wish, but one thing we

know certainly. From this day forward, John Modyford vested his hope

and his dream of founding a landed county family in his first-born son
32
and heir, Thomas Modyford.
 H. MERCHANT -MAYOR'S SON, 1620-1632

Due to the "commotions" of the times, the boy who was b o m that

spring day of 1620 to John Modyford and his wife, Marie, would ulti­

mately be drawn far away from the West Country in pursuit of his

father's aspirations which became his own. The fulfillment of that

dream would occur on far-flung tropical shores of the early English

empire; it was there, in that setting, that Thomas Modyford's achieve­

ments impress us as having historical significance.

But it was here, in the West Country— in the comfortable house on

Northgate Street; amidst the shops, markets, schools, churches, and

open spaces of Exeter; along the banks of the River Exe; among the

verdant, embowering hills of Devon— that Thomas grew to manhood and

ventured forth on the first steps of his career. We should like to

know what aspects of this environment most influenced his early years

of development. Among his kindred and associates, who were closest to

him during his boyhood days? What efforts were made to educate and

train him, to shape his ideals and aspirations? What was his formal

schooling like? What books did he read? What was the essence of his

religious experience? What localities did he most frequent; in what

activities did he most engage during the years of his youth? To what

life goals did he commit himself as he emerged a man? It is to a

search for answers to questions like these that we now turn.

It is with such questions about his childhood, youth, and early

52
 53

adulthood, however, that we encounter singular difficulty. Thomas

Modyford left us no portrait of himself either on canvas or in word-

sketch. He left no diary of youthful activities, no correspondence

with early associates, no memoirs reflecting back upon childhood days.

As a man of his times, in this respect he was not exceptional, Pepys,

Evelyn,and a handful of others aside, the Englishmen of this period

seldom displayed a delight in life and manners for their own sake; they

seldom indulged in that sustained introspection which produces a

detailed record of intimate thoughts, feelings, and responses to the

incidents of everyday life. Largely missing, therefore, are the enter­

taining diaries and personal correspondence of their counterparts a

century or so later. English "Lives" of this era, then, must depend

chiefly upon official records, public correspondence, and the thumb­

nail sketches of biographers attracted to the contemporary or previous

generation of "worthies." We know the seventeenth-century man princi­

pally as a man of action in his public role as a justice of the peace,

a soldier, a man-of-the-cloth, a farmer of customs, a merchant-

provisioner, a Member of Parliament, or a secretary of state. We know

little of his school days, less of his private life, and least of all

about his "state of mind," his "exact words," or his "precise response"

at any given time or place.^ To a considerable extent, these generali­

zations apply to the life of Thomas Modyford. Do we then lay aside the

task of seeking to understand his early experiences, reckoning this

scarcity of sources to be an insurmountable obstacle? No.

We know much about the environments in which Thomas Modyford grew

to manhood. We know something of the persons with whom he associated

and of other influences which were brought to bear upon his early
 5k

development. Through extensive documentation, in later life we know

what kind of a man he was— the values he espoused, the goals he pursued,

the acts he perpetrated. If the lad whom we know insufficiently was

father to the man whom we know more fully— and there is every reason to

believe that such continuity was present in Thomas Modyford1s experience

— then, in the personality, character, and pursuits of the mature

Thomas Modyford we have a general key to an understanding of the course

2
of his early development. With this approach, then, while making use

of the specifics which the sources do provide, in chapters two and

three, we seek an understanding of the youth and early manhood of

Thomas Modyford.

Doubtless, young Thomas Modyford's earliest memories were of his

father's spacious house on Northgate Street. The Modyford house was a

comfortable one albeit of unusual design. It stood amidst a row of

houses several of which had been built in pairs around 1600. Though

it occupied a lot barely eighteen feet wide, the house extended back

to near eighty feet in length. It was constructed in two blocks: the

front block of four stories, the rear of three, separated by an open

courtyard perhaps sixteen feet square. Each block was two rooms deep

on each floor; a central staircase in each structure gave access to

all its rooms. Constructed of timber framing clad with lath and

plaster, the house shared with the adjoining building its north wall

built of Heavitree stone, that reddish breccia conglomerate obtained

principally from the Wonford Quarry in the neighboring parish of

Heavitree. The stone wall embraced at least three chimneys which,

 9176821612

Figure
 56

together, opened fireplaces to at least nine of the rooms scattered

throughout both sections of the house. With its high gable facing the

street, the facade— resplendent as it was with windows— was not unusual.

What was unique about the design of the house were the two, narrow,

enclosed galleries, one above the other, spanning the open courtyard

along one side, linking the second and third stories of the two sections

of the house. These effectively integrated the house as a whole.

Thomas's father had purchased the house from a merchant colleague,

William Birdall, on August $ 3 l6lU, about the time he and Thomas's

mother were married. Containing sixteen rooms and a cellar or two

besides the shop and, possibly at the extreme rear, a separate stable/

warehouse, the house provided a commodious dwelling for John Modyford's

growing family.

Such a house afforded an endless fascination to the expanding

awareness of a growing child. The street-level shop with its rich

wares, with customers coming and going, with his father's corselet of

armour, standing arms, and muskets arrayed in readiness for militia

service. His father's study: the desk strewn with bills of lading and

account books, the library shelved along the walls, the "sea chest"

filled with coins of the realm neatly denominated in separate leather

bags. The formal dining room in all its splendor. The enclosed court­

yard where he was free to play, unattended, out of harm's way. The

large kitchen: illumined by tapers in its "gangging" brass candle­

sticks j warmed by the glowing embers of a hardwood fire on its broad

hearth; rampant with the savory smells of roasting meat on the spits,

of vegetables simmering in pots hanging from the "crooks," of malt

steeping in the "greate ffurnes to brwe in" within the "inner

 $7

kittchinge" behind. One story above and to the front, the hall: among

other things furnished with a long "Table-Borde," six "Leather

Chayres," and six "Joyne Stooles," where the family normally gathered

for its meals and devotions. Here, and in the parlor behind, plate

cupboards with shining gold and silver plate displayed against a back­

ground of green serge. In the bedrooms behind and above, every bed­

stead bedecked with "ffether bed and boulster"— so inviting for child­

hood gymnastics. With its cocklofts at the top, its dark, tqysterious

cellars below, its dual dog-legged staircases, and its twin bridging

galleries— the house was a veritable paradise for playful, adventurous

children. And when Thomas was a bit older, it provided him a room of

his own— probably the highest chamber at the front— with a window

overlooking the street below, a desk for his writing, and a "greate

glasse Lantheme" to magnify the candle's glow upon his books after

sun's descending.^ From the very beginning, then, this intriguing

house provided a physical environment well calculated to arouse the

curiosity, to stimulate the imagination, and to nurture the intelli­

gence of this precocious boy.

Within that house, surrounding young Thomas Modyford was a devoted

family circle. Though evidence is scant, Thomas's mother was seemingly

affectionate toward her brood, physically and emotionally strong,

dedicated to seeing her son prepared to assume his rightful place in

the world. She gave Thomas what time she could— always with the

quality of special attention— amidst her busy routines of supporting

her husband's civic role, managing a large household, and bringing more

children into the world. During Thomas's youth, his mother was con­

tinually pregnant with yet another babe. Dy August, l62f>, the summer
 58

when Thomas was five years old, six more young Modyfords had been born

into the family: John, Joan, James, Margery, Henry, and Robert. After

that date, one more girl arrived— Hester, The family was extremely

fortunate in those times when a man did well to raise three out of tenj

of the Modyford children, only little Robert died in infancy. Yet,

though the family was large and his mother's concerns many, Thomas

never wanted for loveor care. When his mother was otherwise occupied,

there were his four older sisters to dote over him. In turn, during

the years of his youth, in the Modyford household there were always

younger brothers and sisters— amongst them a wee one— who looked to

Thomas as well for love and care. To help with the maintenance of the

household there were several servants. Though details are missing, we

can safely assert that there was a nurse to help with the little ones,

a cook to prepare the family's meals, and one or more domestic servants

to maintain the house and see to the comforts of the family. Of one

thing we can be sure. Asthe eldest son within this household, Thomas

was given preference from birth; no sister or younger brother would

have disputed that right. Thus, the early years of Thomas Modyford

were spent in a fortunate home environment which provided him

— physically and emotionally— warmth, security, and comfort.

During those same years, Thomas walked in his father's shadow.

Within the family circle, it is likely that John Modyford most of all

influenced the early development of his son. Vesting great hopes in

him, we can well imagine that John began quite early to project with

young Thomas that he was born to achieve great things and to nurture

within the boy the values and insights which would make those achieve­

ments possible. When it came to education in the broadest sense

 $9

— preparation for life— George Herbert, contemporary parson and poet,

concluded: "One father is more than a hundred Schoolmasters."^ He

might have added "grandfather" as well. It is highly probable that

Thomas Walker also contributed to his namesake’s upbringing. Phasing

into retirement, Walker had leisure during his latter years to devote

to fellowship with his grandsons, giving them from time to time a

taste of country life at Catpole. Somewhat more distant but nonethe­

less significant was the influence of Thomas’s Uncle Nicholas Duck.

Men of courage, of assertiveness, of achievement, of respect for the

established order of things, of piety, of kindness toward others,

apparently of paternal tenderness toward their offspring and kin— these

three men, preeminently, during the early years of his youth, were

Thomas Modyford's models for manly behavior. Many were the settings,

occasions, and events when each found opportunity to draw from the

incidents of daily life lessons of future value to the boy. We focus

upon certain occasions which may have left indelible impressions upon

young Thomas.

From early onward, certainly John Modyford and Thomas Walker would

have arranged opportunities for the boy to observe and to be duly

impressed with the significance and dignity of their roles in the civic

corporation. Thomas would remember little about theonset of his

father's mayoralty; he was only two years old at thetime. He was

three years old, however, before the term was completed. He may well

have remembered, then, how the waites (the official musicians of the

city), the sergeants, the sword bearer, the Twenty-Four, and the other
 60

officers of the city appeared before the Modyford house on Northgate

Street just before 8:00 A.M. on courtdays (each Monday) and around

7:00 A.M. on market days (Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays). There

they formed up around his father and proceeded off to a lively tune,

accompanying the mayor to the opening of the mayor's court or the day's

trading. He would remember also that the bailiffs and other officers

of the mayor's court returned with his father on court days to dine in

their formal dining room.^ Doubtless, the lad received ample attention

from his father's colleagues on these occasions— deference due the

heir apparent of the household.

Likely, Thomas recalled even more vividly those occasions when he

was led, possibly by one of his older sister, up Northgate Street,

around the corner, and up High Street to the portico of the Guildhall

where both his father and his mother joined the other city officials

and their wives on high holy days to form up and proceed to St. Peter's

for divine service. There he watched in childlike wonder as the pro­

cession, in great dignity, moved off toward the cathedral. With their

silver chains of office about their necks, the waites led the way— a

small band consisting of a bassoon, an oboe or two, a lute-like,

stringed instrument, a cornet, and a couple of flutes. A step behind

came the four sergeants, each carrying his silver mace adorned with the

Royal Arms. Then the sword bearer, preceding the mayor with the sword

presented to the city by Henry V H upon his visit there in ll*97.

Following came his father, accompanied by his grandfather and the

other past mayors in their gowns and cloaks of scarlet. Then the

sheriff and past sheriffs, the receiver and past receivers, in their

crimson gowns. Next the stewarts (bailiffs) in violet gowns. On their

Figure 3. The Bxeter Guild Hall in the 1620'
(From Cotton, An Elizabethan Guild)
 62

heels, came the remainder of the Twenty-Four dressed in gowns of murrey

hue (purplish red). Finally, there followed his Uncle Nicholas, the

recorder, leading the procession of the officials' wives, ordered

p
according to the "acencyentie of their housbonds." Though Thomas was

to observe such processions in his native city many times during his

youth, they never ceased to capture his imagination.

It was probably in the fall of his fourth year that young Thomas

was allowed for the first time, perhaps accompanied by an older cousin

or friend, to join innumerable boys of the city who gathered to observe

the city's most solemn occasion— the ceremony of mayor choosing. On

the Monday preceding Michaelmas (i.e., the Monday just before September

29), the Twenty-Four gathered in the Guildhall. After morning prayer,

the recorder exacted an oath from each of them to conduct a fair and

honest election. They then retired to the inner council chamber where

they proceeded by written ballot to nominate two candidates from among

themselves for mayor and to elect the receiver, the bailiffs, and the

sergeants for the following year. Meanwhile the waites set up their

instruments in the Guildhall chapel; and the large brass horn, kept

at the Guildhall for this occasion, was sounded several times in the

open street outside. Thereby, all the freemen of the city were summoned

to participate in the election of the mayor. The boys had been

gathering around the front of the Guildhall all morning. When the

balloting in the council chamber was completed and recorded by the town

clerk, the Twenty-Four reassembled in the Guildhall; the sergeants were

ordered to admit all freemen and no others. As the boys thronged the

open doorway to watch, the freemen cast their votes, the, newly elected

mayor took his seat beside the incumbent, and the names of the other
 63

new officers were announced— all with appropriate fanfare from the

waites. After the sergeant reminded all new officers to be in court

the following Monday to take their oaths and to assume their duties,

the mayor adjourned the court. The sergeants cleared the doorway and

began tossing apples and pears into the crowd of waiting youngsters.

A wild scramble ensued as each lad vied for his share. At times as

many as three thousand fruits were dispensed in this way. When supply

was depleted, the boys— their pockets bulging with the bounty of

Devon's harvest— stood aside and watched as the waites, sergeants and

sword bearer led off the procession of the mayor, new mayor, his

officers, and the Twenty-Four to the mayor's house where a sumptuous

9
dinner awaited them.

Annually, this occasion served to focus the attention of the boys

of the town— its future tradesmen, merchants, and magistrates— upon the

traditions of their native city, to generate within them pride in its

privileges, and to evoke veneration for "the rygte worshipfull the

Maior," its chief officer.10 For a lad like Thomas Modyford— offspring

of one of Exeter's leading oligarchic '’imilies— it further generated

pride in his family and identification with a role which might some day

be his— governance.

Certainly, at five years of age, Thomas would have remembered

clearly the ceremonies of mayor choosing and mayor oath-taking of his

grandfather's third mayoralty if circumstances had been normal. They

were not. In 1625, Exeter was the scene of a devastating visitation of

the plague. The city, like most English towns of our era, had period­

ically experienced epidemics, notable among them being those of 1570-71

and 1590-91$ hut in 1625, the worst plague in a century swept over the
 6ii

community. The "plague"— a popular term without precise definition

— could have been bubonic (results of the bite of a rat flea),

pneumonic (spread by respiratory expiration from man to man), or some

form of typhus (transmitted by the bites of lice and fleas)— all of

which were reinforced at various times by dysentery, diptheria,

cholera, smallpox, typhoid, and scarlet fever.^

Whatever were the specific causes involved, this malevolent fever

broke out at Plymouth in December of I62I4, spread northward to

Okehampton, and then progressed along the road to London. In July,

l62f?, it infested the two extramural parishes of Exeter— St. David's

and St. Sidwell's. In August, forty-eight of St. David's parishoners

were buried; among the poor of St. Sidwell's— one hundred and thirty-

two. The current city officers appear to have been unable to deal with

the magnitude of the problem. The Chamber leased a "pest house" in

St. Sidwell's and paid a keeper to look after those stricken. Beyond

this, little appears to have been done. Panic ensued. Men began to

put their personal affairs in order. On August 1, John Modyford

dictated and had engrossed his will. As the month progressed and the

sickness began to invade the inner city, some magistrates deserted

their posts and fled. On August 20, Lady Grace Grenville, Thomas

Modyford's kinswoman (Sir Geroge Smith's daughter), then visiting her

mother, Lady Smith, at Madford House, wrote to her husband, Sir Beville:

"The sickness increases here and is much dispersed abroad in the city;

and when it comes, it goes through the whole house and ends all. I am
12
determined to leave to-morrow on account of the children."

So were most of the other wealthy inhabitants of the city and

those who could elsewhere take refuge. By the end of August, there had
 65

been a considerable exodus from the city of those with means, including

a number of the Twenty-Four. Unemployment, famine, and fierce infection

were rampant; riots occurred; anarchy prevailed. In the midst of this

crisis, when the remnant of the Chamber and of the city's freemen met

in late September to elect the city's officers for the coming year,

they chose Thomas Walker to be mayor for the third time.^

Why? Thomas Walker was approaching sixty-five years of age.

After forty-four years of service to the city as one of the Twenty-

Four, holding all of the important offices, and fulfilling the role of

mayor twice, Thomas Walker had gone into semiretirement. He had turned

over his active trading interests to his sons, John and Robert. He had

leased his house and tenements on St, Mary Arches Street to Robert for

eighty years (or his lifetime), arranging for the rent which Robert

paid to augment the income of his eldest son, James. He had completed

his mansion at Catpole, and evidently, was spending more time there than

in Exeter. We can be virtually assured that by the end of August,

Walker had drawn to himself at Catpole— out of harm's way— his daughters,

Marie Modyford and Anne Any, his grandsons, Thomas Modyford and Thomas

Any, and the other Modyford and Amy children. Their fathers, John

Modyford and Thomas Any, as active aldermen with duties to perform, may

have remained in the city.1^ In this state of affairs, why would the

Chamber recall Walker to active service? Possibly because of his

record of forthright leadership. More likely because he had a larger

following and wielded greater influence than any other man among them;

such authority was needed to command respect and effect vigorous action

in this time of panic and crisis. Probably because he had at his

disposal greater personal wealth than any other Exeter magistrate;

 66

extraordinary resources would be needed during this terra to purchase

grain for the hungry, provide work for the idle, maintain the watch

against the pestilence, care for the sick, and bury the dead.

Be that as it may, Thomas Walker refused. He would not return to

Exeter to take up the duties of Mayor. We can picture the old man's

consternation. From his point of view, surely it was an unreasonable

request they made of him. He had served the city long and well. He

had earned an honored retirement. He desired only a little time to

enjoy the estate and status which now crowned a lifetime's labor. At

his age, to incur the risk to his life and the burden to his purse of

reentering the city amidst contagion and crisis to reestablish order,

hold court, oversee the market, see to the city's properties, organize

and fund relief for the poor and care for the sick— "God's Wounds I" It
15
was an unjust requirement! He would not go.

While pressing their case with Walker, the remnant of the Chamber

readily authorized that staunch old Puritan, Ignatius Jurdaine, mayor

of 1617, to act as deputy mayor. Jurdaine fed the destitute out of

the stores of his own grocer's shop, solicited relief funds from

principal persons and towns in neighboring counties, and distributed

with his own hands the supplies they purchased. For nearly three

months, Jurdaine steered the city through the worst of the crisis. 0

While going about his daily ministrations, Ignatius was asked if

he did not fear the plague. "What," said he, "afraid of God's visi-
17
t^tion? Let us fear rather the plague-sore of our own hearts." 1 On

other occasions, with death gripping folk all about him, he was heard

to profess "That if the Plague should (by God's disposing) seize upon
1 fl
him, he would have kissed and welcom'd it as the Messenger of death."
 67

Now he sought not death as a surcease of life; he saluted it as a

passage to heaven for which he longed.

Thomas Walker and John Modyford did not share this attitude.

Their religion was not cut from the same cloth as that of Ignatius

Jurdaine. Attending the same parish church, in belief, ritual, and

public practice it differed little. In state of mind, it differed

much. Walker, Modyford and their families embraced the redemption of

Christ, and through Him, hoped for a life beyond. But to hunger for

heaven at the expense of life here and now? No! They were practical-

minded men of affairs. Their religion was the warp which tied to­

gether and integrated into a meaningful whole the many woof threads of

their daily existence. Their piety— sincere, reasoned, moderate in

tone, balanced in perspective— added depth and dimension to their lives

and provided an overall framework in which to live them. It was not,

however, the passion of their lives. For men like Thomas Walker and

John Modyford with goals to attain and dreams to fulfill in this life,

death loomed all too quickly upon the horizon. It was to be sanely and

cautiously avoided as long as possible but accepted with grace and

faith in the end. Such was the religious atmosphere in which the early

religious feelings and thoughts of young Thomas Modyford were nurtured.

Thomas did not spring from an immediate environment of Puritan

religious sentiment— that fervent, impassioned, tender-conscienced,

punctilious, austere, oft-times querulous, obsessive spirituality

(though loving, benevolent, and philanthropic it might also be) which

so often characterized the thought and behavior of men like Ignatius

Jurdaine. As he grew up in Exeter, however, young Thomas was increas­

ingly exposed to such sentiment through daily contact with neighbors

 68

such as Jurdaine and through the preaching of prominent clergy of the

town.^
Meantime, the remnant of the Exeter Chamber petitioned the king

for reinforcement of their electoral decision. Considering the

emergency, in the king's name the Privy Council commanded Thomas Walker

"on his Allegiance" to undertake the office of mayor. The old merchant-

magistrate responded promptly. To have further demurred would have

been to repudiate the principles of honor and loyalty by which he had

lived his entire life. The chronicler concludes the matter by noting

that upon receipt of the king's command Walker "readily yielded

20
Obedience, and performed it [the office of mayor] very worthily."

Indeed, Thomas Walker returned to Exeter early in January, 1626,

and set about with dispatch to deal with the city's problems. During

1625, some 1,807 of Exeter's citizens had died, approximately 1,532 of

these since July at the hands of the plague. The result was a near

total disruption of the city's patterns of life during these months.

B|y year's end, however, the worst of the contagion had passed; it

peaked in September and October, sending over four hundred Exonions to

their graves each month. By January, the death rate had diminished to

less than one hundred a month. During the worst of the crisis,

Jurdaine's benevolent efforts provided emergency relief. Now it

remained to establish effective quarantine, to restore law and order,

pi
and to revive the city's normal routines of life.*“*■

Walker had no easy task since many of the city's lesser officials

had not yet returned. Nevertheless, action was taken. The lease on

the pest house was extended. Caretakers of the sick were amply paid.

"Watchers for pestilence" were appointed to help establish effective

 69

quarantinej they were stationed in the respective wards of the town,

on the roads approaching the city, at the market, and at individual

houses known to be infected. To deal with the extraordinary number of

unemployed, vagabonds, and beggers, a workhouse was established to

provide them food in return for honest labor, prevent their wanderings

from spreading the infection, and keep them off the streets. Finally,

as the contagion was progressively contained, the market was reopened

and the courts reestablished. 3y early spring, though a few cases of

the plague persisted, the city appears to have been largely restored
22
to its customary patterns of life.

It seems likely that about this time young Thomas Modyford and the

other members of the larger Walker clan returned to their homes in

Exeter. Our chief concern is to perceive what impressions this series

of events and those to follow made upon Thomas. He was six years of

age now— old enough as a precocious boy to grasp the significance of

many things and to be included in his elders' projections and plans for

his future.

Undoubtedly, one of the deepest impressions made upon young Thomas

as he returned to his home on Northgate Street was that of the devas­

tating effects of the plague upon his home community. It carried away

friends and acquaintances who had been a part of the youngster's

neighborhood. That impression was solemnized and deepened on the first

Sunday the Modyford family ventured forth again to divine service at

St. Mary Arches. As the family entered the church by the south door

of its western bell tower, Thomas noticed several fresh graves in the
 70

small churchyard to the right. Upon entering the church, Thomas's

eye followed the central aisle of the nave to the chancel at the east

end. Then his gaze roamed to the right and to the left over the range

of pews set between the central aisle and the dual rows of circular

columns supporting their four Norman arches which separated the seats

from the south aisle and the north aisle of the church. He noticed

conspicuous vacancies here and there among the family pews he was

accustomed to seeing filled. Forty parishioners of St. Mary Arches had

succumbed to the plague while he was away, several of them regularly a

part of the congregation.*^ We can well imagine his response. As the

family took their seats, perhaps he quietly asked about this person and

that person only to be told that they died during the recent dreadful

pestilence which had enveloped the city. He contemplated this fact as

the service began.

The rector exhorted with words from the scriptures and called the

congregation to a general confession of their sins:

Rector: "Amende your lives, for the kyngdome of God is

at hande."

Congregation: "Almightie and most merciful father, we

have erred and straied from thy waies . . . ."

The rector pronounced absolution. He intoned the Lord's Prayer. Then,

he summoned response from the congregation with:

Rector: "0 Lord, open thou our lippes."

Congregation: "And our mouthe shall showe furth thy prayse."

Rector: "0 God, make spede to save us."

Congregation: "0 Lord, make haste to helpe us."

Rector: "Glory be to the father, and to the sonne;

and to the holye Ghoste . . . ."
 71

As the service progressed through the Psalm of the day, through the

Old Testament lesson and the Te Deum, through the New Testament lesson

and the Benedictus, and into the unison recitation of the Creed,

perhaps certain words had meaning for young Thomas for the first time:

I believe in God the father almightie maker of

heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ hys onely sonne our
Lorde, which . . . was crucified 'dead' and ‘buried’ . . .
rose agayne from the ’dead’ . . . shall come to judge the
’quicke and the deads’ . . . the ’resurrection of the
body’ and the ’life everlasting’.

And before the special prayers of the day, likely certain folk were

noted upon whom the infection had recently fallen, who even then, lay

in the fever and delirium of the pestilence. Then:

Rector: "The Lorde be with you."

Congregation: "And with thy spirit."

Rector: "Let us praie."

0 Almightye God, whiche in thy wrathe, in the tyme of

king David didst slea with the plague of pestilence, thre
score and ten thousande, and yet remembringe thy mercy,
didest save the rest: have pitie upon us miserable synners,
that nowe are vjsited with great sicknesse, and mortalitie,
that like as thou diddest then commaunde thyne angel to
cease from punichingj So it may now please thee to withdraws
from us this plague, and grevous syckenesse, throughe Jesus
Christe oure Lorde. Amen.^u

As the collects were completed and the families filed from the church

— his mother and father offering words of commiseration to first one

then another who had lost loved ones during the epidemic— it is

probable that the reality of death began to penetrate the boy’s

awareness for the first time. From those days onward, that awareness

was never far from his consciousness. Life was a serious business and

short at its best; it behoved one to apply himself with vigor to that

which he wished to make of it.

 72

During the remainder of his grandfather's mayoralty and within

the next year or two, there were many opportunities for Thomas to

observe his kinsmen engaged in public affairs, to hear their conver­

sations behind the scenes, and to have these incidents made an impor­

tant part of his informal education. It is probable that he was several

times taken to mayor's court on Mondays to observe the proceedings

there, for, though Chamber meetings were secret, the mayor's court was

open to all. There he saw his grandfather and the bailiffs deal with a

wide variety of causes: arbitrate disputes between citizens, pass fines

and issue punishments for misdemeanors, enroll deeds, and prove wills.

After completing the formal business of the day, it was customaxy for

the mayor and his bailiffs to leave the bench and move to a table in

the open courtroom where they sat as a "court of equity," as it were,

hearing individual complaints and deciding issues among the poor. We

can envision young Thomas sitting alongside his grandfather in this

informal setting from time to time listening to him uphold the spirit

of the law but temper it with justice toward the humble and needy.

And, of course, back at the Walker townhouse on St. Mary Arches Street,

as the officers of the court gathered at the mayor's for dinner, the

lad had frequent opportunity to overhear serious discussions about the

difficulties of the times. Here too, at the home of "the King's

Lieutenant in this city," dignitaries visiting Exeter were frequently

entertainedj and, since Thomas's mother was probably often called upon

to help arrange and manage these entertainments (Thomas's Grandmother

Margery had died in 1622), Thomas may well have been around to become

acquainted with the Lord Lieutenant upon his visits, county magnates

such as the Carews, the Chichesters, and Raleighs when they came to
 73

town, special commissioners from London, and the justices of assize

when they semiannually passed through.^ Such introductions would have

been in order for a youngster intended for the law.

Moreover, at the justices' court of the County of the City of

Exeter in their quarter sessions, also held in the Guildhall, Thomas

Modyford had ample opportunity to observe all three of the most

influential men in his life in service to the Crown. The mayor, the

seven other aldermen, and the recorder (ex officio alderman and justice)

constituted a bench of nine justices of the peace and of goal delivery

for these two-to-three-day sessions four times a year. Thus, Thomas's

father, grandfather, and Uncle Nicholas sat regularly in these sessions.

Though the most serious felonies were most often bound over for the

court of assize, the justices of the city's quarter sessions had the

power to deal with them and did handle an extensive range of cases:

Sabbath breaking, cursing, slander, drunkenness, sexual promiscuity,

disturbing the peace, assault, rioting, theft, housebreaking, trespass.

It was here, also, that Thomas could have listened in veneration as

his Uncle Nicholas learnedly expounded the law and unraveled for his

fellow justices difficult points of interpretation. Likely, Thomas's

respect for the law and for those who interpreted and enforced it

steadily grew upon these occasions.^

But is was in connection with his father's role as alderman,

probably, that young Thomas came to sense most clearly what it meant

to take up the burden of service to the Crown. The eight aldermen

were not only justices of the peace who tried cases before the courts.

Each was also assigned to one of the four wards of the city and vir­

tually charged with "keeping the peace" therein. In this connection

 714

John Modyford had "inquisitive jurisdiction" as well as judicial. His

responsibility, like that of an ancient sheriff in the shire, was to

inquire regularly into any misdoing which might be in progress and,

like that of the modem police commissioner, to supervise the work of

the peace officers (constables) in keeping the peace. Thus it was that

Alderman Modyford probably took Thomas with him for company on many of

his regular perambulations through his ward, checking to see that the

streets were clean, that proper weights and measures were used in the

market, that lanterns were set into the streets at the required places

after dark, that taverns closed before men got drunk, that apprentices

were busy about their duties. On other occasions he arbitrated quar­

rels among citizens, reminded others of the law and their duty, or, in

association with his fellow aldermen of the ward, arrested an offender

and required him to give "surety of the peace" or a "bond of good-a-

bearing" (exacting a deposit of money that he would cease his offense

or present himself for trial at the next quarter sessions).^

Along these lines, at least twice a year (more often if occasion

prompted), John Modyford held informal "ward moots"; citizens of the

neighborhood were assembled before him to give testimony regarding any

breach of the peace or chronic offender of the law of which they might

have knowledge. In this way evidence and witnesses were assembled for

purposes of "presenting" the offender at the next session of the court.

Moreover, there was a further duty of the alderman which we can be sure

young Thomas Modyford observed time and again. No person within the

city was permitted by law to rent living space to a stranger until that

stranger had first been examined by an alderman. In early Stuart

society, there was a deep fear of the idle and the homeless because
 75

of their potential threat to the peace and the established order.

Consequently, during the late 1620's— a time of unemployment and social

displacement due to the plague and a depression in the cloth trade

— Thomas was accustomed to seeing a steady stream of wanderers and

newcomers being brought to his father's shop for interrogation: "From

whence do you come?'' "Why did you leave there?" "Why do you come

here?" "Have you any means of gainful employment?" If not, it was to

the workhouse or to the Guildhall for a whipping and then banishment.

Kindly aldermen like John Modyford made what concessions the law

allowed, but their duty was clear enough. The object was at once to

get rid of an undesirable vagrant and to punish him severely enough to

Pfi
frighten him from returning.

Thus, long before he could take in what it all meant, it was as

young Thomas Modyford accompanied his father on itineraries through

Exeter's north ward, sat through the inquiries of the ward moot, and

observed his kinsmen dispensing justice in the mayor's court and quarter

sessions that he first learned of one neighbor hurling slanderous words

against another, of habitual Sabbath breakers, of servant girls giving

birth to bastards, of outbreaks of drunken violence, of thefts of bread

or clothes, of short measures in the market place, of scores of wan­

dering homeless folk, of constables failing to do their duty— not

simply as interesting foibles of human nature, but as serious social

problems to be dealt with by the authority of his kinj matters with

which he himself might someday deal. He saw on the cowed and sometimes

terrified faces of offenders how serious a matter was the exercise of

authority and power. He heard in the anxious tone of conversations

among his elders about the difficulties with which they dealt how grave
 76

a matter it was to be held accountable for the keeping of the peace.

But in all human relations, Thomas grew up accepting as good and

appropriate the order he saw around him, where one class was b o m to

govern and the other to obey; one to serve and the other to be served

but also to protect. And while he and his received due deference from

tenants and yoemen on their estates, from apprentices, tradesmen, and

lesser merchants of the town, they, in turn, had respect for the

established gentry and magnates of the county, for royal commissioners

and itinerate justices when they came through town, and all together

had very special veneration for their lord the king when, on rare

occasions, they had the privilege of seeing him.^

a
There were other kinds of experiences in Thomas Modyford's child­

hood which seem to have left their imprint upon his emerging values and

aspirations. One was his encounter with the military. John Modyford

was appointed a deputy lieutenant for the County of the City of Exeter

in 1623. This made him responsible to the lord lieutenant of Devon for

helping to maintain in readiness the armed bands of Exeter's militia.

There were several occasions on which this readiness was tested. The

most ceremonial of these was the day of yearly review— St. John's Eve,

Midsummer Day (June 2lj). On that afternoon, all men who bore arms

(about half of the able-bodied men of the city) gathered at the Guild­

hall, the upper room of which served as an armory. There they formed

up— some in armor of their own, others with pikes and muskets from the

city's stores— to march in review throughout the city. The city

standard bearer led the way, followed by the drummer and the waites.
 77

Next, usually on horseback, came the mayor, the Twenty-Four, and the

other city officials. Following came the footmen, organized by trade

guilds, displaying their emblems, filing by in the order of their

"ancienty." Altogether, it was a splendid entertainment for the

populace.^0

More important militarily were the actual musters commissioned by

the royal government from time to time and directed by the lord lieu­

tenant and his deputies. Each of the four quarters (wards) of the city

raised a company of armed men, its captain a deputy lieutenant and

member of the Twenty-Four. It appears that John Modyford was, there­

fore, captain of the company from the north ward. Behind the lord

lieutenant, the four companies fell into file, each led by its captain,

a lieutenant, an ensign, three sergeants, four corporals, three drum­

mers, and a clerk. In full martial pomp on these muster days, they
■an
traversed the city, altogether a most formidable arrayIJ Though a

professional soldier undoubtedly would have smiled to see how seriously

(if not so able) these burghers performed their military duties, never­

theless, for a lad like Thomas Modyford being schooled for the life of

the country squire these maneuvers produced dreams of martial glory and

provided him and his schoolboy friends with inspiration to sustain weeks

of soldiering play. For the remainder of his life, Thomas Modyford*s

heart never ceased to quicken a bit at the sight of troops in array.

On other occasions, the youngster1s observations of soldiery

produced less positive impressions. When Charles I came to the throne

upon the death of his father in March, 162f>, he was smarting from a

humiliating failure to arrange a profitable Spanish marriage and to

gain Spain's assistance toward restoring his brother-in-law, Frederick

 78

of the Palatinate, to his ancestral lands. Consequently, precipitously

Charles married a French princess, negotiated a French alliance, and

commenced a war with Spain. Within two years, the French alliance had

crumbled, and England had stumbled into a war with France as well.

During this period of hostilities abroad, the West Country was the

scene of the mobilization and demobilization of two large expeditionary

forces— the expedition against Cadiz which sailed from Plymouth in

October, 1625, and the expedition against the Isle of Rhe off La

Rochelle which departed from Stokes Bay but returned to Plymouth in

November, 1627.^

Since troops, sailors, and ships were impressed for these expedi­

tions in Devon and the surrounding counties and many of the recruits

for the expeditions were for some time forcefully billeted in homes of

the area, these abortive military ventures had their impact upon the

lives of the Modyfords and their kinsmen. For the expedition to Cadiz,

Exeter was required to impress, outfit, and finance the assembling and

billeting of thirty soldiers. As a deputy lieutenant, part of this task

would have fallen to John Modyford. While the fifteen thousand soldiers

and seamen— largely "ragged, diseased, and undisciplined rabble"

— were being gathered at Plymouth for embarkation, Charles himself pro­

gressed to the Devon port to see off the expedition in person. As he

passed through Devon in September, the principal men of the county

gathered here and there along his route and at Plymouth to pay homage

to their new sovereign. Though no record so attests, it seems probable

that the Walkers and Modyfords, in spite of the risk of the plague, did

likewise. If so, this may well have been Thomas Modyford*s first

glimpse of the royal personage, an occasion which he would long

 79

remember. Be that as it may, it was certainly an occasion which

affected the lives of Thomas's kinsmen, the Moncks, and indirectly,

the course of his own future career. ^

Sir Thomas Monck of Potheridge— married to Elizabeth Smith, first

cousin to Thomas Modyford's mother, Marie— had difficulty gleaning

sufficient revenues from his ancient manor to support his family in

the style which he desired. Moreover, he had not received the full

marriage portion due him from his father-in-law, Sir George Smith; nor

had Elizabeth received the full portion of inheritance due her

according to Exeter's custom for apportioning a freeman's estate.

Thus, in 1622, Sir Thomas instituted a suit in Chancery against his

brother-in-law, Sir Nicholas Smith, to recover this portion\ con­

currently, he sought the assistance of Mayor John Modyford and the

Chamber toward clarifying Exeter's charter and customs to the commis­

sioners investigating the case. But Sir Nicholas Smith died shortly

thereafter, and Sir Thomas's suit appears not to have been successful

in spite of the help of John Modyford and others. Consequently, by

1625, Sir Thomas Monck was much beseiged by creditors, one of whom was

preparing a suit against him and seeking his arrest.^

Desiring to pay his respects to the king along with the gentry of

his neighborhood, Sir Thomas sent his second son, George, to Exeter to

persuade the under-sheriff, by the offer of a small sum, to delay the

execution of the warrant. The under-sheriff accepted the money,

promising what was askedj but a few days later, in turncoat fashion, he

had Sir Thomas Monck publicly arrested in the midst of the gentlemen on

the king's way. Young George Monck, just seventeen years of age, was

so incensed by this double-dealing that he hurried to Exeter and gave

 80

the under-sheriff a sound thrashing for his treachery. Then, to escape

the consequences of his act, in company with his kinsman, Sir Richard

Grenville, George Monck enlisted in the squadron at Plymouth and

departed with the fleet for Cadiz. In such manner was launched a

military career which would one day be familiar to all of England.

Meantime, the extravagancies of Sir Thomas Monck had become manacles

which retained him in the sheriff's prison of Devon until his death

on June 30, 1627. But George Monck never forgot the efforts of John

Modyford and other kinsmen to befriend his father during these dif­

ficulties. A strong connection was thus created between the related

families of Modyford and Monck which would prove of inestimable value

to Thomas Modyford in the future. '

More immediately, the demobilization of these two disastrous

military ventures impressed young Thomas Modyford in ways he would

never forget. Enroute to and from Cadiz, the fifteen thousand force

lost hundreds through exposure to the elements and the eating of putrid

victuals. Hundreds more contracted the plague, dysentery, and typhus.

Those who came ashore alive were deposited— sick, maimed, in rags,

starving, and unpaid— upon the householders of every community around

Plymouth. Six months later, the plague spread into every parish where

soldiers were billeted. In preparation for the attack on Rhe, more

impressments; as these men joined the survivors of Cadiz, a force of

eight thousand was assembled. Only three thousand returned from that

expedition and every man of them sick with some communicable disease.

Again they were to be billeted in South Devon homes. But pleadings of

these communities finally brought the order that they were to be spread

out— north, east, and west— and billeted in other communities of Devon
 81

and neighboring shires. Consequently, as the hub of West Country

trackways, Exeter, from late 1626 on, saw an intermittent flow of this

"rabble of raw and poor rascals" passing through from one quartering

to another— ill clad, ill fed, and ill led. We can picture the

youngsters, caught up in the excitement of the first appearance of the

troops, flocking to High Street to watch them limp along the city's

main thoroughfare. As time passed, the movement through the city of

these bedraggled companies became commonplaces young Thomas Modyford

could see them frequently from the window of his own room as more

groups headed for the northern reaches of the shire.^ Finally, in

November, 1627, one hundred and sixty soldiers came to stay— ordered

to be billeted in Exeter. Here they remained for over a month, making

a great nuisance of themselves, until the Chamber succeeded in exerting

enough influence upon the Privy Council to get them transferred else­

where. Simultaneously, the Twenty-Four acquired for the lord lieutenant

and his deputies a Commission of Martial Law to enable them to deal

with "diverse outrages and disorders [that] have byn latelie committed

in the Cittie and Countie of Exeter by the Souldiers that are billetted
37
in those parts . . .

Thus, heavy burdens fell upon John Modyford and his fellow deputy

lieutenants during these years— the tasks of impressment to raise

forces for the king, of conscripting monies to supply and transport

troops, of compelling Exeter householders to board unruly soldiers with

only a promise of pay, of maintaining order, of punishing depredations

committed against the citizens of the town. Thomas probably sensed the

inner struggle which the necessity to carry out some of these duties

produced within his father. Certainly he noted the sober concern with
 82

which his Uncle Nicholas reported to his kinsmen the proceedings of

f
Charles I's parliament of 1625 (in which Nicholas Duck sat as a member

for Exeter). He experienced the increasing gravity of his elders'

conversations about the important grievances which Commons sought to

impress upon the king— impositions, unparliamentary forced loans,

extensive demands for ship money, forced billeting of soldiers in

subjects' homes, illegal imprisonment— and the feeling of ambivalence

which all this conflict between king and Commons produced in one who

sincerely sought to be loyal to his prince in all dutiful ways.

Through his observations of these transferring companies of soldiers

and his experience of the difficulties which they produced for his

father, the Exeter migistrates, and the citizens of the town, Thomas

Modyford perceived the other side of war: the futility of sending men

into battle untrained, undisciplined, and poorly supplied; the ill

effects of poor command; the frightful encroachment upon privacy and

property perpetrated by troops living off the land. No, he did not

fully understand all the implications of his experiences during these

years. But in days to come, these scenes from his childhood no doubt

remained vivid in his memory as he, in turn, was called upon to take

command.

We have noted impressions which young Thomas Modyford likely

derived from early associations with his kinsmen in their civic and

military roles. There were, of course, lessons to be drawn as well

from the market place and the country estate— equally essential parts
v
of this boy's upbringing.
 03

Though it was not intended that Thomas should make his living in

trade— a role reserved for his younger brothers, James and Henry

— nevertheless, it was through the "art of merchandising" that the

family had accumulated its wealth. Circumstances might dictate that

Thomas follow these pursuits at some point in his life before acquiring

the position and status which he sought. Consequently, in all proba­

bility, his father began quite early to introduce the boy to the

mysteries of trade. Before Thomas began his formal schooling, it may

well have been that he was a regular tag-along and not unwelcome.

To the wool market and to Merchants Hall of New Inn, he was no stranger.

He soon understood the principles of buying as cheaply as the paying of

honest wages would allow and selling with an eye toward turning a

decent profit.^9

Perhaps, now and again, there were strolls with his father across

the southwest quarter of the city and out the Water Gate to the quay to

consign goods to a shipper or to inventory an incoming shipment being

unloaded on the wharf. Apparently the quay was a favorite haunt of the

boy. He enjoyed watching the lighters and small coastal craft enter

and leave the haven; all his life he retained his interest in ships.

We can imagine his fascination with the area. When he was not

clambering among the varied cargo or exploring the vessel with the

skipper's permission, perhaps he listened to the conversations between

the captains and his father. If it were a coastal vessel, there was

talk of the dangers of trying to enter the estuary through its narrow

passage, flanked by rocks and sandbanks, against an ebbtide of five

knots velocity with only moderate and shifting winds to carry him

through. Or there was complaint about the delays imposed by the

 814

necessity to tack up the narrow estuarine channel in the face of

opposing winds. If it were a lighter, there were often mumblings about

the silting of the canal, locks needing maintenance, or the sluices

not providing sufficient water to float a heavy load. When Thomas was

bored with the business at hand, he could always ramble up river to

watch the grain or fulling mills in operation or coax in to the river-

bank the swans on the Exe to feed them with kitchen scraps fetched

along for that purpose.

When the business of the day was concluded, perhaps Thomas and

his father would return by way of the riverfront, walking to the head

of the Bonhay to see the salmon leap over Callabere Weir, to watch as

the fishermen netted a few, and— for 8s to 12s— to purchase a fine one

for a special dinner being planned. Or, by chance, they might return

by way of the West Gate, Smithen Street, and the Shambles, there on

Butcher’s Row to purchase from John Paul or one of his colleagues a

hind quarter of pork or a cut of beef for supper at 3d per pound. On

still other occasions, they might return by way of the Southgate and

stop off at the Black Lions Inn, a well known carriers’ house in South

Street. Here, Thomas's father might make arrangements with the Chard,

whence they would be relayed on to London. During these years, John

seems to have been attempting to cultivate a trade in the metropolitan

city to compensate for losses elsewhere. Or the elder Modyford might

contract at the Black Lions with John Seriant, Topsham carrier, to

bring up from Topsham by pack horse the next shipment of goods he

expected by sea. In spite of the presence of the Exeter Shipping Canal,

much of the cargo intended for Exeter was still unloaded at Topsham

Quay and brought overland the remainder of the way.^

Figure U. Exeter Quay during Thomas Modyford1s boyhood.
(From: Cotton, An Elizabethan Quild.)
 86

Probably also, therefore, there were occasions when Thomas rode

t
double with his father aback the gelding to Topsham to consign or to

receive goods at the deep water anchorage for ocean-going vessels. By

1626, the talk which Thomas overheard here between his father and

ships1 captains who were acquainted with conditions beyond the estuary

took on an increasingly grave tone; topics far more important than the

winds, tides, and difficulties of estuarine navigation dominated

their conversations.

An acute industrial and commercial depression hovered over Exeter,

indeed, over the shire at large. In 1625-1626, the plague had driven

most tradesmen out of Exeter. Subsequently, it spread to the inland

clothing towns. Cloth production dwindled to a trickle. The Exeter

market all but collapsed. Simultaneously, the outbreak of war with

Spain robbed Exeter of its second most important foreign market. In

1625, only one-third as many ships traded with Spain from the Exe

Estuary as had in l62Lw Just as cloth production was beginning to

revive in late 1626, England and France drifted into an unofficial com­

mercial war at sea. Exeter merchants' goods valued at Jt60,000 were

among English merchandise confiscated in France. In 1627, Charles I

forbade all trade with France. Louis X I H retaliated. Thus, Exeter's

principal and secondary foreign markets were closed to her trade at the

same time the press gangs for the expeditions of Cadiz and Rhe further

depleted those healthy enough to continue work in Devon's clothing and

shipping industries and extraordinary taxation and public expenses fell

upon the merchant community when they were least able to pay. As a

final blow, piracy was rampant. Now, added to the scourge of the North
(
African corsairs who had for years preyed upon the shipping of Exeter
 87

and the other western ports, the French "Dunkirkers" were prowling the

Channel and the western coasts. As a defense against these over­

whelming odds, while beginning to replace markets closed to them with

opportunities for trade in the Netherlands, Thomas's father and his

fellow Merchant Adventurers were desperately seeking to cut their

losses by a privateering war on enemy merchantmen. Between 1626 and

1630, sixty-nine letters of marque and reprisal were issued to ships

of the Exe Estuary.^

The course of young Thomas Modyford's development surely was

affected by these "hard times" and their impact upon his elders. There

was frequent opportunity for John Modyford to point out to Thomas the

folly of concentrating one's merchandising too heavily in one product

or dealing too exclusively with one market. And the circumstances were

perfectly ordered for demonstrating to Thomas another important percept:

though trade offered opportunity for the rapid accumulation of wealth,

it also involved the risk of rapidly losing it as well. Had not

George Passemer, close associate among the Twenty-Four, just recently

resigned from the Chamber because of his heavy losses and impoverish­

ment?^ The wise man engaging in trade also invested a portion of his

profits in more permanent assets such as lands and improved himself in

other ways to get ahead in this world. Moreover, the occasions when

John Modyford's tenants from Salcombe, Chivelstone, Stokenham, Beer,

Lyme Regis and Christowe Wood rode into Exeter with their annual rents

(or sent them by the common carrier serving their district) provided

opportunity for the merchant-magistrate to illustrate for his son how

both he and his grandfather had through the years pursued a plan of

investment in lands— taking up mortgages, purchasing, and leasing.

 88

These investments now provided security for the family and assured

support for Thomas's future in spite of the current reverses of

traded Finally, there were probably times when he rode with his

father to the farm at Shuthanger to collect their rents and to arrive

at agreements with husbandmen regarding the following year's use of the

lands. Still others when he joined his grandfather at Catpole and, in

his company, rambled over the estate, listening as squire and tenants

discussed how best to make the manor pay through the production of

wool, fruit, cider, grain, livestock, and cream.^ No doubt it was

through such experiences as these that Thomas Hodyford began early to

develop an appetite for the acquisition of lands, a genuine interest in

agricultural pursuits, and insights into how to manage them— concerns

which attained fruition in his adult life.

But most important of all, it would seem that the principal

impression made by these "hard times" upon Thomas's elders, having to

do with the boy and his future— an insight which they consciously strove

to convey to him— was that if he hoped to attain the goals sought in

these troubled times, he must have more resources at his command than a

bit of capital and a shrewd head for business. If he wished to

accumulate wealth, to become a landed gentleman, and to attain the

honor associated with public service, he must acquire the education and

training necessary to enter a learned profession. We can imagine the

substance of his elders' conversation, to which Thomas was privy,

following a family dinner in the Modyfords' dining room, at the Walker

townhouse, at Catpole, or at Radford Place. Present? Perhaps, John

Modyford, Thomas Walker, Nicholas Duck; Modyford*s son, Thomas;

Walker's sons, James, John, and Robertj Duck's son, Richard. Thomas
 89

Modyford's father is speaking:

Yes, in good times of trade, it is possible for a merchant

to accumulate wealth, to occupy an important local
political office, to acquire an estate, and to win the
respect of people of quality. Grandfather Walker here
is a living example. But, especially in times like these,
there is a more assured way, The lawI If a young man has
the opportunity, he should study the law and seek a high
political office for which the law can qualify. Then can
follow wealth, estates, and a distinguished career of
public service. Do we not all know fellow West Countrymen
who have followed this path successfully? Has not Sir
Edmond Frideaux from up near Honiton raised his family
through the law in both title and estates? Isn't his
second son, Edmond, showing great promise by coming up
the same way? What of Richard Martin, son of old William
Martin of Otterton? Recall how he moved in a few short
years from the Middle Temple to become the recorder of
London? Nicholas, you have done very well in the law with
your practice at Westminster, your position in Lincoln's
Inn, and serving us here as recorder in Exeter. If you
had followed your father in the wool trade, you would be
suffering the same losses I am right now. And what of
Arthur, your brother? With what start your father
could give him as a second son, the law has opened many
a door for him. I understand he has just recently been
appointed chancellor of London. Lads, all these men
have achieved their success through the law. In these
difficult times, it is the way to go I I am more con­
vinced of it every day.

Then likely there was talk about the processes of learning the law, of

student life at Lincoln's Inn, of the delights of life in London, of

the adventures and hardships of traveling back and forth between Exeter

and the city on the Thames.^ At some point during these years, young

Thomas Modyford consciously accepted his elder's projections for his

future as his own.

Indeed, as these goals were gradually becoming truly personal ones

for Thomas, he had already begun his formal education in Exeter.

(
Perhaps at the age of five, certainly no later than the age of six,
 90

Thomas entered upon his "petties"— learning to read and to write in

English and to "cypher." In precisely what milieu, we do not know.

There were four possibilities. After 1??6 and by 162?, at least six

persons received licenses from the bishop of the diocese to teach the

"three R's" in Exeter. Likely most of these were widows or spinsters

who operated small "dame schools" in their own tenements. Among their

ranks in the 16140's, a Mrs. Clark and a Mrs. Savage both taught

children their fundamentals for 10s each per year. There is scant

evidence that Trinity Parish operated its own "petty school," perhaps

an activity through which the parson supplemented his meager stipend.

It is probable that the higher Latin school of the city also offered

instruction in elementary studies as well; a great many of the pro­

vincial grammar schools did so provide. Finally, for a family with the

means of the Modyfords and a number of children to be taught, arranging

for a private tutor would have been no problem. Which path was

followed, we can only surmise. Considering the full range of circum­

stances, the following appears most probable. Thomas began work in one

of the better "dame schools" alongside one or two of his older sisters

early in 162?. The appearance of the plague disrupted the school that

summerj the schoolmistress or another qualified tutor gladly accepted

the offer of a living and a refuge from the pestilence to teach the

Modyford and Amy children, and perhaps others, at Catpole during the

fall and winter months. When the family returned to Exeter in the

spring of 1626, Thomas was ready to commence work at the grammar

school.

Though detailed records concerning the operations of Exeter's

schools, both petty and grammar, are largely missing, available

 91

evidence attests that they were typical— neither the best nor the worst

in the land. Moreover, it is also clear that, by the early seventeenth

century in England, in both the petty schools and the grammar schools a

common core of curricula, textbooks, and teaching-learning methods had

evolved which had become surprisingly normative. About these norms,

considerable evidence exists. Seminal writings of some of the most

thoughtful schoolmasters, such as Richard Mulcaster's (Merchant

Taylors' School of London) Elementsrie (1582), Edmund Coote's (Free

School of Bury St. Edmunds) English Schoolmaster (1590, 1596), and

Charles Hoole's New Discovery of the Old Art of Teaching School (1660),

exerted considerable influence upon the practice of the petty and dame

schools. In like fashion, Mulcaster's Positions (1581) and John

Brimsley's (Ashby de la Zouche) The Grammar School reflected much of

the best practice at that level. Concurrently, schools such as Eton,

Harrow, Winchester, Westminster, Tonbridge, St. Albans, St, Paul's,

the Mercers', and the Merchant Taylors' set a pattern and a pace for

their sister schools to emulate. Focus upon these works and upon the

practice of these schools, therefore, provides a portrait of the

typical patterns of learning in English schools of the day. With

reference, then, to these "normative" patterns, let us follow the

learning experiences of Thomas Modyford in the schools of Exeter and

see what impact they may have had upon his development.^®

Commencing his elementary studies, Thomas learned his alphabet and

to recognize his letters in the words of the Lord's Prayer from a horn­

book (a wooden tablet with a handle upon which was pasted a printed

sheet of letters covered by a transparent layer of horn for protection).

Next he learned to recite the A b cie— a collection of rhyming verses

 92

containing key-words which reinforced recognition of his letters. This

done, he was ready to begin reading the Primer and/or Coote's English

Schoolmaster. Either book helped him to learn a list of one-and two-

syllable words. These he applied in the reading of certain prayers

and the Short Catechism of the Anglican Church. The Primer was usually

read through twice. Once it was mastered, Thomas went on to read a

number of Psalms in metre and portions from the New Testament. While

advancing in his reading, he was also being taught to write by copying

selections from his readers. Simultaneously, he was taught to do simple

arithmetic and to recognize his numbers in schemes of chronology. He

then completed his year of "petties" in all likelihood by reading

selections from Francis Seager's The Schoole of Vertue and Booke of

Good Nourture for chyldren and youth to leame theyr dutie by. Or,

perhaps he read a translation of Erasmus' School of Good Manners in

addition to The History of Queen Elizabeth. ^

Thus equipped with the skills of reading and writing English and

doing elementary sums, Thomas probably entered Exeter Latin high school

in the summer of 1626 when he was six years of age. Exeter's grammar

school had been founded in 13U1+ under the joint sponsorship of the dean

and chapter of St. Peter's. After II46I, it had been referred to as the

high school. Through the years, it had continued under clerical

patronage. Its schoolmaster was licensed by the bishop; its building

was owned by the cathedral chapter. It occupied a site running north

off of High Street and terminating at Trinity Chapel which was also

used by the school. In l£6l, under the joint urging of the schoolmaster

and of John Hooker, a public subscription had been raised for the recon­

struction of the school building. More recently, in 1602, George

 93

Perryman had been appointed master. During subsequent years, under his

supervision the school building had been much enlarged with funds

privately given. One of the chief donors was the master himself after

he came into a fortune of his own through marriage. The remodeled

building of two stories afforded a large upper room illumined by seven

windows and a smaller room on the ground floor. The school enjoyed a

good repute. It could claim among its alumni seven fellows of one

Oxford college alone in addition to John and Richard Hooker, Dr. Robert

Vilvaine (Exeter's most learned physician), and other eminent men of

the professions. At the time Thomas Modyford matriculated, its

"learned but lashing" (and somewhat aging) schoolmaster, assisted by

two ushers, was teaching about two hundred students.

It was the aim of the English grammar school .to teach boys to

read, to write, and to speak Latin, thus preparing them for a course of

study at the university or the Inns of Court leading to one of the

learned professions. Some of the better schools also taught Greek, but

it is unlikely that the Exeter school did so. Some of them likewise

provided instruction in arithmetic and handwriting and afforded other

opportunities for the enhancement of skills which the boys began to

develop in their petties. Since it educated so many sons of merchants

and tradesmen, Exeter high school probably did offer further training

in arithmetic and accounting. On the other hand, if Richard Hooker was

a typical product of the school's best efforts, it does not seem to

have done much with handwriting. Charles Hoole complained: "I have

been sorry to see some of that reverend and learned Mr. Hooker's

sermons come in manuscript to the press, and not to have been possible

to be printed, because they were so scribblingly written that nobody

 9k

could read three words together in them.” Thomas Modyford never

became much of a penman either. Thus, Latin was the meat of the course

of study at Exeter high school. The curriculum was organized into six

forms or levels. It was in Form 1 of Latin, then, that young Thomas

began as he entered the school in 1626. ^

With "Lilly's Latin Grammar" in hand, young Thomas struggled

through his eight parts of speech, his declensions, and his conjuga­

tions. Then, by memorizing a considerable number of Latin equivalents

for English words, he was able to begin reading Latin sentences

arranged in an English order. Soon he progressed to reading portions

of the Latin Mew Testament or Aesop's Fables. Once Thomas and his

schoolmates were reading Latin, they had their understanding of correct

grammatical usage strengthened regularly by competitive disputations.

Divided into teams, one side raised a question about a certain usage,

the other side answered; one team proposed a usage, the other team

disputed it. The method of double translation also helped the lads to

develop a sense of the best sequence of words for effective expression:

translating from the Latin into English; comparing the two written side
do
by side; translating from English back into good Latin again.J

As soon as possible, Thomas and his classmates were turned loose

on Latin epistles; Cicero and Terence were the first models. Once the

lads could identify admirable forms of letter writing to imitate, they

were asked to compose epistles themselves in good Latin style. From

that point onward, there was extensive practice in letter writing until

epistle models for an infinite variety of occasions had been mastered:

letters to friends, letters to foes, and letters to strangers; letters

describing, letters lamenting, and letters disputing; letters

 95

persuading, letters petitioning, and letters consoling; letters

exposing, letters defending, and letters excusing. As Thomas advanced

in the writing of Latin, he was sent on to read Tully, Pliny, Seneca,

Erasmus, and others to acquire further models for emulation.^

Meanwhile, the master and ushers were monitoring the conversations

in the classrooms to ensure that they were carried on in Latin and not

in English. To get them started speaking in Latin, young Modyford and

his friends were given prepared Latin colloquies to read which dealt

with the activities of bqys their age. Later, they were assigned

topics to prepare and required to engage in Latin conversations about

them. Finally, in the upper most form or two, they were encouraged to

perform the plays of Terence and Plautus.

While Thomas was thus progressing in his Latin studies, there were

occasions also for the further advancement of skills initially developed

during his elementary year. When introducing the boys to Latin

epistles, masters frequently had them write letters in English first to

fix the models firmly in mind before undertaking them in Latin; a by­

product, therefore, was learning to write a variety of letters in

English as well. To exercise their English reading and to stiumlate

pride in the nations' heritage, the boys were occasionally assigned

"homework” readings in Christopher Ocland's Anglorum Praelia (1580), an

English history, martial in tone, which celebrated English victories

during the period from 1327 to 1558. Moreover, in numerous ways the

grammar school sought to prompt facility in English and further

religious development simultaneously. Usually, a chapter from the

English Testament was read aloud daily with some of the boys following

in English copies and others in their Latin Testaments. Frequent

 96

assignments were made of readings in Eusebius Pagit's The History of

the Bible . . . (1613). Most universal, however, was the practice of

requiring from the boys on Mondays periodic reports on the sermons they

heard on Sundays. The youngest were expected to memorize only three or

four important phrases. As they advanced, they were expected to take

notes: to jot down the text, the important doctrines discussed, the

proofs offered in support thereof. In the highest forms, the boys were

required to bring in the whole substance of the sermon: the text,

divisions, expositions, doctrines, proofs, and applications— all care­

fully revised and in order. Then on Mondays, in addition to reporting

to the class, they were required to translate the sermon into good

Latin style. During these years, many were the sermons which young

Thomas Modyford captured from his corner of the family pew in St. Mary

Arches, transcribed upon his return to Northgate Street, and on the

morrow, at his desk in Exeter Latin high school, under the stern and

watchful eye of Master Perryman or Usher Haytor, translated into

acceptable Latin prose. ^

Thus, from all indications, as Thomas moved into his second year

at Exeter Latin high school in the fall of 1627, he was making good

progress in his studies on all fronts. Perhaps, he was even a bit

"ahead of his class." His industry as a student, of course, received

daily reinforcement from the atmosphere of the school. The regimen

was demanding; discipline was severe; sluggards were given no quarter.

Let us examine in broad outline what a typical school day was like for

Thomas by focusing imaginatively upon a Wednesday in early November,

1627.

Shortly after U:00 A.M. Thomas stirred in his sleep in response to

 97

a lively tune being droned and hooted by the waites passing under his

fourth-story window as they stepped along spiritedly against the chill

of the autumn mom. Recognizing the sound, he was soon dozing again,

but not for long. At precisely 5:00 A.M. the bell in the South Tower

of St. Peter's began pealingj it rang importunately for fifteen minutes,

summoning the city to the active day ahead. If Thomas shut out its

sounds with his feather bolster, presently the maid was rapping on his

door, presenting him with fresh pressed clothes, and announcing break­

fast. A cold splash in his wash basin, a quick dress, and soon he was

joining the family in the hall for a breakfast of oatmeal or fermenty

(hulled wheat cooked in milk and seasoned with cinnamon and sugar).

Afterwards, there was time to run an errand for his mother, to gather

up his books, and to walk out with his father who was on his way to

Merchants Hall, thus making his way to school. ^

At 7:00 A.M., the school day commenced. Morning prayer and a

chapter from the Testament— then lessons began. Recitations were

required from the work assigned the day before. Probing questions were

asked; and for the two or three lads found wanting, a flogging was in

order. At approximately 9:00 A.M., a brief recess was called. Those

who had need visited the "necessary"; others went for a drink at the

lion's head "pump" standing in front of the Guildhall. Lessons resumed

and the boys were put to work on their double translations. After what

seemed like hours, at 11:00 A.M. the boys were released to scamper home

through the streets for their midday meal.'’®

Following a lunch of cold meat, bread, and ale, punctuated by a

lively chatter with his sisters, young Thomas hurried away up Northgate

Street, around the comer, and through the Broad Gate to a preappointed
 T n Kota Gin (Exteijo *).

Figure 6. Approaching Exeter through the

North Gate from St. David's Down and
Longbrook Bridge
r‘W i & .
(From Cotton, An Elizabethan Guild)

Figure 5- Turning into Northgate Street

from High Street vo
CO
(From Cotton, An Elizabethan Guild)
 99

rendezvous with a couple of friends for a bit of wrestling on the green

of the Cathedral Close. Almost forgetting the time, they hustled back,

entering the schoolroom under the scowl of Master Perryman just as

lessons began again at 1:00 P.M. Perhaps the boys were put to writing

a Latin epistle accusing a business associate of false dealing and

threatening a suit of law unless a just accounting was promptly forth­

coming. Around 3:00 P.M., another brief "intermission" was allowed.

Lessons resumed with certain boys being called upon to read their

compositions and others being prompted to offer suggestions for im­

provement of style. A bit of humor tossed off amidst one lad’s

recitation and the corresponding laughter provoked another flogging

late in the afternoon. Finally, assignment was made for the following

day; a Latin colloquy on the topic, "Virtue Is Its Own Reward." Just

at 0:00 P.M., the school engaged in evening prayer and the singing of

two staves of a psalm. Upon completion, the boys were dismissed with
to
solemn exhortations to be well prepared for the morrow.-7*7

Though the sun was fast sinking, there was time for Thomas and a

friend to ramble off to the ancient walls of Rougemont Castle for an

hour of soldiering play. As dusk settled over the city, Thomas returned

home and joined the family in the hall for their evening meal— perhaps

braised mutton, "pease," fresh-baked bread, and beer, appropriately

complemented with apple tart anointed with Devonshire clotted cream.

After a brief family devotion, the family moved to the parlor to sit

quietly and listen to one of Thomas's older sisters, Marie or Grace,

play her recently learned pieces on the pair of virginals (a small

harpsicord). Then the family retired to their separate pursuits.

Briefly, Thomas joined his father in the study for a bit of talk about
 100

the day's trading and discussion about the topic of his assigned

colloquy. At length, choosing a book or two from the library which

promised to be of help, Thomas retired to his room, lit his large

glass lantern, and reluctantly set to work constructing his Latin

conversation about virtue. He had just completed a rough draft thereof

when, at 9:00 P.M., the bell at St. Peter's began pealing curfew. He

undressed, snuffed the candle in his lantern, and quickly snuggled

into his featherbed under the coverlets against the chill of a

partially heated room at the close of a long and tiring day.^®

Thus went what may well have been a typical day in the life of

young Thomas Modyford as a student at Exeter Latin high school. Atten­

dance was required Monday through Saturday, though a "remedy" (half

holiday) may have been given the boys one afternoon a week. In many

schools the afternoon when "leave to play once a week may well be

borne with" fell on Thursdays; in Exeter, it likely came on Saturdays,

enabling the boys to join their families in various market day pursuits.

Vacations were few and far between. Twelve days at Easter and sixteen

to eighteen days at Christmas were the normal grammar school holidays.

In some localities a few additional short periods were granted. In

Exeter, though no records so attest, short holidays were probably given

on Midsummer Day (June 2U), the day of mayor choosing (Monday in late

September), and the focal days of the four principal Exeter fairs:

Ash Wednesday (mid February), Whit-Monday (mid May), Lammastide

(August 1), and St. Nicholas Day (December 6 ). These were days of

special activities in the city. During the fairs, all Exeter shops

were closed; and (except for Lammas which was set up outside the East

Gate in Southern Hay) High Street-Fore Street became one grand bazaar,
 101

lined with stalls and booths on both sides, each with a hawker pro­

claiming the quality of his goods. It is inconceivable that on such

days of bustle and excitement in the streets the boys could have been

kept at their dull Latin translations when the school itself fronted

directly upon the fair!^

In spite of long days engaged in oftimes monotonous studies under

stern discipline throughout a schoolyear punctuated by all too few

periods of leisure, it appears that Thomas reached his eighth birthday

in the spring of 1628 advancing in his studies, growing in self-

confidence, and hopeful of a bright future. No doubt his father's

continual encouragement had much to do with kindling the boy's

aspirations and making the drudgery of the day seem worthwhile. He

could not know, of course, as he approached home late one afternoon in

early May, that he was entering what was, perhaps, to be the bleakest

year of his youth. Upon arriving at the house on Northgate Street,

however, he discovered that his father had been taken ill. Of what

malady we cannot know. There was no long-term illness; John had added

a codicil to his will on January 29 — excluding Robert, now dead;

including Hester, recently b o m — making no mention of illness or

frailty of body. There was no fresh outbreak of the plague in Exeter,

or London, or along the road between. Neither smallpox nor cholera

were of epidemic proportions, but, or course, there were so many

diseases endemic to the times and place. Whatever the cause, in spite

of the exercise of Dr. Vilvaine's greatest skills, death descended upon

the alderman with all the swiftness of an avenging angel. Was there
 102

opportunity for meaningful communication between father and son before

the end? We may never know. On May 10, John Modyford breathed his

last. He was, perhaps, sixty years of age.

"Shock'' probably best describes young Thomas's reaction. Likely,

he was only half aware: of the rector's visit; of the table being set

with better than the usual fare— salmon, capon, Mallega Sack (white

wine), suckets of dried fruit— against the in-pouring of guestsj of the

in-gathering of his father's kin, colleagues, and friends— wake

fashion. But a day or two later the time had come. We can visualize

the scene.^

At John Modyfordfs house, the family gathered, dressed in black,

Thomas by his mother's side, she attended by her father and brothers,

James and Robert. The rector, clad in surplice and cassock, led the

way. A cadre of his father's friends accompanied, bearing the polished

wooden casket, its somber hues reflecting the solemnity of the hour.

The family followed. Up Northgate Street, down Fore, a turn into St.

Mary Arches Street— soon they were entering the church where friends

and colleagues were already gathered. Among them were the Twenty-Four,

dressed, no doubt, in their robes of office, now the Twenty-Three until

John Modyford's successor could be chosen. The regalia stand at the

front displayed the city's emblem and other indications that it was a

mayor and alderman who was to be buried that day. At the end of the

nave aisle, some four or five feet in front of the alter, the slates

of the floor had been removed; the grave had been dug; the earth had

been piled neatly aside. Down that aisle the procession moved: the

rector to his pulpit; the casket to the taut-rope suspension over the

open grave; the family to their pews.^

 103

The rector read a lesson from Paul's First Epistle to the Corin­

thians, Chapter 15:

Christ is rysen from the dead, and become the fyrst

frutes of them that slept. For by a man came deth, and
by a man came the resurrection of the dead . . . .
Deathe is swallowed up in victory: Deaths, where is thy
stinge? Hell where is thy victory? The stynge of deathe
is sinne, and the strengthe of sinne is the lawe. But
thankes be unto God, whyche hathe geven us victory,
through our Lord Jesus Christ . . . .

Following, there were words of eulogy for his father: his distinguished

service to the city, his justice on the bench during quarter sessions,

his kindness, and his piety.

Then, the rector approached the open grave, intoning as he went:

X am the resurrection and the life (saith the Lord)

he that beleveth in me: yea, thoughe he were dead, yet
shall he live. And whosoever liveth, and believeth in
me, shall not dye for ever.

The Lord giveth, and the Lorde taketh awaye. Even

as it hath pleased the Lorde so commeth thynges to passe:
Blessed be the name of the Lorde.

The bearers stepped to the grave, loosened the ropes, and slowly

lowered the casket into the earth while the rector proclaimed:

Man that is borne of a woman hathe but a shorte

tyme to lyve, and is full of miserye: . . . In the
middest of life we be in death, of whom mai we seke
for succor but of the, 0 Lorde, . . . .

Thomas may be forgiven if he did not see the disappearance of that

sinking casket through the welling tears which he had so bravely held

back until now. This was the center of his life they were lowering

into that gravel

At length, as the Twenty-Four, the other city officers, and

friends filed by, each casting a handful of coarse Devon earth upon the

casket below, the rector closed the service as he prayed:

 lOli

Almightie God, with whome do live the spirites

of they that depart hence in the lorde and in whome the
soules of they that be elected, after they be delivered
from the burthen of the flesh, be in joye and felicitie.
We geve the hearty thankes for that it hath pleased the
to deliver this, John Modyford, oure brother, out of
the miseries of thys synneful worlde beseching the that
it may please the of thy gracious goodnes, shortelye
to accomplishe the numbre of thyne electe, and to haste
thy kyngedome, that we with thys oure brother, and all
other departed in the true faythe of thy holy name, may
have our perfect consummacion and blisse, both in bodye
and soule in thy eternall and everlastynge glorie. Amen.

Somehow all comforting words at this moment had a hollow ring to

them for young Thomas. Surely there was no remedy for this loss. What

of their plans for the country house at Shuthanger? What of their

hopes for him to study law? Who would provide for the family? Gone

was the strong right arm upon which he had leaned and the father whom

he had loved. Likely, he was utterly disconsolate. For the first of

several times during his life, Thomas Modyford was overwhelmed with

grief.

But Thomas was an offshoot of a sturdy breed of men. Along with

his mother and the other children, he appears to have recovered soon

from his distress to carry on. Undoubtedly, his Grandfather Walker and

Uncle Nicholas both came to his assistance. They, along with Mayor

John Acland and Adam Bennet, had been appointed by his father to over­

see the execution of his will. They could assure Thomas from personal

knowledge that, though his father's fortune was somewhat abated of late

through losses in trade and it would take some time to inventory his

holdings toward an accurate accounting, certainly his assets would more

than provide for his family and see Thomas through Lincoln's Inn.

Moreover, sensing the boy's personal loss, we can be assured that they

offered him their personal support and consolation.^

 105

Not for long, however. Nicholas Duck died on August 28, 1628, at

the age of fifty-eight. The Modyfords and Walkers gathered with

Thomas’s Aunt Grace and cousins Richard and Philip Duck and their

wives, with Nicholas Duck’s sister, Elizabeth, and her husband, Mayor

John Acland, with the other city officials, and a host of friends and

colleagues at St. Peter's Cathedral to solemnize his funeral on

September 2. He was long held in honored memory by many in Exeter.

His death was also a loss to Thomas and not only that of a kinsman who

befriended him. John Modyford had clearly hoped that Nicholas, as

treasurer of Lincoln's Inn, could smooth the way for the boy and

provide guidance and encouragement as he studied the law. Now, that

prospect too was gone.^?

Moreover, Grandfather Walker's health was fast failing. On

November 20, 1628, Thomas Walker dictated and had engrossed his will,

"beinge weake of bodie but of sound and perfect memorie . . . ."

During subsequent weeks, various aspects of his extensive affairs

appeared increasingly to worry him. So, through codicils signed on

December 22, January 2U, February 12, and February 19 following, he

arranged and rearranged certain legacies the better to suit him. His

last act along these lines was to add his eldest son, James (in whom he

appears to have been somewhat disappointed) to those whom he had

earlier appointed as executors of his will— his son, Robert, his grand­

son, Richard Duck, Robert Northleigh, and Adam Bennet. Finally at

peace concerning the disposition of holdings he had spent a lifetime

acquiring, Thomas Walker "Esquire" slipped quietly away on February

23, 1629, at seventy years of age. Shortly thereafter, the family

gathered once again in St. Mary Arches Church, this time to lay to rest
 106

the remains of Thomas Walker beside those of his wife, Margery, beneath

the floor of the central portion of the north aisle. No doubt during

the intervening months, there was more than one occasion upon which

Thomas Walker summoned his namesake to his side to project hopes, to

counsel, to warn, to encourage, and to bless.

In the course of less than a year, the three men upon whom young

Thomas Modyford depended most had been taken from him. Thus, at the

early age of nine, Thomas was forced to have preoccupations which most

children are normally spared. On the other hand, those first nine

years could scarcely have been spent under conditions more favorable.

From his father, grandfather, and uncle, Thomas had imbibed a dream

— a dream of pursuing a learned profession, of seeking high political

office, of acquiring estates and raising his family to the stature of

gentility. They had fostered in him self-confidence and a belief in

an important destiny. They had exposed him to the best of the com­

munity's civic and religious traditions and introduced him to the

culture of the gentry. He had been the first born son and heir

apparent of, seemingly, a happy marriagej both of his parents had shown

him love and kindness. He had known the healthy companionship of

sisters and brothers, older and younger. For material things he had

never known want. Yet, he knew that the comforts he had enjoyed were

the results of diligence and industry and that the future fortune of

his family depended, to a considerable degree, upon his ingenuity and

efforts. In addition, he had lived those happy years amidst the

bustling life of a provincial capital and the pastoral charm of the

Devon hills.

Consequently, we may infer that Thomas emerged from this great

 107

personal loss saddened but significantly matured, discovering new

resources within himself, and confirmed in his sense of direction.

Moreover, into the vacuum created by the deaths of these kinsmen, there

stepped two others ready to lend the lad a helping hand— Robert Walker

and Richard Duck. Thomas’s Uncle Robert Walker— freeman of Exeter,

1622; bailiff, 1626; member of the Twenty-Four, 1628— had by now

settled into the Walker townhouse on St. Mary Arches Street from which

he was to play an increasingly active leadership role in the city. He,

it appears, became Marie Modyford's chief advisor in the management of

her family's affairs. Thomas's eldest cousin, Richard Duck, had just

completed his "years of continuance" at Lincoln's Inn and had been

called to the bar on June 16, 1629. Though Richard was already married,

had inherited properties in the parishes of Heavitree and Broadhembury,

and would eventually inherit Radford Place as well, he maintained

chambers at Lincoln's Inn as a base of professional operations in

London for many years to come. His was to be the role intended for

his father— to provide guidance and assistance to Thomas when he was

ready for the law. Furthermore, Thomas Modyford and his mother could

now know the extent of the legacy which endowed their future. John

Modyford's will was probated in July, 1628. The appraisers appointed

by the Exeter Orphans Court to inventory his estate completed their

work in June, 1629. Grandfather Walker's will was probated and its

provisions made known during the following September. ^

John Modyford's will clearly stipulated arrangements for the

future support of his family. Aside from very minor legacies to

sisters, nieces, nephews, godchildren, and servants, John bequeathed

all his assets to Marie, his wife, and made her executrix of his will.
 108

With the revenues of his estate, she was to provide for the children
I
until they were grown; then, from his estate she was to give each of

the eleven children £500. Marie and Grace, the two eldest daughters,

were to receive their legacies one year after their father’s death.

Sara, Anne, Joane, Margerie, and Hester were to receive theirs at age

twenty-one or when they married, whichever came first. Thomas, John,

James, and Henry were to receive theirs at age twenty-two. One year

after their respective weddings, an additional £l00 was to be given to

each child who married with his mother's approval. Upon Marie Mody-

ford's death, all of John Modyford's properties— those held in fee

simple and those held for terms of lives— were to pass to Thomas

Modyford and his lawful progeny.

Meantime, what sum of annual income could John Modyford's assets

be expected to bring in to his family to provide their living, to

finance Thomas's studies, to launch him upon his career, and, even­

tually, to bestow upon each child his legacy? An exact figure escapes

us, but an approximation is useful. The appraisers who inventoried

John Modyford's estate calculated the worth of his "movables'1 as

follows:

In cash on h a n d ......................... 0i,32o : 65 : 6

In "good debts owed to h i m .............. 10,621; : 11 : 6
In annuities (the worth of properties
held under long-term lease for the
income which they produced) ......... 01,172 : 18 :0
In "desperate" debts owed toh i m ......... 01,5U0 : 06 :5
In merchandise........................ 176 : 12 :0
In household g o o d s .................... 385 : 11 :0
In gold and silver p l a t e .............. 123 : 05 :8
In wearing a p p a r e l .................... 80 : 00 ;0

( Total worth ofmovables................. l5,U29 : 08 : 1

 109

From the inventory, we learn that the annual income produced by the

annuities amounted to approximately &L30 per year."''1 This revenue

would continue to come in long past the point of Thomas's coming of age

and launching his own career. The remaining properties, not accounted

for in the inventory, were those held in fee simple— the Modyford

townhouse on Northgate Street and the substantial estate near Shut-

hanger. Except for normal maintenance costs and a few minor rates,

the Modyford's continued to enjoy their home expense free. Regarding

the annual income of the Shuthanger lands (which were now probably let

on short-term lease), we can only speculate. We know that the estate

consisted of several "Messuages, Landes and Tenements." All available

evidence suggests, therefore, that it was at least equal in size and

value to the typical estate of what W. G. Hoskins calls the "backwoods

gentry," an estate which would net its holder to 1100 per year.

Thus, if we add 170 to the Modyfords' income from this estate, this

increases their revenue to 1200 per year.^

Then, let us assume that over the next decade Marie Modyford was

successful in disposing of seventy-five per cent of the merchandise on

hand and recovering seventy-five per cent of the "good debts" owed John

Modyford when he died— a reasonable assumption given the substantial

revival of trade which occurred in the l630's. Furthermore, let us

assume that during these years approximately ten per cent of this

amount flowed in each year. This would have added 1810 per year to the

Modyford family revenue. ^ jf £i00 of this sum were taken off the top

to augment the annual living and the remainder were reinvested, this

pattern would have produced two significant results. First, it would

have provided the family with a comfortable living of ^300 per year.
 110

When compared with the annual salary of the mayor at £120, with the

upper limit of the living of many of the lesser gentry at £100, with

the stipend of the rector of St. Mary Arches at £$8, with that of the

schoolmaster of Exeter Latin high school at £30, with the annual wages

of a farm laborer at £l$ and those of a domestic servant at £3, such a

living can be recognized as providing upper middle class comfort for a

family even as large as John Modyford's. Their merchant neighbor, John

Hayne, consistently spent an average of £13$ per annum during these

years on all household expenses excluding the rental of the house

itselfj his family consisted of two adults, four children, and two live-

in servants. Second, this pattern would have enabled Marie Modyford

to accumulate near £.9,000 in capital by the late l630's (including the

"readie moaeyes" on hand when John died and a minimal six per cent

simple interest on her reinvestments). Thus, if our assumptions are

correct, the Modyford estate was sufficient to keep the family quite

comfortable, to pay a maximum of £6,600 in legacies to the children as

they came due, and to provide another £2,1*00 to underwrite the

launching of Thomas's career while keeping all the properties intact to

continue their endownment of Thomas's life and career to the amount of

£200 per annum after his mother's death. That a pattern similar to

this was followed we can be assured since, by the early l61*0's, Marie

had paid most of the legacies due and felt free enough with her capital

to lend a kinsman £l,000 which she probably never recovered.^

In addition to the provisions made for his family by John Modyford,

Thomas Walker also contibuted to the Modyfords1 financial future.

Walker left to his daughter, Marie, a sum sufficient to bestow upon

each of her five eldest children (including Thomas) a benevolence of

 Ill

£100 and each of the younger children a benevolence of £80 at such

times as she should deem most appropriate. Moreover, among the pro­

perties bequeathed to his eldest son James, were the Barton of Trene-

glos and the lease on the ecclesiastical lands attached to the Parish

of Egloshayle, both in Cornwall. Walker specified that, if James

should die without issue (and such would prove to be the case), these

properties were to be divided equally between his grandsons, Thomas

Modyford and Thomas Amy. Finally, Walker indicated that after his

other legacies in cash were paid and his affairs settled, any residue

of his estate was to be divided equally among all his grandchildren

living at the time of his death.'^

In sum, then, as a result of the combined legacies of his father

and grandfather, young Thomas Modyford, though fatherless at the age of

nine, could forsee a bright future that was well endowed. If the

family assets were aptly managed, as a youth Thomas could expect a

comfortable living and support for his studies in law. Upon marriage

and reaching the age of twenty-two, Thomas could look forward to

receiving £700, perhaps more, as a personal legacy, along with sub­

stantial additional support for the launching of his career as the

principal heir upon whom the family's hopes for the future were largely

hinged. At length, upon the deaths of his mother and of his Uncle

James, Thomas could anticipate being vested with freeholds and lease­

holds scattered over Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall which collectively

would provide him a living of perhaps £2fj0 per year. Such was no mean

legacy with which to set out to make one's place in the worldl
 112

With this perspective, with renewed hope and purpose, it seems

that Thomas now turned to his studies at Exeter Latin high school with

fresh vigor. Perhaps as he became ten and eleven years of age and

moved into the upper forms, the work became both more challenging and

more rewarding. The pride of any school of repute in the seventeenth

century lay in the facility with which its boys could write and speak

Latin. Consequently, the crowning exercises of the grammar school

were the Latin theme and the Latin oration. All earlier assignments

and exercises served as building-blocks to prepare the boys for the

day when they could write Latin themes and deliver Latin orations of

their own composing. Similarly, throughout all their reading assign­

ments— Plutarch, Justin, Caesar, Livy, Pliny, Tully, Ovid, Terence,

Sallust, Virgil, Horace, the Christian Fathers, Erasmus, Sir Thomas

More— they were encouraged to keep at hand a "commonplace book". In

this "personal file," the boys were prompted to enter faithfully

gleanings from their readings— short histories, descriptions of events

and natural objects, fables, symbols, ancient laws and customs, witty

sayings, and lofty topics for thought. In this way they progressively

developed a storehouse of ideas, expressions, and illustrations from

which they could later construct their themes and orations.^

If Thomas’s interests and preferences as a young adult mirrored

faithfully his earlier development, then, as he progressed into the

fifth and sixth forms, we can be assured that he was most challenged

by the oration. It was at this point in his training that he was

provided a text on rhetoric such as that by Thalaeus or John Clarke's

 113

Formulae Oratoriae (162?) and was taught the classical formula for the

oration: introducing the topic, presenting an argument, confirming the

argument with proofs, confuting any arguments in favor of the opposite

point of view, and concluding. With the formula firmly in mind, Thomas

next perused the orations of Tully or Cicero for artful examples of the

use of the formula. Finally, he began composing and delivering Latin

orations of his own. The results? Probably a feeling of coming into

an element of his own. For oratory and dramatic display, Thomas had

a natural talent and one which he quickly learned to enjoy using.??

While making progress as an amateur orator in Latin, Thomas was

presented an enhanced opportunity to refine his skills as an active

listener and to witness effective use of the classical models in his

own native tongue. In 1631, a new rector was installed at St. Mary

Arches Church— Ferdinando Nicholls. Nicholls, unlike many of the other

parish clergy of the city, was a "preaching'' parson. From the first,

it was his habit to preach regularly in the forenoon each Sunday. No

insipid homilies were the sermons of Nicholls; they were well-organized,

logically developed, and forcefully delivered. While Thomas embraced

only part of his doctrine and even less of his Puritan sentiment,

apparently he admired the man's powers of speech, listened intently,

and learned from him. Thus, in the convergence of Thomas's initial

efforts to deliver the Latin oration and his refinement of skills of

following and reproducing logically organized and competently delivered

sermons in his parish church, we may well witness the genesis of that

commanding presence and forceful speaking style which proved to be two

of his principal assets in later life.?®

Indeed, in his eleventh year, by the time Thomas had risen to the
upper reaches of the Fifth Form or entered the Sixth Form, he had

accrued a number of distinct benefits from his experience at Exeter

Latin high school. Let us enumerate a few of the obvious ones.

Principally, of course, he had mastered the fundamentals of reading,

writing, and speaking Latin. Thus, he was fitted to communicate with

the men of other countries and to become a member of the international

world— a training which would prove indispensable when he entered

public service. This facility in the language of the community of

scholars would also enable him to pursue further learning as he desired.

It equipped him to draw upon the accumulated wisdom of the great minds

of the ancient and medieval world. Already, while learning his Latin,

Thomas had been put through a good selection of the writings of the

ancients; he had borrowed from them valuable models for the epistle

and the oration which he could put to use in either Latin or English;

he had gleaned from them a wealth of imagery and a rich vocabulary of

words and metaphors which now peopled his own expression. If learning

to write English under the shadow of learning to write Latin resulted

in his writing English in a Latinized way— with a style somewhat

artificial and exaggerated— he was, nevertheless, in good company with

the majority of English scholars, essayists, and statesmen for the next

two centuries. Furthermore, his various exercises in writing Latin had

constituted a tough but unsurpassed discipline in orderly thought.

Determining the most effective arrangement of words, ordering dependent

clauses, and marshaling sentences in close-fitting sequence had re­

quired of him careful analysis, making fine distinctions, and thinking

with exactness. In like vein, he had become adept at listening to the

ordered development of a discourse and reproducing its substance from

 ns

his notes. He had learned to hold his own in debate and to support his

contentions with careful deductions. Along the way, he had also been

grounded in the doctrines and practice of his faith and exposed to many

of the moral and ethical precepts of the biblical and classical

traditions.^

Other benefits arising from his experiences in grammar school were

more of the nature of by-products but nonetheless significant. By

rubbing shoulders at Exeter Latin high school with boys of varied back­

grounds— sons of the lesser nobility, of the gentry, of yeomen, of

parsons, of merchants, of innkeepers, of tradesmen— Thomas learned

early in life to relate to all kinds of people in his community on

friendly and natural terms. Undoubtedly, these early experiences in

the grammar school contributed to the development of that ease and

personal charm with which he would later relate to people of all

stations in life during his public career. Finally, what lad of verve

and imagination, capable of being stirred by encounters with high

ideals and heroic deeds, could read and reread the pages of Livy,

Cicero, Caesar, Virgil, and Horace and not acquire a somewhat Roman

outlook on life? As part of that perspective, the political principle

of the citizen being assured the same privileges and being governed

under the same laws wherever he might be within the territories domi­

nated by his nation was no alien idea to young Modyford. Nor was the

concept of imperium, whether understood as the right of dominance of

one people over another based upon the justice and wisdom exercised by

that people in governance, or conceived as a territorial and adminis­

trative unit. The seeds of such concepts in Thomas's mind were planted

during grammar school days; it remains to be seen how he would apply

 116

fio
them in the political context of his own era.

Just as young Modyford was beginning to derive a measure of

genuine fulfillment from his studies in grammar school, however, the

atmosphere of Exeter Latin high school was becoming increasingly dis­

agreeable to him. Why? In 1630-1631, there came to a climax a quarrel

between George Perryman, master of Exeter Latin high school, and the

Exeter Chamber which had continued for over a decade and had of late

become increasingly acrimonious. A brief summary of this struggle and

On
the issues involved must here suffice.

The Exeter Chamber had wanted for some time to establish a second

grammar school in the city to accommodate more sons of the West Country

gentry and to provide an education free of charge to deserving sons of

the city's freemen. At Exeter Latin high school, Perryman and his two

ushers were attempting to teach over two hundred boys and were charging

each approximately thirty shillings per year. When, in 1622, the

Exeter magistrates treated lightly a minor riot in which some youths of

the town insulted the school's ushers, Master Perryman petitioned the

Privy Council for redress of his grievances. The Privy Council rebuked

the Exeter Chamber. This spurred the city officials into action.

They requested from Bishop Cary a license for a second school. Their

request was denied. Smarting from this defeat, the Chamber reimposed

upon Perryman certain subsidies from which he had earlier been exempted.

Perryman again petitioned the Privy Council. He and members of the

Chamber were summoned to London; the issue of the subsidies was settled
Op
but not that of the second school.Q£:

At this point in the controversy, Thomas Modyford's family took

the initiative. In his will, Thomas Walker left J^UOO for the purchase
 117

of an annuity, half of the proceeds of which were to be used "towards

the foundinge, erectinge, and yearely endowment of a Free Grammar

School" in Exeter. A few months later when Thomas's Aunt Elizabeth

Dowrich died, she bequeathed £50 toward the same end. Thomas's mother

contributed j-20 to the fund. Alderman Walter Borough gave still another

£100. This growing endowment prompted further action on the part of

the Chamber.®^

When the bishop denied the Chamber's second request for a license,

the Twenty-Four moved to erect a visible establishment which could not

be ignored. They acquired a portion of old St. John's Hospital as a

site for the new school] with monies publicly subscribed, they reno­

vated the building] the endowment was invested in annuities which would

eventually pay a master's stipend of £30 per year. By early 1630, all

was in readiness. Perryman, of course, promptly petitioned the Privy

Council to block the emergence of the new school. The issue was hotly

Joined. By the summer of 1631, however, the Privy Council had effected

a compromise. The Free Grammar School was to be allowed but with

certain safeguards to assure the continuing health of the Exeter Latin

high school as well. Throughout, Thomas's Uncle Robert Walker had

played a leading role in the Exeter Chamber's struggle to see the Free
Q)
Grammar School established. u

With his family chief among the proponents of the new school, we

can well imagine in what position this placed young Thomas who was

still attending the old. Perryman had now retired from active teaching

and had leased the school to his two ushers. But they stood to lose

lucrative fees by the emergence of the Free Grammar School, and they

knew it. Haytor had complained to Robert Walker about that very issue.
 118

During the last few months of the controversy, personal relations

between the parties involved had become especially venomous. With

Haytor and his colleague humiliated by defeat, worried about meeting

their rent once the new school opened, resentful toward the Walkers

and Modyfords for their role in bringing forth a competitive insti­

tution, what else could Thomas expect from them? Though details

related to the boy are lacking, the conclusion is inescapable. They

made him live hard. By winter of 1631, we may suspect that his

situation had become intolerable.®^

Perhaps during the Christmas season when school was in recess and

Richard Duck was home between law terms, Marie Modyford sought counsel

among the family. Thomas could not be sent back to Exeter Latin high

school. It might be months before a qualified master could be found

and settled into the new school. What was to be done? Was Thomas's

Latin adequate for him to move on to Lincoln's Inn? It was deemed so.

Would they take the boy so young? He was only eleven. Normally he

would have remained in grammar school until age fourteen or fifteen.

Could Richard accommodate Thomas in his chambers for a while and see

that he commenced his studies well? If arrangements could not be made

on such short notice to enter him in Lincoln's Inn, perhaps they should

send Thomas on either to Thavy's Inn or to Furnival's Inn (Of the ten

Inns of Chancery, these two were subsidiaries of Lincoln's Inn and

functioned somewhat as preparatory academies for the senior Inn of

Court.). The decision was made. An inquiry and application was for­

warded to the benchers of Lincoln's Inn. No doubt for the boy the

waiting was an agony. At last, perhaps about January 5, came the replyj

young Thomas would be admitted to Lincoln's Ihn!®^

 HI. APPRENTICE -AT-LAW, l632-l6iiO

In anticipation of his acceptance by Lincoln's Inn, by January j?

Marie Modyford had her eldest son ready to depart for London. Perhaps

she had earlier contracted with Clement Blackingstone or some other

reputable tailor in Exeter to make Thomas a couple of new suits of

clothes. The old sea chest belonging to his father was likely pressed

into service once againj in it were packed his best clothes and a few

of his most useful books. Once it was closed and locked, perhaps then

it was taken to the Black Lion's Inn on South Street and consigned to

one of the London carriers to be loaded aback one of his pack horses

on the next trip out. By Tuesday morning, January 6, thereafter,

Thomas was ready to set out on his journey to the city on the Thames.^-

What were the boy's thoughts and feelings as he took leave of his

family at the tender age of eleven and made his way to what was already

becoming one of the great metropolises of the Western World? Would

that we could know. Surely they were ambivalent. The trip promised

high adventure. Thomas knew enough about London to perceive the

prospects the city held for exciting times, for advancement in his

career, and for the fulfillment of living in a wider world. As his

contemporary, Donald Lupton, exclaimed: "She's certainly a great World,

there are so many little Worlds in Her: She is the great Bee-hive of

Christendoms, I am sure of Englandj She swarmes . . . with people of

all Ages, Natures, Sexes, Callings . . . ." Moreover, Thomas had heard

119
 120

much about Lincoln's Inn; he had long anticipated the day when he would

enter its prominent Gatehouse on Chancery Lane and become a member of

that "honorable society." Undoubtedly he looked forward to the

relative freedom of life in the Inn as compared to the repressive and

unpleasant atmosphere of late at Exeter Latin high school. At the same

time, he was leaving the warmth and security of his family home,

launching forth somewhat into the unknown. It took courage for a lad
2
barely approaching twelve years of age to take that step.

By what means and route did young Modyford make his way to London?

We cannot know for certain; direct evidence is lacking. It is highly

probable, however, that Thomas proceeded to London overland by one of

three popular routes. He may have pursued a northern route which took

him from Exeter through Stoke Post, Bradninch, Cullompton, Appledore,

Wellington, Taunton, Glastonbury, Wells, Bath and hence to London. The

London merchants participating in Exeter fairs frequently came and went

by this route; and two early travellers who left journals describing

their visits to Exeter in the seventeenth century perambulated along

this way. On the other hand, a southern route led from Exeter to

London as well. It would have taken young Thomas from Exeter through

Newton Poppleford, Sidford, Colyford, Lyme Regis, Bridport, Dorchester,

Blandford, Salisbury and hence to London. This road also saw consider­

able use in the seventeenth century. The third route lay between these

two. It led from Exeter through Honiton, Axminster, Crewkerne, Sher­

borne, Shaftesbury, Salisbury, Andover, Basingstoke, Hartford Bridge,

Staines, and into London. This route constituted part of the London-

Plymouth Post-Road with postmasters stationed at nine locations along

the way. It was also the principal route used by the regular Exeter-
 121

London carriers who departed from Black Lion's Inn in Exeter with their

trains of nine to thirteen pack horses and put up for the night in

London at the Star in Broad Street or the Rose near Holbom Bridge some

six or seven days later. Part of their business was providing convoy

to persons making the trip in addition to carrying freight, baggage,

monies, and messages. In general, the carriers seem to have enjoyed a

good reputation for trustworthiness and honesty. Did Thomas follow

this central route, then, in company with an Exeter-London pack train

3
as he made his way to Lincoln's Inn? Possibly.

There is an explanation which fits the total set of circumstances

much more plausibly, however. If, as we have reasonably inferred,

Richard Duck was at home in Exeter for the Christmas vacation, the

first week in January was the appropriate time for his return to London

in order to be on hand for the opening of the Hilary Term of the courts

at Westminster^ the term commenced not later but perhaps earlier than

January 20. Being in his first year after call to the bar and seriously

pursuing the law, Richard would have felt obligated to be there if

possible to engage in one of several activities: to plead a case in the

courts perhaps for one of his father's old clients (somewhat against

convention so soon after call but nevertheless done by some junior

barristers in the 1630's); to prepare cases to be pled in the courts by

senior members of the bar; or to visit the courts in order to observe

the great barristers and serjeants-at-law at work as a further exercise

in learning the law. Moreover, for young Thomas Modyford to be

admitted to Lincoln's Inn, one of the benchers of the Inn had to agree

to sponsor and to present him for admission. Drawing upon the in­

fluence and prestige which his father had enjoyed as a bencher and a
 122

treasurer of the Inn, Richard undoubtedly could have obtained this

favor for the boy by a letter of request to any one of several benchers

who had been his father's close colleagues for a score of years.

Finally, in order for young Thomas to be admitted, he had to have

access to a "half chamber" in the Inn. As a bencher, Richard's father

had enjoyed a "full chamber" for yearsj the lease on this chamber was

probably passed on to Richard upon Nicholas Duck's death. Thus, the

prospect of sharing this chamber with his elder cousin, Richard Duck,

barrister of Lincoln's Inn, awaited Thomas Modyford whenever he was

ready to embrace the law. Richard Duck's being available to accompany

Thomas to London, to present him to the benchers of the Inn, to settle

him in chambers, and to look after the boy during the first few months

of his residence there helps to explain Marie Modyford's willingness to

allow a lad so young to leave home and to enter upon his studies in the

great metropolis. In the absence of conclusive evidence, therefore,

considering the factors outlined above, by far the most probable course

of action was as follows.^

Perhaps on the morning of Tuesday, January 6, 1632, Thomas Modyford

took leave of his family at the Modyford house on Northgate Street,

mounted his horse, and set out for London in the company of his cousin,

Richard Duck. They chose the middle route more regularly used during

this winter season than the others and more amply supplied with fair

inns along the way. Upon setting out, they rode past the Carfoix, down

Cook Row, through the South Gate, and turned their horses into Magdalen

Street toward the rising sun, to follow the route of the old Roman road
 123

through Heavitree to points east. They traveled on horseback since

coaches were a rarity on West Country roads during the first half of

the seventeenth century; the first regular passenger service by coach

between London and Exeter was not established until 1658. They had

172 miles to ride as measured by John Ogilby a few years later for his

atlas, Britannia.'*

On market days, this road, in the immediate vicinity of Exeter,

was normally thronged with folk making their way into the provincial

city on foot or on horseback: gentlemen farmers and yeomen herding

along select stock or leading pack horses laden with grain or wool;

spinsters, weavers, and cloth merchants from the outlying hamlets and

towns carrying their products to the Wool Market and Merchants Hall.

Being Tuesday, however, the road was fairly clear; young Modyford and

Cousin Duck progressed steadily along their way. From Exeter through a

range of small hills, through the villages of Honiton-Clyst and Rock-

beare, over the River Otter, and into the borough of Honiton the way

was rather good. It was largely fine gravel under horse's foot except

when a rapid thaw or heavy rain brought the Clyst out of banks to

flood its vale, presenting the traveler with a stretch of mud and water

to be waded. Beyond Honiton, the roadway — "trackway" is more aptly

descriptive since it was only a solid path two-to-three feet wide

bordered by draining slopes and ditches— narrowed and meandered among

the enclosed fields of eastern Devon below the level of the surrounding

country, walled by huge banks bristling with thick hedges. The two

travelers plodded along these narrow corridors, protected from the

winter winds but bored with the tedium of a route which provided scant

view of the beautiful countryside, until they arrived at Axminster

 12U

where they likely paused for the night. They had come twenty-six miles

on their first day.^

On Wednesday, with good fortune, they could have reached Shaftes­

bury; by Thursday eve— despite the quagmires and chilling winds of

Salisbury Plain— Andover; at dusk on Friday— Hartley Row or Bagshot.

Thus, as they set out upon the last leg of their journey on Saturday

morning, January 10, they had only thirty-to-forty miles remaining to

traverse.^

Some of the worst roads in thekingdom, however, were those in the

neighborhood of London. During theprevious day or two, Thomas had

noticed an increase in the traffic on the roads they traveled: gentle­

men riding to London and returning thence to their estates; merchants

journeying for business reasons; provincial lawyers like Richard Duck

returning for the opening of the next law term; petty chapmen (peddlers)

heading for the provinces, their back packs heavily laden with new

wares; an occasional coach carrying women, children, and body servants

to and from the city. As they pressed on that Saturday morning over

Bagshot Heath and past Windsor Park, the traffic thickened even more:

drovers herding their sheep and cattle to London's markets or the

fattening farms nearby; farmers and hawkers (peddlers with pack horse

who offered their foodstuffs for sale on the street corners) heading

for the city with their produce; packtrains sauntering along, the

animals attached to one another by halter and tail; two-wheeled carts

and a few four-wheeled wagons as well, creaking under heavy loads,

drawn by teams of six strong horses or oxen. The constant passage of

traffic of such volume and type not only turned the roadway into a

virtual isthmus of mud in winter but continued to churn into the mud
 125

ageless accumulations of dung and extraneous filth to the point where

doubtless at times Thomas and Richard were ’’forced to stop their noses
Q

to avoid the evil smell occasioned by it."

At length, having endured many obstacles and delays along the way,

they arrived at the wooden bridge crossing the Thames just outside the

town of Staines near which lay the fields of Runneymeade where King

John was presented the Great Charter by his barons in 1215. After

waiting their turn to cross as, perhaps, packtrains, wagons, and

drovers with their animals traversed the bridge and paid their tolls,

they entered the town and probably paused at the George or the Lyon to

dine. Then, encouraged by the thought that they had only nineteen more

miles to travel, they joined the flow of traffic once again and rode on

through the village of Bedfont, over the New River cut carrying fresh

water into London, through Hounslow, Brantford, Turnham-Green, Hammer­

smith, Kensington, and Khightsbridge until, at last, they approached

the suburbs of London toward day's end. Turning south into the road

leading past St. James Palace, they proceeded by Charing Cross, down

the Strand into Fleet Street, and, turning their horses northward into

Chancery Lane, finally, saddle sore and weary, they arrived at the
9
Gatehouse of Lincoln's Inn.

Perhaps young Modyford and Cousin Duck arrived in time to sup in

commons in the Hall, and, after getting settled in their chambers, to

take part in the traditional entertainments of the Saturday night

revels. It would have been an excellent opportunity for Thomas to

become acquainted with some of the young gentlemen who were to be his

closest colleagues during the next several years. Be that as it may,

on the morrow— Sunday, January 11, 1632— after hearing Mr. Edward
 126

Reynolds preach in Lincoln's Inn Chapel, those benchers who were in

(
residence assembled in the Hall. Having been formally presented to the

benchers thus assembled and having paid his necessary fees (his stay

at the Inn in the 1630's cost him minimally £ii0-j|50 per annum), "Thomas

Modyford, son and heir of John Modyford, late of the city of Exeter,

. . . deceased . . . " was officially admitted as a clerk-commoner in

the honorable society of Lincoln's Inn.^

Frederick Maitland described the Inns of Court as "associations of

lawyers which had about them a good deal of the club, something of the

college, something of the trade union." His definition is singularly

useful as a key to understanding the origins and nature of these unique

institutions. The evidence suggests that the Inns of Court began as

residential clubs which provided their members— groups of practicing

lawyers whose business brought them regularly to London each court term

— with food, lodging, office space, and companionship in an otherwise

inhospitable urban environment. As time passed, however, the Crown

elected to choose serjeants-at-law (to provide legal council to the

Crown and learned pleadings in the king's courts) and judges for the

central courts exclusively from these associations of lawyers. Con­

comitantly, the judges came to rely upon their senior colleagues in the

Inns from which they had emerged to educate young men in the common

law and to certify when they were ready to begin practice in the king's

courts as barristers. Thus, the Inns took on the function of a college.

They provided regular series of learning exercises for the students

i
among their membership; and they certified a degree of learning in the
 127

advanced student— indicating his readiness to practice as a barrister

— by calling him to the bar of his Inn (summoning him to sit with the

practicing barristers at meals in hall). Moreover, since the judges

determined periodically the basic terms of the learning contract (i.e.,

the number of learning exercises and length of learning period required

of the student), they, in turn, recognized a student's call to the bar

of his Inn (after a brief period of probation) as being, in effect, a

call to practice at the bar of the court. In this way, the Inns of

Court came to exercise the prerogatives of a trade union. As inde­

pendent, self-governing, professional associations, they controlled

admission to and the certifying of legal trainings therefore, they

dominated the pattern of practice and advancement in the legal pro-

fession. 11

Of the four principal Inns of Court— Lincoln's Inn, Gray's Inn,

the Inner Temple, the Middle Temple— Lincoln's Inn appears to be of

greatest antiquity^ at least the earliest surviving records of the Inns

of Court are the Black Books of Lincoln's Inn which commence in 11*22.

By that date, the society was already enjoying a flourishing and well

organized life; it was already lodging at its present site in the town-

house of the Bishops of Chichester. This tract of land had been

granted by Henry III to Ralph de Neville, Bishop of Chichester, who was

also Henry's lord chancellor. Hence, what was at that time a mere

hoof-pocked and rutted driftway, largely through open fields, connec­

ting Holbom and Fleet streets, became known in time as "Chancellor's

Lane" (Chancery Lane). As late as 1560, this unpaved thoroughfare had

only a few houses clustered about its north and south terminal inter-

sections; in between, its eastern side exhibited one large enclosed

 128

garden while its western side comprised open fields of even greater

length containing one enclosure— that of Lincoln's Inn. The members

of the society were not destined to enjoy much longer, however, the

semi-rural setting in which their Inn had been established— between

the city of London, "where the tumult of the crowd would disturb the

students' quiet," and the courts of Westminister, "to which students

of the law flock every day in term time." During the next century, in

spite of all royal decrees intent upon limiting and regulating the

growth of the city, the area bounded by Holborn, the Strand, Chancery
12
Lane, and St. Martin's Lane was a rapidly growing suburb of London.

What was Lincoln's Inn like as young Thomas Modyford initially

became acquainted with his new surroundings during the days immediately

following his taking up residence there in January, 1632? No doubt,

for an eleven year old boy, it was an exciting new world to be explored

and understood.

The boy's attention was first drawn to the Gatehouse through which

he entered to gain access to the Inn. Constructed in Tudor-Gothic

style, of red brick made upon the premises, its twin, square towers,

rising a full four stories above the ground, suitably framed the arched

entryway above which was set an heraldic compartment featuring the arms

of Henry VIII. Wood-framed shops, bordering the lane to the left and

right of the gateway, complemented the sturdy oak doors through which

Thomas passed into East Court, some 150 feet wide by 100 feet deep. As

he entered this court, the first building to catch Thomas's eye was the

Hall (Old Hall)— the oldest structure of the Inn— situated to the west

of and just across the court directly in front of him. (See page 129

for the relevant portion of the map of London by Ogilby and Morgan,
 Map 3* The Vicinity of Lincoln's Inn, circa. 161|C
"A Large and Accurate Map of the City of London" accompanying Sir Walter
ty of Lincoln's Inn, circa. 161*0. (From John Ogilby,
London" accompanying Sir Walter Besant's London in the Time of the Stuarts)
 130

1677). The northern side of the East Court was occupied by the Chapel

— the great pride of the benchers then governing the society. The

southern perimeter of the court and the structures paralleling Chancery

Lane were comprised of chambers occupied by various members of the

13
society.

As Thomas strolled about the enclosure, other features of the Inn

became apparent to him as well. On the northern side of the Chapel lay

the North Court, of near equal size to the East Court, accessible by a

passage at the rear of the Chapel, but otherwise surrounded by chambers,

except on its western side, which was open to the Garden. There were

also two smaller courts which opened toward the Garden: the South Court

was bounded on the south by chambers and on the east by the Hallj the

Middle Court was surrounded by chambers, which on its eastern side

encroached upon the western and principal front of the Chapel.^

Behind these courts, nestled as they were among the principal

buildings which constituted Lincoln’s Inn in 1632, Modyford noted the

fine Garden, its formal walks and shady avenues now presenting an

atmosphere of mature growth since it was first established in 1S53- To

the north of this garden and the buildings of the Inn, there lay a

park-like garden of much greater expanse, commonly known as "Lincoln's

Inn Walks." Constituting an area equal to that occupied collectively

by the buildings, courts, and garden of the Inn, the "Walks" substan­

tially enhanced the life of the society. The benchers had seen fit to

enclose them, along with the buildings, courts, and garden of the Inn,

within a high brick wall to shut out the curious glances of folk

trafficking up and down Chancery Lane in front of the Inn or sauntering

along the public pathways through Lincoln’s Inn Fields behind. The
 131

spaciousness of the area, the well laid-out walks and ordered plantings,

the raised walk along the terrace against the back wall which provided

an excellent view across the even larger expanse of Lincoln's Inn

Fields, the well kept bowling green apparently located in the southeast

corner of the Walks adjacent to the Garden, the strategically placed

benches on the terrace and beside the green for observers of the game

or strollers desiring a rest, the solitude provided by the protective

walls— all contributed to making the Walks an ideal spot for a moment's

recreation free from the exacting study or demanding duties of the law,

for a pleasant perambulation with friends, or for the practice of

quietness within natural surroundings. The importance of these open

spaces to the society is accentuated by the existence at this time of

a "Master of the Walks" among the membership whose responsibility it

was to oversee the care and maintenance of the area. The society also

regularly employed a gardener who had his own separate quarters toward

the rear of the enclosure.^

Over the next decade, during which time Thomas Modyford was inter­

mittently resident at Lincoln's Inn, he came to experience in depth the

quality of life at the Inn. Being some three-and-a-half centuries

removed from the scene, in what aspects of Thomas's experience at the

Inn can we share as he became more intimately acquainted with his

milieu?

It

Thomas soon perceived that the Hall was the center of life and

learning at the Inn. Completed in lit92 and constructed of brick with

an open oak ceiling, the Hall was approximately seventy-one feet long
 132

by thirty-two feet wide. The kitchen and buttery occupied a transcept

off its north end. Entering the Hall through an archway at the south

end and stepping around a massive, grotesquely decorated screen upon

which announcements were frequently posted for the fellows, Thomas

could see that the Hall was lighted during the day by three large

arched windows on each side and one great oriel at each end; at night,

it was illumined by a candle plate on each table and one standing

candelabra. When heat was needed, a fire was built, apparently upon a

raised fire pit in the center of the Hall; the smoke rose and was

carried out through a louver pitched upon the ridge of the roof. No

fire was permitted in the Hall, however, until All Saints Day (November

1); against the damp and cold of autumn, the fellows had to fortify

themselves as best they could with ample clothing. The floor of the

Hall was paved with stone tiles but was strewn periodically with fresh

rushes or straw to keep it clean under foot.^

Young Modyford quickly learned that the seating arrangement in the

Hall had great significance, illustrating the pattern of rank and ad­

vancement in the society. At the north end of the Hall near the buttery

hatch, upon a dais and stretching across the width of the room, was

situated the bench— the long table at which the benchers sat anytime

the fellows assembled. The benchers were the highest ranking members

of the society, lawyers who, because of their demonstrated knowledge

of the law and successful practice in the king's courts, had been

"called to the bench," that is, to become governors of their Inn of

Court. Just below the bench and the dais, there stood two tables

allotted to the bar— barristers (also termed "utter barristers") who

had been "called to the bar" of their Inn but who were in the initial
 133

or Intermediate stages of their careers as practicing lawyers. They

represented the middle rank among the membership of the society. One

of these tables— the "ancient syde table"— paralleled that of the benchj

during meals, at this table sat the more experienced barristers who had

not yet been called to the bench. Across the room, the other table

stretched north and south; here the junior barristers took their meals.

In the middle and toward the south end of the Hall were tables for the

students (also termed "clerks-commoners," "apprentices-at-law," and

"inner barristers")— those with lowest rank in the society. At the

very south end of the Hall, there were tables for the law clerks (not

clerks as apprentices but clerks as hired journeymen) of the benchers

who assisted their employers in their practice. Here also were seated

the menservants of various young gentlemen of means in the society

In good time Thomas adapted himself to the routines of life in

"commons" (boarding at the Inn). With the other fellows, he assembled

in the Hall around 6:30 or 7:00 A.M. without ceremony on Mondays,

Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays for a simple breakfast of bread and

beer. On the other days, breakfast was "taken away" from the inn

wherever the fellow wished. At 12:30 P.M. a horn sounded through the

courts summoning the society to dinner— the main meal. Upon assembly,

a gavel rapping upon a small table adjacent to the bench brought the

fellows to a solemn attention; the chaplain said grace. The benchers

were served first. All fellows were served in "messes" of four.

Bread, beer, and beef, mutton, or fish were typical daily fare;

occasionally vegetable dishes were provided; on Sundays a more varied

menu was featured. At meal's end, the gavel rapped a second time;

grace was repeated, dismissing the fellows from the Hall. At 6:00 P.M.
 132*

the horn summoned those in commons to supper each evening except Friday.

Again grace was said before and after this simple meal of bread and
.
beer.
18

In addition to the communal meals of the society, the Hall was the

scene of considerable other significant activity as well. It was in

the Hall that various formal learning exercises in the law were

regularly scheduled for the benefit of the students. (Further explana­

tion of the learning process follows below). Moreover, since the Inns

were from early times perceived somewhat as extensions of the king's

court, the Hall was periodically the site of what Chief Justice

Fortescue termed "dancing, and all games proper for nobles as those

brought up in the King's household are accustomed to practice." Thus,

music, singing, dancing, and gaming were regular activities in the Hall

during the Saturday night revels. William Prynne reflected upon his

student days at Lincoln's Inn as he wrote: "it was the constant custom

of that house and all other Inns of Court from All Saints' Eve to

Candlemas night to keep open revels, dancing, dicing and musick in

their halls every Saturday night till 11 or 13 of the clock and many

times till 2* in the morning." Prynne was instrumental in 1629 in

getting the benchers of Lincoln's Inn to ban "dicing and carding" in

the Hall, and he urged them to suppress what he called "disorderly,

bacchanalian Grand Christmasses" as well. Nevertheless, throughout the

residence of Thomas Modyford at Lincoln's Inn in the 1630's, music,

singing, and dancing continued in the Hall during the revelsj Christmas

plays and the activities of a mock prince and his court were staged

there by the students remaining in commons during the Christmas

vacations} and an occasional masque— upon which more elaborate

 135

19
preparations were focused— was produced therein.

Whether for mess, moots, or merriment, the fellows were bound by

the rules of their society to appear in hall in the proper attire:

students assembled wearing black sleeveless gowns with flap collars

and their round, flat caps; barristers appeared dressed in their long

black robes embellished with velvet welts on long hanging sleeves; the

benchers took their places in knee-length gowns tufted with velvet and

silk. Most phases of life at Lincoln's Inn, therefore, were brought

20
into focus within the Hall.

Religion and morals were also looked after at the Inn, however,

along with learning the law and acquiring social graces. The benchers

of Lincoln's Inn consistently manifested more positive concern for the

spiritual health of their society than did their colleagues of the

other Inns. Young Modyford soon perceived the importance which the

senior members of the Inn attached to regular attendance to chapel.

It was this spirit of continuing care for the spiritual well-being of

the fellows which prompted the benchers to promote the building of the

new Chapel, only recently completed in 1623. Indeed, Thomas's Uncle

Nicholas Duck, bencher and treasurer of the Inn from 161$ to 1628, had

been greatly instrumental in the erection of the new Chapel. He had

been a member of the original committee assigned the task of planning

and contracting the building; his had been the role of managing the

financing of its construction; he had been among the first to con-

21
tribute a "benevolence" toward the costs of the new sanctuary. For

these reasons, it may well be that young Modyford took a special

interest in the Chapel and straightway became acquainted with it upon

his arrival at the Inn.

 136

Thomas noted that the Chapel was uniquely poised upon pillars,

eight of them forming three pointed arches along each of its longest

sides and two constituting massive piers supporting the center. Thus,

the building appeared to be standing on stilts over the ground-level

crypt beneath'it, frequently used by the fellows as an ambulatory in

which to walk, confer with clients or colleagues, and shape cases. The

building, some sixty-seven feet long, forty-one feet wide, and forty-

four feet high, featured a turret with cupola rising from its south­

western angle containing a bell used to summon the fellows to divine

pp
service.

Entering by way of an archway into the crypt and taking a flight

of stairs to the sanctuary above, perhaps upon his very first visit

Thomas noted the tasteful appointments of this house of worship. On

both the north and south sides of the Chapel, three large arched

windows were separated by massive, graduated buttresses capped by

facsimilies of huge vases with flames issuing from them carved in the

stonework above. At each of the sanctuary's eastern and western ends,

one large window with a round, multi-paned panel set in its arched head

sufficed to illumine the room's extremeties. Beneath the timbered

ceiling, the chastened light transmitted through the stained-glass

images set in the fine windows all around bathed the carved oaken pews,

the raised altar enclosed with balustrades, the pulpit, and the brass

water-clock nearby in an ethereal glow. The windows to the north and

south portrayed the figures of the prophets and the apostles; those to

the east and west depicted the arms of the society and of its distin­

guished "readers'' (lecturers in the law). Among the readers featured

in the west window, Modyford discovered the arms of his Uncle Nicholas
 137

Duck alongside those of Sir Thomas Wentworth (recorder and M.P. for

Oxford) and Richard Diggs, two of Duck's closest associates and friends.

Altogether, the Chapel presented the fellows an atmosphere very con­

ducive to periodic spiritual renewal.^

The Chapel had no means of heating, however, and it was often

chilly on a wintry day. For this reason, soon after young Modyford

arrived, for the winter months the benchers moved the hour of daily

Morning Prayer from 6:00 A.M. to 7J00 A.M. in order to attract more of

those in commons to regular attendance. Though cold the sanctuary

might be from time to time, it was, nevertheless, often the scene of

warm and impassioned preaching attentively received. The benchers took

to heart the admonition of a fellow of their Inn and their own preacher

from 1616 to 1622 who, as Dean of nearby St. Paul's Cathedral, returned

to preach to a packed house at the consecration of their new Chapel on

Ascension Day, Thursday, May 22, 1623— Dr. John Donne. Said Donne:

Beloved, it is not always colder upon Sunday, then

upon Satterday, nor at any time colder in the chappell
then in Westminster Hall . . . They that love a warme
bed . . . a warme studie . . . a warme profit, better
then th^g place, they deny Christ in his institution
• # • »

Numbers of the benchers and barristers of Lincoln's Inn were

serious about their religion; many, such as Matthew Hale, later chief

justice of king's bench, set a good example for the students in their

midst by regular attendance to chapel. A chaplain was employed to read

prayers and look after the general spiritual welfare of the house.

Moreover, the senior members of the Inn valued good preaching. As

lawyers, they could appreciate and criticise sermons on their own

< terms, for logic, rhetoric, and argument from authority were also their
 138

basic stock and trade. Accordingly, they appointed able men to their

pulpit, furnished each preacher in turn with chambers in the Inn, paid

each a stipend of £80 per annum, and required that he preach twice each
2<
Sunday throughout the year, both in the forenoon and afternoon.

Hence, throughout the decade of the l630's Lincoln's Inn Chapel

was a forum for two talented preachers. During the first few months

of Thomas's residence there, he and his colleagues listened to Mr.

Edward Reynolds of Merton College, Oxford, who later became the Bishop

of Norwich. Upon Reynolds's resignation as preacher for the Inn

following Easter Term, in June, 1632, Mr. Joseph Caryl of Exeter

College, Oxford, was appointed preacher in his place; he remained in

this post until l6ii7. Caryl was an outstanding biblical scholar and

was later frequently called upon to preach to the Long Parliament.

Both men were proteges of John Prideaux, the Calvinist who clung to his

regius chair of divinity at Oxford in spite of the Laudian ascendancy.

Both were Puritans but, at least during these years, their puritanism

was "conservative, erastian and moderate" as was the puritan sentiment

of most of their common-lawyer congregation. Both Caryl and his

colleague in the chaplaincy, Robert Pickerell, were "conformable men

and verie well gounded in their professions . . . ;" they wore the

surplice and hood; they dutifully read the service from the Book of

Common Prayer at the times of preaching services also. Along these

lines, they gave neither the Bishop of London nor their lawyer-patrons

any problem.^

But Lincoln's Inn Chapel was something of a focal center of London

puritanism during the 1620's and 1630's as others from outside the

membership frequently joined the fellows to listen to sermons which

 139

appear to have been scripturally based, tightly reasoned, authori­

tatively delivered, fervently preached, and dramatically emphasized.

Thus, as Thomas Modyford periodically took his seat among the pews in

the rear of the Chapel, Sabbath after Sabbath, when he was in commons

(the pews nearest the altar were reserved for the benchers; the

intermediate ones for the barristers), he found himself again in an

atmosphere similar in kind though superior in quality to that of St.

Mary Arches Church in Exeter under the ministry of Rector Ferdinando

Nicholls. It was an atmosphere in which, while receiving further

grounding in matters moral and religious, he was also practicing the

art of active listening, strengthening the reasoning powers of his mind,

imbibing additional models of persuasive speech, and gradually inter­

nalizing the values which were progressively refining his ambitions and
27
would some day govern his behavior as a professional man. 1

Aside from activities in hall and chapel, a sizeable portion of

the time of a Lincoln’s Inn clerk-commoner was spent in chambers. The

location and arrangement of these buildings in relation to one another

has been noted. During the twenty-six years between 1587 and 1613, the

society had built or built anew the greater part of the chambers of the

Inn. These buildings (the only portion of them now remaining runs from

the south side of the Gatehouse to the comer of New Square) appear to

have been constructed of brick with arched doorways and freestone­

framed windows set in lattices and mullions. Within, most chambers

were subdivided into half-chambers. These were heavily wainscotted,

and most were further subdivided by panelling to provide both a bedroom

and a study wherein a window admitted light from the outside. Each

half-chamber was furnished according to the tenant’s means and wishes.

 mo

Since membership in the society was for life, at a typical cost of

from i20 to £35, half-chambers were leased to fellows for life

contingent upon their being in commons three months each year, paying

certain dues from time to time, and obeying other rules of the society.

Into some of the buildings water was brought through lead pipes; others

depended upon pumps set in wells in the open courtyards outside.

28
Regarding sanitary facilities, the records are silent.

Shortly after their completion in 1613, however, certain changes

began to be wrought in chambers. Others were in progress at the time

of young Modyford1s residence. One trend was toward the consolidation

of some chambers into larger units for the use of senior fellows. By

the 1670's, a few such consolidated chambers leased for as much as £i*50

— no doubt spacious and comfortable apartments affording ample room for

the consultations of a busy practice and for law clerks to do their

work. Originally, very few individual chambers had fireplaces for

heating. By the 1670's, however, numerous individual chambers were

equipped with fireplaces, the chimneys having been added to the

exteriors of the buildings to accommodate them. In like manner, at the

tenants' expense, many chamber windows were enlarged. By the 1670's,

several bay windows had been built which afforded their tenants an

excellent view of Chanceiy Lane to the east or of the gardens to the

north or west.^^

Moreover, a small library, which had for some time been housed in

one of the chambers buildings, was in 1602 better equipped with stools,

tables, and bookshelves around the walls. In 1629-1630, in response to

a students' petition, an effort was begun to enlarge its holdings and

to make it available for daily use; simultaneously, its facilities were

 mi

again enlarged and refurbished. By 1632, when Thomas Modyford arrived,

through contributing 6d per term to the chaplain's salary (he had just

been assigned the new function of librarian as well), any young gentle­

man of the society could make regular use of its resources. By 16U6,

the library constituted 22h volumes of which 95 were "divinitie books."

Finally, the benchers made use of another room in one of the chambers

buildings as a council chamber wherein they met periodically for

■3Q
routine administrative business.

During the 1630's there were 208 chambers under lease at Lincoln's

Inn as compared with only 92 chambers in l57h. The building program

which more than doubled the lodging capacity of the Inn had been

carried out over the turn of the century in response to a dramatic up­

swing in the number of applications for admission to the Inn during the

decades just before, a trend which, though fluctuant, did not signifi­

cantly subside until the outbreak of the Civil War. This accelerated

movement of young men toward the Inns of Court was the result both of

the multiplying of opportunities for men trained in the common law and

of the increasing numbers of affluent gentry who were discovering that

two or three years' residence at an Inn of Court best helped their sons

to acquire the polished courtesies, the cultivated speech, the gentle

bearing, and the invaluable contacts with distinguished men of their

time necessary to a successful career. The outcome of this movement?

During the 1630's, at peak periods of activity in the law courts, of

the learning exercises, and throughout the city at large, there was

in commons at Lincoln's Inn a larger community more varied in its

membership than ever before.^1

Since the Inn operated rather like a residential club, catering

for a fluid, heterogeneous population of long-term residents, semi­

permanent guests, and short-term transients, fixing the number and

proportions of this community with precision at any given time is

impossible. Nevertheless, among the 220-260 overall, the larger

proportion consisted of law clerks not seriously pursuing the bar,

attorneys and solicitors satisfied to do law work not requiring them to

plead before the courts, and gentlemen of the country with their

personal servants and attendants. Among a smaller proportion, there

were senior benchers and benchers just called, practicing barristers

and barristers just called, and clerks-commoners actively pursuing

study of the law. Among a still smaller group (overlapping the latter)

who were fulfilling residence requirements at the Inn in order to

32
advance in the law, were Thomas Modyford and Richard Duck.

Just where among the chambers of the Inn, young Modyford settled

when he first arrived, we do not know. If our assumption is correct,

however, that he continued to share chambers with Cousin Richard Duck,

we know that in October, 1632, the two occupied a new and larger full

chamber which had fallen vacant through the death of a bencher, Richard

Waltham. They moved into the chamber with a garret belonging to it,

two stories high, "in the Field Gate Court, next the Kytchin Garden."

Apparently, this chamber-commodious, high up, just under the roof

— afforded Thomas a splendid view of the Garden to the west, of

Lincoln's Inn Fields beyond, indeed, of much of the rapidly growing

suburb of London which surrounded him. No doubt this larger world

beckoned to him with all its promise of adventure. But, since Thomas

was younger than most of his colleagues and was under the supervision

of his kinsman who knew well the dangers to a youth posed by the city
 11*3

at large, it is probable that exploration of that larger milieu was

mostly postponed. For the time being, the landscape immediately before

Thomas was his home.-^

Hall, chapel, chambers, courts, gardens, and walks— all enclosed

in a high brick wall penetrated by three gates which were locked

promptly at 10:00 P.M. each evening. During law terms and learning

vacations, a community of 250 people varied in their pursuits and

attainments; at other times, a society of much fewer. This was

Lincoln’s Inn in the 1630*s; this was the immediate and dominant

environment in which Thomas Modyford grew to manhood and learned the

common law of England.^

In the absence of a diary or personal letters reflecting his youth,

it is not possible to follow the activities of Thomas Modyford at

Lincoln’s Inn month by month through this vital decade of his develop­

ment. Scant references, however, do inform of his activities and

whereabouts now and again. In addition, the records of the Inn document

significant and unusual events during these years in which Modyford and

other fellows of the society participated. Moreover, John Green, son

of a bencher of the Inn and Modyford1s fellow apprentice-at-law (an

immediate contemporary to Modyford since he was admitted to the Inn

shortly after Thomas’s admission and was called to the bar at precisely

the same time), left a diary reflecting student life at the Inn during

the latter half of 1635.^ More importantly, the terms of the learning

contract which young Modyford entered into by being admitted to

Lincoln's Inn as a serious student of the law— the requirements which

 lWi

he had to meet in order to qualify for practice as a barrister in the

national courts— are reasonably clear.

Simply stated, they were these. First, to be eligible for a call

to the bar, Modyford was required to be "in continuance" at the Inn for

a minimum of seven years ("in continuance" was normally defined as

being in commons [boarding at the Inn] for at least three months each

year). Second, during the first two years immediately after coming

into commons, he was required to attend faithfully the exercises of

each "learning vacation." Subsequently, there was an intermediate

period when only the proscription that he be "in continuance" was in

effect, although he was clearly expected to be pursuing learning

activities. Third, during the last two years before his call to the

bar, he was required to attend all learning vacations, to participate

in a minimal number of "moots" in his own Inn and/or the Inns of

Chancery (customarily nine), and to undergo a personal visit with the

benchers in which he was examined as to his fitness for the call.

Finally, after his call to the bar, as a barrister he was required to

be "in continuance" for three more years before beginning to plead in

the courts (by the late 1630's this requirement had eroded considerably

in actual practice). At the least, during the first year of this

period of "post-call continuance,"— if he had not already done so— he

was required personally to present and to direct a "moot" before the

society as well as to participate in both "learning vacations" and

other learning exercises of the house.^

It is clear that these requirements— and the conventional ways in

which the typical serious student of the law by the 1630's sought to

meet them— tended to subdivide Thomas Modyford*s decade of life and

 Ui5

learning at Lincoln's Inn into four periods: (1) 1632-1633: a period of

initial getting acquainted with the law and of faithfully attending the

learning exercises of the Inn; (2) 163U-1636: a period when life and

learning could expand into wider explorations under fewer constraintsj

(3) 1637-1638: a period of focused preparation for the callj (U) 1639-

161*1: a period of "post-call" participation in the learning exercises

of the society and, perhaps, the beginnings of a practice as a

barrister. By keeping in mind that these periods represent changes in

emphasis among his activities rather than breaks in the continuity of

his experience, these periods provide a useful framework for examining

Thomas's learning experiences at Lincoln's Inn and their outcomes.

There is a danger, of course, in applying the framework suggested by

these requirements to a specific individual's development without

extensive documentation to corroborate it; to every one of these rules,

there were exceptions.-^ Another factor confirms this procedure,

however. All available evidence about Modyford's residence at the Inn

attests that his experience there was thoroughly conventional. This

becomes apparent in the brief sketch to follow of Thomas's life and

learning at Lincoln's Inn.

To understand the essence and import of Thomas's experiences at

Lincoln's Inn requires some acquaintance with what may be termed the

"school year" of the Inn. Since the Inn originated as a hostelry for

busy lawyers congregating in London to attend to work in the national

courts, its subsidiary functions as a training institution had to be

organized around the rhythms of justice. By the seventeenth century,

the royal courts of justice with their functions centered in West­

minister Hall— the common law courts of Common Pleas, Xing's Bench, and
 11*6

Exchequer} the equity courts of Chancery and Star Chamber— had evolved

a pattern of doing business more or less organized around a time-

honored schedule established by the Court of Common Pleas. The courts

were open for business during four "law terms" each year. Hilary Term

usually opened about January 20 and extended for two to four weeks;

Easter Term opened on a Wednesday seventeen days after Easter and

extended to Ascension Day, some four weeks later; Trinity Term began on

the morrow of Trinity (early June) and lasted three weeks; Michaelmas

Term opened around October 6 and continued for six to eight weeks.

Thus, the benchers and barristers who were resident at the Inn were

primarily occupied with their work in the courts during "term time"

(approximately one hundred days out of the year). Moreover, students

at the Inn were expected to audit the sessions of the courts during

"term" and to learn from their observations of the barristers,

38
serjeants-at-law, and judges at work.

In order for the lawyers to contribute substantially to and for

the students to draw deeply from structured learning exercises, there­

fore, the principal instructional activities of the Inn had to be

scheduled during periods which were, for those in the profession of

law, "vacation." By the 1630's, two principal "learning vacations" had

evolved. The "Lent Reading" ("reading"— a series of lectures on the

law followed by discussion and argumentation) was scheduled between

Hilary and Easter terms; it began on the first Monday of Lent (early

March) and lasted for at least one week, sometimes a few days more.

The "Autumn Reading" was held after the close of Trinity Term; it

commenced on the first Monday in August and continued for two weeks.

Periods of time when the courts were not in session and when no
learning vacations were in progress were called "mean vacation."

During much of the mean vacation time, aural exercises were regularly

scheduled within the house for the learning of the students (simulated

court procedures which allowed the students to "put cases," to argue or

plead those cases, and to have the relevant issues of law and their

performance assessed by their learned colleagues). Since aural

exercises also constituted part of the activities of the formal

"readings" as well, such exercises were conducted at Lincoln's Inn

during a total of thirty-seven weeks out of the year. Moreover, for

an additional three weeks, the courts were in session. "Term time,"

"learning vacation," "mean vacation"— collectively, they constituted

a school year of some forty weeks. For the students, the remainder of

the year consisted of periods of vacation in the modem sense of the

term: the last two weeks of Lent (late March); the latter half of

Ascension Grand Week and Whitsun Week (ten days in late May-early

June); from the end of the Autumn Reading until September 21 (about six

weeks); and from December 16 until the end of Christmas commons (three

weeks)

For some forty weeks ranging over the year, therefore, Lincoln's

Inn made available to its clerks-commoners opportunities for learning

the law. The goals being pursued by the society as it did so were

fairly clear. The society's purpose was to teach that fundamental

knowledge of the common law of England which would equip its posessors

to interpret intelligently the sources of that law. Beyond this, the

society did what it could to help its apprentices to develop: a mastery

of logic, precise definition, and accurate analysis; the ability to

think on one's feet with agility; competence in the technical terms and
 Uifl

verbal techniques of the courtroom; the arts of argumentation; lucid,

fluid, precise speech; ease of manner; poise; and sophistication of

delivery— all so vitally essential to the successful advocate.^

But if the desired learning outcomes of the barrister's training

were largely perceived by those in the profession, the ideal pattern of

learning which would produce those outcomes was not. The opportunities

for learning the law made available by Lincoln's Inn constituted no

structured, sequential course of studies leading the student system­

atically toward focused objectives. True, from faithful attendance to

the "readings" throughout his continuance, the student could derive a

basic understanding of several significant statutes of the realm. From

periodic participation in the aural learning exercises of the house, he

could develop some facility in "putting cases," applying the law to

cases, and pleading a position. From observing the courts in session,

he could imbibe appropriate courtroom procedure and decorum. Beyond

this— and a general assessment of his qualifications as he approached

the time of call— the average student received little from his senior

fellows in the way of organized tutelage for his study. He was largely

on his own: on his own to master a subject which "viewed as a whole

. . . was a formless, confused jumble of undigested particulars,

successfully resisting all efforts at simplification or systematic

statement."^ How, then, did a lad like Thomas Modyford tackle the

task of learning the common law of England?

Apparently, students did a good deal to assist one another as they

struggled toward their goal. One generation passed on to another

successful procedures hard won through trial and error. Now and again

a distinguished lawyer would articulate in print the best ways of

 11*9

learning he had discovered. In this manner, a normative pattern of

study and learning activities emerged to which the typical student of

the law applied himself to a greater or lesser degree depending upon

his personal motivation and commitment. Young Modyford seems to have

been more fortunate than most in that he had close at hand a kinsman

— himself just completing the process— who could provide the boy some

supervision and assistance along the way. Simply stated, this

normative pattern can be delineated as one of reading the law, hearing

the law, talking the law, and observing the law in practice.^ We

turn now to what we can know and to what we can reasonably infer about

the progress of Thomas Modyford as he pursued this normative pattern

of learning activities toward his goal— the privilege of pleading in

the king’s courts.

By the 1630’s it appears that the system of oral-aural education

originally established in the Inns of Court was being rapidly revolu­

tionized by the increasing availability of published sources of the

law. More and more students were "reading" for the bar rather than

"listening" for the bar; at least they were supplementing their

learning from the exercises of the house with knowledge obtained from

books. Matthew Hale (later Sir Matthew Hale, chief justice of King's

Bench), upon entering commons at Lincoln's Inn in 1628, read for up to

sixteen hours a day during his first two years of continuance there.

By 1632, with the refurbishing and enlargement of the library, such a

trend was further facilitated. It is highly probable, therefore, that

Thomas Modyford was led during his first two years in commons to place
 i5o

his greatest emphasis upon "reading the law."^

But such an approach to learning the law required fluency in three

languages: Latin, English, and "law-French." In Latin were written

original and judicial writs, the records of pleas in the courts, and

many statutes of the realm; in "law-French" (Norman French: Anglo-

Norman) were written other statutes of the realm, the reports on

important cases tried in the courts (Tear Books, Law Reports), and the

technical terms of the courts' procedures. Thomas brought with him to

the Inn fluency in English and Latin. It is probable that he also

possessed a fundamental knowledge of French from some study devoted

thereto at Exeter Latin high school and an orientation to Norman-French

through his father, since John Modyford's chief trading contacts were

with the ports of Normandy. Some further study in law-French during

his first two or three months at the Inn with the help of Cousin

Richard or a private tutor, therefore, likely equipped Thomas ade­

quately for serious reading of the law.^

If so, how did he commence? Though specific evidence is lacking,

we would not be surprised to learn that he had earlier drawn from his

father's library, or perhaps from those of his Cousin Richard Duck or

Uncle Robert Walker, and read such books as William Lombarde's

Eirenarchia or Of the Office of the Justices of the Peace (1581) and

John Rastell's Les Termes de la Ley (162?). Now, if he followed the

plan suggested by the biographical evidence of several of his contem­

poraries in the Inns of Court, he began with the institutional books:

with Thomas Littleton's Tenures (ll;8l), a brief and clear treatise on

the laws relating to landed property; with John Perkin’s Profitable

Book (1528), a sketch of the various branches of conveyancing; and with

 151

Christopher St. Germain's Doctor and Student (1523), an exploration of

the grounds of the laws of England, These may well have led him on to

Sir Anthony Fitzherbert's La Graunde Abridgement (1016) which summarized

from the Year Books so usefully under alphabetical headings the chief

cases which had dealt with numerous fundamental issues of the law.

Finally, among his early readings, perhaps he moved into Sir Henry

Finch's Nomotechnia, a work of more recent vintage which could be read

in English translation (1627). In it, Serjeant-at-Law Finch attempted

to cover the whole common law in four parts: he dealt with the

derivations of the common law; with the law of real and personal

property; with offenses and punishments of the criminal law; and with

writs, pleadings, and actions of the courts. From his reading of these

books, or others of similar vein, Thomas emerged better equipped to

delve directly into the Year Books (reports of cases through the reign

of Henry VIII) and Law Reports (reports of cases from the time of

Edward VI to that of Charles I) themselves and to profit fully from the

learning exercises of the house.^

While thus acquainting himself with the foundations of the law

through "reading the law," Thomas was also beginning to engage in the

learning exercises. For Thomas and another West Country man among his

colleagues, William Godolphin of Treworveneth, Cornwall, the Lent

Reading of March, 1632, was the first series of lectures attended.

Edward Rysshe— senior barrister, son of a bencher of Lincoln's Inn, and

soon to marry the daughter of Bencher John Green (by 161*0 Serjeant John

Green)--delivered the lectures. After spending some six months pre­

paring his "reading," with considerable ceremony Bysshe appeared in

hall on Monday, March 1, about 8:00 A.M. to launch the series of

 152

lectures. Assuming that he followed customary procedure, standing by

i
the "ancient side table" at its north end from whence he could aptly

address the benchers and judges sitting at the bench to his right, the

barristers across the hall in front of him, and the students at their

tables to his left, Bysshe began his "reading," flanked by two or more

barristers selected to assist him. After one of his assistants read

for the fellowship the statute to be expounded upon, Bysshe began with

a short speech in English in which he thanked his colleagues for the

honor, rehearsed the intellectual rigors it had imposed, explained his

choice of a statute, and pointed out its relevance to the students and

his fellow practitioners. Then, perhaps with some account of the

origins and purpose of the act, in law-French Bysshe turned to the text

of the statute itself. He detailed its contents, importance, primary

drift, failure to comprehend facets of the matter it focused upon, and

finally, a series of "divisions" for discussion, i.e., several problems

of interpretation which the law occasioned. For each of the problems,

Bysshe outlined cases which the law dealt with and proposed solutions

for each case. As he summed up his lecture for the morning, he re­

turned to focus upon his first "division" and its illustrative cases.

The remainder of the morning was spent arguing the first case. One of

Bysshe's assistants at the "ancient side table" rose to confute the

reader's solution of the case. In turn, the junior barristers, senior

barristers, junior benchers, senior benchers, and judges present did

the same. In conclusion, Bysshe sought— in the face of the confuta­

tions of his learned colleagues— to confirm his original solution to

the case.^
/

The fellowship was then treated to "exceedings"— a dinner far

 153

beyond the usual fare of commons supplied by the reader and such of his

colleagues as chose to contribute to his expenses. After a fine meal,

a second of Bysshe’s assistants rose to "put" a second of his cases

before the assemblage. Taking up the case, each "mess" of four at the

tables proceeded to argue the case among themselves. And thus it went

throughout the week. On Wednesday and again on Friday, Bysshe

presented his "divisions"} his cases were argued} his "exceedings" were

devoured. Since Bysshe was apparently functioning as a "double reader"

(giving his second series of lectures before the society) and the

purpose of the "double reader" was often more to ingress his learned

colleagues of the bench with the notion that he deserved elevation to

that rank, much of what was said was probably over the heads of young

Modyford and young Godolphin. Nevertheless, they had experienced their

formal introduction to the "reading" and to "case putting"} they had

been initiated to "hearing the law" and "talking the law"— the two

principal procedures involved in the learning exercises of the house in

which they would engage many times during their continuance. And

certainly, they enjoyed the "exceedings" and the ceremony attached to

their first "learning vacation" at Lincoln's Inn.^

As the months passed during Modyford's first two years at the Inn,

while continuing his "reading of the law" in library and chambers and

his "hearing of the law" at regularly scheduled "readings," Thomas was

also progressively introduced to other learning exercises of the house.

In addition to taking his turn at argument within his "mess" when cases

were "put" among those seated at his table from time to time immedi­

ately following means, he began to participate in "bolts" which seem to

have been scheduled after supper fairly regularly for the benefit of
the new apprentices-at-law. Moreover, he soon learned that he was

expected to attend regularly "moots" which apparently were scheduled

after supper with even greater regularity, perhaps three nights a week

throughout the school year. All fellows of the society were required

to attend and/or to participate in a number of "moots" each year

regardless of rank. "Case-putting," "bolting," "mooting"— the essence

of all three was the formulation and debate of a hypothetical case or

set of circumstances involving one or more controversial questions of

law. In all three, junior fellows sought to justify their interpre­

tations of the law by citing the precedents and principles which were

the authorities of their craft while senior fellows adjudicated,

clarified, and appraised their efforts. The principal differences

among the three exercises were simply the degrees of sophistication

with which they simulated actual courtroom procedure! "case-putting"

involved only arguments about the issues of law in focusj "moots" were

mock trials involving the pleadings of plaintiff and defendant and a

judgment providing resolution.

In between was the "bolt"— the exercise in which Thomas began to

participate even as a junior clerk-commoner. He participated in two

ways. First, he "wrote up" a case involving issues of law worthy of

debate and presented it to one of the barristers for approval. If

approved, two of his fellow clerks-commoners were called upon to

prepare arguments for and against the suggested resolution to the case,

and others were asked to attend. The group assembled in hall; the

barrister took his seat on one side of the bar table with the three

participating students seated before him on the other side— Modyford in

the middle. As "put-case," Thomas articulated the circumstances, the

 155

issues at law involved, and his suggested solution; his fellows to his

left and his right argued the solution in law; the barrister adjudi­

cated and commented upon their efforts. At other times, of course,

young Modyford argued one of the positions. In this way, Thomas and

his fellow junior apprentices-at-law were introduced to fundamental

courtroom procedure and let into the process of learning the arts of

argumentation. Simultaneously, they were beginning to establish a

record of demonstrating initiative and responsibility in the learning

exercises. Each exercise performed and the names of those fellows

participating were duly noted in the "Book of Exercises" by the chief

butler who served as "bailiff of the learning." As each fellow

approached his time of call, the benchers checked his record or partici-
1>9
pation in the exercises of the house.

At length, as Thomas gained a progressing orientation to the law

through his reading, his attendance to lectures and moots, and his

participation in "case-putting" and bolts, he was encouraged to begin

visiting the courts themselves during term. Perhaps during 1633, in

the company of Richard Duck or other colleagues at the Inn, he audited

sessions of the courts at Westminster several times. During terms, the

courts sat regularly from 8:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M. daily expect Sundays

and holidays. In both Westminster Hall and the Star Chamber there were

places set aside for young gentlemen "towardes the lawe." Undoubtedly,

here again Thomas found his skills of "active listening," notetaking,

and "commonplacing"— so well developed at Exeter Latin high school— of

great value. Henceforth, not only did he commonplace important matter

from his reading under certain headings of the law; likely, he

transcribed into his commonplace books certain items from his law-French
 156

notes taken during the courts' sessions as well. By the end of his

second year in commons at Lincoln's Inn, therefore, there is reason to

believe that Thomas Modyford was beginning to experience a sense of

some accomplishment as a student of the law.^

Having now completed his first two years of close keeping of the

Inn's learning exercises, being less under the supervision of Richard

Duck who had now completed his post-call continuance, and nearing his

fourteenth birthday, by early l63ht Thomas was probably venturing forth

more frequently into that larger world of learning experiences which

the city of London held in store for him. There could have been no

finer introduction for him to that larger world than an event involving

the fellows of Lincoln's Inn which took place in early February, 163U-

After William Prynne of Lincoln's Inn had attacked the theater and

implicitly impugned the reputation of Queen Henrietta Maria by pub­

lishing his Histrio-Mastix in 1633, as a conciliatory gesture, the

benchers of Lincoln's Inn proposed to the other Inns of Court that they

jointly present the king and queen with a grand masque. Preparations

got under way during Michaelmas Term, 1633 • To raise the necessary

funds, each bencher of the four Inns was assessed £6j each barrister

i3j Modyford and his fellow clerks-commoners £1 each. It took weeks of

rehearsal with the Inns "all turned into dancing schools" before the

students and other masquers were ready to play their parts; but the

result was a very successful production of James Shirley's Triumph of

Peace.^

On Candlemas Day (February 2), the procession assembled along

 157

Holbom at Ely House. The Grand Marshal, accompanied by twenty

liveried footmen, led a procession of the masquers, numerous painted

Roman chariots, one hundred mounted students of the Inns in the finest

costumes, and three hundred servants. Down Chancery Lane they came,

past the Gatehouse of Lincoln's Inn, through the milling crowds of

excited spectators, and westward along the Strand to Whitehall Palace.

There the masque was performed in the banquet hall. Afterwards,

dancing and revels continued far into the night, terminating in a

stately banquet at dawn. The queen was so pleased that she arranged

with the lord mayor for a repeat production a short time later in

Merchant Taylor's Hall. Sir John Finch (of late Speaker of the House

of Commons; son of Sir Henry Finch, author of Nomotechnia), who

represented Gray's Inn on the arrangements committee, was deputed by

his fellow benchers to convey the thanks of the Inns to the king and

queen for their gracious reception of the masque. Whether young Mody­

ford participated in the masque, helped behind the scenes with prepa­

rations for the production, or simply stood with the crowd at the gate

of the Inn and watched the procession go by— the impact was undoubtedly

much the same. What ambitious student of the law would not experience

a renewal of his dreams and a confirmation of his resolves as a result

of viewing such a spectacle— a symbol of the affluent posture and of

the promise of the legal profession in service to the Crown and

Court?^2

At any rate, if Thomas's experience was anything like that of

several of his contemporaries at the Inns who left records of their

activities as students, these mid years of his continuance were a

period of accelerated activities in the city at large. Since arriving

 158

at the Inn, of course, he had been taking certain meals away from hall

regularly. Stepping through the Field Gate in the south wall, he was

only a few paces away from St. John's Head Tavern which was separated

from the Inn's wall only by a small passage. By following the paths

which crisscrossed Lincoln's Inn Fields to the comers of the fields,

he could make his way southward to Bell Inn in the Strand, westward to

the Ship Inn, or northward to the White Hart at the head of Drury Lane.

Indeed, stretching up the slopes of Holborne Hill almost to St. Giles-

in-the-Fields were lodgings for gentlemen and inns for travelers in

many of which a good meal and good company could be found. It he felt

especially daring, he could exit through the North Gate above Lincoln's

Inn Walks and step over to Lincoln’s Inn Grange, a boarding establish­

ment which fronted on Chancery Lane. He had probably been warned,

however, that it was a place where "dyvers lewd and ill disposed

persons, as well semynaries as other papystycall persons, have their

chambers.

As Thomas explored more actively the area immediately surrounding

the Inn during these years, his experience embraced all the sights,

sounds, and smells of a growing suburb. He learned to keep to the

western side of Chancery Lane as he came and went, since the other side

of the street was not yet paved; its ruts and pot holes were often

reservoirs of noisome slops thrown indescriminately from the windows

of gentlemen's lodgings fronting on the eastern side of the lane.

Depending upon the direction of the wind, of course, a stroll into the

north end of Lincoln's Inn Walks was often marred by the stench of the

six slaughter houses adjoining Lincoln’s Inn Grange nearby or the open-

pit privies built against the back side of Lincoln's Inn wall which
 159

served the occupants of houses fronting on Holbome above. In winter,

the "smutty air of London" occasionally hovered over the Inn as more

and more "sea-coale" was being used to feed the fires heating the tene­

ments of the city. And at various times during this decade, the

students' concentration was often riddled by the incessant sounds of

the carpenter's hammer and the mason's trowel as William Price erected

a new set of tenements on the site of the old Antelope Inn north of

Lincoln's Inn Walks and William Newton raised new houses west and south

of the Inn around the periphery of Lincoln's Inn Fields.^

But there were pleasant facets to his experience in the neighbor­

hood as well. During the warmer seasons of the year, the brick walls

enclosing the more fashionable houses along Chancery Lane were verdant

with climbing vines such as "Rochet," "Pellitorie of the Wall," and

"Blome." The gardens of Lincoln's Inn, of Staple Inn, of Burleigh

House in the Strand, and of John Gerard on Fetter Lane were a Joy to

behold. The open spaces of Lincoln's Inn Fields beckoned to Thomas and

his friends— a fine place for a frolic on the green. At the entry

points of paths crossing the Fields, under the Mulberry Trees,

balladeers strummed and bawled their bawdy songs to admiring crowds.

These were great places for young men to meet girls who frequently

stood listening, laughing now and again at a course lyric.

The immediate vicinity of the Inn by no means held Modyford

captive, however. He now treked periodically down the Strand to West­

minster to attend the courts during term. Westminster Hall— its walls

lined with bookstalls, fancy shops, and vendors' booths— drew many more

than Judges, barristers, attorneys, clients, and apprentices-at-lawj it

was a place of meeting for the general public as well. There was much
 160

to be learned there: the latest gossip of the royal Court, the fashions

in vogue, news from this part of the country and that. In season, of

course, St. James Fair also attracted the young gentlemen of the Inns

of Court, held as it was in the open fields near St. James Palace.

Moreover, surely Thomas learned, as most students of the Inn did, about

brothels scattered up and down nearby Drury Lane, though we may suspect

that his appetites were largely of a loftier sort at this time. Most

assuredly, given the frequency of association which normally occurred

among the fellows of the Inns of Court, upon occasion Modyford went

north to Gray's Inn or south to the Temples to attend chapel, readings,

moots, or revels. At the Middle Temple especially, Modyford found an

unusually large number of his fellow Devonians in residence.^

Perhaps it was in this way that Thomas developed friendships among

young men of similar interests beyond the confines of his own Inn and,

simultaneously, broadened his intellectual horizons. The clerks-

commoners were frequently reminded by their elders that a broad base

of human studies was an indispensable complement to legal training.

The natural curiosity and eclectic interests of a boy like Thomas

undoubtedly translated such advice into activity. While pursuing a

knowledge of the law, many young men at the Inns of Court delved into

antiquities, geography, history, languages, and broadly scientific

studies as well.-^

Could Thomas have become acquainted with his fellow West Country

man, William Freke of Dorset, contemporary resident at the Middle

Temple, and borrowed from Freke to read with consuming interest his

copies of Richard Hakluyt's Voyages and Navigations of the English

Nation and Samuel Purchas's Posthumus, or Purchas his Pilgrames (1625)?

 161

Thomas appears to have had from an early age a measure of pride in the

exploits of his West Country forebears during the era of exploration

and Armada; having grown up in Exeter, he could not have escaped

knowing about the roles of those noted Devonians— Gilbert, Drake,

Davis, Grenville, and Raleigh. He must have known also— his Great

Uncle George Smith, his Grandfather Thomas Walker, and Cousin Richard

Duck's grandfather, Richard Duck of Heavitree, being among them— that

the Exeter city fathers had actively supported the three voyages of

Adrian and Sir Humphrey Gilbert and the two voyages of John Davis.

Through contacts with his Uncle Robert Walker and other of Exeter's

contemporary commercial leaders, he was surely aware that much of the

current economic revival of the West Country was due to the Newfound­

land fishery and the tobacco trade from the American colonies in which

many Devonians were sharing. Furthermore, through an association with

Oliver St. John, barrister of Lincoln's Inn, or a periodic visit to

Gray's Inn Chapel to hear Richard Sibbes preach, could Thomas have

become acquainted with Robert Rich (Earl of Warwick), Lord Brooke, John

Pym, and William Jessop— St. John's fellow members and leading spirits

among the Providence Island Company who had recently founded and were

governing a Puritan colony on the former Spanish island of Santa

Catalina in the southwestern Caribbean? (Warwick, Brooke, Pym, and

Jessop regularly attended Gray's Inn Chapel, and the company's meetings

were held in the lodgings of one or the other at Gray's Inn or in

houses on Gray's Inn Lane.) Could such readings, reflections, and

associations of Thomas's student years at Lincoln's Inn have been the

genesis or the nurture of his active interest in colonization as an

adult? No evidence emerges to attest; the questions must remain.

 162

Suffice it to note that these influences were a part of his environment

during his continuance at Lincoln's Inn.-’®

At the foot of the Temples, of course, ran the Thames, the

principal thoroughfare of the city, its watermen ready to row or scull

a young gentlemen to numerous landings from whence he could make his

way to dozens of places of interest in and around this metropolis of

some 330,000 people. Not the least of these points of interest was

"Paul's Walke," the nave of St. Paul's Cathedral. On weekdays, the

central aisle of St. Paul's had about it the atmosphere of a city

market or a country fair; every kind of business went on there.

Whether one was seeking a rich wife, a friend at Court, a fast horse,

a loan of money, or news from the Continent— a contact of advantage

could be made there. It was the rendezvous of the smart and flashy

folk of the era. It seems that many young men of the Inns frequented

"Paul's Walke" from time to time, if not for news or out of curiosity,

then to browse in the nine bookstalls clustered about the great north

door of the cathedral. Thus, Westminster, London, the suburb in

between; the political community, the cultural opportunity, the intel­

lectual society of the metropolis; congenial social contacts with like-

minded persons, sermons, lectures, plays, and books— all were a part

of that larger world in which Thomas Modyford was gradually coming to

feel at home.-^

Perhaps it was from a bookshop at St. Paul's north door or from

one of several booksellers located in Chancery Lane that Thomas fetched

home to Exeter a copy of A. Harsnett's A Touch-Stone of Grace for his

 163

neighbor, John Hayne; Hayne paid Thomas Is 2d for the book in Exeter on

August 1, I63I4. How often Thomas returned home for a visit we do not

know. That he felt he was making good progress in his studies and,

therefore, could now arrange his schedule a bit more freely is evidentj

by being in Exeter, he missed John Clerk'e Autumn Reading at the Inn

that August.^

While at home, it is likely that he and his mother consulted about

the forthcoming conveyance of their second-most valuable leasehold— the

farm called Widdecomb in Stokingham. They sold the lease on February

2li, 1635, to John Rolle of London for j£339 • Why did Marie Modyford

sell this valuable annuity at this time? To raise cash needed to pay

a legacy to one of the children? Not likely. To repay a debt owed by

John Modyford at the time of his death to this London merchant?

Possibly; there was some litigation in the Court of Chancery relating

to the property back in 1632. On the other hand, perhaps the Rolles

simply wanted this lease to round out other holdings in the area, and

it seemed wise to the Modyfords to accommodate them. John Rolle, a

member of the Rolle family of Stevenstone— the richest land-owning

family of Devon— was heavily engaged in the Turkey trade in London and

was said to have had an income of £6,000 per annum. His elder brother,

Henry, was rapidly rising in the law (bencher of Inner Temple, 1633;

recorder of Dorchester. 1636; serjeant-at-law, I6I4O; chief justice of

King's Bench, I6I18). It may well be that Marie Modyford and Thomas

were simply taking seriously the late Lord Burghley's advice to "keep

some great man thy friend."^

The year, 1635, appears to have been a full and meaningful one for

Thomas and his fellow apprentices-at-law of Lincoln's Inn. Among the

 161*

students, Thomas had by now advanced to the status of a "mootman"; from

time to time, he took his turn participating in the moots of the house.

Initially, during term or learning vacation, he and another student

prepared a case for mock trial, submitting it to the chief butler in

advance to facilitate its study by the other participants. Upon

assembling, Modyford and his colleague recited the basic pleadings from

memory in law-French; two barristers then took their positions and

argued the case; such benchers and judges as were present adjudicated

and commented upon the proceedings. As Thomas grew more adept at

argumentation, during mean vacation he and a fellow student argued

their case extempore while selected barristers fulfilled the benchers'

role as adjudicators. In these ways, Thomas became thoroughly familiar

with the procedures of pleading in the national courts and, conter-

minously, enhanced his skills of disputation.

Periods of work were punctuated with moments of diversion from the

routine. There can be no doubt that the favorite recreation of the

typical young Inns of Court men was playgoing. The season of 1635

appears to have been an especially good one for the theater. During

the early part of the year, perhaps Thomas, like his colleague John

Green, saw, at either the Blackfriars Theater or the Cockpit Theater in

nearby Drury Lane, the Elder Brother, the Malcontent, the Changeling,

or the Inconstant Lady. As the season warmed, of course, a boat could

be taken from Middle Temple Stairs to Bankside where the old Globe

Theater was still in operation. On May 13, a public "georging shew"

was staged in Fleet Street; a number of the students of the Inn turned

out to watch men eat against one another for a prize. At the end of

Whitsun Week, "plum pottage and wine" was served in hall along with
 165

63
other tasty "exceedings." J

In June there was excitment in the Hall. On Thursday, June 11,

Nicholas Love, clerk-commoner, was expelled from the society for

forcibly occupying a chamber belonging to another, for beating and

"pumping" (holding him under the water pump) the porter, and for

responding insolently to the benchers. His barrister friend, Edward

Heron, was suspended from commons and fined for assisting Love in the

"pumping." On Saturday at dinner, a pot was broken as a signal; the

young gentlemen approached the bench mess in mass, very few excepted,

demanding that Heron be reinstated in commons. The benchers summoned

a few representatives to a council after supper. More students came

than were invited; demanding and disrespectful speech ensued; the

benchers postponed action. That evening, the bench table in the Hall

was broken into pieces. The following week, Sir John Bramston, chief

justice of King's Bench, summoned the benchers and some five of the

chief spokesmen among the younger fellows to a hearing on Wednesday

evening at Serjeants Inn in Fleet Street. After hearing all testimony,

the chief justice declared to the younger men "that theire offence

tended to the destruction of the government of the Inns of Court, and

it was soe notorious and publicke, that it required a publicke and

exemplary punishment"; whereupon, the chief justice committed Heron and

three of his colleagues to the prison of King's Bench until they posted

bail to appear in his court at the opening of Michaelmas Term. Was

Thomas involved in this abortive rebellion against the authority of the

bench within Lincoln's Inn? It appears that he was among the large

group first approaching the bench on Heron's behalf; he was not,

however, among the spokesmen of the group who continued to press the
 166

issue. ^

More serious, perhaps, than the destruction of the bench table and

the brief jailing of four junior members of the society, the general

dissatisfaction among the students with the way the matter was resolved

nearly disrupted the Autumn Reading that year. The reader managed to

pacify the young gentlemen, however; and, beginning on Monday, August

3, the reading was well received. Robert Mason, recorder of London and

former participant in the House of Common's framing of the Petition of

Right (1628), presented the reading. "Exceedings" were excellent;

venison, pullets, veal, tongs, ducks, pigeons, rabbits— two or three

meat dishes at every dinner; on fish day, "hortichocke pie and

sturgeon." On Friday, August llj— the last day of the reading— as was

customary, young Modyford and some one hundred of his colleagues

accompanied Recorder Miason in procession out of town to Brentford where

it is likely that they had previously made arrangements to sup together

at some local tavern in his honor. On the Monday following, the

learning vacation closed with a venison feast out on the bowling green

of the Inn.^

Michaelmas Term brought the lads into commons once again. After

some three weeks of mooting and auditing the sessions of the courts,

the time for revels finally arrived. On All Saints Eve (October 31)*

a fire was lit in hall, and the fellows gathered for music, song, and

dancing. On All Saints Day, the distinguished judges of the several

king's courts dined with the benchers and other fellows of Lincoln's

Inn. At night the fellows had exceedings— rabbits and tarts. Songs

were sung and measures danced after dinner and supper. Until mid-

December, then, the revels continued regularly on Saturday nights until

 167

most of the society left the Inn and went home for Christmas, leaving
66
a small number of students to operate their own Christmas commons.

As it turned out, it was fortunate that Thomas had applied himself

diligently to the learning exercises of the house during 1635* Shortly

after the Lent Reading in March, 1636, the plague once again descended

upon the metropolis; by May, the contagion was spreading rapidly

throughout the city. In August, the death rate had risen to eight

hundred per week; in October, it peaked at over two thousand per week.

During May at Lincoln's Inn, commons began to break up; the benchers

moved quickly to close the Inn for the duration; the chaplain and seven

servants stayed on as watchmen to keep the enclosure locked to out­

siders. Except during Trinity Term, 1637, when a few students returned

to commons in an effort to attend the first term at Westminster in over

a year, all activities of the Inn were suspended until the society

resumed its normal pattern of life with the opening of Michaelmas Term

in October, 1637• The gardener took full advantage of the vacant

grounds; over fifty trees and one hundred rose bushes were added to the

Garden and "Walkes" during the interim. ^

Thomas went home to Exeter for a long recess. There was ample

time for renewing ties with family and friends. The kindred to which

he belonged was steadily enlarging— in numbers as marriages took place;

in influence as various younger members of the related families rose to

recapture places of prominence in the home community which had once

been filled by a generation now gone. The Walker clan was certainly

expanding. Though Thomas's Uncle James Walker, squire of Catpole,

 168

had no children, his Uncle John Walker had at least one son, Thomas

and was continually engaged in trade in neighboring towns around

Exeter. To Thomas's Uncle Robert Walker and his wife, Mary, were being

born a child every year or two during the 1630's (see Chapter 1,

pp. 33). Robert Walker— receiver of Exeter, 1633-163U; sheriff, l63h-

1635; governor of Exeter's Merchants Adventurers Company, 1635-1636

— was rapidly approaching the stature in the community once possessed

by his father. Thomas's cousin and close colleague, Richard Duck, had

married Bridget, daughter of Sir Thomas Drew, in 1627; their children

— Elizabeth, Anne, Richard, Thomas, Bridget, Arthur, Edmund, Grace, and

Mary— were also arriving almost annually throughout the 1630's.

Richard was now upon occasion officially representing Devon in London

four times during 163U and 1635* he delivered to the king's Exchequer

substantial sums of ship money collected by the sheriff of Devonshire.

Aunt Grace Duck's other son, Philip, and his wife, Mary, also had at
68
least one son— Richard.

Among his cousins Amy (see Chapter 1, p. 33)— the children of

Aunt Anne Amy and Uncle Thomas Amy (Thomas Amy now deceased)— the

oldest daughter, Katherine, was already married. In I63I1, Katherine

married John Colleton, second son of Peter Colleton of Exeter and scion

of an ancient Devon family reputed to have come in with the Conqueror.

His father being deceased and his brothers having died abroad, John

had inherited his father's freedom of the city (September 1$, 163U),

the family's mercantile interests in Exeter, and the considerable

Colleton landholdings. These included the commodious Colleton town-

house in St. Olave's Parish, Exeter— situated very near the home of

widow Amy— where John's mother, Ursula, still lived; a principal family
 169

seat near Exmouthj properties near South Tawton; estates in Cornwall

and Dorset; and lands in France. Though '’Cousin'' John Colleton was

twelve years Thomas Modyford*s senior, the two apparently had many

interests in common; the paths of their lives and careers were destined

to intertwine many times along the way. Perhaps it was in 1637, when

John returned to Exeter to share with Thomas and other interested

kinsmen and friends the news of his recent five-month trip into France,
f.Q
that the two began to share some of those mutual concerns. 7

The Ifodyford family was expanding also as Thomas’s older sisters

married and established homes of their own. His sister Sarah married

Thomas Tothill— a distant cousin since he derived from the same family

which, nearly a century earlier, had produced a mayor and a recorder of

the city and Sarah's own great-grandmother. Sister Grace Modyford

first married a Perkins by whom she bore a daughter, Marie. Shortly

thereafter, Perkins died. At some point in the mid 1630's, secondly

Grace married Thomas Kendall, oldest surviving son of George Kendall,

Exeter's customs collector. Dy 1637, Thomas Kendall was nearing com­

pletion of his merchant's apprenticeship to Robert Walker and beginning

to launch what was to become a profitable career in trade of his own.

Though Kendall was eight years the senior of Thomas Modyford, close

ties of kinship began to develop during these years between the two

brothers-in-law which were to prove mutually beneficial for the

remainder of their lives. ^

Of Thomas's activities in Exeter during this interval of nearly a

year and a half away from the Inn, we have hardly a hint. He was still

at home in May, 1637, however, for on May Ij he was at St. Mary Arches

Church to hear Mr. White's sermon on the occasion of the baptism of

 170

John Hayne's first daughter, Susan. Hayne paid Thomas Is for writing

out a draft of the sermon from his notes or memory as a momento of the

occasion. Attending service at St. Mary Arches with his family while

at home on visits was always a time of renewing acquaintance with

principal families of the parish whom he had known from his earliest

memories— such folk as the Sanders, Lethbridges, Macies, Sweets,

Arundells, Tuckers, Jordans, and Hackwells.*^-

By October, 1637, along with many of his fellow clerks-commoners,

Modyford had returned to Lincoln's Inn. Undoubtedly, during the

following fifteen months, to compensate for opportunities lost during

the previous long recess, Thomas was in commons at all such times as

the courts were in session or activities were scheduled in the house.

He attended William Lenthall's Lent Reading in March, 1638 and Hugh

Rigby's Autumn Reading the following August. Meantime, he pursued

opportunities for mooting in order to complete his required quota for

the call. At length, upon returning to the Inn in January, 1629, for

Hilary Term, Thomas— in company with Harbottle Jenks, John Green,

William Godolphin and better than a dozen more— made his way in cap and

gown to the chambers of the benchers then in commons, one by one,

asking for their support for his call and responding to any questions

they put to him. The benchers judged him worthy; during a council

meeting held on Friday, January 29, 1639, Thomas Modyford was called to

the bar. The following Monday at dinner in hall, his call was published

before the society. With what pride he and his colleagues just called

walked forward toward the bench and took their seats at the bar tables

for mess, we can imagine. Not yet nineteen years of age, Thomas Mody­

ford was a barrister of Lincoln's Inn.^

 171

He would not "continue" a barrister, of course, unless for three

years after his call he kept the exercises of the house. Actually, by

161|0, the crucial requirement for the newly called barrister to be

considered fully qualified to practice in the king's courts was partici­

pation in the learning exercises of the Inn during the year immediately

following call, especially "bringing in his Barr moote." This Modyford

did. Sometime in 1639, either during one of the learning vacations or

during term, he and a fellow barrister prepared a case— one adopting

the cause of the plaintiff, the other of the defendant— and "moved

their moote" in hall, the benchers and learned judges present

adjudicating. Afterwards, Modyford treated the assemblage to a modest

"call supper." This was the final demonstration of his readiness for

the courts. Having successfully "moved his Barr moote" by the spring

of 161*0, Thomas Modyford approached his twentieth birthday, his formal

training complete, a professional lawyer ready to launch his career.^

/
\
i

IV. CAVALIER-BARRISTER, I61*0-l6li7

As Thomas Modyford completed his barrister's training in the

spring of I6I4O, with what competencies, insights, and values had his

education at Lincoln's Inn endued him? Looking to his future, what

were his prospects? How could he best take advantage of those pros­

pects? As he prepared to step over the threshold of his public life,

what were his life and career goals? We pause briefly to assess who

and what Thomas Modyford was at twenty years of age.

Building upon his earlier experiences at Exeter Latin high school,

at Lincoln's Inn Thomas had further developed his linguistic skills; he

now commanded fluency in English, Latin, and French. He had developed

substantial proficiency in the cognitive skills of precise definition,

accurate analysis, and deductive thinking. His memory had been trained

to retain the substance of an orderly discourse; his mind to penetrate

straight to the heart of a matter; his powers of thought to impose

order upon disorder. He had become well practiced in the patterns of

conveyancing, in the use of writs to move actions, in the application

of technical terms of the law, in articulating the verbal formulas of

the courtroom, in following the customary procedures of pleading. His

pursuit of the law— as a "bablative art"— had generated a dexterity in

devising and rebutting arguments, had cultivated a nimble wit, and had

made of him an able impromptu speaker endowed with a commanding

presence.
1

172
 173

Though hla training had exercised him largely in the details of

real-property law and had involved him little in the great consti­

tutional issues per se, Thomas had, nevertheless, emerged with insight

into the process whereby the great kings and statesmen of the twelfth

and thirteenth centuries had generated the common law of England in

their efforts to check the disintegrating tendencies of feudalism. He

had acquired an understanding of the prominent statutes of that body

of law. He had gained a working knowledge of the principles and

precedents by which the common law was interpreted. He had received

an introduction to that mode of practice whereby the legal profession

had so strengthened the sinews of that law as to enable it to contend

successfully in his day with the rival systems of law administered

within the King's Council, the Chancery, and the Admiralty. Such an

orientation had nurtured within Thomas something of what Professor John

Pocock termed "the common-law mind"--a deep respect for the common law

as a rule of conduct binding all members of the state, rulers and

subjects alike. Henceforth, throughout his life, Thomas Modyford

reverenced "the laws of England" as the principal guarantor of the

p
liberties he held most dear.

Again, as at Exeter Latin high school, Modyford's years at

Lincoln's Inn had occasioned his association with persons representing

many of the ranks of English society; within the Inn, he had mingled

freely with chief justices of the king's courts and noblemen's sons,

with country gentlemen and scions of merchant families, with barristers,

clerks, valets, and servants of the house. Thus, his experience at the

Inn (and the social contacts within the city at large made possible by

his continuance there) had further cultured the ease and natural charm
 17U

with which he related to persons of all estates. Moreover, Thomas's

life at Lincoln's Inn— within what Sir Edward Hyde characterized as a

"suburb of the court itself"— had effected within him an enhanced

political awareness, a high level of interest in the public affairs of

the realm. Finally, his barrister's training, including its induction

into the operations of the national courts at Westminster, had fostered

within Thomas a sense of the greatness of his calling, high ideals of

personal integrity, and lofty standards of professional honor.

As Thomas approached his twentieth birthday, therefore, he was

well equipped to launch his career. He possessed knowledge, skills,

and credentials which were greatly in demand. It was a contentious,

litigious age; the habit of settling human conflicts in the courts was

deep seated. In the words of George Kitson-Clark: "The drenching of

English life and consciousness with the sense of law, with the rights

of law, with the methods of law, with the obligations of law was very

old . . . ." Going to law from time to time was a normal act of the

ordinary Englishman's existence, especially if he had property rights

to protect. Moreover, the times were propitious. Public peace and

private affluence, a booming land market, rising prices, an expanding

commercial economy— in addition to proliferating litigation, such

conditions offered common lawyers additional opportunities as accoun­

tants, estate brokers, land agents, and entrepreneurs. How could young

Modyford best commence, then, to climb this ladder of opportunity?^

There were numerous ways a young barrister could set about

building a practice or seeking an office for which his training

especially fitted him. Thomas could have returned to Exeter and used

his family's landed and commercial connections to gain work in the

 17$

transferring of lands and codifying of marriage settlements, in the

defending of petty criminals in the local courts, and in the legal

affairs of the corporation, perhaps eventually securing the position

of recorder of Exeter or some other West Country town which would

ultimately require of him some practice in London. Such a career would

have earned him from 12 to £10 for each set of complicated conveyances

he prepared; it would have provided him frequent opportunities to add

to his land holdings; while elevating him to considerable stature in

the province, it might have sent him to Parliament as a representative

of a West Country constituency; it would have earned him up to £l0 for

each appearance in the courts at Westminster on behalf of his Devonian

clients. Or young Modyford could have attracted the attention of one

of the great judges and been invited to follow his circuit, accepting

cases before him as he went from the assizes of one county to those of

another.-’

On the other hand, Thomas could have gained the support of a noted

London advocate, begun by preparing cases for his senior colleague, and

gradually gained a practice of his own through his mentor’s influence.

Proving ingenious and industrious as an advocate in the courts at

Westminster, he could have earned as much as JtUQO during a busy three-

week term, as much as £2,500 during a good year. Optionally, he might

have continued at his Inn, served the society well as he built his

practice, and risen through the ranks from bencher to serjeant-at-law

to a judgeship. Still a further pattern would have been to have used

the beginnings of a law practice in London as a base from which to seek

an administrative post connected with the legal bureaucracy— perhaps as

clerk of the assizes, receiver general of a portion of crown lands/

 176

revenues, chief prothonotary of Common Pleas, coroner of the King's

Bench, roaster of the Pipe Office or of the Rolls. To have secured an

office of the calibre of the latter two would have meant an annual

income of from |2,000 to f3,000.®

What then, specifically, was Thomas Modyford's career goal as he

emerged a barrister ready for practice in the spring of 16U0? How did

he intend to pursue that goal? Evidence is scant; certitude eludes us.

The total drift of Modyford*s affairs, however, strongly suggests a

direction. There was a romantic and patriotic strain in Modyford's

makeup. Interested in the law, he was; devoted to it exclusively as a

career, he was not. Undoubtedly, Thomas was already "a person, whose

heart is full of desire to serve his nation . . ."— a characterization

of himself expressed a few years later. His purpose was dual. To be

sure, he sought to establish his family firmly among the gentry of the

realm. To do so would require increased wealth, land, and status.

These he would seek. But he would seek them while in pursuit of a

distinguished public career of service to the Crown. His professional

training was an instrument to be used toward that end. Initially, at

least, he expected that career to be London based.?

But to obtain a legal or administrative post of substance amidst

the swarm of place hunters ever collected about the court required

"connexions." Normally, patronage played a key role in any such

appointment. Modyford and his family understood this. It was clearly

advantageous, therefore, to seek from one or more prominent persons

help toward the launching of this talented young barrister's practice,

assistance toward an appointment with which Thomas could commence his

public career.®
 177

With whom did Thomas Modyford associate most closely during his

latter years at Lincoln's Inn? Did he cultivate associations which

were calculated to be of help to him in his career? Did he develop

intimate friendships with the sons of benchers and the sons of

officials at Court, fellows of the Inn about his own age such as John

Greene (son of John Greene, bencher of Lincoln's Inn, judge of the

sheriff's court [1631*3, serjeant-at-law [161*0]); Humphrey Noy (son of

William Noy, bencher of Lincoln's Inn, M.P., attorney general [1631]);

Oliver St. John (son of Oliver St. John, bencher of Lincoln's 3nn,

M.P., solicitor general [161*0]); or Thomas and Francis Windebanke (sons

of Sir Francis Windebanke, clerk of the signet, principal secretary of

state to Charles I [1632])? Did he closely associate with other rising

members of his honorable society who were championed by prominent

families or mentors— men like Matthew Hale ([a protege of William Noy],

serjeant-at-law [1651*], justice of Common Pleas, M.P., chief baron of

the Exchequer [1660], chief justice of the King's Bench [1671]);

Anthony Ashley Cooper (sheriff of Dorset and Wiltshire, M. P., Council

of State [1653]* Privy Council [1660], chancellor of the Exchequer

[1661], Earl of Shaftesbury and lord chancellor [1672]); or Arthur

Annesley (M.P., commissioner of the great seal [161*5], president of the

Council of State [1660], receiver general for Ireland [1660], Earl of

Anglesey [l66l], treasurer of the navy [1667], lord privy seal [1673])?

Or did he directly seek the patronage of fellow West Countrymen who

were, in 161*0, already eminent members of the legal establishment

— perhaps Orlando Bridgeman ([his grandparents operated the Bear Inn

in Exeter], chief justice of Chester [1638], notable attorney of the

Court of Wards, solicitor general to the Prince of Wales [161*0], M.P.,

 178

serjeant-at-law and chief baron of the Exchequer [1660], chief justice

of Common Pleas [1661], keeper of the great seal [1667]); Edmund

Prideaux ([bora near Honiton, Devon], distinguished practitioner in

Chancery, recorder of Exeter [1628] and of Bristol [161#], M.P.,

solicitor general [I6I48], attorney general [161#])$ or William Hakewill

([born, St. Mary Arches, Exeter], bencher of Lincoln's Inn, M.P.,

receiver for the Duchy of Lancaster, solicitor general to the queen

[1617], master of Chancery [161#])? Would that we could know; the

sources yield no evidence of Thomas's connections during these years.

Only one bid for patronage can be documented— his marriage#

Elizabeth Palmer was a winsome lass with wavy, auburn hair. When

and where young Modyford first laid eyes upon her, we do not know.

Perchance it was under the Mulberry trees fringing Lincoln's Inn Fields

while listening to a ballad singer on a summer's eve. Perhaps, it was

at some social gathering designed to bring eligible young people to­

gether. More likely, it was in the garden of her uncle's (Sir John

Finch) house which stood in Chancery Lane not a stone's throw away from

Lincoln's Inn. Be that as it may, the young people were attracted and

willing; negotiations were entered into between the families; the

marriage settlement was agreed upon; the betrothal took place; and

shortly thereafter, in the spring of 161#, Thomas Modyford and Elizabeth

Palmer were married, probably in the Chapel at Lincoln's Inn.^®

Elizabeth Palmer and her older sister Anne were the only issue of

the marriage between Levin Palmer and Anne Finch, a marriage abbreviated

by Palmer's early death. Levin Palmer was the first son of Sir Henry
 179

Palmer of Howlets, Bekesborne Parish, Kent (a descendant of the ancient

Palmer family with seats at Snodland near Rochester and Tottington

near Aylesford) and Jane, daughter of Edward Isaac of Wellcourt Manor,

Ickham, Kent, the widow of Martin Sidley. Sir Henry was a distin­

guished naval commanderj as captain of the Antelope, he played a

brilliant role in the battle of Gravelines during the struggle of 1588

against the Spanish Armada. Throughout the latter years of his life,

he was comptroller of the navy and admiral of the Narrow Seas. Upon

his death in 1611, Sir Henry Palmer bequeathed Howlets to his step­

son, Isaac Sidley, who, in turn, made it over to his half-brother,

Henry. The second Henry Palmer not only occupied Howlets where he

and his brother, Levin, grew up. He also acquired his father's

offices as comptroller of the navy and admiral of the Narrow Seas,

offices he continued to hold in 161*0 at the time Thomas Modyford

married his niece, Elizabeth. Sir Henry Palmer's principal heir,

Levin, apparently inherited, or purchased with his patrimony, an

estate in Devon to which he took his bride, Anne Finch, and where his

two little girls were bom. Diligent search amidst the records of
11
Devon, however, has failed to identify this estate,

Anne Finch, as the daughter of Sir Henry Finch (second son of Sir

Thomas Finch of Eastwell, Kent and Catherine, daughter and heirofSir

Thomas Moyle) and Ursula Twaites (daughter of John Twaites of Kent),

was an offshoot of one of the foremost legal dynasties of England.

The Finch family of Kent supplied prominent members of the nation's

legal bureaucracy for several generations. Anne's father, Sir Henry

was called to the bar of Gray's Inn in 1585, to the bench of his Inn
 180

in 1593. He was M.P. for Canterbury (1592:1597) and for St. Albans

(1611;). His distinguished legal practice (counsellor to the Cinque

Ports, recorder of Sandwich [1613], serjeant-at-law [1616]) culminated

in the writing of Nomotechnia, an early "systematic" treatment of the

common law of England— noted as probably one of the first works studied

by Thomas Modyford at Lincoln's Inn— which was superseded only by

Blackstone's "Commentaries." Anne's younger brother, Edward, was a

royalist divine, the vicar of Christ Church, Newgate [l630-l61;l]. Her

older brother, Sir John Finch, followed in his father's footsteps.

Called to the bar of Gray's Inn in 1611 and the bench of the Inn in

1617, Sir John steadily rose in his profession (recorder of Canterbury

[1617], M.P. for Winchelsea [1621;] and Canterbury [1620: 1625: 1628],

king's counsel and attorney general to the queen [1626], speaker of the

House of Commons [1628], serjeant-at-law and chief justice of Common

Pleas [1635]). During the late 1630's, Sir John was the chief judge of

the western circuit, including the assizes held in Exeter Castle. In

March, 1639, he was sworn to the Privy Councilj in January, I6I1O, he

was made lord keeper of the great sealj in April, 161;0, he became Baron

Finch of Fordwich in Kent. As lord keeper, he now presided over the

Court of Chancery. As lord keeper and Lord Finch, he was obligated to

open the Short Parliament on April 13, 161;0, and to preside over the

House of Lords as the Members of Parliament at last convened again

following an eleven-years-long recess— shortly before Thomas Modyford

12
married his niece, Elizabeth Palmer.

Anne Finch Palmer, after the death of her husband Levin, married

secondly Sir Robert Moreton (son of Sir George Moreton of Milboume St.

Andrews, Dorset), professional soldier and squire of the Manor of

 181

Esture in Chilham, Kent. It was at Esture, then, that Anne Finch

Palmer Moreton reared her two daughters, Anne and Elizabeth Palmer,

along with their half-brothers and half-sister— George, Albert, and

Mary Moreton. Sir Robert Moreton died in 1637s leaving Esture to his

son, George. It is highly probable that about this time Elizabeth

Palmer went to London to live with her distinguished and affluent

uncle, Sir John Finch, at his home on Chancery Lane; Sir John and his

wife, Mabella (daughter of Rev. Charles Fotherby, dean of Canterbury)

had no children of their own. In all likelihood, then, it was here

that Thomas Modyford found his bride and with her, enhanced prospects

for his future career.^

What dowry Elizabeth Palmer brought to Thomas is not apparent.

Possibly the properties held by her father devolved to her Uncle Henry

Palmer for lack of male issue. However that may be, she brought to

Thomas the stature of two, long-established families of the Kentish

gentry. Through the Palmers, she presented him with connections to the

Naval Office and the Admiralty. Through the Finches, she brought

Thomas directly under the patronage of one of the highest ranking legal

officers of the Crown and into the sphere of influence of other dis­

tinguished members of the larger family as well. To Elizabeth— the

second daughter of (seemingly) an obscure, deceased squire— Thomas came

as a talented, well-trained, ambitious young barrister, intent upon

making a name for himself in public service, backed by a substantial

patrimony in the West Country. Apparently, it was considered a good

match for both.^*

Of the specific activities of Thomas Modyford and his new bride

during the following two years, little is known. Probably they settled
 182

in London, and Thomas began some law work under the watchful eye of

Lord Fordwich, gaining valuable experience and awaiting an opportune

preferment to office. Doubtless, there were jaunts to see Elizabeth's

mother at Esture, some six or seven miles south of Canterbury* Before

arriving at the manor, along the main road south as they passed by the

village of Chilham, they had a splendid view of Ashford Vale through

which flowed the River Stour, ornamented by estates, parks, villages,

and churches, flanked on one side by forest-topped hills, on the other

by the Wye and Brabome downs. Perhaps they also visited Elizabeth's

kinsman, Sir Thomas Finch, at the ancestral seat of Eastwell Place.

The manor encompassed a thousand-acre park— a lovely place to ride or

watch the deer grazing among stately trees. Upon occasion, they may

well have accepted the hospitality of Sir Henry Palmer at Hode Manor

where he appears to have relocated due to the decaying condition of the

manor house at Howlets; he was often down for a stay in the country,

especially at times of quarter sessions and the assizes. Apparently,

for Thomas and Elizabeth, it was a time of dreams and bright future

prospects. But, as was to happen many times in the course of Thomas

Modyford's life, at that point when prospects seemed brightest for his

future, just around the corner there lurked a severe reversal of his

career. The first of these occurred in the fall of 161*0.^

While rising to high office under the Crown, Lord Finch had become

noted for the height to which he carried the royal prerogative and the

severity of his sentences from the bench. Moreover, when asked by the

king to rule on the legality of ship money, the judges— following

Finch's lead— had opined that the king possessed an uncontrolled

discretion in the matter. Thus, when the rising of the Scots forced
 183

Charles to summon a Parliament to meet in April, 161*0, and Lord Keeper

Finch opened the session with the proposal that they vote subsidies to

meet the emergency and deal later with grievances, he met with deter­

mined opposition in Commons. The Short Parliament was dissolved three

weeks later.^

By the fall of 161*0, however, with the Scots occupying Northumber­

land and Durham and the truce costing the king |8f?0 a day until a

settlement could be agreed upon, the king had no choice but to give

Parliament its head. The Long Parliament assembled in November, 161*0,

determined to redress a long list of grievances which had accumulated

in the wake of Charles’s extraordinary use of his prerogatives for

fifteen years— the costly and abortive Spanish war accompanied by

impressment and forced billeting of soldiers; the collection of Impo­

sitions, of unparliamentary Tonnage and Poundage, of forced loans, of

ship money; the arbitrary imprisonment of leading M.P.s; the Laudian

reforms in the Churchy the rigorous use of the prerogative courts; Sir

Thomas Wentworth’s "thorough” implementation of government policies

and procedures long neglected; and an unpopular foreign policy. Under

the determined leadership of John Pym, the first actions moved by

Parliament were bills of impeachment against the king's leading

ministers; Lord Strafford and Archbishop Laud were arrested and sent to

the Tower; bills were prepared against Lord Keeper Finch and Secretary

Windebanke. On December 21, Lord Finch appeared before the House of

Commons during the initial stages of his indictment and spoke

eloquently in his own defense. But it was useless. Sir John clearly

perceived the mood of the country. A few days later, he quietly took

leave of his family, slipped across the channel, and took refuge at
 181*

the Hague, not setting foot upon English soil again for twenty years.

Concurrently, Sir Henry Palmer was phasing into semiretirement from the

Naval Office. He acquired a new patent which allowed him to fulfill

his functions through a deputy. During 161*0-161*1# Captain George

17
Carteret progressively assumed most of the active duties of the post.

To Thomas Modyford, these events could mean but one thing princi­

pally. The advantageous connections which his marriage had acquired

for him had gone into an eclipse. His hopes for an early preferment to

office or the rapid development of a law practice in the metropolis

were shattered. Apparently, it was at some point during the months

immediately following Lord Finch’s flight to the Netherlands in

December, 161*0, that Thomas gathered up bride and belongings and

iQ
returned to Exeter to live.

Did Thomas settle his bride into his mother's house on Northgate

Street? Not likely; there were several of his younger brothers and

sisters still at home. More probably, he and Elizabeth occupied the

leasehold tenement on High Street which was among the family's holdings.

It may well have been from here, then, that Thomas set out to build a

law practice: conveyancing, defending petty offenders in quarter

sessions, now and again handling a case before Judge Sir Robert Foster,

in the court of assizes. There were still connections to be tapped

here in the West Country. His Uncle Robert Walker had just completed

his first mayoralty; he continued as an alderman; he was representing

the city in the Long Parliament. Brother-in-law Thomas Kendall and

Cousin John Colleton were both active in trade; each had served one
 185

terra as bailiff; Kendall's father continued as customs collector.

Cousin Richard Duck was preeminently at Broadhembury now, a short

distance away. Thomas's kinsman, Sir Bevil Grenville of Stow, Corn­

wall, one of the most respected squires of that county, was in debt

to Thomas's mother to the tune of better than £l,000. Moreover, there

were still men around who remembered his father and grandfather with
19
kindness. x

That Modyford now intended to settle in the West Country for some

time is suggested by his purchase of an additional freehold on April

19, 161*2. From his father's close friend and associate, Adam Bennett,

he purchased for £l,l50 several parcels of land— slightly over two

hundred acres in all— just inland from the shores of Torbay (some

twenty miles south of Exeter) which had once been portions of the Manor

of Paignton. Though the estate included tracts and tenements which lay

near neighboring Blagdon Barton and Marldon village, the principal site

was Measepoole Meade— a fifteen-acre close in which was set a lovely

pond— fringed by the tracts of meadow and waste ground called Barkham

and Cleandon, adjacent to the borough of Paignton, overlooking the sea.

Perhaps Thomas's visits to the seats of Elizabeth's kindred in Kent

— his vista of Ashford Vale from Chilham village; his view of the sea

from the high ground of Eastwell Manor or from the eminence just beyond

old Howlets Manor House— inspired him to seek a more scenic site than

the farm at Shuthanger as the projected seat of his own county family.

Or perchance he envisioned it as a summer place for many of his larger

family to enjoy. Cousin Richard Duck cosigned the deed; but Marie

Modyford supplied the cash for the purchase. Be that as it may, it was

in this manner that Thomas's affairs were progressing when, in the

 186

summer of 161*2, the portents of impending civil war swept over the
20
West Country.

Once the king's principal ministers were removed in the spring of

161*1, the Long Parliament was free to open wide the sluice of griev­

ances and to deal with a veritable flood of complaints against the

royal prerogative. While voting the king sufficient supply to deal

with the invasion of the Scots and the Irish rebellion, one by one the

bills of the united House of Commons declared illegal the recent in­

fringements upon the liberties of the subject. Step by step, Parlia­

ment moved to restore the balance of the traditional constitution. But

there were those— a radical faction led by John Pym— who were deter­

mined to push the revolution to a point where it could not be reversed

by the Crown. By acquiring the passage of the Grand Remonstrance in

November, 161*1, and the Militia Ordinance the following spring, Pym

and his followers swung the pendulum past the perpendicular to the left.

These resolutions pointed toward parliamentary control over the king's

appointment of councillors and militia officers and the abolition of

episcopacy within the Church— steps clearly as contrary to the law of

the land as the king's unparliamentary taxation had been. Therefore,

in June, 161*2, Charles countered by sending out Commissions of Array

to the lords lieutenant of every county, ordering them to ignore the

Militia Ordinance and to call out the trained bands for the king's

service. A growing moderate party quickly rallied to the support of

the king. The political nation divided. On August 22, Charles raised
21
his standard at Nottingham. The Civil War began.

By the summer of 161*2, therefore, thinking men and men of con­

science, in Devon and Cornwall as elsewhere in England, were cruelly

 187

t o m in the face of a decision which had to be made. On the one side

were those prompted by a deep devotion to the Grown as a personifi­

cation of the law, to an episcopal church as an essential foundation

for social order, and to the ancient constitution of the realm as

perceived from a traditional viewpoint. On the other side were those

motivated by no less dedication to Parliament asthe repository and

guarantor of English liberties, to the vision ofa reformed puritan

church, and to the necessity to revise the ancient constitution

slightly the better to insure its substance against the encroachments

of the royal prerogative. Thus, a few, leading West Countrymen were

quick to take sides and eager for action. The vast majority, however

— as is often the case in civil conflicts— sought to stop civil strife

before it became endemic in the country, to neutralize their area, or

to remain personally aloof from war until it was brought to their very
22
door.

Upon the outbreak of war in the West, for Thomas Modyford there

appears to have been little hesitation as to where his loyalty lay.

Though a moderate in his views, he was clearly aRoyalist. If his

political principles of later years are any guide to his points of view

at age twenty-two, Thomas no more approved of ship money, unparlia­

mentary Tonnage and Poundage, or the high-handed procedures of the

prerogative courts than did Sir John Eliot, John Hampden, or Denzil

Holies. But Parliament's attempt to assume control of the armed forces

and to tamper with England's religious settlement were clearly against

the law; "there was a common-law case for the crown as well as against

it . . . Thus, when Henry Boucher, Earl of Bath, and the Marquis

of Hertford traveled into the West Country in late July, 16U2, to call
 188

out the militia with the king's Commissions of Array in the face of

similar activities of the Devon Parliamentary Committee under the

Militia Ordinance, young barrister Modyford declared for the king.

What else made sense for him? If this topsy-turvy world were ever put

right again, he aspired to a high office available to one with legal

23
training; most major law offices were in the gift of the Crown!

Moreover, even if his own personal principles and ambitions had

not inclined him so, yet, it would have been difficult for him to have

done otherwise. Both his wife's kindred and his own were overwhelmingly

royalist in their sympathies. Not only were the Finches, Palmers, and

Moretons prominent among the Kentish squirearchy with the cavalier

outlook; many of the distinguished members of Elizabeth's family had

helped to make effective the prerogative government of the 1630's.

The Smiths, Walkers, Kendalls, Colletons, and other of Thomas's

relatives owed their opportunity to rise in the English economy and

society principally to the Crown's bestowal of incorporation and full

powers of county government upon Exeter and to its support of monopo-

lied companies such as Exeter's Merchants Adventurers. Accordingly,

as the political nation split in 161*2, they— and many substantial

persons among the gentry of Cornwall and Devon with whom they were
2k
linked— aligned themselves with the king.

Sir Bevil Grenville, husband of Marie Modyford's Cousin Grace

Smith, with a Commission of Array in hand, began in June, 161*2, to

raise his own regiment of foot for the king's cause. A nucleus of this

regiment were already assembled at Sir Bevil's principal seat at Stow,

Cornwall, when Sir Ralph Hopton and other royalist commanders joined

him there on September 2$. From Stow, Hopton, Grenville and their
 18?

associates proceeded to mobolize the king's array In the West. Sir

Bevil's regiment eventually numbered some twelve hundred men. They

were largely maintained by Grenville himself with monies obtained from

Thomas Modyford's mother and other creditors through the mortgaging of

most of his estates upon the eve of the war. They followed their

valiant commander faithfully through most of the important campaigns

of the war in the West until he was mortally wounded at the Battle of

Lansdown in July, 16143. Thomas's young cousin, James Smith, son of

Sir Nicholas Smith and grandson of Sir George Smith, rose to the rank

of major in the king's own regiment. Thomas Monck, eldest son of Sir

Thomas Monck of Potheridge, Devon, used his influence in northwest

Devon to solicit men and monies for the king's cause. His brother,

Colonel George Monck, was already serving the king ably in the sup­

pression of the Irish rebellion when civil war erupted in England.^

Thomas's Uncle James Walker, squire of Catpole, grasped by en­

thusiasm for the king's cause, apparently mortgaged most of his pro­

perties in Cornwall early in the war to raise money for the support of

the king's forces. Thomas's Cousin Thomas Walker, son of his Uncle

John Walker, member of the Long Parliament, returned to Exeter in the

spring of I6I4I, refusing— in spite of repeated summons from Westminster

— to return to participate in further actions to limit the royal

26
prerogative. In I6I4I4, he represented Exeter in the Oxford Parliament.

Though Modyford's brother-in-law, Thomas Kendall, seems to have

attempted a measure of neutrality for the sake of his business affairs,

his royalist sympathies and those of his father were clearly perceivedj

his father's properties were sequestered at the war's end along with

those of other leading royalist merchants of Exeter. As the Civil War

 190

opened in the West, under the command of Sir John Berkeley, Cousin John

Colleton quickly raised a regiment of foot for the king which consisted

of eleven hundred men, paying and supplying them out of his own re­

sources. As the colonel of this regiment, at many points during the

war when the king's forces were in great straits, Colleton lent monies,

secured weapons, provided credit, and otherwise supported the king's

forces, contributing out of his own resources between £li0,000 and

£60,000 to the king's cause. ^

Not only Thomas's kinsmen but various associates as well committed

themselves to the royalist cause. John Trevanion and his brothers-in-

law, John and Richard Arundell— all sons of prominent Cornish squires

— were acquaintances of Modyford at Lincoln's Inn in the 1630's. They

early became prominent officers in the king's Cornish artry. Thus,

accompanying numerous kindred and associates who espoused the cause of

the Crown, it appears that, during the opening weeks of the war, Thomas
pO
Modyford— Cavalier barrister— took up arms for the king.

U
As the Civil War began in August, 16U2, in Cornwall the gentry

were fairly evenly divided between the two parties. But so powerful

did the royalist party become, so dynamic were its leaders, and so

dramatic were their initial successes that they virtually controlled

Cornwall throughout the war until the very end. In Devon, most of the

gentry ultimately supported the king. The chief towns and boroughs,

however— Exeter (containing a strong royalist minority), Plymouth,

Dartmouth, Barnstaple— originally adhered to Parliament} and a major

part of the county was controlled by the Roundheads during the first
 191

year of the conflict. Afterwards, except in Plymouth (which stubbornly

held out for Parliament for the duration of the war), the Royalists

held sway throughout Devon until the county fell to the conquests of

Sir Thomas Fairfax, Oliver Cromwell, and the New Model Army in the

spring of I6ii6 .2^

At what time and place did Thomas enlist in the royalist forces?

In August, I6I42, at the house of Peter Sainthill of Bradninch? In

November with Sir Edward Seymour at his seat near Berry Pomeroy? In

November as Sir Ralph Hopton and his Cornish volunteers first attacked

the city of Exeter? Or in December at the rendezvous in Modbury of the

posse comltatus in response to the summons of Sheriff Edmund Fortescue?

We do not know. It is highly probable that Thomas Modyford partici­

pated in considerable military action as a junior officer during this

opening year of the war— perhaps in Cousin John Colleton's regiment

under the overall command of Sir John Berkeley. It would be fruitless

here, however, to trace the particulars of these early campaigns since

no evidence has come to light which specifies Modyford's involvements

during this period. The movements of the war can be followed in detail

in the pages of Mary Coate's Cornwall in the Great Civil War and

Interregnum, 16^2-1660. A Social and Political Study (Oxford: Clarendon

Press, 1933) and Eugene Andriette's Devon and Exeter in the Civil War

(Newton Abbot: David and Charles, 1971)

What is known of Modyford's affairs during the early months of the

war is scant. At the close of the war, the Devon Parliamentary Com­

mittee accused Thomas of providing Sir Ralph Hopton— presumably on the

occasion of one of the early invasions of the Cornish army into Devon

— with JF600 for the support of the king's forces (Out of his own
 192

patrimony?). At length, during the fourth such invasion, after a

summer-long seige by the combined royalist armies under Prince Maurice,

parliamentary-controlled Exeter surrendered to the Cavaliers on

September 7, 161*3. A swift extension of royalist hegemony over the

county ensued. Thomas was among the victorious Cavaliers who occupied

Exeter during the weeks following. Notwithstanding solemn promises to

the contrary, immediate changes were made in the municipal government

to suit the new regime. Thomas saw the coveted legal office of

recorder go again to Sir Peter Ball who was also solicitor general to

Queen Henrietta Maria. No matter. For meritorious service or clearly

demonstrated ability and loyalty during the first year of the war,

Thomas Modyford was appointed by the king as one of the Royal Commis­

sioners for Devon; evidently, concurrently there was bestowed upon him

the rank of colonel in the king's army.^

From September, 161*3, until April, 161*6, therefore, Thomas Mody­

ford's services to the king were more those of commissary than field

commander, more administrative than martial. Indeed, if Modyford had

earlier served under the command of Sir John Berkeley, he may have

previously been involved at times in the procurement of the artqy's

necessities; Berkeley's commission from the king made him commissary

general. Now, as one of the Royal Commissioners for Devon (after

January, 161*1*, the Grand Committee of the Associated Counties [Devon

and Cornwall]; after June, 161*1*, the Grand Committee of the Western

Association [Cornwall, Devon, Exeter, Dorset, Somerset]), Thomas found

himself among a group of men of considerable importance upon whom

rested much of the responsibility for the successful prosecution of the

12
war in the West.
 193

The governance of the West Country during this period of royalist

military occupation was effected at three levels. At the top were

Prince Maurice and the commanders of the several royal armies (later,

Charles, Prince of Wales, and the military commanders and civilians

who constituted his council). These men planned the broad strategies

of the war, directed the forces in the field, and commanded the

garrisons holding key fortifications. At the bottom, just as in peace­

time, were the justices of the peace and the petty constables. The

J.P.s continued to supervise many local activities, to enforce the law

among civilians, and to adjudicate petty litigations from the Quarter

Sessions bench. Between sessions, they spent much time arbitrating

disagreements between localities over the distribution of quotas

involved in the assessment of military rates. It was through the petty

constables (having jurisdiction in the hundreds of the counties and the

wards of the boroughs) that all civil and military orders relating to

the populace were carried out.

33

At mid level, then, were Thomas Modyford and his fellow royal

commissioners. Men of local influence and tested loyalties— men who in

ordinary times would have been among the justices of the peace and the

deputy lieutenants of their counties— they fulfilled vital duties in

support of the war effort both as a committee and as individuals. As

a committee, they met regularly in the Chapter House of the Cathedral

of Exeter. They decided such issues as how best to deploy the trained

bands in support of the royal armies, who had claims of top priority

to the funds and supplies collected in the county, and what measures

should be taken to put their county in the best posture of defense

against the forces of Parliament. As a committee, therefore, they were

 191*

often called upon, or they took the initiative themselves, to advise

q|
the Council of War on strategic matters.

For example, in the spring of l6b$, since neither the royalist

seige of Plymouth nor the cavalier seige of Taunton was proving

effective and the promised enlarged resources of the Western Associa­

tion were not forthcoming, Prince Charles summoned selected members of

the Grand Committee of the Western Association to meet him in Bridge­

water. Modyford, Sir Peter Ball, Sir George Parry, and Peter Sainthill

were chosen to represent Devonj riding from Exeter, they arrived on

April 23. Their consultations, held for the next three days in the

Town Hall at Bridgewater, resulted in an agreement to raise in the four

western counties sufficient militiamen to bring the forces under Sir

John Berkeley and Sir Richard Grenville up to eight thousand troops— an

adequate force, it was believed, to topple Taunton. While there,

Modyford’s Devon delegation called upon the prince to settle a trouble­

some matter of local concern. Months earlier, Sir Richard Grenville

had promised to raise and to equip a force of six thousand foot and

twelve hundred horse for the assault upon Plymouth. Toward the support

of this undertaking, the Devon and Cornwall commissioners had allocated

all the weekly contribution of Cornwall and that of the southern half

of Devon. During the ensuing months, however, Grenville had raised

only half the troops promised, had drawn from the magazine at Exeter to

arm them, had failed to take Plymouth, and finally, had led a portion

of the force off toward Taunton, all the while enjoying the full

revenues granted and refusing to acknowledge the authority of the com­

missioners in the territories providing him support. Modyford and his

colleagues asked the prince to clarify jurisdictions in Devon and to

 1#

order Grenville to receive no more monies than needed for the support

of the troops then at Plymouth. The result was a reordering of the

command in Devon. In like fashion, at other times the royal commis­

sioners blocked the moving of a regiment from Dartmouth lest this

action jeopordize the security of that stronghold; they probed inde­

cisive commanders to take to the fieldj they took measures to protect

the populace from the indiscriminate pillaging of the troops of Prince

Maurice and Lord Goring, from the extortionist ploys of Sir Richard

Grenville.

Through a distribution of individual responsibilities, the Royal

Commissioners for Devon managed the collection of weekly martial rates

for the support of the cavalier forces in the county; they supervised

the confiscation and sequestration of enemy property; they handled the

collection of special funds and equipment; they directed the raising of

troops for the reinforcement of the armies; they supplied, exercised,

and deployed the county's militia. The individual duties of several

of the commissioners are known. Henry Ashford, Peter Sainthill, Sir

Edward Seymour, and Sir Hugh Pollard raised troops to reinforce the

royalist armies. Later, Pollard served as Governor of Dartmouth, and

Sainthill commanded a regiment of the militia. Sir Peter Ball and Sir

George Parry managed other contigents of the Devon trained bands. Sir

Henry Cary, Sir John Hele, and Sir Edmund Fortescue commanded regiments

of the king's forces in the field. Subsequently, Cary and his regiment

defended the walls of Exeter against seige. Fortescue and his regiment

refortified and manned Fort Charles in Salcombe Harbor. Sir Francis

Fulford and Peter Sainthill raised special contributions for support

of the king's cause; Sainthill helped to keep the royalist mint in

 196

Exeter supplied with plate. To Colonel Thomas Modyford, however, and

two other commissioners unidentified, was delegated the task of super­

vising the collection of the martial rates throughout the county.^

Modyford and his fellow commissioners undertook to raise |3,000

weekly through a regular martial rate levied upon the property owners

of Devon and Cornwall for the support of the cavalier forces. Of this

amount, a sum of £2,000-£2,300 was required of Devon. To facilitate

the collection of the martial rates, Devon was divided into three

sections. Modyford's responsibility, therefore, was to supervise and

enforce the collection of the rates by the petty constables throughout

approximately one-third of the county. The basic rate for the direct

support of the armed forces was l8d per £20 of property value per week.

An additional rate was levied for the payment of pensions, for providing

medical treatment, and for the maintenance of hospitals and jails.

Furthermore, in times of emergency, extraordinary assessments were

often levied upon those who were able to pay for purposes of equipping

new troops being raised. Thus, Thomas's individual assignment as a

royal commissioner appears to have involved a number of duties. Since

the commissioners * records are no longer extant, an approximate view

of his activities must suffice.^

In response to Modyford's warrants, the constables weekly col­

lected the rates and the occasional additional equipment and supplies

required from their wards and hundreds in his section of the county.

Modyford received these funds, equipment, and supplies and, according

to the directions of the commission as a whole, allocated them to the

various units of cavalier forces dependent upon his support— paying

officers and men, reimbursing merchant-suppliers of the garrisons,

 197

provisioning the trained bands when called out, and equipping new

recruits, or disbursing his resources to paymasters and commissaries

who did so. Periodically, he investigated those who fell into arrears

with their payments; he judged the equity of various Devonian's claims

of poverty; he brought before the Quarter Sessions bench recalcitrant

citizens or constables who neglected their duty. Since there was a

significant amount of overlapping between the membership of the Quarter

Sessions bench and the county commission, Thomas himself may have been

one of the justices of that court. (Perhaps it was to facilitate such

an appointment that Thomas applied for and received on December 30,

X6UUj his freedom of the city of Exeter.) When able citizens continued

to withold their support, it was Modyford's duty to ride out with a

troop of horse and confiscate the necessary goods. Moreover, if the

properties of known Roundheads lay in his sector, it was Modyford's

responsibility to effect their confiscation and sequestration and to

arrange for the steady flow of their rents henceforth into the treasury

supporting the royalist forces.^®

Thus, as a royal commissioner for Devon, for one so young, Colonel

Modyford's authority was considerable; his duties were extensive; his

responsibilities were sobering. On the one hand, he was obligated to

bring all possible resources to the support of the war effort; on the

other, he was motivated to protect the folk of his own county from

inordinate burdens of war. His task required administrative skill,

tact, humanity, sound judgment, and decisive action. Consequently, his

wartime commissioner's role was excellent training for a projected

career of public service. He conducted himself well. It was a

maturing experience. True, the leading roundhead Devonians who

 198

replaced Modyford and his fellow Cavaliers as the county commission for

Devon at the close of the war accused Thomas of being ’'violent'1 in

raising money for the king's forces. But their assessment of his

activities can hardly be termed impartial. More objective was the

evaluation of the fair-minded general of the victorous forces of

Parliament— Sir Thomas Fairfax. Said he in testimony before the Com­

mittee for Compounding: "Morydord was collector of the weekly rates of

his county, and he demeaned himself with much civility and mildness,

expressing a more than ordinary care for easing the country, and for

its preservation from oppression . . .

While growing in stature in the service of the Crown, important

events were occurring in Modyford's private life as well; children were

being born to him and Elizabeth. His first son, John, was b o m some­

time between the spring of 161*1 and May, 161*2. His second son, Thomas,

was b o m on March 19, 161*3. It is highly probable that Modyford reset­

tled Elizabeth elsewhere, outside the city of Exeter, during this first

year of the war. It would not have been pleasant for her— a strong

royalist sympathizer and the wife of an active cavalier belligerent

— living in parliamentary-controlled Exeter repeatedly undergoing

cavalier seige. Was Thomas Jr. b o m at the barton farm near Shut-

hanger? At Aunt Grace Duck's Matford House? We do not know. At any

rate, with the royalist occupation of Exeter in September, 161*3, Thomas

undoubtedly moved his family back to their residence in Exeter from

which he functioned in his duties as a royal commissioner. Here, then,

was b o m their third son, Charles, on March 25, 161*1*. Were other
 199

children b o m while the couple resided in Exeter? Perhaps. Even­

tually there were seven children in all including at least one more

son and one daughter named Mary. Just when each entered upon the

scene, however, is not clear. Along with birth came death. Thomas’s

younger brother Henry died on May 13* 16U5; Thomas served as executor

of his estate.

Meantime, the war continued. The summer of I6I4I1 was the high-

water mark of the Royalists' experience in the West: in June, the queen

gave birth to Princess Henrietta Maria at Bedford House in Exeter; in

July, King Charles and the Prince of Wales visited the city; in

September, Essex's parliamentary army surrendered to the king's forces

at Lostwithiel. Thereafter, the king's cause steadily declined. In

spite of valiant efforts on the part of Modyford and his fellow royal

commissioners, their two-fold task was doomed to failure. Sufficient

resources could not be mobilized to maintain the royalist forces

adequately; sufficient protection could not be provided the populace

against the depredations of poorly paid, ill-fed, undisciplined

royalist troops. Dissention and indecision within the royalist command

weakened the war effort and frustrated the royal commissioners in the

performance of their duties. Such conditions opened the way for an

invasion of the West by Parliaments' forces.^-

After the crushing royalist defeat at Naseby, up in the Midlands,

in June, 161j5> the New Model Army was free to deal in formidable

strength with the Southwest. Under Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver

Cromwell, they drove westward in late summer: Bristol, Bath, Bridge­

water, and Taunton fell before them. By mid-October, they were in

east Devon; Tiverton Castle fell on October 19. Only the onset of
 200

winter and rampant sickness among the men deterred the lord general

from pressing on forthwith to the relief of beseiged Plymouth. After

resting his men for a month at Ottery St. Mary, in December Fairfax

threw a blockade around Exeter; Cromwell moved toward the southwest to

rout royalist forces gathering near Bovey Tracey. January saw the fall

of Dartmouth to the Parliamentarians. February brought the defeat of

Sir Ralph Hopton1s forces at Great Torrington. March was time enough

for Fairfax to extend Parliaments1 control over most of Cornwall and

to liberate Plymouth. Moving swiftly, the Hew Model was then tightly

drawn up around Exeter. On March 31, Fairfax summoned Sir John

Berkeley to surrender the city into the hands of the parliamentary

forces.^

A similar summons two months earlier had been firmly rejected.

But now foodstuffs within the city were in short supply; prices had

tripled; the blockade was impenetrable; no relief was in sight; courage

was flagging. Berkeley called a joint meeting of the royal commis­

sioners, the commanders, and the Exeter Chamber. There were those in

the city even at this late date who opposed surrender. Not so Modyford.

For months now he had observed the mounting hardships of the people.

Like most of the inhabitants of the city, he was weary of the senseless

struggle. He was among those who advocated a parley. Berkeley replied

to Fairfax on April 1 that he was ready to negotiate in order to obtain

honorable terms. Commissioners were selected for both sides. Though

Modyford was not chosen to represent Exeter, Brother-in-law Thomas

Kendall and Uncle Robert Walker were among the four appointed. The

commissioners began their work on Friday, April 3* at Poltimore House,

three miles outside the city.^

 201

No easy task, theirs. The Royalists were bent upon highly favor­

able terms if they were to give up without a fight. Much time was

spent trying to reduce the royalist demands. Through his kinsmen and

behind the scenes, Thomas worked quietly to abet a just peace; Fairfax

later testified that Modyford "showed activity and forwardness to

expedite the treaty for the surrender of Exeter." At length, an

agreement was reached on Wednesday, April 8 . On Thursday, Fairfax and

Berkeley affixed their signatures to the "Exeter Articles.

Generous indeed were the articles agreed upon for the surrender of

the city. The cathedral and churches of the city were secured from

plunder. All Royalists were to be allowed to compound for their

estates at two years' value (Their estates were to be returned to them

upon the payment of a fine equalling two years' rents.). Princess

Henrietta Maria and her retinue were free to go wherever they wished.

Although all fortifications and military supplies were to be turned

over to Parliament, all royalist officers, soldiers, and civilians who

desired were free to return to their homes or to retire out of England

as they chose. On April 13, 161*6, the formal surrender of Exeter

ensued; the royalist garrison marched forth from the city— flags

flying and drums beating— with the full honors of war.^

The usual changes were made in places of power within the city.

Parliamentary Colonel Hammond replaced Berkeley as military governor

of Exeter. Sir Peter Ball was replaced as recorder by the Roundhead

barrister, Edmund Prideaux. Parliamentary sympathizers among the

Twenty-Four who had been turned out upon the royalist occupation of

Exeter once again took their seats at the council table. Prominent

royalist members of the Chamber were accordingly dismissed; John

 202

Colleton lost his receivership to another. Robert Walker, M.P. for

Exeter to Oxford, was also ejected from his offices.^

The Civil War in the West was over— almost. In the southwest

corner of Devon, gallant little Fort Charles in Salcombe Harbor held

out under Sir Edmund Fortescue. Westward in Cornwall, eighty-year-old

John Arundell and his men remained defiant in Pendennis Castle over­

looking Falmouth Bay. Otherwise, in the West Country, the war had

come to an end. Modyford and his fellow Royalists were beaten menj

the cavalier cause was lost

What prospects, then, were open to Thomas Modyford— defeated

Cavalier barrister, colonel of the king's aroy, royal commissioner for

Devon and the West— as he looked to his future, in the spring and

summer of I6I46? They were far from bright. With the surrender at

Exeter to the Parliamentarians came the loss of the rank, office, and

influence he had attained during the war. Moreover, as he surveyed

the immediate post-war conditions in England, he perceived that his

chances at preferment to office in the near future were nil.^®

To begin with, his connections were no longer advantageous. Among

the important men of his wife's kindred, only Heneage Finch (the future

first Earl of Nottingham)— by virtue of taking no part in the conflicts

of the war— would continue somewhat in the public eye during the years

immediately ahead, but as an affluent barrister, not a place holder.

The others would live in exile, retirement, obscurity, or the duplicity

of various royalist plots. Elizabeth's half brother, George Moreton,

would be especially active as a conspirator against the governments of

 203

1,0
of the Interregnum.

Ihomas's own kindred were in no better position to abet his

career. His uncles James and John Walker were now dead, their estates

despoiled by the civil conflict. Uncle Robert Walker emerged from the

war with much of his fortune intact but little political influence.

Sir Bevil Grenville was dead; his son, Sir John, would return to Stow

to play an active role in every royalist plot in the West till 1660.

Cousin Thomas Monck of Potheridge would die within the year, his manors

heavily mortgaged. Cousin George Monck had just been released from

the Tower after two years' incarceration as a prisoner of war. Having

taken the "National Covenant" and the "Negative Oath" (oaths of loyalty

to the reformed religion and to Parliament), Monck was now returning to

Ireland to assume a new command but under the yet watchful and sus­

picious eye of parliamentary leaders. The war had left John Colleton

without office and with much of his fortune loaned or spent toward the

king's cause. Though his estate was still valued at £2,1^0, he would

retire to the Netherlands soon to avoid the oaths imposed upon the

defeated Cavaliers by Parliament. Since Brother-in-law Thomas Kendall

seems not to have been an active belligerent, his trade goods and

facilities escaped sequestration. He had accumulated some capital and

was eagerly seeking better opportunities for trade and investment.

Accordingly, he would soon remove to London in search of those oppor­

tunities. On the other hand, he too appears to have emerged from the

war without office or political influence; he was in no position to

assist Modyford in acquiring a public post. Neither London nor the

West Country, then, afforded Thomas Modyford the opportunity and

patronage he needed to move forward in a public career.^

 Indeed, throughout the whole of England, such opportunity was

virtually closed to Thomas as a Royalist in the wake of a civil war won

by the Parliamentarians. Parliament was bent upon punishing those who

had supported the king in the recent conflict. Thus, among the

"Articles of Peace" (also known as the "Propositions of Newcastle")

which were presented to the king in July, 161^6, by Parliament, the king

was required to consent to the following qualification:

That all judges and officers towards the law comon or

civill, who have deserted the parliament, and adhered to
the enemies thereof, be incapable of any place of judicature
or office towards the law common or civill; and that all
serjants, councellors, and atturneys, doctors, advocats,
and procurators of the law common or civill, who have
deserted the parliament, and adhered to the enemies thereof,
be incapable of any practise in the law common or civill,
either in publict or privat, and shall not be capable of
any preferment or employment in the commonwealth, without
the advice and consent of both houses of parliament . . . .

Though the king did not accept these articles, nevertheless, they made

clear the principles by which Parliament intended to govern the nation

in the immediate future. They dealt a shattering blow to the aspira­

tions of a Cavalier barrister like Thomas Modyford. Not only would he

be forbidden to hold office under the Crown; he would be prohibited

from practicing the law privately as well. Moreover, as a result of an

act of Parliament in April, 161*6, he was not even to be permitted to

enter London except by means of special permission and a pass I'

51

Within his homeland, then, what future lay open to Thomas in the

summer of 161*6 as a defeated enemy of Parliament? An acutely re­

stricted one. The Exeter Articles assured him only of his life, his

liberty, and his lands— once he compounded for them and paid the

appropriate fine. This he did promptly. In early May, with pass in

hand, Thomas rode to London. On May 11, before the Committee on

 205

Compounding assembled in Goldsmith Hall, he confessed his "delinquency"

in bearing arms for the king and petitioned to have his estate restored

to him in return for a fine of one tenth of its value. Over the

summer, the committee heard evidence relating to his case and reached

a decision. On August 28, Thomas paid his fine of one tenth, |35, and

effected the clearance of his estate,

Obviously, since this fine represented an estate of a mere £35>0

value, it reflects only the value of Thomas’s moveables, his dwelling

house in Exeter, or perhaps his half-title to the acres at Paignton

— not the estates his father had acquired for him. These his mother

had wisely retained in her own name. Moreover, Marie Modyford

— parsimonious and shrewd— had carefully accumulated considerable

capital with which her eldest son, if he so chose, could now go into a

"buyer's market" and purchase selected additional estates. (She had

met her children's needs as they arose, quietly neglecting to pay some

of the legacies due them as well as other bequests made in her husband's

will.) And, by means of her substantial loans to Sir Bevil Grenville,

she had acquired title to the Barton of Northleigh on the Devon-

Cornwall border along with the two gristmills in Morewinstow, Cornwall

which were appurtenances thereof— if these properties could now be

cleared of sequestration. Furthermore, now that James Walker was dead

without issue, Thomas could advance his claim to a half-interest in

the Barton of Treneglos in Cornwall as bequeathed by the will of his

grandfather, Thomas Walker— if this estate could be cleared of mortgage.

As one of the vanquished, therefore, what future remained open to

Thomas in the Eiigland of l6lj6? Quite simply, he could retire with his

wife and children to his estates— to the Barton of Shuthanger, to

 206

Measepoole Meade, to the Barton of Northleigh, to the Barton of

Treneglos, to other estates he might purchase— and live the life of an

obscure, "middling1' squire. For Thomas Modyford— ambitious, covetous

of additional wealth and status, aspiring to the honors of a distin­

guished public career, intent upon founding a notable county family

53
— this was not enough!

If the pursuit of his aspirations meant leaving England, at least

for the time being, then leave England he would! But where would he

go? With the help of Cousin George Monck, perhaps he could have

acquired a commission in the parliamentary army in Ireland where,

later, his brother James Modyford, was to find opportunity for service

and advancement. Like many of his fellow Royalists, he could have

enlisted in the Scottish arny. Or like his half-brother-in-law, George

Mbreton, he could have sought a place in the service of the Dutch. But

Modyford was weary of soldieringj he had seen enough of war. Though he

was an able military officer, that role did not best embrace hi3

training, his competencies, and his interests. For the fulfillment of

his dream and the exercise of his astounding English vitality, he

required an opportunity to put into action his entrepreneural urges,

his legal training, his leadership capacity, and his administrative

skills in a setting which opened the way for him to rise to a high

office. Where could such an opportunity be found in 161*6? In the

colonies!^*

Indeed, as Thomas Modyford cast about in the summer of 161*6 to discover

a setting in which his aspirations might be realized— a viable

 207

alternative to the restrictive environment which England had now become

for him— his attention was drawn to the colonies. But not just any

colony. Specifically, his focus fixed upon the English settlements in

the Caribbean. To understand why, we must first briefly examine the

development of these "Plantations” prior to that date.

English possessions in the West Indies in 16U6-161j7 consisted of

the island of Barbados and four of the Leeward Islands— St. Christopher,

Nevis, Antigua, and Montserrat. Barbados was the largest of these

islands and the farthest to the windward, i.e., the farthest east.

Therefore, most English ships enroute to the Caribbean made their first

stop at Barbados. Other English settlements had been attempted in the

West Indies and on the mainland encircling the Caribbean, but these

five islands were the English settlements what had endured the rivalry

of the European nations (Spain, England, Prance, the Netherlands) for

territory in the eastern Caribbean. Although the first permanent

English settlement in these islands was established on St. Christopher

in l62li, the effort to colonize other areas awaited 1625, when the

uneasy alliance which King James had attempted to maintain with Spain

collapsed and the English Government began a determined policy of

invading Spanish dominion. By 1628, settlements in Barbados and Nevis

were well under way; in 1632, struggling communities were founded on

Antigua and Montserrat. Most of this early settlement was the work of

Thomas Warner or Sir William Courteen, each backed by a syndicate of

London merchants— such men as Maurice Thompson, Ralph Merrifield, Thomas

Stone, John Powell— who furnished the funds, equipment, and settlers

needed for these colonizing enterprises, each patronized by an influ­

ential courtier— the Earl of Carlislej the Earl of Pembroke.

 208

Conflicting patents issued by the king soon had Courteen, the Earl of

Carlisle, the Earl of Pembroke, and the Earl of Marlborough in a

squabble over the right to govern these islands. A settlement was made

of the issue when the Earl of Carlisle won full rights of proprietor­

ship over the islands in 1628, although the issue was to appear again

later on and prove troublesome for the colonists and the English Govern­

ment as well.^

There was a continuous flow of immigration into these West Indian

Islands throughout the l630's and into the 161*01s; it dried up only due

to the difficulties of finding transport after the outbreak of the

Civil War. It has been estimated that by 1639 there were already

twenty thousand planters in the islands governed under the Carlisle

patent. Most of these were small planters, cultivating from twenty to

thirty acres of tobacco, the first important export crop of the islands.

Since colonists in Bermuda, Virginia, and Maryland were also producing

tobacco, however, by the late 1630's, the total quantity of tobacco

being produced by the English colonies glutted the market. It looked

as though the prosperity of the English West Indies was destined to

tv
wither and die before it had ample opportunity for full fruition. 1

With the dawn of the decade of the l6i*0's, however, and the out­

break of civil war in England, two revolutionary changes began to occur

in the islands— one economic, the other political. In both instances,

the fact that most Englishmen who were concerned with the islands had

their attention detracted homeward by problems of the Civil Wars con­

tributed to the changes that were taking place. During the Civil Wars,

few English merchant ships called at the islands. Into this mercantile

vacuum moved energetic Dutch traders who captured the commerce of the
 209

islands, taught the planters the culture of sugar cane, and gladly-

advanced them the capital necessary to begin its cultivation and

processing. Rapidly, an economic revolution ensued. Small tobacco

plantations, worked by white indentured labor, began to disappear. In

their place, larger plantations emerged, using more and more Negro

slave labor to produce sugar. The cultivation of a crop with minimum

European market value gave way to the production of a crop with maximum

European market value. A new wave of economic prosperity began to

sweep over the islands, although its undertow caught within its grasp

thousands of small planters who were forced to emigrate elsewhere. The

stage was set, however, for an enterprising planter with some means at

his disposal to invest in sugar production and to ride the crest of

this new wave of prosperity toward the goal of a sizeable personal

fortune.

During the same period of time, quietly, a political revolution

was occurring in the islands as well. In general, the planters of the

English West Indies entered the era of the Civil War burdened by a

depressed tobacco market, heavy indebtedness, storm-riddled growing

seasons, proprietary rents, insecure land titles, and arbitrary govern­

ment. Adding to their burdens, out of the civil strife in England,

once again there emerged conflicting claims to the proprietorship. In

December, 161*1, the king confirmed the right of James Hay, second Earl

of Carlisle, to the proprietorship in spite of the fact that his

father's patent had been surrendered to trustees who were collecting

the proprietary rents toward discharging the first earl's debts. In

November, 161*3, Parliament countered by appointing Robert Rich, Earl

of Warwick, governor-in-chief of all the Plantations in America. In

 210

early 161^5, King Charles, mistakenly believing that Carlisle had sold

his province to the parliamentarian Earl of Warwick, granted the

proprietorship of the Caribbee Islands to James Ley, third Earl of

Marlborough. The planters took advantage of the confusion, the con­

flicting claims, and the general neglect of the islands by the author­

ities at home which were occasioned by the Civil War to negotiate

better conditions for themselves. Thus began a political evolution

toward greater autonomy. Colonial assemblies emerged to check and

balance the powers of concilliar government. The craft of politics

increasingly won its devotees. Ample opportunity was provided for a

gifted and determined man with the ability to influence people to rise

gradually to a position of importance and leadership among his fellow

colonists. Such a setting in the West Indies— economic and political

— could scarcely have been improved upon to suit the ambitions and

designs of Cavalier barrister Thomas Modyford.

What prompted Modyford to begin seriously considering a move to

the West Indies is not clear. Perhaps from boyhood days in Exeter,

like many Devon lads, he had dreamed of venturing to some foreign shore

in the service of his nation, such dream being set aside for the more

practical pursuits of professional training, marriage, place-hunting,

and fighting for his king in the West Country. But during the war, it

is altogether likely that Modyford and James Ley, Duke of Marlborough,

met and shared an interest in colonization on more than one occasion.

While Modyford was serving as a royal commissioner for Devon (respon­

sible for collecting funds and supplying the war effort throughout one-

third of the county), Marlborough was commanding the king's ordnance

in the West. He was at Dartmouth during the autumn of 16U3j throughout

 211

161*1*, he appears to have commanded a squadron of royalist privateers

and supply ships off the Devon coasts in cooperation, perhaps, with

that squadron organized earlier by Sir Nicholas Slanning which operated

out of Pendennis, Cornwall. Since 1638, Marlborough had been pressing

his father's claim to the proprietorship of the Caribbees and scheming

toward settling yet another of the Leeward Islands. In 161*5, armed

with his new patent from the king, Marlborough took out a party of

adventurers and, after being received as proprietor in St, Christopher,

Antigua, and Montserrat, planted a small settlement on St. Croix. Had

he solicited Modyford to follow at war's end? We cannot know.^®

Other stimuli, provocative of interest in the West Indies, were

present in Modyford's environment as well. In autumn, 161*3*the ship

Victory arrived in London from the English West Indies bearinga

message to the trustees of the Carlisle proprietorship from Thomas

Robinson, their agent in St. Christopher:

The Island of the Barbadas is growne the most

flourishing Island in all those American parts, and I
verily believe in all the world for the producing of
sugar . . . This shippe is laden with 70 . . . cheists
of sugar all of one man's produce, and their sugar works
are brought to that maturity that each work for the
space of eight moneths in the yeare can and doeth yeild
1,500 [pounds] . . . of sugar each 21* houres.

Since London had been accustomed to importing part of its sugar from

Exeter, whose merchants had traditionally brought in quantities of the

product among mixed cargoes from the Madeira, Canary, and Cape Verde

islands, news of this cargo undoubtedly spread like wildfire throughout

the trading community. Moreover, in January, 161*1*, the merchant ship

George, commanded by parliamentarian Miles Causton, enroute toEngland

from the West Indies with a rich cargo, was confiscated as prize by
 212

royalist privateers and taken into Dartmouth; undoubtedly, her

Barbadian sugars were distributed throughout the war-torn West Country.

It would have required only a few incidents like these to convince

Brother-in-law Thomas Kendall that the production and marketing of

sugar proffered far greater profits than the principal products in

which he was then dealing amidst the dislocated and depressed commerce

of Exeter.^1

Such stimuli may well have been reinforced while Thomas Modyford

was in London throughout the summer of 161*6 prosecuting his petition

for compounding. It would have been natural for him to have renewed

his residence at Lincoln's Inn. Perhaps, there, he was in touch again

with Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, a fellow of the Inn since 1639, who was

dividing his time during this year between his estates in Dorset and

Wiltshire and lodgings in London, at least one of which was in Lincoln's

Inn Fields. (Modyford and Cooper may also have been associated earlier

during the fall and winter of 161*3-161*1* when Cooper was sheriff and a

royal commissioner for Dorset.) The two men were approximately the

same age and had a number of interests in common. At this point in

time, Cooper would have radiated a contagious enthusiasm for the

emerging sugar trade. Several months earlier, he had purchased a sugar

plantation of 205 acres in Barbados; he had just contracted for two

additional indentured servants to be sent over and added to the

plantations' labor force of twenty-one servants and six Negro slaves;

his brother, George Cooper, had just married the daughter of one Mr.

Oldfield of London, "a sugar baker." Moreover, it is possible that it

was during this summer in London that Modyford first conferred with

Thomas Middleton, a leading planter and shipowner of Barbados who was

 213

also developing a new plantation In Antigua (Middleton Is known to have

62
been in England by early spring of 161*7) •

Whatever were the stimuli which prompted brothers-in-law Thomas

Modyford and Thomas Kendall to invest their hopes for the future in the

sugar trade, sometime during the winter of 161*6-161*7 they put their

heads together; they made a decision of momentous consequence to their

own careers and to the future of their larger family. They agreed to

leave the war-torn and depressed conditions of the West Country behind;

they pooled their capital; they planned a course of action. They would

procure the tools, utensils, provisions, and indentured laborers needed

to commence planting. With these, Modyford would proceed to the island

of Antigua and establish a new sugar plantation. Modyford would take

with him Richard Ligon, as associate of recent months, to look after

Kendall1s interests in the venture in case he should meet with some ill

fortune. Antigua was projected as the site of the undertaking appar­

ently for a number of reasons. Its 108 square miles were known to be

sparsely populated with only 750 souls; ample good soil was still

available under proprietary grant in return for nominal rents; its

terrain was much like that of Barbados (where sugar planting to date

was most successful but acreage dear), much easier to clear for cane-

lands than the rugged hillsides of St. Christopher, Nevis, and Mont­

serrat; Governor Henry Ashton was known to be a Royalist and thought

to favor the Marlborough patent. Modyford would manage the plantation,

produce the sugar, ship the product home, and handle the trade goods

sent out to the islands on return. For his part, Kendall would remove

to London as a better location for enlarging his trading contacts (he

settled in the suburb of Chiswicke). He would supply the new plantation

 21k

with all its needs from home, receive and market the sugars produced,

and cultivate other trading prospects which might grow out of the

venture. They would share in the profits equally. The bargain was

struck!63

For Richard Ligon the Modyford-Kendall venture was a godsend.

Ligon was a gentleman artist-architect of sorts who, as a Royalist,

found himself in Exeter at its surrender to the Parliamentarians in

April, 162*6. In his words, "by a Barbarous Riot" he had been stripped

of all his means and estate except for some lands in the fens of county

Lincoln. He was so pursued by creditors and so destitute of subsis­

tence that he gladly accepted the offer of the brothers-in-law to make

this trip to the West Indies on behalf of Kendall's interests.6^

Spring, 161*73 found the brothers-in-law and their accomplice in a

veritable flurry of preparation. Modyford settled Elizabeth and his

little boys somewhere amidst the security of his kindred until such

time as the projected plantation could be made a safe and commodious

place for them to live. In April or early May, Thomas rode to Plymouth.

There he hired a ship, arranged indentures with numerous laborers,

collected the requisite tools and utensils, gathered sufficient pro­

visions to sustain the company for several months, and saw all aboard.

About mid-May, this ship sailed for Antigua.6'*

Returning to Exeter, Modyford spent a few days pulling together a

sizeable sum of money to carry with him and a quantity of West Country

cloths for trade goods. Then, taking leave of his family, he and Ligon

set out for London. In London, Thomas procured additional equipment

and supplies for the plantation? these were sent on to Deal to be

loaded aboard Thomas Middleton's ship of 180 tons, the Nonesuch. riding
 215

in the Downs, due to sail presently for Antigua. He contracted for a

few more laborers and purchased additional trade goods— linen cloth and

felt hatsj these he consigned to Thomas Crowder's ship of 350 tons, the

Achilles, at anchor in the Downs as well. At length, all preparations

completed, the day finally arrived. With eager anticipation, on June

16, 161*7, along with a considerable number of other passengers, Mody­

ford and Ligon embarked upon the larger of the two merchant ships.

When all were aboard, the Achilles hoisted her sails, caught the wind,

and slipped out of the busy roadstead into the Strait of Dover, her

consort— the Nonesuch— following close behind.

66

On board the Achilles was a peculiarly varied group of passengers.

There were a few foreign merchants pursuing their trade, several

laborers bound for the cane and tobacco fields of the plantations, a

good number of English women of doubtful repute being transported from

the London prisons of Bridewell and Tumball Street, and a company of

English gentlemen going out to seek new fortunes through trade or

planting in the colonies. Among the latter were a number of Royalists

who, like Modyford and Ligon, were turning their backs upon war-torn

fortunes and precarious careers in England in hopes of recuperating in

the colonies what they had lost amidst the vicissitudes of the English

Civil War.67

The ships sailed west by southwest down the English Channel. Cold

it was for June. Doublets close buttoned were in order as gentlemen

and seamen alike strolled the deck straining to fix upon a familiar

landmark now and again. For ten days they tacked before shifting winds,

through mists, low-lying clouds, and drifting fog, uncertain of their

bearings. It was enough to give the staunchest heart qualms about the
 216

projected voyage. On the eve of the tenth day they put into a wide-

mouthed bay and dropped anchor to do some reckoning. Toward sunset the

weather began to clear; the seamen took fix upon several points of the

emerging landscape; they were in Falmouth Harbori Here, they rested

68
that night at anchor.

The morrow dawned bright and clear. Coming topside, to the north,

some distance away, on yonder promontary, Modyford and Ligon sighted

Pendennis Castle, formerly the last royalist stronghold in England to

surrender to the Parliamentarians. Thomas must have chuckled to him­

self as he thought of how, scarcely a year before, with the garrison

down to its last day's rations, after giving the Roundheads a brave

barrage of cannon fire, aged John Arundell had treated with the

Parliamentarians with such resolution and unconcernedness as to acquire

for his men as good terms as any garrison in England had accepted. No

doubt there were sober thoughts as well. For as the Achilles weighed

anchor, hoisted sail, caught a light wind, and slipped quietly south­

ward into the open sea, for Cavalier barrister Thomas Modyford that

lonely castle on the receding horizon to the north stood as a symbol of

defeat, of a lost cause, of the past. But as Modyford turned his gaze

to the south and to the west, the sun-lit swells of the Atlantic lay

before him as an open road, beckoning to a brighter future beyond the

seas.69
7
 V. PLANTER-POLITICIAN IN BARBADOS, 16U7-16S2

As they left behind the Cornish coast, Captain Crowder of the

Achilles ordered the helmsmen of the two ships to steer southwestward;

for he planned to pursue the ordinary route to the West Indies— sailing

southwest to the Cape Verde Islands, picking up the North East Trade

Wind, and then standing across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. Even so

he was departing somewhat from his usual sailing pattern. The Achilles

was a slaver; she was bound ultimately for the Guinea coast to trade

for Negroes. Crowder's normal routine would have been to sail directly

to the African coast, from there to Barbados with his cargo of slaves,

hence to England laden with sugar. The captain obviously altered his

itinerary this trip due to Modyford*s consignment, the opportunity to

carry a large number of passengers directly to the West Indies, and the

prospect of some profitable trade between the Cape Verde Islands and

Barbados.^

Standing well off the coasts of France and Spain— to avoid both

the extraordinary swells of the Bay of Biscay and the Barbary pirates

— the ships sailed steadily south by southwest. At about the latitude

of forty-five degrees, the Nonesuch parted company with the Achilles

and made straight for Antigua. The Achilles sailed on southward,

through the Madeira and Canary islands, toward the Cape Verde arch-
2
ipelago.

During the long days out of sight of land, Modyford, Ligon, and

217
 218

their gentlemen associates amused themselves watching schools of

porpoises and flying fish, catching an occasional shark for sport, and

taking sea turtle, dolphin, bonitos, Spanish mackeral, and albacore

for the table of passengers and seamen alike. Among the numerous

gentlemen aboard the Achilles, Thomas Modyford was soon looked to as

foremost. Upon a number of occasions during the voyage, his natural

propensity for leadership and his assertive personality were manifest.^

On or about July 21, they sighted the island of St. Jago (Sao

Tiago) in the Cape Verde group. They came to anchor in a sheltered bay

beneath a precipitous hill upon the brow of which stood, to the left a

small castle, to the right the governor's residence. Here they

intended to remain long enough to take on fresh water, trade their

cloth and broadbrimmed hats for cattle and horses, and refresh them­

selves. When the first two envoys sent ashore were taken prisoners

and others were fired upon by the soldiers of the fort, Modyford and

Ligon prepared to organize a force of fifty musketeers with which to

return under the cover of night for a surprise attack upon the gover­

nor's residence, thus, ransoming their comrades. Withal it proved

unnecessary. Ere long, Modyford received a friendly reply in halting

Latin from Portuguese Governor Vegada to the Latin epistle he had

dispatched to the governor declaring their intents and interests. The

governor himself came aboard their ship, settled the terms of a trade

with them, procured the release of their prisoners, and invited

Modyford, Ligon and nearly a dozen other gentlemen to his house for

dinner. There they enjoyed a feast of several courses— tropical fruits,

salad greens, veal, kid, fowl, and fish— in the company of the governor

and his beautiful Negro mistress before returning to the ship in the
 219

harbor below.^

While lying in the harbor for several days, as the seamen filled

their water casks at a mammoth spring in the valley nearby, a number of

the passengers went ashore, taking several of the women along to do

their laundry. "But," says Ligon, "the Portugals found them handsome

and fit for their turns, and were a little Rude, I cannot say Ravish'd

them; for the Major part of them . . . were better natur'd than to

suffer such violence . . . Complaints were made, of course, upon

their return to the ship; but there was also much praise of the beauty

of the place. Accordingly, on the following day, Modyford led a dozen

gentlemen ashore on an exploring expedition. He negotiated with the

captain of the fort, assuring the Portuguese that they had come with

no thought of avenging the "abuses" of the day before; only to see the

country. Thus, leaving their arms under the mutual guard of one

Englishman and one Portuguese, Modyford and his party freely explored

the lush tropical forest in the vicinity of the refreshing spring.

With such diversions they passed the next several days. At length,

they completed their trading, loaded aboard some fifty cattle and eight

horses, made up a bit of hay ashore to see the animals through the

crossing, stowed their water casks, and prepared to sail. On August

10, they put to sea, steering their course almost due west for

Barbados.

The journey from the Cape Verde Islands to Barbados was normally

one of scudding across the Atlantic before the forceful North East

Trade Wind in sixteen or seventeen days. But August brought the

beginning of the hurricane season which lasted through October. During

these three months, the regular winds were thrown off course; calms and
 220

sudden shifts occurred; the pace of the sailing ship was often slowed

down as navigation became difficult. Thus, it was through the alter­

nating whitish haze, squalls, and color-splashed cumulous clouds of the

Atlantic caught in the grip of the hurricane season that the Achilles

made her way laborously toward Barbados.^

The Lesser Antilles stretch like a bow from Puerto Rico to the

Spanish Main (Venezuela). They have their backs to the wind and face

the West. Their eastern or windward coasts are dangerous to shipping;

a majority of their roadsteads and harbors, therefore, lie on the

leeward side of the island. Barbados is not unlike the head of an

arrow set in this bow ready to be projected toward the East. As the

most windward of these islands, Barbados could be easily missed by a

ship driving hard during the night before a North East Trade Wind or a

vessel tacking before shifting winds from the South during the hurri­

cane season. Once missed, the island could be recovered only with the

greatest of difficulties.^

Knowing this, to pass the time, Modyford and his friends applied

themselves diligently to learning and practicing the arts of navigation.

At mess, they probed the captain and his mates repeatedly for the

secrets of charting the ship's course. As they grew more proficient,

presently they placed a standing wager with the boatswain as to whether

he or they could most accurately determine just when they were

approaching the island. Whether by proficiency of good fortune, the

gentlement won the bet I On Wednesday, September 1, they sighted

Barbados— twenty-two days at sea from the Cape Verde Islands. And none

too soon. The cattle and horses in the holds below had devoured the

last of their fodder; their bellowing complaints filled the ears of

 221

the ship's company as the Achilles slipped to the leeward of the island
□
and came to anchor in Carlisle Bay.

As preparations were being made for the passengers of the Achilles

to disembark at Barbados, Modyford stood upon the deck and scanned the

scene around him. He could count twenty-two other merchant ships

riding at anchor in Carlisle Bay, their dinghies plying to and fro

under oar and sail, evidence enough of the busy trade of the island.

Approaching the island and entering the harbor, he had noted that

Barbados was a land mass of fair size. He was soon to learn that,

shaped like a mutton leg, the island was approximately 28 miles long by

17 miles wide (actually, 21 miles long by lii miles wide with an area

of 166 square miles). Now, at the far left-hand end of the crescent­

shaped and commodious roadstead, there lay before him Bridge Town (the

Indian Bridge; the Bridge; St. Michael's Town), built up around the

bridge spanning the languid Indian River which flowed out of a shallow

lagoon behind the town into Carlisle Bay. Looking inland, he observed

that the island was partially covered with lofty, canopied trees and

that, since the ground rose gently from the shore toward a central

plateau of perhaps a thousand feet above sea level, the plantations

were like terraces, one above another, each having a view of the sea,

each benefiting from the sea breezes. It was a beautiful vista indeed,

but at the moment Modyford's concern was not with Barbados. Here, he

expected to spend only a few days.?

Modyford's plan was to linger in Barbados only as long as was

required to trade the goods, cattle, and horses he had brought with

him, to inquire about the supply ship he had dispatched before leaving

England himself, and to hire a new ship to carry him, his goods, and
 222

his servants on to Antigua— his ultimate destination. Thus, anxious to

plant their feet once again upon terra firma, Modyford and Ligon, along

with their fellow passengers, stepped from the deck of the Achilles

into dinghies and made their way toward the wharves of Bridge Town.

Thomas could not know, of course, that there awaited him ashore another

of those dramatic reversals which periodically punctuated the course of

his career.^®

Rowing to the western end of Carlisle Bay, Modyford and his party

entered the miniature estuary of the Indian River, on the point of land

to each side of which stood a small fort. Bridge Town came sharply

into view. It appeared to he a town of some three or four hundred

timbered buildings. Looking up the twisting estuary toward the interior

of the island, Modyford could see the bridge which had given the town

its name. Beyond, distended a shallow lagoon. At the foot of the

bridge on the left bank, lay Egginton’s Green replete with stocks,

pillary, and whipping post for lawbreakers and a horsepond for the

refreshment of animals ridden into town. Clustered about the Green

were various inns, taverns, alehouses, and grogshops. Among them was

John Jobson’s Tavern where the General Assembly customarily met when in

session. Here also was Mrs. Joan Fuller’s establishment to which many

of the planters came to dine when in town. Modyford would quickly

learn that the milieu of the Green was the center of the political and

social life of the island.^"

Stretching westward from the vicinity of the Green along the crest

of the seabank was the town’s principal street— Cheapside (later,

 223

Broad Street). Extending northward from Cheapside up the gently

sloping terrain were smaller streets of two or three blocks in length,

built up with stores, shops, inns, and a modicum of private dwellings.

Running southward from Cheapside to various wharves and landing places

along the waterfront were numerous alleyways. Between these were

located the warehouses of the planters and merchants in which were

stored the imports and exports of the island. Further westward, just

above the fort and the few houses occupying the point, was situated

the public market. On an eminence above the marketplace stood St.

Michael’s Church, primitive and towerless, the first house of worship

to be built in Barbados. St. Michael's spacious churchyard was

sprinkled with fresh gravesites, attesting a recent heavy mortality in

the town. Between the church and the marketplace ran Cheapside,

turning northward and diminishing to a mere trackway at town's edge,

reaching out toward the plantations of the leeward shore. This was
12
Bridge Town in September, l6i*7.

Landing at one of the many wharves along harborside, Modyford's

party made their way to the taverns of the Green to refresh themselves.

Here they were abruptly surprised with some bad news. Though Captain

Middleton's ship, the Nonesuch, had reached Antigua safely, the supply

ship which Thomas had dispatched from Plymouth in May had miscarriedj

she had evidently foundered at sea. What a loss! In addition to the

Devonian yeomen who lost their lives therein, Modyford was now left

without sufficient servants, foodstuffs, tools, and utensils to launch

a new plantation in Antigua. Moreover, at the moment, the Barbadians

were suffering from a scarcity of victuals themselvesj provisions could

not be bought to be carried on to Antigua for the support of the

 22k

servants he had with him. To make matters infinitely worse, a deadly

contagious disease (almost certainly yellow fever) was sweeping through

the island, carrying away large numbers. There was hardly a ship in

the harbor which did not have crewmen stricken with this plague. None

was deemed safe in which to go to sea. The Achillea could not be

further consigned; she was bound presently for the African coast.

What was he to do? Making the best of a bad situation, Modyford began

seeking some small plantation on which he could settle temporarily,

make good use of the servants who were with him, and await times more

propitious for the removal of his party to Antigua.^

During the next several days, Thomas pursued his inquiries. By

visiting among the planters lodging at the inns or among the several

plantations in the immediate vicinity of the town, Modyford met a number

of the most knowledgeable men in the island. Several of these men

sought to persuade Thomas that it was of tremendous advantage for one

with goods, money, or credit to buy a plantation which was already

fully established and productive. Such a step was viewed as far wiser

than to incur the risks and the delay of profits involved in staking

out a new tract of land on a sparsely developed island such as Antigua

with the purpose of creating a new plantation. Modyford*s perspective

changed. Considering his present predicament and the profits which

many Barbadian planters were making in the production of sugar, Thomas

decided to abandon his original scheme and to seek out a plantation

in Barbados which he and his partner, Thomas Kendall, could afford to

purchase.^

In pursuit of such a purchase, Modyford was prompted to visit

Governor Philip Bell. In a skiff of shallow draught poled up the

 225

lagoon and tidal creek, it was only a fifteen-minute journey from the

Bridge to the governor's house which stood on the left bank of the

river some three-quarters of a mile by water from the town. There,

Thomas was introduced to Major William Hilliard, an eminent planter of

the island and a member of the Barbadian Council. Hilliard had been

among the pioneers who settled in Barbados in 1627. He had sold a bit

of tobacco before that market glutted, opportunely shifted to cotton

production, invested his profits in servants, and, in 1638, acquired a

grant of six hundred acres from the Earl of Carlisle, just before the

last of the choice lands had been parcelled out— largely in plots under

fifty acres— to four or five thousand proprietors. In the early

161*0's, he had quickly followed the lead of his long-time associates,

James Holdip and James Drax, in an experiment with sugar production

using Negro slave labor. Prosperity rapidly followed. Hilliard's

plantation soon became highly productive. Now, in 161*7* Hilliard was

yearning to return to England for an extended visit to enjoy some of

the wealth he had accumulated. He was seeking an able man to come in

with him, one who could be trusted to look after his own interests and

those of Hilliard's to their mutual advantage. Modyford and Hilliard

soon found their interests to be compatible.^

The Major invited Modyford and his party home with him to

"Buckland" for negotiations toward a possible agreement between them.

It was no easy trek, for Hilliard's plantation lay deep in the interior

of the island, "out back," on the frontier of settlement and culti­

vation (See the map on page 226$ the site of Hilliard's plantation is

hereon identified as the "Kendal" Plantation in St. John's Parish.)

There were no roads fit for cart or wagon; there were merely horse and
 Map 1*. "A New Map of the Island of Barbadoes ... 1681," by R1
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 226

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 227

donkey trackways, unimproved, following the natural contours of the

terrain. Moreover, though the island was modest in size, it possessed

a great variety of topographical features. In the course of the eight

or nine miles between Bridge Town and Buckland Plantation, the trackway

traversed the parishes of St. Michael, St. George, and St. John, rising

from sea level to better than eight hundred feet in elevation. It

ascended a series of distinct, successive ridges, crossed the inter­

vening tablelands, dipped periodically into deep, overgrown gullies,

and finally, climbed a steep escarpment to a fertile tableland called

"the Top of the Cliff." It was upon this upland that Hilliard's

"Buckland" was situated.^

Upon arrival at the farm— no doubt glad to have escaped the

deadly contagion and to be where the air was purer and five degrees

cooler than around the swamp at the Bridge— Modyford and his party

settled in for an extended visit. During the days which followed,

Hilliard showed him around the plantation and explained its operation

in detail.^

The plantation consisted of between 1»70 and $00 acres. Apparently,

it was a consolidation of two earlier land grants. The barton farm

(home farm; base farm) of some l£0 acres was called "Buckland"j the

remaining 350 acres was known as "Henty" (Henly? Heale? Sealy?), alias

"Six Mens Plantation." The arable land of the plantation was divided

among a number of crops. Somewhat over 200 acres were planted in sugar

cane, 30 in tobacco, $ in ginger, and $ in cotton— all these for the

market. Another 70 acres were employed in the growing of provisions,

largely for use on the plantation. The major portion of this tract

was used to cultivate maize, sweet potatoes, cassava, and bonavist

 228

beans; a lesser portion was devoted to producing such fruits as

plantains, bananas, guavas, oranges, lemons, limes, pineapples and

watermelons. The remainder of the farm was as yet undeveloped; there

were some 80 acres of pasture and 120 acres of timberland. Thus, the

plantation afforded the prospect of substantial future expansion beyond

18
its current level of production.

The facilities of the plantation were substantial. Its ’'fair

dwelling house" was unpretentious but adequate. A timbered house of

one story with a low roof, it was likely sheltered with shingles riven

from the ironwood trees nearby. The eastern side of its hall, kitchen,

and several sleeping rooms was largely windowless to prevent the in­

flow of driving rains before the prevailing Easterlies during the wet

season. Its furnishings were crafted plainly, but with care, from the

native aromatic cedar. Its kitchen was equipped with iron griddles,

brrss kettles, pewter and earthenware, vessels of wood and calabash,

and enough linen to set a hospitable table. Wax lights imported by the

slavers from the African coast illumined the chambers at night; tallow

candles melted and stank in the island’s tropical climate. Obviously,

the era of the plantation "great house" had not yet arrived; the

carpenters and joiners of the island were momentarily busy building

sugar mills. 7
19

Indeed, "Buckland's" mill showed far greater attention from the

craftsman than did its master’s house. Upon the brow of a small hill

was built the grinding-house of four hundred square feet. The juice

pressed from the canes by its oxen-pulled rollers gravitated by way of

conduits to the boiling-house and through its five, successive

"coppers" mounted over furnaces. Skimmings from the last three coppers
 229

were piped into the still-house where, after being processed twice,

they emerged as "kill-devil" (rum). The refined syrup flowed from the

clarifyers of the boiling-house to a cooling-cistem in the filling-

room. Here, conical-shaped sugar pots made from the wood of the poison

tree were filled and, when cool, were set in racks in a curing-house

one hundred feet long by forty feet wide. After a month's draining

through small ports at the bottom of the pots, the cured muscavado

(brown) sugars were knocked out, loaded into leather bags upon donkey's

backs, and sent down the trail to storehouses at the Bridge to be

20
placed in casks and await shipment to England or Holland,

Aside from the sugar mill, the plantation was well equipped in

other ways as well. It boasted a range of stables wherein were housed

forty-five oxen, eight milk cows, a dozen horses and mares, and sixteen

donkeys. Nearby, stood a smith's forge. There were ample storage

sheds for laying in supplies of provisions. And there was a village of

several dozen huts constructed of sticks and withs and thatched with

plantain leaves which sheltered a work force of ninety-six Negro slaves,

three Indian women with their children, and twenty-eight white,

21
indentured servants.

Altogether, Buckland-Henty was an impressive layout. Modyford was

challenged by the prospect of managing so productive an estate and

greatly motivated by the profits envisioned. In turn, Hilliard was

convinced he had found his man; Modyford, he believed, would learn

quickly, manage assertively, and make them both wealthy. But each

looked to his own advantage; a month of negotiating ensued. Finally,

a bargain was struck. Modyford, with the backing of his brother-in-

law, Thomas Kendall, would purchase a half-interest in the plantation

 230

and all of its appurtenances. For this he agreed to pay £7*000

— £l,000 in hand and the remainder in sums of £2,000 every six months

until the purchase price was paid in full. Confirmation of the deal,

of course, would have to be obtained from his partner in England before

22
it could be legally enjoined.

By early January, l61i8, Modyford had his reply. Proceed as

bargained! Accordingly, a deed of conveyance, incorporating articles

of partnership, was drawn up and duly enrolled. Hilliard would retain

a half-interest in the plantation; Modyford and Kendall would purchase

a quarter-interest each; whoever was in Barbados at the time would

share in the management of the operation; all partners would share

expenses and profits alike according to their proportionate interests.

Thus, within five months after arriving in the West Indies, Thomas

Modyford had become part owner and principal manager of a thriving

sugar plantation in Barbados.^

It was a good bargain! Modyford had thrown in with one of the

half-dozen men in the English West Indies who could teach him the most

that was known in these islands about sugar production. Hilliard, in

turn, had taken on a partner whose ambition, industry, and innovative

spirit would not let him be satisfied simply with overseeing compe­

tently a productive enterprise as he found it. Rather, these qualities

would prompt Modyford both to expand the scope of his plantation's

production and, at the same time, to refine the techniques and processes

used therein.

By 161j7 in Barbados, the arts of sugar production had been

 231

developed only to a level just beyond that which made it fully profit­

able commercially. Though there are minor unknowns about the intro­

duction of sugar culture into Barbados, the main outline of the story

is clear enough. Around 161*2, James Holdip acquired sufficient cane

plants for an experimental plot from the Portuguese in Pernambuco,

Brazil, who were then under the political and commercial dominance of

the Dutch. Subsequently, Holdip shared his canes and his primitive

knowledge of their culture with James Drax, Thomas Applewait, William

Hilliard, and a few others among his neighbors in Barbados. Drax

acquired the first grinding-mill and processing utensils from Dutch

traders who regularly called at Pernambuco. By l61*li, Drax, Hilliard,

and one or two others were producing small quantities of low-grade

sugar for the market.^

Knowing that the highly successful sugar culture of the Portuguese

thrived upon the use of Negro slave labor, in 161*1* James Drax con­

tracted with a syndicate of London merchants for a shipload of Negroes

to be distributed among William Hilliard, Thomas Wall, Edward Pye,

Philip Bell, Thomas Bartlett and himself. With improved labor and with

an enhanced knowledge of sugar culture acquired through contact with

experts in Brazil and aboard Dutch West-Indiamen calling at Carlisle

Bay, this cadre of enterprising Barbadian planters— James Drax was the

leading spirit— increased both the quantity and the quality of their

sugars and prospered. Thus, when Thomas Modyford and Thomas Kendall

bought into Buckland-Henty in 161*7-161*8, Modyford settled on one of the

most advanced and productive sugar plantations in Barbados. Neverthe­

less, there was room for considerable improvement in its operation as

he found it.^
 232

At first, of course, there was much for Thomas to learn about the

process as it was currently being practiced. He learned quickly.

Within six months after his arrival, he was managing various phases of

the operation so well that Hilliard felt increasingly secure about the

future of the enterprise; he began preparing to return to England.

Moreover, Modyford was soon intent upon a major expansion of the plan­

tation. Hilliard was willing; Kendall was agreeable. Accordingly, on

September 10, I6I48, in Barbados new articles of partnership were

entered into by the three men. They bound themselves for the period

of the seven years following to continue as partners in Buckland-Henty

and a third plantation newly to be erected to the northeast of the

other two called "Kendall.11 They agreed to share all expenses and

profits according to their proportionate interests. They reposed such

confidence in one another that they empowered each partner, whether in

England or Barbados, to enlarge the lands and stock of the plantation

or to alienate the same if he perceived such action to be mutually

beneficial to all. Should disagreements arise among them, they pledged

themselves to submit such differences for arbitration to Capt. James

Drax and Capt. George Standfast as a neutral party.^

Having thus secured his properties and arranged for a handsome,

continuing income, William Hilliard departed for England. He settled

at Sea, Somerset. He returned to Barbados, perhaps more than once,

during the 1650's; he sat on the Council again briefly in 16514.

Apparently, however, Hilliard never again looked upon Barbados as home.

Henceforth, Thomas Modyford was to be master of Buckland-Henty-Kendall

Plantation.^®

Characteristically, Modyford threw himself into his new employment

 233

with a will. Counting the servants he had brought with him, he now

had a labor force of some li|0 persons. Daily, crews had to be assigned

to a dozen fundamental tasks and their work supervised carefully if the

rhythms of production were to be maintained. Within a short time,

Thomas had worked out a pattern of management which suited him.

Although we cannot fix the parameters of this pattern precisely, Ligon

provides glimpses of its workings.^

The operation of the sugar mill was continuous, from 1:00 A.M.

on Monday to 5:00 P.M. on Saturday, twenty-four hours a day. Thus,

crews of laborers and draft animals were worked in shifts to keep

moving all essential processes of the operation: cutting the cane,

binding the leaves and tops for livestock fodder, fetching the cane to

the mill; grinding the canej firing the furnaces, stirring and skimming

the boiling syrup; operating the still and casking kill-devil; filling

and draining the sugar pots; knocking out the sugars and loading the

pack-saddles for shipment. Though Thomas periodically inspected the

equipment of the mill and tested its product, he probably left the

close supervision of its work to a trusted white servant who had proven

himself especially adept in its processes.-^®

Moreover, to a principal overseer— a servant who had fulfilled his

indenture and was now paid IS0 per year in wages— Modyford assigned

a number of other functions to manage: perhaps, the culture of the

tobacco, cotton, and ginger; the feeding and care of the livestock;

the production of provision crops; the distribution of victuals to the

work force; and the management of the kitchen hut where the Indian

women prepared meals for the indentured servants. He, in turn,

assigned responsibility for certain functions to other trusted servants,

 23U

even to certain of the slaves. The intelligent Macow was made keeper

of the plantain grove; each Saturday, he cut and distributed to each

Negro family sufficient plantain— the staple of their diet— to see them
31
through the coming week.

Meantime, Modyford personally took charge of certain facets of the

work of the plantation. He periodically put a crew to planting new

cane fields, usually about ten acres at a time. Since the goal was to

have ripe canes for processing throughout the year, planting had to

proceed continually. He directed crews in the weeding of the new canes

and replanting of bare spots. He intended to produce as much cane per

32
acre as the soil would sustain.

When laborers could be spared from more pressing tasks, Thomas set

about expanding the plantation as the partners had planned. On the

north side of their five hundred acres, beyond a tract of timber left

standing near the plantation house and mill, Modyford put crews to work

clearing more land, tilling plots of pasture, and planting canes.

Within a short time "Kendall" Plantation was adding its production to

that of Buckland-Henty. Moreover, following Ligon's recommendations,

around a rocky hill and pond of water situated between the two planta­

tions, Modyford had built a stone fence of a mile in circumference.

Within, he established what was probably the largest pig sty in the

island. The hogs could be fattened conveniently with feedstuffs from

both plantations. Soon Modyford's plantation was known for producing

some of the finest pork in Barbados. If he responded to Ligon1s

suggestion on other matters as well, he also made inprovements in the

plantation house. Perhaps, toward the day when Elizabeth and the

children would be able to join him in Barbados, Thomas added another

 235

story of sleeping rooms above and opened windows throughout the house

on all sides to take advantage of the cooling breezes, fitting them

with shutters which could be closed to the elements during the rainy

season. 33

Not only did Modyford seek to expand his acreage of cane and the

facilities of his plantations, howeverj he pursued improved processes

of sugar culture as well. Through his own experiments and his close

association with the most progressive planters in the island, during

the period 161*8-1650, Thomas advanced the arts of sugar culture con­

siderably as they were practiced at Buckland-Henty-Kendall. Abandoning

the inadequate planting procedure he inherited upon arrival (that of

simply sticking the ends of cane sections into small holes in the

ground), he learned to have trenches 3ix inches deep and two feet apart

dug across the entire field, to have two cane stalks laid side by side

and end to end throughout the length of these trenches, and to have

the trenches filled in with soil. From each notch of this rootage well

anchored against the driving winds, there came forth a new plant. He

discovered that by waiting fifteen months for the canes to ripen fully

instead of cutting them at twelve months1 growth, they yielded more

sugar. He learned to seal the tops of his sugar pots with clay, to

drain the pots more effectively, and to cure the sugar four months

instead of one. Then, when the sugars were knocked out, the middle

white layer was marketed separately from the top and bottom brown.

It brought three-to-four times the price of the muscavado. Moreover,

he quickly perceived the advantages of boosting production of the by­

product, "kill devil," as well. The merchants at the Bridge readily

bought all he could supply. Some they sold to ships putting to seaj
 236

much they retailed in the town's grog shops to planters who produced

none of their own.-^

Finally, Modyford quickly developed the foresight and overview

necessary to managing such a complex operation. He learned to antici­

pate where breakdowns in production might occur and to be prepared for

or to prevent them. He kept on hand spare grinding rollers, boiling

pans, fire brick and stone, and distilling apparatus to abet rapid

replacement when failure of equipment occurred. He periodically joined

ventures to bring in additional work animals, servants, and slaves

against such times when diseases took their toll amongst them. He

took steps to make his slaves and servants more contented with their

lives and labors. He bought wives for the Negro men, hammocks and

adequate clothing for the white servants, and substantially improved

the diet of both. And, throughout all his activities as manager of

Buckland-Henty-Kendall, he appears to have kept careful accounts of

improvements, expenditures, production, and profits for the benefit of

himself and his partners alike. Thus, within only a few months after

his arrival at Barbados, by carefully mastering the arts of cane

culture and plantation management, Modyford was clearly hopeful of

making his new employment "the ladder to climb to a high degree of

Wealth and opulencie, in this sweet Negotiation of Sugar . . .

Though space does not permit the tempting exploration of everyday

life and work at Buckland-Henty-Kendall for which Ligon provides so

many interesting details, one question persistently demands an answer.

How did Thomas Modyford, Cavalier-barrister of England's West Country,

 237

adapt to the novelty of life in the tropical West Indies? What impact

did this new environment have upon him?

In many respects, life in Barbados in I6h7 was not so novel for

the new English immigrant as one might expect. Much that was English

had been transplanted into this tropical setting— English law, English

political institutions, English social structure, and the English

cultural matrix. In the absence of an act of the General Assembly upon

a specific issue, the laws of England sufficed. Governor, Council, and

Assembly constituted a central government roughly analogous to that of

the crown and the two chambers of the English Parliament. Freeholders

of estates of at least ten acres possessed the suffrage of electing two

Members of the Assembly from each parish. In each of the island's five

judicial precincts, justices of the peace and constables fulfilled many

of the responsibilities of local government; Courts of Quarter Sessions

and monthly Courts of Common Pleas rendered justice. The vestrymen of

the eleven parishes cared for the poor, collected taxes, and were

beginning to show some concern about the "highways.

An emergent island gentry accepted the deference of the more

numerous yeomen planters. Gentry and yeomen alike made use of the

labor of a still larger group of indentured servants whose subsistence

level of living was not unlike that of hoards of English farm laborers,

past and present. Ministers of the English Church held divine service

in the parish churches following the Book of Common Prayer. The pack-

saddles with "crooks" in daily use aback the donkeys on the Barbadian

trails were directly copied from those of Devonshire. Indeed, the

gently rising, gently rolling terrain of St. George's Valley, lushly

green with cane and cotton fields bounded by a scrubby growth of

 238

tropical vegetation along property lines, much reminded many an observer

of the enclosed fields and hedgerows of the West Country. Little

wonder Barbados was already by some being affectionately dubbed

"little England."37

But, there was much that was new as well. With a differentiation

in the daily mean temperature of only five degrees between summer and

winter, there were no seasons. Modyford adjusted his dress accordingly.

In terms of daily diet, Thomas reluctantly accommodated himself to

tropical foods; cassava pones were substituted for wheat and rye bread;

bonavist, yams, and plantain for English pease; pork, goat, poultry,

turtle, and fish for English beef and mutton; oranges, bananas, pine­

apples, and custard apples for English apples and pears: mobbie (sweet

potato wine), beveridge (orange juice, sugar, and water), rum, and

plantain wine for English beer and cider. He reconciled himself to the

stings of mosquitos and gnats. He protected himself from the bites of

huge cockroaches and black ants by placing the posts of his bed in

bowls of water. When this failed, he sought refuge in a hammock with

tarred ropes as did all but the most affluent of the island's settlers.

He learned to step lively at times to prevent the droves of land crabs

from nibbling at his legs. He patiently permitted the Indian women to

extract chiggers imbedded in his feet. He learned to sleep at night

in spite of squeaky lizards and the shrill cries of other creatures of

the evening. His strong physical constitution, his habits of modera­

tion, and the healthful location of his plantations upon the breeze-

swept interior upland— all, perhaps, aided his acclimation to the

strange diseases of the island without ill-effects. Though Thomas saw

Richard Ligon at the point of death three times during these years, no
 239

Illness at all is reported to have plagued the master of Buckland-Henty-

Kendall. Through numerous adjustments, therefore, Thomas Modyford

*50
oriented himself to the ecology of this tropical island.

Of even greater interest was his adjustment to a social institu­

tion which was rapidly becoming a prominent feature of life in this,

as yet, rough and roisterous frontier community— chattel slavery.

Thomas Modyford was one of the first men in the whole of the early

English empire to own a hundred slaves, to exploit slave labor to great

economic advantage, to promote and to participate in the slave trade,

and ultimately, to govern a colony in which slavery constituted a

crucial component of that community's econony. As a pioneer of the

plantation system which was to dominate the economic life of the

English colonies in the Caribbean and in the Cheasapeake and Southern

regions of the North American continent for the next two centuries,

what was Thomas Modyford's response to this new role so abruptly thrust
-ao
upon hlm--master of a hundred slaves?-^

Getting to know the Negroes, learning to communicate with them,

coming to understand their values and their customs, devising a pattern

of management which discouraged rebelliousness and encouraged content-

ment— these were not easily achieved. Nevertheless, during these early

months on the plantation, Modyford struggled toward these ends.

Several incidents provide clues to the pattern of his responses.

When Macow's wife gave birth to twins, Macow prepared to hang her

for infidelity as was the custom among his people. All of Modyford1s

reasonings and remonstrations could not persuade the Negro to view the

incident differently. Only by promising Macow that he would hang on

the same bough with her if he performed the deed did Modyford alter the
slave's intention. On the whole, however, Modyford learned never to

threaten to punish a slave for wrongdoing. Either punish or keep

silent; this became the rule. Threats of punishment created such

anticipation in the Negro's mind as to prompt him to suicide. When

a small faction of rebellious slaves hatched a plot to b u m down the

boiling-house, other Negroes revealed the plot to the master. Modyford

punished the rebels and offered a day's liberty and three days1 double

rations to the others as a reward for their loyalty. They refused to

receive these gifts. Sambo, their spokesman, explained that they could

not accept a reward for doing only what was their duty, nor would they

have the master believe they had accused their fellows simply for pur­

poses of profiting thereby. Yet, later, when Sambo expressed the

desire to become a Christian, the master was unable to respond so

generously. Modyford remarked to Ligon— one can almost detect a note

of sadness in his voice— "that the people of the Island were governed

by the Lawes of England and . . . being once a Christian, he could no

more account him [Sambo] a slave, and so lose the hold they had of them

as Slaves, by making them Christians; and by what means should open

such a gap, as all the Planters in the Island would curse him."^

Thomas Modyford had stumbled into the role of slaveholder. He had

come to the West Indies to raise himself to the status of the upper

gentry through sugar production with indentured labor. A twist of fate

had forced him to consider carefully what had already been learned

about sugar culture in these islands. Such intensive culture required

one laborer for every acre or two of cane. English indentured laborers

had proven largely unsatisfactory in this work. At |l2 per contract

of five years, llO terminating dues, and considerable maintenance

expense along the way, the white laborer— frequently sick, discontented,

or rebellious in this tropical environment— was no bargain to the

planter. On the other hand, the Portuguese experience demonstrated

that, in contrast, the Negro laborer— a patient worker well adjusted

to tropical life; purchased for £25-i30 as a permanent acquisition and

maintained more cheaply— was effective in sugar production. To Mody­

ford, as an English property owner, an unprivileged servile class

seemed a natural and totally necessary component of the God-ordained

economy of things. In Modyford's view, the living and working condi- ‘

tions of the slaves at Buckland-Henty-JCendall must have appeared

little different from— if anything an improvement upon— those of many

of the laboring or unemployed poor of England.^-

Consequently, along with his peers, Thomas Modyford embraced an

increasing use of Negro-slave labor upon his plantations in what

Winthrop Jordan calls an "unthinking decision." He was not a cruel man;

on the contrary, given half a chance he was considerate and kind. True,

slipping into this pattern of supplying laborers to his plantations did

involve some conflict in values; as a Christian, it required him to

perpetuate the ignorance and paganism of his slaves in order to benefit

from their labor. But there is no evidence that he thought deeply or

disturbingly about this conflict. In certain ways, Thomas was a man

ahead of his times; we will note these in context. But, here on the

very threshold of the English slaveholding experience— given the

ignorance of Modyford and his fellow planters about the equally human

nature of the Negro; given their understanding of the natural order

of society; given the overwhelming impetus of the entrepreneural urge

by which they were grasped— if we expect Modyford to respond to the

 21*2

enslaving of the Negro with a late eighteenth-century or early

nineteenth-century humanitarian's aversion, we expect too much. He

adopted this more productive approach to supplying the labor necessary

* for sugar production with little reflection or qualms of conscience;

he cared for and governed his slaves humanely as people, prudently as

a substantial investment; he never looked back. Slaveholding was to

be a routine aspect of his experience for the remainder of his life.^

Socially, there were other features of plantation life on the

Barbadian frontier which were novel as well. In this warm climate, the

Negroes went about nearly naked, the young folk totally so until age

fourteen or fifteen. "The young Maids have ordinarily very large

breasts, which stand strutting out so hard and firm, as no leaping,

jumping, or stirring, will cause them to shake . . . ." says Ligon.

Even the shapely, young, Indian house maid, Yarico, could not be

persuaded to wear clothes; she want about her chores with only a fringe

of shell beads veiling her privies. She was more than one Christian

servant could forego; by him she bore a child. There is no doubt that

under such novel conditions many Englishmen in the West Indies lived a

more "unbuttoned" life style than did their counterparts at home. How

did Thomas Modyford, vigorous and virile man of twenty-eight years

whose wife was leagues away in Devonshire, cope with such daily sur­

roundings? No evidence attests; we cannot know; but one wonders.^

If slaveholding prompted any uneasiness in Thomas’s conscience, if

loneliness combined with the daily encounter of shapely female servants

wrought frustration at the level of sensual need, perhaps Modyford

found some relief from these concerns through association with his

fellow planters who faced similar problems. In a short time, Thomas

 2U3

became acquainted with his immediate neighbors in St. John's Parish.

He developed a close association with Thomas Hothersall whose two

plantations combined constituted 306 acres stretching across the

northern boundary of Buckland-Henty-Kendall j they shared the good

water of a rivolet which appears to have risen in the timberland

between Kendall and Hothersall's Poole plantations. Beyond, farther

to the north, lay the farm of Ferdinando Paleologus, descendant of a

Byzantine emperor, who had migrated to Barbados by way of Llandulph,

Cornwall. Alongside was situated George Martin's farm of 179 acres.

Next to Martin's place was located the 500 acre "Hogsty Plantation" of

John Birch, Hothersall's brother-in-law and master of Gidea Hall in

Essex. Immediately to the east of Buckland-Henty-Kendall, there lay

the plantations of Edward Ash and George Foster. Beyond, perhaps a

mile and a half away, nestled the substantial farm of Christopher

Codrington. At an equal distance to the southeast lay the plantation

of Reynold Allen, on the very rim of the escarpment, overlooking St.

George's Valley below. A mile from Buckland to the west lay Drax Hall,

James Drax's plantation, which, when combined with the tract nearby

known as Drax Hope, constituted the foremost sugar-producing unit in

Barbados; it consisted of 700 acres worked by 200 slaves. Another mile

further to the southwest, where the trackway descended precipitously

from the Top of the Cliff to the valley below, lay the "Mount Planta­

tion" belonging to Thomas Middleton (in partnership with William Drax)

whom Modyford had met in London prior to leaving the home country.^

By 16^9, Modyford was sufficiently well known by his neighbors

that they elected him to his first public employment in the island

— vestryman of St. John's Parish. The two-mile ride from Buckland to

 Zhh

St. John's Church was rewarded by one of the grandest vistas the island

afforded. Since the Church stood a short distance from the escarpment

of the cliff, from the churchyard the view to the north embraced

striking cliffs mingled among rugged hills tumbling downward toward the

white ribbon of sand at water's edge and the deep blue Atlantic beyond.

At St. John's divine services and vestry meetings, Modyford regularly

consorted with the principal men of his parish. At Quarter Sessions

and on court days, that circle of associates broadened as the chief men

were brought together from St. John's, St. George's, and St. Michael's

parishes.^

On his frequent trips to the Bridge with pack-trains of sugar,

just below the cliff Modyford passed through or near the plantations of

James and Robert Greene, Thomas Ellice, Thomas Applewaite, William

Kitterick, William Bulkley, James Holdip, and Constantine Sylvester.

We cannot doubt that frequent were the invitations to turn in here or

there along the way for refreshment and fellowship. Moreover, on

these occasions, among the inns and taverns at the Bridge, Thomas

associated with other principal men of the island. Growing out of

these contacts, planters of the leeward shore extended their hospi­

tality to Modyford, particularly George Standfast and Humphrey

Walrond.^

Indeed, though the planters were of several "persuasions," these

were amiable times. During these years a special effort was made by

many of them to be civil to strangers and hospitable to one another, so

much so that "some of them of the better sort, made a Law amongst

themselves, that whosoever nam'd the word Roundhead or Cavalier,

should give to all those that heard him, a Shot [shoat: young hog]
 2ii5

and a Turky, to be eaten at his house that made the forfeiture . . . .u

At times these entertainments reached mammoth proportions. Especially

memorable to Ligon and Modyford were the banquets set by the veteran

planter, James Drax, and the newcomer, Humphrey Walrond. Drax was one

of the few planters in the island who could afford to fatten and kill

a beef for such occasionsj Walrond, by virtue of owning land on both

sides of the tidal Indian River and the location of his plantation

house near the sea, was able to furnish his table with the freshest

fish and finest of imported delicacies.^7

For Modyford, such frequent fraternizing with fellow planters

relieved the monotony and loneliness of plantation life. More impor­

tantly, it established him solidly within the front ranks of the rising

Barbadian gentry, veteran settlers and prominent newcomers alike. With

the best of them, he wore smart clothes, rode a fine horse bedecked

with rich saddle blanket, and aped the manners of the leading county

families back home. Within a few months, therefore, after he assumed

the management of Buckland-Henty-Kendall, Modyford was well known as

)A
one of the most enterprising and prosperous planters in Barbados.

And prosperous he was! B|y 16£0, Modyford and his partners had,

perhaps, 21*0 acres in canes. On the average, each acre was producing

3,000 pounds of sugar. If muscavado (brown) sugar, it brought 3d per

pound at the Bridge, 6d per pound in London. If clayed (white) sugar,

if brought 6d per pound at the Bridge, at least 12d per pound in

London* Since Thomas Kendall arranged for the shipping and marketing

of the sugars produced, the partners grossed the larger sums.^9

Thus, once the cycle of production was in full swing, if each

month saw twelve acres of cane cut and processed (and immediately
 2k6

replanted), if each month saw the sugars produced by twelve acres

(twenty months earlier) marketed in London for 11,350 (36,000 lbs.:

half muscavado at 6d per pound®£l;50j half clayed at 12d per pound®

£900)j if each month saw sold at the Bridge a quantity of rum of £120

value, then, by 1650 the Hilliard-Modyford-Kendall plantations were

grossing £17,6i*0 per annum, not including the sale of tobacco, cotton,

ginger, pork, and surplus provision crops. Thomas's share of this

gross would have been £l*,mo. Though there is insufficient evidence

to fix with precision the costs of production and the net profits of

the operation, it is clear that the plantation was extraordinarily

profitable.^

Unfortunately, during the three years that he spent with Modyford

upon this thriving plantation, Richard Ligon was never able to take

advantage of the island's growing prosperity. At length, despairing

of ever regaining his health in the tropics, on April 15, 1650, Ligon

embarked upon a sugar-laden ship in Carlisle Bay bound for London and

bade friend Modyford farewell. But months later as he served out his

sentence in the King's Bench Prison for debt, he recalled how Modyford

had often confided in him "that he had taken a Resolution to himself,

not to set his face for England, til he had made his voyage, and

imployment there, worth him an hundred thousand pounds sterlingj and

all by this Sugar plant."'’1

Now that Modyford had mastered the arts of plantation management,

had established himself among the first ranks of the rising Barbadian

gentry, and was daily increasing in wealth, he began once again to turn
 2U7

his attention toward that other ambition— the desire for a public

career. He was well endowed for the pursuit of a position of impor­

tance. He was handsome; he dressed well; he usually made a favorable

first impression upon p e o p l e . H e was well educated, especially in

law, politics and government. As a speaker, he was persuasive and

dramatic. His experiences as a military commander and war-time

administrator both demonstrated and enhanced his qualities of leader­

ship. He had a genuine sense of patriotism, though he had learned by

now the art of wedding patriotism with self-interest. He was possessed

of a certain shrewdness. Though devoted to principles, he was not

above compromise with expediency when common sense so determined. In

short, he was a potential politician by both temperament and training.

The political undercurrents in Barbados in 1650 provided much

opportunity for an enterprising and ambitious young man with a

political bent. The island had been the scene of a rather troubled

political development thus far. For more than a decade subsequent to

the first settling of the island in 1627, rival claims to the proprie­

torship followed by a succession of tyrannical deputy governors had

created an atmosphere of political confusion for the unfortunate

settlers. Before l6hl, although some progress had been made in estab­

lishing peace and order, internal strife had been the rule rather than

the exception in Barbados.-^

In 16hi, however, Philip Bell had been appointed by the Earl of

Carlisle as lieutenant governor of Barbados. Since, previously, he had

been governor of Bermuda (1625-1629), of Providence Island (1631-1636),

and of an unsuccessful settlement on St. Lucia, Bell was a veteran

colonist of the tropics. He had established the General Assembly, the

 21*8

precinct courts, the sound parochial structures, and the revamped

militia which Modyford found operative in Barbados upon his arrival.

Equally important, he had pursued a determined policy of neutrality

regarding the issues of the English Civil War. On the whole, the

Barbadian planters had adhered tenaciously to his policy. Said a

member of the Council of Barbados to a proprietor's agent in England

in July, 161*5: "for if we should pertake or declare ourselves on eyther

side we wer undone: for against the kinge we are resolved never to be,

and without the friendshipe of the parliament and free trade of London

ships we are not able to subsist." This had not been strictly true.

They had been better served by Dutch West-Indiamen during these years

than by English ships. Nevertheless, their newly experienced pros­

perity had been too sweet to sacrifice upon the altar of political

principle. Thus, these years of political strife in England had

qi,
brought a respite from political dissension to Barbados. H

But these years of harmony proved to be a calm before the storm.

During the late 161*0's, wave after wave of Royalist emigres flowed

into the island. They came seeking refuge from imprisonment, oppres­

sion, or restricted opportunity in England. Some were from families

who had been politically active at home; many were saturated with the

bitterness of defeat; others experienced a keenly felt deprivation of

birthright. With their presence, the old spirit of toleration began

to break down.

By late l61*9-early 1650, now that Charles I had been executed and

the outcome of the English Civil Wars was clear, there was no further

need for the Barbadian Royalists to suppress their allegiance. They

found themselves to be a substantial majority, and "by the Civility of

 21*9

the first Setlers, they got into the Principal Offices of . . . Govern­

ment, and by degrees drew the People . . . to incline to the lost

Cavalier Party, by making the Curent of all Preferments and Authority

to Stream to those that way affected." Thus, they subtly set the

stage for casting off neutrality and openly declaring for Charles IX.^

The leader of the Royalists at this time was Humphrey Walrond.

Descendant of an ancient Devonian family with a seat at Sea, Somerset,

Walrond had incurred a debt of £30,000 in support of the king's cause

during the Civil War. His eldest son, George, had lost an arm as a

captain in the Horse Guards. After Somerset was overrun by the Parlia­

mentarians in the summer of 161*5, Walrond had compounded for his estate,

sold it, and, with son George and brother Edward, a barrister of the

Inner Temple, had migrated to Barbados, to the chagrin of his creditors.

Discovering, upon arrival in 161*6, the Barbadians' determined adherence

to a posture of neutrality, Walrond had disguised his fanatical

allegiance, had purchased a productive plantation on the coast in St.

Philip's Parish, and had settled into the role of the gracious country

gentleman. His liberal hospitality soon ingratiated him to many of

the principal Barbadian families, including Governor and Lady Bell.^

From his seat on the Barbadian Council, Walrond rallied the

Cavalier activists and directed the intrigue. Upon a trumped-up

charge, Walrond first forced into exile a dangerous rival among his own

party, Colonel Guy Molesworth. Into Molesworth's positions— those of

treasurer of the island and commander of the forts and magazine— he

maneuvered a trusted lieutenant, Major William Byam. Making use of the

favor he had established with the governor and with prominent men in

several of the parishes, Walrond and his associates succeeded in

 2$0

filling many of the seats in the Assembly and a number of the civil

offices with their partisans. Capitalizing upon a rumor that the

Spaniards were planning an invasion of the island, they prompted the

raising of the militia and the placing of Cavalier officers in command.

The Barbadian Government was rapidly drifting under Royalist control!-'

It was at this juncture that Thomas Modyford was drawn into the

mainstream of Barbadian politics. Modyford was a Royalist at heart\

but, more importantly, he was a young man with political aspirations.

Thus, he soon found a place among the Cavalier faction who were

effecting advantageous changes in the personnel of the Barbadian

Government. Though he was no slavish follower of the Walronds, Mody­

ford identified himself with the Cavalier party. As a result, he was

elected to a seat in the Assembly and appointed colonel of the Windward

Regiment. The securing of these positions launched Modyford's

political career in Barbados and, simultaneously, placed him in the

center of a plot to effect a coup d'etat in favor of the king.^

The Cavaliers continued to consolidate their power in the govern­

ment. In seeking to promote an alliance between Barbados and royalist

Bermuda, however, which would have obligated Barbados to furnish

Bermuda with arms, Walrond was successfully opposed in the Assembly by

Colonel James Drax, the most prominent of the Parliament men. Annoyed

by this interference, Walrond decided to bring his efforts to a climax.

He pretended the discovery of a Roundhead plot. Ostensibly on behalf

of the governor, Edward Walrond called together the most prominent

Cavaliers to form a Committee of Public Safety. Sworn to secrecy, they

/' were informed that the Roundheads were scheming to drive all Royalists

from the island and to declare for Parliament. Thoroughly frightened,

 2£l

the Committee approved a resolution to banish all Roundheads and to

confiscate their property. Under pressure, the old governor reluc­

tantly agreed also, but the real task was to win over the Assembly.^

Consisting largely of moderate Cavaliers, the Assembly was

convened, sworn to secrecy, and informed of the plot and proposed

counteraction. After some debate, the Assembly confirmed the resolu­

tion to banish the Roundheads. A joint committee of Council and

Assembly was sent out to prepare a plan for effecting the exile. While

they were deliberating, Thomas Modyford took the initiative. He had

observed the proceedings with care; he liked not the drift of things.

He favored Cavalier dominance of the Barbadian Government, but he

perceived all too clearly the consequences of a Parliamentary reprisal

in response to the banishment of scores of loyal Commonwealth men.

Before the Committee could present the plan of banishment so hotly

advocated by the Walronds, Modyford stepped forward with a bill he had

independently prepared during the debates. He proposed "An Act for the

Uniting of the Inhabitants of the Island, under the Government Thereof."

In an eloquent speech before the Assembly, Thomas portrayed the woes of

England resulting from civil war and elaborated on the many reasons for

composing differences and maintaining the peace and prosperity of the

island. The Assembly promptly retracted their former votes and approved

Modyford’s bill! The bill repealed all laws heretofore limiting free­

dom of religion but required full obedience to the Barbadian Government

by promising severe punishment for any malicious opposition thereto.^

The Walronds resented this reversal. Frowning upon the indepen­

dence of one of their group, they proceeded to amend away the effective­

ness of Modyford's bill. Amendments were passed which made it an

 252

imprisonable offense to attend other than Anglican worship and which

required all citizens to take an oath to uphold the civil government.

The oath called upon each person to declare that he believed the

Barbadian Government to be lawful and just andto affirm: "therefore

I (Saving my allegiance to our Soveraigne Lordthe King,) doe sweare

that X will not wilfully or knowingly oppose the same . . . With

these drastic additions, Modyford*s law, instead of healing the breach

between Cavalier and Roundhead as was intended, actually made it more

severe.^

The Roundhead planters quickly saw the hidden implications in the

new law; they promptly appealed to the governor not to publish the act.

Governor Bell agreed since, although he was devoted to a limited

monarchy and a comprehending Anglican Church, his main concern was to

combat extremism and to maintain the peace. While the new law lay on

the governor's desk, the Roundheads initiated petitions from each

parish calling for the election of a new Assembly. Along with their

pledge of support to the Barbadian Government, they presented these

petitions to Governor Bell in Council on April 23, 1650. The governor

agreed to call an election. Walrond and his fellow Royalists on the

Council were so incensed that eight of them stomped out in a rage,

henceforth branding the governor a RoundheadI J

The rupture was now a dramatic one. Walrond and his followers had

no intention of losing control of the Assembly in a forthcoming

election. To prevent this, a pamphlet war was launched against the

Roundheads and the Nonconformists. These inflammatory broadsides were

designed to frighten the moderates among the Cavaliers into extreme

action against the Roundheads. "My ayme is at Drax, Middleton, and the
 253

rest,11 read one of the leaflets. "Vivat Rex!" Simultaneously, Walrond

gathered around him a group of rash, young "Cavees," recently arrived

from England, who daily grew more violent in their assertions. They

rode to and fro in the island in high spirits, swearing: "God Damne'm

they will sheath their Swords in the hearts of all those that will not

drink a health to the Figure II [Charles II] and another to the

confusion of the Independent doggs.

The pamphleteers called for the Cavaliers to rise in arms to pro­

tect their liberties. In a final attempt to maintain order, Governor

Bell issued a sternly worded proclamation on April 29, 1650, promising

imprisonment to all those scattering libelous pamphlets and death to

any taking up arms against the government. He was too late! On April

30, duped by Walrond, Cavalier colonels Shelby and Read mustered their

troops of horse, joined Walrond and his principal associates, and

advanced toward Bridge Town in arms.^

Walrond needed an excuse to offer to his troops and to the people

for raising his forces. He wished to say that he had done so to pro­

tect the government from Roundheads in arms. Therefore, knowing that

many of the junior officers and militiamen of colonel Thomas Modyford's

Windward Regiment were of parliamentarian sympathies, Walrond persuaded

Modyford to offer the services of his regiment for the governor's

protection. The governor accepted. Modyford issued orders to his

second in command, Lieutenant Colonel Birch. The Windward Regiment

assembled quickly and marched a short distance toward Bridge Town

before encamping for the night. The next morning the regiment was

surprised by being ordered by the governor to disband rather than to

come to his immediate relief. Walrond had his excuse. A number of

 2$k

Roundheads had indeed taken up arms

Meanwhile, as Walrond and his forces approached Bridge Town, they

were intercepted by a message from the governor, summoning Walrond to

appear before him immediately unarmed. Walrond went. With his extra­

ordinary powers of persuasion, he convinced the governor that his

intentions were nothing but honorable; there was no need for the

oncoming Windward Regiment! His mission accomplished, Walrond returned

67
immediately to his cavalry and continued to march toward Bridge Town. '

Thus, on the morning of May 1, 16£0, Walrond*s Cavalier party

presented Governor Bell with a set of propositions, dictating terms to

the now helpless administrator. After some hesitation, on May 3, the

governor consented to the principal demands of the Royalists. The

propositions were signed by eighteen prominent Cavaliers. At the head

of the list, second only to the signature of Humphrey Walrond, there

68
was affixed the name: "Thomas Modyford."

The essential demands of the Royalists* propositions were: that a

new Assembly be formed of the king's supporters; that twenty key Round­

heads be tried and punished; that an Act of Oblivion absolve the

Cavaliers from all blame; and that Charles II instantly be proclaimed

king in the island. In return, the Cavalier "Grandees" pledged the

governor their support. The governor accepted these terms because he

felt the whole matter had occurred as a result of a misinformation

about a nonexistent Roundhead plot— a misunderstanding which could be

readily cleared up once both groups could sit down peacefully and share

their concerns with one another. In fact, however, Humphrey Walrond

and his Cavalier party had succeeded in executing a coup d'etat; the

Barbadian Government was firmly within their control. On May 3,

 255

throughout the island Charles Stuart was "with great solemnity pro-
69
claimed King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland . . . ." '

It now remained for Walrond and his activist Cavaliers to consoli­

date their power. The aging governor soon discovered that he was a

mere puppet; the Walrond-dominated Council, making use of the governor's

name, issued orders and granted commissions at will. Moreover, of the

propositions to which the governor had agreed, the Walronds adhered

only to those which were to their advantage, alleging "that no other

Promises ought to be kept, by Persons in their Condition." The

governor's vacillation in the midst of the crisis had cost him much

support; now, most men were afraid to come to his aid. In general, the

Barbadians yielded to the new order of things.?®

The reign of the Walronds, however, was destined to be short

lived. To their great consternation, they learned on May 7 that a

newly-appointed governor of the island had arrived. Francis Lord

Willoughby of Parham had sailed into Carlisle Bay aboard the Elizabeth

on April 29. Upon hearing about the tumult ashore, however, he

prudently decided to await the outcome before making his appearance.

On May 7j he presented his credentials to Governor Bell who willingly

received him. His arrival, just at the moment when the labored

intrigues of the Walronds had rewarded them with control of the Barba­

dian Government, was a bitter pill indeed to them. How were they to

oppose him since he too was an ardent Royalist? ?"*"

Though a supporter of limited monarchy, Lord Willoughby had fought

with the forces of Parliament during most of the Civil War; such was
 256

his distaste for the arbitrary rule of Charles I. But the growing

power of extremists within the parliamentary ranks had caused him to

react to the royalist side. Before defecting to the king, however,

Willoughby had secured from the Earl of Carlisle a patent to be his

lieutenant general of the Caribbee Islands for the twenty-one years

following Michaelmas, 161*6. He had fled to Holland in early 161*8,

serving for some time as vice-admiral of the royalist fleet under

Prince Rupert. While thus engaged, he had also obtained from Charles

Stuart a commission to be the royal governor of the Caribbees. With

these commissions, he now arrived to assume his governorship.^

Backed by the Council and Assembly of Barbados, the Walronds

persuaded Lord Willoughby to give them three months to settle the

difficulties in the island before assuming his duties as governor.

During this interim, Willoughby sought to gain acceptance of his

authority in the other Caribbee Islands. Meantime, the Walronds

accelerated their efforts to destroy the Roundhead party in Barbados,

to consolidate their own political influence, and to reduce Willoughby

to a posture of dependence upon them similar to that of Governor Bell.,J

During the month of May, 1650, James Drax, Thomas Middleton,

Reynold A H e n and seventeen other prominent Roundhead planters were

arrested, charged with trying to undermine the Barbadian Government,

and given a mock trial before the Assembly. They were sentenced to

fines of up to eighty thousand pounds of sugar each and ordered to

depart from the island within three months. If they complied, they

would retain their estates^ if not, their plantations would be confis­

cated. Moreover, acts were passed by the Assembly requiring all

Roundheads to turn in their arms, all Roundhead militia officers to

 257

surrender their commissions, and all signers of the recent petitions

for a new Assembly to pay heavy fines to support the Cavalier militia

in arms until the Roundhead leaders complied with the decree of

banishment.^

At first Walrond succeeded in convincing the island's citizenry

of the authenticity of a Roundhead plot to over throw the Barbadian

Government. But as heavy fines and sentences of banishment were

imposed without fair trials, many became suspicious. To combat this

rising tide of murmurings and its possible consequences, Walrond and

his activist Royalists took several additional steps.^

The Assembly voted to banish nearly a hundred additional "Indepen­

dents" from the island. It moved up the departure date for those to

be exiled to July 2 in order to be rid of them the sooner. Until then,

colonels Walrond and Modyford were commissioned to raise a guard of

eighteen musketeers to keep imprisoned at Drax Hall the chief Round­

head leaders. Colonel Humphrey Walrond, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas

Ellis, and Captain Henry Guy were appointed a "Commission for Compo­

sitions of Delinquents Estates" to sit at the Bridge, to collect the

fines imposed upon the Nonconformists, and to apply them toward the

militia's expenses. If fines were not paid, they were empowered to

confiscate and to sell the delinquents' estates.^ Altogether, there

were "Sequestered 52 Gallandt plantations, who are as much Werth as all

77
ye yland besydes."11

To uncover evidence of the Roundhead conspiracy, the Assembly

created "A Commission for the Examination of Witnesses." Composed of

Colonel Thomas Modyford, Edward Walrond, and others, this commission

was to sit three days a week at John Jobson's Tavern "for the discovery
 258

of the late Disturbers of the Peace of this Island.” Modyford and his

fellow commissioners were empowered to summon, to interrogate, to

arrest, to imprison, and to punish as they saw fit in order to discover

the abettors of the scheme against the king's supporters. The pressure

which this commission of examiners exerted upon the populace created

so much anxiety in the average Barbadian that he often decided "as far

as his part he will be an Assembly man's Asse to ride upon while he

lives, ere he will be so frightened again.” At this point, in des­

cribing the royalist leaders of these activities, an eye-witness spoke

of Thomas Modyford as "one that is no small man amongst them."^®

This poses an important question. Just what part did Thomas Mody­

ford play in these events of the summer of 1650 and why? It has been

indicated that early he became involved in the Cavaliers' scheme to

exert more influence over the Barbadian Government. It has also been

seen, however, that at a strategic moment he attempted to capture a

position of greater leadership among the Cavaliers and to lead in a

more moderate approach to dominating the government. But when the

influence of Walrond and his extremist Cavaliers prevailed, Modyford

joined them and helped to carry out their plan for a coup d'etat. He

commanded his militia regiment into the field for an ulterior purpose;

he signed the propositions imposed upon Governor Bell; he raised a

guard to keep the prominent Roundheads imprisoned; he served on the

Commission for the Examination of Witnesses with considerable vigor.

Why had he collaborated in acts toward which he had previously voiced

his objection on the grounds that they might mean the ruin of the

island?

No doubt Modyford was making a daring play to establish himeslf as

 259

chief among the Cavaliers. Seeing that Walrond possessed the unshake-

able leadership of the Royalists for the moment, Thomas decided to throw

in with him in order to continue to make his own influence felt. He

knew Walrond's type; he had observed many like him in England during

the war. Sooner or later Walrondrs fanatical allegiance, rash actions,

and highhanded methods would discredit him with a majority of the

Cavalier party; a leadership vacuum would occur. Then, he would be

ready to step in, assume the leadership role, and move matters in a

more moderate direction. Whether or not Modyford so conspired, this

is what actually occurred in the course of events which ensued.

On June 12, 1650, a group of the more moderate Cavaliers inter­

rupted a feast of the Cavalier "Grandees," complaining that their harsh

treatment of the Roundheads, their defiance of Parliament, and their

failure to substantiate the alleged plot of the parliamentarian Barba­

dians would likely lead to the ruin of the island. Their request that

the differences between Cavaliers and Roundheads be composed immediately

to prevent damage to the island's economy was lightly regarded, but the

sentiment it expressed was growing steadily. Along with Modyford,

other Cavaliers were becoming all too aware of Walrond1s scheme to

establish himself in power. They welcomed the reign of the king in

Barbados but not the rule of Walrond. Lord Willoughby's presence was

bringing about a change in the political winds. Modyford sensed this

shift. He began to ally himself with the moderate Cavaliers and to

express his genuine views concerning the issues at hand.^

As the time approached for Lord Willoughby to take charge of the

government, the Walronds intensified efforts to strengthen their

following. With many of the Barbadians, the Walronds sought to

 260

discredit Willoughby, saying "that he was once a Roundhead, and might

be again . , . With others, they openly pursued alliances by

calling to account old favors or promising future boons. Willoughby

quickly perceived the threat which the Walronds posed for him. He

began to counter their intrigues with certain maneuvers of his own. He

clearly saw that the policy best calculated to preserve his own

interests and those of the Barbadians in general was one of moderation.

Thus, in preparation for assuming his governorship, Willoughby turned

to the moderate Cavaliers, making "no scrupl privatly to unfold himself

to one of the eminentest of them, . . . Col. Modyford . . . ." He

assured Modyford that he intended to do everything possible to calm

the tumults in the island and to prevent any further friction between

Barbados and the Commonwealth. He sought Modyford*s help in publi-

cizing his intentions among all well affected persons in the colony.
80

Moreover, Willoughby allied himself to an influencial Cavalier who

had just arrived in Barbados— Modyford*s cousin, John Colleton. Having

cleared his English estates from sequestration, Colleton had migrated

abroad to live for several months among the royalist emigres in Holland

from whence he had continued to assist Charles Stuart's agents in

England and elsewhere. He had come to Barbados to apply his remaining

capital to sugar production in hopes of recouping his fortune. He had

owned "Life's Plantation" in St. Peter's Parish since I6U65 now, he

purchased additional farms. He appears to have established his prin­

cipal seat in the island upon a plantation in St. John's Parish, just

a mile and a half northeast of Buckland-Henty-Kendall, on "the Top

of the Cliff." Colleton not only had friends among those close to the

king in exile; he also had connections among influencial merchants of

 261

London. Willoughby sought his help toward acquiring a commission from

the Council of State recognizing him as governor of Barbados.

Thus, when Lord Willoughby assumed his office as governor in

August, l6f>0, he had the support he needed to take decisive action. He

immediately sent Captain George Martin as an envoy to England. Martin's

instructions were explicit. He was to relate all that had happened; he

was to portray what Willoughby was doing to restore peacej he was to

appeal to the banished Roundhead planters to returns he was to seek an

arrangement of free trade with England. In Barbados, Willoughby led

the Council and Assembly to repeal the Act of Sequestrations and to

pass an Act of Indemnity. Further, he bestowed "many marks of Favor

upon the former Sufferers, and their remaining Families, in so much

that men generally looked on him as a blessing sent from God to pre-
Op
serve them against the Tyranny of the two Brothers."

Most importantly, Willoughby struck boldly at the roots of the

problem. He dismissed the Walrond brothers from the Council. He took

Humphrey Walrond1s militia regiment as his own command, promisihg to

create Walrond another from it but conveniently neglecting to do so.

The Walronds were thus deprived of all their carefully won power and

influence in the island.^

Thomas Modyford, on the other hand, rose in political stature.

By virtue of a shrewd shift at a strategic moment, he emerged with

increased influence among the Barbadian planters and with considerable

esteem in the eyes of the new governor, Willoughby appointed Modyford

to Humphrey Walrond*s seat on the Barbadian Council. Now, with the

additional support of his Cousin Colleton— presently, Colleton was

appointed to the judgeship of the Court of Common Pleas in the St.

 262

Michael's-St. George's-St. John's Precinct— it appears that Thomas

Modyford was treading a pathway toward a public career of some

fit
importance in the island of Barbados.

Lord Willoughby's efforts to restore harmony among the Barbadians

were reasonable fruitful. But his policy of conciliation had come too

late. Already, in England, Colonel Reynold Allen and other banished

Roundhead planters were urging Parliament to avenge their wrongs by

reducing the Barbadian Royalists with force. London merchants, envious

of the trade entente between Barbados and the Dutch, joined in this

demand for a punitive expedition in hopes of regaining this coveted

trade. Such a powerful lobby easily overcame the influence of Lord

Willoughby's emissary in London.^

By such persistent goading, Parliament was spurred into action.

On October 30, 1650, there was passed "An Act for prohibiting Trade

with the Barbadoes, Virginia, Bermuda, and Antego." This act forbade

all economic intercourse with Barbados and made lawful prize of any

ship caught trading there. To appease the disgruntled Barbadian

Roundheads, Parliament also ordered the fitting out of an expedition

to reduce the island to obedience. By January 22, 1651, a squadron of

7 ships, manned by 820 men, was ready to sail for Barbados under the

command of Sir George Ayscue and his fellow commissioners, Captain

Michael Pack and Daniel Searle. A change of plan, however, sent this

fleet out during the spring of 1651 to reduce a royalist remnant in

the Scilly Isles. Modyford's cousin, Sir John Grenville, was among

the Royalists surrendering to the Commonwealth in this encounter.

 263

During June and July, the ships' rigging and provisions were renewed.
OZ
On August 5, the squadron sailed from Plymouth for Barbados.

As early as February, l6f>l, the Barbadians received news of

Parliament's actions. The General Assembly (Governor, Council, and

Assembly), then in session, published a response to Parliament's

intended boycott a "Declaration" which, due to the eloquence of its

expression and the force of its arguments, has since often been used

by colonial legislatures against imperial interference.

Shall we be bound to the Government and Lordship of

a Parliament in which we have no Representatives . , .
to propound and consent to what might be needful to us
. . . ? In truth, this would be a slavery far exceeding
all that the English nation hath yet suffered.

By the . . . act all outlandish nations are forbidden

to hold any . . . traffick with . . . this island . . . .
[And] to perfect . . . our intended slavery, . . . they
. . . forbid to our own countrymen, to hold any . . .
commerce . . , with us, . . . but such who have obtained
particular licences . . . .

We declare, that . . . wee . . . do not think our

number so contemptible, nor our resolution so weake, to
be forced or persuaded to so ignoble a submission, and we
cannot think, that there are any amongst us, who . . .
would not rather chuse a noble death, than forsake their
ould liberties and privileges.

Brave sentiments indeed, but perhaps Philip Bell's dispatch to Martin

Noell in London more accurately expressed the average Barbadian's

feelings during moments of lonely reflection: "We dayly expect ye

XU

parliament ships here, w somons to yett we know not what, wherein

I pray God to bless and help us or we are undone." The conflict

between Barbados and the Commonwealth, which Modyford had foreseen

with such foreboding, was now fast approaching.

Having thus declared their resolve to fight for their liberties,

the Barbadians set about preparing to do so. All factions of the

 261;

Cavalier party cooperated in preparations for the island's defense.

Lord Willoughby maintained the support of Modyford and the Cavalier

moderates by promising that if good terms were offered by Parliament's

forces he would accept them. All citizens were called upon to swear

an oath of loyalty to Willoughby's government. Additional ordnance

and stores of arms, ammunition, and supplies were obtained from the

Dutch. The island's forces were drilled and made ready. As Gyles

Sylvester noted in a letter to his father on August 9 , 1651, through­

out this scurry of preparations, Lord Willoughby leaned heavily upon

his "prymie Counsselers as Major Biam, Lt. Collonell Modifordt, Lt.

Coll. Gye, Lt. Coll. Ellis, Lt. Coll. Gibs . . . . These are ye men

that Carry ye bussines . . . , and my Lord now dare doe nothing

without them.'1®®

At dusk on October 15, Sir George Ayscue approached the island of

Barbados in his flagship, the Rainbow frigate of fifty-two guns,

bringing with him six other naval vessels and twelve merchantmen, all

armed and commissioned with letters of reprisal. The next morning an

advance squadron sailed into Carlisle Bay and captured twelve of the

fifteen Dutch merchant ships anchored in the roadstead. The alarm

spread. As the remainder of the fleet maneuvered into the bay, Gover­

nor Willoughby distributed his forces of six thousand foot and four

hundred horse along the shore to prevent a landing. Modyford rode at

the head of his Windward Regiment. The islanders were in high spirits
80
and ready for a stout resistance. 7

It was soon evident, however, that there was to be no immediate

clash of the two armies. Ayscue's forces were too weak to attempt a

regular invasion. Nevertheless, on October 17, Ayscue demanded of

 26$

Willoughby the prompt surrender of the island to Parliament. Willough­

by replied with equal vigor that he intended to defend the island for

the king, whose commission he held. Thus began a long-enduring stand­

off between the two forces.

Ayscue began a systematic approach toward reducing the island to

surrender. Propaganda leaflets, designed to win over the populace to

Parliament's point of view, were placed in the hands of Roundhead

collaborators ashore by night and scattered liberally throughout the

colony. Ayscue*s frigates successfully blockaded the island, allowing

no ships to reach the colonists. Simultaneously, the Barbadians were

kept in a constant state of alarm by raids upon the coasts launched

repeatedly from the fleet.^

At first the Barbadian leaders were little worried by all of this.

Even after receiving the bad news that the army seeking to restore

Charles Stuart to his throne in England had been defeated at Worcester,

a resolute dispatch was sent to the admiral on November 13, 1651,

signed by Modyford, his fellow Councilmen, and sixteen members of the

Assembly. Said they:

Wee the Representative Body of this whole Island

doe hereby . . . unanimously profess that wee will with
the utmost hazard of our lives and fortunes defend His
Majestie's just interest in and lawfull power to this
Island, and will manfully 'stick* to Lord Willoughby
. . . , and fight under his command in defense of his
government, from which resolution, no hopes of reward,
nor fear of future sufferings will ever make us recede.

Encouraged by this support, Willoughby refused a second demand from

Ayscue to surrender the island. ^

As events proceeded, however, the optimism of the islanders began

to fade. On December 1, 1601, a fleet on its way to reduce the

 266

Royalists of Virginia stopped at Barbados to offer Ayscue assistance.

With these reinforcements, the admiral's raids became more effective.

By the middle of December, these sortees had resulted in the death of

some one hundred Barbadians and the capture of two-thirds as many more.

What is more important, the Barbadians began to weary under the tension

of constant alert and continuous mobilization.^

Meantime, Thomas Modyford was doing some serious thinking. He was

becoming increasingly convinced of the uselessness of trying to hold

out against the Commonwealth now that it had become the master of

England, Scotland, and Ireland. Even if Barbados could withstand this

seige, there would likely be another. Why should many of the Barba­

dians, himself included, lose everything twice at the hands of the

Roundheads? Moreover, in the interest of his career, would it not be

wiser to accept the inevitable and to make overtures to the Common­

wealth which might help him to maintain his position of influence in

the island? During the month of December, such thoughts increasingly

inclined Modyford toward a settlement between Barbados and the Common­

wealth. He shared these thoughts with his moderate Cavalier followers.

With importunity, he pressed Lord Willoughby to negotiate. 4

Admiral Ayscue sought to capitalize upon Modyford's bent toward

peace. He had heard that the young colonel of the Windward Regiment

was "a Man very inclineable to Peace and of Considerable power in ye

Island." Through the Roundhead planters aboard his flagship, Ayscue

initiated a correspondence with Modyford. He was delighted to find

him the "Master of a greate deale of Reason, and truly Sensible of ye

Ruine of ye Island if They Should be longer obstinate." The admiral

assured Thomas of peace terms favorable to the islanders. Modyford

 267

reported to Willoughby and urged the pursuit of a treaty. Willoughby

authorized Modyford to discover the extent of the admiral’s authority

and to pursue specific terms for consideration. Modyford and a few

friends met with Captain Pack and several of the banished planters at

an appointed place on the coast during several evenings late in

December. Articles were drawn up which were satisfactory to Modyford.

In response, he promised to press Willoughby, the Council, and the

Assembly to negotiate upon these terms toward a firm treaty and to

capitulate,

Modyford shared with Willoughby the articles he had negotiated and

held him to his promise to compose differences upon fair terms. Will­

oughby feigned interest to retain the Moderates' support; secretly, he

was determined to hold out. In a General Assembly, Lieutenant Colonel

John Birch moved a resolution that they negotiate a treaty with Admiral

Ayscue based upon the articles which Modyford had acquired; colonels

Modyford and Hawley seconded; the motion carried. But when a refined

draft was presented to the General Assembly for approval, the Cavalier

extremists amended it into a defiance. They insisted that the first

article state: "That ye Legall and Richtfull Gouvemment of this Island

remayne as it is now by Lawe and or owne Consent established."^

Receiving the Barbadian document on December 27, Ayscue rejected

it forthwith. In return, however, he submitted liberal terms of his

own which were to serve as a basis for negotiation between chosen

representatives of both sides. The General Assembly would have none

of it; on December 29, negotiations were broken off; there followed

"Healths to the Destrustion of them that would have peace.

Modyford decided to put an end to this nonsense. It was now clear

 268

to him that Willoughby and the Cavalier extremists were determined to

hold out no matter what. At a private gathering of the chief men of

his faction, among whom were Colonels Colleton and Birch and Captain

Hooper, he proposed a resolution which was unanimously accepted— "to

make Lord Willoughby by Force to perform, what by honest perswasions

could not be obtained." That night Modyford and a few friends made

secret rendezvous with Captain Pack and other emissaries from the fleet

at a secluded spot by the seashore ; Thomas declared his readiness to

defect with all the forces he could bring with him if he could count

on the support of the fleet; it was so agreed. Two or three days of

hesitation followed. It was a momentous step. If his action should

miscarry, he stood to lose all he had worked for in Barbados; indeed,

he placed his life in jeapordy. Courage rallied. Modyford signaled

the admiral on January 2 that he would declare for the Commonwealth on

98
the morrow.7

Austin's Bay, Barbados: Saturday, January 3, 1652. After consul­

tations with Colonel Colleton and his own junior officers, upon

bringing down to the shore 500 men of his regiment to relieve 500

others then on guard, Modyford drew up the 1,000 muskateers and 120

horse of the Windward Regiment before him. With a persuasive flourish,

he pointed out to them the perils of further resistance, the reason­

ableness of the admiral's proposals, and Ayscue's promise to supply

them with all necessities from the fleet if they would desert the

royalist camp. To a man, his regiment declared their willingness to

"live and die with their Colonel in obtaining Peace upon those

Articles."^

The regiment fired three volleys as they entrenched themselves by

 269

the seaside. The fort's guimers echoed these as a signal to the fleet

and turned the cannon landward. Presently, a squadron of the fleet

stood Into Austin's Bay. Men, arms, and supplies were unloaded on the

beach. The Admiral himself came ashore and published his commission

among men now loyal to the Commonwealth. Asycue informed Willoughby

of the altered circumstances and pressed the governor once again for

peace. But Willoughby, riled by Modyford's defection, replied:

"Neither the treachery of one nor the easiness of many others seduced

by him, have so weakened us as to accept either an unsafe or dishon­

ourable peace." It looked as if the issue could be decided only by

force of arms.’^

The armies mobilized for action. With his combined forces now

numbering about 2,000 foot and 120 horse, Modyford maintained his

strong position at Austin's Bay where he could be supplied by sea. Now

that war was imminent, many others besides Modyford's regiment deserted

the royalist camp, reducing Lord Willoughby's forces to near equality

with those of the Commonwealth. The "diehard" Cavaliers drew up their

troops within a quarter of a mile of Modyford's entrenchments and pre­

pared for a rapid and concerted attack as their best opportunity for

success. A steady downpour of rain for the next three days, however,

prevented any movements of the troops and cooled the ardor of the

Royalist leaders. At length, considering the loss of a substantial

part of his forces through defection, reflecting upon the damage that

would be done to life and property in a pitched battle, and foreseeing

his own personal losses which would result from a defeat without a

treaty, on January 9, Lord Willoughby finally decided to surrender.

On January 10, 1692, commissioners from both parties met in the

 270

Mermaid Tavern at Austin's Bay to draw up the articles of peace.

Thomas Modyford, John Colleton, Michael Pack, and Daniel Searle

represented the Commonwealth; Sir Richard Pearce, Charles Pym, Thomas

Ellis, and William Byam spoke for the royalist Barbadian Government.

It is believed that Modyford drafted the "articles” of capitulation

which were later ratified by the English Parliament and have often

been called the "Charter of Barbados.” The terms were very liberal.

All prisoners were to be released. All properties were to be restored

to their former owners. Many civil liberties were assured. A broad

tolerance in matters religious was recognized. Representative govern­

ment was retained. Especially notable were the articles guaranteeing:

"That no taxes . . . shall bee laid . . . on any the Inhabitants of

i "i

this Island w out their free consent in a Gen: Assembly” and "That

all Ports . . . under the Parliamts power shall bee open to ye

Inhabitants of this Island in as great a freedom of Trade as ever . . .

*btl
and that all Trade bee free w all Nations . . . in amitye with

England.” The agreement was signed on January 11; two days later, the

military installations and government offices of Barbados were surren-

102
dered to the Commonwealth's commissioners.

Ayscue promptly restructured Barbadian affairs to bring them into

harmony with the Commonwealth. Commissions of militia command and for

justices of the peace were tendered to those of known fidelity to the

Commonwealth. The laws of Willoughby's administration were repealed.

The courts were reorganized. Daniel Searle was appointed to assume

the duties of governor after Ayscue's departure from the island. On

March h, 1652, a new Assembly, consisting of burgesses carefully chosen

for their loyalty to the Commonwealth, convened and agreed to violate

 271

one aspect of the peace treaty. The Assembly ordered the banishment of

Lord Willoughby, the Walrond brothers, and seven other Royalist ex­

tremists for one year, although they were permitted to retain and to

profit from their estates in the island. These Cavalier stalwarts left

Barbados during the month of March. With his mission accomplished, on

March 29, 1652, Sir George Ayscue ordered the fleet to weigh anchor and

set sail for the Leeward Islands. After months of discord and disunion

which had resulted in an altered direction of government, the political

pulse rate of Barbados gradually subsided to normal.

103

Thus, during the first five years of Thomas Modyford*s residency

in Barbados, he had thoroughly established himself as a prosperous

planter and a pretentious politician. He had advanced the production

of a progressive sugar plantation, and from it he was steadily accumu­

lating wealth. He had become widely recognized as a front-ranking

member of the rising colonial gentry. He had taken a very active part

in the political intrigues which were involved both in the civil strife

within the island and in the conflict between Barbados and the Common­

wealth. He had connived and collaborated with other leaders of the

royalist cause who had now suffered the loss of their positions and

influence and had been banished from the island. Yet, remarkably, due

to a few shrewd adjustments to the shifting political fortunes of the

day, Thomas Modyford had emerged with his position, influence, and

opportunity for a public career in the future enhanced and strengthened.

Therefore, in the spring of 1652, the road toward a public career of

importance was open to himj but as we shall see, that pathway was to

become more and more an obstacle course, as Modyford now turned his

attention toward a resolute bid for high office.

1.

VI. A BID FOR HIGH OFFICE, 1652-16614

In order to see clearly the direction which Modyford took after

1652 in his pursuit of a position of importance in Barbados, it is

necessary to understand the background of political currents against

which his play for power was made. With the surrender of Barbados to

the Commonwealth, new problems arose which altered the complexion of

the island's politics. Fundamentally, the chief issues revolved around

the pattern of trade and the form of government of Barbados, both of

which now came under the stricter control of the English Government

during the Interregnum.^*

The freedom to trade with foreign merchants which had been largely

responsible for the increasing prosperity of Barbados during the I61i0's

was now denied to the islanders under the descending yoke of the Common­

wealth. In levying an embargo upon the island's trade, the Act of 1650

had clearly stated that no foreign merchant would be allowed to trade

with Barbados without special license from the English Government.

Moreover, the Navigation Act of 1651 further forbade the carrying of

goods to or from any English colony in anything except English and

English colonial ships or the ships of the countries where the goods

were produced. The enterprising Dutch carriers were to be cut out;

English colonial markets were to be primarily enjoyed by merchants of

the Mother Country; the benefits of trade were to be kept within the

i English nation-state at large. An English imperial policy b o m of the

272
 273

2
general mercantilist view of the day was gradually emerging.

The restrictions imposed upon them by the Acts of Trade were

indeed galling to the Barbadians. Prizing their profitable trade

relations with the Dutch, they reminded the English Government that in

the articles of capitulation they had been assured as free a trade as

before. During the 1650's, their oft-repeated protests and petitions

developed many variations on this same theme. But to no avail. In

actual practice, during the early years of this decade, the acts were

largely ignored. After 1655, however, they were increasingly enforced.

The issue became politically explosive.^

The other issue which loomed large in Barbadian politics in the

1650's was that of the form and functions of the Barbadian Government

itself. Having been virtually an autonomous state during the l6U0's,

now that the shadow of proprietary rule was replaced by the determined

sovereignty of the Commonwealth, these unaccustomed fetters were

deeply resented. The populace at this time consisted of a small group

of extreme Royalists, a still smaller group of extreme Republicans, and

a large majority of Moderates whose sympathies were mostly with the

Stuarts but whose chief concern was with the prosperity of Barbados.

Now that this prosperity was threatened by the increased control of the

Imperial Government, a basic issue of Barbadian politics was that of

how to regain and to improve upon the previously enjoyed autonomy.

Some few still conspired toward a renewal of ties with the Stuarts.

Others championed secession toward what would now be called dominion

status— a free state in a working alliance with the Mother Country.

Still others saw Barbados in the same posture as that of any English

county; they advocated direct representation for the island in the

 27li

English Parliament. Thus, the intrigues of these groups and others

— seeking an establishment of government in Barbados more to the

advantage of the Barbadians— formed the principal currents in the

politics of the island during the 1650's.^

The position which Thomas Modyford assumed in regard to these

issues becomes abundantly clear through an examination of ensuing

events. Modyford was devoted to the best interests of Barbados and of

the British West Indies in general; but at times this interest was sub­

ordinated to another more vital concern of his. He was an ambitious,

career-minded man. He seems to have concluded by this time that, for

the next few years at least, his best chances of obtaining a high

office depended upon a practical loyalty to the policies of the Common­

wealth Government and its designs for the further expansion of the

English nation-state. Consequently, his principal posture became one

of demonstrating allegiance to the existing regime in England and of

seeking to increase his influence with those who were administering the

nation's affairs. More than once he sacrificed a local advantage to his .

hopes of obtaining a higher one. But let this much be clear at the out­

set. His political behavior was not guided by opportunism alone. Said

Thomas in a letter to his brother in 1655: "I have a principle in me,

which I hope wil alwayes justifye me, which is to sticke to the su-

preame magistrate in al honourable and lawful designes, and especially

in . . . [that which is] . . . so much for the benefit of the nation."'’

No sooner had the articles of surrender been signed in January,

1652, than Modyford began to take steps to ingratiate himself with his
 275

new political friends, the Commonwealth authorities. That he succeeded

in impressing Admiral Ayscue is evidenced by the fact that he promptly

received a commission to be colonel of the Horse in the reorganized

Barbadian militia. Here, then, with Thomas Modyford as their comman­

dant, began the development of the Barbadian cavalry, that gallant body

of horsemen— splendidly mounted, strikingly accoutred, skillfully

manoeuvred— who so impressed visitors to the island only fifteen years

later. Moreover, during January and February, 1652, Modyford sat on

Ayscue's provisional Council, assisting with the restructuring of

Barbadian affairs. Whether by choice or for lack of a permanent

appointment, however, Modyford did not continue on the Council. In­

stead, when a new Assembly was summoned to meet on Tuesday, March 2,

Thomas was elected to represent St. John's. As a Member of the Assembly,

Thomas helped to vote the banishment of some of his previous Cavalier

cohorts, A bit later, the Assembly selected Modyford to serve as their

Speaker; he was the first person to fill this role in the colony.

Modyford led the assemblymen to model their procedures somewhat more

after those of the English House of Commons. He continued to serve in

this capacity until the spring of 1655* In this manner, Modyford's

political influence was enhanced locally.^

Of far greater importance to his ambitions, however, was the task

of establishing an advantageous relationship with the authorities at

home. Even before Ayscue left Barbados, in February, 1652, Modyford

wrote to the Lord President of the Council of State, John Bradshaw. He

thanked Bradshaw for commendations recently received from the Lord

President and pledged his loyalty to the Commonwealth. He noted that

he was preparing for the consideration of the Commonwealth Government

 276

"a further account of Barbadoes" which would be sent by Sir George

Ayscue. Against the day when this should arrive, however, he hastened

to offer some advice to the Lord President on "how to preserve what has

been gained , , . Thomas pointedly suggested to Bradshaw that the

best way for the Commonwealth to captivate the good will of the Barba­

dians would be to permit two representatives chosen by the island to sit

and vote in the English Parliament. Modyford*s letter to Bradshaw was

read in Parliament and in the Council of State; serious consideration

was given to the idea of accepting Barbadian MP*s into the House of

Commons. Had Modyford's scheme of colonial representation in the English

Parliament been more practical or more generally accepted, the subse-

7
quent course of American history might have been very different indeed.

Simultaneously, Modyford offered the Lord President advice on "how

. . . to enlarge the English dominions in the West Indies." Since

"Barbadoes cannot last in an height of trade three years longer,"

Thomas noted, due to the rapid growth of its population, he advocated

the Commonwealth's colonization of the settlement which Lord Willoughby

had begun in Guiana (Surinam). The counsel which he proffered demon­

strated that his mind was preceptively at work on the whole gamut of

problems associated with colonization. Moreover, along with his letter

to Lord President Bradshaw, Modyford dispatched a packet of letters to

his cousin, George Monck, who was soon to take command of the Common­

wealth's fleet against the Dutch in the First Dutch War (16£2-165>1|).

Thus, in various ways, Modyford sought to acquaint the leaders of the

Commonwealth with his knowledge of affairs in the Caribbean and to

Q
suggest subtly that he might possible be of use to them.

While in pursuit of greater political influence, Thomas was also

 277

restored to the joys of conjugal love and family life. Apparently, for

five years Modyford's family had remained in Devon, patiently awaiting

the time when conditions were right to join him in Barbados. Now that

the plantation was thriving, its facilities were enhanced, and peace

had settled over the island, the time had come to bring Elizabeth and

the children to Buckland-Henty-Kendall.

Cousin John Colleton sailed for England in early summer, 1652, to

attend to a number of his affairs. He remained in the homeland for

several months. Concurrently, during October, 1652, Brother-in-law

Thomas Kendall of Chiswick was preparing to journey to Barbados to in­

spect his holdings there. By March, 1653, Kendall was in Barbadosj

there he remained until late October or early November. Efcr no later

than December, 1653,— perhaps considerably earlier— Colleton had

returned to the island as well.^

It is highly probable, therefore, that Kendall, Colleton, or both

fetched Elizabeth Modyford and her children to Barbados on the trip out.

Perhaps Colleton brought his own family to Barbados at the same time;

perhaps with Kendall came one or more of his sons to Buckland-Henty-

Kendall to remain with the Modyfords after he returned to London. Of

Modyford1s children, John, the eldest, was now ten years of age; of

Colleton's, Peter, the eldest, was fifteen; the ages of Kendall's three

sons apparently ranged in between. What is clear is that at some point

in the early or mid l650's part or all of the children of these three

families came to Barbados to make their home. Moreover, evidently, to

Thomas and Elizabeth Modyford other children were born after she

arrived at Buckland-Henty-Kendall. Toward the end of this decade, the

older sons of all three families came of age; their emergence as young
 278

men is reflected in Barbadian documents of betrothal, marriage settle­

ment, land conveyance, and permission to travel. During the 1660's and

I67O's, most of the younger generation of Modyfords, Kendalls, and

Colletons were destined to be vitally involved in West Indian affairs.

If our inference is correct that it was in 1653 by Thomas Kendall or

John Colleton that Elizabeth Modyford and her children were brought to

Barbados, of one further factor we can be assured. For Thomas Modyford,

this vital reunion with wife, children, and kin was regenerative; his

energy quickened, his resolve strengthened as he continued his quest

for a high office.^

Meanwhile, Governor Daniel Searle was pursuing his task of trying

to make effective the governance of the Commonwealth over a people who

had resisted it by force of arms. His position was difficult. In

order to maintain more direct control over the colony, when drawing up

Searle's commission, the Council of State had given him neither veto

power nor authority to appoint his Council. Consequently, the governor

was frequently outvoted at his own council-table. While outwardly

rendering loyalty to the Commonwealth, the moderate royalist majority

capitalized upon this defect. They made good use of every opportunity

to enhance the powers of the Council and Assembly and to make the

Barbadian Government as much their own as possible.^

The Moderates in the Assembly not only elected Modyford as their

Speaker; they followed his lead in establishing a somewhat independent

posture for that body. Then, they proceeded to introduce a bill which,

if it had been enacted, would have abolished the power of the governor

and Council to sit as a court of equity. Appeals to the governor would

have been thereby prevented; the final decision in all cases would have
 279

rested with the local judges. Searle began to feel that the government

was gradually slipping from his hands. That old, firebrand, Barbadian

Republican, John Bayes, sensed this as well. He complained in his

testimony before the Committee of Foreign Affairs in London on February

Ij, 1653, that a majority faction in the Barbadian General Assembly had

"soe eclipst the Governor's power, that at psent he signifieth litle,

only his title— haveing not the fifth part of that power wch all former

governors have Had." 12

His point was well taken. The Committee on Foreign Affairs had

already recommended a renewal of Searle*s appointment. As his new

commission was drawn up and issued by the Council of State on June 13,

1653, his powers as governor were enlarged. The arrival of this com­

mission in mid August, however, only served to intensify Searle's

difficulties. Along with his new commission for the governance of

Barbados, Searle had to publish a declaration of the recent alteration

in the English Government brought about by Oliver Cromwell's disso­

lution of the "Rump" Parliament. There was a general acceptance of his

authority and of his new appointments to the Council. But, when the

governor summoned a new Assembly, strongly urging the election of

several band picked Roundhead candidates, only two of the twenty-two he

suggested were returned. The strengthened majority of royalist

moderates again chose Modyford as their Speaker. Moreover, the

Assembly further pursued its encroachment upon the governor's powers.

They demanded that the present representative body be guaranteed for

one year and that, thereafter, annual elections be held, the new

Assembly convening before the old dissolved. Searle rejected this

petition categorically and dismissed the newly elected Assembly,

 280

fearing that the disaffected were trying to model "this little limb of

the Commonwealth into a free state." J

By this time, in his role as the forthright Speaker of the

Assembly, Modyford had incurred the suspicion of Governor Searle.

Searle distrusted Modyford's influence both in the island and with the

authorities at home3 rightfully so, for it is likely that Modyford was

already toying with the idea of someday replacing Searle as governor.

The governor considered Modyford "a restless spirit" and said so to the

Council of State. He calculated that Thomas had "all along been for

the service of the late King." Moreover, there can be no doubt about

whom he had in mind when he complained of those "who for not beinge in

authority, bind themselves by oblique and sinister ways, if possible,

under specious pretenses of greater freedoms and liberties, to trouble

the quiet and peace of this place . . .

Searle sought a way to combat Modyford*s influence in the island.

Upon hearing that a few of the militia officers had questioned the

legality of his new commission as issued by Cromwell and the uncon­

stitutional "Barebones" Parliament, he had his opportunity. In late

August, 1653, Searle called in all field commissions and issued them

anew, conspicuously omitting from his list of new appointees Colonel

Thomas Modyford and his close political ally, Colonel John Birch. The

governor explained his action to the Council of State by noting that

Modyford’s continuance in command of a regiment after Ayscue's de­

parture had been "much disrelished by the honest party." The subtle

competition for political influence in which Modyford and Searle had

been engaged now evolved into a rigorous rivalry between the two.15'

Modyford lost no time in countering the governor's action with

 281

certain maneuvers of his own. He promptly petitioned Lord General

Cromwell himself, asking that Searle be required to justify his dis­

missal or else to restore him to his command. In October, l6f>3, he

further addressed Cromwell, asking the Lord General to receive from hiss

"excellencie1s most dutiful and obedient servant" a paper outlining an

ambitious program of English expansion in the West Indies. Moreover,

when Modyford heard that a group of London merchants had petitioned the

Lord Protector (Cromwell assumed this title and office in December,

16^3) in January, 165U, to put the Barbadian Government into commis­

sion because it was beset with "distractions" injurious to trade, he

refused to be satisfied with the Barbadian Council's certificate of

March 29, l6£li, attesting that "this island is in . . . tranquillity,

peace, . . ..and obedience to the supreame authoritie of the common­

wealth." He penned a separate "Address of Barbados to Oliver Cromwell

. . . to be subscribed by Governor, Council and Assemble." Therein,

Thomas professed to Cromwell "That they were infinitely well satisfied

wth yor Excellencies thorough actings for the good of our nation" and
or
prayed "that no misinformations . . . may induce y Excellency to

receive any other character of our harts then what appeares in this our

addresse . . . .

Cromwell was impressed with the man, in so much so that on January

111, 16$kf a warrant was issued from the Protector's Council requiring

Governor Searle not only to restore Modyford to the command of his

regiment but also to appoint him to the Barbadian Council. Thus,

although Cromwell, upon assuming the governance of the Commonwealth as

Lord Protector, acknowledged Searle's services by confirming anew his

commission as governor of Barbados, nevertheless, he seems to have been

 282

persuaded that Modyford also was a useful man to have on the spot,

especially now that he was beginning to conceive his great 'Western

Design."^

By the summer of 16Sk3 the colonial policy and the foreign policy

of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector converged to demand a massive

reprisal raid upon Spanish territories in the New World— an aggressive

attack known as the "Western Design." Cromwell had a dream of a

greater England. His vision was of an expanding nation-state composed

of England and her colonies, protected by a powerful navy, self-

sufficient within in all things vital to its economy and defense,

assuring to its own merchants a national monopoly of its internal com­

merce, and assisting its merchant marine to capture an over increasing

share of the world's trade— consequently, growing in wealth and power.

Subject to this vision, Cromwell had supported the Acts of Trade and

the punitive expeditions of 16$0-1652. These actions had asserted

Parliament's supremacy over the colonies, linked the colonies anew with

England in a posture of interdependence, legislated for England and the

colonies alike as integral parts of one political community, enriched

the mercantile elements of that community, and enhanced its maritime

power. In like fashion, Cromwell approved of the dramatic increase in

England's naval forces and the gains in trade and maritime rights which

accompanied the First Dutch War (May, 1652-April, l6$h)* As a Protes­

tant and a Puritan, however, Cromwell could not approve of the war

itself. In his view, Englishmen fighting their Dutch brethren con­

stituted a betrayal of religion. Shortly after becoming Lord Protector,

 283

1ft
therefore, Cromwell took steps to bring this war to a timely end.

Thus, in the summer of l65ii, Cromwell had at his disposal the

recently enhanced forces of the Commonwealth. His foreign policy

prompted him to pursue a coalition of Protestant Powers, to promote the

cause of Protestantism and religious toleration, to weaken the Catholic

Powers, and to divert their wealth to Protestant ends. His colonial

policy urged him to gain additional recognition of English territorial

rights in America, to plant additional colonies, and to open up

additional foreign markets to English commerce. But at whose expense

was this English expansion to occur— that of France or Spain? He

negotiated with bothj he momentarily wavered. Then, his policies con­

verged to align his thinking with an abiding English instinct— rooted

in seventy-five years of the past, reaching forward over seventy-five

years of the future— the abiding ambition to divert to English coffers

the wealth of Spanish America.^

Since the treaty of 1630, bringing to a close Charles I's wars

with Spain, England and Spain had been at peace in Europe. But, con­

trary to that treaty, "Beyond the Line" no such amity had ensued.

Spain had continued to maintain that the Caribbean was exclusively

Spanish dominion. Therefore, the Spaniards had repeatedly attacked

English settlements, captured English ships, and enslaved English

sailors to discourage English invasion of that dominion. Cromwell's

efforts to negotiate a freedom of trade for English ships among the

Spanish colonies and freedom of worship for English seamen in Spanish

ports had failed. In retaliation for many years of Spanish depreda­

tions, therefore, in early fall of 165U, Cromwell determined to drive

a wedge deep into Spanish dominions in America, to plant a new English

 281*

colony which could receive the overflow of the English population, and

to use it as a base for continuing English expansion in that area.

Simultaneously, he viewed his projected raid as "a blow at Anti-Christ,

20
an extension of the true Kingdom of Christ in the world."

As he laid plans for the expedition, the Lord Protector solicited

advice from several persons. Thomas Gage, an English Catholic who,

after serving as a priest in Mexico, had returned to England disillu­

sioned with his faith, published a book in 161*8 (The English American

. . . or a New Survey of the West Indies) in which he stressed the

weakness of Spain in the Caribbean and the ease with which the Spanish

colonies could be conquered. Cromwell sought Gage's advice onhow the

expedition should proceed. First, suggested Gage, the expedition

should seize Hispaniola or Cuba. Then, using one of these islands as

a base, it should anchor in the Gulf of Honduras, march inland to sub­

due Guatemala City, and onward to secure a port on the South Sea

(Pacific Ocean). From here, a fleet constructed from native timbers

nearby, joined by an English squadron from the East Indies, could then

range northward to Mexico and southward to Panama and Peru, conquering

21
the whole of the Spanish dominions in no more than two years.

Since Thomas Modyford of Barbadoshad also shown great interest in

such a project as illustrated in two previous designs which he had for­

warded to the leaders of the Commonwealth, Cromwell also solicited and

received from Modyford an elaborate sketch of his ideas on how to

assure the success of the expedition. "The General should land in

Barbadoes wth 2,000 men in Novemb. if he cann," said Modyford, "where

he shalbe sure to double his number." With Barbados as a depot of

supply, the expedition should take Trinidad and then sail up the
 285

Orinoco River of Venezuela, planting garrisons and colonies at stra­

tegic points along the way. Thomas predicted that the English settlers

of nearby Surinam (Guiana) would relocate among the Orinoco Planta­

tions, further strengthening the place. Once this colony was well es­

tablished, English forces could then move westward along the Main to
22
conquer Cumana, Caracas, Maracaibo, Santa Marta, and Cartegena.

To Modyford, colonizing the Spanish Main posed distinct advantages

over an attempt upon the Greater Antilles. "By Setling the Islands

you provoak the Spaniard, but doe not at all disable him of his Revenge.

But by Setling on the Maine, you doe not onely take from him the bene-

fitt of his Pearle, and the Mines of Gold and Silver already open, but

alsoe hinder the passage of his Treasure from Peru, and lay Peru

fairely open to an invasion." Thomas also proffered the Protector

sensible advice on the ships, rigging, provisions, tools, and arms

which would be needed by the expeditionary forces. With special care,

Modyford counseled the necessity that "the person who shall Command in

Chief of these forces, have a power to Command all the Governors of

the English in any port of America; and . . . have a power of Pressing

. . . ."^3 Much of the counsel which Modyford and other advocates of

the "Western Design" shared with the Protector was sound. They were

prone to oversimplify the prospects of the expedition, however, as

events demonstrated.

As soon as the First Dutch War was drawn to a close in 16514*

freeing English forces for action elsewhere, Cromwell began making

preparations for the expedition to the West Indies. With the utmost
 286

secrecy as to destination, at Portsmouth, ships, men, and supplies were

gathered throughout autumn days. Spain, France, Holland— each trembled

lest she should be the intended target of the forces forming up.^

Unfortunately, the arrangements were badly managed. The five new

regiments assembled were composed of drafts from existing ones; various

colonels took the opportunity to purge their units of misfits; thus

the dregs of the English army were assigned to the Caribbean campaign.

Not only were the troops ill chosen and poorly trained. Due to the

inefficiency of admiralty commissioners and the rascality of contrac­

tors, they were sent aboard insufficiently armed and poorly provi­

sioned. Moreover, the command was divided. Modyford's cousin, George

Monck— a proven admiral as well as general, and the Protector's first

choice for command of the expedition— could not be spared from his

duties as military governor of Scotland. Consequently, Cromwell placed

General Robert Venables in charge of the land forces and Admiral

William Penn in command of the fleet. In addition, Edward Winslow,

Gregory Butler, and Governor Daniel Searle were named commissioners to

aid in the management of the expedition. Venables was granted exten­

sive authority to expedite the design, however, being empowered to

command all English officials in the West Indies, to appoint any

necessary officers, to confiscate needed goods, and to execute martial

law. Thus, equipped and led, the fleet of thirty-eight ships, carrying

three thousand troops, set sail from Spithead on Christmas Day, l6$k*

The expedition arrived at Barbados on January 29, 1655* There it

remained for two months.^

Upon arrival, Admiral Penn and the fleet promptly seized as prize

eleven Dutch merchant ships riding in Carlisle Bay (sixteen in all

 287

during their stay at Barbados). In spite of this, "heare as soune as

we came to an ancker many Boates came of to us, with many of the Chefe

of the Illand, whoue did profes that wee ware very wellcom, and that as

soune as we came ashore we should find it soe, wee telling them that

wee ware resolued to trie them.'1 On Tuesday, January 30, shortly after

noon, the commanders and commissioners were rowed to the point over­

looking the harbor on which stood Doncaster House, the governor's

residence, where Governor Daniel Searle and the Council had assembled

to receive them. With Searle and the Council, Penn, Venables, and

Winslow shared their instructions from the Protector, projected the

design of the expedition, and noted that invitations had been received

from several eminent persons among them giving assurances that the

expedition could expect to receive a considerable increment in its

forces from Barbados.

The response of the governor and Council was civil but reserved.

The Council agreed to assist the expedition's leaders in any way they

could, though they seemed broodingly displeased with those who had ex­

tended such assurances. The governor readily accommodated the commis­

sioners with an arrangement for quartering the soldiers among the

colonists in various parts of the island. But in regard to the con­

demnation and sale of the Dutch ships and cargoes, Commissioner Winslow

found Searle "very strange and wary . . . ; he refuseth to joyne with

us in commission in anything belonging to the seizures by us made

. . . . And when we demand reason, he tells us, his hand was to the
27
articles of the placej and therefore cannot give it against them."

This posture of the governor and Council toward the expedition

proved ominous. The warmth of that small group of Barbadians who had
 288

initially approached the ships (Thomas Modyford among them?) as a

welcoming committee, albeit sincere, had been deceptive. In reality,

the majority of influencial Barbadians were bitterly hostile toward the

entire enterprise. The abrupt appearance of the Commonwealth authori­

ties threatened interference with local affairsj their prompt seizure

of the Dutch merchantmen in the roadstead portended an end to the

Barbadians' illicit freedom of trade. Moreover, the establishment of

any new English colony in the Caribbean was looked upon with jealousy

and fear. It might emerge as a new rival in sugar production with con­

sequent lower prices. It would likely drain away many of the island's

less prosperous whites. Due to the continuous importation of the Negro

slaves, the proportion of whites to blacks had already diminished to a

dangerous level. Thus, to most Barbadians— whose only concern was with

their own insular interests— the expedition presented a threat to their

political, economic, and social well being. They had every reason to
28
dislike both the presence of the expedition and its ultimate objective.

Nevertheless, in spite of "some of the planters being malignant

spiritts . . . venting their calumnious words against not onely the

designs, but the powers by which we come, and the parties employed in

it,” the commissioners set to work to raise additional troops, arms,

and supplies for the expedition. On Tuesday, February 6, the commanders

and commissioners, along with Colonel Thomas Modyford and Colonel Lewis

Morris of the island, went aboard the admiral's flagship, the Swiftsure,

to dine. Here they deliberated far into the night regarding which

place should be attempted by the expedition. Though no decision was

reached as to the expedition's destination, plans were made for re­

cruiting additional forces. On February 7> Commissioner Gregory Butler,

 28?

accompanied by Lieutenant Colonel Holdip and Captain Blagg, were dis­

patched in the Marston Moor and the Selby to Antigua, Montserrat,

Nevis, and St. Christopher to confiscate illicit shipping and to re­

cruit troops. During the days which followed, they raised an addi­

tional regiment of twelve hundred men. In Barbados, at the request of

the commissioners, Searle summoned the Assembly. General Venables and

Commissioner Winslow portrayed in glowing terms the projected aims and

benefits of the design and called upon the assemblymen to assist with

the raising of four thousand additional troops in the island. To

prevent the enlistment of indentured servants and debtors, the commis­

sioners suggested that the assemblymen furnish them with lists of the

freemen in their respective parishes and help with the recruitment.*^

As the Assembly returned to their own chamber, Speaker Modyford

took up the same plear "I (that thought this proposall wonderfull

faire) proposed the same to the representatives . . . ; to which,

instead of a fayre complyance, I found such a willfully imbittered

party, that instead of debatinge calmely, they fel a clamouringe against

the quarteringe soldyers in ther houses, ther rudenesse and misde­

meanours, and would come to no conclusion but this, let them beat up

drumes and take ther oune course, we wil not assists them." After

their heat had somewhat abated, Modyford attempted again to bring them

to reason. He pointed out that the commissioners possessed the

authority to command from the Barbadians what they willed and that it

was imprudent to refuse to cooperate with a policy which was clearly in

the islanders' best interest. Obstinately, the Assemblymen held their

ground. Let the commissioners do their own recruiting! If they failed

to acquire the requisite number, then the Assembly would see what else
 290

could be done.^®

But Thomas persisted. He reminded them of a petition which they

had earlier forwarded to the Protector "wherein they tendred ther lives

and fortunes to further his highnes designes in these parts; and how

disagreeinge to that profession it would appears, if we should doe

nothings of assistance, in order to the great busines in hand . . .

At length, the Barbadians saw Modyford's point. They agreed to recruit,

mount, accouter, and pay a troop of sixty horse— an addition to the

expeditionary forces most welcome to the Commonwealth commissioners.

More, the Barbadian Assembly would not do. Indeed, by this time the

word was spreading that Modyford was chiefly responsible for the

presence of the expedition at Barbados; he quickly became "hugely

distasted" by his fellow Barbadians. Commissioner Winslow reported

that many of the Council and Assembly "flew out against Colonel

Muddiford, as the cause of all this, and stick not to call him traytor

to the island . . . As for Modyford, he was little daunted by the

barrage of criticism directed against him. Instead, he doggedly per­

sisted in his efforts to prove himself the most able and useful of the

islanders in furthering the cause of the expedition.

As the weeks passed and the expedition's leaders further pursued

their preparations, they became increasingly anxious. The supply ships

still did not arrive. (They were not fully laden when the main fleet

sailed; once under way, repeatedly, they were forced back by contrary

winds.) Moreover, the blunder of the Protector and his Council in

relying heavily upon resources in Barbados became increasingly apparent.

After three weeks in the island, Venables penned the complaint that

"all the promises made to us in England of Men, Provisions, and Arms,

 291

we find to be but Promises . . . ." The large sum of money due to the

state from the Dutch prizes captured three years earlier by Ayescue's

fleet— now allocated to underwrite the expedition's expenses— was found

to be heavily invested in the rising sugar estates of several planters;

it was not readily convertable to the expedition's use. In lieu of

these funds, the commissioners confiscated two-thirds of the excise

revenues in the island treasury for their use; this sum was to be
■30
replaced upon the calling in of the prize-money loans.

With funds in hand, then, the commissioners continued their

foraging for supplies. The troops, billeted among the islanders, fared

well enough, though bickerings and misdemeanors were common. Modyford

sat on one or more of the special commissions formed to adjudicate

quarrels between citizens and soldiers. But surplus provisions for the

maintenance of the troops once the expedition was again under way were

not to be had in this rapidly expanding sugar plantation. Ultimately,

a precarious supply of provisions was assembled to support the troops

enroute, partly from the private stores of the navy, partly from the

supplies of the Dutch prize ships, and partly by the purchase of a

cargo of rotten bread shipped to Barbados by victuallers to the navy

— provisions so bad they had been rejected by the commanders before

departing England! "Meane time, we lye still," wrote the scoutmaster

of the expedition, "eatinge up the island, and our shipps eatinge up

their provisions."^

The recruiting went well; some 3,500 Barbadians joined the expe­

ditionary forces. In spite of the strictest orders of the commis­

sioner to the contrary, not a few indentured servants and debtors were

inducted among them, to the great detriment of the planters. Where

 292

discoverable, these men were returned; but, as Modyford recounted:

"ther indentures not beinge writt in their foreheads, . . . once they

were gott into the huddle there was no findinge them." These recruits

were so assigned as to bring the strength of each of the five regiments

to near 1,000 men and to create an additional Barbadian regiment

besides. When there were added to this force a regiment of seamen, the

regiment being formed in the Leeward Islands, a company of scouts, a

train of artillery, a troop of horse, and a few score more, the total

expeditionary force ultimately numbered between 8,000 and 9>000 men.

When, in mid March, the enlarged regiments were finally mustered

and set to drill, however, their commanders quickly became all too

aware of how unfit, undisciplined, and ill trained were the troops

before them. Equally apparent became the shortage of arms; some

regiments had barely 200 muskets for 1,000 men! When it was known that

the fleet could spare no arms and only enough shot and match to provide

15 rounds per man, the commissioners again turned to the Barbadians.

Of the 3,U00 muskets in the hands of the island's train bands, 1,500

were required for the use of the expeditionary forces. The militiamen

of each parish were asked to surrender a proportion of their arms. If

these were not brought in voluntarily, they were confiscated by for­

aging parties of the army, "in which proceeding some misdemeanours were

committed by diverse of the soldyers . . . ." When added to the inter­

ference with their trade, forced billeting of soldiers, appropriation

of their public funds, and the loss of 3*3>00 valued freemen and

servants, the confiscation of much of their means of defense— accom­

panied by the discourtesies of a rude soldiery— was well calculated to

35
put the Barbadians completely out of humor with the whole affair.
 293

But there was more. The Protector had obviously despaired by now

of effective prosecution of violators of the Acts of Trade while leaving

such cases to the island's courts of common law and Barbadian juries.

Thus, anticipating the capture of prizes by the fleet, Edward Birdall

and Edward Cole (English merchants trading with Barbados) were commis­

sioned to act as deputies for Procurator-General Alexander Cheeke of

the High Court of Admiralty in England. Their commission was accepted

by Governor Searle and the Council on February 22. Evidently, these

officers of the Admiralty Court received from Admiral Penn the inven­

tories of the Dutch merchantmen and their cargoes captured during the

month of February. They condemned these ships and goods as lawful

prize; they sold at auction what was not appropriated for the use of

the expedition; they granted certificates of prize to the new owners as

proof of lawful purchase; and they presented the proceeds to the com­

missioners for support of the design. But their authority appears to

have been temporary— to deal with this one batch of prize ships only.

While pursuing further preparations for the attack upon the Spaniards,

therefore, the commissioners took steps to solve this problem on a more

permanent basis and to establish more substantially the authority of the

Commonwealth among the recalcitrant Barbadians.-^

On March 1, the Commonwealth commissioners established a Prize

Office in Barbados, appointing as commissioners: Thomas Modyford (chief

commissioner), John Teamans, Richard Saunders, John Roberts, and Peter

Lear. Modyford and his fellow commissioners were charged with ordering

the seizure of any ship caught violating the Acts of Trade, taking

inventory of such ships and goods, preparing the case for trial, re­

quiring security from the party involved to appear in the Admiralty

 29k

Court in England, and sending the case on to that court for determin­

ation. To provide support for the proceedings of the Prize Office,

General Venables assumed the powers of commander-in-chief of the Bar­

badian militia from Governor Searle, reorganized the train bands, and

appointed to command those who were known supporters of the Protector

and his Western Design. Cousin John Colleton was appointed major

general of the Barbadian forces; Modyford*s commission as colonel of

the Horse was renewed. In these and other ways, the Commonwealth com­

missioners sought to leave the colony under tighter rein than they had

found it.^

MSrch waned, and yet the store ships did not arrive. Following

several councils of war— Modyford participated in at least one of these,

and at least once, the commanders journeyed to Buckland-Henty-Kendall to

consult him— the commissioners resolved to move on without further

supply. The decision was made to strike first at Santo Domingo in His­

paniola, the oldest Spanish city in the New World and the administra­

tive center of the Spanish West Indies. Why Modyford*s scheme for an

attack on the Spanish Main was rejected we do not know. A clue may be

found in General Venables letter to Martin Noell a few weeks later.

Venables explained that they did not first attempt Cartegena— the ulti­

mate target as articulated in the Protector's instructions to the

commissioners— because of the scarcity along that ooast of plantations

yielding provisions and the lack of fresh water within striking

distance of the town. At length, though poorly trained, rudely armed,

and inadequately provisioned, the expeditionary force mobilized for

action. On March 31* the troops boarded the ships, and the fleet set

sail, to the great relief of most of the planters of Barbados.

 295

After picking up their Leeward Regiment at St. Christopher's, the

fleet made Hispaniola by April 105 the following day troops were landed

before the town of St. Domingo. Lack of water and provisions, the

spread of disease among the troops, poor training, faulty discipline,

confusion within the command— all contributed to the repeated defeat of

the English by the Spaniards during the following days. Three weeks

later it was decided to abandon the attempt upon Hispaniola in favor of

some lesser design.^

On May h, the fleet sailed for the smaller Spanish island of

Jamaica where it arrived on May 10. Finding this island thinly popu­

lated and less ably defended, the English managed to conquer the main

port and the principal town within a few days. During the month of

June, the soldiers and the accompanying settlers who were immigrating

from Barbados spread out over the island to continue to conquer, to

garrison, and to plant. Five long years of struggle would be required,

however, before Jamaica would lie securely within the dominion of the

Commonwealth. During those years, hundreds of English soldiers and

settlers would succumb to the "pale hand of Death" reaching out to them

through yellow fever, dysentery, stravation, the guerrilla forces of

Don Christobal de Ysassi, and marauding bands of Maroons (freed Spanish

Negroes)

By the end of June, Penn and Venables were bound for England with

twenty ships of the fleet, leaving Major-General Fortescue in charge of

the troops and Vice-Admiral Goodson with twelve frigates to secure

Jamaica as an English colony. Arriving in England in September, both

commanders gave Cromwell an account of the expedition; both were

promptly lodged in the Tower of London briefly for coming home without
 296

orders and for bungling so thoroughly the attempt on the Spaniards.

Nevertheless, Cromwell determined to reinforce and to hold Jamaica at

all costs and to develop this island into a productive English colony.^

Meanwhile, in Barbados, Thomas Modyford was delighted with the

news of the expedition's ultimate success in Jamaica. He wrote Secre­

tary Thurloe on June 20, saying:

I am not at all sorry they have gone to Jamaica . . . .

It is apparently . . . far more proper for their purposes
than the other or Porto Rico . . . . It . . . is far more
convenient for attempts on the Spanish fleet . . . . I hope
our nation will not draw back, having thus far entered;
for I am most confident, that if this place be fully
planted, which in three or four years may with ease be
done, his highness may do what he will in the Indies . . . .
I had gotten near one hundred families, that would have
gone from hence to Hispaniola, and do hope still to
induce them for the other place . . . .

Even from a distance, then, Thomas yet sought to support the cause of

the expedition and the new colony it had acquired.^

But Modyford now found himself in an increasingly difficult situ­

ation. He had definitely managed to ingratiate himself with the Common­

wealth authorities by his support of the expedition; but in so doing,

he had also alienated himself from many Barbadians. This became

abundantly clear when Modyford and his fellow commissioners of the

Prize Office arrested several Dutch and Hamburger ships trading in

violation of the Acts of Trade and attempted to foreclose on the debts

owed to the state for prizes captured and sold during Ayscue's time.

In response, the Barbadian Assembly promptly declared the latter action

"against the laws of England." Thus, Thomas was thwarted in his efforts

to carry out the duties of his new position. He and his assistants

were forced to await further orders from the Admiralty Commissioners

in England.^
 297

In various other ways, Modyford was creating a breach between him­

self and his fellow planters as well. Upon receiving news of the

disastrous defeat of the English forces at Hispaniola, at the next

meeting of the Assembly in April, the representatives fell to complain­

ing of their treatment at the hands of the Commonwealth commissioners

and of the interference of Venables and his cohorts in Barbadian

affairs. Modyford's neighbor and old political ally, John Birch, pro­

posed that they send John Bayes to London to complain formally to the

Protector— especially about Venables' usurping command of the island's

militia from Governor Searle— and to petition the Protector "that our

govemour might be under no command, but immediately his." Though

Birch received strong support for his motion, including that of the

governor and Council, Modyford led a minority in opposition to it. Not

only did he point out "that it would be apprehended sawcinesse in us to

circumscribe the supreame magistrate either to persons or the way of

his command"; he had the audacity to suggest that the Barbadians had

only themselves to blame for any hardships which ensued since they had

refused to aid the expedition voluntarily!^ Speaker Modyford1s de­

fence of the Commonwealth officials was the last straw for the Barba­

dian planters. Those opposing him in the Assembly called for a new

election. On election day, they railed at Modyford as the one who

brought the hardships of the expedition upon them and the one who "was

very earnest in makings of laws, to enforce people to pay their debts

. . . ." When the tally was in for St. John's, by one vote Modyford

lost his seat in the Assembly (and with it his role as Speaker) to his

neighbor, George Martin. His assertive bid for influence with the

ranking officials of the Commonwealth, his strong support of the

 298

unpopular Western Design, had cost him much of his local political

influence in Barbados. Thus, in the summer of 1655, Modyford was rele­

gated somewhat to the background of Barbadian a f f a i r s . ^

No matter. He had the satisfaction of knowing that the Western

Design, in spite of all its handicaps and blunders, had succeeded. A

strategic wedge had been driven into the center of Spanish dominions;

a new colony was emerging under the English flag; a base had been

established which held great promise for extensive further expansion in

the area. Still aspiring to a place of service to the nation at large,

Thomas was bent upon abetting that expansion in any way he c o u l d , ^

The promise of Jamaica notwithstanding, the Lord Protector viewed

his West Indian expedition as a dreary failure. That is understand­

able. He had projected much greater things; his dream begged for

grander fulfillment. What Cromwell could not know, however— what we

can perceive through hindsight— is that the Western Design was a

critical turning point in English policy. Jamaica was the first addi­

tion by conquest to the modern English empire. The Western Design was

the first dramatic demonstration of an emerging imperial policy which

England was to pursue persistently for the next hundred and twenty-five

years as she struggled toward pre-eminence within the unfolding European

hegemony of the world. Thus, we must credit Oliver Cromwell as being

the first English ruler to enploy systematically the power of the state

to extend England's colonial possessions, to strengthen ties between

England and her colonies, and to enhance England's maritime might

toward the further pursuit of those goals. And if we so credit Crom­

well, we must also credit another man out in the colonies with having

made a unique contribution to the establishment of the early English

 299

empire: one who, more than any other colonial, tirelessly promoted and
i
supported the Western Design] one who shared the Protector's vision of

an integrated political community of Englishmen expanding in terri­

tories, wealth, and power; one whose devotion to that nation and its

interests at large lifted him above the provincial concerns of his

fellows; a planter-politician in Barbados— Thomas Modyford.^

I:

Just as Modyford's activities during the preceding events cost him

much of his popularity with his fellow Barbadians, in like fashion they

served to heighten the personal rivalry between the commandant of the

cavalry and the governor. During the stay of the expeditionary forces

at Barbados, Searle, where possible, had taken the part of the com­

plaining planters. Modyford and his cousin, John Colleton, had support­

ed the authority of Cromwell's commissioners. Modyford saw in Searle's

reluctant cooperation with the Commonwealth commissioners a possible

basis for discrediting him with the authorities in England. At this

point, then, Modyford and Colleton began plotting to secure the recall

of Searle as governor and to promote the appointment of Modyford to his

post. In this manner, Modyford simply shifted the locus of his

political activity from forthright leadership in the Assembly to behind-

the-scenes intrigue,

During the following months, Searle almost played into the hands

of the plotters by repeatedly registering complaints with the Protector,

sometimes to Cromwell's annoyance. He fretted about the large numbers

of folk who were immigrating to Jamaica from Barbados, fearing that the
t
Protector's promotion of the new colony was effecting a corresponding
 300

deterioration in the old. He clamored about the problems of security

and peacekeeping being created in Barbados by the deportation from the

homeland to the island of numerous able but disaffected people. He

grumbled about the restrictions on trade between the Barbadians and

foreign merchants. On more than one occasion, the Commonwealth Govern­

ment indicated some impatience with Searle. In response to Searle's

nostalgia for the freedom of trade, the Protector and his Council were

curt: "Wee therefore doe hereby strictly charge and command you, that

you and the Councell of the Island of Barbados, doe from henceforward

putt in execution the said Act, as fully and as strictly, as is or

ought to be done by any other place . . . w^ i n the Territories of

England."^

Upon the receipt of a new commission from the Protector appointing

him as governor for another three years, Searle lamented on June 1,

1655, that, since Venables had superseded him as commander-in-chief of

the island's forces and "thereby Made Voyde all powers and Commissions

by me granted as Governor," he now had no clear-cut authority to act

in matters pertaining to the defense of the colony. This was a valid

issue. The new Assembly promptly opposed the additional levies of

horse which Venables had ordered upon his departure. The result was

confusion. Neither the previous regimental commanders nor Venables'

new appointees were able to act with the assurance of obedience from
'JO
the troops.

In the spring of 1656, Modyford took the initiative to force a

solution to this dilemma. In February, Colonel Modyford and Major-

General Colleton were summoned to a hearing before the Council con­

cerning, evidently, the confusion within the military command.

 301

Subsequently, Thomas began to "hold it very safe and necessary that wee

should be knowne to be of one minde." With characteristic combination

of statesmanship and self-interest, on March 20, Modyford presented

Secretary (of Barbados) Thomas Noell a formal "Protestation,” requesting

that it be read in Council and recorded in the Order Book of the

Militia. Thomas charged "ye Cavaliers Heare" and "those Private

Mutineers against his Highnes moste Justly merritted advancement" with

having generated opposition to the authority of General Venables and

his commissioned officers in order to discredit the Commonwealth

Government. As for himself, he protested: "I doe in ye presence of ye

all-seeing God from ye bottome of my heart, abhorre and abjure ye said

Interest of ye Stuarts, as inconsistant wth ye Peace and happiness of

or Nation, and shall wth ny life and fortune Defend ye Present

jik l a J*
Govemmt." Continuing, he called upon "ye Hon the Gov speedily to

Consider of some wholesome Expedient, whereby wee may be Justified in

our Actings, and an End put to ye Present Distractions." In the mean­

time, he begged to resign his colonelcy of Horse as received from

General Venables.^

A week later the Council and Assembly concurred with Modyford*s

advice by asking Governor Searle to reassume his military powers. On

April 1, the governor forwarded this request to the Protector, asking

permission to adopt the course of action suggested. By late October,

the required permission had arrived. With dispatch, Searle reorganized

the militia into four regiments of foot and eight troops of horse.

Simultaneously, he ordered repairs on the fortifications at each of the

strategic harbors. In the process of renewing his military juris­

diction, however, Searle took a step which was destined to cause him
 302

far greater difficulty than had the previous confusion in the military

command. He dismissed Cousin John Colleton from his employments as

major-general of the island's train bands and as the colonel of a

troop of horse. The musters of the following few months reveal that

neither Modyford nor Colleton was currently engaged in the command of

the Barbadian militia.^

But Searle and the political faction who now supported him— those

Barbadians most devoted to the autonoty of the island's government

— were not satisfied with the removal of Colleton from his militia

command alone. Their ultimate goal appears to have been the removal of

the cousins Modyford and Colleton from all positions of influence in

the island. Modyford had been displaced from the Assembly; he had

resigned as commandant of the cavalry. Colleton had lost his posts in

the Barbadian militia. The next step for the governor and his cohorts

was to contrive the removal of Colleton as chief judge of the Court of

St. Michael's-St. Georges's-St. John's and the discrediting of Modyford

as chief commissioner of the Prize Office.

53

Since Admiral Ayscue's reorganization of the Barbadian Government

in February, 1652, John Colleton had presided over the busy court of

General and Quarter Sessions in Bridge Town. With the visit of the

fleet in 1655, however, and the Modyford-Colleton stand in support of

the Commonwealth commissioners, Colleton became an unpopular judge.

Appeals from his court to the governor and Council rapidly increased.

Much of the action of appeal and review which brought Colleton and his

litigants before the Barbadian Council appears to have been politically

motivated. He did mishandle in minor ways a case or two, however; and

the desire of the dominant political faction in Barbados to be rid of

 303

him conveniently coincided with a genuine effort to enhance the process

of justice in the colony. As early as the summer of 1655, Modyford had

expressed to his brother in England: ITTrewly I could wish as to this

place some directions be sent from his highnes and councel to command,

that the proceedings in the law courts be sutable to the lawes of

England. I shal . . . write you of ther erronious and ineffectual

proceedings . . .

Thus, in September, 1656, the governor and Council ordered that,

effective on March 25, 1657, all judges would be newly commissioned to

sit only in the precinct adjoining the one in which they currently

presided, not in the precinct wherein they dwelled. This action

appears not to have been strong enough to satisfy the Colleton-Modyford

opponents, however; it was not effected; Colleton continued to preside

over St. Michael's until July, 1657. But during the June General

Sessions, the grand jury reported their conviction that the interests

of justice would best be served by one-year appointments for the judges.

Accordingly, the Assembly recommended to the governor and Council writs

of ease for all judges, new commissions for one year only, and specific

candidates for all judicial posts. The way was clear! Searle and the

Council hastened to prepare letters of dismissal and new commissions

for all seats on the bench to be effective at the General Sessions of

August, 1657. John Colleton was dismissed from his judgeship;

Secretary Thomas Noell was appointed to be chief judge of St. Michael's-

St. George's-St. John's. It only added insult to injury that Colleton

was appointed one of twenty-seven justices-of-the-peace in the island

some two months later— a poor paliative for the loss of the principal

post of justice in Barbados.^

 30U

Meanwhile, Thomas Modyford was encountering increasing difficulties

in managing the activities of the Barbadian Prize Office. This office

was hankered in its work by inadequate Jurisdiction. (In 1657, the

Protector’s Committee on America would recommend the establishment

alongside it of an Admiralty Court in Barbados.) Moreover, since its

functions involved lengthy delays and the removal of decisions from

local authorities, its operations were unpopular\ the governor and

Council subtly obstructed its proceedings and encroached upon its

Jurisdiction whenever possible.

In July, 1656, Governor Searle summoned Modyford before the

Council, demanding an immediate accounting of all fines and prize goods

collected by the office since its founding, ostensibly as a means of

discovering what funds were available "for ye promoting of His Highness

Affairs at Jamaica." In May, 1657, Captain Gregory Butler passed on to

the Protector an opinion he had undoubtedly imbibed from Modyford's

political enemies: "It is my fortune to bee made unhappy, through the

want of power to call the commissioners of prize-goods to an account in

these ports, especially those of Barbadoes, who have greatly cheated

your highnesse . . . ." In October, 1657, the governor and Council

accused the prize commissioners of neglecting their duties, noting:

The Commissioners of the Prize Office . . . refusing

to take cognizance of the seizures made in the Road by
Captain Nicholas Paeke and Captain John Rande, of two
ships arriving from Amsterdam, . . . it is therefore
ordered, that the said Packe and Rande do Prosecute the
said Seizures in the next Court of Record for these
precincts . . . .

A few weeks later, a "leaky bottom" was the excuse offered by Searle

for appointing Judge Thomas Noell and his assistants of St. Michael's

to sit on December 2 as a special court to try the case of the seizure

 305

of the ship Hope by Captain John Wilgress of the frigate Blackmoor.

In various ways then, Searle and his political allies sought to dis­

credit Modyford as chief prize commissioner and to hinder the work of

his office.-^

In response to this sustained effort of Governor Searle and his

supporters to reduce Modyford and Colleton to political irapotency, the

personal animosity between the governor and his two archrivals ascended

to a new level of acrimony. The cousins now determined at all costs

to effect the recall of Daniel Searle as governor of Barbados. Conse­

quently, Colleton left for England in late summer, 1657* to petition

Cromwell for the restoration of his offices and to organize an oppo­

sition to Searle in London. Modyford remained on the scene to provide

information and to nurture the plot from that end.

Given the factors which had already provided Cromwell a basis for

being somewhat irritated with Searle, the bitter attack which Modyford,

Colleton, and their allies now launched against the governor might well

have proven politically fatal had it not been for the support of Martin

Noell and Thomas Povey. Martin Noell was probably the most influencial

London merchant of his time. As an alderman of London, a member of the

East India Company, a West Indian trader, a contractor and banker to

the English Government, and a farmer of the post office, the customs,

and the excise, Martin Noell was an intimate friend of the Lord Pro­

tector and a member of Cromwell's select advisory committees on trade

and plantation affairs. It was his brother, Thomas Noell— married to

William Hilliard’s daughter, Thomasine~who had been appointed Secre­

tary of Barbados, who looked after the family's plantation properties

in the Caribbean, and who was not appointed chief judge of St.
 306

Michael's in John Colleton's place.^

Thomas Povey was Martin Noell's trusted junior partner in many

ventures of West Indian trade, was a conspicuous leader among those

interested in plantation affairs, and, in late 1607, became chairman

and secretary of the Protector's Committee on America. For one brother,

Richard Povey, he had secured the post of commissar for the regiments

occupying Jamaica^ for another, William Povey, through the good offices

of Martin Noell, he had acquired an appointment from Governor Searle to

the position of provost-marshal for the Court of St. Michael's in

Barbados. Furthermore, in order to enlarge brother William's position,

Povey and Noell secured from Cromwell in the spring of 1607 William

Povey's appointment by letter patent under the Great Seal as provost-

marshal-general of all the courts in Barbados. Such an appointment

was clearly an unaccustomed invasion of colonial privilege, resented by

all who valued the autonomy of the Barbadian Government. In return for

Searle's acceptance of this patent appointment, however, Noell and

Povey were prepared to function as his agents in London. When a few

absentee Barbadian planters added their voices to those of Noell and

Povey, Searle had considerable support against the complicity of

Modyford and Colleton.^®

Throughout the winter of 1607-1608, the rival factions vied for

the Protector's favor. John Colleton appears to have arrived in

England in early autumn. Since February 3, he had had a petition

lodged with the Council of State requesting reinstatement to his posts

of militia command. Now, with the assistance of Brother-in-law Downes,

Thomas Kendall, and the support they could marshal among the London

merchants, Colleton pressed a second petition for the restoration of

 307

both his military and judicial offices. His petition was referred to

the Committee on America; the Committee recommended that "Major

Colleton be continued in those employments, and the Governor ordered to

give an account of the reasons of the petitioner’s dismissal." Accord­

ingly, a letter from Cromwell to "our Trusty Searle, Governor of

Barbados" arrived in the island by late October, accompanied by a copy

of William Povey's patent to the office of provost-marshal-general and

an order directing the reinstatement of "John Colleton Esq." to his

post as judge of the Court of St. Michael's (and possibly to his

militia command as well). In Barbados, the reaction was instantaneous.

On November 2, the governor, Council, and Assembly penned a joint

address to the Protector. They lamented the arbitrary authority

earlier assumed among them by General Venables; they complained of

Cromwell’s recent encroachment upon their privilege by confirmation

through letters patent of appointments to the posts of island secretary

and provost-marshal-general; they descried his current effort to inter­

fere with the appointment of local judges; they pressed him to uphold

their recent settlement of the judiciary in the colony.^

The correspondence of Thomas Povey during this period graphically

depicts the ensuing struggle. On January I;, 1658, the Protector

received in audience, as representatives of Governor Searle and the

popular party, Martin Noell and Colonel James Drax. After hearing

their case "verie patiently and favourably," Cromwell promised to

respect the wishes of the islanders in the management of their internal

affairs without interference and agreed to cancel his former order for

Colleton's reinstatement. At the conclusion of the interview, Colonel

Drax was knighted as a mark of honor to the colony. But the triumph of
 308

the dominant faction in Barbados was precarious; for "as soone as it

was understood by the Agents for Colonll Colleton, they instantly

bestirrd themselves, and soe effectually, that his Highness seemed

somewhat unsettled in his former Resolutions . . . for the confirming

62
what the Country had donn . . .

Thus, while Thomas Povey informed his brother, William, that "our

chief drift hath been to beere the Govemour Steadie, and in good

humour, wch Mr. Noell thinks hee hath donn effectually," he also

pointed out to Governor Searle;

Wee consider Colonll Colleton and Colonll M: as

Persons of an active and Stirring Spiritt, and a popular
humour, believing they have deserved well of his Highness
and Barbados; and that they are fitt for their share in
Government; it soe falls out, that they have friends
heare ingenious, bold, and Subtile, who have a consid­
erable Interest at Court, where they have with all possible
vehemencie, and Solicitation made Complaints against yor
Person, and yor Government.

Consequently, in writing Searle in March, l6£8, Povey spoke quite

pointedly to the governor;

Believe mee Sr: as you could not have pitched upon

any two men that could have contrived soe much incon­
venience and prejudice against you, Soe you could not
have given them and their agents heere greater Advantag
as then by Sending such Remonstrances and public
murmuring against those little matters where in his
Highness thought fitt to putt fourth his power . . .
amongst you.

And though he reassured Searle with his opinion "that his Highness will

not be drawn into doing anything for the unsettling of Mr. Tho: Noell

and that proceeding of the Country," nevertheless, he hoped "that some

reconciliation might be meditated, and that his Highness should not

need to putt those mutuall Complaints into any waie of examination, and

severe decision . . . .
 309

Indeed, by now both parties had begun to perceive the folly of

pressing the issues further. Searle was aware that the Colleton-

Modyford party in London had succeeded in casting serious doubt upon

his character and competence; Modyford and Colleton recognized that

Searle1s alliance with Noell and Povey rendered him temporarily invin­

cible. Thus, Modyford resolved to lay aside his bid for high office

momentarily until a more favorable opportunity availed itself. He took

the initiative and made a show of reconciliation. In March, l6f>8,

Colleton returned to Barbados, where even the members of the Council

were pressing the governor to find a way to restore him to some role in

the government. Prompted by this favorable drift of things, friends of

both parties proposed a meeting at Colonel John Birch's plantation.^

As Searle recounted for Martin Noell: "I judged it Chieftain like

good pollities . . . for the tranquilitie of this place to embrace the

notion . . . . After some discourse they were pleased to give mee full

assurance for the future to avoyde the least occasions that might

disrellish . . . ." Though Searle was suspicious of the cousins'

motives, he embraced their offer of friendship. Being further informed

by Modyford and Colleton "that to bee in some Authority or place of

repute or honour was what would bee highly gratefull unto them," the

governor sought a politic settlement. The necessity to elect a

councilman to replace Edward Pye during his absence from the island

provided the occasion. The councilmen, now anxious to resolve the

political struggle, urged the governor to appoint the entire Council

anew, leaving the choice of members to the governor alone. After some

soul-searching, Searle appointed Colonel Henry Hawley, Colonel John

Birch, Colonel Lewis Morris, Colonel John Colleton, Colonel Thomas

 310

"Moddiforde," and Mr. Henry Sweete as his new Council. He summoned

them to join him on May 11 to assist with the continuing governance of

Barbados. Though, for the moment, Modyford's ploy to unseat Searle and

to secure the governor's office unto himself had failed, as a member of

the Council, Thomas was now placed within the central current of

Barbadian affairs. A time would come!

65

And sooner, perhaps, than Modyford had reason to expect. Shortly

after Thomas was reinstated in the mainstream of local politics in

Barbados, events of primary importance began to take place in rapid

sequence in England. On September 3, 1658, Oliver Cromwell died. In

May of the following year, his son and successor as Lord Protector,

Richard, resigned with a sigh of relief. The army leaders re­

established that remnant of the Long Parliament dissolved in 1653,

known as the "Rump," as the foundation of the English Government

On April 30, 1659, Noell and Povey wrote jointly to Searle in­

forming him of what had taken place. They advised him to take no

official notice of the change until he received specific orders from

Whitehall. Nevertheless, they would have him be on guard, for "you may

bee assured that Emulation, Envie and Mallice, will bee revived against

you, as if an oportunitie were now offered for the renewing those

attempts wch have been often checked by the vigilance, and Interests of

yor ffriends here . . . ." Though their posture at court had been

greatly weakened by the alteration in government, they promised to do

what they could to acquire a confirmation of Searle's government from

those now wielding authority.^

Povey was successful in obtaining a "declaration" from the Council

of State on June 6 which confirmed all officers of the Barbadian

 311

Government in their appointments until further notice. Searle and the

Council received this letter on September 1 and promptly published the

declaration in obedience to the authority of the "Commonwealth." Never­

theless, though Povey explained to Searle that he had acquired this

confirmation "for the giving a check to the aspirings and attempts of

such Persons who might bee readie to take advantage of the looseness of

yor Govemmrt by the change of ours heere," in a letter of October 20,

he also had to notify the governor: "I find your enimies and rivalls

readie to renew their campaign against you . . . He advised Searle

to keep the Council and Assembly in as good a temper as possible and to

refrain from troubling Parliament. It was terribly busy and therefore

irritable

But the dominant political faction in Barbados saw in the change

of government in the home islands a unique opportunity to press its

claims for local autonomy and freedom from imperial constraints. Thus,

ignoring Povey*s warning, on December 11, an elaborate petition was

forwarded to Parliament by the Barbadians. Therein, they asked: "That

wee may have a confirmacpn of Liberty here (by A Law, or yor Commission)

for the Representative body of the People, to choose A Governor out of

the ffreeholders of this Island and one out of every pish to bee his

Assistants and joyne with him, in the execusion of Governm:t." In

addition they requested free trade, exemption from customs, control

over the appointment of all officials, and the exclusive use of all

legal profits and local revenues for defraying the public expenses of

the colony. In fact, the status pursued by the Barbadians was inferior

to complete independence in little else but name.^

Modyford saw in this move an open door to the goal he had been
 312

striving toward for years. He and Colleton had already renewed their

opposition to Searle. Now, very probably at Modyford*s instigation, a

certain faction in London spread the rumor that Barbados was in the

hands of rebels who sought to renounce the authority of England and

make the island independent. In vain did the Barbadians dispatch to

Parliament in January, 1660, a declaration of their loyalty, pro­

claiming that such rumors were "All . . . Notoriously false, scandalous

and untrue; and without doubt industriously . . . suggested . . . from

the Animosityes of some sinister and petulant persons whose craving

ambitious Spiritts are never to bee satisfied." The damage was done;

Searle*s leadership was sufficiently discredited. Modyford*s supporters

fully embraced this moment of opportunity.^0

To retain the loyalty of the Barbadians to the Imperial Government,

the Council of State decided to grant many of the requests of the Bar­

badians* petition. The Council determined to allow each parish in the

island to elect one Member of the Council as well as the customary two

Members of the Assembly. Rather than permit the islanders to choose

their own governor, however, the Council of State resolved to select

one from among their own ranks who had exhibited strong allegiance to

the Imperial Government. Therefore, at the instigation of Modyford*s

cousin, George Monck, whose influence was paramount in England at this

time, on April 2lt, 1660, the Council of State commissioned as governor

of Barbados the master of Buckland-Henty-ICendall Plantation, the chief

commissioner of the Barbadian Prize Office, a Member of the Barbadian

Council— Thomas Modyford. At long last Modyford was to receive the

coveted reward of his persistent intrigue and exemplary service; he had

made good his bid for high office.^

 313

But not for long I Ironically, while Modyford's commission was on

its way across the Atlantic, the transition of government in England

which had begun with Oliver Cromwell's death was rapidly accelerating.

At the very moment George Monck's influence was instrumental in

acquiring the post of governor of Barbados for Modyford under the

authority of the "Rump" and its Council of State, General Monck and his

loyal regiments were occupying London toward the re-establishment of

stable government in England. Monck and another of Modyford's kinsmen,

Sir John Grenville (one of Charles Stuart's principal royal agents),

were engaged in secret negotiations which laid the groundwork for the

restoration of the Stuart monarchy. Charles II landed at Dover on May

72
25J by June 1, he had taken up his duties as king.'

Consequently, when Modyford received his commission to be governor

of Barbados on July 16, 1660, along with it came news of the king's

restoration! Modyford's triumph was a hollow one. Now that the king

had returned, his commission was a mere scrap of paperj his hard-won

high office was precarious. Nevertheless, he had reason to believe

that the king would favor him and, perhaps, confirm his commission to

be governor of Barbados. On May 17, 1660 (i.e., before the Restor­

ation) Charles had added a postscript to a letter addressing General

Monck: "you may therefore heartily undertake . . . to Coll. Muddiford,

of whom I have hertofore had a very good opinion, that I will pardon

and forgett all that is done amisse." Thus, with typical political

agility, Thomas set to work to see what could be done to secure himself

in his new position.

 Modyford quickly reverted to his more genuine sympathies as a

Royalist. On July 16, he read his commission in Council, accepted the

resignation of Daniel Searle, and took up the reins of government. He

proclaimed the return of the king, ran up the king's arms, and had read

throughout the island the king's declaration of pardon and amnesty.

Since he believed his commission would soon be updated by another,

however, he conveniently ignored its provision for the election of

councilmen by the parishes •, he pursued the more advantageous and custo­

mary practice of appointing his own Council. In a politic move, he

retained former members Henry Hawley, John Birch, and John Yeamans,

appointed ex-Govemor Searle, and complemented these stalwarts with two

new candidates, Timothy Thornhill and Samuel Barwicke. He summoned the

Assembly to meet on July 31.^

On August 1, after the Members of the Assembly had taken their

oaths of allegiance to the king and elected their Speaker, Modyford and

the Council met with them in General Assembly. Modyford delivered an

inaugural address befitting the occasion:

Dear Friends, and Fellow Planters, a name which none

of my predecessors would truly owne as I doe for though
divers of them have by the advantage of their place
gotten plantations and so become planters, yet none of
them from being first Planters become Governors, . . . it
is my great contentment that I am the first of this
order, planter Governorj before me none, and there is
hope that I shall not be the last, but that by the
clemency of our Gratious King he will continue the Dignity
among ourselves, and every of them that stand before me
this day, may according to their merits have a tume
and share at the Helme.

With such sentiments, Modyford sought to capitalize upon the new

planter-governor arrangement to regain the support of many of the

dominant, moderate-royalist faction who, in recent years, had devoted

 315

their political energy to promoting the autonomy of the Barbadian

Government. Subsequently, the representative body commenced the work

of revising the existing laws and passing several new ones, including

an act which limited the sitting of a given Assembly to one year. More

important, Modyford set a committee to drafting a joint address to his

Majesty, opposing the re-activation of the Carlisle patent for the

governance of the Caribbees, and petitioning the "preservation of the

75
rights and liberties of all the freeholders of Barbados."

Indeed, by this time, Modyford clearly perceived that the chief

obstacle in the way of his retaining his position as governor was the

re-establishment of the Carlisle proprietorship which had occurred

along with the Restoration. In fact, by letter of July 9, the king had

instructed Lord Willoughby "instantly to apply himself to take care of

the Affaires" of Barbados under the authority of his former patents,

and had charged the Barbadians to "yeild the same readie Obedience to

him . . . as at any time . . . before these late Interruptions . . . ."

Modyford's London supporters lost no time in opposing this drift of

things. John Colleton (who had returned to England in May) and Thomas

Kendall, supported by other absentee Barbadian planters and London

merchants, confronted the Imperial Government with two influential

petitions in late July, requesting that the king rescind his recent

order to Lord Willoughby until Willoughby's "pretended rights" could

be examined at law. Thus, the plot which Modyford, Colleton, and their

London associates had so long nurtured against Governor Searle was now

simply converted into an attack upon the Carlisle patent. Throughout

July and August, Modyford's associates in London persistently opposed

Lord Willoughby's claims in hearings before a new subcommittee of the

 316

Privy Council— "The Right Honorable the Lords appointed a Committee of

this Board for Trade and Plantations."^

Meanwhile, Thomas was doing what he could to support from Barbados

this attack upon the proprietary patent. The planters had no love for

proprietary government as it reduced them to tenants-at-will. Thus,

Governor Modyford had little difficulty in marshaling their support

during August, 1660, for an address of loyalty to the king, accompanied

by a petition requesting freedom of trade and release from being

governed under the Carlisle patent. But when he prompted them to send

along with the petition a sizeable sum for purchasing from the king a

charter granting free tenure of lands, their mood changed. The Bar­

badians were cautious. Rumor proclaimed that a royal governor had

already been appointed. If so, they might prefer him to Modyford whom

some suspected of using them to effect his own aggrandizement. They

would commit no hard cash until they knew the circumstances more

clearly. Modyford simply had to rely upon his supporters in London

and await the outcome.^

The Colleton-Kendall circle lost the first round of this dispute

when, on August 20, the Privy Council "Committee for Plantations"

decided that the Carlisle patent was legally binding. Almost immedi­

ately, however, rival claimants came forward to contest Willoughby's

right to the patent. This allowed Colleton and Kendall to renew their

campaign to effect the abolition of the old proprietary grant and the

retention of Modyford as a royal governor. The issue was carried into

the courts, and a legal battle began which lasted several months before

it was settled.^®

In the interim, the king grew impatient. In late September, 1660,

 317

he instructed Lord Willoughby to "proceed to Barbados to re-establish

the good government of that and all other our islands within the said

province." In turn, Willoughby, wishing to remain in England until the

question of his patent rights was settled in the courts, sent a com­

mission to that old diehard Royalist, Humphrey Walrond, who had re­

cently returned to Barbados. Willoughby instructed Walrond to assume

the position of president of the Council and to carry on the government

until he arrived.'x
79

While Willoughby's instructions to Walrond were enroute to

Barbados, Modyford continued to direct the island's affairs. The laws

of the colony were carefully revised and purged of anything obnoxious

to the king. In October, with great joy Modyford received word via his

agents in London that the king had favorably received the address/

petition of the Barbadians and had resolved to retain him in the gover­

norship. Formal expression was given to this resolution in a letter

which the king had drafted in late November. Charles complimented the

Barbadians on their loyalty and confirmed Modyford in his office "not­

withstanding any former letter or letters given under our sign manual

or privy signet to any person or persons whatsoever." Amidst the

confused legal conflict over the rights of various claimants to the

proprietary patent, this letter was never dispatched^ but Thomas knew

of its contents. Until Charles should officially communicate his

decision, then, Modyford mustered a portion of the militia to buttress

his authority,^

All appeared to be going smoothly when, in mid-December, 1660,

letters arrived in Barbados from Lord Willoughby establishing a new

government in the island. Humphrey Walrond, thereby constituted

 318

president of the Council, quietly assembled the eight Members of the

Council named by Willoughby's commission (including Daniel Searle and

John Yeamans, members of Modyford's Council) and published the powers

he had received. Then, and only then, on December 17 Walrond notified

Rl
his old enemy, Governor Modyford, of Willoughby's commands.

Modyford was exasperatedl He knew that the king's expression of

intention to retain him in office was of later date than Walrond's

letters from Willoughby. Yet, he had no valid proof of his authority.

He made a play for time. Walrond was invited to display his commission

in the presence of the Barbadian Council with a regiment of the militia

close at hand. Walrond had employed similar tricks too often to be so

easily fooled. He demanded that Modyford first disband the troops.

Modyford suggested a private discussion of the matter in his home.

Again Walrond cautiously refused. Lengthy negotiations were begun

between the two. It was a severe blow indeed to Modyford to have con­

spired and inveigled so long to obtain this position only to see it

slip from his grasp due to inadequate communication or confused direc­

tives from the Imperial Government. But Walrond was not a patient man.

Presently, he ordered all forces disbanded immediately under penalty of

high treason. Modyford had little choice. Momentarily, at least, the

game was up. In disgust, Modyford gave in and recognized the new
Dp
Barbadian Government.

Walrond and his partisans of the Council were not satisfied,

however, with simply gaining control of the government. They had never

forgiven Modyford for deserting the royalist cause in 16^2. The time

was now ripe for revenge. On January 2, 1661— the day the results of

the recent election of a new Assembly were declared and John Birch and
 319

Thomas Modyford were returned as Members for St. John1s--President

Walrond ordered the provost-marsbal to arrest Thomas Modyford on

charges of "High Treason and divers other crimes and misdemeanours."

On two separate occasions during January, Modyford was summoned from

his confinement under house arrest at Buckland to a hearing before the

Council, as the king's prosecutor, John Jennings, sought an indictment

upon one charge after another. Ultimately, however, the only charge

upon which they could fix was that he had acted as governor under the

Commonwealth. Thus, the farcical nature of these proceedings became

abundantly apparent} for there on the judging Council before Modyford

sat Daniel Searle, for eight years governor of Barbados under the

governments of the Interrgnum. At length, the case was adjourned}

Modyford was temporarily released on bail pending the gathering of

further evidence. But Walrond would probably have found a way in the

end to effect Thomas's ruin had the king not intervened.^

Modyford promptly dispatched a letter to George Monck in England

(since the Restoration made Duke of Albemarle, Earl of Torrington, Lord

General, Master of the Horse, Deputy Lord High Admiral, Lord Lieutenent

of Ireland, Devon, and Middlesex, Privy Councillor, and Gentleman of

the Bedchamber), detailing his surrender of the government to Walrond

and his subsequent arrest. He closed with the understatement of his

life: "Is in some measure disappointed of the opportunity to do his

Majesty service." Albemarle's influence quickly brought action from

the king. On March 28, the king in Council addressed the president and

Council of Barbados with the command "that the said Colonel Thomas

Modyford bee not disturbed, or further prosecuted, for any thing he

hath formerly acted, but that hee be permitted to enjoy the full
 320

benefit of hia Majesties Gratious Act of Oblivion . . . ." Consequent­

ly, although Modyford had lost his coveted high office (at least

temporarily), he escaped from the clutches of his opponent unscathed.8^

The battle was not over between these two, however, because the

question of who was to be the permanent governor of Barbados was not

yet settled. The struggle was renewed in London in March, 1661, when

the Colleton-Kendall circle again petitioned the king to abolish the

proprietary patent, to take Barbados under his own royal government,

and to keep Modyford in the governorship. To sweeten this prospect, in

the name of the Barbadians, they also presumed to offer the king an

import duty of four per cent to make this move worth his while. Almost

as a postscript to this petition, another was forwarded by other

“Planters, merchants, and traders to Barbadoes," complaining that in

the past the laws for the recovery of debts had never been fully

executed in the island through the want of knowledge of former gover­

nors. Consequently, they plead the continuance of barrister-Govemor

Thomas Modyford, "full of justice and ability," until the king had some

further trial for him.8^

Walrond was quick to counter these actions with measures of his

own. In a petition advanced by the president and Council of Barbados,

Walrond requested the king to recall recent commissions which Charles

had granted to persons of his own choice for the offices of secretary

and provost-marshal of Barbados. He asked that the privilege of making

such appointments be left to the Barbadian Government as had been the

custom "till treason by the treachery of Col. Modyford and his party

found a way to tyrannize over us." The president also noted that

Colleton and Kendall had no right to speak for the Barbadians in

 321

offering a four percent impost. He further argued that Lord Willoughby

{
would make a much superior governor to Modyford, whose treachery had

"rendered him odious to all honest people." Finally, to offset the

offer of Colleton and Kendall, Walrond advised the Barbadian Assembly

to enter a vigorous protest against the four percent impostj he urged

I

them to accompany their petition with a handsome sum of money as a gift

for the king. When the Assembly refused, he dissolved this body in a

rage and called for a new election, strongly urging the selection of

burgesses of deeper loyalty to the king. When the returns came in,

however, in July, 1661, Walrond's party had lost ground $ and to the old

Cavalier’s dismay, the new Assembly elected Thomas Modyford as their

SpeakerI^

In the end, however, this raucous political struggle proved

singularly ineffectual. Soon, the news arrived that the king had

assumed the proprietorship of the Caribbee Islands himself. He had

satisfied the various claimants thereto and had appointed Lord Willough­

by to serve as his royal governor of the province for the remaining

seven years of Willoughby’s lease under the old Carlisle patent. With

this turn of events, the political strife in Barbados subsided. During

the next several months, the various factions worked together as they

sought the best possible settlement of government for Barbados as a

royal colony and as they re-enacted the essential laws of the island

under the king’s authority. In these endeavors, Speaker Modyford's

training in the law was used to good advantage.^

But for Thomas Modyford, this denouement to the struggle over the

rights of government in the Caribbees had a larger meaning. Now that

Lord Willoughby had been appointed royal governor of Barbados for the
 322

next several years, to Modyford, the prospect of his rising again to

this coveted position in the island seemed slim. Consequently,

although Thomas continued to be vitally engaged in Barbadian politics

intermittently, by late 1661, his most absorbing interests were leading

him into other pursuits. He turned to new ventures which proffered

personal profit or the nation's honor. He sought an advantageous move

to a new location— a place more promising to his continuing quest for

high office.

During the preceding years of active political struggle, Modyford

had not neglected his duties as husband and father. By the early

l660’s, there were seven children growing up in the plantation house at

Buckland-Henty-Kendall. Of the younger offspring born in Barbados, we

know the name of a daughter only— Mary. The older boys were coming of

age. For John, the eldest, there is no record of a marriage in Barbados.

But Thomas Modyford Junior chose a bride in 1662. On May 20, in St.

John's Church, Thomas Junior wed Frances Hothersall, eldest daughter of

Thomas Hotersall, the Modyfords1 neighbor along the northern boundary.

The day after their wedding, Thomas the elder fixed upon the couple a

living of £120 a year from the revenues of his half of the plantations.

The bride's father passed to them a dowry of £l,200. Modyford's first

granddaughter died shortly after birth in 1663. The second, born in

QO
166U, lived; she was named after her grandmother, Elizabeth.

Moreover, while in pursuit of his high office, Modyford had also

continued his rigorous management of Buckland-Henty-Kendall. By

December, 16£3, Modyford and Kendall had paid William Hilliard in full
 323

for their half of the three amalgamated plantations. Furthermore,

during the years immediately following, it appears that the brothers-

in-law bought Hilliard's remaining half-share as well. There were

occasional bad years. The extraordinary rains of 1656 undoubtedly cost

the partners stock, slaves, and overripe canes in the field as they did

most Barbadian planters. Whether their half of the warehouse, footing

on the inner harbor, was among the two hundred storehouses and dwel­

lings gutted by the Bridge Town fire of February, 1659, is not clear.

If it was, it was soon restored; in 1662, Modyford bought the other

half-interest in the building from William Sharpe and leased part of

the space to merchant Henry Sealy. There is no evidence that the

partners added appreciably to the acreage of their farms; though by the

early 1660's, it is likely that very little of the original five

hundred acres remained untilled. On the whole, through these years

their planting enterprise continued to thrive.^

But, though sugar planting in Barbados would remain a profitable

activity for many decades to come, by the early l660's the bonanza was

over. As more and more plantations in Barbados and the English Carib-

bees converted to cane culture, the volume of production increased.

The London price of muscovado sugar dropped from per hundredweight

in 161*01s to 12 at the Restoration. Correspondingly, profits plummeted.

Thus, as returns from his plantations diminished and as prospects for

regaining the Barbadian governorship eclipsed, Modyford progressively

pursued other opportunities. Simultaneously, a range of new oppor­

tunities were opened to him through the influence of kindred and

associates now advantageously placed to give support and to profit

from the invigorated commercial and imperial policies of the restored,

 32U

royal English Government.^

i
\
During the months immediately following the Restoration, many of

Modyford's "connexions" in England found their way into places of power

and preferment directly related to the administration of the nation's

maritime and colonial affairs. Cousin George Monck1s placements have

been noted. The king's sense of indebtedness to the Lord General and

Albemarle's seat on the Privy Council placed him in a position to

influence decisions at the highest level. In addition, Modyford's

former associates Arthur Annesley (Lindoln's Inn), Sir Anthony Ashley

Cooper (Lincoln's Inn and the West Country during the Civil War), and

John Lord Berkeley (military governor of Exeter while Modyford was a

commissioner of Devon) were also members of the Council's select

"Committee for Plantations" as wellj Berkeley also functioned as a

commissioner of the navy. Perhaps even more important, when the king

created a special Council for Foreign Plantations on December 1, 1660,

in addition to select privy councillors and the principal secretaries

of state, there were appointed among its members Brother-in-law Thomas

Kendall, Cousin John Colleton, and Modyford's former associates connect­

ed with Barbados— Sir James Drax, Sir Peter Lear, General Robert

Venables, Thomas Middleton, Edward Walrond, Martin Noell, and Thomas

Povey (clerk of the Council). The Council was charged "to dispose of

all matters relating to the good government, improvement, and manage­

ment of the plantations." Consequently, by the close of the first year

of restored royal government, several men were strategically placed

near the very heart-beat of the Imperial Government who could be ex­

pected to champion Modyford's aspirations.^

Others of the Modyfords' kindred were now appointed to positions

 325

of influence as well. Elizabeth Modyford's Cousin Heneage Finch (first

Earl of Nottingham) assumed the important post of solicitor general and

played a key role in the Restoration Settlement from his seat in the

House of Commons. Thomas's Uncle Robert Walker and his sons were

restored to positions of leadership in Exeter. Walker and Cousin Sir

James Smith of Larkbeare both served as Members of Parliament in the

early 1660's. For his role in effecting the Restoration, Cousin Sir

John Grenville of Stow, Cornwall, was made Groom of the Stole, ele­

vated to the Earldom of Bath, and, in time, appointed to the Privy

Council. Finally, there was Modyford's younger brother, James.

(During the 1650's, James had been employed by the Turkey Company, had

become an independent merchant to the Baltic, and had served the Common­

wealth as an administrator in Ireland. He had married Elizabeth

Slanning, daughter of Sir Nicholas Slanning, the royalist hero of the

western campaigns, and sister to Nicholas Slanning who was married to

the daughter of Sir George Carteret.) James was appointed clerk of the

first fruits of Ireland (duties performed by deputy), was entitled a

baronet in February, l66l, and from his establishment in Chelsea, was

ever searching for profitable new ventures in which to employ the two
92
or more ships of his personal fleet.

The time was ripe for such ventures. A new era was opening.

Oliver Cromwell's dream of a greater English nation-state, interdepen-

dently linking its components toward economic self-sufficiency,

monopolizing its own trade, and growing in territorial dominion,

commercial hegemony, and maritime might had become the guiding vision

of many of the principal statesmen of the Restoration Government and

the merchant-enterpreneurs upon whom they leaned for support. Thus,

 326

while the crown appointed special councils to study conditions and to

advise the Privy Council in its effort to refine a definite commercial

and colonial program, Parliament enacted laws designed to effect that

program. The Navigation Acts of 1660 and 1663 carried further the

intent of the Acts of Trade of 1650 and 1651. In general, together

they prescribed that all English trade had to be carried in English (or

English-colonial) ships manned by English crews, that all manufactured

goods bound for the colonies first had to flow through the 11staple" of

England, and that certain "enumerated" products being exported from the

colonies could be shipped to England only. But while the emerging

imperial policy of the English Government prescribed a tighter control

over the English market at large than before, at the same time it en­

couraged expansion— expansion by recapturing English trade being

carried by others (e.g., the Dutch), expansion by invading the ex­

clusive commercial enclaves of the Spaniards and the French, expansion

by planting new colonies which held promise of generating products

currently being supplied from outside English dominions.^

One very promising opportunity for English commercial expansion in

the early 1660's was found in the African trade. For two centuries the

Portuguese had been conducting a thriving trade along the western coasts

of the dark continent. From the time of Portugal’s union with Spain in

1580 until she rebelled against that rule in 16U0, supplying the

Spanish colonies in America with Negro slaves had been a vital component

of that commerce. But after I6I4O, Spanish subjects were forbidden to

buy from Portuguese factors (traders)j for twenty-two years there was

no organized labor supply to the Spanish colonies. Into this commer­

cial vacuum came the enterprising Dutch who had already ousted the
 327

Portuguese from many of their principal trading factories along the

upper African coasts. In Curacao, the Dutch established a convenient

Caribbean entrepot from which they supplied not only the Spanish

planters with slaves but those of the emerging French and English

islands as well. The vast majority of the twenty thousand blacks

working the cane fields of Barbados in 1660 were brought to the island

beneath the decks of Dutch West Indiamen. In principle, the policy of

the Restoration Government now called upon Englishmen to take over this

function from the Dutch and to usurp their trade with the Spaniards as

well.9*1

English traders also had been coasting the shoals of West Africa

for a century. During those decades, however, trade had been ill-

organized and fitful; moreover, it had focused principally upon gold,

ivory, and wax. In 1660, the English commenced anew; in December, the

king granted a charter to the "Company of Royal Adventurers into

Africa." Backed by the Duke of fork and members of the royal family,

along with many English magnates and merchants, the company's first

ventures were in search of gold. The adventurers soon learned, how­

ever, that the real wealth of the African coast was to be found in

"black gold"— Negro slaves. By late 1661 and early 1662, the company's

ships were already carrying away considerable numbers of Negroes from

the Guinea coast. The Adventurers were just beginning to address the
95
insatiable demand of the West Indian planters for slaves.

Now that enforcement of the Acts of Trade more effectively re­

stricted the Dutch slavers from coming to Barbados to barter, Thomas

and James Modyford were quick to perceive the potential profits of

importing slaves to Barbados. Thus, in late 1661, Sir James, apparently

 328

under license from the Company of Royal Adventurers, dispatched one of

his ships to the African coast for a cargo of slaves. These were to be

sold by Thomas in Barbados. Before the ship arrived in the island,

however, a new development occurred. In March, 1662, a group of

Spanish merchants sailed into Carlisle Bay from the Main, wishing to

contract for a continuing trade in Negroes at Barbados. They promised

to bring to the island commodities of the value of £,000,000 pieces-of-

eight a year and to pay the king a ten per cent customs duty on all

they carried away. Though the Barbadian Council cautiously rejected

the scheme (due to the Navigation Act), President Walrond gave them

permission to trade. For once, Speaker Modyford, who immediately saw

the benefits to the nation of such a trade, backed him to the hilt.

The Spaniards purchased four hundred slaves and returned several times

that year for more.^

Thomas promptly informed Sir James of this development. He urged

his brother to press the king for a special license authorizing this

trade with the Spaniards from Barbados; it would undoubtedly mean much

to the king in customs revenue. When the Modyfords’ slaver reached

Barbados in May, 1662, Thomas immediately dispatched the ship to

Cartegena. There the entire cargo was sold to the Spaniards for a

handsome profit in pieces-of-eight, confirming Thomas’s confidence in

the potential value of this trade. In September, he wrote to Sir James,

reporting their good fortune. Again he urged James to promote the

prospect of this trade; but, due to the volume of demand and the danger

of attack from the Dutch on the African coasts, he advised that it

could best be handled by the African Company. What a great advantage

it would be to have that license in hand at the moment! Nevertheless,

 329

when It arrived, Thomas doubted not "to make it highly beneficial to

the Royal Company, and consequently to the whole nation."^

By September, 1662, the company's principal directors had res­

ponded to Modyford's message. During that month, new stock was issuedj

the company's capital was enlarged^ a petition was forwarded to the

crown for a new patent. On January 10, 1663, Charles issued a new

charter to the "Company of Royal Adventurers Trading into Africa,"

granting them a complete monopoly of trade in slaves and other pro­

ducts along the entire length of the African west coast. Now, the

Royal Adventurers were poised to pursue the slave trade in earnest.

Among the charter members of the new company were John, Earl of Bath,

Sir James Modyford, and Sir John Colleton (created baronet, February,

1662).98

In March, 1663, the governors of Barbados, the Leeward Islands,

and Jamaica received a special license from the king to admit freely to

their ports all Spaniards wishing to come to their islands to trade

gold and the products of their plantations for slaves and English

manufactures. In Barbados, Thomas Modyford and young Peter Colleton,

Sir John's son, were appointed the official factors for the Royal

Adventurers. Thus, the stage was set for the Modyfords and Colletons

— these kinsmen four— to participate in a new, cooperative trading

enterprise which promised to be mutually profitable to all. Concur­

rently, the venture united their interests with those of many of the

most influencial persons involved in the nation's affairs,^

Thomas Modyford and Peter Colleton plunged into their trading

activities for the Royal Adventurers with a will. A rarely preserved

factor's ledger kept by the two for the eight-month period of August,
 330

1663, through March, 1661*, provides interesting insights into their

trading activities. During these months, fourteen of the company's

ships brought to the factors in Barbados slightly over 3,300 slaves.

Of these, some 1,300 were sold by Thomas and Peter directly from the

ships1 decks upon arrival. The remainder appear to have been housed

upon and later sold from an adjacent plantation which the factors

purchased for the company at this time. While at this slave camp,

thirty-nine of the Negroes died due to an outbreak of smallpox among

them. For its healthy slaves, the company aimed at acquiring an

average price of £17 (2,1*00 lbs. sugar) per head. The slaves were sold

at auction, however, and a prime, male field hand often brought as much

as £23 (3,300 lbs. sugar). Correspondingly, women typically sold for

£L7 to £20 each and youngsters at from £10 to Jfcl£ per child. Every

effort was made to gain payment by sugars in hand which were then

promptly placed aboard the company's ships bound for London. Fre­

quently, however, sales were made granting three-to-six months' credit.

The cousins sold most of the slaves to their fellow Barbadians. But

among the buyers there were a few Frenchmen from St. Christopher's and

a sprinkling of Spanish merchants as well, "Between crops" and at

other times of slack demand, partial cargoes were sent on to Nevis, St.

Christopher, and Surinam. On one occasion, 160 slaves were further

consigned aboard the Elakemore for direct delivery to the Spanish Main.

Barbados was fast becoming a depot for an accelerating English slave

ton
trade in the Caribbean.

Business was good. But Modyford and his young cousin soon faced

serious difficulties in attempting to collect debts owed to the company

by the Barbadian planters. Though the typical debt was much closer to
 331

the £195 owed by Ferdinando Gorges for five men and five women than to

the £3,533 owed by John Sampson for 183 slaves, nevertheless, even the

smaller sums were frequently troublesome to collect. Many planters,

caught up in a contagious fever of expansion, speculated on each year's

crop for purposes of buying more land and slaves; they were endlessly

in debt. Moreover, Barbadian law and judicial procedures tended to aid

the planter in escaping his creditors. Therefore, Modyford faced

endless litigation in his attempts to settle his accounts.

Furthermore, remembering the days of fresh cane fields, friendly

Dutch traders, and fat profits, the Barbadians deeply resented the

Royal Adventurers' monopoly of the slave trade, feeling that free com­

petition was the best insurance of a just price. Thus, as Modyford

sought to represent the company well, to drive a shrewd bargain, and to

collect debts owed to the company, he soon found a growing animosity

developing against him among his fellow planters. In this way, his

commercial interests began to conflict with his political ambitions.

Consequently, though the company paid Thomas well for his able manage­

ment of their affairs (he was given a £500 bonus at the time he sur­

rendered the factorship of Barbados), it was probably due to this

growing unpopularity that Modyford lost his position as Speaker of the

Assembly sometime between December, 1662, and August, 1663. Again, he

102
was momentarily excluded from the political affairs of the island.

This period of political inactivity was to be short lived, however,

On August 10, 1663, Lord Willoughby arrived to take over the governor­

ship from his deputy, Humphrey Walrond. During Walrond's interim of

leadership, he had characteristically overreached his authority.

Against the will of the Council and the Assembly, he had arbitrarily
 332

imposed an export tax upon the slaves bought at Barbados by the

Spaniards; he then pocketed the money. Moreover, his suspension of

sessions of the Barbadian courts to protect the planters from their

creditors during a year of damaged crops had resulted In a stiff

protest from the Company of Royal Adventurers to the king. As the

king's royal governor, Lord Willoughby now demanded the £1,000 which

Walrond had collected from the Spaniards. Walrond refused to surrender

it, declaring "That the said thousand pounds belonged unto him and to

noe one else because he alone ran the hazard for granting the said

permission contrary to the Act of Trade." Instead, Walrond sought to

gain support among his friends for an armed rebellion. He was unsuc­

cessful. With the provost-marshal breathing down his back in an effort

to execute a warrant for his arrest, on November 8 the old Cavalier

left the island by night enroute to England to appeal to the king. His

reception by the king and Privy Council, however, was less than con­

genial. Temporary lodgings at the Fleet Prison dampened somewhat his

passionate spirit. Twice, then, Modyford had seen his old adversary

leave the island in a huff and puff while he remained and continued to

exert an influence upon the colony's affairs.

103J

In fact, very soon Modyford was to be drawn back into the arena of

Barbadian politics. Lord Willoughby set to work to impose a stricter

royal governance over a people who had for some time enjoyed a large

measure of autonomy. In doing so, he needed the aid of men who would

be vigorous in serving the king's interests. With this in mind,

Willoughby put aside the old animosities of 1652 and turned to Thomas

Modyford for assistance. Desiring Modyford's advice and support, the

governor took Thomas into his Council in November, 1663. Moreover,

 333

knowing that Modyford's training would be useful in bringing the king's

justice to Barbados in matters of credit and debt, concurrently

Willoughby named Modyford as one of a panel of five judges he appointed

to preside over his newly erected Court of Exchequer. Two months

later, when principal judge Sir Robert Harley departed for England,

Modyford appears to have assumed the duties of chief baron of that

court. Thus, Modyford was reinstated in the Barbadian Governmentj and

in his dual role as councillor and judge he continued to serve for

several months to come.^1

Having long struggled toward a position of primary importance,

however, Thomas Modyford was not satisfied with the roles of councillor

and judge, even with being the most knowledgeable justice in the island

to whom his colleagues looked for guidance in the interpretation of the

law. Nothing had happened to alter his prospects for the governorship;

Lord Willoughby was there to stay. Consequently, while Thomas con­

tinued to manage his plantations, to serve as chief factor for the

Company of Royal Adventurers, and to function as an official of the

Barbadian Government, he was busily casting about for the right oppor­

tunity to move elsewhere in hopes of obtaining the high office to which

he aspired. Conditions were propitious for such a move; the empire was

expanding; new settlements were being planned and established.^^

It was not long until a prospect of some promise asserted itself.

As early as 1660, a group of Barbadians— several of them substantial

planters— became interested in the possibility of establishing a new

settlement on the Carolina coast of North America. In the spring of

 33U

that year, they sent Captain William Hinton in his ship, Adventure, to

e^qplore these coasts. Hinton sailed as far north as the mouth of the

Cape Fear River and brought back to his employers glowing reports of

the country. In spite of the failure shortly thereafter of a colony

planted in the Cape Fear region by a group of New Englanders, in the

spring of 1663 there was a revival of interest in the project among the

Barbadians. Simultaneously, in March, 1663, the king granted a charter

bestowing exclusive rights to colonize this section of the coast upon

eight Lords Proprietors; among them were Modyford's cousins, George,

Duke of Albemarle and Sir John Colleton, and his former associates,

John Lord Berkeley and Anthony Lord Ashley (now Chancellor of the

Exchequer). By May, the proprietors had organized and delegated the

detailed work of promoting their enterprise to Sir John Colleton.

Since Barbados was the most densely populated English colony in the New

World at the time and Sir John had kin and connections in the island,

it was only natural that the Lords Proprietors should turn to this

colony first as a point from which to promote the settlement of

Carolina."^
They were not to be disappointed. Modyford quickly became vitally

involved in the scheme; he and Peter Colleton assumed leadership of the

Barbadian group. By mid summer, 1663, they had lined up in Barbados

some two hundred heads of families who were interested in promoting the

proposed settlement. Calling themselves the "Corporation of Barbados

Adventurers," they sent Captain Hinton once again to the Carolina coast

to determine the best sites for planting a colony. While awaiting his

return, in August Modyford wrote to the Lords Proprietors on behalf of

the Barbados Adventurers. He inquired upon what terms they would be

 335

allowed to establish a colony in Carolina; he suggested a form of

government similar to that of the English country. The Duke of

Albemarle answered quickly, supplying a copy of their charter, spelling

out favorable terms, giving Modyford and Peter Colleton full authority

to promote the undertaking, and offering them every encouragement."^

In his request for terms, Modyford had been careful to point out

to the Lords Proprietors that "as many of their number are fit to

manage the government . . . they expect to have the sole power of

electing all delegates, governors, and officers, and making laws and

governing themselves, according to the charter from his Majesty."

Since the Lords' declaration of terms did not grant quite this much

liberty, further negotiation was required. As a result, Modyford was

assured that if certain powers and rents were safeguarded to the Pro­

prietors, the Adventurers would be allowed to frame a government which

would "please them better." In this manner, Modyford shrewdly made

certain that the door was left open for the realization of his own

ambitions before he became too deeply committed as a promoter of the

Carolina settlement.^-®®

At the same time, Modyford was becoming deeply interested in the

prospects of another move from Barbados— to the island of Jamaica.

Since the English had conquered Jamaica in 16£5> Thomas had followed

developments there very closely; he had early taken a hand in promoting

the emigration of discontented Barbadians to the new colony. Moreover,

during early 1663* Sir James Modyford had gone to Jamaica to have a

close look at the prospects of the island for himself. The fresh

insight provided by his brother's survey of Jamaica whetted Modyford's

interest anew and set him to thinking seriously about the island's
 336

109
potential for him and his family.

On the basis, then, of his increased knowledge and careful thought

about the island, in late 1663, through Brother-in-law Thomas Kendall,

Modyford presumed to forward to Secretaiy of State Henry Bennet a

series of sound, practical recommendations toward perfecting the

settlement of Jamaica. These sensible ideas came before the Jamaica

Committee (a subcommittee of the Privy Council's "Committee on Plan­

tations") just as the king was considering the appointment of a new

governor for Jamaica. Neither a military governor (General Edward

D'Oyley, 1660-1662) nor a young peer (Thomas Lord Windson, 1662-1663)

had thus far succeeded in establishing a sound pattern of growth and

governance in the young colony. If Jamaica were ever to become more a

place of planting than of soldiering and privateering, a strong local

authority was required. What Jamaica plainly needed was a capable man

who could keep order, who would govern benevolently but actively in the

king's interest, a knowledgeable and energetic planter-promoter all in

one, a seasoned colonial who would be satisfied with a prominent career

in the colonies— not a man who would be back in London again before his

friends there had time to miss him.^®

It was not an easy decision; there were eminent men interested in

the post; among them were the Earls of Craven and Marlborough. But in

the end, the practical good sense of Modyford's "Overtures," the

vitality he displayed in promoting the Carolina venture, his recognized

competence as a factor for the Royal Company, and, of course, the sup­

port of Albemarle— all combined to tip the scale in his favor. On

January 11, 1661*, Charles dispatched a letter to the master of Buckland'

Henty-Kendall in Barbados, informing him that he had been chosen as the

 337

next royal governor of Jamaica and would promptly receive his commission

and instructions. At long last Thomas Modyford's dream of attaining a

position of significant service to the nation was to be substantially

fulfilled.111

In England, preparations for installing Modyford as governor of

Jamaica proceeded rapidly. A formal commission was drawn up with care

and issued on January 15 j it embodied most of Modyford's own ideas as

to what his powers should be in order to succeed. In view of his

position, on February 18, 166ht Modyford was granted the dignity of a

baronet. Though his title required of him a fee of £1,095* he was

almost instantly reimbursed by being granted his first year's salary

of £1,000. Modyford's commission and instructions, along with the

monies appropriated for the Jamaican Government, were delivered to the

newly appointed lieutenant governor, Colonel Edward Morgan, on February

27, along with orders to embark straightway on H. M. S. Westergate to

112
deliver these to Sir Thomas Modyford in Barbados.

Meanwhile, in Barbados, about March 1, Modyford received the king's

letter informing him of his appointment as governor of Jamaica. One

word more than any other fittingly describes his reaction— elationl

From the moment he received the news, his mind was awhirl with plans

and designs for the new colony, and he burst into a veritable fever of

activity in preparing for his move to Jamaica. All other tasks in

which he was engaged had to take second place. The door had opened at

last! He was preparing to embrace the opportunity toward which he had

struggled for the past seventeen years

On March 2, 166k, Modyford issued a proclamation in Barbados in­

forming the people of his appointment and offering free passage to

 338

Jamaica to all who wished to resettle there. His task of recruiting

was made easier by a plague of caterpillars which had recently ravaged

the island's crops and reduced hundreds of small planters to near

starvation. The number of willing emigrants swelled rapidly.

After Colonel Morgan arrived on April 20 with the king's in­

structions, Sir Thomas took further steps. He dispatched two envoys to

Hispaniola to proclaim his desire for peace and trade between the

English of Jamaica and the Spaniards of the Caribbean area. As the

recruiting of settlers continued, arrangements were made for their

transport, partly in ships of the royal navy and partly in merchant

vessels. The number preparing to move to Jamaica finally exceeded

fifteen hundred, including three hundred heads of families with their

dependents, servants, and slaves. Many were sent on to Jamaica with

Colonel Morgan when he departed in the Westergate in early May. Others,

Modyford planned to take over himself. In mid May, as last-minute

arrangements were being made, Modyford appointed as his agents for con­

tinuing the work of recruiting settlers and providing for their passage

to Jamaica, his son, Thomas Junior, his nephew Thomas Kendall Junior,

and several merchant friends of Barbados. All the while, his dispatches

to England continued to enumerate other sensible steps which could be

taken to improve the island's condition and further the noble "Design."

Moreover, he took this opportunity to remind King Charles of his

imperial destinyj said Sir Thomas: "Princes that goe not forward goe

backward, and theyre royall Groweth is safest when least perceptible^

the well-filling this Navel (as the Spaniards call it) of the Indies

may notably further this Groweth." One hears echoes of his challenge

to Cromwell nearly a decade earlier: "If this place be fully planted

 339

11 IT
. . . His Highness may doe what he will in the West Indyes." ^

Meanwhile, Modyford had no light task in completing personal pre­

parations for this move. It would not be easy to pull up roots which

had been sinking for seventeen years into the soil of the Barbadian

economy and society and to transplant them in a new colony. The

family's holdings in Barbados would have to be placed under adequate

management; in Jamaica, new lands would have to be surveyed, new plan­

tations cultivated, and new dwellings erected. Sir Thomas would need

time to make these arrangements and to get himself established in the

government of Jamaica before attempting to sever all connections with

his previous establishment. Consequently, Lady Modyford, her second

son, Thomas, and apparently most of her immediate family decided to

remain in Barbados temporarily while Modyford1s eldest son, John, and

numerous relatives prepared to embark with Sir Thomas for Jamaica. At

length, in late May, I661j, Modyford and some eight hundred others took

ship aboard H. M. S. Marmaduke and an accompanying merchant vessel and

set sail for Jamaica.

As they weighed anchor in Carlisle Bay, Modyford must have felt

much of the same keen anticipation which he had experienced nearly

seventeen years earlier when from the deck of the Achilles he had

viewed this scene for the first time. But now his gaze was turned away

from Barbados, westward, across the blue Caribbean, toward the intri­

guing isle where soon he was to assume his duties as His Majesty's

royal governor of Jamaica. Assuredly, it was with deep satisfaction

that he savored his triumph at making good his bid for high office.
ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION

Carlton Rowe Williams

The Graduate School

University of Kentucky
 SIR THOMAS MODYFORD,
1620-1679:
"That grand propagator of English honour and power in the West Indies."

ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
at the University of Kentucky

BY

CARLTON ROWE WILLIAMS

Lexington, Kentucky

Director: Dr. Carl B. Cone, Professor of History

Lexington, Kentucky

1978

/
 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION

SIR THOMAS MODIFORD,

1620-1679:
"That grand propagator of English honour and power in the West Indies."

Thomas Modyford, scion of three generations of merchant-tnayors of

Exeter, England, grew up in that emporium of the West aspiring a long-

held family dream— to establish a landed, county family. Convinced

that this could be more easily attained if he were also prepared for

a public career, his family inclined the boy toward the law. Thus,

endowed with learning acquired in Exeter grammar school and a substan­

tial patrimony, Thomas left Exeter in 1632 for Lincoln's Inn.

During his seven years as a clerk-commoner living among the Inns

of Court in London, Thomas mastered the common law of England, developed

forensic skills, and assimilated his nation's political traditions.

In 1639, he was called to the bar. After one further year of "mooting"

within his Inn, Thomas was prepared to plead in the king's courts. In

16U0, the young barrister married Elizabeth Palmer whose kindred of

Kent were well connected with the central courts. The couple returned

to Exeter where Thomas commenced to practice law.

The advent of the Civil War altered his course. Thomas enlisted

in the cavalier cavalry to fight in the West Country for the king. In
16U3, he was appointed one of the royal commissloners for Devon and

Cornwall. Through his war-time duties of raising money for the king's

cause, mobilizing supplies for the war effort, and administering

justice in the local courts, Thomas further developed leadership

skills. The defeat of the king's forces, however, brought an eclipse

of opportunity for him in England.

Leaving wife and children behind, in I6I4.7 Thomas departed England

for the West Indies in search of a new career. Establishing himself as

a prosperous sugar planter and a leader in the cavalier faction in

Barbados, he made an opportune defection in l6£l and brought about the

capitulation of the island to the Commonwealth. As his family joined

him on "Buckland Plantation," Thomas settled into his new environment

to make a determined bid for high office. He ingratiated himself with

the Commonwealth authorities, promoted schemes to expand the English

Empire in the Caribbean, and grew in both stature and wealth. He was

appointed governor of Barbados in 1660 just in time to lose his

coveted position as a result of the Restoration in England. Afterwards,

while involved in the slave trade and several schemes of colonization,

Modyford sought an advantageous move elsewhere.

In 166U, Modyford was appointed governor of Jamaica. He promoted

settlement, reorganized the civil government, sponsored agriculture and

trade, and strengthened the island's defenses. Simultaneously, by

patenting large tracts of land and culturing successful plantations of

his own, he showed his fellow Jamaicans how to prosper through planting.

His aggressive use of the Jamaican privateers against the subjects of

Spain, however, eventually resulted in his recall to England and

imprisonment in the Tower of London in 1671.

 Sir Thomas made the most of his imprisonment; he wrote several

papers designed further to promote the development of his beloved

island. Being released from the Tower in the summer of 1673, Modyford

spent several months renewing old acquaintances and managing the

family’s affairs in the homeland. In early 1675, he returned to

Jamaica.

Briefly, Sir Thomas renewed his public career by serving as chief

justice of that judicial system in Jamaica which he, himself, had

founded, A year later, however, His Worship retired from public life.

Thereafter, he devoted himself further to expanding his extensive

estates, managing his productive plantations, and enjoying his

achievement of having established the leading "county" family in

Jamaica. There, amidst the spreading acres of "Angels Plantation,"

"Squire" Modyford died in 1679. Few seventeenth-century Englishmen of

substance and responsibility lived a more adventurous life; few con­

tributed more dynamically to the expansion of the early English Et?pire.

November 21, 1978

I

VII. DEVELOPING AND DEFENDING JAMAICA, 166U-1667

During the last ten days in May, l661j, the Marmaduke and the

Blessing scudded along before a brisk easterly breeze upon their star­

board quarters. Through the channel between St. Lucia and Martinique,

across the eastern Caribbean, and along the southern shores of His­

paniola and the lie a Vache (Isle of Ashe), they plied, transporting

Governor Sir Thomas Modyford and eight hundred Barbadian emigrants

over one thousand miles of azure sea to Jamaica. Just what did Modyford

know of this fair isle to which he journeyed? Though Sir Thomas had

never visited Jamaica before, his previous ’’Overtures" to the Imperial

Government concerning the island and his arrangements for settling in

the folk accompanying him thereto show that he had drawn deeply from

his sources and contacts. Jamaica was no strange, new world to the

governor-elect.*^ In order to appreciate fully the career of Sir Thomas

Modyford as the governor of this struggling new colony, we, too, must

focus briefly upon the former development and the geographic setting

of Jamaica.

luring near the center of the Caribbean Sea, much like the hub of

a wheel the outer rim of which is formed by other West Indian islands

and the Spanish Main, Jamaica early attracted the attention of Spain$

it lay in the pathway of Columbus’s explorations. On his second

31(0
 THE A N T I EE ES
A M D THE
SPANI SH M A I N
1624-1692

HISPUUtilA

MMtwigiB

Map The West Indies in the Seventeenth Century. (Adapted from the
endsheet of Carl and Roberta Bridenbaugh, No Peace Bevond the Line)
 3h2

voyage, in May, ll#li, the Genoese mariner steered his caravel, Nina,

through a break in the barrier reef off the north shore of Jamaica into

St. Ann's Bay. Spanish settlement began in 1510 with the founding

nearby of Seville; but the site proved unhealthy. Consequently, about

l52k, the Spaniards moved their capital to Jamaica's southern plains.

There they established on the western bank of the Rio Cobre the Villa

de la Vega. The indigenous Jamaican Arawaks, somewhat more warlike

than their cousins of Hispaniola and Cuba, rapidly died out, unaccus­

tomed as they were either to servitude or to the ravaging diseases of

2
the Europeans.

Upon arrival in Jamaica, most Spaniards (and Portuguese) took up

residence in the Villa de la Vega. With Negro slave labor, on small

outlying plantations, they grew modest quantities of sugar cane, cocoa,

tobacco, cotton, pimiento pepper, and provision crops. On numerous

adjacent hatos (pastures), formed by the Arawaks' old maize and cassava

fields, they herded plentiful livestock from which they extracted hides

and lard. Though there was a minor export trade, Jamaica's primary

economic importance to the Spanish Empire was as a base of supply for

the annual plate fleet homeward bound with the silver of Peru. In

time, however, even this function declined; by 163h, direct links

between the island and Spain had virtually ceased. At its peak, the

population of Jamaica reached perhaps six thousand; possible, half were

slaves. The Villa de la Vega then consisted of four or five hundred

houses (perhaps a thousand if the thatched huts of the Negro slaves are

counted), five or six well-appointed churches, and a Franciscan mon­

astery. But by the mid-seventeenth century* Jamaica's population had

dwindled to less than half that number. Thus, in 1655* the Spaniards
 3l»3

of Jamaica were living a life of comfortable obscurity when the

English, more or less as an after thought, overran the principal

3
settlements of the island in pursuit of Cromwell's "Western Design."

The initial success of the English forces proved deceptive,

however. Small bands of defiant Spaniards set up camps of resistance

in the mountains and along the north coast. For five, long years, with

occasional aid from the viceroy of Mexico, Captain (later Governor)

Don Christobal de Ysassi led these marauding bands of Spanish guer­

rillas in a continuing harassment of the English patrols and encamp­

ments. The English soldiers were spread out over the plantations and

settlements to acquire their own provisions, to explore, and to secure

the island at large. During the months that followed, they graphically

encountered the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse— famine, disease, war,

and death. The first winter alone saw four thousand perish.^

The task of the English officials in Jamaica from 16$$ to 1660 was

threefold— to begin settlement and planting in the colony, to take

possession of the entire island, and to secure Jamaica against im­

pending attempts by Spain to recover her former territory. Continuous

efforts were made to obtain settlers for the new colony. Wives and

families of the soldiers, political prisoners from Ireland and Scot­

land, young Irish women, and the riffraff of the London streets were

transported to Jamaica at state expense. Dissatisfied colonists from

Barbados, Bermuda, Nevis, Antigua, and St. Christopher also sporadi­

cally came filtering into the new settlement. With their arrival,

small-scale planting commenced. Moreover, by May 3j 1660, the ener­

getic campaigns of Colonel Edward D'Oyley and the English occupation

forces had succeeded in driving Ysassi and the last of his Spanish
 31*1*

guerrillas from Jamaica's shores, greatly dimming the hopes of these

patriots of regaining their lands and fortunes.*’

But the threat of a Spanish counter attack still loomed large upon

the horizon. Apprehension of such increased as the English fleet at

Jamaica was steadily depleted by strenuous service in tropical waters.

So, the English commanders in Jamaica resorted more and more to priva­

teering to provide the island some measure of defence. As letters of

marque and reprisal were freely issued and corsairs flocked to Jamaica

from here and yon in the Caribbean, increasing numbers of newcomers to

Jamaica, finding the hard work of planting distasteful, took to the sea

as privateers. They did so "the better to secure themselves against

the Spaniards, and to force them to a peace by their frequent annoying

them, in seizing such of their ships which they could meet with, which

proved very successful unto them." Thus, by the time of the Restora­

tion in England, Jamaica, as a struggling plantation and a base of

operations for a corps of lusty privateers, had taken its first steps

from deprivation toward prosperity.^

As has been noted, following the return of Charles II to his

throne in England, the English Administration spent some time reorgan­

izing experimentally, studying imperial problems, and defining its

future imperial policy. Since Spain had been supportive of Charles

Stuart during his "travels" (Charles and Philip IV had signed a treaty

in 1656 wherein, in return for proffered assistance in regaining his

throne, Charles had promised that henceforth Anglo-Spanish aims would

march in harmony), in 1660 the Spaniards naturally expected Charles II

to return Jamaica to its rightful owner. The West-India "Interest" in

London, however, were of another mind. They pressed the king to

 3h5

promote within Jamaica a plantation of needed tropical products, to

establish therein an entrepot of English trade with the West Indies

and the Spanish Dominions at large, and to strengthen the island as an

outpost of an expanding English Empire. In October, a "Jamaica Com­

mittee" of four was named from among the privy councillors; George

Monck (Duke of Albemarle) and Arthur Annesley (Earl of Anglesea) were

appointed members; they promptly set to work defining a pattern and a

policy for Jamaica as an English colony. On December 5, 1660,

flustered Spanish Ambassador Batteville was finally told that England

intended to keep Jamaica. Immediately, steps were taken to begin

developing in the island a prosperous trade, an expanding settlement,

7
and an efficient government.

In the spring of 1661, the Imperial Government temporarily com­

missioned General Edward D'Oyley— since September, 1657, the commander

in chief of both the land and sea forces at Jamaica— as the first civil

governor of Jamaica, With his commission came instructions to pro­

claim peace with Spain. Although D'Oyley proclaimed the peace and

began establishing a civil government, his elected Council soon decided

that the proclamation of peace with Spain did not refer to the area

"beyond the line." Therefore, Governor D'Oyley permitted the priva­

teers of Jamaica to continue their attacks upon the Spaniards in the

Indies, concluding that this was better than to incite a rebellion in

a populace "who live only upon spoil and depredations, and whom nothing
Q
but strict law and severe justice can keep in obedience."

Meanwhile, the Jamaica Committee was preparing an even more

respectable "establishment" for Jamaica. In August, 1662, Thomas Lord

Windsor arrived in Jamaica to assume the governance of the island. His

 3h6

instructions bade him to constitute a Council, to call an Assembly and

enact suitable laws, to appoint justices and settle judicatures for

civil courts and the Admiralty, to devise an orderly system for

granting land to settlers, to build fortifications, and to disband the

old army (except for a token force of 1*00 foot and 150 horse), estab­

lishing in its stead an able island militia. In addition, he was to

attempt peaceably to establish a trade with the Spaniards of the

Carribbean. If this were deemed impossible, then he was "to endeavor

to settle such trade by force, and by doing such acts as the Council

shall judge most proper to oblige the Spaniards to admit them to a free

trade."^

Since the response of the governors of Puerto Rico and Hispaniola

to Windson's overtures for trade proved negative, subsequently the

governor and Council decided to use the privateers to force the

Spaniards to trade. Old commissions were revoked; new ones were freely

proffered; the one thousand Jamaican sea rovers were authorized to take

Spanish prizes and to bring them to Jamaica for adjudication. Led by

Captain Christopher Myngs and two frigates of the Royal Navy, they

promptly launched a devastating raid upon St. Jago de Cuba. Windsor

carried out his instructions efficiently but in a tearing hurry.

Within three months, he was bound homeward for England, leaving the

government of Jamaica in the hands of Lieutenant Governor Sir Charles

Lyttleton.^

During the following eighteen months, Lyttleton sought to effect

more fully many of the measures hastily initiated by Lord Windsor.

Representative government was b o m in Jamaica with the calling of the

first Assembly; the initial efforts at legislation produced several

 3U7

useful laws. The militia, constituted of all able-bodied white men in

the colony, was organized into five regiments; it consisted of 2,500

men plus 500 more scattered abroad in the outlying settlements. Con­

struction of key fortifications continued. Measurable progress was

made in the planting of "new Provisions and all sorts of Comodities of

the Country growth . . . ." Moreover, while the 1,500 men aboard the

15 vessels using Jamaica as a base for privateering against the

Spaniards would take orders only from the strongest men-of-war, the

people as a whole became "peaceable and Industrious," though "apter to

be led than driven.

In matters relating to the Jamaican privateers, however, Lyttleton

was asked to reverse Lord Windsor's initiative. As the Imperial

Government moved toward a policy which envisioned numerous Spaniards

coming to Barbados and Jamaica to purchase slaves, the king's letters

to the lieutenant-governor in April and in August, 1663, first advised,

then commanded, no further attempts on the Spaniards by the private

ships of war. But Lyttleton was not destined to remain in Jamaica long

enough to bring about a cessation of hostilities against Spain in the

New World. His governance of Jamaica was plagued by illness; hi3

brother, his wife, his child— all died in the island. At length, in

a desperate bid to regain his own health, Sir Charles took ship aboard
12
the St. John's Head and sailed for England on May 2, I66I4.

Lyttleton left the management of Jamaican affairs in the hands of

the Council. To guide their governance of the island until the newly

appointed governor arrived, the Council elected as their "president,"

as commander in chief of the militia, and as chief justice of the

island's courts an "Old Stander" in their midst who held a patent from
the crown aa Jamaica's provost-marshal— Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Lynch.

In a letter to Secretary Henry Bennet (later, Lord Arlington) toward

the end of May, the "president" reflected upon conditions in the colony.

To Lynch, the five thousand inhabitants of the island appeared to be

"obedient and industrious," at the moment quite healthy, and amply

provisioned from "many hopeful plantations." In general, the people

seemed pleased by the news of Modyford's coming, the more so since he

was the candidate put forward by Lord General Albemarle whose previous

nominee, Lord Windsor, they had liked.^ Moreover, the "president"

reported that Modyford's emissaries to Santo Domingo (Hispaniola) had

arrived in Jamaica with a favorable response to his overtures of peace.

But Lynch was pessimistic about luring the Spaniards to Jamaica to

trade, "for we and they have used too many mutual barbarisms to have a

sudden correspondence." Furthermore, he warned that "the calling in

the privateers will be but a remote and hazardas expedient, and can

never be effectually done without five or six men-of-war . . . .

Naked orders to restrain or call them in will teach them only to keep

out of this port, and force them . . . to prey on us as well as the

Spaniards." The sum of Lynch's report on the island upon the eve of

Modyford's advent? Significant potential, some progress, serious

problems: such was the state of Jamaican affairs as Lieutenant Governor

Edward Morgan reached the island around May 22 and Governor Sir Thomas

Modyford arrived on June 1, 1661;.

From the moment of landfall from H. M. S. Karmaduke, Sir Thomas

was captivated by Jamaica. As the transports passed below Morant Point

 3U9

and dropped off groups of immigrants at the settlements of Port Morant

and Yallahs, Modyford*s impression was quickly confirmed that Jamaica

was substantially larger than Barbados. He was soon to learn that the

island was of oval shape, lying lengthwise due east and west. It was

some 1$0 miles long by $2 miles wide at its greatest extent, tapering

sharply at each end. Scanning the horizon to the north, the governor

could see a continuous range of mountains, lofty in the east, lower in

the west, stretching backbone-like along the full length of the island.

These rugged hills tended to separate the regions of the northern coast

from Jamaica's southern plains.^

Sailing further westward along the south coast of the island, Sir

Thomas and his party came abreast the Palisadoes. The Palisadoes— a

sandspit dramatically thrust ten miles out from the mainland across the

mouth of a large bayj a finger-like penninsula, tangled with cactus,

prickly bush, and seagrape, bordered with palms leaning into the wind

— constituted a natural breakwater which provided sheltered anchorage

to the rear of it. As the Marmaduke scudded before the prevailing

southeasterlies a safe distance off the southern shore of the Palisa­

does and left low-lying Gun Cay behind off her port quarter, the end of

the penninsula came into view. Here, at the very tip of the Palisadoes

and separated from it only by a shallow mangrove swamp a few yards wide,

lay a cay of some sixty acres in size, earlier called by the Spaniards

"cayo de carena." Rounding the point of this cay and coming about into

the wind, the frigate— her sails now being trimmed— "lay to," drifting

a ways toward Salt Pond Hill to the desired point of anchorage, perhaps

a half mile off the point, just inside a superbly commodious harbor

capable of mooring safely five hundred stately ships. In 1661*, as Sir

 |A Mi

THI

IM
TMf

V O L D <J
HAMOUr
iu<iuu Mr

Map 6. Jaaalca, 1655-1660. (Fron tha frontispiaca

of S. A. 0. Taylor, The Maatarn Daalga)
 JAMAICA

THC

THf
K OU> C
HAMOUr
•At

iy 1655-1660. (From tb« frontlspioca

0. Taylor, Tb« Waafrn Daalgt)
 351

Thomas surveyed for the first time the view of the island from this
I
anchorage in what is now Kingston Harbor— glancing across the bay and

up the twisting course of the Rio Cobre toward St. Jago to the north­

west j scanning the emerging provision plantations and cattle ranches

of Liguanea gently ascending toward the Red Hills to the north; gazing

across the hogback ridge of Long Mountain to the magnificent range of

Blue Mountains beyond, shading upwards from green to blue, culmin­

ating in a peak 7,U02 feet high— Jamaica was indeed wildly beautiful.

The temptation was great to be off immediately exploring the island

at large. But first, there were affairs to attend in the port-town

itself.16

Modyford was not ignorant of the development of Jamaica's main

port to date. Turning his attention to the "Carreening Poynte" past

which the Marmaduke had just sailed, he surveyed for himself the half­

moon beach forming the leeward shore of this cay which pitched off

abruptly into six fathoms of water. Here, ships of a thousand ton

could lie up close to the shore for lading. It was this natural, deep-

water berth, in addition to the several square miles of sheltered

moaring behind it, which had prompted the English to appropriate this
17
site as their principal harbor.

Unlike the Spaniards, whose chief port had been the village of

Esquivel (Old Harbor) on Old Harbor Bay some twenty miles to the west,

from the earliest days of the conquest the English had chiefly made

use of this anchorage. To protect it, they had begun in 16£5 to build

a fort on the sea side of the cay which could command the entrance to

the harbor. Beginning in l6f>7, on the hot, loose sands between Fort
I
Cromwell (after 1662, Fort Charles) and the deep berth which it
 352

defended, there had mushroomed a town as lurid yet fascinating as any

the world has seen. It had become at once the chief port of the island

and the primary base of operations for that growing band of Jamaican

sea rovers. Within the next twenty-five years, it was destined to

18
become the largest and most affluent town in the English Americas.

Having heard the Spaniards refer to this general locale as

"Caguaya" (the term actually designated the vicinity of the landing

place across the harbor at the mouth of the Rio Cobre), many of the

English had mistakenly dubbed the new town— "Cagway." Others had grown

accustomed to calling it "Point Cagua" or simply— "the Point." In

honor of the restored Stuart dynasty, in 1661 the Jamaica Council had

ordained the name— "Port Royal." It was just beginning to be generally

so called by early June, l66ii, as Sir Thomas Modyford, dinghy borne,

threaded his way from the anchored frigate through the hulls and spars

of the shipping in the bay toward the "Wherry Bridge" (passenger

landing) which fronted directly upon Thames Street, that broad, sandy

throughfare stretching for near a mile along the town's harborside.^

What was the emerging town of Port Royal like in the summer of

166U? Having sailed along the sea side, then around the point of the

cay, now approaching the town from its harborside, Sir Thomas could

perceive that the bulk of the town was laid out roughly in the form of

a triangle. Except for its eastern-most point, it was surrounded by

the sea. (See the plans of the town illustrated on page 353 as Map 7

and Map 8 .) Along each side of this triangle ran two or three major

streets. To the north, along the harbor, Thames Street and High Street
Common Common
tandmg-pUco landing-place
Waterman's
w h.irl 1667 8
T h e landing-place
called H oney lane’

'1

>M S I H f l t I

*l1f

Map 7. Plan of Port Royal harborside circa 1670

(Adapted from Map 9 of Pawson & Buisseret, Port Royal, Jamaica)

King’s storehouses

King's House

t h a m is

Church

CARIBBEAN SEA

;1C)00 teel(approii)

Map 8. Street plan of Port Royal, l66h-l66$

(Adapted from Map 8 of Pawson & Buisseret, Port Royal, Jamaica)
 35h

formed the "base'* of the triangle; Fisher's Row and Lime Street ran

southward along its western side toward the sea; Church Street and

Tower Street ran westward along its eastern side toward the headland of

the cay. These principal streets were, for the most part, of loose,

unpaved sand, thirty feet in width. Within this triangle new streets

were emerging roughly parallel to existing ones; alleys and lanes were

beginning to penetrate here and there, helter-skelter, interconnecting

one street with another. Beyond the eastern point of this triangle,

Thames and High streets extended the town toward the mainland along the
20
tapering panhandle of the cay for, perhaps, another quarter of a mile.

The location of Port Royal's public buildings in 1661; also corres­

ponded generally to this triangular layout. As Sir Thomas approached

the inner harbor, he noted that the apex of the triangle was crowned,

as it were, by Fort Charles, its round, lime and stone tower standing

amidst its square walls like a lonely sentinel on yonder foreland of

the cay; the waves of Chocolata Hole lapped at the fort's rear walls as

did those of the sea its front. Coming closer to the waterfront,

Modyford could make out the king's storehouses, substantially built of

board and brick, near northern-most Bonham's Point. Before the store­

houses lay the king's wharf. Down Thames Street at the eastern-most

point of the triangle, the governor could identify the King's House,

lying between Thames and High streets along Sweeting's Land. This

shingle-roofed, timbered house, thirty-eight feet long by twenty feet

wide, was early constructed as the dwelling of Jamaica's military

commanders. Flanked by its two out-houses, it was entirely surrounded

by a wooden stockade through which two sets of double doors gave access

to its spacious yard. To the rear of the King's House, at the junction
 3BS

of High and Church streets, could be seen the oak-timbered facade of

Christchurch where George Johns, an old army preacher, weekly held

21
divine service for the town folk inclined to attend.

Only two of Port Royal's public structures proved exceptions to

the town's triangular schema. The oak-planked court house was located

virtually in the center of the town, apparently on New Street, near

where, in the succeeding decade, Port Royal's Jews would build their

synagogue. The Palisadoes, Port Royal's landward fortification— a

stockade fence which stretched from surf to bayside across the

narrowing eastern end of the cay— was distantly visable beyond the

parade ground at the end of High Street •, ultimately, it gave its name

to the whole penninsula. Through its gates a path led over a bridge

crossing the mangrove shallows to the town burial ground and, beyond,
22
to the scant pasturage of the parish common.

Sir Thomas, son of a port-town merchant, must have been impressed

by the scene before him as he drew closer to Port Royal's waterfront.

A nearby continuous succession of wharves edged Fisher's Row southward

toward the fort and Thames Street eastward along most of its length.

Flanking these wharves and interspersed among the public structures

were some four hundred other buildings— warehouses, shops, shop-

dwellings, taverns, inns, townhouses— which, with the public edifices

po
identified, constituted the town of Port Royal in 1661*.

The buildings facing Thames Street and Fishers' Row were, for the

most part, the earliest structures erected at Port Royal. Timbered,

shingle-roofed, long and low— many were storehouses. They were owned

variously by ship's captains who dabbled in trade, Port Royal mer­

chants, local representatives of English mercantile houses, and

 356

emerging planters who valued the possession of their own wharves and

storage facilities. Punctuating this line of warehouses and clustered

along the alleys connecting the waterfront with Queen, High, and Lime

streets were the shops of numerous local craftsmen and merchants

catering to the needs of the shipping and of the island folk. Many of

these establishments were shop-dwellings— not unlike those which became

so familiar to Thomas Modyford during his youth in Exeter— such as that

of drapers Thomas and Alice Lockyer on Honey Lane and that of merchant

Anthony Swymmer, Jamaica's representative on the Merchant Venturers

of Bristol, on Thames Street just east of Bird's Alley.^

In the same vicinity stood several of the port's earliest town-

houses. Colonels Humphrey Freeman and Samuel Barry, planters, had

built adjacent houses on Smith's Alley. Merchant Richard Bird seems

to have built his house facing Queen Street and bounded alongside by

Bird's Alley on the same plot occupied by his "white storehouse." Col.

Thomas Lynch had just completed a large house bordering Water Lane,

part of which constituted the "New Prison, thus facilitating his

duties as chief law-enforcement officer in the colony. Like Lynch's,

most of these houses were timbered, of one or two stories, with shingle

roofs. Unlike Lynch's house, which incorporated the town jail, most
25
were modest in size. ^

But over the roofs of these early structures, a block or two

inland, along Lime, High, and New streets, no doubt Modyford could see

signs of a more opulent era approaching. For there, on plots patented

earlier, it is likely that finer townhouses were already being con­

structed by merchants such as William Beeston and Robert Byndloss and

gentry like "Old Stander" Colonel Henry Archbould: houses of three or

 357

four stories, built of imported brick, roofed with tile, windowed with

glazed sashes, with the “cook room” and the “house of office" (latrine)

set apart in the yard. At the same time, alongside homes being built

by* some of the leading merchants and planters in the island, humbler

folk were acquiring plots and erecting new shops and dwellings as

well.26

Thus, the picture of Port Royal which emerges from real estate

transactions and other relevant sources as that viewed by Sir Thomas

Modyford in early June, 166U, can be clearly perceived. All the

streets featured on Map 8, page 353j and more were already laid out.

Along them, folk great and small were acquiring plots and building.

Though the interior of the triangle was not yet crowded, it was rapidly

filling. In the four hundred or so buildings which already occupied

the cay, there lived and worked upwards of one thousand permanent

residents of Port Royal. Perhaps ten per cent of these were Negro

slaves. In addition, there were several hundred seamen who depended

upon the services of this port. Therefore, as Thomas Lynch had noted

as early as 1660, since “this is the place where all merchants,

strangers and saylers reside as being the seate of trade and the most

healthy place in the island, whither resort all the men of warre that

frequent the points, . . . [this] . . . makes houses soe deare that an

ordinary house in this towne is worth jPl|0 or j?60 per annum." It was

to remain so for the next three decades. In 1688, John Taylor found

the port's houses yielding "as good rents as those in Cheape Side in
27
London . . . .“

Among the several hundred seamen who frequented Port Royal, many

were permanent residents, some were semipermanent, others were

 3S8

transient. In addition to the town’s watermen who daily fetched casks

of sweet water to Thames Street from the mouth of the Rio Cobre (there

was no fresh water on the cay) and to the wherrymen who regularly

ferried passengers between Port Royal and Passage Fort (the only access

to the port was by water), numerous boatmen made a living in local

freight and trade. In small shallops, they brought in fresh fish daily

to the fish market held in Thames Street just west of the Wherry

Bridge. With double-masted ketches, they kept the turtle pens of

Chocolata Hole filled with catches from the Cayman Islands 1$0 to 200

miles west of Jamaica's Negril Point. From the local market held at

Colonel Samuel Barry's storehouse across the bay near the mouth of the

Zutaco River and elsewhere, their sloops fetched the fresh meat sold

daily near the turtle crawls and the vegetables, fruit, and fowl sold

in the central market on High Street. To the local wharves of Old

Harbor, Passage Fort, Liguanea, Yallahs, Port Marant, and the North

Side, they freighted imports being purchased by planters on the main­

land; on return, they hauled down small cargoes of tobacco, sugar,

cocoa, and cotton to the port's storehouses to await shipment overseas.

Such mariners were a vital and stable element of the town's growing
pO
population.

Then, there were the crews of the privateers. As Modyford drew

near the waterfront, perhaps he noted anchored in the harbor the two or

three privateers which had just recently come in, one bringing with her

a Spanish prize. There were another twenty or more still out cruising

with Jamaican commissions, all small frigates or brigantines of under

fifteen guns, each manned with forty to one hundred men— together,

employing better than fifteen hundred seamen in all. They were

 359

semipermanent residents of Port Royal; momentarily, the town was their

base-port. As long as Jamaican officials continued to issue advan­

tageous letters of marque, as long as affluent Jamaicans, singly or

jointly, could be persuaded to finance their voyages, the captains of

these little ships would continue to warp them up to the Thames Street

wharves to rig, vitual, water, and renew ammunition for another cruise.

If successful, upon return their plunder would be inventoried in the

harbor by officers of Jamaica's Admiralty Court, their cases would be

adjudicated by the judge admiral sitting in the Port Royal Court House,

and their prizes would be sold alongside these same wharves "by inch

of candle" (public auction). Subsequently, after the lord admiral's

tenth's and the king's fifteenth's were paid and creditors were

satisfied, skippers and crews would spend their earnings riotiously

29
enjoying the pleasures of the port.

Finally, there were the officers and men of the large merchantmen

for which Jamaica was just beginning to become a regular port-of-call,

mostly ships from England or New England. Typically, such a ship would

put into port, berth at a wharf on Thames Street, and spend a day or

two unloading. Unburdened, she would then haul off a few hundred yards

and anchor. There she would ride oftimes for several weeks while her

skipper negotiated and collected sufficient cargo to make her homeward

voyage profitable. During such times, many of her crew would be "at

liberty" in the town. Once the cargo was assembled, the ship would

warp up to the deep-water berth once again to collect her crew, load,

victual, water, and rig in preparation for putting to sea.^®

With such a surfeit of seamen hovering about the port from its

early days, the entrepreneurs of the growing town had promptly moved
 360

to provide that range of services they and their ships required.

Numerous local craftsmen and merchants supplied the needs of the

shipping. Meantime, such establishments as Charles Whitfield's "The

Three Tunns" (just south of the Wherry Bridge), Peter Bartaboe's "The

Three Mariners" (fronting on Honey Lane), John and Ann Hardwick's

"Gnome of King's Arms" (near the junction of High and Church streets),

and Humphrey Freeman's numerous "messuages to let" (clustered along

Smith's Alley) catered to the sailor's every desire. Indeed, during

the 1660's, sprinkled over the waterfront, scattered along High, Queen,

and Lime streets, and clustered in the alleyways in between, there were

emerging "severall Ordinaries, many Taverens, and aboundance of Punch

houses, or rather may be fittly called Brothel Houses" to accommodate

this floating element of the port's population. When in port, it was

to such establishments as these that the seamen resorted to do their

31
eating, drinking, gaming, fighting, wenching, and sleeping.

Thus, the presence of such a large element of seamen in the port,

especially that of the privateers, tended to impose upon Jamaica's

port-town— and to a considerable extent upon the culture of the island

as a whole— a dual character. On the one hand, as the center of local

manufactures, as the chief market town of a promising young plantation,

as an emerging entrepot of overseas trade, as Jamaica's window to the

outside world, Port Royal was becoming a handsome, opulent, cosmo­

politan place. On the other, as a port-of-call and supply-base for an

increasing number of merchantmen, as the home port of a private navy

defending Jamaica from belligerent neighbors, as the loot-mart of sea

rovers employed under a contract of "no purchase, no pay," as the

cantina of half the corsairs of the Caribbean, Port Royal was a gaudy,
 361

roisterous, uninhibited, sailor's "liberty port." If not the wickedest

{
city in the west, it was easily the liveliest English community in the

New World. Such was the town of Port Royal as Governor Sir Thomas
32
Modyford disembarked at harborside that first day of June, 1661*.

The townfolk had been expecting Sir Thomas for some time; they

were prepared for his reception. As he and his attendants entered upon

the Wherry Bridge, he "was received with the utmost kindness." If his

reception was, in detail, like that of his immediate successors, he was

met by several of the island's notables at the head of three or four

companies of Port Royal militia in arms. By these he was escorted down

Thames Street to the King's House where the militia were drawn up in

array for his review. Afterwards, he was ushered into the hall of

King's House to enjoy with the members of the current Council and other

principal officials of the Jamaican Government a sumptuous dinner pre­

pared in his honor. Likely, it was here also that he was temporarily

lodged.^

On the morrow, he was probably escorted to the Court House where

his commission was read and his authority as governor was formally

acknowledged. Perhaps, appointments to the new Council were con­

currently announced. Afterwards, there was a visit to the forts. At

Fort Charles, he was received with a thundering salute from the fort's

guns similar to that which the Marmaduke had answered the day before

as the governor's party had entered the harbor. No doubt, Sir Thomas

was pleased with the current expansion of this fort which had been
('
launched by his predecessor, Sir Charles Lyttleton. It square walls
 362

were being extended in keeping with a more sophisticated design: demi-

bastions were being added to the east and west; a pointed redan to the

northj a half-moon parapet facing the sea. The ramparts of the

exterior walls now boasted sufficient sally-ports to accommodate thirty-

six ordnance in all. The round tower in the center was being converted

into a magazine. A stroll from Fort Charles to the Palisadoes Line not

only provided Modyford with further opportunity for exploring the town;

it apparently set his mind to work upon a plan for improving the land­

ward fortification as well. But pursuit of that plan would follow in

due time. For the moment, Modyford was anxious to effect the most

pressing business of government, to settle some eighty members of his

"family" into temporary quarters, and to be off to see the remainder of

the island for himself

On June 1;, Governor Modyford called the first meeting of his new

Council. Sworn in as councillors were Lieutenant Governor Edward

Morgan, the governor's eldest son, John Modyford (whom Sir Thomas also

appointed major-general of the island's forces), Major William Ivy,

Captain John Mann, and Deputy Island Secretary Peter Pugh. Governor

Modyford then responded solemnly and affirmatively to his oath of

office, as administered by the secretary. Subsequently, Modyford

ordered all officers, civil and military, to continue executing their

‘id
respective trusts until further notice.

At meetings of the Council on June 6 and June $ additional

councillors were sworn in: Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Lynch, Colonel

Samuel Barry, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Archbould, Lieutenant Colonel

John Coape, and Major Thomas Fuller. (During the following six weeks,

Lieutenant Colonel Robert Freeman and Captain Thomas Ballard were also
 363

added to the Council to round out the membership to twelve.) Then,

with the assistance of this able Council, Modyford took up the reins

of government.^

The governor took immediate action on a number of matters demanding

attention. He arranged for the remaining parties of his fellow immi­

grants to be transported to several points of their own choosing along

the southern coast. From these landings amidst settlements in regions

of good soil and ample rainfall, the newcomers pushed inland to the

periphery of the established plantations to take up new grants and

commence planting. Among the throng were Anglican ministers whom

Modyford promptly installed in benefices in the respective parishes of

St. Andres's, St. Thomas's, and St. David’s where folk eagerly awaited

their services. Sir Thomas temporarily placed the broad seal of

Jamaica in the hands of Lieutenant Governor Edward Morgan, Major

General John Modyford, and Major William Ivy; these three were autho­

rized to seal land grants to the new settlers. The governor initiated

the taking of an official census to determine accurately the population

of the island. He deputized Captain Abraham Rutter to form a posse and

pursue a group of runaway Negroes who were threatening life and pro­

perty on Jamaica's North Side. Finally, in order to emphasize immedi­

ately his determined change in policy from one of pursuing Spanish loot

to one of pursuing Spanish trade, on June 11 Modyford issued a solemn

proclamation which, no doubt, the town crier declared throughout the

port "by beat of drum":

His Majesty of Great Britain hath strictly charged

and commanded all his living Subjects after notice hereof
to treat all the subjects of His Catholic Majesty, where­
soever they shall meet them . . . as Friends and Allies,
and not to make prize of any their ships or Goods by virtue
 36h

of a Commission heretofore granted, or under any other

colour or pretense whatsoever, . . . .

Having dispensed with the most pressing matters before him, Sir

Thomas was now ready to move on to the mainland of the island. These

several days in Port Royal had confirmed for him beyond a shadow of a

doubt the rightness of a decision he had tentatively made before

arrival— to move the seat of the Jamaican Government from Port Royal

to the old Spanish capital, St. Jago de la Vega, Lord Windsor had

attempted this move during his short stay in 1662; but, with his

departure, the chief functions of government had reverted back to the

port-town once again. If Jamaica were to be converted from a roister-

ous frontier community— focusing primary attention upon the sensational

activities of the privateers and the false economy which they generated

— into a prosperous plantation and entrepot of international trade,

Port Royal was no fit place from which to govern. Moreover, it was far

more appropriate that ships' captains and other visitors to the island

cross the six miles of water to Passage Fort and ride the six miles

inland to seek audience with the governor in St. Jago de la Vega than

for Jamaica's entire political community, from time to time, to cross

the bay to this isolated cay to apply for and file a land patent, to

participate in the Council or Assembly, or to press a suit in General

Sessions. Therefore, shortly after June 11, Sir Thomas and his party

took to barge and wherry and crossed the broad bay to Passage Fort.^®

Aside from the timbered fort with its dozen ordnance, the state's

storehouse (the first warehouse built by the English in the island),

the wharf, and the landing stage, in 166U Passage was a village
 365

constituted of some fifty buildings. Of these, perhaps ten were store­

houses; another ten consisted of shops, ordinaries, "tippling houses,"

and at least one livery stable which furnished "hackney" horses or

carriages to travelers to and from St. Jago; the remainder were private

dwellings. Likely Sir Thomas was met at the seaside by a number of the

leading gentry on horseback and provided refreshment in one of the

local establishments. We may be assured that the party lingered in

Passage no longer than necessary, however, for the swamp, clustered

about the mouth of the Rio Cobre nearby, cultured hoards of stinging

mosquitoes which miserably pestered the inhabitants of the village by

day and night. Soon, Sir Thomas and his attendants were sauntering

along the broad, sandy road leading to St. Jago.

39

Through a wood of giant cotton trees and past an old Spanish

breastwork, they advanced onto the open plain where small provision

plantations were emerging round about from the old cassava fields and,

to the north, the twisting, tree-fringed Rio Cobre sought its way to

the sea. Nearing the town, they rode through a narrow pass between a

low, rocky hill to their left rising solitarily from the surface of the

plain and the south bank of the Rio Cobre to their right which fell

away steeply to the bed of the stream some forty feet below. Once

beyond this passage, they could see before them, less than a mile away,

St. Jago de la Vega. To the east, it was bounded by "an Excelent

clears river of sweet water, seldom or never failling in the greatest

draughts." Between the river and the suburbs, lay several small groves

of oranges, lemons, and other fruits of the country. To the south, the

west, and the north, the villa was framed by the Town Savanna, dotted

here and there by clumps of trees and criss-crossed with traces leading
 366

from the town to the neighboring settlements of Old Harbor, Guanaboa,

and Angels or to the outlying plantations in between.^®

As Governor Modyford and his party rode into St. Jago from the

southeast— through the pasture plots, cowsheds, and scattered dwellings

on the outskirts to the souths toward the Church of the Red Crossj

between the eastern palisades of Fort Henry and the Church Parade— Sir

Thomas discovered that, in typical Spanish fashion, the town was laid

out in quadrangular chequerboard form, albeit somewhat irregular in

pattern. (See the reconstructed plan of the town on page 367 as Map 9).

The heart of the town was five or six blocks wide and as many deep

though its principal streets extended that far again, beyond, both to

the north and to the south.^

This central portion of the town was framed by its public

buildings: by the Red Church and the old monastery on the east; by the

jail and Fort Henry on the west. Of the five or six original Spanish

churches, only the "Redd Church" endured; recently, it had been refur­

bished for regular use. Here, the Reverend Henry Howser, a Switzer who

had come out with Lieutenant Governor Edward Morgan, was just commencing

his work as rector. Apparently, the buildings of the old monastery lay

idly in ruins. The "audiencia" (the centrally located, old Spanish

hall of audience/council/court)— at the moment in private hands— and

the old jail were to receive a new lease on life with the restoration

of the capital in St. Jago. Fort Henry's "stockadowed" walls and eight

pieces of ordnance, once manned by never less than two hundred men of

the general's (later governor's) regiment, were now guarded by rotating

companies of local militia who also formed an honor brigade to see the

governor to and from church on Sundays. The stockade surrounded the

Ml. Modyford's
Principal
Dwelling
M 2. Modyford's
Additional
Quarters
M 3* Modyford1s
Storehouse
M 1*. Modyford1s
Stables and
Cow Pen
5. Royal
Company
Headquarters
6. The Lyon
Inn
7. The King's
Arms Inn
8. Lt. Gov.
Edward
Morgan1s
House
 M 2. Modyford1s
0I» # Additional
Toutm is»i Quarters
^anna M 3. Modyford’s
Storehouse
M Ii. Modyford's
Stables and
Cow Pen
5. Royal
Company
Headquarters
6. The Lyon.
Tbutii \\ Inn
*« 7. The King’s
Arms Inn
8. Lt. Gov.
Edward
Morgan’s
iV\« House

#3
m ““

S*,va,w»fc\ r°

O'#*

tow"

fro*
!r»”
iHeJyfo'h
is aeUfS
of

-V1
s
 S».Vihh4.\ f°

town
£av&nni

forji
is-aer*s
of i a / a n " * -
"Tow* pi

Map 9. Plan of St. Jago

de la Vega in the
1660's-l670»s.
(Compiled from original sources)
Town.
&dtfdnn4
 368

old Spanish governor's house in which the earliest of the English

military commanders had lived. The "Port House" and the adjacent

Church Parade seem to have been the focal point of St. Jago's public

life in l66lu^

Of St. Jago's eight hundred "ruynous" houses (including the Negro

huts scattered within and around the periphery of the town) perhaps

half, by 166b, had been restored and were in use. The reconstruction

of the pillaged villa had begun shortly after the conquest when offi­

cers of the occupying army were presented grants of town lots and

houses along with tracts of land in neighboring districts. Soon yeomen

such as Richard Heratnings, Henry Hilliard, Thomas Lilly, and Edward

Reston, whose farms lay round about the town, established their resi­

dences therein. By 166b, emerging gentry like John Colebeck, Richard

Guy, John Bourden, Whitgift Aylmer, and William Bragg had established

residences in St. Jago as well. With Modyford's arrival and the re­

establishment of the seat of government in St. Jago, the process of

restoration and growth in the villa was destined to accelerate. During

the next seven years, numerous gentry— men like Thomas Ballard, John

Coape, Humphrey Freeman, Samuel Bernard— along with several merchant-

planters— men such as Hender Molesworth, John Noy, Cary Helyar— would

patent (or buy) and restore t o m houses in the capital in addition to

the manor houses they were building upon their plantations.^

In keeping with Spanish architectural patterns followed elsewhere

in the Americas, the houses which the Spaniards left behind in St. Jago

de la Vega were low, one-story buildings fronting directly upon the

unpaved streets. The better sort were timbered, veneered with brick,

roofed with tile, shuttered with louvered panels, and entered by way of
 369

two, large double doors through which two horsemen could pass abreast

into the interior courtyard and to the stables behind. Compared to

the houses of Port Royal, they were spaciously placedj town lots of

150 to 200 feet square were not uncommon. Lesser houses featured

timber uprights rooted in the ground, walls of interlaced withes,

reeds, or bamboo shoots heavily plastered with mortar, and roofs of

interlocked bi-halves of bamboo trunks. The huts of servants and

slaves were built of poles and withes thatched overall with palmetto

leaves. Here and there amidst the houses abandoned by the Spaniards, a

few, new English buildings had also, no doubt, already been erected.

Of two or three stories in height, these were built of brick with

shingle roofs and glazed windows.^

Whether in old buildings or new, as the town had gradually grown,

several retail merchants and local craftsmen had established shops in

the regenerated villa to meet the needs of the local residents and

outlying planters. Numerous ordinaries and "tippling houses" had

emerged also to cater to home folk and visitors alike. Thus, except on

"court days," when the crowded villa must have much reminded Modyford

of Exeter's fairs of Whitsuntide and St. Nicholas during his boyhood

days, the governor and his party found in St. Jago the pace of life

less hectic and the cost of living less dear than in Port Royal. In

the local market, home-grown provisions were less expensive than at

Cagway. In such establishments as "The Lyon" (facing eastward on White

Church Street a block or so north of the fort) and "the King's Arms"

(facing southward toward the Church Parade a half block east of the

fort), while getting themselves located in their new island home,

Modyford's relatives and their fellow immigrants found plentiful

 370

rum-punch and adequate gentlemens1 lodgings cheap compared with that

available on the Point. Houses for hire were also found more avail­

able and at lesser rates than in the port-town.^

At length, after savoring whatever further reception the town folk

had prepared for their new governor and briefly accepting the hospi­

tality proffered by the resident gentry and Lieutenant Governor Edward

Morgan (the house into which Morgan had already settled stood upon a

lot which stretched from Red Church Street to Monk Street a stone's

throw north of the church), Sir Thomas quickly settled into his own

residence. As yet, there was no "King's House" in St. Jagoj no

official residence for the governor had been established. Modyford

knew this. Consequently, prior to his arrival, by proxy, he had pur­

chased from Sir Charles Lyttleton the house in which the lieutenant

governor and his family had lived. The Lyttleton house, which became

Sir Thomas's principal dwelling in town, apparently stood upon a

spacious comer lot in the southwest quarter of the villaj it was

bounded on the south and the west by the main highway and faced the

"Fort-House" across the road to the south. Into this modest dwelling

Modyford now settled his household servants to prepare for the day when

he could send for Lady Modyford and his children.^

Once settled into his residence, however, the governor was off and

away! His impatience to see the island at large would brook no further

delay. During the last two weeks in June, therefore, by coasting the

shores and traipsing the rugged roadways of Jamaica, Thomas Modyford

aggressively explored his new home.^

Sir Thomas soon discovered that, while no other Jamaican roadstead

could rival the outstanding anchorage to the north of Port Royal, the
 371

island offered many excellent harbors scattered about its circumference.

He viewed for himself the settlements which had already been estab­

lished in the southeastern and south-central regions of the island.

Here along the palm-studded, coastal plain, and in lush, green vales

nestled among the heavily forested, inland hills, planting was well

under way at Port Morant, Morant Bay, Yallahs, Liguanea, Los Angeles,

Old Harbor, Guanaboa, and Guatibacoa. He experienced at several points

in the island Jamaica's warm climate, tempered delightfully by constant

cool breezes from the east and, in most areas, frequent showers of

rain. He found "the low valley grounds . . . feverish and aguish . . .

[during] . . . the rainy weather: but the uplands and hills . . . as

healthful as Cotsall in England." Indeed, perhaps he learned that this

plentiful rainfall, collecting on the slopes of the mountains and

cascading down to the plains and the sea below in more than eighty

rippling streams, is what prompted the indigenous Arawaks to name the

island "Yamaica" (Isle of Many Rivers). Be that as it may, by the end

of the month Sir Thomas could confess in a letter to Lord Arlington

(Secretary Henry Bennet) in England that "his flatterers say he has

seen more of Jamaica in a forthnight than all his predecessors saw

during their reign.

Having gained as coirplete a view of the island as possible in so

short a time, by mid-July Sir Thomas was ready to buckle down to the

work before him as His Majesty's governor of Jamaica. He had come to

assume the governance of England's first conquered colony, the king's

"darling" among the plantations, a raw frontier community in which only

 372

the bare rudiments of civil government had tenuously taken root. He

was expected to bring Jamaica firmly under the king's control, to

establish effective patterns of local government, and to govern with

the consent and cooperation of the Jamaican political community. He

was counted upon to settle substantially this sparsely peopled island

and to develop within it a thriving plantation of tropical products,

old and new.

h9

Furthermore, he was depended upon to secure Jamaica against her

encircling enemies when, as yet, the colony had not been diplomatically

recognized as rightfully England's own. This he was to do without

assistance from English forces, land or sea. He could rely only upon

unfinished fortifications, an ill-armed local militia, and, for the

moment, a corps of unruly privateers whose loyalty was to profit alone.

Simultaneously, he was expected to continue the work he had begun in

Barbados as factor for the Royal Adventurers; he was to develop in

Jamaica an entrepot of trade in blacks and other commodities with the

Spanish dominions. This would necessitate establishing and maintaining

peace with his neighbors— dramatically altering the drift of a century

of mutual barbarisms between Englishmen and Spaniards "beyond the

line." Moreover, it would require driving a successful wedge deep into

Spain's long-held, exclusive policy of trade at a point in time when

the Spaniards had not, as yet, officially recognized even England's

right to trade with those colonies of her own which she had surrepti-
1^0
tiously established amidst this "Spanish lake."-'

No easy task, his I Such a course of action called for vision, a

thorough knowledge of English political traditions, forceful leader­

ship, keen judgment, tact, courage, decisiveness, audacity, and a

 373

strong will. No matter. For thirty years, in England and the West

Indies, Thomas Modyford had been conciously preparing for such a role.

He was as ready as any man could be for the tasks before him. He

embraced his work with a high heart.

The prerogatives bestowed upon Governor Modyford by his commission

strengthened his confidence. As we have noted, he was permitted to

appoint his own Council of twelve. He chose astutely. Six of his

councillors were "Old Standers," having been in Jamaica since the con­

quest. Five were among D'Oyley's original Council appointed in 1661.

All, except for newcomers Lieutenant Governor Morgan and Major General

Modyford, had served on the Council previously} continuity of gover­

nance was assured. Most were able men. Collectively, they represented

most of the settled districts of the island. All were politically

influential. The support of such a Council would go far toward ren­

dering the governor*s other prerogatives effective.-^

With the advice of any five of these councilmen, Sir Thomas was

empowered to make laws which, while respecting the liberties of person

and property assured in English law, would be in effect for two years

pending ratification by the Crown. He was authorized to call

Assemblies and to seek their collaboration in the making of laws and

levying of a revenue, but he was not required to do so. He was granted

the power of veto in the legislative process. He was enabled to erect

courts, to appoint judges, to commission officers, to fix fees and

salaries, and to pardon crimes, except treason and willful murder in

which cases he could reprieve for one year until the king's pleasure

was known. In like fashion, he was invested with the authority to

muster and command the island's forces, to function as a vice admiral

 37ii

in Caribbean waters, and to ordain martial law.^

Moreover, several liberties granted to Modyford and the Jamaicans

by his commission and instructions made easier his tasks of settling

and governing the island. The one thousand Barbadians who accompanied

the governor and his lieutenant to Jamaica were transported at state

expense. Modyford was empowered to grant land to each settler at the

rate of thirty acres per head for each person he settled in Jamaica

(himself, each member of his family, each servant, each slave), such

land to be granted in free socage, reserving only a token quit-rent to

the king, prescribing a period of five years in which the land must be

"improved'' or escheat to the Crown. Religious dissidents were attrac­

ted to the island by the degree of toleration proffered. Only the

governor and councilman need take the oaths of allegiance and

supremacy; all other Jamaicans were to enjoy free exercise of their

religion and full liberty of conscience. Merchants and planters alike

were encouraged by the promise that in the harbors of Jamaica imports

and exports would be custom free for twenty-one years; Jamaican com­

modities shipped to England would enter duty free for the next five

years.^

In addition, Modyford was also assured a measure of financial

support as he took up the reins of government. He was empowered to

levy an impost on liquors "if it were but to restrain the vicious and

excessive use of them . . . ." This collection, along with the

customary receipts from the sale of ale-house licenses, from the quit-

rents on lands, from fines, forfeitures, and escheats, would provide

the Jamaican Government with a revenue over and above that granted by

His Majesty. The king promised J?2,£00 a year in salaries paid in

 375

quarterly installments: £1,000 for the governor; £600 for the lieuten­

ant governor; £300 for the major general; and £600 for distribution

among the governor's honor guard and the commanders and gunners of the

Port Royal forts. The Company of Royal Adventurers supplemented the

governor's salary by paying Sir Thomas a stipend of £300 per annum as

their chief agent in Jamaica and another £100 for one Lewis, his deputy

factor, into whose hands Modyford "putt the laborious part of the

busynesse . . . ."v

Thus, as Modyford plunged into the work of his new office in the

summer of 166U, he shouldered nearly impossible tasks. But he embraced

them confidently. His experiences to date had singularly prepared him

for his role. He had been granted substantial powers with which to

govern. Special privileges bestowed upon the colory in response to his

requests enhanced his position. His efforts were assured a certain

measure of financial support. Moreover, in Barbados, his son, Thomas,

and nephew, Thomas Kendall, were actively recruiting settlers for

Jamaica and arranging for their transport. In London, his brother, Sir

James, was acquiring a special license to transport to Jamaica all

felons in the city's jails who were reprieved to transportation.

(Simultaneously, Sir James was assuming the role of Jamaica's chief

agent in London.) Sir Thomas himself, as principal factor in Jamaica

for the Royal Company, could assure Jamaican planters a reasonable

supply of blacks. And what was of supreme importance, his kinsmen

— Albemarle, Colleton, and Kendall— were strategically placed in the

Imperial Government where they could address Modyford's and Jamaica's

needs as occasion arose. In all, it portended bright prospects for a

successful administration. Modyford went to work with a willI^

 376

7
f
By late summer, 166U, Modyford's first order of concern was to

reorganize and to establish on a sounder basis certain aspects of the

Jamaican Government. During his first few weeks in the island, Sir

Thomas appeared to be pleasantly surprised by the state of affairs as

Lord Windsor and Sir Charles Lyttleton had left them. He spoke well

of his predecessors. His gracious manner and affability quickly won

for him the respect and affection of the island's chief planters and

merchants. But, as letters arrived from Sir James Modyford informing

Sir Thomas of Lyttleton's disfavor at Whitehall, as Sir Thomas re­

viewed in greater detail the Jamaican establishment as Lyttleton left

it, and as he studied carefully the forty-five acts passed by Jamaica's

first Assembly earlier that year, furrows of concern increasingly

marked the governor's brow. To first one, then another, Modyford began

to hint at disorders in the former government "with sharp reflections

upon some pticular Acts of ye Assembly."^

Indeed, Modyford saw himself faced with a number of serious

problems. Following their productive legislative session of January/

February, l66ii, the first Jamaican Assembly had adjourned until May

17. When they had reconvened on that date, they had done so without

Lieutenant Governor lyttleton; he had departed for England. Samuel

Long, a young M. A. from Port Royal with pronounced republican sympa­

thies, had used this occasion to muster considerable support toward

securing certain political liberties for the colonists. Before

Lieutenant Governor Morgan dissolved this Assembly as "irregular"

/ shortly after his arrival, as Speaker of this session, Long had

 377

procured the passage of acts establishing an island treasury, enumer­

ating the causes for which public monies could be spent, and appointing

him receiver-treasurer, responsible to the Assembly for the dispensing

of public funds. After Modyford arrived, Long had the audacity to

refuse the governor a draft of |20 upon the treasury for the repair of

the king's shallop ferrying materials to the fort-construetion site at

Port Royal. ^

Inwardly, Modyford was incensed1 Be damned if he would permit any

such "Magna-Carta Man and Petition-of-Right maker" so to erode away the

king's prerogative while he was wielding it! He, himself, had initi­

ated too many popular movements in colonial assemblies not to perceive

perfectly the design and tactics of such a ploy. Modyford was bent

upon replicating as closely as possible in the Jamaican Government the

models furnished by the central and county governments of England.

Thus, these acts and others of the first Jamaican Assembly had to be

appropriately revised and promptly! Quietly, on July 11, Modyford

issued writs to J. P.s in the seven parishes (St. Thomas's, St. David's,

St. Andrew's, Port Royal, St. Catherine's, St. John's, Clarendon) and

the two, outlying districts (Blewfields and North Side) for the

election of a new Assembly called to convene on October 12, 1661;.

Meantime, Modyford was equally concerned about the independent

posture of three of his principal executive officers. Surveyor General

John Man (through his assistants, responsible for surveying and

verifying the boundaries of all lands granted and conveyed), Provost

Marshal General Thomas Lynch (through his deputies, constables, and

bailiffs, responsible for executing all warrants and writs, keeping

the peace, apprehending criminals, and maintaining a jail), and Island

 378

Secretary Richard Povey (responsible for enrolling deeds, wills,

licenses, the entry and exit of ships; keeping minutes of the Councilj

recording ordinances of Council and Acts of Assembly^ penning all

official commissions, dispatches, proclamations)— all three held their

59
posts via letters patent under the Great Seal of England. ^

Since the patent officers' appointments were by virtue of the same

authority as the governor's, Modyford believed this weakened their

deference to the governor as the Crown's chief representative in the

colony. In his view, such officers were often "proud, careless and

indiligent" in their work. They were frequently more concerned with

their profits than with the king's service. When they did fulfill

their duties, it was with reference to their own opinions, not to the

governor's counsel. Their special status tended to diminish the

governor's prestige and authority, diverting other men from serving

well the governor, seeing that he could not readily exact full obedi­

ence. Thus, Modyford averred, each of these three officers in his own

way tended to hinder the settlement and good government of the island.^®

Even before Modyford1s arrival, Richard Povey had regenerated

Modyford's dislike for patent officers in general and the Povey family

in particular. (Recall that in the late 1650's, his brother, Thomas,

and Martin Noell had persistently supported Governor Daniel Searle

against the intrigues of Modyford and Colleton and had imposed patent-

officer Provost Marshal William Povey upon the Barbadians.) Upon

hearing of Sir Thomas's appointment, the island secretary had forthwith

departed with Sir Charles Lyttleton for England. Though Povey returned

by September, this constituted a slight which Modyford's aggressive

pride could ill accommodate. Surveyor General John Man charged fees
 379

which imposed hardships upon the community; moreover, he would hire

only four assistants— too few to keep up with the increasing work load.

Provost Marshal Thomas Lynch neglected his ceremonial duties of

accompanying the governor to and from church and on journeys. More

significantly, to Modyford's reverence for the traditions of English

county government, this office— of military origin— appeared ill-

suited to a civil establishment. As he pointed out to the authorities

in England: "if the wholesome laws of England, will not permit any

person to bee Sheriffs a second time within three yeares after the

first, what inconvenience may it then bee, to have a Provost-Marshal in

the nature of Sheriffe, authorised during life for the Island, may with

ease be imagined." Finally, having earlier established their facil­

ities in Port Royal, none of the patent officers appeared willing to

accommodate the governor's move of the capital to St. Jago. To Mody-

ford, it seemed fruitless to have been given strong executive powers

if, from several of his principal executive officers, he could expect

only half-hearted obedience to his commands.

Consequently, Sir Thomas determined to alter these offices as

opportunity arose. By way of initiating such change, on July 21 and

again on August 10, Modyford wrote to Sir James and to Thomas Kendall

in London asking them to counsel with "our Duke" [of Albermarle] and

press for permission to divide Jamaica into counties, hundreds, and

tythings, with a sheriff to be chosen yearly, constables, and tything-

men. He urged them "especially to press for the sheriff, absolutely

necessary for the good of this place . . . [but begged that] . . .

there be no hint of Modyford's desire in it, because it will make

Col. Lynch, who has that unreasonable patent for Provost-Marshal,

 380

resent it, who Modyford would not willingly disoblige for he is a

62
pretty understanding gentleman, and very useful here." c

The other aspect of the Jamaican establishment needizig attention

was the judiciary. Modyford believed the current handful of J. P.s,

the one Court of Common Pleas meeting alternately at St. Jago and at

the Point, and the ill-equipped Admiralty Court of Port Royal to be

totally inadequate to meet the needs of the expanding population. The

present system of justice demonstrated no vision, no planning for anti­

cipated growth. He began outlining a judiciary more appropriate to

Jamaica as he saw it ten years hence. Thus, as the summer waned, the

governor was vigorously seeking improvements in all these matters of

vital importance to the colony.

Modyford's efforts at enhancing the Jamaican Government came to a

head in the fall with the meeting of the new Assembly. On October 12,

the eighteen burgesses elected by the freeholders of the seven parishes

and the two frontier districts assembled with the governor and Council

in St. Jago (probably in the "Fort House" of the "Red Church"). After

a brief welcoming speech, Sir Thomas dismissed the Assembly to their

own chamber to select their Speaker. To the Council, the governor sug­

gested that it was the king's privilege to nominate for this position^

the councillors concurred. In spite of Island Secretary Povey's spoken

opposition to the governor's choice, Modyford sent to the Assembly the

name of Sir Thomas Whitstones. Whitstones was elected Speakerj a

measure of executive influence over the Assembly's proceedings was thus

assured. Simultaneously, however, the Assembly "that day choose long

 381

[Samuel long; not an elected member of this Assembly] their Clarke to

ye little Sattisfaction of ye G— .

It has been suggested that Modyford "packed" this Assembly for his

own purposes. There is no evidence of this. Ensuing events are more

easily explained by understanding the "parties" composing the Assembly,

their conflicting interests, and the ways the governor made use of

conflict among them. The election of the first Assembly had returned

the leading gentry of the various districts. While responding to the

lofty constitutional ideas of a few of their colleagues and seizing

control of the island’s revenues, this group had also made laws which

were resented by the lesser planters. One law imposed a poll tax upon

all freeholdersj another called for the forfeiture of all land grants

not legally surveyed, enrolled, and sealed in Chancery. Thus, in

reaction to such measures, the freeholders returned to this second

Assembly a majority of "middling" and "lesser" gentry bent upon undoing

much of the work of the first and securing unto themselves less

governance. Whitstones, a "malicious, beggarly, debauched fellow"

according to Thomas Lynch, voiced the sentiments of this group. Mody­

ford maneuvered him into the Speaker's chair in order to capitalize

upon these sentiments for his own purposes. Four members of the former

Assembly were returned as well. One or two of them were determined to

maintain the constitutional status of the Assembly attained earlier;

Samuel Long, though merely Clerk, vociferously voiced their concerns.

The others intended simply to defend the integrity of the first

Assembly and the body of laws it had enacted. In all, the setting
At
commanded conflict. '

The session opened with a bitter dispute over the election of

 382

William Beeston and John Loveing from Port Royal. A petition, signed

by "all ye Rable," was presented to the Assembly which claimed that one

Cockett was duely elected instead of Loveing. It charged Surveyor

General John Man, the Port Royal J. P. who managed the election, with

an undue return. After three days of debate, during which Speaker

Whitstones and others frequently slandered Major Man, a motion carried

that the return of Loveing was illegal; Cockett was seated in his

place.
66

At once, Modyford saw his opportunity. While Man's reputation was

suffering as a result of the .election controversy, the governor focused

upon the problems created by the Surveyor General's management of his

patent office. Modyford pressed the major to lower his fees from Ud

to 2 l/2d per acre, to admit additional qualified surveyors to his crew,

and to employ Samuel Bernard as recorder of all surveys in a master

plat book— substantially reducing the profits of Man's post. Though

Man continued to attend the sessions off and on as a member of the

Council, he contracted a fever and daily sank into a deeper meloncholia.

When told by a colleague that the governor had asked how he fared, the

Surveyor General replied: "he needed not prtend such care since hee had

Caused it . . . ." Sy November 20, John Man was dead. Modyford put

his post into commission. Thus, he solved the problem of one patent

office.^

Though the election dispute was settled, the Assembly still could

not commence its work. William Beeston, the other M. A. from Port

Royal, refused to take his seat. In spite of being assured by Speaker

Whitstones that only Loveing's election had been contested, Beeston

ignored several sunmons from the House. On October 18, the Assembly
 383

ordered Beeston imprisoned; on October 20, the House issued to the

provost marshal a warrant to bring Beeston before the Council to answer

for his recalcitrance. Thomas Lynch, who was at the moment sitting

with the governor at the bench of the high court in St. Jago (he had

functioned as chief justice since Lyttleton's departure), brought

Beeston from Port Royal to the Council chamber. Governor Modyford

reprimanded Beeston for impeding the Assembly's work and ordered him to

take his seat. Beeston complied. The Assembly, at last, began its

deliberations

Again, Modyford grasped his opportunity. "Surely," the governor

must have thought to himself, "Lynch can see the conflict of interests

involved in leaving his post as chief justice amidst a trial, escorting

a prisoner before the Council in his patent role as provost marshal,

and, by appearing in the Council's chamber as marshal with the prisoner

in his custody, disqualifying himself from acting with his fellow

councillors in passing judgment upon the prisoner." Quietly, on

October 2h, Modyford wrote and dispatched to Lynch a "Quietus,"

dismissing him from his offices as councillor and chief justice. Since

he had chosen to neglect the two high offices to which the governor had

appointed him, Modyford explained, in order to pursue personally the

duties of a lesser office, albeit a "patent" one, the governor deemed

69
it no longer appropriate for him to continue in the other two. '

Lynch was deeply hurt. Though he had previously planned to marry

and to settle in Jamaica for life, he now resolved to quit the island.

During the ensuing weeks, he leased his patent as provost marshal to

deputies William Cheeke, Peter Pugh, and Robert Thorton; he arranged

for the management of his plantations; and he prepared to depart for

 38U

England. Modyford continued to treat him with all kindness and con­

sideration. He even took Lynch into partnership and authorized him to

negotiate in Havanna and Madrid toward the purchase from the Spaniards

in Cuba or Hispaniola of two thousand breeding cattle for replenishing

Jamaica's savannas. But Lynch made good his resolve; in the spring of

166^, he sailed for England. Modyford had solved the problem of the

second patent office.^®

Meantime, the Assembly went to work. Instead of examining the

acts of the former Assembly one by one, each on its own merit, however,

the majority passed on to the Council a proposition which declared the

former body called by Lyttleton "illegal11 and the measures they passed

"Contrary to law, Magna Carta . . . and ye Pryviledges of English-men."

But, by now, the Council was ill disposed toward their clamoring and

was fast losing patience; indeed, so was the governor. Sir Thomas

wrote them a terse note, instructing the contentious assemblymen "to

bee more silent and modest, and not to question Authorityes." Mody-

ford's gravity had the desired effect.

71

Consequently, though the Assembly's deliberations proceeded "like

Bells rung by Boys all jarring and every day Caused more ill blood

. . . .," constructive legislation at last began to emerge. Step by

step, the Assembly altered, combined, refined, and reenacted acts

passed by the former House and produced a few new ones as well.

Between October 20 and 28, several acts were forwarded to the Council.

One new act called for the convening of the island's principal court in

St. Jago instead of in Port Royal. Though strongly opposed by Island

Secretary Richard Povey, this measure was generally in keeping with the
72
governor's relocation of the island's capitol; it passed.
 385

This busy period of law-making provided the governor with still

another welcomed opportunity. After attending the opening sessions of

the Council and Assembly, Secretary Povey returned to Port Royal for

several days, leaving his deputy, Peter Pugh, to fulfill his duties.

Neither Povey nor Pugh appears to have attended sessions of the Council

on October 18 and 20, denying the Council the services of a recorder.

For several days thereafter, the governor sought a commitment from Pugh

that he would relocate in St. Jago and deposit a substantial security

for the appropriate fulfillment of the secretary's duties, Pugh would

agree to neither. Modyford promptly dispatched to Povey in Port Royal

a letter which, "with studied reasons," suspended him from the office

of island secretary. As Povey later reported to his friend, Sir Charles

Lyttleton: "This . . . amazed all my Brothers [the councilmen] and

taught them the necessary Lessons of Submission and Silence.

Whether coyed by the governor's assertiveness or convinced by his

reasonings, the Council concurred in his action3 they ordered the

office of island secretary to be at the governor's disposal until His

Majesty's pleasure be known. Modyford tendered the post to Lieutenant

Governor Edward Morgan's eldest son, Charles. (The king did not con­

cern himself with this issue until 1670 when, at a time when the

political currents were generally running against Modyford, he ordered

Povey's office restored to him and no security for its performance

required.) Though Modyford still believed he had "been too tender in

lessening the profits of some patents, which he 'thought not fit to be

too saucy with,'" nevertheless, by the end of this legislative session,

the governor had largely solved the problems posed for him by the

patent offices. Promptly thereafter, Sir Thomas sought Lord Chancellor

 386

Clarendon’s assurance that no further patent appointments would be made

for Jamaica without first consulting the governor. Clarendon agreed.^

Meantime, the problem of the Assembly's independent control of the

island's treasury had to be dealt with as well. During the first week

in November, "the Assembly with Partys great heats and ill humours"

went on with their work. When they took up the measure designed to

levy an impost upon liquors for purposes of establishing an island

revenue, as Modyford expected, Clerk Samuel Long did his best to

prevent the insertion of the king's name in the bill. The governor

forthwith issued a warrant for Long's arrest for "by seditious speeches

and arguments endeavor[ing] to infuse dangerous principles into the

heads of members of said Assembly, advising them not to trust the King

with any fines or other levies, but to make them all payable to a

treasurer of their own, thereby endeavouring to take from his Majesty

the disposition of public monies . . . ." With the concurrence of the

Council, Long was ordered to give in his accounts as receiver-treasurer;

he was imprisoned; his estate was taken into custody. Speaker Whit­

stones (undoubtedly with the governor's help) drew up against Long

"articles of high and treasonable crimes and misdemeanors . . . in

behalf of his Majesty" and required that he "be brought to answer for

his treasonable practices and contrivances, and receive suitable cen­

sure from the Assembly." Long's hearing was set for the nexrt general

session of the House.

With Long out of the way, the Assembly proceeded to enact a

revenue bill and other essential measures. They voted to the "King,

his heirs and successors . . . for the public use of this island" a

revenue on strong liquors; the "Receiver of His Majesty's public

 387

revenue" was to be a nominee of the governorj disbursements from the

treasury were to be made by order of the governor in keeping with

certain causes enumerated in the act. In skeletal form, the Assembly

enacted a more adequate judiciary for the islandj they concurred with

the Council in leaving to the governor the task of delineating its

details— a task at which Modyford was already at work. Toward the end

of this legislative session, at the instigation of the governor and

Council, the Assembly passed "an act declaring the laws of England in

force in this island." As Modyford later explained to Lord Keeper,

Sir Orlando Bridgeman: "finding their weakness in that work [the

Assembly's ineptness at law-making], [we] passed the like law Sir

Edward Poynings made in Ireland, thereby making us partakers of the

most perfectly incomparable laws of our own country . . . .

In spite of being factious and contentious to the very end of the

session, therefore, in response to Modyford's prodding and discipline,

the second Jamaican Assembly completed their work. The twenty-seven

acts which they passed dealt fundamentally with the issues of most

immediate concern to the colonists, repealed (while incorporating much

of) the work of the former Assembly, and officially left other concerns

to English law. Richard Povey perceived that "by introducing new

Instrum'ts and formes of Govern:t the G thinks to gett repute at

Court, and render his coming more needfull, and proffitable to the

King’s Service." Make no mistake. Thomas Modyford was by no means

above capitalizing upon the weakness of the former government or the

parties' strife within the current Assembly to earn credits at home.

But this was not his prime purpose. He sought simply to effect what he

had come to do— to bring the structure and practice of the Jamaican
 388

Government into harmony with the English Constitution as he understood

it while laying a firm foundation for the island's growth and pros­

perity as a Crown Colony under strong executive leadership. The first

steps had been taken. By November 12, the Assembly "had ended what was

thought fitting and then brake up and adjourned to the second Tuesday

in March.

On the last day of their session, with the intent of closing a

month of discord with an evening of happy festivity, the Assembly

invited the governor and Council to a splendid dinner at "Gabryells"

set to wine and music. They ate well and "drunk high." All was

pleasant until, after the governor had departed, the wine opened old

wounds not fully healed and "their Rage over flowed their Cupps."

Then, they "went together by the Ears . . . ." Violent quarrels,

scuffling, a duel appointed on the Town Savanna, sword play between

Councilman Robert Freeman and Speaker Whitstones— all prefaced that

tragic moment when good friends Councilman William Ivy and Assemblyman

Abraham Rutter caught up with one another at savanna's edge and, in

pursuit of other men's quarrels, fell to blows. In the heat of passion

and of wine, swords were drawn; Ivy ran Rutter through the heart. The

Jamaicans' early attempts at representative government can hardly be

7ft
styled serene!

In light of this tragic denouement of the Assembly’s closing

session, perhaps it was fortunate that Samuel Long remained in prison.

But Long chafed at his confinement. On November 20, he petitioned

Governor Modyford for release on bail, protesting that Sir Thomas was

prejudiced against him through false information. Modyford had ably

made his point. So, he released Long on November 23 upon his promise
 389

to appear for his hearing during the Assembly's up-coming session in

March.^

Throughout December, Sir Thomas and the Council labored at

settling the island's new judiciary, Jamaica was divided into six

judicial precincts. Three levels of courts were established. In each

precinct, a Commission of the Peace was created, and several J. P.'s

were appointed, chief among whom would also serve as Custos Rotulorum

(keeper of the court's records). The J. P.'s were instructed to hold

Quarter Sessions beginning on the first Tuesday in January* April,

July, and October. They were authorized to solicit from Local con­

stables presentments of suspected crimes, to empanel grand juries, to

seek indictments, and to forward these to the Supreme Court in St.

Jago. They, themselves, could tiy petty larcenies and common pleas not
flo
exceeding 1*0 shillings.

In each precinct there was also established a Court of Common

Pleas to be presided over by a chief judge with two of the local

J. P.'s as his assistants. These justices were instructed to hold

General Sessions commencing the second Thursday in each month. The

precinct court (parish court) was given the same jurisdiction as the

county court in England except that, as a Court of Record, it could

regularly try cases of up to 20 and, with a Writ of Justicias out of

8l
Chancery, it could process pleas of higher value yet.

The "Kings Supreame Co:r^ of Judicature" was established in St.

Jago. A recent act of the Assembly had redeemed from private occu­

pation and made available for its use the old Spanish audiencia (hall

of audience/court house). To the bench of this court were appointed

three justices "of whom for want of a better lawyer" the governor
 390

himself became chief. To the Supreme Court were given powers of

King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer. It would try all the

serious criminal suits, all actions directly involving the interests of

the Crown, and common pleas appealed to it from the lesser courts. It
Op
was to convene every two months or more often if occasion prompted.

In addition to structuring common law courts more appropriate to

the colony's expanding needs, Modyford's reformed court system made

room for other vital judicial functions as well. As both governor and

chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Sir Thomas could, when occasion

demanded, readily constitute this bench a Court of Equity to try

unusual cases. ( In addition, as judge prerogative and bishop's (of

London) ordinary, Modyford would periodically hold a Prerogative Court

in St. Jago for the proving of wills and the disposition of estates.

In like fashion, as chancellor, the governor would convene a monthly

Chancery Court; the second Monday of every month would soon be known as

"sealing day"— the occasion appointed for legal confirmation of pro­

perly surveyed land grants. Moreover, in Port Royal, the Admiralty

Court was confirmed and strengthened to process maritime suits and to

adjudicate prizes taken at sea. With the appointment of a judge

admiral assisted by his advocate, proctor, registrar, and marshal, the

court was equipped to pursue actively its jurisdiction.

While outlining the respective courts, prescribing jurisdictions,

and making the principal judicial appointments, Sir Thomas and the

Council did not neglect the details of the judicial system. The judges

were provided with essential assisting officers: deputy marshals,

constables, coroners, bailiffs, clerks of the Peace and of the Crown,

and criers. The commissions and oaths of the various judicial officers
 391

w e r e written out with care; the forms of the necessary writs, warrants,

and summonses were delineated; the formulas of proceedings in the

respective courts were outlined; schedules regulating the fees to be

charged by the courts' officers and the fines to be levied upon law­

breakers and defeated suitors were provided. Every care was taken to

bring the practice of the Jamaican courts into harmony with the

procedures of the English judiciary while simplifying those processes

whereever possible. In January, 1665, Modyford set into operation a

judiciary the basic form of which would serve Jamaica well for many

decades to come.®^*

On March II4, the Assembly convened once again with the governor

and Council in St. Jago. The articles of treason against Samuel Long

were read, but action on them was postponed until the next general

session to give Long time to prepare his defense. (Thereafter, they

were conveniently forgotten.) Then, the Assembly took up the task of

further refining the acts passed previously. Old prejudices manifested

themselves again very quickly, however; little could be accomplished.

Modyford began to perceive what his successor, Sir Thomas Lynch, would

also learn: "Arguing the Assemblys is like philosophising with a

Mule."8^

At this point, Sir Thomas concluded that he could govern the

island more effectively without this Assembly. By now the Jamaican

Government was thoroughly and soundly reestablished. He had nipped in

the bud a grassroots rebellion against the king's prerogatives. Under

his leadership, governor, Council, and Assembly had revised and

repealed "irregularities" of the former government. They had estab­

lished a pattern of practice more befitting "an humble Modell of our

 392

high Court of Parliament.11 They had enacted effective laws addressing

the foremost concerns of colonial life and, concurrently, assured that

"Eight reason which is the Common Law of England is esteemed and of

force amongst us, together with Magna Carta, and the ancient Statutes

of England, so farr as they are practicable." An adequate revenue had

been levied j disbursements were by order of the governor and Council.

The independence of the patent offices had been trimmed; their func­

tions were proceeding in harmony with local needs. Seven parishes had

been established; ministers, churchwardens, and vestries were being

appointed as the number and needs of local populations necessitated.

A comprehensive judiciary which could expand into new areas along with

the growing population was in effect. It would be better to involve

the M. A. 's in the government in other ways, thought Modyford— as

vestrymen, J. P.'s, militia officers— and to placate them with personal

favors— loans of money, land grants, credit for the purchase of slaves,

advice on planting and processing sugar cane— than to perpetuate the

Assembly's factious conflict. If he allowed this political harangue

to continue, he would likely lose the loyalty of many of the assembly­

men at a time when events otherwise determined his need for their

support. 86

Modyford acted decisively. He appointed Speaker Whitstones and

William Beeston to refine the wording of the new laws in preparation

for dispatching them to Whitehall for confirmation. Then, on March 16,

he prorogued the Assembly to meet again one year hence or sooner should

occasion demand. (The following October, Modyford dissolved this

Assembly by proclamation. Thereafter, he carefully saw to it that need

did not require the summoning of another for the remainder of his term
 393

as governor.) A comment, tongue in cheek, like that of Richard Povey

disturbed Modyford little: "This change may bring the country into the

English forme of G o v e r n : T h e r e s only men, Witt, and Estates wanting

to make good the parrellell, and bring it to a Vice Roy, as is

designed." Sir Thomas had successfully brought Jamaica into the

"English forme of Govern:^." As "Vice Roy," he could now devote his

efforts more fully to protecting the colony and to facilitating the

development therein of the "men, Witt, and Estates wanting to make

good the parrellell."^

While reestablishing the Jamaican Government, Modyford also took

steps the better to insure the colony's defense. The militia was

enlarged and exercised. Construction of fortifications continued.

Measures were taken to deal with bands of marauding Spanish Negroes

lurking in the Jamaican hills. Peace and trade were sought with the

neighboring Spaniards. An effort was made to call in the Jamaican

privateers and to reduce them to peaceable pursuits.

Before Sir Charles Lyttleton departed for England in May, 166U,

he had raised an island militia consisting of five regiments of foot

and one troop of horse. Modyford took steps further to strengthen

these forces. He promptly appointed anew the commanders of the militia

and established a pattern of regular muster and drill every two months.

5y year's end, he was forming additional regiments on the North Side

and the South Side beyond the parish boundaries, "which are supposed

will be the best, containing as they do most of the old soldiers turned

hunters . . . ." Moreover, he was raising additional troops of horse,

 3914

88
one to accompany each infantry regiment.

Although a year after his arrival Modyford had not yet received

the £ 1,000 the king had promised him toward fort construction, never­

theless, he pushed forward the work of fortifying the island. He

continued to support the modifications being made upon Fort Charles

commanding the entrance to the Port Royal harbor; this construction

proceeded slowly but steadily toward completion. In 1665, the land­

ward Palisadoes Line was replaced by a masonry wall featuring gun ports

and a central tower holding six cannon. Furthermore, in addition to

the tower of Fort Charles, now the port-town magazine, Modyford

purchased an old stone house in St. Jago which was used for storing the

powder and shot of the inland regiments. 7

So

The Varmahaly (Spanish) Negroes continued to create problems for

the outlying English settlements. Before Modyford’s arrival, one band

of them had come out of the hills, accepted pardon, and settled

peaceably as free Blacks upon lands patented to them on the east bank

of the Rio Cobre just north of St. Jago de la Vega. Others, however,

lurked in the mountains, venturing forth now and again to rob and kill.

In July, 166hj Modyford sent John Noy with an interpreter to invite

them in upon liberal articles of peace; to no avail. In March, 1665,

the Assembly levied a tax upon the parishes to support an expedition

against them. As the Varmahaly*s depredations intensified, in August,

1665, the governor and Council declared war against them; martial law

was proclaimed; each regiment was empowered to inflict punishment upon

them at every opportunity. In September and October, additional

incentives were added; freemen were proffered rewards of |10-Jf30 per

head for bringing in Varmahalies dead or alive; servants and slaves

 395

were promised their freedom for the same. Nevertheless, these enemies

in the very midst of the English Jamaicans periodically caused chaos

90
on the frontier for some time to come.

Of far greater concern to Modyford, of course, were the Jamaicans'

encircling enemies abroad— the Spaniards. Modyford hoped to secure

the island from the threat which they posed by establishing peace and

trade with Jamaica's Spanish neighbors. Not only would this policy

simplify the task of Jamaican defense. If peace could be established

and the Spaniards could be lured to Jamaica to purchase blacks, Sir

Thomas— as the chief factor of the Royal Adventurers in Jamaica— and

Sir James Modyford— as a charter member of the company— stood to profit

91
handsomely as they had in Barbados.

Initially, there were hopeful signs. The Jamaicans accepted

Modyford's proclamation (June 11,16614) of peace with the Spaniards

without murmuring. The Spaniards' responses to Modyford's proposals of

peace and trade carried by his envoys to Hispaniola and Cartegena were

friendly if limited. The Governor of Santo Domingo promised English

ships freedom to "wood and water" in his ports. From Cartegena,

several Spanish merchants came to Jamaica to trade and were treated

"as kingly as any of his Majesty's subjects." When one of the priva­

teers came in bearing a Spanish prize, Modyford restored it to the

Cuban seamen who arrived at Port Royal to retrieve it. Moreover, upon

receipt of further complaint from Charles II of continuing depredations

upon the King of Spain's subjects, the Jamaican Council backed Modyford

fully. On August 19, they issued a further proclamation: "that all

persons receiving notice hereof, although their commissions are not

yet expired, and all others attempting said depredations against

 396

Spanyard, shall be looked upon as Pirates and Rebels and proceeded

92
against accordingly."^

By this time, however, Modyford was having serious misgivings

about the policy he was pursuing. The several small vessels he had out

during July and August seeking the privateers with word of the peace

and invitation to come in met with small success. Only three of the

privateers surrendered their commissions. An example of severe justice

— one recalcitrant crew were captured, brought into port, tried, and

six of them hanged— accomplished little more. As agent for the Royal

Adventurers, Sir Thomas desired the Spaniards to come to Jamaica to

tradej but as governor of Jamaica, he was becoming much more concerned

about the possible consequences of suppressing the privateers in order

to make this trade feasible.^

By summer's end, Modyford was convinced that the policy he had

been asked to enforce was totally impractical. He commanded no royal

frigates. Without them, he could not enforce the decree of peace with

Spain. Indeed, until Jamaica was well peopled, its harbors securely

fortified, and its land forces better armed and deployed, without a

squadron of royal frigates the privateers were the island's only

shield against foreign invasion. To prosecute the privateers as

pirates would only drive them away from Jamaica to the Island of

Tortuga (off the northwestern coast of Hispaniola) where the new French

governor, d'Ogeron, was building up quite a buccaneering community by

freely granting commissions of war. Furthermore, the results of

suppressing the privateers might prove disastrous: the alienation of

Jamaica's main source of defense; the spread of indiscriminate piracy

to include attacks upon Jamaica's own merchant shipping; perhaps even

 397

an open attack upon the island itself 9h

As Modyford periodically asked for a frigate with which to patrol

the seas, he also repeatedly pled with the English Administration to

grant him freedom to temper the strictness of his policy. At length,

his latter plea was heard. With considerable relief, in November,

166U, Sir Thomas received permission from Lord Arlington to employ a

more "gentle usage" in dealing with the privateers. In consequence, he

dealt so gently with them that, by the end of 1661|, out "of no less

than 1,500 lusty fellows abroad" with out-dated commissions, he had

arrested only lU as pirates. 95

Clearly, what was needed was a more positive employment for the

privateers which would prove profitable to them, continue to provide

Jamaica with defense, and, simultaneously, be advantageous to the

Imperial Government. In early 1665, a conjunction of affairs on the

international scene appeared to offer just such a solution.

96

Throughout l66h, English diplomats had negotiated with Spain in an

effort to persuade her to abandon her claim to exclusive trade rights

in the Caribbean and to open her ports in the West Indies to English

ships. Deeply desiring peace "beyond the line," the Spaniards had

seriously considered this move. But Spain*s necessity, though severe,

had not yet subdued her pride. Ultimately, she decided to stand her

ground.^

At this point, England's search for opportunities for commercial

expansion shifted its focus from the Spaniards to the Dutch. Frigates

of the Royal Adventurers increasingly competed with Dutch West-Indiamen

for blacks along the African coastsj English merchantmen accelerated

their invasion of the Netherlanders' near monopoly of the carrying

 398

trade in the Caribbean. Moreover, the English treasury was empty, and

France could not yet be persuaded to lend England money. Since the

Dutch were now becoming the chief obstacle to England's national

economic growth, the English Administration set out to provoke the

Dutch into a conflict from which national profit could be made in a

hurry on a large scale. Charles II shared none of Cromwell's scruples

against such a struggle. Thus, throughout l66ij, armed skirmishes

between the English and Dutch merchant marine became increasingly more

serious. War loomed on the horizon.

98

Getting wind of these developments, during the winter of 166

1665, both the "Jamaican Committee" of the Privy Council and Governor

Sir Thomas Modyford of Jamaica advanced proposals to the English

Administration calling for an expedition against the Dutch islands in

the Caribbean. The Crown approved. In February, 1665, the Duke of

York as Lord High Admiral issued a general commission of reprisal to

all English governors3 they, in turn, were authorized thereby to grant

commissions of reprisal to private ships of war against the Dutch.

99

Modyford responded promptly. He was delighted to be able to

recall the privateers, issue new letters of reprisal, collect his |20

per commission issued, and enlist the sea rovers in a design against

the Dutch. Of course the privateers had not been idle. Earlier in the

year they had already sacked such Spanish towns as Tabasco, Santa

Maria, and Truxillo on the Main, had ravaged the Moskito Coast, and had

captured several Spanish ships. But Modyford ignored all past offenses.

He reported on April 12 to Lord Arlington: "The privateers 'upon my

gentleness towards them' come in apace and cheerfully offer life and

fortune to his Majesty's service." On April 15, under the command of

 399

Lieutenant Governor Edward Morgan, the Jamaican privateers set sail,

ten ships and six hundred men, bent upon bringing the Dutch Islands

of Saba, St. Eustatius, and, if possible, Curacao into the English

Empire. For the moment, the problems of supplying Jamaica's defense

and of providing positive, patriotic employment for Jamaica's priva­

teers were resolved.

10

Meantime, Modyford was actively promoting the settlement and the

planting of the island. By October, I66I4, he could report that most

places near the sea had already been settled; indeed, many settlers

arriving recently had penetrated into the inland hills and begun

planting. Of the one thousand immigrants who came over with Sir Thomas,

many were getting established and doing well. By June, 1665, John

Style was finding "the island so good and so profitable that he would

resolve to end his days there had he not many engagements in England to

forbid it." He had sent for two of his sons to come out from England,

bringing seeds, plows, and tradesmen with them, and encouraging other

husbandmen to follow. True, some of the new settlers had arrived

without sufficient means to sustain them until crops were made; con­

sequently, they died. But by February, 1665, Modyford had succeeded

in assisting a good number of planters to progress so in sugar pro­

duction that much more employment was available therein for poor

newcomers until they could make a start on their own."^

Simultaneously, steps were being taken to bring into the island

more people and more stock. In January, 1665, the Privy Council

authorized any two J. P.s of County Middlesex to transport "vagabonds,

idle and disorderly persons" of their vicinity to Jamaica as indentured

servants. In March, the Council ordered a substantial number of

Quakers in Newgate Prison shipped to Governor Modyford as well. In

response to such initiatives, Sir James Modyford, by virtue of his

exclusive license to transport felons from the London jails, was soon

doing a booming business bringing new settlers into the island. In

like fashion, Brother-in-law Thomas Kendall transported enough small

planters, indentured servants, and slaves to Jamaica during the first

few months of Modyford's term to establish by the summer of 1666 an

entirely new settlement in the mountains of St. Catherine's Parish at

a site called "Stevens' Palenque." Concurrently, Sir Thomas was

negotiating through Thomas Lynch with the Spaniards at Madrid and

through the Duke of Albermarle with the King of Portugal toward the

importation of breeding cattle from Cuba and the Cape Verde Islands
102
for the emerging ranches of southern Jamaica.

Of all of Modyford's early efforts at promoting the colony's

economic growth, however, perhaps that which had the greatest impact

was his own example as an agricultural entrepreneur. As a seasoned and

successful planter, while carrying out his official duties as governor,

Sir Thomas straightway began acquiring a Jamaican estate. Upon his own

lands he cultured the customary crops and experimented with new ones;

he established herds of healthy stock. From the flourishing crops and

expanding herds of Modyford's spreading acres and from his substantial

reserves of capital liberally loaned, many an emerging Jamaican planter

drew the seeds, cuttings, technology, stock, and backing he needed to

launch or to enlarge his own enterprise. By stages, in this and

succeeding chapters, we examine the process by which Modyford's

expanding estate— in size, in productivity, in variety of enterprise

— set a challenging pace for Jamaica's economic growth.

As soon as the immediate problems of the Jamaican Government were

attended to, Modyford sent for his family and began developing his

Jamaican estates. Around August 1, 166k, Sir Thomas dispatched his

eldest son, Major General John Modyford, in a small frigate, the

Griffin, to fetch Lady Modyford and the remainder of his family from

Barbados. When November arrived and the Griffin had not yet reached

Barbados, however, it was clear that something was amiss; rumor had it

that the Griffin, along with her sister ship, the Westergate, had been

blown into the Bay of Campeche by a hurricane and destroyed at sea.

By early 1665, Sir Thomas had sorrowfully given John up for lost. He

sent word to his second son, Thomas, to bring the family to Ja m a ic a .

Young Thomas Modyford gave up his position as factor for the Royal

Adventurers in Barbados, turning over his duties to his partner, Cousin

Peter Colleton. He surrendered the management of Buckland-Henty-

Kendall to his cousin, Thomas Kendall Junior, who, after spending

several months at Lincoln's Inn, had returned to Barbados by early 1665.

(Throughout the following decade, one or the other of the Kendall

brothers— Thomas, James, or John— appears to have been in Barbados at

all times looking after the Modyford-Kendall plantations there.) Thus

Thomas Modyford Junior gathered together his mother, Elizabeth, his

younger brothers and sisters, his pregnant wife, Ann, their remaining

servants and slaves, and one hundred other Barbadians who wished to

emigrate to Jamaica^ they set sail. Sir Thomas was reunited with his

family by early November, 1665. He conferred upon his second son,

Thomas, the offices earlier granted to John— member of the Council and
 U02

major general of the island's forces.*^

In anticipation of his family's arrival, Sir Thomas had already

begun adding to his Jamaican holdings. The Lyttleton house in St. Jago

wherein he dwelt was comfortable albeit limited in space. Its

receiving hall appears to have doubled as a dining room with facilities

to serve sixteen. There was probably a separate office/study where the

governor and his secretary, Samuel Bernard, periodically worked at

correspondence and accounts. There can hardly have been more than two

bedrooms though additional cots and folding beds were available to

accommodate others. The kitchen completed the layout. Realizing the

inadequacy of this dwelling alone for his large family and many
106
servants, Modyford acquired other properties in and around town.

In April, 1665, Sir Thomas purchased a house and lot from Edward

Walrond which bounded eastward on the highway running past his dwelling

house a short distance to the north. This house he sold in September,

1667, to Samuel Bernard, no doubt in order to have his secretary

residing close at hand. In June, 1665, the governor bought a house and

lot from Lewis Ashton situated to the west directly across the highway

from his dwelling. This place obviously provided overflow sleeping

quarters for his older children and household servants. In 1670, Sir

Thomas purchased two additional houses fronting eastward on the highway

a "block" or so to the north. The "Redhouse" he bought from Thomas

Ballardj it became the family's storehouse. The other, with a cowshed

and cowpen attached, he acquired from John Bourdenj it was converted

into stables for the governor's horses. A short distance to the east

of these— a block or two north of Sir Thomas's dwellings— Major General

Thomas Modyford purchased one or more structures and established his

 1+03

household. Along the way, the Modyfords, father and son, acquired

several pasture plots lying along the road to Passage Fort just south

of the town. Upon these they grazed their coach and riding horses and

the cattle and sheep which provided milk and meat for their tables.

Thus, the governor built no pretentious new mansion in Jamaica's

revivified capital. Instead, he was content to remodel three or four,

adjacent, existing structures into a comfortable residence for his

family. In these quarters the Modyfords principally dwelt during Sir

Thomas's term as governor.'^

But Modyford's establishment of a residence in town was only the

beginning. The life ultimately to be sought was that of a country

gentleman. Immediately, he had need of a plantation close by St. Jago

where provisions could be grown for his townhouse table. In the long

run, no doubt it seemed even more important to Sir Thomas to establish

his family's principal seat near the capital to facilitate his and his

descendants' continuing involvement in the affairs of the island. Here,

too, of course, he could begin planting for export as well. But Sir

Thomas was also excited with the potential of the Jamaican soils

further inland where there was "as good land as the Cliff in Barbados,"

virgin soils not yet tilled by Arawak, Spaniard, or Englishman. Such

lands could be had for the surveyor's fee and a penny's rent per annum

per "manured" acrej or, if already granted, they could be bought for

one-tenth the price they would command in Barbados. Moreover, the

possibilities of profitable new crops being grown thereon were in­

vigorating: not just "sugar, indigo, cotton, tobacco, dyeing woods, and

cocoa" which were already bring produced but "pimenta, China roots,

aloes, rhubarb, sarsaparilla, tamarinds, cassia, [and] vaignillios" as

well. Further, the hundreds of acres of unoccupied natural savannas

round about prompted thoughts of reviving the Spaniards' industry in

hides and tallow while promising Jamaican beefeaters regular fare.

Thus, the dream of Modyford's youth was rekindled. Here, at last, was

the opportunity to develop an estate— extensive, productive, diversified

— which would support a man and his family in style and reward his

labors with the status he deserved while he dutifully looked after the
106
affairs of his neighborhood and his nation.

Sir T h o m s lost no time. Even before his family arrived, he set

about acquiring a new country seat. The site he chose was a pleasing

one. Some four miles north of St. Jago, the Rio Cobre rushed forth

from a narrow, eight-mile-long gorge to meander calmly around the

gentle contours of a piedmont where the inmost reaches of St.

Catherine's Plain merged with the foothills of the limestone mountains

beyond. About a mile and a half south of this exit, the river made a

sharp turn to the east; just below, it spread out and rippled over a

resistant strata of rock. At this point, an old Spanish road crossed

the stream for areas east. The district a mile due west of this bend

in the river was known by the Spaniards as "Los Angeles"; the crossing

the English called "Angells' Ford." From this bend in the river,

southward, between the Rio Cobre and the main Spanish road leading

northward from St. Jago through "Los Angeles" and up the Rio Cobre

Gorge to the interior vale above, in an area known locally as "the

Little Angells" (today, Gordon Pen), Sir Thomas established the Mody-

ford seat. The plantation became known simply as "Angels."

109

In the spring of 1665, Sir Thomas began purchasing the plantations

of this vicinity— "less considerable than those established in other

 Uo5

places"— from veteran soldier-settlers who had patented them while

their regiment was yet quartered at "ye Angells." From Robert Briscoe

he obtained 60 acres along the east bank of the river just opposite

the ford. From Samuel Sutton he purchased 80 acres on the west bank of

the river slightly to the south of the ford. In March, 1666, Modyford

acquired Henry Vezey's "Filgrimes Hermitage" plantation which consisted

of the 60 acres just south of the Sutton place. These tracts became

the heartland of his new estate

The year, 1667, found Sir Thomas acquiring additional lands on

both sides of the river. On the eastern side, he purchased 100 acres

from William Moseby and a similar tract from Lewis Ashton which,

together with the Briscoe place, extended his holdings from the river,

northeasterly, along the northwestern boundary of Thomas Ballard's 500

acre plantation, into the foothills of the mountains. On the western

side of the Rio Cobre, Modyford patented 109 acres of timberland running

northwestward from the Sutton Place. He then bought 28 acres each

further west of the Dunn plot from John Noy. Early the following

spring, Modyford warranted a patent in his son's name for two plots of

"woody savanna" in the same vicinity. One was for 358 acres, extending

from "Pilgrlmes Hermitage" southward for nearly a mile to the Cuanaboa

Road. The other 28 acres stretched his holdings westward from the Noy

plots to a natural boundary of rocky wasteland. Thus, by early 1668,

Sir Thomas had expanded "Angels" into a plantation of approximately

963 acres. It stretched, albeit somewhat narrowly, from a point in the

mountains a mile southeast of the lower end of Rio Cobre Gorge, south -

westwardly, across the Rio Cobre, across and down the St. Jago-Angels

Road, to within a mile of the town. Modyford had commenced well to

 U06

develop a worthy family seat. Henceforth, he was alert to every

in
opportunity to round out and perfect it.

During the same period, of course, the Modyfords were acquiring

properties elsewhere in the island as well. Thomas Junior obtained the

grant of Pigeon Island at the mouth of Old Harbor. With his partner,

Thomas Ballard, he also filed a patent on 1,000 acres of "Salt River

Savanna" just south of the Salt River at the western end of Port

Royal Harbor. Sir Thomas took up a half-interest in Brother-in-law

Thomas Kendall's 6,£h2 acre tract of woodlands in the Red Hills north

of Old Harbor near the new settlement Kendall was establishing. The

governor also went into partnership with John Noy in the operation of

the Salt Ponds lying along the coast to the southwest of Port Royal

and in the development of a sheep ranch on the savanna just west of

Salt Pond Hill (Port Henderson Hill). Simultaneously, as chief agent

for the Royal Adventurers, Modyford was overseeing the development of

the company's plantation which stretched eastward from the Passage

Fort-St. Jago Road about a mile south of town. He established the

company's headquarters in a house alongside his own principal dwelling

112
in St. Jago de la Vega.

None of these ventures were to prove as significant to the future

of the Modyford enterprises, however, as the lands concurrently being

acquired north of "Angels" in St. John's Parish at Sixteen Mile Walk

(Bog Walk, St. Thomas in the Vale). Here, two mountainous arms reached

down from the great east-west ridge which separated Jamaica's southern

settlements from its wide North Side, cloistering the tributaries of

the upper Rio Cobre within a broad vale which constituted fifty to

sixty thousand well-watered acres of rich, red soil. Near the lower
 U07

end of this cozy valley, at the point where many brooks and rivulets

converged to endow the Cobre with the force required to cut its way

southward toward the sea, Sir Thomas began acquiring lands for a second
113
substantial plantation.

By means of mortgages and patents, the Modyfords quickly consoli­

dated a large tract of these promising lands above the Rio Cobre Gorge

and linked it with the "Angels" below. In January, 1666, Modyford made

Thomas Fitch and George Nedham a sizeable loan on the security of

several plots lying along the Black River (the upper Rio Cobre)j a year

later, these 1,000 acres escheated to him. In August, 1667, in his

son’s name, Sir Thomas patented additional lands which consolidated

these plots into a larger, contiguous tract stretching southward from

the Rio Cobre, across the Rocky River (Thomas River), to the peaks of

the Giblatore Mountains. In December, 1667, "Wakefield Hall," Robert

Nelson's IjOO acre plantation lying along the western boundary of the

governor's tract, came to Sir Thomas as security for a mortgage\ one

year later, it escheated to the governor. Now, the Modyford tract

comprised more than 2,£00 acres. Meantime, Thomas Junior patented

3,000 acres of mountainous woodlands along the eastern banks of the

rugged Rio Cobre Gorge. This plot commenced at the northern boundary

of "Angels" (the Briscoe place), extended northward six and one-fourth

miles up the gorge, connected with the eastern boundary of the upper

Modyford tract at Sixteen Mile Walk (Bog Walk), then stretched east­

ward for three and a half miles along the southern banks of the Rio

Pedro. With its acquisition, it was then possible for one to enter the

lower reaches of the Modyford estate in St. Catherine’s within less

than a mile of St. Jago by way of the Guanaboa Road or the Angels Road,
 U08

iSfi

fi
w > .

f
tfiatutf
TH£RI

Map 10. Detail from Charles Bochart and Humphrey

Khollis's "A New and Exact Mapp of the Island of
Jamaica," l68i|. Sugar plantations are indicated
by houses, provision farms by circles, and cattle
pens by triangles. Three principal Modyford pro­
perties— Angels, Palmer's Hut, and Wakefield Hall
— are identifiable along with other lesser ones.

f
 1*09

to proceed northward through "Angels," to journey up the gorge to

Sixteen Mile Walk, and then to travel three miles due east or three

miles due west and remain within Modyford holdings all the while 1*^

Though Sir Thomas began his serious planting in Jamaica at

"Angels,"— there he first rooted the superior cane cuttings brought by

Thomas Junior from Buckland-Henty-Kendall in Barbados; there he first

cultured a "cocoa walk"— it was the upper Modyford tract in St. Thomas

in the Vale which was destined to become the agricultural showcase of

the island. Here, the fertile triangle just west of the confluence of

the Cobre and Rocky (Thomas) rivers became the heartland of a highly

productive, new estate. Obviously in honor of Lady Elizabeth, Sir

Thomas affectionately dubbed his new plantation— "Palmer's Hut." We

further pursue its development and its impact in Chapter VIII.

11

Following the summer of 1665, Modyford's efforts toward settling

the island, developing within the colony a diversified agriculture, and

expanding his own enterprises were increasingly distracted by the

necessity to attend to Jamaica's defense.

The expedition which Modyford had dispatched under Lieutenant

Governor Edward Morgan against the Dutch islands in April, 1665, only

completed part of its mission. The corpulent old colonel's enthusiasm

exceeded his physical fitness; he died from overexertion shortly after

the first attack upon St. Eustatius. Leaderless, following their

capture of this island and nearby Saba, the privateers broke ranks,

divided the spoil, and went their separate ways. Subsequently, two of

the private men-of-war collaborated in the capture of the Dutch island

 ilio

of Tobago. The corsairs removed most of the Dutch inhabitants from the

captured islands and garrisoned them with small contigents of their own

men. But the privateers failed even to attempt Curacao, the primary

target. Bty November, most of them were back in Jamaica, having brought

in with them over five hundred slaves, a quantity of cotton, and

numerous sugar-refining utensils.

Modyford inquired into the reasons for the failure of the main

design. He learned that most of the plunder to be had from the Dutch

was in the form of slaves and plantation equipment, not silver or gold.

Thus, while pursuing a policy of "no purchase, no pay," there simply

was not sufficient profit to be had by attacking the Dutch (or the

French) in the Caribbean to make such designs appealing to the priva­

teers without freedom to attack the Spaniards on the side. Moreover,

at that very moment, other privateers, who had never returned to

Jamaica since Modyford's arrival, were still taking Spanish prize by

virtue of old commissions issued by Lord Windsorj and the English were

being blamed for it. With or without instructions from Jamaica, then,

the privateers were going to continue attacking the Spaniardsj such

action reaped the richest rewards. Modyford became convinced that only

the grant of new commissions against the Spaniards would lure these

privateers into port and enlist them reliably in the king's service.
1171

The governor's conviction was strengthened by the behavior of the

second expedition he sent against the Dutch. In early 1666, Sir Thomas

mobilized another privateer force for an attack upon Curacao. Veteran

freebooter Captain Edward Mansvelt was chosen admiral of this fleetj

Captain Henry Morgan served as his vice admiral. In January, the fleet

of fifteen ships and five hundred men set sail. Soon, however, all
 un

interest in the Dutch disappeared; insubordination within the ranks

prevented any concerted effort; the fleet split up to attack the

Spaniards at various points, Mansvelt and Morgan, not wishing to

return without rendering some service to the English cause, recaptured

Providence Island from the Spaniards. (It had been a Puritan English

colony during the l630's.) Then, after plundering in Cuba, Costa Rica,

and Granada, they returned to Jamaica in June, 1666, their ships

heavily laden with loot. Mansvelt died soon thereafter. Thus, the

leadership of the Jamaican privateers passed to the resourceful Captain

Henry Morgan.11®

Meantime, in late 1665 and early 1666, Modyford received letters

from the king commending him for his first expedition's conquest of the

Dutch islands but warning him that the French were also preparing to

enter the conflict as allies of the Dutch. Sir Thomas was to put his

defenses in good order. Furthermore, he was "to go on to root the

Dutch out of all places in the West Indies" and "to damnify . . . [the

French] . . . to the utmost of his power in their adjacent Plan­

tations."11^

In response to these instructions, Modyford was ready to act. But

there was only one way to raise the kind of forces these orders implied.

He lacked permission so to proceed. There was not time to acquire it.

Thus, not wishing to assume complete responsibility alone, on February

22, 1666, Sir Thomas laid the matter before the Jamaican Council. The

only way to insure Jamaica adequate naval defense and to mobilize

sufficient forces to attack the larger Dutch and French islands was to

grant the privateers new commissions against the Spaniards. The issues

were gravely considered. But the Council— several of whom had been
 1*12

struggling for a decade to maintain their foothold in Jamaica without

adequate support from the Imperial Government— unanimously agreed. It

120
was the only thing to do!

Sir Thomas acted at once! Discovering that the Jamaican privateers

in and about the port had diminished to 138, he spread the news of his

intention to grant new commissions against the Spaniards. He hoped

thereby to prevent the buccaneers of Tortuga and Hispaniola from

joining the French, to lure the sea rovers back to the Point, and to

enlist them in expeditions against the Dutch and French islands. For­

tunately for Modyford, on March 1 he received confirmation of his new

policy in a letter of May 30, 1665 from the Duke of Albemarle. The

lord general, upon serious consideration with King Charles and Lord

Chancellor Clarendon, therein gave the governor "latitude to grant or

not commissions against the Spaniard, as he found it for the advantage

of his Majesty's service and the good of this island." Modyford

accelerated his use of this discretion immediately. The moment he did

so, the initiative in Anglo-Spanish relations fell into his hands.

There it was to remain for nsarly five years. Simultaneously, Sir

Thomas Modyford, governor of Jamaica, rose to a status of international

significance

Permission to grant new commissions against the Spaniards had

reached Modyford none too soon. By the summer of 1666, the war in the

West Indies had intensified. The French had entered on the side of the

Dutchj a French fleet proceeded to capture the English Leeward Islands

— Antigua, Montserrat, Nevis, and St. Christopher. Moreover, the

Spaniards promptly sent five warships and six hundred men against

Providence Island, a force which easily recaptured the island from the
 103

small garrison of Jamaicans whom Modyford had stationed there. There

was also a strong Dutch fleet cruising the area. By early 1667, St.

Eustatius, Saba, and Tobago had been retaken; in addition, British

122
Guiana (Surinam) had also fallen to the Dutch.

A shudder of fear ran through the island of Jamaica. Would

Jamaica be the next target of the Dutch or the French fleet? Would the

Spaniards grasp this opportunity— while the English elsewhere in the

Caribbean were fighting for their very lives— to attempt a recovery of

their long lost "Navel of the Indies" as well? Modyford had planned

to launch a privateer expedition against the French buccaneer strong­

holds at Tortuga and Hispaniola; now, this scheme was scrapped. For

the moment, he sent out no more expeditions. Instead, as the sea

rovers came in apace in pursuit of his new commissions against the

Spaniards, Sir Thomas doled them out judiciously; he kept a number of

them hovering about the port. In this manner, Modyford built up once

again a considerable fleet of privateers; he deployed them to defend

Jamaica from the Dutch and the French; he authorized them to recompense
123
themselves on the side with Spanish prize.

Actually, except for constituting a defensive naval squadron on

patrol in Jamaican waters and keeping the seas north and east of the

island cleared of French ships, the privateers paid little attention

to the war. They went about their business robbing the old eneiry.

Indeed, Jamaica was growing rich from the Spanish prize brought into

Port Royal; this influx proved a powerful stimulus to the island*s

economy. As Modyford reported to Arlington on August 21, 1666:

His Lordship cannot imagine what a universal change

there was on the faces of men and things, ships repairing,
great resort of workmen and labourers to Port Royal, many
 returning, many debtors released out of prison, and the
ships from the Curacao voyage, not daring to come in for
fear of creditors, brought in and fitted out again, so
that the . . . forces at Port Royal are near iiOO.

Moreover, the English Administration also was interested in this spoil

(the lord admiral received his tenth's; the king his fifteenth's).

Thus, although the Spanish ambassador in London repeatedly petitioned

for redress and the Imperial Administration officially disowned the

actions of the Jamaican privateers even to the point of ordering

restitution of two prize ships to the Spaniards, nevertheless, such

orders as Modyford received bidding him to observe the peace with Spain

were discounted by the semi-official instructions of the lord general

and lord admiral. Consequently, by means of a subtly evolving policy

of connivance, Modyford found himself free to continue issuing letters

of marque against the Spaniard; the privateers continued to prey upon

the rich spoil of the Spanish dominions.

Simultaneously, during the latter months of 1666, the island

itself was placed in the best posture of defense against a possible

attack by the enemy. Martial law was declared. The civil courts were

suspended. The governor proclaimed an elaborate code of "Laws Military"

covering a broad range of contingencies. The regiments were drilled at

regular intervals. Beacons twenty feet high were erected in each

parish. Guards and relays of horse were stationed at these points day

and night to pass on the alarm in case of attack. The construction of

Fort Charles on the foreland of Point Cagua was pushed forward at the

greatest possible speed; by September, 1667, this fortification, sturdy

and well armed, was finished. Sir Thomas expended considerable sums

of his own money to bring it to completion. Thus, having trained the

 U5

militia well, developed effective communications, secured the crucial

fortifications, and raised the number of privateer "guards of Port

Royal" to near four hundred once again, Modyford felt reasonably able

to withstand an enemy attack upon Jamaica.

An outright attack upon the island did not occur, however. An

English fleet of royal frigates under the command of Sir John Harmon

arrived in the West Indies in June, 1667. For the next several weeks,

Harmon kept the Dutch and French fleets busy in the vicinity of

Barbados and the Leeward Islands, inflicting considerable damage upon

these forces. Moreover, the heads of states in Europe were growing

weary of this war. England had engaged the United Netherlands in war

with high hopes of profit; but instead, the conflict proved bloody and

costly. The plague of 1665 and the fire of London in 1666 had

squelched the enthusiasm of the English commercial circles for the war.

The humiliating Dutch raid upon the squadron in the Medway had lowered

the nation's morale. Charles H began seeking peace with the United

Netherlands as early as October, 1666. By the spring of 1667, both

Charles and Louis XIV of France wished to put an end to the useless

hostilities between their subjects. Secret agreements between them to

return territories that each had taken from the other paved the way for

a permanent treaty. The Peace of Breda was signed in July, 1667*

restoring the status quo ante bellum among England, France, and the

Netherlands in the West Indies

To most of the French, Dutch, and other English islands of the

Caribbean, this war had brought destruction of property and a painful

disruption of the routines of plantation life. When the news of peace

reached Jamaica, however, as the militia relaxed their vigil, the

 Ul6

common law courts resumed operation, and the excitement dissipated, the

storehouses fronting upon Thames Street and Fishers' Row were con­

siderably fuller than before— both with the products of Jamaica's

expanding agriculture and with Spanish loot bought cheaply to be

shipped to London and sold dear. Furthermore, many were the tales told

in the "tippling houses" at the Point about the able defense of Jamaica

by the "guards of Port Royal" and how it was all so graciously financed

by the generous purses of the subjects of his Catholic Majesty of

Spain.'127

12

During the first three years of Modyford's governance of Jamaica,

then, he had been reasonably successful at developing within the island

a thriving colony and at defending that colony against its enemies

abroad. He had quickly perceived the island's potential; he had moved

promptly to assert the leadership he believed its development required.

He had brought in new settlers, granted substantial quantities of land,

and encouraged a diversified agriculture, setting a prime example him­

self by commencing the acquisition of a large estate and investing in

numerous, productive enterprises. Now even though partially due to the

activities of the privateers, Jamaica was enjoying a growing prosperity.

Sir Thomas had led the Council and Assembly to establish more

firmly Jamaica's civil government, to enact useful laws, to make

operative in the island the laws of England, and to create a compre­

hensive judiciary. Consequently, a raw, frontier settlement was

gradually succumbing to order and stability. He had enlarged the

island's militia, prepared the train bands for surprise attacks, and
 1*17

strengthened the fortifications. The island was now better prepared to

withstand a foreign invasion than at anytime since the English first

set foot upon Jamaican soil. True, His Excellency had collided with

certain factions in the Jamaican Assembly and had found it expedient to

dispense with that body, taking the tasks of government more largely

into his own hands to be shared with the Council alone. The result?

Simply that circumstances conspired to make Modyford the most powerful

governor that Jamaica ever had.

At the same time, His Excellency was conspicuously popular. Oh,

there were those who did not like him— -disciplined officers, republican

sympathizers, subjects who chafed at any levy or public obligation,

those who resented a near monopoly of political influence by him, his

family, and his friends. But, at this point, they were distinctly a

minority. The planters liked him because he was eminently one of them.

The merchants daily benefited from the liberal trading concessions he

had acquired from the Home Government. Disgruntled members of the

Assembly felt their animosities melt away under the weight of his

special favors. He was esteemed by the men of the old army since he

was sponsored by the lord general, the Duke of Albemarle. He was

immensely popular with the inhabitants of Port Royal because he favored

privateering. And, although his hopeful quest for peaceful trade with

the Spanish Dominions had been foiled by recalcitrant Spaniards, a

swarm of unruly corsairs, and the outbreak of the Second Dutch War,

nevertheless, out of these circumstances he had shrewdly evolved a

pattern of using the privateers which happily secured him the support

of the sea rovers themselves, of most Jamaicans, and of key persons in

the Imperial Administration. Moreover, simultaneously, his engagement

 1*18

with the privateers had elevated him to a position of international

importance.

Thus, in the summer of 1667* now that the threat of war had

momentarily subsided, Modyford was thoroughly enjoying his position of

prestige, power, and progressing personal prosperity as His Majesty's

royal governor of Jamaica. But underlying the vigor and confidence

of his leadership and accompanying the jocund humor and easy conscience

with which he deployed the "guards of Port Royal" during these days,

there were also moments of uneasiness as to where all this might lead.

These forebodings were not unfounded; for, indeed, within his policy

of connivance in using the privateers, there lurked dire consequences

1PR
for Sir Thomas Modyford and his public career.

(
(

VIII. CONNIVANCE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES, 1667-1671

The year, 1667, was a high point in the career of Sir Thomas Mody­

ford. Indeed, he thoroughly enjoyed his power, status, and advancing

personal fortune as planter-govemor of the colony which was now

rapidly progressing along its course of becoming the jewel of England's

possessions in the Caribbean. While he may have had an anxious moment

now and again concerning the results of his use of the privateers

against Spanish subjects, he was not disposed to allow such qualms to

deter him from pursuing a policy which he considered both politic and

profitable to Jamaica and to the English nation.

Even though the Peace of Breda had eliminated the need of retain­

ing a large force of privateers to protect Jamaica from the Dutch and

the French, Modyford considered it thoroughly prudent to continue

Issuing commissions against the Spaniards; the Spanish threat to

Jamaica's security remained unchanged. All Spanish governors in the

Indies maintained the point of view that the Englishman was an illegal

intruder whom, in God's own time, Spanish forces would drive forever

from the Caribbean. They did not disguise this attitude. Everyone

knew it. Was it reasonable, then, Modyford asked, "that we should

quietly let them grow upon us, until they are able to do it?" Had not

the scoundrels recently taken advantage of English preoccupation with

the Dutch and the French in the West Indies to capture Providence

( Island? What they had done in Santa Catalina, they would surely

1*19
 k20

attempt in Jamaica at some favorable hour.^

Spain had never directly recognized England's possession of

Jamaica. Until she did, a Spanish reoccupation of the island was

always theoretically imminent. Thus, Jamaica was like an English

cruiser in a Spanish sea. The best defense was offense; the best pro­

tection was attack. The real front lines of Jamaica, then, lay near

the harbors of Santo Domingo and Havana to the north, at Campeche to

the west, and under the guns of Porto Bello and Cartagena to the south.

Modyford could see no virtue in sitting by quiescently until the

Spaniards had gained sufficient strength in the Caribbean to drive the

2
Jamaicans from their hard-won plantations.

Moreover, although the English deeply desired trade with the

Spanish dominions in the Caribbean, Spain continued to forbid this

trade. Numerous attempts had been made to gain peaceful access to

Spanish American harbors, but to no avail. After months of arduous

negotiations in Madrid toward this end (1665-1666), Sir Richard Fan-

shawe declared that the Spaniards would never concede open trade to

England in the Indies "unless the skye falls." Therefore, Modyford

concluded that "it must be force alone that can cut in sunder that

unneighborly maxim of their Government to deny all accress of strangers;

which if his Majesty please to permit this small colony to continue to

use, will in a short time show its effects, to his great honour and the

comfort of all his subjects." By persistently pestering Spanish

American commerce with the Jamaican privateers, Sir Thomas purposed to

make "the skye fall." He intended so to strengthen the bargaining

position of the English envoys to Madrid as to effect thereby a

3
favorable commercial treaty with Spain.
 U21

To be sure, only recently England had secured a new commercial

treaty with Spain— the Treaty of Madrid, May 13 > 1667. In this pact,

Spain had finally granted to England the concession she had made to the

Dutch in Article Five of the Treaty of Munster, 16U8— the right of

navigation and commerce in the West Indies. But, by this clause in the

Treaty of Madrid, the Spaniards had simply conceded to English mer­

chantmen the right to pass to and fro in the Caribbean while serving

English settlements there— nothing more. The Spaniards considered this

the last possible concession to the English, and they fully expected

the depredations upon their shipping in the Caribbean to cease. The

English, however, regarded this agreement as only the first step toward

their goals— a small wedge slightly penetrating Spanish exclusivism to

be driven much more deeply at an opportune time. The Treaty of Madrid

granted neither free trade with Spanish dominions nor specific recog­

nition of England's right to Jamaica. Thus, when Modyford received

from Lord Arlington only a very obscure explanation of the terms of

this treaty and at the same time was reassured by Lord General

Albemarle that he might continue employing the privateers "as formerly,

if it be for the benefit of his Majesty's affairs . . . ," he had

little difficulty in reaching a decision. He permitted the privateers

to continue their attacks upon the Spaniards.^

Sir Thomas was further motivated in this decision by the fact that

this activity was redounding in considerable profit to his own family

as well as to the Jamaican privateers, the mercantile community of Port

Royal, and certain figures in the English Government. By late 1667,

Modyford had not only secured himself in his positions as governor of

the island and chief justice of the Supreme Courts he had also
appointed others of his family to key offices in Jamaica. Following a

principal tradition of the English county family, Modyford used the

authority and influence associated with his public post to "place" kin

and friend.

Soon, the Modyfords and their relatives were dominating Jamaican

affairs. Thomas Modyford Junior was appointed a member of the Council

and major general of the militia in 166£. From I66I1 to 1667, Brother

Sir James Modyford served as chief agent for the island in London. In

1667, as Sir James came out to the West Indies to accept the post of

lieutenant governor of Providence Island, Modyford's third son, Charles,

assumed the role of agent for Jamaica and attorney for his father in

London. When Charles was otherwise occupied, Modyford extended that

role and powers of attorney to his cousin, Thomas Duck, merchant of

London (third son of Cousin Richard Duck of Heavitree, Devon [Mody-

ford's mentor at Lincoln's Inn] and grandson of Uncle Nicholas Duck,

recorder of Exeter and treasurer of Lincoln's Inn). When Sir James

arrived in the Caribbean only to find Providence Island recaptured by

the Spaniards, Modyford tempered his brother's disappointment by

appointing him deputy governor of Jamaica, lieutenant general of the

island's militia, governor of the fort and town of Port Royal, custos

rotulorum of Port Royal Parish, a member of the Council, judge admiral

(sole judge of the Admiralty Court), and collector of customs. By

I67O, His Excellency had appointed to the office of receiver general

of Jamaica his nephew, Thomas Tothill (son of Sister Sarah and Thomas

Tothill, merchant of Exeter). Finally, by the end of his term (summer,

I67I), Modyford had appointed (or persuaded his successor, Sir Thomas

Lynch, to appoint) to the position of attorney general for Jamaica his

 1*23

cousin, Edmund Duck (fifth son of Cousin Richard Duck and grandson of

Uncle Nicholas Duck)

With so much of the public affairs of the island in their hands,

the Modyfords and kin were in a position to tap a principal source of

wealth in Jamaica— the booty of the privateers. Sir Thomas issued

ample letters of marque against the Spaniards, collecting his fees of

£20 per commission. The buccaneers used these to attack Spanish

shipping and brought back their spoils. As judge admiral, Sir James

Modyford adjudicated these prizes and supervised their sale by public

auction. The Modyfords then bought considerable portions of the goods

themselves, shipping these to Charles Modyford in London who sold them

at a handsome profit. As Sir James put it: "they retume as fast as

«4-
they gett any purchase, & then to have a stocke of money readie aga

their retume to buy tr purchase (w0*1 they comonly sell dogge cheape)

is ye most hopeful trade here." It is not clear how much Sir Thomas

himself gained financially by supporting the privateers. It is evident,

however, that the Modyford clan as a whole reaped their share of the
7
profits accompanying the raids of the Jamaican corsairs.

As the year 1668 dawned, then, Modyford's private war against

Spain succeeded England's public war against the Dutch and French in

the Caribbean; but the privateers themselves scarcely knew when one

left off and the other began. Of course, this war came to the atten­

tion of the English Administration repeatedly. Although Lord Arlington

had referred Modyford to Lord General Albemarle for his instructions

regarding the privateers and seldom corresponded with the governor

directly about them, Modyford shrewdly kept both Arlington and

Albemarle carefully informed about each step he took with the bucca­

neers. The Administration seemed unable to think of a better policy

however, or at any rate a more profitable one. Thus, Whitehall con­

nived with Modyford, permitting his continuing employment of the sea

rovers for Jamaica's defense, looking the other way while the corsairs
Q
took their pay from Spanish pockets.

How could such a policy be effected? Simply. While Lord General

Albemarle and Lord Admiral York (James Stuart, Duke of York, the king's

younger brother) periodically condoned a judicious use of the priva­

teers for Jamaica's welfare, Lord Arlington kept his hands officially

clean of the business. "No letter signed for the King by his Principal

Secretary of State ever instructed the royal Governor of Jamaica to

wage war on a neighbor with whom England was at peace." The responsi­

bility was cast upon Modyford. So, in the event of a crisis, the

English Government could slip out of any diplomatic entanglement with

Spain. Modyford was careful not to compromise the official position.

More than once he assured Arlington that, in the matter of granting the

privateer's commissions, he had done all in his own name; England's

diplomacy in Europe would not be embarrassed. Sir Thomas perceived the

personal risks. But the stakes were high— the preservation of Jamaica

and the enhancement of the English Empire in the Caribbean. As long as

his patron Albemarle lived, the odds were palatable. Courage tarried.

Hence, through the permissive connivance of the home government, for

some time to come Modyford continued freely to chart his own course.

In early 1668, the direction of that course was dramatically

illustrated.^
 1*25

In January, 1668, Sir Thomas summoned Captain Henry Morgan.

Morgan had been b o m the son of a prosperous Welsh yeoman of Llanrhym-

ney, Glamorgan in 1635* One uncle, Thomas Morgan, had become General

George Monck's second-in-command of armies of the Commonwealth, Pro­

tectorate, and Restoration. Another, Colonel Edward Morgan, had chosen

the royalist side, had gone abroad to Germany during the 1650's, and

ultimately had received his reward as Modyford's lieutenant governor of

Jamaica. Young Henry had shipped for Barbados at about the age of

twenty. Hence, he had joined the Brethren at the Coast (the buccaneer

community of Hispaniola and Tortuga), participated in numerous raids on

Spanish territories, and risen in repute among these desperados as a

resourceful commander. In February, 1665, he had shown up in Jamaica,

owner of his own ship, in company with captains Morris and Jackman,

relating to Governor Modyford their twenty-two-month odyssey of suc­

cessful plundering along thB Main. As second-in-command of Modyford's

expedition which recaptured Providence Island, Morgan had demonstrated

promise of being capable of mobilizing these veterans of practiced

cruelty into an effective instrument of English imperial policy. Sub­

sequently, he had married deceased Uncle Edward Morgan's third daughter,

Mary Elizabeth, and begun to show an interest in a Jamaican plantation,

thus linking his future with the destiny of the island. It was to

"Admiral" Henry Morgan, then— since Mansfield's death the recognized

leader of the Jamaican corsairs— that His Excellency now turned.

Having recently received "frequent and strong advice" that the

Spaniards were planning an invasion of Jamaica, Sir Thomas issued Morgan

a new commission. He bade him "to draw together the English privateers,

and take prisoners of the Spanish nation, whereby he might inform of

 i|26

the intentions of that enemy . . . .

Morgan lost no time. In February, 1668, he sailed forth with ten

sail and five hundred men. The expedition first attacked the town of

Puerto Frincipi in Cuba. There, according to Morgan's report, they

found forces gathering for the invasion of Jamaica and expectations

that others would soon arrive from Vera Cruz, Campeche, Porto Bello,

and Cartagena on the Main. Acquiring insufficient booty in Cuba,

Morgan and the buccaneers pushed on in May to attack Porto Bello in New

Granada (on the Isthmus of Panama). There, English prisoners were

known to be in the dungeon, Spanish forces were gathering for the

assault on Jamaica, and the annual trade fair just happened to be in

progress with the warehouses and custom house literally bulging with

rich loot! They captured the town in June, held it for a month, beat

back a relief force under the governor of Panama, and finally sailed

away with some 250,000 pieces-of-eight ( 62,500) in combined booty and

ransom, arriving back in Jamaica in August. During the following days

a transfusion of pure silver greatly strengthened the economic pulse of

Port Royal as the freebooters indulged in an uninhibited orgy of the

port's pleasures.^

When Morgan submitted his report on the Porto Bello raid at Port

Royal in September, Modyford was, of course, delighted with the success

of this audacious attack upon the Spaniards. He had found his man— -him

who could mold the riffraff of the Caribbean seaways into an effective

fighting force and wield that force for Jamaica's protection. Morgan

had proven himself not only a daring and resourceful leader of this un­

disciplined rabble but a born strategist as well. The capture of Porto

Bello— the Caribbean terminus of the silver conduit from Peru to

 U27

Seville; a large, sprawling encampment at the time of its provincial

bazaar; a protected harbor framed by jungle-shrouded mountains, pre­

cipitous cliffs, and three, well-fortified castles— was no mean feat.

But His Excellency found it necessary to reprove Morgan officially for

overstepping the authority of his commission which had only licensed

him to attack Spanish shipping. Modyford feared that the admiral's

acts had exceeded the limits of his own discretionary powers as gover­

nor. He worried that the raid on Porto Bello might swing official

sentiment against him in England. Spain was certain to consider it an

act of outright war. Along with a favorable narrative of the priva­

teers* recent exploits forwarded to the good old duke, Sir Thomas

beseeched "his Grace so to present his behavior in this great affair,

12
that no sinister construction may be put on his actions.

Fortune smiled upon Modyford, however. Though Spain protested

this villainous attack vehemently, she was forced to swallow her fierce

pride and to remain on friendly terms with England at all costs. At

this juncture, she was terribly afraid of Louis XIV of France and his

expansionist initiatives in Europe; she was grasping at any straw of

alliance open to her. Sir Thomas and his policy were secure for the

moment. Consequently, in the fall of 1668, His Excellency continued to

connive in the use of the Jamaican corsairs against the Spaniards. But
13
his disposition was to move a bit more cautiously than before.

Meantime, while directing his privateering offensive against the

encircling Spaniards during the years 1667-1671, His Excellency did not

neglect the island's internal affairs. He maintained an effective

 U2Q

Council. With the assistance of his Council, he took steps to enhance

the workings of the civil government. He dealt with the problems of

local government as they arose. He strengthened the island's on-land

defenses.

With the dissolution of the second Jamaican Assembly in the autumn

of 1665, the Jamaican Council assumed an enlarged, active role in the

governance of the colony. His Excellency was careful to deal with

significant and politically sensitive issues through and with the con­

currence of his Council. Where did the Council meet in St. Jago? At

the "fort-house"? In the old Spanish courthouse? At "Gabryells" or

"the King's Arms" as the Barbadian Council had once meet in John

Jobson's tavern at Bridge Town? We do not know. It did not auto­

matically convene at prescribed times as the courts were scheduled to

do. For some members, the distance from plantation to town was con­

siderable; roads were poor. Unless there was business to attend, the

Council did not meet. The councillors gathered in response to the

governor's summons. Normally, they assembled in conjunction with or

immediately following a session of the "grand court." During the

period 1666-1671 (June), the Council convened on an average of every

three months. There were at least two intervals of six months or more,

however, when the Council was not called— periods of mobilized defenses,

of few problems, or of suspended court-terms. Inasmuch as the body had

been purged very early of adverse elements, throughout this period the

Council was docile and cooperative. A strong partnership was forged

between governor and Council in the process of providing effective

government for the colony.^

Only four of the councillors originally appointed, however,

 U29

remained with His Excellency throughout the seven years of his admin­

istration. Major John Man and Lieutenant Governor Edward Morgan were

early removed from the Council by death; the governor's son, John, by

disappearance at sea. Richard Povey (and deputy Peter Pugh) and

Colonel Thomas Lynch were removed for failing to fulfill the duties of

their patent offices in compliance with the governor's wishes. Major

William Ivy was suspended following his manslaughter of Captain Abraham

Rutter. Colonel Samuel Barry was away from Jamaica during much of

Modyford's term following other pursuits— making an attempt upon the

Tortuga; assisting with the war against the Dutch and French in the

Leeward Islands; serving as governor of Surinam. Lieutenant Colonel

Henry Archbould was removed from the Council as of late 1667 by death

or retirement. Thus, there evolved a number of vacancies to be filled.^

Modyford assured himself of an effective and cooperative Council

throughout his term by appointing to these vacancies promising sup­

porters who also continued to provide a reasonable representation of

the principal settlements and "interests" in the island. In 1665,

Major Richard Hope (1,1497 acres) was appointed in the place of Colonel

Samuel Barry of Liguanea. Thereafter, he and Lieutenant Colonel Henry

Archbould (2,030 acres) ably represented the interests of both lower

and upper St. Andrew's Parish. Following his marriage and a period of

demonstrated stability, Major William Ivy was restored to the Council.

His 1,000 acres lay in Clarendon Parish near the 3,000 acre tract

patented by his cousin, Lord Chancellor Clarendon. In 1666, Major

Robert Byndloss was appointed a councillor (see note 10 above). Bynd-

loss was a shipowner, a dabbler in various waterfront enterprises, and

an emerging planter of St. Catherine's (1,935 acres). Concurrently,

 U30

the governor's son, Thomas, replaced Son John and began developing

plantations in upper St. Catherine's and lower St. John's. In 1667,

Brother Sir James Modyford, with interests divided about equally

between planting and trade, replaced deceased Lieutenant Governor

Edward Morgan.^

In 1668, following the removal of Archbould, the governor ap­

pointed Archbould's neighbor of upper St. Andrew's, Major Charles

Whitfield {9$0 acres). Whitfield had acquired his estate through the

profits of his mercantile establishments in Port Royal and St. Jago.

In 1670, Colonel Thomas Freeman joined Lieutenant Colonel Robert Free­

man on the Council. Together, they looked after the interests of

windward Jamaica, the district wherein lay the estates of former

Councillor Thomas Lynch (Thomas Freeman: 1,310 acres in St. Thomas's,

U1*0 acres in St. David's). During the same year, Modyford appointed

Major Anthony Collier to the Council. Collier's estates lay largely in

Clarendon Parish (l,26l acres). In early 1671, Captain Hender Moles-

worth was added to the group, a merchant of varied enterprises and a

rising planter of St. Catherine's (2,1*80 acres). Molesworth and

Whitfield were especially appropriate replacements for those early

Port Royal dwellers, John Man and Richard Povey. Finally, when Major

James Banister arrived in March, l6?l, transferring to the island the

first two shiploads of English settlers from the Dutch-conquered colony

17
of Surinam, he was added to the Jamaican Council also.

Hence, as the various replacements grouped around the four

councillors who maintained their seats throughout Modyfordfs term

— Lieutenant Colonel John Coape (St. John's, 683 acres); Lieutenant

Colonel Robert Freeman (St. David's, 1,339 acres); Major Thomas Fuller
 U31

(St. Catherine's, 1,309 acres)j Colonel Thomas Ballard (St. Catherine's,

2,391 acres)— all seven parishes were amply served. The interests of

such populous areas as Port Royal, St. Jago, St. Catherine's Parish,

and St. Andrew's Parish were multiply assured. And, the principal

economic interests of the island— planting, trading, privateering— were

each appropriately represented as well. With the assistance and co­

operation of this effective Council, then Sir Thomas confidently

■I Q
addressed the problems of local government as they arose.

In general, the acts passed by the Jamaican Assembly during its

legislative sessions of I66I4-I66S were proving themselves adequate to

the colony's needs. They had been sent home in 1665 to receive His

Majesty's royal assent. Lord Chancellor Clarendon had acquired the

king's approval of them and had notified Modyford to that effect. But

in the course of the chancellor's fall from office, they were mislaid

and not returned. This occasioned the only incident on record of

serious opposition to Modyford's administration during these years. In

July, 1668, John Styles, contending that these acts were no longer in

effect since they had not been confirmed within two years, refused to

pay quit-rents on his 3*200 acres in St. John's Parish. Careless words

spoken to the revenue officers and to the justices during Quarter

Sessions cost Styles a term in jail and the seizure of his chattels

while he forwarded an appeal to England. But the incident reminded the

governor of his vulnerable position. To Lord Keeper Bridgeman in 1668

and again to the new Council of Plantations in 1670, Sir Thomas appeal­

ed for the return of the approved acts. They never arrived. The

governor and his Council were forced to keep them in effect by ordi-
19
nance for the remainder of Modyford's term.
 h32

In like fashion, the new judiciary which Modyford launched in

early 1665 was also serving the island well. By 1671, there were five

judicial districts regularly holding Quarter Sessions and General

Sessions in addition to the periodic convening of the Supreme Court in

St. Jago. But the laws were not flawless. The carefully devised

proceedings of the courts did not inviolably produce truth and justice.

Neither were better than the people called upon to make them work. In

Jamaica's frontier society, persons of learning, judgment, integrity,

20
and sobriety were not always easy to find! Problems arose.

Sir Thomas and the Council addressed these problems with needed

reforms. In June, 1666, upon discovery that there were many debtors

languishing in prison upon public charge for lack of means to maintain

themselves, the governor and Council ordered them released. They were

to be hired out for monthly wages to the highest bidder, making it

possible for them to retire their debts. In July, 1668, the Council

received complaints that undisciplined lawyers were distracting the

courts' proceedings, baffling witnesses, and suppressing evidence; thus,

they were making the courtroom "seem more like Horse-Fair or a Billings­

gate than a Court of Justice . . . ." The Council took action. They

ordained that in future trials each party in turn must produce all its

evidence and witnesses before any questions or cross-examination would

be allowed the other. Breach of this procedure would cost the pleader

100 security for good behavior or jail. Presuming "to come drunken to

the Court," pleading "in an unbeseeming rage and passion," or using

"beastly expressions" in the hearing of the court would likewise cost

21
the culprit a stiff fine or imprisonment.

Other problems emerged. The governor observed that few Jamaicans

 U33

were taking advantage of the former Assembly's "Act for empowering

freeholders to plead their own cause." (The act obviously intended to

promote order among this young society by making possible peaceful

settlement of disputes in court without great cost.) Modyford per­

ceived that "by reason of a great Number of Lawyers, Attomies, and

Solicitors, lately started up, whose Endeavors are to set the people

at Variance," each party feared to go into court without counsel since

"the party cast" was charged with the fees of all attorneys involved.

In January, 1670, the governor and Council ordained "that from hence­

forth the party cast in any suit be not compelled to pay anything to

the party recovering for the fees of any lawyer . . . ." Moreover, it

became known that clerks of the courts were at times pleading the cause

of one of the parties in suits before their courts. Such a conflict of

interest allowed them to maneuver evidence and proceedings in favor of

their clients. In February, 1671* the Jamaican Council again issued

orders; any clerk of the court attempting to plead for a party involved

in a suit before his court would promptly forfeit his post. By such

timely reforms, Sir Thomas and his Council attempted to make Jamaica's
22
new judicial system responsive to the people's needs.

Just as the governor and Council took steps to enhance the

workings of the judicial system, they also moved at times to clarify or

to extend the law. The Council ordered land around harbors to be

granted in small house plots. Such plots were to be built upon within

two years or the patents would be void. Since many disputes had arisen

"by reason that the Surveyors either through Carelessness, Ignorance,

or Knavery have laid out more Land within their Lines than expressed in

their Returns," the Council offered a solution. In the future, when

such surplusage was discovered, the patentee would be given first

option to claim it. He could do so by paying the quit-rents and pro­

ducing the number of "hands" it required. If either of these he could

not do, the land was to be made available to the surveyor and patented

by others. To exercise a check upon the excessive use of spirits in

the island, the Council augmented the Assembly’s act which imposed a

tax upon licensed alehouses. Henceforth, the island secretary was to

issue no person a liquor license unless he could produce a certificate

signed by a J. P. of his district that "he is a fit person to draw

Drink."23

In similar vein, His Excellency and the Council periodically

provided reinforcement to the officers of local government; they res­

ponded to petitions dealing with special problems; they functioned as

a court of appeal. The Council declared it a misdemeanor punishable by

fine or imprisonment for any person to refuse a commission of service

in local government or the militia or, having accepted such commission,

to neglect the duties thereof. Upon the petition of the Quakers of

Port Royal to be excused from guard duty since the bearing of arms was

against their religious principles, the Council sought a compromise

between Modyford’s policy of full religious toleration and the necessity

to maintain effective defenses. Though they found the Quakers’

"Reasons weak and frivolous, . . . out of pity and compassion for these

poor misled people in that particular," the Council permitted the

Quakers to pay substitutes to stand their watch. They were required,

however, to maintain arms in readiness at home and to attend militia

musters. When the small estate of Pricilla Rignall's husband was for­

feited to the Crown following his execution for murder, she and her
 h3B

children were cast upon the parish in their distress. Upon her appeal,

the Council returned the estate to Pricilla and her heirs, empowering

her concurrently to sue for debts due.^

Meantime, Sir Thomas and the Council continued to struggle with

the problems of internal security. To prevent Spanish speaking slaves

(booty) taken from Spanish dominions by the privateers from joining the

ever-troublesome Varmahalies in the Jamaican hills, the Council forbade

them to be sold in Jamaica except in Port Royal. In February, 1668,

the Varmahaly, Domingo Henriques, was given full pardon in return for

carrying to his people the Council's offer of a Charter of Pardon and

Freedom. The governor of the Varmahalies accepted the charter. He

agreed that he and his people would come in and settle peaceably. He

asked that their submission be proclaimed throughout the island. In

March, 1668, their pardon was proclaimed in every district; all

subjects were required to "allow these Negroes to pass and repass

peaceably about their affairs over the Island.” But at some point the

peace arrangements broke down. The Varmahalies remained in the moun­

tains. In April, 1670, they murdered five unarmed settlers on the

frontier of Clarendon Parish. The governor and Council promptly issued

orders. The militia were alerted. A special frontier force was

mobilized to pursue the Negroes. Substantial rewards were posted for

bringing them in dead or alive. No subject was to travel more than two

miles from home unarmed. But these measures appear to have had little

effect. Tension continued to exist between the Varmahalies and the

expanding Jamaican settlements until beyond the end of Modyford1s

administration. J

The Varmahalies internally, the Spaniards abroad— both were

ever-present threats to Jamaica's security. In such circumstances, the

governor and Council continued to focus concern upon the island's

defenses. All white men between the ages of twelve and sixty were

required to enroll in the militia. By the end of Modyford!s term, the

trained bands constituted 3,200 men— six regiments of foot (plus two

companies on the North Side) and one regiment of horse. Guards kept

watch nightly at Port Royal and St. Jago at all times of alert. The

regiments mustered and exercised regularly. All militiamen were re­

quired to keep their arms in readiness and a supply of ammunition in

their homes. At least twice during these years martial law was de­

clared during periods of emergency; stiff penalties were proclaimed for

neglect of military duties. Though Modyford reported Fort Charles to

be "finished" in September, 1667, the following spring found him

pushing forward further work on the fort. By the end of Modyford1s

term, its platforms supported forty guns trained upon the entrance to

the harbor, many of them, no doubt, dragged from the ports of Spanish
26
ships and castles.

The construction of Fort Charles, however, pointed up a problem

for which Modyford and the Jamaican Council could provide no long-

termed solution without calling another Jamaican Assembly— the in­

adequacy of the island's revenue. From the English Exchequer, the king

had agreed to supply Jamaica an establishment of £2,500 per annum.

Within the island, the king was due certain traditional revenues— fines,

forfeitures, escheats, quit-rents, tonnage on shipping using Port

Royal's wharves, and alehouse license fees. The Jamaican Assembly had

enacted as an additional revenue an impost on liquors. The Privy

Council's instructions and the Assembly's act prescribed the following

 U7

annual disbursements from these funds for salaries:

Exchequer Fund Island Fund

/l,000 to the governor £1,000 to the governor

600 to the lieutenant I4OO to the Lieutenant
governor governor
1*00 to the major general 200 to the major general
500 to the officers and 80 to the chief justice
gunners of the fort of the Supreme Court
20 to the assistant justices
of the Supreme Court (2)
20 to the chief judges of
the inferior courts (6 )
10 to the assistant judges
of the inferior courts (12)
ZI735S"
Additional funds were promised. Modyford was given a warrant under the

Privy Seal for £1,000 to be drawn from the revenues of Barbados for

fort construction in Jamaica. Over the seven years of Modyford's

administration, privateering produced other revenues. The lord ad­

miral's tenth's amounted to about £l,100j these receipts were forwarded

to Sir William Coventry in England for the duke's account. The king's

fifteenth's totaled perhaps £800j these funds were applied to the

building of Fort Charles. The governor's £20 per commission became a

part of his personal incomej these fees yielded Modyford perhaps £1*00.^

Problems arose relative to the island's revenues. Despite numerous

efforts, Sir Thomas was unable to collect a pence of what had been

promised toward Fort Charles. During the first three years, the

island's revenue did not exceed £l,300 per annumj these monies were

insufficient to pay the prescribed salaries, much less cover numerous

incidental expenses of the government. By 1668-166?, the island's

receipts rose to £2,000, In 1670-1671, due to the booming business in

booze accompanying the high tide of privateering in Jamaica, the

island's revenues exceeded £3,000. Simultaneously, however, the

 1*38

Jamaican establishment ceased to be issued by the English Exchequer.

By accident it was omitted from the budget established by the Privy

Council in 1668. In spite of a new Order-in-Council directing the con­

tinuing payment of the customary sum and the dispatch of a warrant to

the treasury for draft of the same, Sir Thomas received no further funds

from the English Government after 1668. The actual pattern of dis­

bursements from the Jamaican Treasury, therefore, were quite different

pa
from that prescribed.

From 1661* through 1667, Modyford paid himself his governor's

salary of £1,000 per annum from the Jamaican establishment and addedto

it around £600 a year from the island's revenues. (He was also

receiving £300 a year from the Company of Royal Adventurers during this

period.) In like fashion, he paid the lieutenant governor and major

general £600 and £1*00 respectively from the establishment and propor­

tionate amounts from the island revenues. After the establishment

funds ceased to be paid, however, Sir Thomas took only a salary of

|l,000 per annum from the island revenues. (His stipend from the Royal

Adventurers was also discontinued in April, 1669J that year the

financially burdened company suspended payment of all factors' salaries.)

Similarly, Sir James Modyford received only £1*00 per annum and Major

General Thomas Mcdyford only £200 per annum from the island treasury.

Modyford seems never to have paid himself the £80 per year to which he
29
was entitled as chief justice. 7

Of the remaining monies, "a very small matter of this hath been

paid to any of the officers [of the courts], but almost all laid out in

the fortifications at Port-Royal, and payment of the officers [of the

fort], matrosses, the ammunition, carriages, etc.” For instance, by

 U39

1670, in order to maintain an adequate supply of fresh ammunition, Sir

Thomas was disbursing from the Jamaican Treasury il,000 per annum for

two hundred barrels of new powder alone. Moreover, even though he re­

covered half this sum at year's end by selling the res-* !ue of the old

powder when the new arrived, there were numerous incidental expenses of

the government which had to be accounted for out of the Jamaican

Treasury as well. Among them were the costs of effecting the semi­

annual establishment payments in England, the freight on stores shipped

to the colony, the hire of a sloop, the costs of rigging and repairs

for the king's ships, the fees of a bookkeeper, and one-half of his

secretary's salary.

Thus, never receiving funds for fort construction, never having

above |2,000 per annum in island receipts plus the establishment funds

at any given time, how did His Excellency meet minimal salaries, main­

tain ready defenses, defray contigency costs, and continue to fund the

construction of Fort Charles without calling the Assembly for the

enactment of a larger island revenue? Simply. By supplementing the

island treasury with his own personal funds.

Gambling upon his warrant under the Privy Seal for j£l,000, early

Sir Thomas began funding the on-going construction of Fort Charles out

of his own pocket. Ey January, 1668, he was "long out of purse in the

disbursements for the fort . . . ." So, in spite of turning to this

end the king's fifteenth's, some salary savings, and a portion of the

growing profits of the impost on spirits, Modyford was forced periodi­

cally to dip into his own coffer to see the fort completed. At the

close of the governor's term, Charles Modyford was able to demonstrate

that the king was in debt to his father for |2,500 spent on the fort
 hho

plus l7$0 in interest at fifteen per cent (the customary rate in

Jamaica), not to mention two and one-half years' arrears in salary due

from the suspended Jamaican establishment. Hence, with his own

resources, Sir Thomas was bolstering the island's defenses at a time

when "£l,000 p annum . . . [would] . . . not make a Governors Family

eat" and his personal income from his public employ was diminishing to

perhaps £1,100 a year— £1,000 in salary and another £100 or so from the

corsairs' commissions. Or could it be— as several of his contempor­

aries insinuated and numerous writers since have averred— that His

Excellency was drawing upon his connections with the Jamaican priva­

teers to amass a tidy fortune which was not finding its way into his

carefully kept accounts of the island's revenues?-^

In the fall of 1668, Sir Thomas Modyford's tranquility of mind was

shattered by a singular tragedy— the climax to a mounting succession of

personal losses within his own family which the governor had endured

during preceding months.

In the early summer, 1667, Sir Thomas had received word that

Brother-in-law Thomas Kendall had died the previous December at his

home in Chiswick. At the time of his death, Kendall was serving as an

M. P. from Dartmouth, had an interest in ships trading in India, Spain,

the Canaries, and New York, and was an active member of the East India

and Canary companies. Moreover, while continuing to promote the pro­

duction of "Buckland-Henty-Kendall" in Barbados, he and Modyford were

partners in the development of the new "Kendall Plantation" in the

northwest hills of St, Catherine's, Jamaica. Upon his death, Modyford

was appointed one of the executors of his will to look after the

interests of Sister Grace and Nephews Thomas, John, and James. Shortly

thereafter, James Kendall came out to Jamaica to manage the family's

interests there. Thomas Kendall was greatly missed. For a quarter of

a century, he and Modyford had ventured together as business partners

and friends. Most recently, until the councils of Trade and Foreign

Plantations had ceased meeting in the spring of 1665 (due to the out­

break of the plague in London), he had been in a position to do his

kinsman much good service at Court. Throughout, Kendall had been an

untiring advocate of Modyford's interests.^

Late in 1667, Modyford received news that Cousin Sir John Colleton

had also died at him home in St. Martin1s-in-the-Fields. Sir John

— joint farmer of the Devonshire excisej joint commissioner of wine

licenses for the kingdomj chief promoter of the interests of the Lords

Proprietors of Carolina; persistent meddler in the affairs of Barbados

and the Leeward Islands— had stood for election to Kendall's vacant

seat at Dartmouth in January, 1667. He lost. He was busy rewarding

his supporters and obstructing the affairs of his opponents when death

caught up with him apparently in April, I667. Gone was another of

Modyford's chief connections at Court. Though the affairs of Modyford

and Colleton had not been so inexorably intertwined since Sir Thomas

had left Barbados for Jamaica, Colleton had, nevertheless, remained a

patron. From his position among the members of the Council of Foreign

Plantations, the Council of Trade, and the Company of Royal Adventurers,

and from his close association with Lord Admiral, James, Duke of York,

Sir John had found numerous opportunities to promote Modyford's con-

cems. He, too, was missed.

 1*2

Of greater emotional impact upon Sir Thomas, however, were the

losses within his immediate family. At some point during the months

just prior to the autumn of 1668, Sir Thomas's daughter-in-law, Ann

Hothersall Modyford, died. She left to the care of Thomas Junior and

Lady Modyford Sir Thomas's first grandchild— two-or three-year-old

Elizabeth. During the same interval of time, it is highly probable

that one or more of the governor's own children died as well. Sir

Thomas came to Jamaica in 166U with seven children^ by 1671, only three

survived— all among the older ones.-^

Moreover, on September 12, 1668, there appeared before His

Excellency a Spanish ship's captain brought in by the privateers

returning from their Porto Bello raid. Captain Francisco Martin re­

lated to Modyford the story of five Englishmen who had been shipwrecked

in the Florida Straits in August, 166U, captured by the Spaniards, sent

to Havana, and thrown into prison, never to be heard of again. One was

a stocky, handsome young man with light curly hair named Johnj he

claimed to be the son of the governor of Jamaica! From the description

given, Sir Thomas was positive that this had been, indeed, his long-

lost, eldest son. From the depths of a troubled spirit, Modyford

declared in a letter to Cousin Albemarle: "My son John . . . was

questionless either murdered or sent into the South Seas in slavery by

these our cruel neighbors.

The sense of personal loss produced by the successive deaths of

these whom Modyford loved was presently deepened immeasurably. The

corsairs had retrieved more than silver from Porto Bello. Upon their

return, a deadly contagion swept through Jamaica. At length, Lady

Modyford fell ill of it. Despite all the loving ministrations of those
 W*3

about her, she sank steadily lower. On November 12, 1668, Elizabeth

Palmer Modyford died.^

By sloop and wherry, by coach and wain, in the saddle and afoot

— folk gathered from the growing settlements of the island into old St.

Jago to pay their last respects to the general's lady. The best horse

flesh in the island stood tethered about the Close and the Church

Parade that day as the hour approached. To be sure, the provost marshal

proceeded, the island's mace in hand, followed by the governor's honor

guard, Sir Thomas and his sorrowing family, and councillors twelve.

His Excellency set considerable store by dignities duej friends would

not have failed him on such a day. Within the crowded Church of the

Red Cross, Rector Howser did his best. There were eulogies enough.

She was a virtuous woman. One of them later marked her resting place:

Her life was pure, as clear her fame.

None ere thought evill of this dame.

But as they lowered her emaciated body into that gaping hole beneath the

chancel floor there within the communion rails, and the rector intoned:

For asmuche as it hath pleased almightie God of his

Great mercy to take unto hym selfe the Soule of our deare
sister, Lady Elizabeth Modyford, here departed, we therefore
committ her bodye to the grounds, earthe, to earthe; ashes,
to ashes, dust, to dust, in sure, and certain hope of
resurrection to eternal lyfe, throughe oure Lorde Jesus
Christe, . . . .

Sir Thomas was crushed. His dutiful companion of twenty-eight years

was gone. Now, the death of two persons very dear to him had been

caused, directly or indirectly, by the despised Spaniards

Grief and loneliness haunted His Excellency for several months.

 Will

But by no means did they lead to neglect of duty. In fact, the re­

sulting antagonism in the governor's mind toward the Spaniards prompted

an increased alertness to the prospect of an attack by the enemy. From

Morgan's reports following his raids upon Puerto Principe and Porto

Bello, Modyford was convinced that the Spaniards were preparing for an

invasion of Jamaica. In October, he had said in a dispatch to the lord

general:

It is most certain that the Spaniards had full

intention to attempt this island, but could not get men;
and they still hold the same minds, and therefore I cannot
but presume to say, that it is very unequal that we should
in any measure be restrained, while they are at liberty
to act as they please upon us, from which we shall never
be secure until the King of Spain acknowledges this island
to be his Majesty's, and so includes it by name in the
capitulations.

How genuine this immediate threat to Jamaica's security actually was

cannot be determined from the sources at hand. Moreover, the issue is

irrelevant. Based upon the information available to him, Modyford

believed the island to be in real danger. He acted accordingly. Thus,

the dual determination to even the score with the Spaniards for his

personal losses and to disrupt their gathering of forces toward an in­

vasion of Jamaica eclipsed the governor's worry about the possibilities

of official censure for the Porto Bello raid. Late autumn, then, saw

the Jamaican privateers under sail once again, pursuing further missions

against the Spaniards.

Admiral Henry Morgan set out with ten sail and eight hundred men

to coast the Main off Caracas, and give what aid he could to a band of

Indians who were revolting against Spain in that area. Captain Edward

Dempster, with several small vessels and three hundred men, was sent

to patrol the waters off Havana and around the Bay of Campeche. They
 UkS

agreed to reassemble in a few weeks, share the intelligence acquired,

and lay plans for another grand design. ^

Meantime, at long last the English Admiralty responded to Mody­

ford's repeated request for a royal frigate. H. M. S. Oxford, a fifth-

rate frigate of thirty-four guns, was sent to Jamaica to aid with the

defense of the island. She was to serve under Modyford's command} her

expenses were to be paid out of the island's treasury. Newly provi­

sioned, the Oxford was dispatched in mid December to the coasts of

Hispaniola, there to patrol until the fleet returned and she received

orders from Admiral Morgan.^

There was a randezvous of the entire Jamaican fleet at the lie des

Vaches (Island of Cows) off the southern coast of Hispaniola in January,

1669. Plans were laid for an attack upon the Spanish stronghold of

Cartegena, New Granada. While the captains were further deliberating

their plan, however, midst dining and festivities on the poop deck of

the Oxford, the powder magazine mysteriously blew up. The ship's

innards burst out of her} munitions, men, and masts shot upward in a

cloud of debris} the shattered hulk split asunder and sank. Better

than two hundred men were killed in the explosion. Morgan's luck held.

He and a handful of others on his side of the dinner table were saved.

The admiral blamed the tragedy on a group of French pirates who

had been lured aboard and taken prisoners. He sent their heavily armed

ship back to Jamaica to be declared lawful prize} thus, it replaced the

Oxford. But the incident dampened morale. There was no more talk of

Cartagena. In fact, the admiral seemed unable to focus his intentions.

A month of aimless cruising among the islands accomplished little.

Half the fleet wandered off in search of prey. Reduced to eight ships
and five-hundred men, Morgan had to take firm action or see his whole
1,2
venture collapse. He resolved to attack Maracaibo.

By March the Jamaican fleet stood off the wide-mouthed Gulf of

Venezuela. Morgan's targets, the towns of Maracaibo and Gibraltar, lay

along the shores of the inner lagoon (see Map 11 on page The

privateers stormed the forts on the islands of Palomas and Virgilias

which guarded the straits, linking the bay with the lake beyond. The

forts' defenders fled. Morgan and his men occupied the deserted towns

each in turn. Five long weeks' of foraging and pillaging ensued. At

length, with 2^0,000 pieces-of-eight in combined loot and ransom, in

late April they sailed down the lagoon for home. But lurking along the

bar just outside the egress from the straits there lay in waiting three

well-armed Spanish galleons. Morgan took two days to prepare. At dawn

of May Day, with a carefully disguised fire ship in the lead, the

privateers bore straight down on the Spanish warships. The first

galleon was snared by the fire ship, burned, and sank. The second,

fleeing the flames, ran aground and stove her bottom. The third was

boarded, cutlass in teeth, and taken. She became Morgan's flagship.

Then, by a masterful ruse, the privateers slipped quietly by the newly-

garrisoned castle on Polamas and into the open sea. They made Port

Royal on May 17, 1669.^

When reports of the English exploits at Porto Bello and Maracaibo

reached the Court at Madrid, the Spaniards were livid with anger! The

ink was scarcely dry on the Treaty of Madrid (1667), yet the English

were already robbing and pillaging again at will among their subjects

on the Main. Repeatedly, throughout the winter and spring of 1668-

1669, Ambassador Molina bitterly complained before King Charles and the
 Wi7

Privy Council. He demanded redress. He insisted upon the punishment

of Governor Modyford for his part in these exploits.^

The Spaniards received little satisfaction, however. They were

told "that the Violentes and Hostile Actions of the Spanjards upon his

Majesty's Subjects in those parts do Exceed those of the English upon

the Spanjards." Lord Arlington found himself repeating much of

Modyford's own reasoning. In this he was influenced by Dr. Benjamin

Worsley, the secretary of the Privy Council's "Plantations Committee"

and an ardent Francophobe. Worsley argued in a long treatise prepared

for that group that the privateers must be supported to prevent their

joining the French who were daily growing ever stronger in the Indies.

Thus, the Spaniards were informed that the recent acts had not been

ordered by the English Government. Moreover, His Majesty's Government

could not prevent such actions because the privateers would only enlist

under the colors of France and do even more harm to the Spaniards and

the English alike. Finally, it was hinted that the Spaniards had only

themselves to blame. If they would grant the free access to their

ports for which the Earl of Sandwich was still pressing at Madrid,

these unfortunate ruptures would not occur.^

To the Spaniards, it became clear] the English did not consider

the Treaty of Madrid (1667) binding "beyond the line." They had no

intention of making restitution for these despicable raids of the

Jamaican privateers. They were not committed to suppressing such

actions in the future. Well, then, two could play at that gamel Thus,

while maneuvering carefully to avoid an outright breach in diplomatic

relations with England, the Spaniards resolved to gain some reprisal

of their own "beyond the line.

 W8

“~MoTiges^
Cabo San Ttoman
tOntga
WfyCabo C otjuibacott

:M A R A C A IB O
SAY
( G u lf o f Venezuela)

MARACAIBO ,sta'

‘M a r a c a ib o

( jib r a U a r

^Merida

Hap 11. The vicinity of the privateers'

raids in the spring of 1669.
(From A. 0. Exquetnelin, The Buccaneers of America.)
 Ui9

Meantime, however, in the higher realms of diplomacy, England was

drifting toward a definite change of policy regarding the Jamaican

privateers. While Charles IX and Louis XIV of France were negotiating

toward their secret agreement at Dover of May, 1670, which was directed

toward closer friendship between England and France and the further

weakening of Spain, Parliament and English mercantile interests, being

suspicious of French designs, were pressing the king into a public

posture that was anti-French and pro-Spanish. The Triple Alliance was

cemented among England, the Netherlands, and Sweden in January, 1668,

to resist the expansionist ambitions of the French monarchy. Largely

due to the efforts of Lord Arlington and the English politicians, these

Triple Alliance Powers came to a further agreement in May, 1669,

jointly to guarantee the security of Spanish dominions as well. These

diplomatic feats gave Lord Arlington the upper hand. At last, he

exerted greater influence than his political rivals in the English

Aministration who were cool toward a strong, pro-Spanish policy. Now

he could lead the English Government to abandon its policy of con­

nivance toward the Jamaican privateers which it had been practicing

since early 1666— a policy he had found singularly distasteful all

along.^

Already, in February, 1669/ instructions had been drawn up for

sending to Madrid a new English ambassador, Sir William Godolphin.

Upon arrival (Sir William did not leave for Madrid until autumn, 1669),

Godolphin was to press for a new treaty with Spain— the first to deal

specifically with the relations between Englishmen and Spaniards in

America. He was to seek a treaty which would sufficiently define the

rights and interests of the two peoples "beyond the line" as to provide
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 550

the basis for a lasting peace. It should for the future prohibit all

acts of hostility in the Indies. It should effect an amnesty for all

past offenses and the release of all prisoners on both sides. And, if

the Spaniards absolutely balked at granting any trading concessions to

English ships in Spanish American ports, Godolphin was at least to

secure the right of the ships of each people to "wood and water" in the

ports of the other. If the Spaniards doubted the resolve of the English

Government to stand by such a treaty once made, Sir William was to

assure them that a provisional order would be promptly dispatched to

the governor of Jamaica to call in his privateers. For once the

English Government was as good as its word. On May 11, 1669, just

before Morgan and his rovers returned to Jamaica from Maracaibo, Lord

Arlington wrote to Governor Modyford; forthwith he was to cease all

hostilities against Spanish s u b je c ts

What Sir Thomas's inner reaction to this command was we can only

surmise. He would not disobey a direct order, however. Concerned that

he would find himself the focus of official disfavor once the news of

Morgan's latest exploits reached London and Madrid, Modyford set about

energetically to fulfill his recent instructions.^

His Excellency recalled the privateers at once; he ceased giving

out commissions against the Spaniards; only occasionally did he issue

"let-passes" to keep a few sail patrolling for intelligence purposes.

On June llj, 1669, by beat of drum, he proclaimed peace with Spain

throughout the island. He sent dispatches to the governors of neigh­

boring Spanish colonies announcing that their troubles were over,

although of course they had largely brought these difficulties upon

their own heads. He also wrote the Count of Molina (the Spanish
ambassador in London) a letter in which he had the temerity to suggest

that the Spaniards might find it very useful to employ the Jamaican

corsairs themselves 1 Since this letter reveals Sir Thomas in his best

vein, it deserves quotation at length.

Sir,
You cannot be ignorant how much your whole nation in
these parts did applaud my justice and civility to them
at my first coming . . . which I should have continued to
this day, had not an invincible necessity compelled me to
allow our privateers their old way, that I might keep
them from joining with mine and your master's enemies [the
French] . . . to which I find them too much inclinable . . . .
. . . I know, and perhaps you are not altogether
ignorant of your weakness in these parts, the thinnesse
of your inhabitants, want of hearts, arms, and knowledge
of war, . . . so that you have no town on this side of
the line, but that my master's forces here would give
him, did not his signal generosity to yours restrain them.
What wee could have done, the French will doe, unlesse
these men by your intercession be brought to serve your
master, and then you will be so sensible of their usefulness,
that you will no longer malign me for the evills they have
done the vassalls of your Prince . . . .
It is possible this franke discovery of my knowledge
in your affaires will invite you the more earnestly to
endeavour my oppression; but I am secure in the goodness
and wisdom of ny Sovereign Lord . . . .

Finally, in August, 1669, Sir Thomas dispatched a lengthy apologia to

Lord Arlington. Including abstracts of much of his past correspondence

relating to the privateers, Modyford again explained and defended his

use of the privateers since he had become the governor of Jamaica.-^

During the same period, the French governor of Tortuga was also

forbidden to grant letters of marque. Modyford's task of complying

with Arlington's orders was consequently made easier and more effective.

By November, 1669, Sir Thomas could claim in a dispatch to Albemarle

that many of the privateers had turned to trading with the Indians of

the Main for hides, tallow, turtle shell, and logwood; others were

hunting wild cattle and hogs in Cuba; some who had money had turned to
planting; and only a few persisted as pirates in attacking the

Spaniards and attempting to smuggle their booty into Jamaica for sale.

Thus, during the winter of 1669-1670, it appeared that Modyford1s con­

nection with these surly seamen was at last to be severed; it looked

cjl
as though a measure of peace had come to the Caribbean.

Sir Thomas made good use of this interval of peace by focusing

attention anew upon his own diverse undertakings. At times in con­

junction with his kindred, he entered new business ventures; he

acquired new facilities for trade; he further enlarged his estates; he

experimented with the culture of new commodities; and he dramatically

expanded hi3 planting enterprise.

Landed gentlemen though they had become, the Modyfords were never

very far from the market place when a substantial profit was to be

made. For the remainder of the decade, Sir Thomas and Sir James con­

tinued as members of the Company of Royal Adventurers. Moreover,

although Hender Molesworth was Modyford1s deputy factor in Jamaica for

handling the company's diminishing trade of these years, the Modyfords

continued to participate in the company's affairs. In July, 1667,

Sir James lined up a cargo of Jamaican products to be shipped to London

in response to a bill of exchange received from the company. In 1670,

when a slaver under license from the company arrived at Jamaica from

the Guinea Coast, Major General Thomas Modyford and Cary Helyar— under

the guise of "Cary Helyar and Company"— disposed of the cargo of 111

slaves quite satisfactorily. Moreover, in the process of paying the

slaver's London backers their due, Thomas and Cary shipped from Port
 553

Royal's wharves "37 hogsheads of cocoa, 1*6 tons of logwood, 1*7 hogs­

heads of muscovado sugar, 10 tons of lignum vitae, indigo, pimento,

broken plate, and 16 Elephants' teeth." It is also clear from Cary's

correspondence that he and Thomas Modyford Junior— "partners . . . in

mercantile affairs"--dealt extensively in wines.^

Sir James Modyford continued to be active in other facets of trade

as well. As he engaged in one venture or another, he frequently

managed an investment therein for his brother alongside his own. To

be sure, his favored enterprise was that of buying and selling the booty
+Vi
of the sea rovers, for "ye opportunities wee often make w by means of

or Privateers, doe sometimes double, nay trebble, our money w"^ o u ^

any hazard." But in the spring of 1668, as wild rumors spread through­

out English commercial circles that the Spaniards were about ready to

concede one "free port" to English ships in Spanish America, the Mody-

fords were quick to respond. This was the trade which Sir Thomas had

been angling for since 1663 in Barbados, On May 11, Sir James wrote

to Sir Andrew King, a sometime business associate in London. Upon the

granting of a license for such a trade, Sir James advised Sir Andrew to

move immediately to prosecute it. He should form a syndicate of seven

partners, load a ship with jfl0,000 worth of selected merchandise, and

dispatch it forthwith via Jamaica to Santa Marta on the Main, the site

recommended by Sir Thomas as the most advantageous "free port." Sir

Thomas and Sir James would come in for J?2,£00 each; Sir James suggested

"Cosin Charles Modyford" and "Cosin Thomas Ducke" as two of the

remaining four.

When no such trading concession was forthcoming, however, and

privateering also momentarily ceased, Sir James recommended that Sir

 SSk

Andrew dispatch a shipload of Scots servants to Jamaica, "interesting

my Brother & try selfe what you shall thinke fitt." He had been careful,

though, to relieve Sir Andrew of all burdens relative to the Modyfords'

affairs. Said Sir James: "I have writ my sd Nephew [Charles Modyford]

to take off from you . . . all ye toyle & active part of my business."

Charles Modyford held powers of attorney from both his father and his

uncle, enabling him to manage effectively the family's interests at

tfj,
the London end.^

While pursuing their continuing interests in trade during this

period, the Modyfords also acquired additional facilities with which to

promote these ventures. All of them purchased interests in ships. In

1666, before leaving London for Jamaica, Sir James purchased a Dutch

ship made prize and renamed the Swan. In 1667, in partnership with

Hender Molesworth and others, Charles Modyford purchased a Spanish ship

made prize and renamed the Crescent. In 1670, Major General Thomas

Modyford loaned Christopher Webb lf>0, receiving as partial security

for this sum the ketch, Fortune of Jamaica, then riding in the Port

Royal Harbor. During the latter years of Sir Thomas's term as governor

and beyond, he continued to be a partner in the ownership of the

Jamaican Merchant. In similar fashion, the Modyfords acquired adequate

storehouses and wharves. In 1669, Major General Thomas Modyford

secured a waterfront property in Old Harbor. A year later, he and his

partner, Cary Helyar, patented a plot in Port Royal lying between

Thames and High streets along "Tunstall's Lane" (probably an alley

still farther east of Sweetings Lanej see Map 7, page 353, chapter VII).

In May, 1669, Sir Thomas purchased from Roger Hill a lot with a store­

house fronting on Thames Street just west of the king's storehouses.

 555

In 1670, Sir James patented a similar lot nearby which had reverted to

the Crown. His property, lying between the king's storehouses and Sea

Lane, eventually contained a tenement, three storehouses, and a wharf.

Clearly, the Modyfords were equipped to exploit the best trading op­

portunities which the island did afford.55

Moreover, Sir Thomas and his kinsmen were involved in other com­

mercial endeavors as well. In I669, Sir Thomas and Son Charles

obtained from the Crown permission for a certain Jew to open a copper

mine in the mountains of Jamaica. They acquired for him a certificate

of naturalization and a thirty-one year lease on the mine; they

apparently backed him in the undertaking. In June, 16?1, Sir Thomas

purchased from Widow Mary Noy the other .half-interest in the 14,639

acre "Salt Pond Plantation" and a forty-year lease on the other half­

interest in the Salt Ponds themselves. In 1670, the twenty-two Negroes

attached to the place were already producing ten thousand bushels of

salt per year; the ponds possessed the capacity to produce much, much

more. For the next two decades, the Modyfords would furnish the

Jamaicans with all the salt they desired at 10d-12d per bushel. Fur­

thermore, all of the Modyfords occasionally loaned money at interest.

At times, their primary intent seems to have been to acquire the

securities given in exchange for the mortgagej at others, the purpose

was apparently simply to enlarge their capital through the interest

earned. As Sir James pointed out to Sir Andrew King: "money here is

farr more advantagious [than in England], ye barre Interest of this

place being 16 p Cent w*1*1 as good, if nott better, securitty then in

England."56

As diversified as were the pursuits of the Modyfords, however, the

pull of the land was strongest of all. Therefore, during the years

1668-1671, Sir Thomas and his kin steadily added to their acreage. Of

prime importance to Sir Thomas, of course, was the "barton"— "Angels."

In 1669, Thomas Junior patented two additional plots of 20 acres each

which were virtually surrounded by lands earlier purchased for "Angels."

Perhaps it was during the same year that Sir Thomas extended the

western boundary of the home farm still farther by the purchase of 100

acres from John Parris. In 1670, Thomas Junior patented another 58

acres of woodland extending northward from "Angels1" northeastern

boundary along the eastern bank of the Rio Cobre. Also that year, the

governor bought from Widow Elizabeth Read the old "Edward Coffin

place"1 it constituted 206 acres along the southeastern boundary of

"Angels." In 1671, Sir Thomas acquired still another 53 acres along

the southern boundary of "Angels" from Hersey Barrett. For this tract,

he traded Barret 90 acres of land lying at "the Rock" along the

Guanaboa Road a mile or so farther to the west. Thus, by the end of

his term as governor, Sir Thomas had expanded his new family seat into

an estate of some 1,1*20 acres. ^

There were other acquisitions by the Modyfords and their kin in

St. Catherine's. In September, 1668, Thomas Junior and partner

Joachim Hane paid Edward Beckford /350 for a 1*20 acre ranch with "penn"

and 68 cattle located southeast of St. Jago near "Two Mile Wood."

Shortly thereafter, in an area some 2-3 miles east of St. Jago, along

the Rio Cobre just south of Caymanas, Cousin Edmund Duck acquired

several small tracts of both pasture and crop lands. After estab­

lishing his seat here on the river in addition to a residence in town,

Duck sold upwards of 200 acres in this area to Nephew Thomas Kendall.
 557

In January, 1669, Old Stander John Colebeck mortgaged his home farm

along Bowers Gully abreast the St. Catherine's— Clarendon line to Sir

Thomas for &.79j it was destined to remain in Modyford's hands for

58
fifteen years before finally being redeemed.

But it was Sir James Modyford who was most busily acquiring lands

during this period in St. Catherine's as he began establishing his own

estate in Jamaica. In September, 1667, Sir James purchased from Denis

and Margery Macragh the "Pullins Plantation"— $00 acres stretching from

the Rio Cobre westward along the northern boundary of Sir Thomas's

"Angels." This farm was already endowed with 17 slaves, a small sugar

work, and a considerable planting of cocoa. In December, he took up

a mortgage on the lip. acres just west of this tract belonging to

William Marlow and Peter Chambers. In January, 1668, Sir James

patented 3,000 acres which extended northward up the Rio Cobre from the

"Pullins Plantation," northwestward through the mountain woodlands of

St. Catherine's into St. John's Parish, and westward to the old

Gibratar (Giblatore?) Road. This tract included the partially developed

"Crescent (Crescense) Plantation" just north of the Macragh place,

perhaps a half mile above the northernmost boundary of "Angels." It

was the "mansion house" of the "Crescent Plantation" which became Sir

James's new family seat. At "Crescent," in the spring of 1670, Sir

James was joined by his family— Lady Elizabeth Slanning Modyford,

daughters Mary, Elizabeth, and Grace, and son John.-^

Up in St. John's Parish (later St. Thomas's in the Vale), the

Modyford holdings were also expanding. In 1669, Sir James patented

1,000 acres of timberland lying in a sheltered valley at the northeast

corner of the Vale along the headwaters of the Rio Magno. In 1670, in
 558

anticipation of having to return 'Wakefield Hall" to Robert Nelson upon

the full payment of his mortgage, Sir Thomas patented an additional

900 acres of the adjacent savanna. This move expanded "Palmers Hut"

farther southward to the Gibraltar Mountains; it increased the extent

of the plantation to upwards of 3,000 acres. Most probably, it was

also in 1670 that Sir Thomas's only surviving daughter, Mary, married

Colonel George Nedham.^ Mary then went to live at the "Manor of

Shenton," Nedham's estate just north of Sixteen Mile Walk (Bog Walk)

and the confluence of the Rio Cobre, Rio Doro, and Rio Pedro. Con­

currently, Nedham was acquiring three additional plots totaling 522

acres around the western and southern boundaries of his home farm.

These extended "Shenton" southward to touch upon Sir Thomas's "Palmers

Hut" in the southwest and upon Thomas Junior's large trace (stretching

eastward along the Rio Pedro) in the southeast. Thus, in 1670, when

Sir Thomas completed the chopping out of a new road up the east bank of

the Rio Cobre Gorge which connected "Palmers Hut" above with "Angels"

below "all through ... [His] ... Excellency's own land," Nedham and a

dozen of his neighbors petitioned for freedom to use the new trace.

Sir Thomas generously opened the road to his neighbors of the Vale.

They, in turn, agreed to mend and maintain it when occasion required.

In St. Andrew's, the Modyford clan acquired new lands as well.

In July, 1668, Nephew Thomas Tothill bought U50 acres of pasture with

"penn" and 30 cattle located in Liguanea between the estates of Samuel

Barry and Richard Hope. In December, 1668, Tothill sold this tract to

Sir James Modyford. A few months later, Tothill patented 1,300 acres

of secluded woodlands high up in the Red Hills bounding the south bank

of the Wag Water River. In 1670, Sir James added another 80 acres of
 559

savanna to his U50 acre tract in Liguaneaj and, the following spring,

he patented U86 acres of Richard Hope's estate which had escheated to

the Crown. In this fashion, Sir James acquired in St. Andrew's two
62
adjacent tracts of ranchland totaling 1,016 acres.

Finally, the years 1668-1671 also saw the Modyfords take their

first steps toward acquiring lands in less settled areas of the island.

In August, 1668, Sir James patented a parcel of land of some 2,000

acres lying along the shores of Cow Bay in St. David's Parish. In

January, 1671, partners Thomas Modyford Junior and Charles Modyford

patented three tracts of land totaling 2,626 acres in the newly

delineated parishes of St. Mary and St. George on the North Side of the

island. The first tract of 1,630 acres lay slightly inland in the

hills abreast the boundary between St. Mary's and St. George's. The

second, containing 990 acres, stretched from the western shore of Wag

Water Bay (Annotto Bay) up Calabash Bottom. The third, in anticipation

of the days when shipping would become more important on the north

coast, embraced six acres of bay shore at Port Maria.^

It was upon steadily expanding acres, therefore, that Sir Thomas

continued to advance numerous agricultural enterprises during these

years. At "Angels," he grew a variety of provision crops (yams,

cassava, peas, plantains) and numerous fruits of the island (citrus,

coconuts, guavas, soursops, custard apples). These he produced for his

own table in town, for his ever-increasing labor force, and perhaps,

for sale to other planters just commencing. Here, too, he continued to

plant and process a superior variety of sugar cane. Upon discovering

that the rich, red, well-watered soils of the upper vale were far

superior to those of "Angels" for cane culture, however, he began

 560

preparing "Palmers Hut" to become the Modyford sugar factory of the

future. Meantime, he became fascinated with the prospects of the

Spanish cocoa tree.^

Given the growing appetite for chocolate in England and in Europe,

Modyford began to envision another bonanza similar to that he experi­

enced during the early days of sugar production in Barbados. Forth­

with, he applied himself to learning well the secrets of cocoa culture.

By 1665 or 1666, Sir Thomas appears to have been planting about 21

acres of cocoa each year— initially at "Angelslater at "Palmers

Hut." First, rows of plantain trees were rooted; these provided food

for the slaves while rows of cocoa trees emerged among them; later,

they were removed to give the cocoa free reign. Though it required a

full five years for each "walk" to mature, Sir Thomas discovered that,

with far less labor than sugar culture required, he could produce

around 1,000 lbs. of "cocoa cods" per acre. Cocoa fetched 1* per

hundredweight in Port Royal; more in London. Thus, each acre would

gross not less than £1*0 per annum; each mature, 21 acre "walk" at primes

yield not less than £81*0 per annum. By 1669-1670, Sir Thomas had the

finest "cocoa walks" in the island; one or two were just approaching

maximum yield.^

If the light, sandy soils of "Angels" proved less than the best

for sugar cane, theywere, nevertheless, ideal for ginger and indigo.

So, while waiting for the cocoa walks to mature and beginning to clear

sugar lands up in the Vale, at "Angels" Modyford cultured crops of

ginger and indigo. Producing a ginger crop required 12 months. An

acre yielded 8,000 lbs. At £l per hundredweight, Sir Thomas's ginger

crop grossed him about £80 per acre. Indigo grew to ripeness in 8
 561

weeks, but the extraction and drying of the dyestuff required consider­

able time and effort. Modyford discovered that one good hand working

in indigo could produce around a hundredweight of the dyestuff per

annum and earn him approximately £ljj. Thus, while laying the founda­

tions for long-ranged yields, it appears that Modyford was regularly

growing ginger and indigo for "present profit."

66

Concurrently, Sir Thomas experimented with the culture of several

additional plants of possible economic value. Ere long, he domesti­

cated "Jamaican Pepper"— the indigenous tree of prolific growth in the

Jamaican hills which the Spaniards called "Piemento du Monde"— and

"Sent home Severall pcells" of its berries "whose Spice is admirably

good." But as Modyford explained in a report to the "Plantation

Committee" of the Privy Council in April, 1669: "yet to my great wonder

and discouragement, I could never receive more upon Sales in England

then my charges heere cost me." He and certain associates also appear

to have made trial of several medicinal plants, e.g., vanilla, China

roots (ginseng), cassia, and tamarind. When the king received from Sir

Thomas samples of the plants with which he was working, Charles was

pleased. He prompted the governor to continue his transplants and

experimental cultivation. Said he to Modyford: "imploy your self with

all deligence to preserve the Trees and Plants, upon which any Pepper,

Cloves, or any other Spices grow, and to encourage the Planting and

Cultivating of the same."^

While pursuing new prospects in planting, Sir Thomas did not

neglect his livestock. Both at "Angels" and on his pasture plots near

town, he grazed a number of cattle. Perhaps it was at "Kendall

Plantation" that he developed his "hog crawl." At "Angels" and at

 562

"Salt Pond Plantation," he kept herds of sheep. At "Salt Pond Plan­

tation," he also maintained a fine flock of turkeys, ducks, and other

68
fowl.

It was near the height of his agricultural production of these

years in 1670-1671, then, that we are given a glimpse of the advancing

scope of his agricultural enterprises. At "Palmers Hut" and "Angels,"

he was growing crops of sugar cane, cocoa, ginger, and indigo$ he was

experimentally culturing several other plants. In the work of culti­

vating, harvesting, and moving crops to market he was using 33 "acres"

horses, 10 mares, 6 mules, and 6 donkeys. At "Angels," on the Town

Savanna, and at "Salt Ponds," he was herding 28U cattle, hl5 sheep,

and a large flock of fowl. His total labor force engaged in planting

and processing crops, in herding livestock, in making salt, and in

tending the family residence in St. Jago included 350 Negro slaves and

Uj white servants. Perhaps this scope of enterprise is what Major

James Banister had in mind when he reported to Lord Arlington in April,

1671: "This island is very fertile, and questionless in a short time

will be a flourishing settlement, but till Sir Thos. Modyford showed

them the way, the very name of a planter was strange amongst them.

It was also at this juncture, however, that a singular setback in

his planting enterprise caused Modyford to alter his direction sub­

stantially. In the planning for future profits, up until 1670 he had

been placing first emphasis upon cocoa, second upon sugar. The

Jamaican Council Minutes of August 30, 1670, chronicle the cause of

change: " . . . the great Dryeth that hath lately happened in this

Island, whereby the Cocoa trees have been in most places blasted and

the Indigo starved in the Ground, and the canes yield far less than
 563

they have formerly done . . . ." But the cocoa walks were not only

affected by a temporary drought; they were hit by an enduring blight.

Though some groves continued to produce, the trees on the south side

of the island would never again regain their former vigor. Modyford

read the prospects accurately. Henceforth, sugar received prime

emphasis; cocoa took second place.^

"Palmers Hut" came sharply into focus. Fall of 1670 found Mody­

ford moving three-quarters of his work force to the plantation in the

Vale. Most of the slaves were set to clearing new lands and planting

sucessive fields of cane, A few were assigned to help experienced

craftsmen erect a fine new mill on the south bank of the river. Others

were put to digging a crescent-shaped mill leat into the river's bank

through which the Cobra's current could be channeled beneath the mill's

large undershop wheel. By the summer of 1671, inexhaustable power was

turning the cane-crushing rollers of the mill; twenty acres of canes

"as good as hart can wish" were almost ripe for cutting; while awaiting

"Palmers Hut" canes to come in regularly, the mill stood ready to

process the canes of Sir Thomas's prosperous neighbors "on the halves";

lands were still being cleared; canes were still being planted. Said

Cary Helyar of the emerging enterprise at "Palmers Hut": "I know Sir

Thomas Modyford's designs was to grind out 600 acres of canes pr ann

wch at ye rate of ye lowest calculation may be reckoned at j£20

sterling p acre." A projected gross of j£L2,000 per annum from one

plantation alone! Such was the anticipation of the planter-govemor

of Jamaica when public affairs called him away from plantation manage­

ment to pay a visit to England in August, 1671.^

 56U

Meantime, parallel to the advancement of his own diverse ventures,

Modyford was promoting in the island further settlement, the expansion

of planting, and the development of trade. Indeed, in addition to the

models for emulation which his personal enterprises afforded to "old

Stander" and newcomer alike, the governor’s advice, encouragement, and

varied assistance to the Jamaicans during these years singularly con­

tributed to the growth of the island's economy.

From 1667 through 1671, a steady stream of immigrants flowed into

Jamaica. Several factors contributed to this movement. The war with

the Dutch and the French in the Caribbean uprooted or despoiled many

English settlers in the Leeward Islands. Through his agents in England

and Barbados, Moctyford’s recruiting efforts bore fruit. In the Lesser

Antilles— especially in Barbados— the on-going consolidation of small

plots into larger sugar plantations worked by Negro slaves increasingly

sent recently freed servants and impoverished yeomen in search of a

place to commence anew. Jamaica's natural bounty, the favorable con­

ditions for settlement which Modyford had created there, the governor's

prospensity for promoting planting and related enterprises— all com­

bined to make Jamaica a place which proffered prosperity to impover­

ished husbandman and affluent entrepreneur alike.^

Though Modyford found barely five thousand souls in the island

upon his arrival, Jamaica’s population steadily grew. If many of the

one thousand Barbadians he brought with him died before their plantings

could produce and some Jamaicans were lost on ventures with the priva­

teers, soon there were others to take their place. The Englishmen who
 565

settled St. Eustatius after its conquest by the privateers moved on to

Jamaica in early 1667 when their island was retaken by the Dutch. In

April, 1667, six hundred colonists from Montserrat arrived in Jamaica

"extremely plundered" by the French. From St. Christopher, others

followed while that colony also was under French occupation. In De­

cember, 1667, Modyford forwarded to England a new map of Jamaica; he

suggested that it be printed and widely distributed for purposes of

luring still more settlers from the homeland. By late 1668, more than

one newcomer from England was finding the island in "a very thriving

condition" and the governor "a prudent and obliging person." By late

1669, Jamaica was nurturing better than 8,000 inhabitants.*^

January of 1670 saw "much running out of lands." May found "the

inhabitants daily increasing." The flow of immigrants from Barbados

into Jamaica appears to have been especially persistent. In August,

1670, Richard Brown (previously surgeon to H. M. S. Oxford) discovered

several Barbadians disembarking at Port Royal; others were expected

soon. After riding the full length of the island and visiting most of

the existing settlements, Brown also found "Sir Thos. Modyford very

well resented by the people for a wise, sober, honest, and discreet

man." During that same month, Modyford and the Council ordered the

surveyors to begin delineating the boundaries of four new parishes on

the North Side— St. Georges's, St. Mary's, St. Anne's, and St. James's.

In December, when Cary Helyar rode across the mountains to the North

Side in search of a select new tract of land to patent for himself, he

found that area already "beginning to people apace." In March, 1671,

Major James Banister reported that he had arrived in Jamaica with the

first two of several shiploads of displaced settlers from Surinam; they

 $66

were "received with all civility by Sir Thos. Modyford who hath a

special care for the settlement of the people." Moreover, as Sir

Thomas Lynch stopped at Barbados enroute to Jamaica in early June,

1671, he found three to four hundred Barbadians preparing to emigrate

to Jamaica. Simultaneously, several of Antigua's leading families were

considering the same move.*^

Thus, during the course of Modyford's seven-year term as governor,

Jamaica's population increased from 5,000 to upwards of 16,000. Where­

as in I66I4 only one-fourth of the population were Negro slaves, however,

by the summer of I67I the African labor force constituted approximately

one-half of the island's inhabitants. While recruiting new colonists,

helping settlers to get established, and promoting the importation of

slaves and servants to provide the laborers needed, Modyford issued

some 1,800 land patents totaling over 300,000 acres— triple the acreage

of Barbados.^

As he generously distributed the land, Sir Thomas abetted the

efforts of the big planters and the struggling yeoman alike. Through

his land grants, personal loans, and other forms of assistance, he con­

tributed dynamically to the emergence of a planter elite. By 1670,

some planters held 1,000 or more acres; sixteen possessed 2,000

acres of more. Sir Thomas himself, along with his kinsmen, stood in

the foremost ranks of this new Jamaican gentry. Nevertheless, he pro­

tected the interests of the husbandman as well. Among the several sets

of "propositions" which he forwarded to the Privy Council in 1670 on

how "the speedy settling of Jamaica" should be further undertaken and

how "the Royal Revenue may be increased," Modyford recommended for the

future an initial fee of 3d per acre for all land granted and thereafter
 567

an annual quit-rent of Id per acre for all land held. But, said he:

"it may be requisite to moderate this order towards servants newly out

of their time, slaves newly made free, and other poor indigent men,

that take up but 5 to 30 acres, in regard such small plantations are

the strength of the island, the greatest producers of provisions, and

ought to be encouraged." Was His Excellency already seeking to prevent

the development In Jamaica of the evils attendant to that exclusive

production of a single crop upon sizeable plantations by an over­

whelming majority of black bondsmen which he then perceived to be

76
overtaking Barbados? Perhaps so.

Although only a fraction of the 300,000 acres granted by Governor

Modyford was actually in cultivation by the end of his term, planting

in Jamaica did progress considerably during these years. True, the

activities of the Jamaican privateers— accompanied as they were by

emergency defense measures, an increase in the subject's public duties,

and opportunities for some to escape more laborous pursuits— served

somewhat to deter the growth of planting. There was no phenomenal

upsurge in production comparable to that in Barbados during the seven

years just prior to its submission to the Commonwealth (16U5-1652).

Despite these distractions, however, new plantations emerged; estab­

lished ones expanded.^

Moreover, to many Jamaicans engaged in planting, Modyford provided

assistance. He shared widely his knowledge of sugar production, cocoa

culture, and the cultivation of pimento. Though we will never know how

many newcomers he personally tutored in "building [a plantation]

according to Barbados custom"— i.e. beginning slowly with a few hands

to cultivate inexpensive but profitable crops until the land, slaves,

 568

and equipment could be accumulated to produce sugar— it is clear that

many Jamaicans were pursuing this approach. To some, perhaps, Sir

Thomas pointed out that "a small stock of cattle is no bad beginning;

here are good estates in that very thing merly." To others, His

Excellency provided more direct support. He helped Cary Helyar build

up the 1,236 acres of "Bybrook Plantation" (directly across the Rio

Cobre from "Palmers Hut") and acquire the Negroes he needed to launch

thereon his planting enterprise. Within a year after another young

gentleman arrived in Jamaica, Sir James Modyford exclaimed: "Mr Cobbe

hath bought a very hopefull plantation, where hee's made very good

Indigo in a very short time; I heare he had it cheape, & both my

78
brother & my nephew's assistance & approbation in it."'

It was, no doubt, with considerable pride, therefore, that Mody­

ford reported the progress of Jamaican agriculture to the new Council

for Plantations in late 1670. At the moment, there were 57 sugar works

producing 1,710,000 pounds of sugar yearly. The best of these sugars

(thanks largely to Modyford's tutelage) now surpassed the average

Barbadian product in quality. Moreover, several new sugar works were

on the verge of production. There were U7 "cocoa walkes" yielding

188,000 pounds of nuts in a good season; in addition, many young

"walkes" were rapidly approaching maturity. There were 1*9 indigo works

producing some 1*9*000 pounds of dyestuff annually. Several planters

were trying the culture of pimento; Sir Thomas calculated that with

encouragement they could easily export therefrom 50,000 pounds of all­

spice per annum. Numerous native woods were being exported in con­

siderable quantities, and the experimental cultivation of several

medicinal plants was progressing. Jamaica's livestock were thriving.

 569

From some 800 head of cattle in I66I1, the beeves had multiplied to

6,000. In addition, plentiful sheep, goats, and hogs now more than met

the islanders1 needs. Finally, certain well-managed plantations were

beginning to pay handsomely. During the previous year, Alderman

Richard Beckford of London had derived |2,000 from his Jamaican estate,

"clear of all charges."^

If privateering tended somewhat to erode the progress of planting

in Jamaica, nevertheless, the corsairs' loot clearly stimulated the

island's trade. Once that trade was advancing, the island's increasing

agricultural commodities sustained it. During the early months of

Modyford's administration, a pattern of ships regularly calling at

Jamaica to trade was just beginning. As late as March, 1666, if a ship

laden with Jamaican products was ready to sail once every three months,

it was "as much as usual." The Second Dutch War thinned commercial

traffic venturing into the Caribbean even further. Following the Peace

of Breda (1667), however, trade picked up. The rich goods, gems, plate,

and pieces-of-eight flowing into Port Royal as a result of continuing

raids upon the Spaniards by the Jamaican privateers proved a powerful

catalyst to trade. Small vessels from New England flocked in laden

with provisions, casks, and staves. Larger ships arrived from England

via the Maderia Islands with food, English beer and cider, naval stores,

arms, dry goods, and wines. They sailed away laden with increasing

quantities of the island's commodities. During 1669, 18 ships sailed

into Port Royal Harbor from England; twenty ships laden with Jamaican

products hauled away from the Thames Street wharves bound for the home­

land. Taking into consideration the smaller vessels of North America

as well, during the period from January 1, 1668 until January 1, 1670,
 570

208 merchant ships totaling 6,727 tons entered and left the deep water

anchorage off the Point. After Sir Thomas Lynch had been in Jamaica

for several weeks over the summer of 1671, he reported to an associate

in England: "scarcely a ffortnight ever passes without a Ship from

England."®0

To this advancing economy of the young colony, Sir Thomas and his

kinsmen made still another contribution. Along with their personal

initiatives in planting and trade and the public support they gave to

the internal development of the island, all the Modyfords served as

attorneys to handle the business transactions of others. By authenti­

cating legal documents, witnessing business transactions, executing

wills, conveying properties from one to another, and collecting debts

owed by Jamaicans to Londoners or by Londoners to Jamaicans, Sir Thomas

fll
and his clan helped to keep the Jamaican economy alive and growing.

During the years I66U-I67I, therefore, the advancement of England's

youngest and most promising colony in the West Indies encountered many

obstacles. Marauding bands of Spanish Negroes within; war with the

Dutch and the French without; the corrosive effects of privateering

upon the planting enterprise; the interruption of peaceful trade by

piracy upon the seas; the default of the only legitimate supplier of

Negro slaves; drought and the cocoa blight; the persistence of tropical

diseases which annually claimed their toll— these were but a few.

Despite these obstacles, however, the peopling and planting of Jamaica

proceeded apace; a thriving trade emerged and continued. In the midst

of the island’s internal development of these years stood Sir Thomas

Modyford. Facing the difficulties as they arose, through public post

and personal enterprise, Modyford contributed dynamically to the

 571

advancement of Jamaica. One obstacle to the Island's security,

however, haunted Sir Thomas throughout his term as governor— the threat

of invasion by hostile Spaniards. With this problem, Sir Thomas dealt

dramatically during the last year of his administration.

Lord Arlington was especially gratified by Modyford's ready com­

pliance with his order of May 11, 1669, calling for a cessation of all

hostilities against the Spaniards. Since the recent diplomatic success

of the English at the Hague, whereby the Triple Alliance Powers were

persuaded jointly to guarantee the security of the Spanish dominions

as well, Arlington was determined to abandon altogether the policy of

connivance in the use of the Jamaican privateers. He was convinced

that the time was ripe to secure a treaty with Spain which would, at

last, define the rights and interests of the two nations in America and

become the basis of an enduring peace. In the autumn of 1669, Sir

William Godolphin departed for Madrid with high heart; he was confident

he could pull it off. While Sir William was negotiating, Modyford's

recall of the sea rovers was to verify the sincerity of the English in

these pursuits. It was crucial, therefore, that no hostile acts be

82
committed against the Spaniards while these parleys were in progress.

The illustion of peace in the Caribbean was soon to be shattered,

however. In those days of laggard communication, national policy could

take paradoxical turns. Just as the English Administration decided to

renounce its policy of connivance and Modyford began to suppress the

privateers, the thread of Spanish patience snapped under the strain of

repeated attacks by the Jamaican corsairs. At the very moment that

 572

Morgan and the freebooters were plundering Maracaibo in April, 1669,

the queen regent of Spain— smarting from the Porto Bello raid— issued

a royal cedula. She ordered her governors in America to proclaim war

against the English south of the Tropic of Cancer and to take posses­

sion of any and all English ships, islands, places, and ports in the

West Indies. In consequence, the governor of Cartagena declared war on

the English in February, 1670; the governor of Porto Bello followed

suit; both issued letters of reprisal to privateers. Moreover, a fleet

of six Spanish men-of-war had already been sent to the Caribbean.

Though Morgan had disposed of three of these at Maracaibo, those re­

maining now took the offensive. The Spaniards commenced to attack

English commerce with vigor.

Tales of war declared with "no quarter to any Englishman" and of

Spanish cruelty to English seamen came scudding into Port Royal aboard

English merchantmen. In June, 1670, Sir Thomas received a copy of the

Spanish royal cedula from the hands of the Dutch governor of Curacao.

If the threat of a Spanish invasion had been somewhat exaggerated be­

fore, this time it was all too real. Modyford became genuinely alarmed.

Prompt action was needed. But his powerful kinsman and patron, the

Duke of Albemarle, had died earlier that year; and, since he was under

direct orders to maintain the peace, Modyford feared to act without

permission. Gloomy and downcast, in March, in April, and again in May,

Modyford sought Arlington's leave to strike back. His brother talked

of leaving Jamaica while he was yet in one piece. Wrote Sir James to

Thomas Lynch in London: "the Duke of Albemarle's death, that only be­

friended us, this war, our making a blind peace, no frigates, nor

orders coming, gives cruel apprehensions."®^

 573

Before Modyford could receive a reply from the English Adminis­

tration, however, in June, 1670, a privateer from Santiago de Cuba

swept down upon Jamaica's north coast, burned several houses, and

carried off a few prisoners. On July 5, Captain Manuel Rivera Pardal

from Cartegena arrived off Point Negril with two Spanish ships-of-war

of twenty guns eachj he repeated the raid. Upon departing, he tacked

a written challenge on a tree, daring Henry Morgan to come out and seek

him "that he might see the valour of the Spanyards."®^

Modyford threw discretion to the winds! He posted a night watch

in Port Royalj he alerted the militia; he summoned Henry Morgan away

from his house-building up in the lovely Rio Minho Valley; he convened

the Council. The councillors buzzed like hornets leaving the hive.

They were not about to lose their lives or properties for a bit of

Whitehall diplomacy suspected of being half indifferent to their

interests. They voted a state of emergency. They commissioned Henry

Morgan "Admiral and Commander-in-chief of all the Ships of War belonging

to this Harbour," bid him "to draw them into one Fleet," and "to do all

manner of Exploits which may tend to the preservation and quiet of this

island." The commission gave Morganwide powers to strike at any place

where "vessels," "stores," or "forces" were assembled as a threat to

Jamaica. In Modyford's instructions, he prompted Morgan further "to

inquire what Usage our Prisoners have had & what quarter hath been

given by the Enemy to Such of ours as have fallen under theyre Power;

and being well inform'd you are to Give the Same, or Rather, as our

Custome is, to exceeds them in Civilitie and Humanitie."

Morgan commenced to muster his forces. On July 6, Modyford wrote

to Lord Arlington, describing the Spaniards' recent acts of war and the
 57U

steps the Jamaicans were taking for their own defense. Knowing the

risk he was running, however, and desperately feeling the need of a

friend at Court, Sir Thomas simultaneously dispatched a similar report

to Lord Ashley (Sir Anthony Ashley-Cooper [later Earl of Shaftesbury],

friend of the deceased Duke of Albemarle, chancellor of the exchequer,

and a leading member of the Privy Council interested in colonial

affairs). Through his son, Charles, Modyford promised to provide

Ashley a fuller account of the factors prompting the Jamaicans' most

recent mobilizations "yet because it may be looked on as a fond rash

action for a petty Governor without money to make war with the richest,

and not long since the powerfullest, Prince of Europe, hast thought it

reasonable to give his Lordship a short and time view of their affairs

here." In closing: Would his Lordship seek His Majesty's ratification

of Modyford's proceedings? As the word spread that the admiral had in

mind "some notable design on land," the corsairs clustered. By early

August, a considerable fleet had formed in Port Royal Harbor. Morgan

designated the Isle des Vaches as the point of rendezvous where others

could join. On August 9, Modyford further reported to Arlington: "On

Friday next our Admiral will sail for the guard of this island." The

fleet set sail on August 12.

On August 13, Sir Thomas at last received from Lord Arlington the

specific instruction for which he had pled throughout the spring.

Arlington had begun his dispatch; "His Majesty's pleasure is that he

absolutely and forthwith abstain and take strict care that no descent

be made . . . upon any lands or places possessed by the Spaniards

. . . ." But he laid this aside. Instead. Godolphin was at a

delicate juncture in his negotiations, A favorable treaty was expected

 575

any day. Therefore: "His Majesty's pleasure is, that in what state

soever the privateers are at the receipt of this letter, he keep them

so till we have a final answer from Spain, with this condition only,

that he obliges them to forebear all hostilities at hand." Forthwith,

Modyford dispatched Arlington's letter into the admiral's wake, bidding

Morgan to follow the secretary's instructions carefully and to conduct

the expedition with moderation. Morgan promised that he would land

only for water and provisions or where he knew forces were gathering

for an assault upon Jamaica. The governor relayed Morgan's promise

to Lord Arlington. He added, however, that if the Spaniards had not

been borne up by false measures of their strength in the Indies, they

would not have plunged themselves into this war and so slighted the

good services of Sir William Godolphin. "A little more suffering will

inform them of their condition and force them to capitulations more

suitable to the sociableness of man's nature." On August 17, Morgan

sailed from ELuefield's Bay for the Isle des Vaches, there to prepare
88
for his greatest exploit in the Indies.

All through the autumn of 1670, buccaneer ships sailed into

Morgan's rendezvous at the Isle des Vaches. On the island's beach, the

rovers careened ship, replanked, mended sails, and repaired rigging.

Some fetched victuals (smoked beef) from Hispaniolaj others bore down

upon the Main to collect maize and to reconnoitre. The latter returned

with prisoners from Rio de la Hacha who deposed that in Cartagena,

Porto Bello, and Panama soldiers were being mustered for the conquest
no
of Jamaica. This was all the admiral needed to hear. 7

On the occasion of Morgan's first meeting with Governor Modyford

in the spring of 1666, he and his corhorts, Morris and Jackman, told of
 576

a place "in the middle of the Spanish dominions in America, dividing

Peru from Mexico . . . lying very convenient to infest by sea . . . the

wealth of the place . . . [being] . . . such that the first plunder

will pay the adventure." It is probable that Modyford and Morgan had

worked out together at some point along the way a grand scheme for an

attack upon this area. With the recent ban on privateering, it had

been laid aside. Mow, in Morgan's mind, the plan emerged anew. Had

Modyford and Morgan revived the scheme together amidst discussions of

possible strategies for this offensive before the fleet departed

Jamaica? We will never know.

90

Be that as it may, in early December Morgan made a final inspec­

tion tour of the fleet. He had 36 ships carrying a total of 239 cannon

and 1,8Ij6 men. Of these, $20 men in 8 ships were French flibustiers.

It was force enough. Morgan called a council of war aboard his flag­

ship, the Satisfaction. The decision was made. They would strike the

city of Panama I On December 8, the fleet hoisted sail and bore away

toward its first landfall— Providence Island.

91

A few days later a solitary sloop tacked into the shoal waters to

the leeward of the Isle des Vaches in search of Morgan's fleet. The

skipper carried an outline of the articles of peace which Sir William

Godolphin had finally negotiated with Spain, Modyford had just

received these heads of the articles from the Dutch governor of Curacao.

Though he had no official orders to call Morgan in, he thought it best

that the admiral have this information and be reminded "to do nothing

that might prevent the accomplishment of his Majesty's peaceable

intentions." Too late! The fleet was already under sail, to the

southwest, bearing down on Santa Catalina. By December 18, the courier

 577

had reported back to Sir Thomas in Jamaica. His Excellency promptly

sent him forth to the Main "with strict instructions to find the

Admiral out.

On December lit and 15, once again the privateers took Providence

Island— a fitting base of operations should they undertake successive

raids upon the Main. In early January, a vanguard reached the mouth

of the Chagre— Morgan's river road penetrating deep into the isthmus

— guarded by a heavily armed fortress. Hard fighting and 150 men were

the costs of taking it. When the admiral and the bulk of the fleet

arrived a week later, 300 men were detailed to guard castle and ships;

their 1,U00 "brethren" pushed inland. Fifteen miles they covered by

water; another fifteen by jungle tramp. Outside the city they met a

Spanish force of 2,500 men. Before the buccaneers' charge the

Spaniards fled, but they blew up the powder magazine and left a burning

city in their wake. Only the churches and 300 suburban houses still

stood at end of day.

The spoils were disappointing. Having advance notice of the

privateers' approach, the city fathers had loaded the bulk of their

wealth aboard ship and sent it down the Pacific coast prior to the

corsairs' arrival. A month's foraging, however, netted them a treasure

of £30,000 to 00,000 in value. By mid February, Morgan and his men

were trekking back across the isthmus with two hundred pack animals

laden with their loot. Reaching Chagre Castle, they paused to divide

the spoils. Afterwards, the disgruntled forces— many were convinced

they were cheated— were disbanded.9^

The return voyage of the corsairs was disastrous. Provisions gave

out; heavy storms played havoc with the smaller ships; perhaps as many
 578

as half the men who left the Isle des Vaches were lost at sea. Morgan

was back in Jamaica by April 20, however; and there, on- May 31, the

Jamaican Council gave him a hearty vote of thanks for having foiled

once again an intended Spanish invasion of Jamaica. Sir James Modyford

remarked soon afterward: "I think we are prettie well revenged for

their burning our houses on ye North and southside of this Island and

threatening more when we intended and had proclaimed peace.

Meantime, while Morgan and his privateers were away on the greatest

of their forays against the Spaniards, in Jamaica Modyford stood un­

easily at the helm of the island's affairs. With one ear he strained

for news of the privateers' exploits; with the other he listened in­

tently for the outcome of the negotiations in Madrid; with both, he

picked up rumors from London of a possible change being contemplated in

the government of Jamaica. Sir Thomas sensed that a definite change in

policy was evolving in the English Administration toward Spain, and,

therefore, toward Jamaica's unique use of the privateers as a defense

against the subjects of Spain. He had a disturbing premonition that

this change of policy might well adversely affect his own career.

Events proved this premonition to be prophetic.

Even before Morgan and the fleet departed Jamaica, Sir William

Godolphln was successful in his negotiations; he concluded the second

Treaty of Madrid with Spain on July 8/l8, 1670. The treaty called for

the cancellation of all injuries of the past, the cessation of all

hostilities, the recall of all commissions of war, and the release of

all prisoners. Therein, for the first time, Spain recognized England's
 579

ownership and possession of all islands, lands, and colonies which the

English then occupied in the West Indies. Both Spanish and English

ports in America were to be open to the ships of the other nation in

distress of weather, for repair, for refitting, and for taking on

provisions. Having reached this agreement with Spain, Godolphin and

Arlington believed— and they persuaded the king to believe— that

England's interests in the Caribbean could now be best served by

suppressing rather than conniving to allow the activities of Modyford

and his Jamaican privateers. Since England's sovereignty in Jamaica

was now formally recognized by Spain, even Jamaica no longer needed

the privateers for defense. Spanish American ports were now open to

English ships. Not for trade to be surej but, from the buying of

provisions for a ship, trade was only one step away. That step could
96
best be taken by means of peace rather than war.

Moreover, it is highly probable that Spain made the recall and

punishment of Governor Modyford a condition to her signing this treaty.

At any rate, even before negotiations toward the treaty were completed,

the English Administration had begun to move in that direction. Charles

Howard, Lord Carlisle, recently returned from the English embassy in

Sweden, was appointed by the king as the new governor of Jamaica in

June, 1670. Since Carlisle was not disposed to take up his new post

quite yet, however, as early as September, 1670, the king requested the

new Council for Plantations to begin preparing a commission and in­

structions for Sir Thomas Lynch to serve as lieutenant governor of

‘Jamaica in Carlisle's stead.^

As rumors of these decisions at Court reached Jamaica in late

summer, 1670, Modyford launched a campaign to restore himself in favor

 580

with the home government. During August, September, and October, he

dispatched letter after letter and proposal after proposal to the

English Administration. Never had his forensic skill been so impor-

98
tunately applied as now.'7

Sir Thomas spoke of peace with Spain as something he could "but

faintly hope for." He warned that "whatever they pretend, [the

Spaniards] intend their [the Jamaicans] supplanting, knowing the island

was taken from them by force, which consideration will never die." If

the English Government were bent upon discontinuing altogether the use

of the privateers for Jamaica's defense, Sir Thomas begged "that Sir

Wm. Godolphin . . . have order to have an article added to the Articles

of Peace, whereby the King of Spain may acknowledge that Jamaica

belongs to his Majesty." To the new Council for Plantations, Modyford

defended his past use of the Jamaican privateers in great detail and

projected a series of remarkably sound ideas regarding the future

growth and prosperity of the colony— all well calculated to clear his

name of any criminal repute and to illustrate his worth as the governor
99
of Jamaica.

In a letter of late October to Lord Arlington, while recommending

the logwood trade in the Bay of Campeche as an honorable alternate

employment for his Jamaican sea rovers, Sir Thomas summed up his own

case.

Believes that these new sucking colonies must have some

help besides the native goodness of the soil. Has a
great ambition to bring it to perfection, having waded in
it these seven years, and obtained a perfect knowledge of
the neighbouring countries, their forces, qualities,
governments, etc., as also of this place and people, their
interests and several factions, and how to keep them all
composed for his Majesty's service without any con­
siderable charge to his Majesty, which another Governor
 $81

(let him be never so wise) shall not comprehend the first

year. However, if it be his Majesty's pleasure to place
another in his seat, will heartily and faithfully assist
him, yielding cheerfully to his bosom all the fruits of
his seven years' experience, and when no further useful,
will humbly retire to his plantation and die. This he says
to evince to the whole world that the happiness and
thriving condition of this place is more than any other
worldly thing in his spirit and desires.

A few days later his friends took up the refrain. In a petition to

the king, 325 Jamaicans (councillors, militia officers, merchants,

planters, and freeholders) and 1$ merchants and absentee planters in

London noted:

That petitioners for several years lived in this island in

very poor and unsettled estate, till it pleased his
Majesty to send for their Governor Sir Thos. Modyford,
who by the great encouragement he gave to planting (more
especially by his own example, having brought and laid
out a considerable stock) induced petitioners to betake
themselves to a planting and settled condition, wherein
he daily endeavours to oblige them by many wholesome
laws, with a free and unbiassed administration of justice;
and the loud fame hereof draws great numbers of his
Majesty's subjects from all parts to settle amongst them,
to the great benefit of this island, his Majesty's
revenue, and the English nation.

They begged that Sir Thomas might be retained as the governor of

Jamaica "unless his Majesty shall find very pregnant reasons to the

contrary."100

Alas, all was to no avail. The Council for Plantations debated

the issues presented by Sir Thomas at length throughout October and

November. In the end, however, the pleas of Sir Thomas and his friends

were rejected. Someone had to be sacrificed to propitiate the wrath

of the Spaniards, especially after the news of Panama reached their

ears. Modyford was the choice candidate. He had been walking on thin

ice for a long time in his use of the Jamaican privateers; for in the

partnership of connivance between him and the English Administration,

 582

the full responsibility had been made to rest upon him. Modyford now

became Lord Arlington's scapegoat.^ 1

The decision to replace Modyford was finalized even before Morgan

and the privateers reached Panama. On December 17, 1670, the Council

for Plantations completed the polished draft of the commission and

instructions to Sir Thomas Lynch as lieutenant governor of Jamaica;

these were delivered to Lord Arlington. On January 1», under his sign

manual the king revoked Modyford*s commission. On January 31, the king

presented Lynch with his commission and instructions and with a letter

of recall to be presented to Modyford, accompanied by a private letter

from Charles himself. Lynch was instructed to proceed to Jamaica, to

arrest Modyford quietly, and to send him home under strong guard to

answer the charges of committing "many depredations and hostilities

against the subjects of his Majesty's good brother the Catholic King

. . . [contrary to the] . . . King's express commands." Sir Thomas

Lynch departed England for the West Indies on March 13. As a further

precaution against Modyford's attempting to rebel or escape, Charles

Modyford, living in London, was imprisoned in the Tower of London on

May 16, 1671, until such time as his father should be securely confined

there. The curtain was fast falling on the last act of Modyford's

governance of Jamaica as H. M. S. Assistance, bearing Lieutenant

Governor Sir Thomas Lynch, entered Port Royal Harbor on June 25,

1671.

10

Recall that Sir Thomas Lynch had been temporarily in charge of the

Jamaican Government as president of the Council when Modyford first

 583

arrived in 1661*. They had been friends for a while until Modyford saw

fit to remove Lynch from his positions as councillor and chief justice.

Afterwards, Lynch had left Jamaica in disgust and gone home to England

in hopes of furthering his career there. At the English Court he had

lived affluently— flaunting rich costumes, riding in stately coaches,

and even lending the king a tidy sum which he was never to see again.

He was an able man of the same aggressive pride and ambition as Mody­

ford. His past experience in Jamaica, his valuable plantations there,

and his friendship with many of the planters were expected to enhance

his influence and enable him to carry out a difficult and probably

unpopular task.^-^

Upon arrival at Port Royal, from the deck of the Assistance, Lynch

dispatched to Modyford the king's command to deliver up the government.

Modyford immediately sent orders to his son and to Major General

Bannister to deliver to Lynch the town and fort, to publish his com­

mission, and to observe his commands. The following day Modyford

received Lynch and his family in all civility and brought them to his

own house in St. Jago where they lodged until August 12.

Lynch swore in his new Council, reorganized the militia somewhat

more to his liking, and then took to his bed for several days with a

fit of the gout. Modyford visited him often, talking over various

matters of government, offering him every assistance possible. Lynch

later admitted that he was received very well by Modyford and all the

Jamaicans and was a bit surprised to find that "there [was] not in him

[Modyford] or any the least appearance of any disposition to resist the

King's authority." Nevertheless, he felt he had best secure himself

thoroughly in the government before informing Modyford of his arrest.

 $8h

Indeed, he had been instructed to do so hy the king himself. Thus,

some ten days after his arrival, he simply informed Modyford that the

king expected him in England by and by. Consequently, Modyford began

making plans to embark for London in his own ship, the Jamaican

Merchant, on August 22. Lynch readily consented.^®^

During the next few weeks as he recovered his health, Lynch made a

full survey of the condition of the government; he assumed full control

of Jamaican affairs; he carefully planned how best to place Modyford

under arrest. It had to be done out of the reach of Modyford*s four

hundred servants and slaves and without involving the privateers,

either group of which could be expected to resist on Modyford*s behalf.

Of course, the captain and crew of the royal frigate Assistance stood

by to aid Lynch when summoned. Lynch's secret plans almost went awry,

however, when on August 8 a Bristol man arrived at Jamaica with news of

Charles Modyford1s imprisonment in the Tower. Lynch hastened to hush

up this news and placed spies and secret guards around Modyford con­

stantly to prevent his escape should he hear of it. At length, on

Saturday, August 12, Lynch was ready to execute the unpleasant business

at hand."^^

On that morning Lynch invited Modyford, Major General Bannister,

several members of the Council, and a few militia officers to go aboard

the Assistance where he had something to communicate to them from the

king. Once aboard, he showed Modyford the king's orders to send him

home a prisoner. Both Modyford and the others were greatly surprised

and troubled. Several of the councillors were much vexed with Lynch

for the manner of his proceedings, but they quietly acquiesced to the

king's orders. Modyford later commented that he "must confess that Sir
 585

Thomas Lynch executed these orders with as much civility as the nature

of them would bear, though with more caution than he needed, and he

assured Modyford that his Lordship [Arlington] bid him tell him that

the proceeding was formal only to give satisfaction to the Spanish

interest, and there was no intention to prejudice his person or estate,

which he publicly repeated to his great consolation." Modyford also

received from Lynch as sent by the King "a letter after a certain air

as if he [the King] were not displeased." These reassurances, along

with Lynch's consent for Modyford to make the trip home aboard his own

ship, made the acceptance of Modyford1s arrest a bit easier for all

concerned. As one further precaution, however, to prevent surprise and

consequent rash action, Lynch hastened to write to Modyford1s son,

Thomas, and to Henry Morgan, who were sick abed ashore. He assured

them also that Modyford's life and fortune were in no danger.

The following Monday morning, Lynch called a meeting of the

Jamaican Council. All were present except Thomas Modyford Junior and

Sir James Modyford "who was reported to be frantic." Lynch allowed the

councillors to examine all his instructions from the king concerning

Moctyford's arrest; afterwards, they accepted the action without too

much dissatisfaction. Together, Lynch and the Council proclaimed the

king's offer of pardon and indemnity to all those acting with Modyford

in the recent Panama affair who would submit to the king's authority
XOB
and abstain from such hostilities in the future.

Modyford was largely kept confined to the frigate Assistance.

Lynch visited him there every day, strolling the deck with him for air,

saying all he could to console him. As the lieutenant governor reported

from Port Royal to the Earl of Sandwich:

 586

I have used the Gen: with all the respect & kindnesse
imaginable, fetching him a shore, for here and to windward
hee has few friends, and going with him any where that he
pleases, without this consideracon I could not do other­
wise, for it were Barbarisms not to comiserate one fallen
from such prosperitie into a meer Abisme of misfortunes,
having but two Sons, the one a Prisoner in London and the
other expiring here of a Feavor, his Brother sick and dis­
tracted, his own Liberty lost, and life and fortune in so
much danger . . . .

But since several of Modyford's friends and servants had been heard to

say that if they had known of Lynch's intention they would have "cut

his throat," and since "many [had] shown themselves so exceedingly

affectionate" toward Sir Thomas, Lynch decided against allowing Mody­

ford to go to St. Jago to visit his dying son. (It was commonly

believed that Thomas Modyford Junior was dying. After Modyford1s

departure, however, he took a turn for the better and recovered.) This

decision, said Lynch, "has undone all the civilities he showed."

1097

At length, in a few days Modyford was transferred to his own ship,

the Jamaican Merchant. The captain and crew were sworn to obey the

king's command, and twelve of the seamen from the Assistance were

placed on board as guards with orders to treat Modyford with the utmost

courtesy and respect. Thus, Lynch breathed a sigh of great relief on

August 22, 1671, as he watched the Jamaican Merchant clear Port Royal

Harbor and glide out into the blue Caribbean, bearing Sir Thomas

Modyford home to England.

11

Sir Thomas must have approached this journey with ambivalent

feelings indeed. As the Jamaican Merchant encountered a stiff storm in

the latitude of the Bermudas, his mind must have turned back twenty-four
 587

years to that season when as a young man he passed over the storm-

swept Atlantic for the first time enroute to the West Indies and a new

career. Now, that illustrious career had been stopped short. Those

consequences which he had secretly feared over the past several months

in his connivance with the Jamaican privateers had fully materialized.

A heavy cloud of official disfavor had enveloped him. It bore him

along toward he knew not what.

Nevertheless, he could look back with great pride in his accom­

plishments. Had he not taken a frontier outpost and established

therein sound civil government and condign justice? Had he not received

into his care a raw, frontier society, multiplied the folk threefold,

set them to peaceful pursuits, and seen them prosper? Had he not

stepped ashore upon fertile soils barely used, taught their owners the

arts of planting, expanded their cultivation, and seen them become the

base of a thriving economy? Had he not, for seven years, midst great

turmoil in the Indies, with virtually no resources in hand, kept his

colony secure and, at last, seen His Majesty's sovereignty interna­

tionally recognized therein? And, along the way, had he not in

"Angels" and "Palmers Hut" and in his own stature among men come to

realize a long-held family dream? Whatever the future held for him,

nought could cancel these achievements of his years on tropical shores.

And was he not assured by Lord Arlington's and His Majesty's

letters in hand that his life and fortune were in no danger, and his

arrest and forthcoming hearing were simply to satisfy the distraught

Spaniards? How good it would be to see the Cliffs of Dover and other

of his homeland's familiar shores once again! With such thought, no

doubt, Sir Thomas Modyford comforted himself in the company of Captain

 588

Knapraan and his considerate guards from the Assistance as the Jamaican

Merchant plied homeward during the early autumn of 16?1•

 IX. THE TOWER AND AFTERWARDS, 1671-1679

Ponderous hulk of grey stone rising amidst tidal mists at Thames'

side, the Tower of London awaited still another subject who had tried

his sovereign's patience or his pride. Many were the Englishmen (and

women) who had stepped from the Tower Wharf through the Traitor's Gate

into its compartments only too often to exchange those confines for the

still narrower straitness of the grave. Fortress, palace, prison— the

Tower stood as a singular symbol of the English state. Traditionally,

from its palace chambers rode England's monarch through the city to

Westminister Abbey on coronation day. Its moat-rimmed outer walls,

four-square, embraced an architectural aggregate— product of six

centuries' intermittent building. Home of the royal Mint, keep of the

Crown jewels, arsenal of the realm, garrison of a prestigious regiment

of His Majesty's forces, fortress never conquered by foreign foe,

lodge of the royal menagerie of flea-bitten lions— the Tower at once

produced emotions of pride and foreboding in the breasts of Englishmen.^

The Tower was no stranger to West Countrymen. Comishman Sir John

Eliot, leader and inspiration of the Parliamentary Opposition to

Charles I (1629), had lodged in ten different rooms within its walls.

Modyford*s kinsman, Sir Beville Grenville, had brightened Eliot's

confinement somewhat with the affectionate words he wrote to Sir John

from his seat at Stow upon the wild cliffs of North Cornwall. Rather

than yield on a point of Parliamentary privilege, however, Sir John

£89
 590

had died of consumption and fever in the Tower the very year Thomas

Modyford had entered Lincoln’s Inn. A Devonshireman of larger fame

endured his season in the Tower as well. Modyford's Cousin George

Monck had been captured while fighting for the king at the head of his

regiment at Nantwichj he had been committed to the Tower as a traitor.

Having no means of his own, Monck had attempted for two years (I6i4i-

I6I46) to live on a mere pittance of seven shillings a week. George

Monck had not soon forgotten the cold and hunger of these lodgings by
2
the Thames.

Nor had the Tower been denied its dreamers of empire. Sir Walter

Raleigh, fellow West Countryman whom Modyford1s Grandfather Walker had

helped to condemn at Winchester, had been a resident of the Tower under

a suspended sentence of death. In an apartment of the Bloody Tower,

overlooking the Tower Green and the constable’s garden, Sir Walter had

lodged for twelve years (1603-1616) between his two visionary voyages

up the Orinoco River of Guiana in search of the legendary El Dorado

— the gilded king of a civilized Indian empire. It may have been no

coincidence that the scheme Modyford had proffered to the Lord Pro­

tector for the "Western Design" (165U) focused upon Guiana. Modyford

had advised the conquest of Trinidad followed by the settling of the

Orinoco’s banks, all the while taking full advantage of the disposition

of native peoples on the Main to rebel against their harsh Spanish

overlords. Had Modyford read Raleigh’s masterpiece of vivid prose,

The Discovery of the Large Rich and Beautiful Empire of Guiana?

Perhaps. When an alternate plan had been pursued and bungled, however

— despite Thomas Modyford’s keen support of the "design" from Barbados

— the expedition’s dual commanders found twin compartments awaiting

 591

them in the Tower. General Robert Venables and Admiral William Penn

dwelt here long enough to repent their contentious command and their

desertion without orders of a sickly army of occupation left on

•a
tropical shores.

Now, Charles Modyford, youngest son of him who had contributed

most of all to the fruition of that dream of an expanding empire in

Caribbean, was lodged in the Tower— proxy for his father. On May 16,

Charles had been delivered to the lieutenant of the Tower) simulta­

neously, all his private papers and account books had been taken into

custody. After these had been thoroughly searched for evidence of

Panama plunder, however, Charles had been allowed to transfer them to

one whom he appointed to manage his business affairs. Throughout the

summer of 16?1, the young merchant remained a prisoner in the Tower,

though at liberty to roam about the enclosure. In early September,

Charles was informed that his grandmother, Marie Modyford, was very

ill; her affairs demanded his attention. On September lit, a ship from

Jamaica reached the English coast; it was reported that Sir Thomas

Lynch was now fully settled into the government of the island. On

September 16, Charles petitioned for release in order to look after

his family’s concerns. Thereafter, he was permitted to quit the Tower

for short periods on "verbal leave." He remained a prisoner, however,

until his father was securely confined in Tower quarters. On November

20, Charles was discharged from the Tower. He had spent six months in

prison for no other crime than that of being his father’s son.^

The long eastward tack of the Jamaican Merchant was laborious; but,
at length, on November lit, Captain Knapman skirted the Cliffs of Dover

and dropped anchor in the Downs. There, he awaited further orders.

From Deal, the word went up to Whitehall that Sir Thomas Modyford had

arrived. Sir Thomas had time aboard to compose a few letters. One he

sent to Arlington in the hands of one of his guards. He explained in

detail how he had peaceably surrendered the Jamaican Government to Sir

Thomas Lynch, assisted the lieutenant governor in numerous ways, and

quietly endured his own surprising arrest. On November 17, the warrant

arrived^ Sir Thomas was to be delivered to Sir John Robinson, lieuten­

ant of the Tower of London. Up the Thames sailed the merchant ship on

November 18. From the anchorage of the Jamaican Merchant, by longboat

no doubt, the twelve seamen from the Assistance bore Sir Thomas farther

upstream to the Tower Wharf. Lieutenant Robinson received him, secured

him in a chosen chamber, and assigned a "keeper" around the clock.

Thus, Sir Thomas Modyford became a "close" prisoner in the Tower.^

As father entered and son departed, no contact appears to have

been allowed between them for several days. Why? Perhaps Lord

Arlington intended for Modyford to experience the full impact of his

new circumstances before permitting the consolation of a filial embrace.

Arlington, principal secretary of state and Modyford's primary corres­

pondent in the English Administration throughout his term as governor

(except where the privateers were concerned), was an able and subtle

courtier with the serious air of a great politician. He served his

king and his nation wellj but he was secretive, often insincere, and

strongly bent upon his own interests. The secretary appears never to

have liked Modyford whose clever mind worked too much like his own.

Moreover, Modyford and his Jamaican privateers had all but sabotaged
 593

one of Arlington's prime achievements— the peace between England and

Spain as arranged by the Treaty of Madrid of I67O, Thus, to appease

the distraught Spaniards and to give vent to his own displeasure,

Arlington seems to have devoted himself to making things as unpleasant

for Sir Thomas as possible.^

At length, toward the end of November, through the good services

of the Duchess of Cleveland (Barbara Villiers Palmer, one of the king's

mistresses), Charles Modyford secured the king's permission to see his

father in the Tower. Perhaps it was during the first week of December

that Charles finally succeeded in gaining access to his father; he saw

him again just before Christmas. Between times, Sir Charles Lyttleton,

past lieutenant governor of Jamaica, managed to confer with Sir Thomas

twice.^

"Close" confinement and restricted visitations. In lieu of Sir

Thomas Lynch's proffered assurances, Modyford probably did not expect a

reception quite this severe. After the Spaniards had received news of

the Panama raid, however, Charles II and his ministers had to apply all

their arts of diplomacy to salvage the recent peace agreement and to

prevent the Spaniards from seeking reprisal. During the summer of 1671,

the Council of the Indies had made plans to raise 10,000 troops, embark

them upon 12 ships-of-the-line, and, under one comprehensive letter-of-

marque, turn loose the lot upon the English in the Indies. Hence,

Charles hastened to assure the Spanish Government that he would "cause

the leader and author of this outrage to feel the effect of his most

just indignation, by inflicting an exemplary punishment befitting the

gravity of the crime." It was fortunate for Modyford that the

Spaniards were not demanding his head; instead, the queen regent was
 $9h

loudly declaring that "the restitution of the money [Panama loot]

taken by him from the Spaniards would be the most exemplary and severe
g
of punishments."

It was probably toward the very end of November that Sir Thomas

was escorted from the Tower to the house of the Earl of Bristol in

Queen's Street to appear at a hearing before the Council for Planta-

tions. The hearing was not called to focus upon his misconduct in

directing the Jamaican privateers. The council had debated that issue

in depth a year earlier when Modyford1s detailed apologia, defending

his recent use of the privateers, reached Lord Arlington's hands. At

that point, the king had already decided upon Modyford1s recall and

imprisonment in an effort to propitiate the Spaniards' wrath. Sir

Thomas was now serving that "sentence." In this hearing, Sir Thomas

was asked to address himself further to a series of queries which the

council had dispatched to him earlier concerning the "state of Jamaica."

(Apparently, Modyford also submitted to them written responses to these

questions at about the same time." If further questions were raised

about his complicity with the privateers, there is no record of how he

defended himself against the charge that he committed outrageous acts

of hostility against Spain in violation of direct orders from the home

government. In a lengthy written defense which Sir Thomas had dis­

patched to the English Administration prior to his leaving Jamaica,

however, his rationale was clear. In an emergency which demanded

prompt action, he had used his discretionary powers to divert an

invasion of Jamaica. In resting his case, he noted: "the necessity of

affairs was such, that if it were to be done again and I assured of all

the trouble which now threatens me and worse, it could not have been
 #5

o
avoided without the manifest ruin of the island."

Following Modyford1s session with the Council for Plantations, the

next few months presented him with an unbroken routine of close confine­

ment in the Tower. He had visitors, of course, with reasonable

regularity. If all the warrants filed in the records of the Tower were

acted upon, during the first five months of 1672 Charles Modyford

visited his father on an average of once a week. He would have visited

more had not Lord Arlington from time to time arbitrarily refused or

delayed the warrant. Several times during that spring, the Modyfords

were obliged to callupon Sir Charles Lyttleton or Henry Broucker, a

member of the Council for Plantations, for assistance in acquiring

warrants from Arlington for which the king had given a standing author­

ization. With such a one as Arlington against him, Sir Thomas began to

despair of securing an early release from his imprisonment

There were others who sought audience with Sir Thomas in the Tower

as well. Sir Charles Lyttleton came again in February. Modyford

wished he hadn’t. He came bearing a warrant from the king requiring

Sir Thomas to pay the king £1,100— the proceeds of two prize ships

condemned and sold by the Jamaican Admiralty Court in 1666 and reserved

totally for the king because the ships had been taken without commis­

sions, The king was, in turn, making over this sum to Sir Charles.

Sir Allen Apsley came twice: once in April$ again in May. He and Sir

Thomas had been comrades in arms during the Civil War when Apsley was

royalist commander of the fortifications of Exeter and later governor

of Barnstaple. Sir Allen had grown up within the walls of the Tower

where his father was long time the lieutenant. What their business

was on these occasions remains a mystery. The Bishop of Lincoln came

 596

to call in April. Modyford's brother-in-law, Mr. Edwards, dropped by

, T 1 n
in July.

Modyford was, no doubt, grateful for these visits on the whole

since they punctuated a long period of loneliness. In close confine­

ment, there were few opportunities to converse with others in the Tower

aside from his keeper. Not that he would have found congenial com­

panions among his fellow prisoners. Among those incarcerated in the

Tower along with him— Richard Kingston, Christian Ruthen, John Winter-

born, John Waltendonck, Edward Purcell, Isabelle Dawson, Edward Heming,

Daniel von Overscheldt— not one appears to have been a person of

education and bearing. It was quite a different lot from the genteel,

planter-merchant society to which he was accustomed. At least one of

them— Edward Purcell— had "committed extravagancies that argue him to

12
be insane." He was removed to Bethleham Hospital in November, 1672.

Though no scholar of the caliber of Raleigh or Eliot, Sir Thomas

appears to have passed the time of his close confinement constructively

at work on one project or another. He is known to have carried to

England from Jamaica " . . . many brave mapps . . . [to be] . . . delivd

to ye K(ing) . . . of All ye West Indies: ye Duke of York onely hath

coppies— they were drawne to bee sent to ye K(ing) of Spaine. They

are rare things . . . ." For many years, Modyford had maintained an

interest in cartography. He had obviously studied carefully the maps

of the Caribbean available to him before sending his proposal for the

"Western Design" to Oliver Cromwell in l6$h . The desk of his study

at St. Jago was often cluttered with them. No doubt he and Henry

Morgan scrutinized these with care in preparation for the admiral's

sortees against the Spaniards. During his term as governor, His

 #7

Excellency had devised the drafting of at least two new maps of Jamaica

to be sent to England. Were these "rare things" the product of his own

hand? Did he do further work on them at the Tower before forwarding

them to the king? We cannot know.^

It is clear, however, that Sir Thomas used this period to prepare

papers designed further to promote the development of Jamaica. It is

virtually certain that during his confinement as a "close" prisoner

he wrote the series of notes on Jamaican commodities, livestock, fish,

fowl, game, vegetables, fruits, trees, and useful plants which he

turned over to John Cadbury soon thereafter. These became the princi­

pal source of Cadbury’s The West India, or Jamaica, Almanack published

in London in 167U and again in l67£. Cadbury dedicated the l67h

edition to Sir Thomas and lavishly acknowledged his debt to him. More­

over, in May 1672, Modyford sent Lord Arlington a defense of continuing

to permit the Jamaicans to cut and ship logwood from the shores of the

Bay of Campeche. The Council for Plantations studied this paper, along

with letters of Sir William Godolphin opposing this trade, in an effort

to provide Lieutenant Governor Lynch with a statement of policy on

that issue.^

Despite periodic visits from kinsmen and friends, despite projects

with which to occupy his mind, as spring gave way to the warm days of

summer, Modyford's dank cell-chamber became increasingly noisome to him.

Hence, it was with the greatest of relief that Sir Thomas received the

news brought to him by Lieutenant Sir John Robinson on August li*, 1672;
1^
he had been granted "liberty of the Tower." ^

What a wider world that warrant did unfoldI Mo longer confined to

his quarters, Sir Thomas was at liberty to roam at will about the
 598

compound enclosed by the Tower's outer walls. He could stroll upon the

Tower Green, taking in the sunshine and fresh air. He could stand at

Parade's edge and observe the crimson coats in array at Regiment's

Muster or the Mounting of the Guard. He could attend divine service

in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula or feed the doves which

habitually gathered about Prince Charles's baptismal fount outside.

Or, he could ascend the winding staircase of the Beauchamp Tower, exit

upon the ramparts, and saunter down "Elizabeth's Walk" atop the wall to

watch the river traffic on the Thames below.^

Nor was there any further need to pine for company. Upon invita­

tion, Sir Thomas could sup with Lieutenant Sir John Robinson within

his chambers. He could chat with the constable's wife as she puttered

about her garden. He could visit with the Tower physician and apothe­

cary when they came to call. He could walk along with the cart men

freighting loads of powder and shot in and out of the ordnance store­

rooms or hand about as workmen— glaziers, joiners, bricklayers

— periodically repaired the Tower buildings. And when no one else

seemed to be around, he could always walk and talk with the guards on

duty or, with permission from the marshal of the garrison, seek out

the garrison victualler and join the men in a tankard of brew. After

an active day of rambling about the enclosure, how much better he

slept as he lay down his head at the pealing of the "Barking Bell"

(9:00 P.M.).17

His own kindred and friends now had ready access to him also in

the open spaces of the Tower. In September, Bartholomew Anthony came

from Exeter to secure from him a clear title to the Modyford house on

Northgate Street. It appears that when Marie Modyford died a few

 $99

months earlier, fearing possible forfeiture of the family properties if

they passed to Sir Thomas in the Tower, she bequeathed her holdings to

Grandson Charles who was free to manage the family's affairs. Charles

sold the family home to Anthony. Anthony now sought from Sir Thomas an

unencumbered conveyance. Squire William Helyar came to see Sir Thomas

also from East Coker, Somerset. Young Cary Helyar had written his

brother from Jamaica shortly after they bore Sir Thomas away: "I doe

heartily begg you to see him in London . . . if you can by any means

in the world . . . serve him . . . . I question not . . . but to see

him here again for the King bee just, and innocency bee a protection."

Squire William complied with his brother's request, and Sir Thomas gave

him a detailed report on the progressing development of the Helyars'

"Bybrook Plantation" just across the Rio Cobre from "Palmers Hut."^*®

As autumn waned and winter's winds whistled about the Tower walls,

however, even "liberty of the Tower" could scarcely render the place

palatable to Sir Thomas. A full year of this life was enough to make

him veritably weary of it. The atmosphere of the Tower was so different

from the warm, tempered Easterlies of the Caribbean to which he had now

been accustomed for twenty-four years. Despite a seacoal fire, the

winter's damp cold chilled him to the bone. The fogs that were to make

William H I flee from Westminster to Hampton Court nipped Modyford rs

lungs. How desperately he longed to quit this place. Therefore, in

December, 1672, Sir Thomas petitioned the king, "praying for his

release on bail, having been full twelve months a prisoner, nine

whereof close in the Tower, whereby his body has collected several

distempers, and his affairs are almost ruined for want of his personal

attendance." But his request went unheaded. The Spaniards were

 600

keeping the pressure on Arlington. Arlington was seeing to it that

Modyford stayed put

The bleak winter months dragged into spring. Still, Modyford was

unsuccessful in evoking serious consideration of his plea for release.

He experienced just a taste of that deeply desired liberty in May,

1673. He was escorted from the Tower to Westminster to appear as a

witness for Richard Marley in a case before the Court of Common Pleas.

But he was returned to prison immediately thereafter. His appetite

for freedom further whetted, Sir Thomas and Son Charles turned to
20
kinsmen in powerful places for help.

For his loyalty and his assistance in bringing about the Restora­

tion, Sir John Grenville (heir to Sir Bevil Grenville of Stow, Cornwall)

had been elevated to the earldom of Bath and appointed groom of the

stole, lord warden of the stanneries, and governor of Plymouth. Young

Christopher Monck, following his father’s death in early 1670, had been

made gentleman of the bedchamber, lord lieutenant of Devon, and com­

mander of his father's regiment as well as assuming the various titles

connected with his vast estates scattered over twelve counties. With

these titles, positions, and estates, Christopher (Second) Duke of

Albemarle, became the third richest man in England. Albemarle and

Bath, supported by their colleague Lord Clifford, now turned to the

king on Modyford's behalf.

In June, 1673* Albemarle petitioned the king for Sir Thomas's

release from the Tower on the basis of a proffered bail of £20,000.

Charles II graciously agreed; he ordered Modyford's release. At that

strategic moment, however, the Spanish ambassador hastened to register

further complaint; Lord Arlington blocked the release order; Modyford

 601

remained in the Tower. While discussing the various members of the

king's cabinet in a letter to his friend Christopher Hatton, Sir

Charles Lyttleton remarked: "M Ld Arlington keeps his own very well, I

assure you. lie give you one by measure of it. The Kg lately, by ye

greate importunity of my Lds Albemarle, Bath, and, I imagine too, Ld

Clifford, got the King to order Sr Tho. Modyford's release out of ye

Towerj- wch he will not suffer to passe, nor does it." On July lb,

however, Albemarle again petitioned the king for Modyford's release^

Sir Thomas addressed both the king and Arlington, requesting that the

release order be activated. At length, Albemarle's intercession was

effective. After making several promises to Lord Arlington the nature

of which is not clear, Modyford finally gained his freedom toward

22
summer's end, 1673*

The young Duke of Albemarle stood ready to bring his wealth and

influence to the aid of Henry Morgan as wellj it proved unnecessary.

Morgan had also been sent home a prisoner in the spring of 1672 to

answer charges concerning his role in the Panama raid. Modyford,

shortly after being released from the Tower, testified on the behalf of

his admiral at Morgan's hearing before the king and the newly created

Council of Trade and Plantations. National policy under Charles n

vacillated like a weathervane in a fluky March wind. Not only were the

charges against Morgan dismissed. The king knighted him and honored

him at Court in November, 1673* Furthermore, in January, 167b, Morgan

was appointed the new lieutenant governor of Jamaica as part of a

change of government then being prepared for the island. Since Spain

had allied herself with the Dutch in England's new war (Third Dutch

War) with the United Netherlands, Spanish remonstrances over the Panama
 602

incident were no longer important. At last the burden of official

condemnation was lifting from the shoulders of Morgan and Modyford

alike. The brief eclipse which had settled over their careers had

passed. The future looked promising once again.^

While the dark cloud of official disfavor hung over Sir Thomas

Modyford in the Tower, the hand of misfortune fell heavily upon Mody­

ford's family as well. Thomas Modyford Junior, at death's door in the

grip of a malevolent fever as Sir Thomas was borne away in August, 1671,

miraculously recovered. But on April 17, 1672, Modyford's nephew,

Thomas Tothill, was buried at St. Andrews. By mid-January, 1673, the

remains of Brother Sir James Modyford lay in the same cemetary. By act

of the Jamaican Assembly, Tothill's kinsmen, Thomas Modyford Junior and

Edmund Duck, were made administrators of his estate to look after the

interests of his widow, Grace, and his son, Thomas. Thomas Modyford

Junior also assumed the management of Sir James Modyford's estate in

the interests of Lady Elizabeth Slanning Modyford and her children.^

Although Thomas Modyford Junion had lost his position as major

general of the island's forces when Major James Banister transferred

from Surinam to Jamaica (Banister was appointed major general at White­

hall) upon the arrival of Lieutenant Governor Lynch, Thomas had, never­

theless, retained his posts as colonel of his regiment and member of

the Council. Moreover, he was appointed an assistant justice of

Jamaica's Supreme Court. Lynch had only been in the island a few

months, however, when he and Justice Modyford locked horns over an

issue relating to the Jamaican privateers.^

 603

Sir Thomas Lynch was a strong-minded and purposeful man. He had

never believed privateering against the Spaniards to be in the best,

long-termed interest of the island. Consequently, upon assuming his

governorship, Lynch set about vigorously carrying out his instructions

to suppress privateering. In September, 1672, Captain Peter Johnson

— a Jamaican privateer turned pirate who had taken three Spanish ships

since the cessation of hostilities— sought refuge from a hurricane in a

Jamaican harbor. He was captured and brought before Lieutenant Governor

Lynch. Since the Jamaican courts were not in session, Lynch issued

Justice Modyford a commission of oyer to summon his fellow justices,

empanel a jury, and try the rogue on three counts of piracy. Thomas

made a serious blunder. On the basis of a technical error in the

indictment, he neglected to call the justices, told the jury they could

not lawfully find against the man, obtained Johnson’s acquittal, and

accompanied the captain to a tavern for a drink. The lieutenant

governor was aghast! He "thought Sir Th. M.'s son and the richest man

in the island durst not have acted so." Lynch convened a new trial;

he got the pirate convicted and hanged; and he dismissed Colonal Mody­

ford from his Council for obstructing justice. It looked as though

the power and prestige of the Modyfords in Jamaica was definitely on

26
the wane.

If Thomas Modyford lost his public employments, nevertheless, he

did not want for heavy responsibilities. In May, 1670, out of concern

that his use of the Jamaican privateers might jeopardize his career

and his estate, Thomas's father had conveyed to him all those portions

of his extensive estate that were not already enrolled in the name of

his eldest son, "provided . . . that it . . . Shall be always in the

power of . . . Sir Thomas at any time during his Natural Life to

. . . repeal and make Void these present indentures." Thus, in Thomas

Modyford Junior's care resided the extensive properties and enter­

prises of his father, those of his own, those of Cousin Thomas Tothill,

and those of Uncle Sir James Modyford. We cannot know how the varied

enterprises comprehended by these respective holdings fared under

Thomas's management, but the pattern of his handling of the properties

themselves is clear.

During these years (summer, 1672-spring, 1675), of the properties

belonging to father and son, Thomas Junior sold several plots, largely,

it appears, to accommodate friends. To Alderman Richard Beckford of

London, Thomas sold 30 acres on the eastern bank of the Rio Cobre

adjacent to land already owned by Beckford. To Robert and Jane Green,

he leased for a term of three lives a 90 acre tract at Sixteen Mile

Walk. To Major Thomas Fuller, Colonel Modyford sold 700 acres in St.

Catherine's, bounding upon cocoa walkes already established by Fuller.

For "one good fat turkey hen" per annum, Thomas leased to William

Kholles a house and yard situated amidst the pastures along "Angels'"

southern boundary. And for £575, the colonel sold to Henry Meese of

London his half interest in "Stoneland Plantation" (1,000 acres up in

the Vale: 36 acres plantedj 96U acres of standing timber), its

27
equipment, its laborers, and its standing crops.

While thus alienating some 1,820 acres of the Modyford holdings,

however, Thomas was acquiring other lands. To Thomas Butler of St.

John's Parish, Thomas Modyford Junior loaned £50 and took a mortgage

on Butler's three tracts of land at Guanaboa totaling 612 acres. From

William Brewer of St. George's Parish on the North Side, Thomas

 605

purchased. 2I4O acres lying along the Dry Elver for 1157. From Robert

Hewitt of St. Catherine's, for 1650, Colonel Modyford acquired a half

interest in 910 acres lying along the Rio Magno and the Rio Magno

Gully up in the Vale. And from Robert Bourne of St. Jago de la Vega,

Modyford purchased an additional house and yard near his own residence

in Town for the sum of £25. Hence, the Modyford property transactions

of these years maintained the total acreage of the Modyford holdings

virtually constant while exchanging certain less desirable tracts for

28
other more desirable ones.

What was done with Sir James Modyford's properties and the Tothill

lands? Colonel Modyford appears to have managed Sir James's productive

plantations himself while he sought to develop partnerships with in­

dustrious yeomen who agreed to live upon and to develop the uncultivated

tracts. Thomas Tothill's large trace in St. Andrew's Parish was broken

up and sold. Tothill had sold 500 acres to William Parker shortly

before his death. On behalf of Grace Tothill and her son, Thomas Mody­

ford and Edmund Duck sold the remaining 659 acres to Hender Molesworth

for £150. They sold Tothill's half interest in a plot in Port Royal

between Thames and High streets to Charles Modyford in London for £100.

So, during this period Thomas Modyford Junior more than had his hands

full looking after his family's extensive affairs.2^

Colonel Modyford was not satisfied, however, to accept the loss

of his public role. He sought a means of regaining the lieutenant

governor's favor and of restoring his family to their former stature

in the island. Opportunity knocked. Amidst repeated alarms associated

with the current Dutch War, Sir Thomas Lynch sought additional revenues

from the Jamaican Assembly for the further fortifying of Port Royal
 606

Harbor. Bat the Assembly refused to vote additional funds. Colonel

Modyford moved decisively. Following a pattern set by his father,

out of his own personal resources he furnished slaves and materials

toward the task. A new platform for twelve guns was built upon

Bonham's Point flanking the harbor (Fort James); a new breastwork was

constructed overlooking the surf at the south end of the Palisadoes

Line. As Lynch remarked to the Council of Trade and Plantations in

April, 1673: "Col. Modyford takes great pains and is at vast expense

in it, which is such a service to the country and obligation to him­

self, that he [Lynch] thought himself obliged to admit him again into

the Council."^

Hence, just as Sir Thomas Modyford gained his freedom from the

Tower in the summer of 1673, the fortunes of his family at large began

an upward swing as well. Cousin Edmund Duck continued to prosper in

his role as attorney general and further added to his estate. He

acquired two additional tracts of near Uo acres each and a third of

260 acres adjacent to his plantation which lay along the Rio Cobre and

stretched northward toward Caymanas. He added still another house and

lot in Town, this one alongside the "Redd Church." The affairs of

Son-in-law George Nedham at last took a turn for the better as well.

He was appointed clerk of the patents by Sir Thomas Lynch. The fees

from this post and the proceeds from the sale of 800 acres of his large

tract at Sixteen Mile Walk enabled Nedham to clear up certain debts,

acquire more slaves, and increase his holdings of new lands. He

patented two additional tracts of land— one of 500 acres; the other of

6^7 acres— in St. Mary's Parish bounding the Modyford trace there. He

acquired another 2lt0 acres up in the Vale in the Rio Magno Valley to
 607

the northeast of his "Manor of Shenton." Three times during these

years, Nedham was returned as a member of the Assembly. The widows

and children of Thomas Tothill and Sir James Modyford were being

cared for with the proceeds of their estates. And by April, 167U,

Thomas Modyford Junior felt sufficiently reinstated in the island’s

affairs and sufficiently in command of the extensive Modyford enter­

prises to turn over the management of the lot temporarily to three

associates— Render Molesworth, Edmund Duck, Samuel Bernard— and to

31
depart the island himself for a few months in the homeland.

In England, Sir Thomas's youngest son, Charles, was also pros­

pering. True, his six months of imprisonment in the Tower and the

confiscation of his ledgers and account books had greatly jeopardized

his fortune. When he was released, however, he continued in his role

as merchant, agent for Jamaica, and representative in London of his

family’s affairs. Charles followed up the interest which Sir Thomas

and Sir James had earlier shown in the Company of Royal Adventurers.

In 1672, he became one of the twenty-four members of the Court of

Assistants appointed to help the Duke of York and the Earl of Shafts-

bury govern the newly constituted Royal African Company. Perhaps it

was his growing influence among this group which enabled him to secure

government contracts for his father's finely fit frigate, the Jamaican

Merchant, periodically to carry the necessary munition stores to

Jamaica. Moreover, in early 1675, Charles was successful in acquiring

the patent office of receiver general for Jamaica, the duties of which
32
he intended to fulfill by deputy.

Despite his expanding business affairs, however, Charles managed

to spend sufficient time at home on Mincing Lane in London to see to

 608

it that his new bride, Mary Norton of Coventry, began to produce Sir

Thomas's grandchildren about as rapidly as possible. Norton was b o m

in February, 1673; Anne in February, 167U; Elizabeth in January, 1675;

Mary in November, 1676j Thomas in March, 1678. It was to Charles's

home on Mincing Lane— its intersection with Great Tower Street lay

just 200 paces west of Allhallows Barking Church atop Tower Hill— that

Sir Thomas repaired upon his release from the Tower toward summer's

end, 1673.33

In the autumn of 1673, Sir Thomas Modyford was indeed pleased to

be free of the Tower of London and enjoying the company of Son Charles,

Daughter-in-law Mary, and infant Grandson Norton on Mincing Lane.

Friends came to call. Squire William Helyar of East Coker, Somerset,

again visited Sir Thomas. There was more talk of "Bybrook," this time

about how best to proceed with its development now that young Cary

Helyar was dead. Modyford's health, considerably impaired by his term

in the Tower, began to improve. Life began to appear good to Sir

Thomas once again.^

Before Modyford could pick up the loose ends of his affairs, how­

ever, and carry on with his career, he was strongly bent upon settling

a score. Sir Thomas and Charles were undoubtedly convinced that it was

Lord Arlington who had been the instigator of all their troubles.

During Modyford's governorship, Arlington had deliberately neglected at

times to keep Modyford informed about diplomacy in Europe. Often he

had failed to instruct the governor adequately on how to proceed.

Surely it was he who had prompted the king to effect Modyford's recall
 609

and imprisonment in deference to the Spaniards1 wishes. The Modyfords

knew it was Arlington who had made their experience in the Tower an

unnecessarily difficult one. The time was ripe for revenge. But how
35
were they to proceed against one of such position and power? ^

In early January, 167U, Modyford received word that several

members of the House of Commons were contriving to impeach Arlington

for high misdemeanors and treason^ they planned to petition the king

for his removal from office. What an opportunity! Sir Thomas and

Charles promptly contacted Arlington's enemies in Commons and offered

to support the M.P.s1 accusations with a few of their own.^

On January 15, 1675, Lord Arlington was arraigned before the House

of Commons for such complaints as illegally favoring Catholics in public

office, using his high office to enrich himself at the nation's expense,

being overly friendly toward French interests, falsely imprisoning His

Majesty's subjects, and altering certain decrees of the Privy Council.

Arlington appeared before the House to answer these charges one by one

as the arraignment continued over the next several days. On January

17, as the accusation was put forward that Arlington had falsely

inprisoned several of His Majesty's subjects, a deposition from the

Modyfords was introduced. The Modyfords charged that Arlington had

kept Sir Thomas in the Tower for nearly two years without cause, with­

out proper formalities, and all on his own authority. They further

accused the secretary of illegally inprisoning Charles Modyford for a

37
crime his father allegedly committed. 1

In response to these accusations, the Modyfords were asked to

attend the House on January 19j and Sir John Robinson, lieutenant of

the Tower, was summoned to submit his records for an examination. This
 610

examination revealed that Charles Modyford had been imprisoned by a

warrant signed "Arlington"— "by the king's command." Sir Thomas had

been committed to the Tower by a warrant signed "C. Rex" and sub­

signed "Arlington." Thus, although the Modyfords testified against

Arlington with great malice, the House of Commons could not find

sufficient evidence to substantiate their charges against Arlington,

Nor, indeed, could sufficient evidence be mustered to prove any of the

accusations put forward against the secretary. Consequently, the

motion in the House to petition the king for Arlington's dismissal from

the Council and his other employments in the service of the Crown

failed, Arlington’s friends then moved that he be examined on the

charge of treason. This action transferred his case to the House of

Lords. There, the secretary felt able to establish his innocence

without difficulty.^®

Later in February, l67ht the Modyfords brought Sir John Robinson

to arraignment before the House of Commons as well. The charge was

that of re-committing Charles Modyford to the Tower after a brief

release without a fresh warrant. They petitioned the House for per­

mission to sue Sir John for jfi>,000 as recompense for Charles's losses

due to false imprisonment. Sir John succeeded in proving, however,

that this was a trumped-up-charge. The House rejected the petition.

Lord Arlington may have deserved the grudge the Modyfords bore him.

Sir John Robinson clearly did not. The Modyfords knew it. Thus, Sir

Thomas and Charles backed away from this encounter somewhat shame­

facedly. They had to be content with their freedom without revenge, no

matter how sweet that revenge might have been.39

But freedom itself was sweet to Modyford after two years of

 611

confinement. He made the most of it. He now moved on and established

i
quarters of his own at Lincoln's Inn. Did he take his meals in the old

Hall where he had supped as a boy among his fellow clerks-commoners?

Did he attend the "reading" that spring? Did he perchance adjudicate

a "moot" or two conducted by the younger men of the house? The records

are silent. But from his rest amidst these pleasant lodgings and his

leisurely strolls among the "walks" of the Inn, Sir Thomas sauntered

forth to visit family or friends and to attend to long-neglected

business affairs.^*®

We know little of Sir Thomas's movements during the next few

months. No doubt he went to Chiswick to visit Sister Grace Kendall and

to Mortlake to see Cousin Thomas Duck. Likely, he journeyed home to

Exeter to spend a few weeks among his kindred there. His Uncle Robert

Walker had died the previous summery his body had been laid to rest

near those of Sir Thomas's father and mother in St. Mary Arches Church.

But several of Sir Thomas's Walker cousins were around, and it may well

have been Modyford's visit which prompted one of Uncle Robert's younger

sons, James Walker, to seek his fortune in Jamaica. James would serve

for a year or so as commander of the forts at Port Royal in 1675-

1676.^
It is highly probable also that during these months Sir Thomas

made a trip into Kent to survey anew the Manor of Esture. Very

recently and by a circuitous descent, this country estate— it was here

that Elizabeth Modyford grew up in the 1630*s— had been bequeathed to

Elizabeth Palmer Modyford. Since Lady Modyford was already dead, it

fell to Sir Thomas to hold in trust for her heirs. How nostalgic that
/
l
t
jaunt must have been for him. It was at Esture that he and Elizabeth
 612

had done some of their courting. This visit must have rekindled

treasured memories of their early life together.^

Whatever jaunts Sir Thomas made during 167U to inspect family

properties, in consultation with his sons Thomas (who had joined him

in London by September) and Charles, Sir Thomas made new arrangements

for a number of the family holdings that year. The decision was made

to liquidate the Modyford properties in Barbados. Accordingly, Mody­

ford15 half interest in "Buckland-Henty-Kendall,11 its equipment, stock,

and laborers, and its storehouse and wharf in Bridge Town was sold to

Joseph Skutt, merchant of London, for &4,500. Moreover, some arrange­

ment had to be made for the management and maintenance of the Manor

of Esture. In September, l67h, the Modyfords placed Esture under a

short-term lease to Cousin Thomas Duck and his associate, John Roberts.

What, then, of Modyford1s father's farm at Shuthanger, near Halberton,

Devon; of the several leases for three lives which his father had

arranged; of the Cornish lands entailed by Grandfather Walker to come

to Thomas upon the death of his Uncle James; of Measepoole Meade at

Paignton on Devon's shores which Sir Thomas, himself, had purchased as

a very young man? Their disposition remains a mystery.^

These months in the homeland were not devoted entirely to family

visits and business affairs, however. Sir Thomas also appeared now

and again amidst the city's social scene. That he frequently joined

Henry Morgan, the Duke of Albemarle, and their band of younger

revellers-about-town, is not likely. But that he did circulate some­

what within the realms of genteel society is clear. He and Morgan

both were present on October 20, 167U, at a dinner party given at his

mansion house near Piccadilly by John Lord Berkeley, Modyford's old

 613

comrade in arms, and most recently lord lieutenant of Ireland. There

they attracted great attention among the guests with their tales of the

exploits of the Jamaican privateers.^

Such pleasant occasions in England were to be all too few, however;

for already preparations were being made for yet another change of

government in Jamaica. Rumors spread. Spanish Ambassador Fresno, on

the verge of returning to Madrid, was "much disturbed by a report of

the king's intention to recall Sir Thomas Linch, governor of Jamaica,

and to send in his stead Mudiford who is so odious to the Spaniards

because of his attacks on their territories." Poor manl He need not

have worried. The king had no intention of returning Modyford to his

former employment. Nevertheless, the change in preparation was to

affect Modyford's career, if only indirectly.^

While Modyford had been in England, Sir Thomas Lynch had applied

himself diligently to the task of governing Jamaica. He had promoted

settlement and planting; he had vigorously suppressed privateering; he

had enforced the Navigation Acts. The latter actions had produced a

threefold effect. They placed an injuring restraint upon Jamaican

trade; they provoked indiscriminate acts of piracy upon Jamaican

shipping; they deflected from Jamaica that income which the island had

heretofore enjoyed from privateering. All of this was occurring at the

same time a blight was ravaging the cocoa crop, London creditors were

pressing the planters for payments, and public expenditures were

doubling due to the renewal of war between England and the United

Netherlands. Jamaica's economic plight was becoming severe. Lynch

found himself facing a Council and an Assembly representing a sullen

and downcast people among whom a provincial, independent spirit was

 611*

steadily growing.^

Concurrently, in I67I*, the English Administration was beginning to

take a new look at Jamaica and the empire at large. The Council of

Trade and Foreign Plantations, which was soon to evolve into the power­

ful and effective Lords (Committee) of Trade, was just commencing a

serious study of colonial affairs. For thirteen years Jamaica had

enjoyed a form of government comprised of a governor appointed by the

king, a council appointed by the governor, and an assembly elected by

the freeholders. But as the Lords of Trade saw it, governors of the

Modyford stamp had been too forceful and independent; the councils had

been too easily cajoled by the governors; and the proceedings of the

assemblies had been too "irregular, violent and unwarrantable." There­

fore, by 1675, the Lords of Trade were launching a strong centralizing

policy in imperial affairs. Beginning with Jamaica first, they deter­

mined not only to maintain but to extend the prerogative of the Crown.

This was to be done by the king appointing the Council as well as the

governor; by altering the manner of enacting, transmitting, and

amending the laws in order to make them more consistent with the king's

rule of the island; and by gaining from the Assembly an act of

perpetual revenue. These changes were expected to make the Jamaican

Government more responsive to the direction of the Imperial Adminis­

tration. How this new policy was to be received by the Jamaicans

remains to be seen.^

To implement this evolving, new policy toward Jamaica, Charles

Howard, Earl of Carlisle, was again asked to take up his governorship

of the island. But as Carlisle was still not ready to assume those

duties, John Lord Vaughan was temporarily appointed governor of Jamaica

 615

with Henry Morgan as his lieutenant governor and the lieutenant general

(commander in chief) of the island's forces. Sir Thomas Lynch's com­

mission was revoked in November, l67h. All necessary preparations were

set in train during November and December for Lord Vaughan, Morgan,

and one hundred royal troops to make the voyage to Jamaica aboard

H. M. S. Foresight. Since Modyford's ship, the Jamaican Merchant, had

also been commissioned to carry over a great quantity of munitions and

supplies to the island, Sir Thomas grasped this opportunity to return

to Jamaica. Thomas Modyford Junior decided to continue his visit in

England for several more months. By mid December, then, both the royal

frigate and the merchantman were anchored in the Downs, ready to

sail.k®

While waiting some three weeks for favorable winds, Lord Vaughan

made last-minute arrangements for the voyage. Sir Henry Morgan was

placed in command of the Jamaican Merchant to look after His Majesty’s

stores. He and Captain Khapman were ordered to sail in consort with

the Foresight. Should the two ships get separated, Morgan was

instructed to make straight for Jamaica, to take the government into

his own hands, and to secure all supplies in the king's storehouses.

Sir Thomas Modyford chose to join Lord Vaughan and the troops aboard

the Foresight. No doubt Sir Thomas saw the voyage as an opportunity

to get acquainted with Governor Vaughan, to assist him as he approached

his new post, and to establish with him a relationship advantageous

liQ
to the Modyfords1 future.

Favorable winds at last arising, on January 8, 1675* the two ships

hoisted sail and put to sea along with dozens of other vessels maneu­

vering down the Channel. But the anchor of the merchantman gave
 616

trouble. When it was finally raised, the Foresight could no longer be

identified among the numerous sail fading into the horizon. An effort

to catch up with her over the next few days failed. Consequently, once

beyond the Channel, Sir Henry Morgan instructed Captain Knapman to make

straight for Jamaica. During the days which followed, this trim

frigate which Sir Thomas Lynch had termed "the best Merchantman that

ever was in this Port [Port Royal]" literally sped across the Atlantic.

Alas, just before dawn on February 2£, disaster struck. While skirting

the southern shores of Hispaniola, the Jamaican Merchant ventured a bit

too close to Morgan's old rendezvous, the Isle des Vaches. She ran

aground on a shallow reef and stuck fast. The firing of her guns,

however, brought a nearby-anchored privateer to her rescue. Leaving

the captain and crew to look after the ship and cargo, Morgan and the

passengers boarded the privateer and plied for Jamaica. Sir Henry

arrived at Port Royal on March 7» still well ahead of Lord Vaughan and
cjO
Sir Thomas Modyford.J

Morgan took possession of the Jamaican Government from Sir Thomas

Lynch by virtue of his commission as lieutenant governor. He thoroughly

enjoyed a few days of power and preeminence. Lord Vaughan was not far

behind, however. Having taken a somewhat longer route via the Maderias,

Cape Verde Islands, and Barbados, the Foresight anchored in Port Royal

late in the afternoon on March ll;. While Lord Vaughan was being

received ashore "w^ all ye Acclaimations of Joy imaginable," Sir

Thomas appears to have pushed on to St. Jago to set his house in order.

On March If?, Governor Vaughan's commission was publicly read at the

Courthouse; the appointments to the new Council outlined therein were

announced; in a brief meeting of the Council, writs for the election of

 617

a new Assembly were issued. The governor's review of the forts and

forces followed. On March 16, Vaughan was received at Passage Fort by

150 horse, a company of foot, and many of the gentry in stately coaches.

He was accompanied by this entourage to the home of Sir Thomas Modyford

in St. Jago de la Vega where he was entertained "at a most splendid

dinner." For the next several days, Vaughan was lodged by Modyford and

Lynch alternately, both of whom he showed great respect and cordial­

ity. *1

Lord Vaughan's commission had assigned only one office in the

Jamaican Government to the Modyfords; Thomas Modyford Junior was

assured a seat on the Council when he returned to the island. But Sir

Thomas's growing friendship with the new governor had the desired

effect. Upon learning that Major General James Banister was now dead,

on March 22 Governor Vaughan wrote to the English Administration recom­

mending Thomas Junior for the post of major general of the island's

forces, seeing that "this island X am sure hath none so fitt, & none

will be more Wellcome to ye Inhabitants, hee being generally beloved by

them." A few days later, Lord Vaughan handed Sir Thomas Modyford a

commission and instructions to assume the post of chief justice of

Jamaica's Supreme Court. Moreover, in April, 167$, Charles Modyford in

England received his patent for the office of receiver general of

Jamaica. Hence, after a four-year hiatus in his public career and a

corresponding period of ill fortune for his family, Sir Thomas Modyford

was at home in Jamaica once again. He was reinstated in a high office

of the Jamaican Government, restored to the management of his extensive

estates, and well established in the affections of the new governor.

His sons were both assured prominent roles in the colony's public
 618

affairs. The eclipse which had hung like a shroud over Modyford*s life

and work had now been lifted. In the spring of 1675, the future
t.p
beckoned once again.

Lord Vaughan did well in appointing Sir Thomas as chief justice of

Jamaica's Supreme Court. Modyford had initiated the Jamaican judicial

system; he knew its proceedings intimately. Moreover, he was clearly

the man most learned in the law in the entire colony. Throughout the

years, he had maintained his reverence for the law and his devotion to

justice. In this role, he appears to have possessed the esteem of the

people at large. Moreover, despite its small salary of J?100 per annum,

Sir Thomas appreciated the post. It returned him to the center of

Jamaican affairs, placed him in a position to influence the colony's

on-going development, and continually demonstrated the prominence of

his family among the leading gentry of the island.

Modyford enjoyed his role as chief justice. On the last Tuesday

of the month, every three months, in the study of his home in St. Jago,

Sir Thomas fitted a freshly powdered wig, donned his robes of office,

and made his way to the old Courthouse on the central Parade to open

another session of Jamaica's "grand court." At this bench, flanked by

his four assistant justices— Samuel Long, John Colebeck, Samuel

Bernard, Samuel Barry— His Worship presided learnedly over a wide

variety of pleas of the Crown and common pleas wielding the full range

of powers exercised by the courts at Westminster— King's Bench, Common

Pleas, and Exchequer. He dealt with appellant cases from all the

island's judicial precincts. Moreover, he handled all serious criminal

 61?

suits, most common pleas exceeding the value of JE20, and common pleas

of values between and f20 for the precinct of St. Catherine's-St.

Dorothy's-St. Thomas's in the Vale. The sessions of the Supreme Court

took the place of General Sessions in the central precinct. Hence,

given the rapid spread of settlement over the island with all the

problems attendant thereto, these sessions of the Supreme Court must

have been busy ones, processing a wide spectrum of significant

causes.

That Sir Thomas earnestly sought to arrive at justice under the

law, even in cases of weighty import, is illustrated by his decisions

on the bench. In at least one case, he found in favor of an interloper

slave trader against the powerful Royal African Company which was

governed by the Duke of York and in which his son, Charles, was heavily

involved. Modyford felt it necessary, however, to clarify to Sir

Andrew King, sub-governor of the Royal African Company, that his

decision had been based upon the failure of the company's factors to

produce necessary legal documents. Moreover, he further declared that

he "never had nor ever will have any thing todoe w ^ interlopers,

neither shal by my consent either of my sons,who w me too sensible

know what it is to displease his M a ^ e wch shall never be done by me in

anything I can prevent or avoid.

While Modyford attended to his duties as chief justice, Lord

Vaughan got on with the business of governing Jamaica. The governor

called a new Assembly for the reenacting of the island's laws. The

members convened with the Council on April 26, 1675* Now, during the

term of Sir Thomas Lynch— the island treasury being denied the revenues

generated by privateering— it had been necessary to call the Assembly

 620

several times for the voting of revenues. The very frequency of the

sessions of the Assembly during these years (it convened six times

between 1672 and 1677), therefore, tended to convince its members that

their counsel was indispensable to good governance of the colony. They

became practiced in their procedures, proficient in their function, and

56
prideful of their privileges.

As Vaughan set the new Assembly to work, in its procedures he

further encouraged it to consider itself a miniature replica of the

House of Commons, a habit of thought— from the point of view of many

in the Imperial Administration— to which it was already too prone.

Thus, from April 26 through May 15>, the Assembly pursued its task with

responsibility and dispatch. It reviewed the accounts of Modyford

along with those of Lynch and declared itself satisfied that Modyford

had been discharged by the king's exchequer. It revised and reenacted

the colony's forty-five laws. Though there was minor friction between

the governor and the Assembly regarding the revenue bill and the manner

in which the laws were ultimately signed, overall, the sessions went

quite well. As Vaughan dispatched the Acts of the Assembly homeward

for His Majesty's assent, he expressed pride in his own skill and

sagacity in having passed them through so smoothly.^

Moreover, as 1675 progressed into 1676, economic conditions in the

island improved. By May, 1676, Governor Vaughan could exclaim:

"Thankes bee to God, all things are well, the Island prosperous, and

the Planters encouraged by abundance of successes." On the south side

of the island, sugar cane, indigo, and ginger were gradually replacing

the blasted cocoa trees. On the North Side, rooted in lands newly

cleared, cocoa flourished; there, the blight did not affect it. Herds
 621

of cattle and other livestock thrived. Trade, though restricted by the

Navigation Acts, increased. The year, 1675, saw about 170 ships enter

and leave Port Royal Harbor, exclusive of some 70 small vessels engaged

in fetching logwood, salt, turtle, turtleshell, and fish from the

surrounding Caribbean area. Some revenue was still filtering into the

island from prizes sold clandestinely by privateers capturing them

under foreign commissions. Jamaican defenses were stronger than ever

before. All in all, after his first few months in Jamaica, Governor

Vaughan "found his name illustrious, his friends faithful, his enemies

silent, and the island prosperous."'*®

Unfortunately, however, Lord Vaughan's efforts at restoring the

Modyfords to positions of reasonable prominence in Jamaican affairs

provoked suspicion and Jealousy. Misgivings arose in those upon whom

he was most dependent for the support needed to be effective in his

role: his lieutenant governor; the authorities at home.^

When Sir Thomas Lynch had heard the news of Sir Henry Morgan's

appointment as lieutenant governor of Jamaica, he was appalled.

"Here's non," said he, "ever thought it possible his Majesty should

send the Admirall of the Pryvateers to goveme this Island." As

lieutenant governor and commander in chief of the island's forces,

Morgan resided in the King's House in Port Royal where he also assumed

the duties of Judge admiral of the Admiralty Court, flanked by his

brother-in-law, Robert Byndloss, as one of his assistants. Here in

familiar surroundings, his swashbuckling temperament kept cropping

out. Loitering among the merchants and seamen of the town, drinking

and gambling in the taverns, Sir Henry used his office as Judge admiral

subtly to welcome into port, to protect, and to encourage old privateer

 622

friends who were now attacking the Spaniards by virtue of French

letters of marque issued by Governor d'Qgeron of Tortuga. A less

likely mate cannot be imagined for a first officer dedicated to the

vigorous suppression of the privateers.^

Lord Vaughan very soon grew "perfectly weary of him." The

governor proclaimed to the Imperial Administration that Morgan was

guilty of a deliberate breach of orders which had resulted in the ship­

wreck of the island's stores off the Isle des Vaches. He complained

that Sir Henry had shown great weakness in dealing with the recently

convened Assembly. He charged that the lieutenant governor cheapened

his authority in the Port by the manner of his conduct. And after the

king— in August, 1675— directly forbade Jamaicans to take up French

commissions for attacking the Spaniards and ordered Vaughan to prose­

cute those who did, the governor lamented that Morgan obstructed all

his efforts to suppress the privateers and even invested in their

ventures himself. As a first step toward reducing the lieutenant

governor's malevolent influence, Vaughan recommended to the Imperial

Administration that Colonel Thomas Modyford be restored to his former

posts of major general of the island's forces and colonel of the Port

Royal Regiment, the latter of which he had held for ten years. By

designating Morgan colonel of the Clarendon Regiment instead of the

Port Royal militia, the swaggering Welshman would at least be obligated

to spend part of his time away from the PortI^

This move aroused Morgan. Port Royal was his milieu of glory.

The governor's action stung him like a sharp slap in the face. To

Secretary Coventry Morgan complained; "I am soe far from haveing any

Share in ye Govrm^ yt I have nott those Honrs yt his Majesty's

 623

Commission gives me . . . for he hath given the Regiment yt belongs to

this Place wch is all his Majestys fortifications to young Modyford

t th
who . . . knows as Little w to doe w it as my man." Sir Henry

further related to Covington how he had proposed to his Lordship that

for the defense of the Port "I was much more capable . . . then so

young a Man as Coll. Modyford, who neither had ever Seen a Man killed

nor a Fort taken, nor hardly a Company well exercised . . . and that

I did believe that a Country Regiment would doe better for him. This

angryed Old Modyford & made him sett his witts att worke to putt My

Lord att difference with me . . . He putt my Lord upon trying my

Patience.

Moreover, the governor's recommendation irritated the king.

Secretary Coventry told it like it was. "His Majesty can by no means

understand that a man that he himself hath Constituted Lieutenant

Generali . . . is as little satisfyed that the Regiment that guarded

the fort should be taken out of the Lieutenant Generali hands, and one

at present in London and no souldier be made Commander thereof . . .

The Kings Positive Order therefore is that Sir Henry Morgan be Con­

stituted Colonell of that Regiment, and admitted unto the CounceU."

Then, the secretary added a further word of caution. "It is not

unknown to you with what difficulty it was obtained of his Majesty to

admit Sr Thomas Muddiford to his presents, and give permission to

his going with you, if you mannage not your kindness to that family

with great Discretion you will be far from doing them or your self a

kindness . . . . This is a much readyer way to offend the King, then

advance them, and possibly create such a jealosy as may lesson that

very good esteem the King hath of you, The King doth not intend the
 62h

Island shall be solely in the power of any one ffamily or party.

Vaughan was not daunted. He dutifully admitted Morgan to the

Council and to the Port Royal command; but, when Morgan and Ityndloss

bungled the arrest of a band of pirates in the Port, His Excellency

dismissed them from their judgeships in Admiralty. Furthermore, as the

rift between the governor and his lieutenant widened and Sir Henry's

behavior in the Port did not improve, Vaughan turned Morgan out of the

King's House upon the pretense of moving in himself. Morgan knew

better. He had no "other end in itt," said Sir Henry, "but to endeavour

to lessen me in the esteeme of the People, & to force me from this

Place." To be sure, Vaughan did intend that the king and Council

perceive Morgan for what he was, the king's secret appreciation for the

buccaneer and his flaunted loyalty notwithstanding. So, again and

again the governor reported Morgan's offenses and registered the "clear
ts
Opinion it will bee for his Ma Service to dyscharge soe Needlittle &

Troublesom an Officer."^

At length, in July, 1676, by the king's command, Lord Vaughan had

Morgan and Byndloss arraigned before the Jamaican Council, charging

them with sponsoring piracy. Records of the interrogation were sent to

England. Hiding behind his perpetual mask of wounded innocence, how­

ever, Morgan defended himself resourcefully. Swore Sir Henry: "As God

is my judge and witness, I have never entertained a thought in my life

but what hath been really devoted to his Majesty's service and interest

nor never will." Morgan's popularity seems to have immuned him from

any further consequences. Whomever each believed in this controversy,

no member of the Council signed Vaughan's accusations against Morgan.

The Imperial Administration simply advised Vaughan to patch up his

 625

differences with the buccaneer.^

Poor Sir Henryi He did three things exceptionally well. A master

strategist, a courageous commander, a leader of men in the fray— he

was a good soldier. In another time or place, he might well have

become a general of international renown. He was an inveterate and

accomplished liar. The habit was so ingrained that he was scarcely

capable of telling the truth even when it was in his own best interests.

He was a rascal and a rogue. He could design, deceive, and debauch

with the best. In his military role, he made a genuine contribution to

Jamaica's development. Both early as chief of the "guards of Port

Royal" and periodically thereafter as commander in chief of the

island's forces, he contributed to Jamaica's defense. During times

of peace, however, he was out of his element. He was no creative

politician, less of a civil administrator, least of all a statesman.

When there were no more Spanish Towns freely to be raped "in His

Majesty's service," he was forced to rely upon his other talents in his

search for acclaim. Alas, he was to spend the rest of his life seeking

to pull his left foot back out of the buccaneer camp and to convince

his world that he was respectable. He knew not how to raise himself in

the esteem of others save by maligning those preferred before him. In

quest of Vaughan's favor and that of the home authorities, he had first

aimed his insinuations at Sir Thomas lynch; later, he directed his

attack upon Major William Ivy; now, out of jealousy of the Vaughan-

Modyford camaraderie, he turned upon Sir Thomas.^

Over the years, Modyford had periodically done business with

William Bragg whose principal plantation lay just to the east of his

"Palmers' Hut" in the parish of St, Thomas in the Vale. Recently, he

 626

had encountered difficulties in getting Bragg to settle his accounts.

Hence, in late September, 1676, Modyford entered a law suit on three

counts against Bragg, retaining Roger Ellotson as his attorney. After

being informed of this action, on the evening of September 27 while at

dinner with Sir Henry Morgan, Bragg told Morgan "that Sir Thomas was a

traitor and that he could prove it." Sir Henry*s ears bristled. As

Modyford related to his son, Charles: This "was not a Little pleasing

to Morgan who w^*1 Byndlosse pumpt him all ye Wednesday supplying

4*Vi
drinke enough & betwixte k & 12 at night w Coll. Cary went to my Lord

& informed him of it."^

Bragg accused Modyford of collaborating while in England with one

Andrew Arguile, merchant of London, in soliciting the clothiers of

three or four English counties to rebel against the king in the county

assizes. (The aim was to evoke the J.P.s through the grand juries to

petition the king regarding the great losses these counties had sus­

tained because of the obstruction presented to their vending of woolen

manufactures in Africa by the monopolied Royal African Company. The

end result hoped for was greater freedom of trade in Negroes as well.)

Bragg quoted Modyford as having said that he engaged in this activity

"because . . . [the King] . . . had done things against Acts of

Parliament . . . [and] . . . he had rather have the love of his

subjects than of the kingsJ'^Q

The governor sent for William Bragg to confirm what Morgan and

Byndloss had reported. When Bragg was finally brought before the

Council (he had slipped away into the country), his testimony was con­

siderably different from that written down by Morgan. Modyford moved

decisively. He filed suit against Bragg for slander. Sir Thomas

 627

reported to Son Charles: "I am informed by a friend of Brags yt he is

almost out of his wits, St complains much, how he was drunke St drawne

into this base action wch if I can make appear by good proofs, twill

discover the basenesse of his accomplices." The case was scheduled for

the next session of the Supreme Court. Assistant Justice Samuel Long

was appointed to preside. It was an interesting context. Modyford*s

early political enemy, Samuel Long, whom he had imprisoned for treason

(but never prosecuted) for his obstructionism in the Assembly now

prepared to preside over a trial in which Sir Thomas was accused of

treason at the instigation of his old confidant the commander of the

guards of Port Royal, Sir Henry Morgan. No matter. Sir Thomas had

been arraigned for treason before.^

On December 2, 1676, the case came to trial. Bragg's accusations

against Modyford were read; he pled not guilty to the charge of slander.

Sir Thomas's attorney, Roger Ellotson, pled Modyford*s case. He repre­

sented Sir Thomas as a "good, pious, and faithful subject, and a man of

name, credit, and repute with the king . . . being made his Majesty's

Chief Justice of this island, which he hath faithfully discharged for

near two years." He charged Bragg with "mere malice, plotting, and

contriving the name, fame, and allegiance of . . . Sir Thomas." In the

end, the jury found for the plaintiff and awarded Sir Thomas |300

damages for Bragg's defamation of character. Justice Long reported to

Lord Vaughan "that the Jury found the Words to be malitious, false and

scandalous and wee further informe yor Exc^ y that the Defend^ Bragge

. . . produced not one Wittnesse, that did acuse ye pliffe of any

inhandsome Expressions ag the Kang or the Government." No indictment

for treason did ensue.

 626

Nevertheless, Sir Henry Morgan, for his part, saw to it that a

detailed record of Bragg's deposition and Modyford's defense reached

Secretary Coventry in England. Said Sir Henry: "thinks it shows Sir

Thomas has no love for his Majesty, and that truly he wants only power,

and not will . . . [to do mischief] . . . . If not treason, or mis­

prison, it certainly is a great misdemeanor, and Sir Thomas ought not

to be Chief Justice. Hopes Secretary Coventry will see by this how

very zealous Sir Henry is for his Majesty’s service."^

Morgan had succeeded in one respect. Due to the nature of Bragg’s

accusations and because the suits between Modyford and Bragg were

pending before the Supreme Court, Lord Vaughan felt obligated to

relieve Modyford of his duties in the court. Prior to the trial,

therefore, during the third week in October, the governor sent Modyford

a "quietus" for his post as chief justice. So be it. His effort to

reactivate his public career and to play a leading role once again in

Jamaican affairs had dangerously polarized opposition against him both

in the colony and in the homeland. He had no plans for further lodging

in the Tower 1 It was enough. For thirty years, through troubled times,

he had served his nation well in a variety of roles. He had contrib­

uted to the expansion of England's overseas trade; he had abetted the

growth of her empire; he had led little "limbs of this Commonwealth"

toward a flourishing future; and, in one of them, he had founded

perhaps the foremost "county" family among its inhabitants. Like his

Grandfather Walker before him, he had earned a bit of time to enjoy his

extensive estate and the status it conferred. His brief restoration to

high office and his recent suit in court had vindicated his good name

and left that status unimpaired. In the autumn of 1676, Sir Thomas
 629

Modyford quietly yielded up his public career.^

Sir Thomas's release from the duties of his last significant public

post sitnply afforded "Squire" Modyford additional time to devote to his

extensive Jamaican estates.

Upon his return to Jamaica from England, Modyford had promptly

assumed control again of his lands and enterprises which had been

managed while he was away by Son Thomas, and most recently, by their

trusted associates— Hender Moleworth, Edmund Duck, and Samuel Bernard.

Moreover, with upwards of £U,000 cash in hand (The sale of his half-

interest in Buckland-Henty-Kendall in Barbados brought £U,500 in April,

I67U5 the sale of his Port Royal lot and warehouse brought |130 in

October, 1676.), Sir Thomas had moved assertively further to expand his

Jamaican holdings.
73

No sooner had he returned to the island than Modyford took steps

to add more acreage to "Angels." In May, 1675* he purchased from Hender

Molesworth the 31U acre "Giles Harvey patent" which lay along the south­

east boundary of that part of "Angels" situated east of the Rio Cobre.

In January, 1676, he added the 88 acre "John Gislingham place" located

just beyond the south-central boundary of "Angels." In August, 1676,

he took up a mortgage from Edward Coffin which acquired for him two

tracts— one of 2k9 acresj the other of 33 acres— lying just above the

northwest boundary of "Angels" and a third of 360 acres situated

farther to the northwest in St. John's Parish. Finally, in February,

1677, Sir Thomas purchased from John and Mary Castle a plot of 210 acres

which, though not contiguous with the home far, was situated perhaps
 630

less than a mile to the west of it. For these several additional

tracts, Sir Thomas paid a total of IU61. Thus, by 1677, Modyford had

expanded the "Barton of Angels," his family seat, into a plantation of

approximately 2,6U0 acres— largely a contiguous tract but with two or

three adjacent outlying members. ^

Elsewhere on the south side of the island, the Modyfords also

acquired additional lands after Sir Thomas's return in 1675. In June,

I676, for £200 Modyford purchased from Samuel Warren a 360 acre tract

situated on Maggaty Savanna to the north of "Palmer's Hut" up in the

Vale. A few months later, Son Thomas and Son-in-law George Nedham

patented an additional 893 acres of foothills woodlands over in the

northeast corner of the Vale. In August, 1676, for £.300 Sir Thomas

bought a 1,000 acre plantation located near the mouth of the Black

River along Luana Bay in the parish of St. Elizabeth. While providing

good pasturage, this farm was equipped as well with a small sugar mill,

numerous draft horses, and 11 slaves. Moreover, in 1679, by taking up

a mortgage for £31*0 from Robert Bridgewood of St. Elizabeth's, Sir

Thomas acquired a half-interest in Bridgewood's plantation of 1,020

acres adjacent to Allegator Pond. The latter farm not only grazed

numerous cattlej its considerable cane plantings were worked by 1*7

slaves.^

Nor was Jamaica's North Side neglected ty the Modyfords' acqui­

sitions of these years. In July, 1675s Sir Thomas purchased a half-

interest in 600 acres of undeveloped land abreast the boundary between

the parishes of St. Ann and St. James. On January 29, 1676, for a

mortgage sum of 1$00 loaned to Benjamin Smith of St. Ann's, Modyford

acquired four adjacent plots of land totalling 2,070 acres situated

 631

around the mouth of St. Ann's Great River and along St. Ann's Bay.

With these plots he also obtained additional small sugar works and 20

slaves. In December, 1676, on the basis of the additional slaves he

was acquiring, the Squire took out a patent for l,l£0 acres lying

abreast the boundary between the parishes of St. Ann and St. Mary in

the mountains near the headwaters of the Rio Neuvo. Then, in Februaiy,

1677, Sir Thomas paid Robert and Jane Green of St. Catherine’s £120 for

1*80 acres in St. Mary's bounding on the Negro River just south of Port

Maria Bay.^

By 1679, therefore, the Modyfords holdings— those of Sir Thomas

and Son Thomas— stretched broadly across the Jamaican landscape. Squire

Modyford's manors far exceeded the dimensions of his Grandfather

Walker's or his Great Uncle George Smith's wildest dreams. A tabula­

tion of the patents and conveyances which have survived yields the

following. From the summer of 166U through the summer of 1679— includ­

ing 12 town lots situated in St. Jago, Old Harbor, and Port Royal— Sir

Thomas and Thomas Junior acquired by patent or purchase 68 separate

plots of land, scattered over 10 Jamaican parishes, totalling approxi­

mately 28,700 acres. During the same period of time, they conveyed to

others— by sale, exchange, or mortgage— U of the town lots and 10 of

the less desirable tracts of land (varying in size from 3 acres to

1.000 acres)3 the sum of the plots alienated was about 2,600 acres.

Consequently, in 1679, Squire Modyford's estates constituted over

26.000 acres of carefully selected, economically advantageous tracts of

Jamaican soil— seashore, harborside, salt pond; river mouth, river

bottom, alluvial vale; flat savanna, rolling piedmont, foothills;

"waste ebony," mountain ravine, virgin timber. With the addition

 632

of the 7>330 acres of Sir James's estate which Squire Modyford now

managed as attorney for Lady Elizabeth Slanning Modyford and guardian

to Brother James's children, the Modyford holdings extended into two

additional parishes. Moreover, as Son Charles Modyfordrs acquisi­

tions in Jamaica reached upwards of 6,000 acres around 1685, the

family's holdings would ultimately peak at near 1*0,000 acres of choice

77
island terrain.1'

As Grandfather Walker had left his mansion house on St. Mary

Arches Street for the apple orchards and sheep pastures of "Catpole"

upon the completion of his third mayoralty in Exeter, so, now, Sir

Thomas removed from the townhouse in St. Jago to the manor house at

"Angels" as he quitted the bench of Jamaica's Supreme Court in the fall

of 1676. Little do we know about the Angels Manor House, It was

located at "Angels Pen" (Gordon Pen?) in the midst of the steadily ex­

panding plantation. It may have overlooked the Rio Cobre; two or three

of the riverside plots purchased by Modyford already featured houses

which did so when they were merged by the Squire to form "Angels."

Though a modest mansion by late colonial standards, no doubt it adhered

to Richard Ligon's designs of twenty-five years earlier for capturing

the cooling effects of the North East Trades. Its four or five bed­

rooms provided for several guests with easej its five or more house-

slaves saw to their comforts. The dining facilities of Its hall could

seat twenty-four. There was ample pewter, earthenware, and table linen

to serve that many more. The study's desks beckoned to the writer;

its book-lined shelves lured the reader; its collection of antique fire

arms captivated the curious. "Angels Hall" provided an atmosphere

nO
for gracious living.
 633

The house was undoubtedly furbished to its best for one of its

finest social occasions shortly after Sir Thomas stepped down from the

bench— the wedding of his granddaughter, Elizabeth. On Christmas Day,

1676, Elizabeth Modyford, barely approaching thirteen years of age,

was married in St. Jago's Church of the Red Cross (Church of St.

Catherine) to Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Barry, son and heir of Old

Stander Colonel Samuel Barry of St. Andrew’s. Later that day, Squire

Modyford opened wide the doors of his manor house to the wedding party.

The cream of the Jamaican gentry, from Governor Vaughan on down,

converged upon '’Angels" to help celebrate this joining of two of the

island’s foremost "county" families.^

It was obviously a good match. Young Samuel’s father had for

twenty years played leading roles in the life of the English West

Indies— regimental commander, member of the Council, judge of Common

Pleas, interim governor of Surinam— while building up a productive

estate around the village of Liguanea, St. Andrew's. Samuel Junior had

inherited his father’s properties and had acquired the post of clerk

of the Enrollments. In turn, Elizabeth connected Samuel with Jamaica's

most prominent family and brought him no mean dowry— one hundred slaves

to be transferred to the Barry plantations over a five-year period by

her father and grandfather. These extra hands would enable Samuel by

1680 to expand his acreage to upwards of 3,000 and to increase his

income per year to upwards of £2,000, not including the £300 per annum

Elizabeth would then be drawing from the Manor of Esture in County

Kent~her inheritance from the settlements of her grandfather's and her

oQ
father's estates.

Graciously hospitable "Angels" may well have been, but its manor
house was no retirement home. "Angels" was a working farm. From its

plantation house, therefore— now that he was largely free from the

demands of public service— Squire Modyford actively promoted his

diversified agricultural enterprises. "Angels'" savannas continued to

graze cattle and sheep; its tilled fields to grow indigo and cotton;

its blighted groves to produce some cocoa. Moreover, it appears that

the plantation's handicraft industries produced implements and products

for other Modyford farms and those of neighbors as well. The smith's

forge steadily generated articles of iron and steel. The cooper's

shop made scores of hogsheads, barrels, and casks. Slave-wielded cross

cut and whipsaws fashioned hundreds of staves and dozens of boards out

of fine timber felled upon Modyford acres. Three-dozen steers stood

ready for the yoke. A half-dozen wains creaked about under heavy loads.

A finely matched team of six prancing horses were exercised regularly

hooked to Sir Thomas's chariot. And due to the Squire's pride in fine

horse flesh, "Angels" was a breeding farm as well. It was not un­

common for a dozen "Angels" mares to foal in a given year and twice as

many colts and fillies to grace the "pens" near the house. Thus,

during the late 1670's, "Angels" became a supply base for other Mody-

ford plantations, especially for "Palmer's Hut" up in the Vale.

By 1677, the first twenty acres of nearly ripe canes which Sir

Thomas had left behind him at "Palmer's Hut" upon his departure for

England had expanded to two hundred acres. The large water-powered

mill on the bank of the upper Cobra regularly ground cane. The new

road which Modyford had cut through his own lands to Sixteen Mile Walk

and surrendered to his neighbors' use had been neglected, had been

returned to Modyford by action of the Council, and had subsequently

 635

been repaired. Now, increasing quantities of sugar came down the gorge

from ''Palmer's Hut" in casks sent up from "Angels." In 1677, clearly

Squire Modyford was the greatest planter in Jamaica. Indeed, "Palmer's

Hut" must have been one of the most impressive sugar factories in the

whole of the West Indies. Steady progress was being made toward the

fulfillment of Modyford's goal— to grind out six hundred acres of canes

82
per annum.

Such progress was possible because of good management and the

steady growth of Modyford*s labor force. With the financial recon­

struction of the Royal African Company in 1672, the English slave trade

revived. By the time of Modyford's return to the island in 1675, the

company was delivering slaves to Jamaica in considerable quantities.

With his connections, with cash in hand, Sir Thomas acquired his share

of these. Hy 1677, the Squire owned six hundred slaves in addition to

having indentures with numerous white servants who were trusted to

oversee and to perform specialized tasks. The great majority of the

new blacks being brought in were assigned to the cane fields and the
Qq
sugar works of "Palmer's Hut."

With this steady increase in sugar production, however, came

serious problems. The growth rate of the black population in Jamaica

during these years was twice that of the whites. Due to this rapid

induction of new slaves into the island's labor force, there was in­

sufficient time to orient, to acculture, to pacify. Rebellion

threatened. As the ratio of slaves to masters widened, a shudder of

fear swept through the island, particularly after news arrived in

September, 1675, of an attempted uprising in Barbados. Despite

precautions taken by the Jamaican Government, in December, 1675, there

 636

occurred several minor rebellions in St. Mary's and St. Ann's. By

these early uprisings, Modyford's plantations were not affected.

Indeed, the Squire's faithful servant, Pompey, earned himself a sub­

stantial reward by capturing one of the rebels. In May, 1678, however,

rebellion erupted very close to home.®^

On Cousin Edmund Duck's plantation a few miles down river from

"Angels," the Negroes, led by one bold and subtle "Agiddy," rose in a

bloody riot. After killing Duck's wife, several other whites, and

leaving Duck himself for dead, they fled through the mountains to the

Vale above and camped near "Palmer's Hut." There they lured several of

Sir Thomas's slaves into the plot. When a faithful slave reported to

the Squire that some of his blacks were involved, several of them were

seized and questioned by the pursuing militia. On being promised his

life, one named eight of his fellows as conspirators. The court

martial condemned seven to die by firej the other to starve to death

with arms and legs broken. The latter saved himself by implicating

thirteen "Sybrook" Negroes residing across the river from "Palmer's

Hut." A second court martial sentenced four of these to die by fire,

one to be hanged, one to be banished, and seven new Negroes found to

be "drawn in by the rest" to be transported. But Sir Henry Morgan,

commander of the militia, promptly amended the sentencej he burned or

hanged the lot. Joseph Bryan, William Helyar's overseer at "Bybrook,"

made vividly clear what "death by fire" meant:

Last weeke here was a Neighbors Negroe put to a very

Cruell death for his bloody intended rebellyon— his leggs
and armes was first brocken in peeces w*'" stakes, after wc“
he was fasten'd upon his back to the Ground— a fire was
made first to his feete & bum'd uppe by degrees; I heard
him speake sevrall words wn the fire Consum'd all his
lowar parts as farr as his Navill. The fire was upon his
 637

breast (he was burning neere 3 houres) before he dy'd.®-*

This vision of consummate cruelty appears as a jagged fissure in

the facade of Modyford's accomplishments and those of his fellow

planters. As we react to this scene from within the value-frame of our

time, in which, for many, humaneness is no longer a quality which can

vacillate in response to the color of another's skin or to character of

his culture, such an authentic portrait of sadistic torture— symbol of

what was deemed necessary to maintain the emergent social structure

— tends to diminish for us the achievement of the English in the Indies.

Indeed, it tends to deny that achievement. We rightly abhor such total

disregard of fundamental human rights. But, should we be seduced into

interpreting the behavior and contributions of Sir Thomas Modyford and

his West Indian contemporaries in the light of such maturing hindsight,

we would be guilty of presentism in its grossest form.

Sir Thomas Modyford and his fellow English planters were not

consciously evil men. They had journeyed to the Indies in search of

adventure, wealth, and career opportunities at a time when all three

were extremely scarce in the homeland. Initially, they had attempted

to cultivate their new island soils in time-honored ways, recruiting

their laborers from that great hoard of unskilled peasants in England,

Scotland, and Ireland. Upon discovering that European servants did not

do well in the tropics, however, they adopted a production model— one

already thoroughly tested in that region by the Spaniards, the

Portuguese, and the Dutch— which made use of Negro slaves. Though

slave owning was a new experience for them— for Thomas Modyford, it was

an accidental by-product of buying into a productive estate— it was not

particularly repugnant. Englishmen of the seventeenth century accepted

 638

extreme social stratification as the natural order of thingsj in

England, the gulf between the privileged property holders and the un­

privileged working class was broad— and steadily widening. On the

other hand, the English propertied class-of whom the Jamaican gentry

were simply an extension— were possessed of an inherent and deep-

86
seated aversion to disorder and social unrest.

The response of Modyford and his fellow planters to the specter of

a slave revolt, therefore, was not different in kind to the typical

reaction evoked in a panel of English J.P.s by the riotous demonstration

at Quarter Sessions of a band of unemployed English weavers. That the

Jamaican planters’ degree of fear of the Negro was deeper is under­

standable. The Negro's cultural differences, his inability to express

his intelligence in ways the English were accustomed to recognizing,

the language barrier— all prompted many English planters to consider

the blacks "an heathenish, brutish and an uncertaine, dangerous kinde

of people.

Thus, while we can condone neither the exploitation of forced

labor nor the repressive and inhuman measures resorted to by the

island gentry at times in their anxious efforts to keep peace and to

govern a restive population of black bondsmen, we can understand their

behavior. We can understand why Sir Thomas continued to expand his

acres and buy additional slaves while simultaneously (probably shortly

after the revolt of I678) fortifying "Angels Manor House" with four

small cannon, four-dozen pistols, and an assorted array of other fire­

arms. And we can— despite an aversion to aspects of the social and

economic pattern which they bequeathed to three centuries of Caribbean

life— credit their achievements. Not the least of these was their
 639

successful struggle to maintain the liberties of the freeholder and to

perpetuate representative government. Important episodes in that

struggle occurred during the years of Squire Modyford's semiretirement

QO
from his public career.

The laws which Governor Vaughan had forwarded to the English

Administration for the royal assent in the summer of 1675 were never

approved. Repeatedly, Vaughan asked for an official response to them.

He received none; except that a stronger revenue bill was required.

Thus, in March, 1677* just before these acts were due to expire, the

governor issued writs for the election of a new Assembly. Both Son-

in-law George Nedham and Grandson-in-law Samuel Barry were returned as

M.A.'s. Moreover, concurrently, Thomas Modyford Junior returned to

Jamaica and took his seat at the council table. Sir Thomas Modyford

might now be largely out of public affairs, but the voicing of his
8q
points of view was virtually assured. 7

The Jamaican Assembly convened on April 9, 1677, and set to work

drawing up several new laws. Punctilious regard for correct procedure

on the part of both the governor and the Assembly, however, marred

cooperation. Frequent adjournment delayed completion. The quarrelsome

sessions dragged on for two months until the members obstinately

petitioned Governor Vaughan for the release of a pirate he was pre­

paring to hang for capturing a Spanish ship under a French commission.

Vaughan considered this an infringement upon the royal prerogative. In

90
anger, he dissolved the Assembly.

A new Assembly convened that September. It worked its way through

 61*0

all the necessary laws except the revenue bill. The Assembly would not

grant the perpetual revenue bill wanted by the English Government;

Vaughan would accept nothing less. The results? Stalemate and an

91
empty island treasury.

By this time, however, Vaughan was ill and weary of the struggle.

His efforts at launching the Imperial Government's emergent new policy

toward Jamaica had largely failed. Therefore, in March, 1678, the

governor called together the Council. He informed them that he planned

to depart for England shortly. He reminded them that the treasury had

received no revenue since April, 1677. He left the affairs of govern-

92
ment with the Council and Lieutenant Governor Henry Morgan.

In the several meetings of the Council during April, May and June,

1678, Thomas Modyford Junior and the other councillors supported Sir

Henry Morgan in declaring martial law in Jamaica and toning up the

island's military defenses. A new danger had appeared on the horizon.

England had made a separate peace with the United Netherlands in 167^,

extricating herself from the Third Dutch War. France, however, had

continued the war with the Dutch in Europe and "beyond the line."

Beginning in 1676, a strong French fleet under Admiral d"Estrees was

maneuvering in the Caribbean, collaborating with the buccaneers, and

proving a real threat to the Dutch, Spanish, and English alike. Thus,

amidst Jamaica's political confusion in the spring of 1678, there was

issued a call to arms. All Jamaica stood in readiness against a

93
possible French attack.

Meanwhile, the Imperial Government had completed its survey of

colonial conditions and was now ready to take a truly vigorous step

toward launching its new policy of greater centralized control,

beginning with Jamaica. In November, 1677, the Lords of Trade approved

a new form of government for Jamaica, modeled after that established by

Poyning's Law in Ireland. The governor and Council would be appointed

by the Imperial Administration. They would advise the Lords of Trade

on needed laws. The laws would be enacted in England by the king and

sent over to be ratified by the Jamaican Assembly. The Assembly would

lose all initiative in the making of lawsj no Assembly would be called

without the king’s permission except in a grave emergency. Along with

this new form of government, forty ready-made laws, modeled after those

recently sent over by Lord Vaughan, were passed under the Great Seal

and prepared to be sent over for the acceptance of the Jamaican

Assembly. Among them was a perpetual revenue bill.^

To effect this drastic change in the government of Jamaica, the

king commissioned Charles Howard, the Earl of Carlisle, as the new

governor of the island. At last Carlisle decided to journey to the

tropics. He sailed for Jamaica at the end of April, 1678, carrying

with him two hundred royal troops and forty tons of stores for the

island. He arrived at Port Royal on July 18, 1678.

Carlisle called a meeting of his newly appointed Council on July

19. Thomas Modyford Junior was retained in the new Council. The

Council expressed grave dissatisfaction at the new instructions which

they received but agreed to summon an Assembly for September 2. The

Assembly learned of the general tenor of the new systemj they convened

with a dogged determination to resist. No taxes had been collected

for over a year now. The treasury was empty. The assemblymen knew

they held the trump.^

The Jamaican Assembly took up the bills handed to them a few at a

 61*2

time, considered them carefully, criticised them severely, and threw

I them out. Governor Carlisle became increasingly angry and frustrated.

At first he tried the tactics of a demagogue. Later he tried concil­

iation. Nothing succeeded. At length, the perpetual revenue bill was

considered; it was rejected most vehemently of all. Carlisle finally

persuaded the Assembly to pass a revenue bill for twelve months to

relieve the financial crisis. Along with this bill, however, His

Lordship received an address detailing the assemblymen's objections to

the forty ready-made laws and the new constitution. The Jamaicans

announced that for eighteen years they had been governed as English

subjects by the laws of England; they ought not now to be deprived of

those privileges. Moreover, they expressed their view that the new

frame of government was unworkable by reason of the distance between

Jamaica and England, considerably greater than the distance across the

Irish Sea!^

By the time Carlisle dissolved the Assembly on October 12, 1678,

he was inclined to agree with their viewpoint. Being convinced that

the Jamaicans would never "consent to lose their deliberative power,"

Carlisle wrote Secretaries Joseph Williamson and Henry Coventry, asking

them to encourage the Lords of Trade to allow the old system of making

laws to continue in Jamaica. Along with this plea for a reversal of

the new policy of the Lords of Trade, the governor sent Sir Francis

Watson to England to confer in person with the authorities concerning

the issues involved. With this action the matter rested during the
Og
winter of 1678 and the spring of 1679.

While the younger generation of the Modyford family, along with

their colleagues in the Council and the Assembly, engaged in the most
 6U3

heated political struggle which the island had yet experienced, Sir

Thomas went quietly about his many affairs. Though he had largely laid

aside his public career, he had by no means retired from public life.

He maintained his minor posts as J.P. and Custos Rotulorum for St.

Catherine's Parish. Thus, on the second Tuesday of the month, every

three months, the Squire gathered with his associated justices at the

old Spanish Court house in St. Jago and commenced Quarter Sessionsj

the court sessions commonly lasted for two or three days.^

Moreover, just about the time he stepped down from the bench of

the Supreme Court, the Gambia Committee, a subgroup of stockholders

trading under the auspices of the Royal African Company, engaged Sir

Thomas to be their chief agent in Jamaica. Over the next three years,

Modyford received and disposed of some 1,500 to 2,000 blacks for a

total sum approximating 130,000. In the process of his trading for the

Gambia Committee, of course, he consigned many cargoes of island

products— sugar, pimento, hides, timber— for shipment to London. At

least some of this cargo was handled for the Committee at the other

end by Charles Modyford. It is obvious, however, that Squire Modyford

was slowing down somewhat, or had taken on too large a work load for

his age. By March, 1678, the Committee was prompting Governor Carlisle

to encourage the Squire to be more prompt in dispatching the returns

on their investments.^-®®

Other concerns demanded Modyford's attention as well. He was

engaged by Sir Arthur Ingram to collect a long-standing debt owed to

him by a Jamaican planter. He was retained by the Dutch West India

Company to recover the proceeds of a shipload of Negroes stolen from

the company off the coast of Cartagena by the pirate, James Brown.
 6W

These Negroes had been brought to Jamaica to be sold as prize.

Governor Vaughan had seized them, sold them, and reserved the proceeds

in the form of a bond for the rightful owners. Modyford. processed the

litigation to effect payment of this sum to the Dutch company. Clearly,

when these tasks were added to the responsibilities of managing his own

extensive estates and those of Brother James, Sir Thomas did not lack

for retirement activity.^"

Meantime, the constitutional struggle between the Jamaicans and

the Lords of Trade was renewed and intensified. By April, 1679, the

Lords of Trade had carefully studied all the reasons offered by the

Jamaican Assembly for having rejected the new frame of government.

They were disgruntled at this response and decided to fight the matter

out. They sent a scathing rebuttal to the Assembly's objections,

scolding the Jamaicans for their impertinence. The king had made a

generous experiment of governing Jamaica with representative assemblies,

but he had not given up his right to rule the colony as he pleasedI

The Lords ordered Carlisle to call another Assembly and to instruct the

Jamaicans that if they did not approve the forty laws that had been

sent over they would be ruled by the king through his governor as a

military province. Until the new laws were approved, Carlisle was to
102
keep the old laws in force by proclamation.

The new Assembly met on August 19, 1679* Before they could launch

into a discussion on constitutional issues again, however, the Assembly

was informed that Sir Thomas Modyford had received a letter from his

old friend, Hilliard, of Barbados, warning that the French were

planning an attack upon Jamaica. Such an attack was quite possible

since, although Europe was now at peace, d'Estrees was once again
 6U5

patrolling the Caribbean with a sizeable fleet. Carlisle formed a

committee from the Council and the Assembly on August 22 to make the

necessary preparation in fortifications. The next few days were spent

putting the island in the best posture of military defense

On August 26, Carlisle read to the Assembly the instructions he

had recently received from the king and the Lords of Trade concerning

the new constitution. After hearing these instructions and studying

them for themselves, the assemblymen were a bit ,fnettled and warm.”

Meeting again on August 28, they addressed Carlisle, saying that they

felt the king’s new orders needed the weightiest consideration for

which the present alarm of a French invasion afforded insufficient time.

Thus, they promised to renew the revenue bill for six months if Carlisle

would prorogue them for two months until the present danger had passed.

Carlisle complied with their request and prorogued the Assembly until

October 28, "hoping that in that time, they would fall off of their

heat . . . But the governor hastened to pass on an observation to

the Lords of Trade. As the Assembly adjourned, he heard a number of

the leaders declare that "they will admit to wear, but never consent

to make, chains (as they term this frame of Government) for their

posterities.

A question arises at this point. Just what role did Sir Thomas

Modyford play in this heated conflict between the Jamaicans and the

Imperial Administration over the form, function, and future of the

Jamaican Government? This political crisis was one in which it might

be expected that Sir Thomas would have played a prominent part. The

institutions which were being attacked had flowered under him.

Although he had always favored obedience to the lawful government, he

 61*6

had also often expressed his opinion that the authorities in the

colonies must have a wide latitude of powers to deal with emergency

situations since the Imperial Administration was so far away. How did

he respond to this attempt on the part of the Lords of Trade to

centralize control of Jamaican affairs almost completely in the hands

of the Imperial Administration?

Though it is almost certain that Modyford saw to it that his views

were expressed through his son in the Council and through kin and

friend in the Assembly, the records are embarrassingly silent con­

cerning any active, direct part which the aging politician may have

taken in the struggle. While others were waving the banner of the

rights and privileges of Englishmen and vigorously resisting every

attempt of the Imperial Administration to diminish their voice in the

Jamaican Government, Squire Modyford went quietly about his own affairs.

He received Lord Carlisle warmly upon his arrival. He furnished the

teams and wagons for the hauling of the governor's goods to St. Jago.

For months, now and again, he sent down loads of lumber sawed at

"Angels" for the refurbishing of the new King's House— the governor's

residence. He provided Carlisle with an extra coach horse upon request

when occasion demanded. He even advised His Lordship on matters

relating to the law when he was asked. But get involved in this quarrel
10?
with the authorities at home? Meddle in politics? No I He would not.

There were reasons for Sir Thomas's comparative silence. They had

nothing to do with indifference to the issues or the outcome. Involve­

ment in this quarrel posed too great a risk for Modyford. He had too

many enemies— in the homeland; in the colony. Whatever position he

might take, there were those ready to capitalize upon it at his expense
 61*7

and that of his family. Moreover, the Squire was tired and aging

rapidly. Until a short time ago, he had passed for a man in the prime

of life. His remarkable constitution had resisted one visitation after

another upon his household of infectious disease. It had carried him

through to the age of fifty-nine in an environment where most men were

dead by forty. But now the rigors of his adventurous career were

catching up with him. The effects of his two years of confinement in

the Tower had been far from benevolent. His heretofore indefatigable

zest for life was ebbing before the spector of old age.^®^

Thus, as the "fever season" settled upon them once again late that

summer and a new epidemic of tropical disease spread about the island,

Modyford1s physical stamina was insufficient this time to avoid it. He

was taken quickly and seriously ill during the last few days of August.

His condition rapidly worsened. At length, on Monday, September 1,

1679— while assemblymen here and there in the island plotted their

course of resistance to his Majesty's new frame of government for

Jamaica; as Sir Henry Morgan inspected the fortifications and surveyed

the best locations for lines of defense in case of invasion; at the

same time lookouts caught sight of d'Estrees French fleet passing to

the leeward of the island; amidst the same atmosphere of political

intrigue and international tension in which Sir Thomas Modyford had

lived much of his tumultuous career— the old politician breathed his

last. Thomas Modyford the younger, who faithfully attended Sir Thomas

as he lay dying, survived his father only five weeks, himself dying on

October 9, 1679. There was time enough, however, for Sir Thomas

Modyford, Second Baronet, to place the Modyford estates in trust until

Charles Modyford could arrive from London to become "Squire" of "Angels"

 6ii8

and "Palmer's Hut."^^

Even amidst the present danger of French attack, the Jamaicans

gave Sir Thomas Modyford a pompous funeral in the Church of St.

Catherine at St. Jago de la Vega. Afterwards, he was laid to rest with

in the communion rails of the church itself. Thus, there came to a

close the life of Thomas Modyford, planter-politician, whose public

career embraced and contributed to the development of two of the

principal colonies of the British West Indies, a career that would not

soon be forgotten by his friends of his enemies. While not all who

knew him would have agreed, the estimation of the man by many who were

associated with him was aptly expressed in the eulogy inscribed upon

his tombstone which may still be read on the outdoor, paved walk near

the south wall of the cathedral:

Mistake not Reader, for here lyes not onely the capital
Deceased Body of the Horibble Sr. Thomas Modyford, Barronett,
but even the Soule and Life of all Jamaica, who first made
it waht it now is. Here lyes the best and longest Governor,
the most considerable Planter, the ablest and most upright
Judge this Island ever e n j o y e d , - ^ 8
 EPILOGUE: AN EVALUATION

When Thomas Modyford set sail for the West Indies in 16147, he did

so under the impetus of at least three aspirations: to acquire a landed

estate and thereby establish his family securely among the gentry of

the realm; to fulfill a public career of significant service to the

Crown; to contribute to the honor of his nation. Few men of the

seventeenth century succeeded more markedly at all three; in pursuit,

few men of substance and responsibility lived a more adventurous life.

He would not be ranked among the great Englishmen of that century, but

he definitely stood tall among the most prominent men of the early

English Empire.

Modyford’s abilities have been sufficiently described in the

preceding pages: his clever and well-disciplined mind; his down-to-

earth common sense; his personal charm; his powers of dramatic,

persuasive speech; his talent for leadership; his gift for adminis­

tration; his insight into human nature; and his courage to take risks.

He was a man of boundless ambition who sought his goal by mastering

the art of politics. An opportunist who was devoted to certain

principles but not beyond compromising them for the sake of ex­

pediency, Modyford showed both consistency and an astonishing power

of will in pursuing his aims. He did what he considered his duty, but

he never judged it necessary to sacrifice himself or his family simply

for an idea. Cynical and calculating in the exploitation of personal

614?
 650

opportunity even at the expense of others, paradoxically, he was also

dedicated to public service and to the best interests of his nation.

Modyford1s career is an excellent example of an art developed to a

high degree by many a seventeenth-century gentleman involved in

public affairs— the art of wedding self-interest with the best inter­

ests of the nation one serves and pursuing both simultaneously.

The positions which Modyford filled and the roles which he played

in the course of his public career were many and varied. They have

been chronicled in detail in the preceding narrative. The pertinent

question at this point is: What were the truly significant achieve­

ments of his career?

The first important achievement of Modyford's public career was

attained during the English Civil War while in his role as a royal

commissioner for the West. His energetic support of the king's cause,

tempered by genuine efforts to protect the folk of his county from

unnecessary burdens of war, evoked even the admiration of his enemies.

Moreover, when the Royalists' struggle was clearly lost, he devoted

himself to the pursuit of an honorable peace.

Once established in the West Indies, Thomas's initial accotr^lish-

ment of note was his successful effort in 1651-1652 to prevent the

destruction of Barbadian lives and property by effecting a capitulation

of the island to the Commonwealth. More than anyone else, Modyford was

responsible for preventing a protracted war between the Barbadians and

the Commonwealth forces. He was equally influential in the establish­

ment of a peace advantageous to the interests of the islanders.

Having secured recognition from the Home Government by his per­

formance as a courageous, level-headed military leader and peace

 651

commissioner, during the next few years Modyford exerted considerable

1 influence upon English colonial policy. Had his proposal calling for

two representatives from Barbados to be admitted to the English

Parliament been effected, the course of development of the English

colonies in the West Indies and in America might have been very

different indeed. Be that as it may, his plan for the English conquest

of Spanish dominions in the Caribbean distinctly appealed to the lord

protector. That plan was partially carried into effect by Cromwell's

'•Western Design" of 1655j and since Modyford also proved himself the

most useful Barbadian in helping to carry out that design, in both

thought and deed he made a significant contribution to the further

extension of the English Empire in the conquest of Jamaica. From that

time onward, while continuing to espouse the best interests of the

colony in which he lived, Modyford escaped the typical provincialism

of the colonial viewpoint. In addition to his interest in his own

colony, he was also vitally concerned with the expansion and enhancement

of the empire as a whole. In this respect, Thomas Modyford stood head

and shoulders above the average English colonist of his day.

Although Modyford managed to retain his hard-won, high office as

governor of Barbados for only six months in 1660, he used that time

well to lead the Barbadians in making a smooth transition back to royal

government and in thoroughly revising the basic laws of the island.

Soon thereafter, he established a depot for slave trade in Barbados, He

lured the Company of Royal Adventurers into this traffic and thus

helped to open up a vast new potential of trade that was destined to

produce great profits for many in the colonies and the mother country

as well. Moreover, he made no small contribution through his efforts

 652

to sponsor settlement and colonization in Carolina and Jamaica.

Modyford*s most significant achievements, however, were attained

during his term as governor of Jamaica. Assuming control of the island

when settlement was sparse, planting was scanty, trade was negligible,

the government was inadequate, fortifications were incomplete, defenses

were defective, and Jamaica was not yet formally recognized by Spain

as an English colony, Modyford made short work of placing the young

colony on a firm footing. He promoted settlement. By his own example

as an agricultural pioneer, he launched the sugar industry, promoted

cocoa culture, and stimulated the production of many other tropical

products. Trade increased during his administration as a natural

result of the expanding domestic economy and the activities of the

privateers. He reorganized the civil government and set it to func­

tioning effectively. He led in the enactment of workable laws,

developed a comprehensive court system, and administered justice.

Though he felt obliged to reverse a dangerous drift toward excessive

autonomy and to dissolve the Assembly altogether, this strongest of

Jamaican governors nevertheless achieved in his governance a laudable

balance between the interests of the islanders and those of the

Imperial Administration. He developed an imposing fortification to

protect Port Royal Harbor. He trained efficient land forces. Finally,

his ingenious policy of connivance in his use of the Jamaican priva­

teers produced the end results of employment for the seamen, a hectic

prosperity for many Jamaicans, able defense for the island, formal

recognition from the Spaniards of England*s ownership of Jamaica, and

greater privileges for English ships in Spanish ports. Meantime, if

only briefly, he raised Jamaica to a level of international importance.

 653

Moreover, during those years from 166U-1671, while pursuing his own

personal fortune and promoting the concerns of Jamaica, Modyford's

primary aim seems to have been to see English dominion extended in

the Caribbean. Perhaps this is what prompted one contemporary to

refer to Modyford in 167h as "that grand propagator of English honour

and power in the West Indies.

Although Modyford's achievements place him in the top ranks of

the architects of the early English Empire, perhaps students of history

will find his character the most scintillating subject of all. He was

shrewd, suspicious, calculating, determined, ambitious, and self-willed.

Yet, at the same time, he was charming, witty, magnanimous, concerned

about the welfare of his fellow men, and dedicated to a "free and
2
unbiassed administration of justice . . . The swift, changing

facets of his personality allowed few of his contemporaries to respond

to him with indifference. He either attracted or he repelled; he

became a warm, personal friend or a dangerous enemy. At various times

he provoked his fellow colonists to anger, admiration, indignation,

praise, hatred, gratitude, laughter, despair, fury, and veneration.

There is little wonder, then, that exclamations of personal reaction to

Thomas Modyford varied all the way from "the openest atheist and most

perfect immoral liver in the world"^ to "one of the best Governors that

ever Jamaica had . . .

Professor Wallace Notestein, who knows the men of this era so

well, once said: "About all those seventeenth-century figures there is

a kind of grayness apparent even to one long familiar with them.

Here, we must beg from the professor room for an exception now and

again. To be sure, Grandfather Thomas Walker, three times mayor of

Exeter, was a gray man. Cousin John Colleton, one of the eight lords

proprietors of Carolina, was a gray man. Cousin George Monck, Duke of

Albemarle and chief abettor of the Restoration of the Stuart Monarchy

— even he was a gray man. But Thomas Modyford— cavalier-barrister,

planter-politician, slave factor, colonizer, governor of Jamaica,

Squire of "Angels" and "Palmer's Hut"— he was no gray man. For pick­

lock biographers, many aspects of his mercurial temperament and

paradoxical character will remain an enigma. But students of history,

who explore the early English Empire with an eye for the human element,

he will never cease to attract and to intrigue.^

 NOTES TO THE TEXT

Chapter I. Exeter: Home and Heritage

Pages 1-51

^The description of the Modyford house and its setting as outlined

in this paragraph and those which immediately follow relies upon my own
reconstruction based upon the following sources. ERO, Orphans Court
Inventory 178; ERO, Miscellaneous Roll 23, Membrane 88; ERO, D 12/lU;
Thomas Westcote, A View of Devonshire in 1630 with a Pedigree of Most
of Its Gentry, ed. George Oliver and Pitman Jones (Exeter: William
Roberts, 161*5), pp. 138-139; Wallace T. MacCaffrey, Exeter, 151*0-161*0
(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1958), map opposite title
page and fold-out map at end of volume; William George Hoskins, Devon
and Its People (Newton Abbot: David and Charles, 1959), pp. 87—9Uj W.
G. Hoskins, Two Thousand Years in Exeter (London: Phillimore, 1?60)
pp. 61*-65 and map opposite p. 61*; D. Portman, Exeter Houses, 11*00-1700
(Exeter: University of Exeter, 1966 ), pp. 20, 23-60, 61*-8B: plates 23-
21*: figures ii and xii: fold-out map at end of volume; the evidence
strongly suggests that the Modyford house was constructed upon the
same plan as that of 18 North Street if, indeed, it was not one and the
same structure. See Portman, Exeter Houses, pp. 81*-85.
2
It appears not to have been customary to call in Dr. Wescombe or
Dr. Vilvaine for childbirth unless difficulties were anticipated or
encountered. Mrs. Turner is known to have been a practicing midwife in
this ward of the city a few years later. See: T. N. Brushfield, "The
Financial Diary of a Citizen of Exeter, 1631-161*3," TDA, XXXIII (1901),
206-207 and 228-229J PRO, PROB ll/l51*-913l*, "Will of“7ohn Modyford";
ERO, 1160M/Wills 33 (1625), "Will of John Modyford."

■^ERO. Orphans Court Inventory 178; Portman, Exeter Houses, pp.

81*-85.

Hoskins, Two Thousand Years, Map iv; Portman, Exeter Houses,

Figure ii and Plate &3j W. G. rfoskins, Exeter in the SeventeentTT"
Century: Tax and Rate Assessments. l6Q2'-16^ft (Torquay, bevon: Devon­
shire Press, 1^57), p. 10, MacCaffrey, Exeter, fold-out map; my own
on-site investigations.
5
MacCaffrey, Exeter, p. 10 and fold-out map at end of volume;
William Cotton, An Elizabethan Guild of the City of Exeter (Exeter:
1873), fold-out map entitled "Civitas Exoniae, 1567"J i&C, 73rd.
Report (1916), "Report on the Records of the City of Exeter," 28l*-285.

655
 656

Hoskins, Two Thousand Years, p. 53; Beatrix F. Cresswell, Exeter

Churches (Exeter: I968), p. 5.
7
Portman, Exeter Houses, pp. 26-28 and U9: Figure ii.
O
Ibid.; Hoskins, Two Thousand Years, p. 62.
9
MacCaffrey, Exeter, fold-out map; Cotton, An Elizabethan Guild,
fold-out map; Hoskins, TSevon and Its People, p. 9U; T. Revesz,
"Climate,'1 Chapter I4 in Exeier and Its ttegion, ed. Frank Barlow
(Exeter: University of Exeter, 1'9'6£)',' pp.L5-5l*

^Vere Langford Oliver, ed., Caribbeana: Being Miscellaneous

Papers Relating to the History, Genealogy. Topography, and Antiquities
of the feritish west indies, IV (tondon: Michell, tiugnes, and Clarke,
19197 7 3 37:----------------

■^^MacCaffrey, Exeter, p. 6; Ordnance Survey, Quarter-Inch Maps,

Sheet 15, "South West England" (Southampton, England: 1?66).
12
M. M. Oppenheim, The Maritime History of Devon (Torquay, Devon:
The Devonshire Press for' the University of Exeter,~I^68), map consti­
tuting the frontispiece; E. A. G. Clark, The Ports of the Exe Estuary,
1660-1860 (Torquay, Devon: The Devonshire Press for the University of
Exeter, I960), map of the Exe Estuary, p. 2.
13
Cotton, An Elizabethan Guild, fold-out map; MacCaffrey, Exeter,
pp. 13-114; Portman, Exeier Houses', p. 1; Westcote, View of Devonshire,
pp. 138-139; Hoskins, frwo Thousand Years, pp. U—7-

'Hoskins, Two Thousand Years, pp. 6-7; Portman, Exeter Houses,

pp. 2, 7U-82, and bli-dB; MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 9-11; J. H. Parry,
The History of the Exeter Guildhall ancT the Life Within (Exeter: James
Townsend and Sons, 1936J/'pp.'vii-ix and 72; ERO, bl2/ih; ERO, Miscel­
laneous Roll 23, Membrane 88; Hoskins, Tax and Rate Assessments, p. 10;
ny own on-site investigations.

^Estimates of the population of Exeter before the first census in

1801 are clearly open to question. My judgments here and elsewhere
relative to Exeter's population in the 1620's, 1630's, and l61i0's
represent a reasonable compromise among several assessments. Con­
servative estimates of the total population indicate 13,500 in 1660
and 15,000 by the end of the century. See: Ransom Pickard, Population
and Epidemics of Exeter in Pre-Census Times (Exeter: James Townsend
and Sons, 19U7), p. Id and passim; W. G. Hoskins, "The Population of
Exeter," DCNQ, XI (1938-1939)> 21*2-21*7; Hoskins, Tax and Rate Assess­
ments, p. xv'i'; MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 11-13; Portman, Exeter Houses,
p. In; Cotton, An Elizabethan Guild, fold-out map.

^Hoskins, Two Thousand Years, pp. 614—65; Cotton, An Elizabethan

Guild, fold-out map; llacCaffrey, lExeter, fold-out map.

•^Hoskins, Two Thousand Years, pp. 5-8 and 62-6U; MacCaffrey

 657

Exeter, p. 11} HMC, 73rd. Report (1916), "Records of Exeter," 26.

^^Hoskins, Two Thousand Years, pp. 62-614} MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp.

13 and 126-136} Clark, Exe Estuary, pp. 19-32} W. G. Hoskinsj ^^fcnglish
Provincial Towns in the Early Sixteenth Century," Transactions of the
Royal Historical Society, 5th Series, VI (1956), li; Portman, Exeter
Houses', p. I.

■^ERO, Orphans Court Inventory 178.

20
Portman, Exeter Houses, p. 1} MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 6-8} EL,
Harleian 1©. 5827, ^Synopsis Chorographical of Devonshire" by John
Hooker, fs. 3-8 as cited in MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 7-8. To the
collections and writings of John Hooker, chamberlain of Exeter from
1555-1600 and uncle of the famous Richard (The Laws of Ecclesias­
tical Polity), we are indebted for much of what we know about Exeter
during thisperiod.

^MacCaffrey, Exeter, p. 8} W. U, Reynell-Upham and H, Tapley-

Soper, eds., The Registers of Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials of the
City of Exeter, I: The Registers of the (Uaihedral (fcxeter; The bevon
and Cornwall Record Society, 1910), viii and passim.

22Westcote, View of Devonshire, pp. 138-llil} MacCaffrey, Exeter,

p. 8} Portman, Exeter bouses, pp. 61, 65-66, 70, 90, and passim.

^MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 21-22 and 25.

2^Ibld., pp. Ik-15*

23HMC, 73rd. Report (1916), "Records of Exeter," k-5; MacCaffrey,

Exeter, pp. 16-17, U8-I49, and 2§1.
26
MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 51-52, 73-7k, and 222.

2^Ibid., pp. 36 and i;6-U8.

^®HMC, 73rd. Report (1916), "Records of Exeter," 21-22 and 21;}

MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. lU-19•

2^HMC, 73rd. Report (1916), "Records of Exeter," 5, 15-16, and 37;

MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 19-2k and 27j Richard Izacke, Remarkable
Antiquities of the City of Exeter (London: Printed for E. Scare and J.
Marcn, IVSli), pp. 5U, lh5, anil 150.

3OER0, Orphans Court Inventory 178} Portman, Exeter Houses, pp.

81i—88 and Figure ii.

^Margery M. Rowe and Andrew W. Jackson, eds., Exeter Freemen,

1266-1967 (Exeter: Devon and Cornwall Record Society, 1973), P* 81.
During this era of erratic spelling, as one follows four generations of
Modyfords through the sources, one encounters variously: Modyfild,
Moddiflld, Muddefeilde, Muddyfeld, Muddiman, Mudford, Modford, Modiford,
 658

Modeford, Mudiford, Muddiford, Muddyford, Muddaford, Maddaford,

Modyford; the later was most commonly used by distinguished members of
the family.
Our knowledge of the Modyford family prior to 1620 is extremely
limited. The reconstruction offered here is based upon scant sources,
a few established facts, numerous inferences, and some conjecture. The
loss of key parish records dictates incompleteness and uncertainty.
32
Exeter City Library, "Tingey Index”; Rowe and Jackson, eds.,
Exeter Freemen; Edward Alexander Fry, ed., Calendars of Wills and
Administrations Relating to the Counties of Devon and Cornwall- (London:
The British Record Society, 19CftJ), pp. 12<?, U66, and passim; Reynell-
Upham and Tapley-Soper, The Registers of Baptisms, Marriages, and
Burials of the City of Exeter: I, Registers of the Cathedral (fcxeter:
The Devon and Cornwall Record Society, passim; ii, 1'he Parishes
of Allhallows [Goldsmith Streetj, St. Pancras, and St. Paul (fexeter;
The Devon and Cornwall Record Society, passim; Thomas Wainwright,
"An Index to the Names of Persons Found in the Monumental Inscriptions
in Devonshire Churches, Copied in the Tears 1769-1793," TDA, XXVI
(190l{), 5U1-553; MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 256-257-

^HMC, 3rd. Report (1872), "Dean and Chapter of Wells MSS,"

Appendix, 362; William Page, ed., The Victoria History of the County of
Somerset, I (London: James Street, 1906), 67, 3h9, 399, Uh2, ll*2n, uhl,
and U63; W. G. Hoskins, A New Survey of England: Devon (London: Collins
195U), PP- 3U2—3U3j Exeter City Library, "Tingey Index"; Fry, ed.,
Calendars of Wills, pp. 122, I466, and passim.

^^Tapley-Soper, Registers of Allhallows, St. Pancras, and St.

Paul, U37; HMC, 73rd. Report (i£l6 J, "Records of Exeter," 198.
35
Rowe and Jackson, eds., Exeter Freemen, pp. 81 and 9k i Portman,
Exeter Houses, pp. k3-kS, 65-66, 101, and passim.

■^Tapley-Soper, Registers of Allhallows, St. Pancras, and St. Paul,

vii, 158, and 107; PRO, PROB 11/15V-913u, ilWill of John Modyford"; ERO,
Testamentary Bundles (1630-1639), Bundle 25, p. 636.
37
Rowe and Jackson, eds., Exeter Freemen, pp. 9h and 109;
MacCaffrey, Exeter, p. 258.
38
For the location of the Walker townhouse, see Map 1, page 3.
A study of the admissions to the freedom of the city by apprenticeship
from 1575 to 1675 reveals variations in the length of indentures from
6 to 13 years. The average term of indenture for the merchant appren­
tice appears to have been 8 or 9 years. See Rowe and Jackson, eds.,
Exeter Freemen, pp. 93-166, esp. 13I4, 153, 159, and 166. John
Modyford's admission is found on p. 108. For this paragraph, see also:
PRO, PROB ll/l56-913li, "Will of Thomas Walker," fs. l5Ua-l58b; HMC,
73rd. Report (1916), "Records of Exeter, " 133.

^HMC, 73rd. Report (1916), "Records of Exeter," 108, 112, and

127. When appointing Walker as an overseer of his will in 1625,
 659

Modyford spoke of him, without affectation I believe, as "my welbeloved

father in lawe Thomas Walker": see PRO, PROB ll/l5it-913U, "Will of John
Modyford," f . 10bj See also: ERO, Tingey, ed., "Calendar of Deeds"
Membrane 7, no, lU2i|, January 18, 1607.

^MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 131 and 1U6; Brushfield, "Diary of a

Citizen," 217-219.

^Brushfield, "Diary of a Citizen," 192-195, 197, and 216-219;

MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 162 and 165-168; W. B, Stephens, Seventeenth-
Century ExeteFTX~Study of Industrial and Commercial Development,
l&25-l6Bff (iExeter: University of fcceter, 19i&), pp. 8-12; R. Pearse
dfrop'ej"'''Thomas Bushell and the Cornish Mines," DCNQ, X, 155j Hoskins,
Devon, pp. 12^-127.

^Hoskins, Devon, pp. 12^-127.

^Ibid., pp. 126-127; MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 76-77, 161-162,

165-I667"and 169-171.

k^M. Dunsford, Historical Memoirs of the Town and Parish of

Tiverton (Exeter: 17^), PP* 3U£>-350 as cited in Moskins, Devon, p.
TZl'f HMC, 12th. Report, Appendix, Pt. I, "Cowper MSS," 1 (IOT7,
213; MacCaffrey, Exeter, p. 265.

^Rowe and Jackson, eds., ExeterFreemen, p. 93; Izacke, Remark­

able Antiquities, pp. 53 and 137-139; MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 23ijn and
237-2liti; J. J. Alexander, "Exeter Members of Parliament: Part III,
1537 to 1688," TDA, LXI (1929), 202-203; HMC, 73rd. Report (1916),
"Records of Exeter," 311-313.

^Izacke, Remarkable Antiquities, pp. 11*2, ll^, and 150; Charles

F. Mullett, The Bubonic Plague and England (Lexington: University of
Kentucky Press, 19$6), pp. 105-107; John Prince, The Worthies of Devon,
2nd. ed. (London: 1810), pp. 672-673; HMC, 73rd. Report (1916J,
"Records of Exeter," 113-llU and 178.

^Rowe and Jackson, eds., ExeterFreemen, p. 108; MacCaffrey,

Exeter, p. 156; Hoskins, Tax and RateAssessments, p. b; Izacke,
Remarkable Antiquities, pp. ih2-lU5j Harbottle Reed, "Allhallows Church,
doldsmith Street, Exeter," TDA, XXV (1903), 600. The recorder (ex
officio an alderman and justice) was appointed for life and was always
a common lawyer. Among his duties were those of providing legal
counsel to the Chamber, interpreting the law as he sat among local
justices, representing the city in the law courts at Westminster, and
frequently, representing the city as one of its Members of Parliament.
See MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 29 and $0; Hoskins, Tax and Rate Assess­
ments , p. U; Alexander, "Exeter Members of Parliament,11 211. —

Remarkable Antiquities, pp. 1R3-IB5 and 150; Hoskins,

^ ^ Iz a c k e,
Two Thousand Years, pp. 6U-65.

^Every evidence points to the fact that, though the Modyfords

 660

later lived in St. Kerrian's Parish, St. Mary Arches Church was the
church in which the Walkers and John Modyford's family were actively
involved; see Cresswell, Exeter Churches, pp. 95-97 and 103-109. For
this paragraph, see also: ERO, Miscellaneous Roll 23, Membrane 88;
Oliver, ed., Caribbeana, IT (1919), 337.

^Rowe and Jackson, eds., Exeter Freemen, p. 122; ERO, Orphans

Court Inventory 178, f. 7; Brushfield, "Diary of a Citizen,” 192-195
and 212.

'’^ERO, Orphans Court Inventory 178, f . 6; Brushfield, "Diary of

a Citizen," 236-237.

^ERO, Orphans Court Inventory 178, f . 2; MacCaffrey, Exeter,

pp. b5-b6; John Hooker, The Description of the Citie of Exeter, ed.
W. J. Schopp, and H. Tapley-Soper (Exeter: Devon and Cornwall Record
Society, 1919), I, 39.

^HMC, 12th. Report, Appendix, Pt. I, "Cowper MSS,” 1 (1888), 213.

^MacCaffrey, Exeter, p. 259J I am especially indebted to

MacCaffrey's closing chapter, "Synthesis," for the conclusions outlined
in the following paragraphs.

^ Ibid., pp. 259-261, 266, and 276-280.

^BL, Harleian MSS, 5827, f . 3 as cited in MacCaffrey, Exeter,

p. 26Qn.
tin
MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 266 and 278.
58
The principal sources of the genealogical data represented in
the chart are the following. PRO, PROB 11/156-913U, "Will of Thomas
Walker"; ERO, PROB 11/15U-913U, "Will of John Modyford”; J. F. Chanter,
"The Exeter Goldsmith's Guild," TDA, XLIV (1912), i|i*l—I4U35 Rowe and
Jackson, eds., Exeter Freemen; jTT. Vivian, The Visitations of the
County of Devon (Exeter: Henry S. Eland, 1895); Frederick Thomas (lolby,
ed., The Visitation of the County of Devon in the Year 1620 (London:
Taylor and 60., 1872); Alexander, "Exeter Members of Parliament";
Cresswell, Exeter Churches, "St. Mary Arches", pp. 91-HO; Prince,
Worthies of Devon; festelTe Francis Ward, Christopher Monck, Duke of
Albemarle (London: John Murray, 1915); Morice Asnley, General Monck
(Totowa, to. J.: Rowman and Littlefield, 1977); Mary Frear Keeler,
The Long Parliament. l6U0-l6jjl: A Biographical Study of Its Members
(Philadelphia: The Jamaican Philosophical Society, 195U); Hkc, 73rd.
Report (1916), "Records of Exeter."

^Chanter, "The Exeter Goldsmith's Guild," UUl—iiU3; Rowe and

Jackson, eds., Exeter Freemen, p. 80; Vivian, Visitations of Devon,
p. 729; ERO, Mayor's Court Roll, U-5 Elizabeth, Membrane 3.

^Vivian, Visitations of Devon, pp. 691-692; DCNQ, XHI, 35U-355:

XV, 27b-28l: XV1, i5^-153 and 250-25b; Alexander, "Exeter Members of
 661

Parliament,11 210; Cresswell, Exeter Churches, p. 96.

^■\j. J. Alexander, "Fifth Report on the Parliamentary Represen­

tation of Devon," TDA, LXVEH (1936), 108; Alexander, "Exeter Members
of Parliament," 210; Vivian, Visitations of Devon, pp. 691-692;
MacCaffrey, Exeter, p. 162, 2^5, and 260-261; Portman, Exeter Houses,
p. 29
62
Colby, ed., The Visitation of Devon . . .1620, pp. 26U-25U;
Alexander, "Exeter Members of Parliament," 210; Ward, Christopher
Monck, p. 3s "Proceedings at the Seventeenth Annual Meeting, TDA,
L3 T O (1931), 1*1; HMC, 73rd. Report (1916), "Records of Exeter^
162-163.
63
Hoskins, Two Thousand Years, pp. 55; Hooker, Description of
Exeter, 719j 761-762, and passim; Portman, Exeter Houses, pp. 21 and
U7; Hoskins, Tax and Rate Assessments, pp. xiii-xiv, 1, and 1*.

^Sir William Pole, Collections toward a Description of the County

of Devon (London: 1791), pp. 231*-21*5, looker. Description of Exeter,
pp. 7UO-7U1 and 761-762; Hoskins, Two Thousand Years, p. 11*7; Portman,
Exeter Houses, pp. 29, 1*5, and 88.

6*Pole, Collections of Devon, pp. 11*9, 161*, 176, 217, 23l*-2l*5, 273,
375-376, 382, and 360; Hooker, Description of Exeter, pp. 701*, 706,
and 71*0-71*1; ERO, Tingey, ed., ''Calendar of Deeds," Membranes ll*-17, no.
1189: Membrane 19, no. 1720: Membrane 55, no. 17l*3: and Membrane 82,
no. 1771-
66
MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 260-261; Bodleian, Ashmolean MSS, 857,
pp. 1*12-1*13•

^HMC, 73rd. Report (1916), "Records of Exeter," 16: 16 and 320;

Rowe and Jackson, eds., Exeter Freemen, p. 93j Alexander, "Exeter
Members of Parliament," 210; Alexander, "Fifth Report on Parliamentary
Representation," 108; Hooker, Description of Exeter, p. 738; MacCaffrey,
Exeter, p. 2?8.
68
Exeter City Library, "Tingey Index"; Cresswell, Exeter Churches,
pp. 96-97* 106, and 108-109; Vivian, Visitations of Devon, pp. 290 and
309; FRO, PROB ll/l50-913li, "Will of Thomas Walker1*; PRO, PROB 11/31*3-
9131*, "Will of Robert Walker"; PRO, PROB ll/l5l*-913t*, "Will of John
Modyford"; Rowe and Jackson, eds., Exeter Freemen, pp. 93, 122, and 129.
69
ERO, Tingey, ed., "Calendar of Deeds," Membrane 9, no. 1176:
Membrane li*, no.s 1186 and 1188: Membrane 7# no. 11*21*: Membrane 1*,
no. 11*38: Membrane 2, no. 11*13; Hoskins, Devon, pp. 321, 351* 1*39,
1*62-1*63, and 1*69; Richard Carew, The Survey of Cornwall, ed. F. E.
Halliday (London: Andrew Melrose, 1953J, map on p. Ib6.

^Hooker, Description of Exeter, pp. 698 and 751*; PRO, PROB 11/
156-9131*, "Will of Thomas Walker," fs. 155b, 156b, and I57a-l58a;
Hoskins, Tax and Rate Assessments, pp. xiii-xiv and 1*.
 662

71FRO, PROB 11/156-9131, 'Will of Thomas Walker," fs. 151b, 156b,

l57a-b, and 158a; Pole, Collections of Devon, p. 176; Hoskins, Devon,
pp. 318-319, 351, 182, and SlU; MO/'"dingey Index."

72FRO, PROB 11/156-9131, "Will of Thomas Walker," fs. 151b and

l57aj Carew, Survey of Cornwall, maps on pages 162, 186, 1 9 0 , 1 9 l ,
200, 208, 218, 221*, and 230: pp. 159 and 237.
73
The exact date of the completion of the Catpole mansion house
is not known, but it was occupied before late 1625. See: Pole,
Collections of Devon, p. 176 and MacCaffrey, Exeter, p.23ln. See
also: rfto, PROB ll/l56-913)4, "Will of Thomas Walker."

7itPR0, PROB 11/156-913U, 'Will of Thomas Walker." f. I55a-b;

Vivian, Visitations of Devon, p. 2 9 0 j Prince, Worthies of Devon, p.
338; Alexander, "Sxeter Kemters of Parliament," 211; Izacke, Remarkable
Antiquities, pp. lUU and 11*6.

7%R0, PROB 11/156-9131, 'Will of Thomas Walker," fs. I55a-l56b

and 157b-158b; Rowe and Jackson, eds., Exeter Freemen, p. 122; Exeter
City Library, "Tingey Index"; Keeler, The iLong Parliament, p. 375.
76
Lincoln's Inn, The Records of the Honorable Society of Lincoln's
Inn: Admissions, comp. Joseph' Fo's-ter (L'onl'on: Lincoln's Inn, I 896J, 1",
11*2; P&O, PROS' 11/156-9131, 'Will of Thomas Walker," fs. 151b and
passim.
77
ERO, Misc. Roll 23, Membrane 88b; ERO. Tingey, ed., "Calendar
of Deeds," Membrane 10, no. 1678: Membrane 115, no. 1851; ERO, Orphans
Court Inventory 178; PRO, PROB Il/l51-913l, 'Will of John Modyford";
MacCaffrey, Exeter, p. 2o7; Hoskins, Devon, pp. 330, 365, 102, and 170;
Ordnance Survey,”5ne Inch Maps, Sheet~l?6, "Exeter."
78
MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 263 and 267; Prince, Worthies of Devon,
p. 338; Alexander, "Exeter Members of Parliament," 2 1 1 .
79
Carl Bridenbaugh, Vexed and Troubled Englishmen, 1590-1612
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1^68J, pp. 25-26; Mu11ett,~The
Bubonic Plague, Chapters 5-7; Pickard, Population of Exeter, pp. ^0-38.

80 /
PRO, PROB ll/l51-913l, 'Will of John Modyford"; ERO, Orphans
Court Inventory 178; Brushfield, "Diary of a Citizen," 206; Oliver,
ed., Caribbeana, IV, 337.

^"Brushfield, "Diary of a Citizen," 206; ERO, Orphans Court

Inventory 178; PRO, PROB 11/156-9131, 'Will of Thomas Walker," fs.
155a and 158a; Hoskins, Tax and Rate Assessments, p. 9; MacCaffrey,
Exeter, fold-out map.

82PRO, PROB 11/151-9131, 'Will of John Modyford."

 663

Chapter H . Merchant-Mayor1s Son, 1620-1632

Pages £2-118

^F. T. R. Edgar, Sir Ralph Hopton: The King's Man in the West,
16U2-16£2 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. lT
2
I am indebted to Samuel Eliot Morison for suggesting this
approach to understanding the meagerly documented youth of a prominent
figure; see Morison's Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher
Columbus (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, l9h2), I, 17-20.

^Portman, Exeter Houses, pp. 20, 23-60, 81i-8£: plates 23—21*:

figures ii and xii; fifeo, Orphans Court Inventory 178; Hoskins, Tax
and Rate Assessments, p. 71; ERO, Miscellaneous Roll 23, Membrane 88.

^SRO, Orphans Court Inventory 178; Portman, Exeter Houses, pp.

81i-8£.
"’PRO, PROB ll/l5h-913h, "Will of John Modyford"; PRO, PROB 11/
l£6-913l*, "Will of Thomas Walker," f . l£5a; Carl Brideribaugh, Vexed
and Troubled Englishmen, l£90-l6q2 (New York: Oxford University Press,
196bJ, pp. 25-^7; Wallace Wotestein, The English People on the Eve of
Colonization, 1603-1630 (New York: Harper and Row, 1962/, pp. 56 and
5b. Regarding the servants in the Modyford household, they are only
mentioned in the plural in John Modyford's will. His neighbor, John
Hayne, however, of much less means, employed a nurse and one domestic
servant to assist with a much smaller house and a family of only four
children. See Brushfield, "Diary of a Citizen," 211.

^George Herbert, The Works of George Herbert, ed. Robert Aris

Wilmott (New York: n.dV), p. 3LiU as cited in iridenbaugh, Vexed and
Troubled Englishmen, p. 313.

^Parry, Exeter Guildhall, pp. 25, h3-hS3 and 159-160; Hooker,

Description oi Exeter, p'."£lK.
O
Parry, Exeter Guildhall, pp. 66-67 and 156-160; Hooker, Des­
cription of Exeter, p. 91h.

^Parry, Exeter Guildhall, pp. 32-36, 1*1—i*2, and 159.

10Ibid., p. 98.

^Pickard, Population of Exeter, pp. 27-38; MacCaffrey, Exeter,

p. 231*5 Bridenbaugn, Vexed and Troubled Englishmen, p. 10l*; Charles
F. Mullett, The Bubonic blague, pp. 8-9.

^Frances B. Troup, "An Exeter Worthy and His Biographer," TDA,

XXIX (1897),.355; Bridenbaugh, Vexed and Troubled Englishmen, p. 105;
Pickard, Population of Exeter, pp. 36-38; Mullett, The Bubonic Plague,
Chapter 7; Fr6, pROB ll/13U-913h, "Will of John Modyford."
 661*

13
MacCaffrey, Exeter, p. 231*; Izacke, Remarkable Antiquities,
( p. 150. ------------- ------

1^PRO, PROB 11/156-5131* 'Will of Thomas Walker," fs.155a, 157b,

and passim; MacCaffrey, Exeter, p. 231* and 23l*n.

^MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. i*3-l*6, and 231*; MacCaffrey and Frances

Troup in her article on Ignatius Jourda in ("An Exeter Worthy and His
Biographer," TDA, X X H (1897), 350-369) both imply that Walker's
refusal to serve dishonored him and his house. Troup uses the phrase
"to his lasting infancy" (p. 351*). A larger view of the circumstances
proves this judgment to be harsh and unwarranted. There is reason to
believe he would have declined the third term even if theplague had
not infested the city. It was not the first time a prominent citizen
had refused to serve. Moreover, his action apparently cast little
aspersion upon the family; at the next election, Thomas's son, Robert,
was elected bailiff, the first step of a long and distinguished career
for him in the civic corporation. See Izacke, Remarkable Antiquities,
p. 151 and MacCaffrey, Exeter, p. l*6n.

^Troup, "An Exeter Worthy," 35ii—355-

17Ibid., 355.

Ferdinand Nicholls, The Life and Death of Mr. Ignatius Jurdain,

One of the Aldermen of the City of Exeter, Who bepartea This Life July
15, lbhO (London:' The Newberry, 1651*), p. 10.
19
Walter J. Harte, "Ecclesiastical and Religious Affairs in
Exeter, 161*0-62," TDA, LXDC (1937), 1*7, 52-53, 56, and passim.
20
Izacke, Remarkable Antiquities, p. 150: DCNQ, XV (1928-1929), 9i*.

^MacCaffrey, Exeter, p. 231*; Pickard, Population of Exeter, pp.

36-37; Troup, "An Exeter Worthy," 355, 355n, and 35b.

^^MacCaffrey, Exeter, p. 231*; Pickard, Population of Exeter, p.

38; Izacke, Remarkable Antiquities, pp. 150-15-L.
23
Pickard, Population of Exeter, p. 37; Cresswell, Exeter Churches,
pp. 92-93. -------------
2ii
Church of England, The Prayer Book of Queen Elizabeth, 1559, To
Which Are Appended Some Occasional Forms of Prayer Issued in Her Reign
(London: Griffith, Farran, Ikeden, and Welsh, n.d.J [a facsimile
edition of the original: Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms,
1967], pp. 1*1-1*9 and 60.
25
Parry, Exeter Guildhall, pp. 25 and 1*1*-1*5; MacCaffrey, Exeter,
pp. l*5-l*6; Cresswell, Exeter dhurches, p. 96.

^Parry, Exeter Guildhall, pp. 1*7—1*8J City and County of the City
of Exeter, Mayors of Exeter from the Thirteenth Century to the Present
 665

Day (Exeter: Exeter City Library, 196k), pp. vi-viii; Notestein, Eve
of Colonization, pp. 216-217. There seems to have been no clear
distinction between the kinds of cases heard in the mayor's court
(originally the borough court) and the quarter sessions of the county
of the city. Criminal cases were heard in both, though there may have
been a shift towards dealing with criminal cases in quarter sessions
and toward binding over the more serious offenses for the court of
assize as time went on. See MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 1*3, U3n, and 1*7*
27
MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. It7, 90-95, and 99•

^ Ibid., pp. 90 and 93-96.

^ Ibid., pp. 1*3—UQ and 90-97; Notestein, Eve of Colonization, pp.

213-218. For an approach to this summation I am indebted to Louise
Fargo Brown, The First Earl of Shaftesbury (New York: D. Appleton-
Century, 1933J, pp. 11-12.

^HMC, 73rd. Report (1916), "Records of Exeter," 133j Christopher

Robert Cheyney, Handbook of Dates for Students of English History
(London: Royal Historical Society, 19U5J, PP. 53 and 56j frarry, Exeter
Guildhall, pp. 67, 9l*-95, and 159; MacCaffrey, Exeter, p. 235.

■^MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 235-236.

^Godfrey Davies, The Early Stuarts, 1603-1660 (Oxford: Clarendon

Press, 1937), pp. 53-61*; Roger Lockyar, Tudor and Stuart Britain, 11*71-
1711* (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1961*), 2i*I*-21*9; M. M. Oppenheim,
ffhe {Maritime History of Devon (Torquay, Devon: The Devonshire Press
for the University of Exeter, 1968), pp. 59-61.

33m . M. Oppenheim, Maritime History of Devon, pp. 59-61; HMC,

73rd. Report (1916), "Records of Exeter," i7l*j M. Guizot, Memoirs of
George Monk, Duke of Albemarle, trans. and ed. J. Stuart Wortiey
(tondon: Richard. Bentley, 1538), pp. 2-3.

^Guizot, Memoirs of Monk, pp. 2-3; HMC, 73rd. Report (1916),

"Records of Exeter," 162-163; Julian Corbett, Monk (London: Macmillan
and Company, 1889), pp. 1-7.
35
Guizot, Memoirs of Monk, pp. 3-U; Corbett, Monk, pp. 1-7;
Westcote, View of Devonshire, p. 1*70.
36
Bridenbaugh, Vexed and Troubled Englishmen, pp. 266-270; Davies,
The Early Stuarts, pp7 56-63; MacCaffrey, Exeter, p. 21*3.

^HMC, 73rd. Report (1916), "Records of Exeter," 183.

Bridenbaugh, Vexed and Troubled Englishmen, pp. 267-270;

Alexander, "Exeter Members-of1 Parliament," 202; Lockyer, Tudor and
Stuart Britain, pp. 21*5-251.

3%acCaffrey, Exeter, p. 76.

 666

Hoskins, Two Thousand Years, pp. 63-66; Clark, Exe Estuary,

pp. 6-10, ll|-lo, and 3o-3<2; ilMS, t3rd. Report (1916), "Records of
Exeter," 318; Parry, Exeter Guildhall, p. 91.

^HMC, 73rd. Report (1916), "Records of Exeter," 25-26; Hoskins,

Devon, p. 216; Brushfield, "Diary of a Citizen," 212-216; Hooker,
Description of Exeter, p. 7k$} Rowe and Jackson, eds., Exeter Freemen,
p. 123; Gilbert Sheldon, From Trackway to Turnpike? An illustration"
from East Devon (London: Humphrey kilford for Oxford University Press,
i92tJ), pp. 67 and 76; Clark, Exe Estuary, p. 32; Stephens, Seventeenth
Century Exeter, pp. xix-xxi.

^Stephens, Seventeenth Century Exeter, pp. 13-21.

I a

In reply to the king's demands for another free loan in 1627,

the Exeter Chamber certified several who were normally rateable but
recently rendered unable to contribute. See Stephens, Seventeenth
Century Exeter, pp. 15-16.

^Vor the documentation of John Modyford's and Thomas Walker's

holdings, see Chapter I, notes 70-72 and 77; MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp.
263-267 j John Hayne's tenent sent his rents regularly by the Lyme
Regis carrier: Brushfield, "Diary of a Citizen," 198; rents from town
tenements appear to have been paid either annually or quarterly:
Brushfield, "Diary of a Citizen," 209, 260-261 and PRO, PROB 11/156-
913k, "Will of Thomas Walker, f. 257b.

k-*Hoskins, Devon, p. 9li.

^The setting and conversation are imaginative constructions,

inferred from general knowledge about the family, its seats, and its
concerns during this particular period. The point of view and examples
are documented: see MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 262-263; Hoskins, Devon,
pp. 85-86; DNB, XVI, 3^0-351; DNb V XU, 1176; DNB, VI, 87-88; Prince,
Worthies of iDevon, pp. 338-31P-.

^R. J. E. Bush, "Early Education in Exeter," TDA, (Thirty Second

Report of the Parochial History Section), 62; Brushfield, "Diary of
a Citizen," 207; Bridenbaugh, Vexed and Troubled Englishmen, p. 329;
MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 119-120; Notestein, feve of Colonization, p. 125.
Jj.8
Bush, "Early Education in Exeter," 62-63; MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp.
119-121; Hugh Lloyd Parry, The Founding of Exeter School (Exeter: James
G. Commin, 1913), Chapter 1; M. St. Clare Byrne, Elizabethan Life in
Town and Country (London:.Methuen, 1925), pp. 203-221; Bridenbaugh,
Vexed and Troubled Englishmen, pp. 316-328. For a detailed analysis
of the works mentioned in the text see Foster Watson, "The Curriculum
and Text-Books of English Schools in the First Half of the Seventeenth
Century," Transactions of the Bibliographical Society, VI (October
1900-March 1902), 159-267.

^Watson, "Curriculum of the Seventeenth Century," 160-180.

 667

^Izacke, Remarkable Antiquities, p. ll;2; Bush, "Early Education

in Exeter," 62; Parry, Exeter School, p. lij; MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp.
120, and 261-262.
[Jl
Charles Hoole, New Discovery of the Old Art of Teaching School
(1660), p. 287 as quoted in Watson, "Curriculum of the Seventeenth'
Century," 170; Notestein, Eve of Colonization, pp. 117-118.

^Slotestein, Eve of Colonization, p. 118; Watson, "Curriculum of

the Seventeenth Century," 196-201.

-^Notestein, Eve of Colonization, pp. 118-119; Watson, "Curriculum

of the Seventeenth Century," 196-201.

^Notestein, Eve of Colonization, p. 119.

^Watson, "Curriculum of the Seventeenth Century," 163, 177-179*

and 199j HMC, 73rd. Report (1916), "Records of Exeter," 156-158.

^Parry,. Exeter School, p. 23.

57
Parry, Exeter Guildhall, p. 160; Hooker, Description of Exeter,
pp. 930-931 and 9k5-9h6; ERO, Orphans Court Inventory 178J Byrne,
Elizabethan Life, p. 205; Brushfield, "Diary of a Citizen," 216.

^ B y m e , Elizabethan Life, pp. 21U-219 and 221-222; Bridenbaugh,

Vexed and Troubled Englishmen, pp. 330-331; Parry, Exeter Guildhall,
pp~6lTand 00; IParry, Exeter School, p. 23.

^Byrne, Elizabethan Life, p.205, 211;-2l5; 222, and 22ij; Briden­

baugh, Vexed and, troubled Englishmen, pp. 330-331J Parry, Exeter
School, p."23."

^ B y m e * Elizabethan Life, p. 205; Brushfield, "Diary of a

Citizen," 215 and 2^0-221; Hoskins, Devon, p. 9U; SRO, Orphans Court
Inventory 178; Hooker, Description of1'Exeter, pp. 930-931-

^"Byrne, Elizabethan Life, pp. 221; and 222; Notestein, Eve of

Colonization, pp. 123-12U; MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 77-79; Brushfield,
"Diary of a Citizen," 190-191; Hooker, Description of Exeter, pp.
Ul7 and 852ff; Parry, Exeter Guildhall, p. 6b; HMC, 73rd. keport (1916),
"Records of Exeter," 2^-kjtd, 3'blh, arid bZhl Cheyney, Handbook of Dates,
pp. 56-57, and 63; Bush, "Early Education in Exeter,*1 '62,'

62PRO, PROB ll/l5ii-913ii, "Will of John Modyford"; Pickard,

Population of Exeter, pp. 38-39; Mullett, The Bubonic Plague, Chapter
7; 6resswell, Exeter Churches, p. 109; Brushfield, **biary of a
Citizen," 229- ..........

Brushfield, "Diary of a Citizen," 208, 212-213, and 219.

^Brushfield, "Diary of a Citizen," 208; Cresswell, Exeter

Churches, pp. 92-93, 95, and 109; Parry, Exeter Guildhall, pp. 67
 668

and 157.

^Church of England, The Prayer Book, pp. 136-139.

^FRO, PROB ll/l5b-913b, "Will of John Modyford"j ERO, Orphans

Court Inventory 178.
67
Prince, Worthies of Devon, p. 338; Vivian, Visitations of Devon,
pp. 7 and 309-316; Reed, "Allhaliows Church," 600.

68FR0, PROB 11/156-913b, ,rWill of Thomas Walker," f . l5ba and

passim; Cresswell, Exeter Churches, p. 96; Chanter, "Exeter Gold-
smiths1 Guild," kkl-kk2 .

^Mary Frear Keeler, The long Parliament, I6b0-l6bl: A Bio^raph-

ical Study of Its Members (Philadelphia: The Jamaican Philosophical
Society, l^b), pp. 375-376; PRO, PROB H/l$6-913k, "Will of Thomas
Walker," fs. 257b and 258b; Lincoln's Inn, The Records of the Honorable
Society of Lincoln's Inn: the Black Books, ed. William Paley Baildon,
& I"London: Lincoln's Inn, 1099), ^86, 3i>h, and 309; Vivian,
Visitations of Devon, p. 310; ERO, Orphans Court Inventory 178.

7°FR0, PROB U/l5b-913b, "Will of John Modyford."

71ER0, Orphans Court Inventory 178. The inventory tallies the

income from the leased properties outside of Exeter at £103 : 18 : 0
per annum. In addition, there was under lease a dwelling house on
High Street and a garden in Friars' Hay. For a similar house,
similarly located, John Hayne paid 25 annual rent. The garden would
have brought at least 2 per year. (See Brushfield, "Diary of a
Citizen," I89.) Thus, the total income from annuities was approxi­
mately 130 per annum.

72PR0, PROB ll/l5b-913b "Will of John Modyford"; W. G. Hoskins

and H. P. R. Finberg, Devonshire Studies (London: Jonathan Cape, 1952),
pp. 336-337.
73
The calculations are as follows: In 1629, "good debts"*£10,62b :
11 : 6; the value of merchandise on hand =£L76 : 12 : 0; sum of the
preceding rounded off=£10,800; 75$ of £10,800=£8,100; 10$ per year of
this sum over a decade*£810 per year; less £100 per year= £710 per
year or £7,100 to be reinvested; £7,100 added to £1,326 "Readie
Moneyes" on hand in I629=£8,b26; 6$ simple interest on £8,b26=£506;
£8,U26 + 1506=18,932 accumulated capital over and above the £300 per
annum living.

^Stephens, Seventeenth Century Exeter, pp. 21-32; MacCaffrey,

Exeter, pp. 265-266; Hoskins and Finberg, Devonshire Studies, pp. 336-
557; Brushfield, "Diary of a Citizen," 189, 369-211, and passim. In
November, l6bl, Sir Bevil Grenville borrowed £l,000 from Marie Modyford
and, as security, demised to her for 1,000 years his Barton of North-
leigh in Devon which included two grist mills in Morewinstow, Cornwall.
See CCC, HI, 2211*-22l5.
 669

7^PRO, PROB H / 156-913J4 "Will of Thomas Walker," fs. l5Ub, 155a,

and l56r.

7^Watson, "Curriculum of the.Seventeenth Century," 205 and 210

217j Notestein, Eve of Colonization, p. 119.

"^Watson, "Curriculum of the Seventeenth Century," 200, 205, 211,

and 21k; Notestein, Eve of Colonization, p. 219. There were several
incidents in Thomas's experience as a young adult in which he demon­
strated a gift for oratory with a dramatic flare. These incidents
reveal a skill developed previously in earlier trainings they are
narrated and appropriately documented in succeeding chapters.
nfl

Harte, "Religious Affairs in Exeter," 53 and 61-62j Troup, "An

Exeter Worthy," 363-369.
79
Notestein, Eve of Colonization, pp. 119-123; Hyme, Elizabethan
life, pp. 217-218.
00
Notestein, Eve of Colonization, pp. 120 and 123; Caroline
Robbins, The Eighteenth-Century Commonwealthman (New York: Atheneum,
1968), p. 9; Richard Koebner, Empire (New York; Grosset and Dunlap,
1?65), pp. 1-11.
8X
A detailed account of the controversy can be read in Chapters 2
and 3 of Hugh Lloyd Parry, The Founding of Exeter School.

8^MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 120-121; Parry, Exeter School, pp. 17-36.

83PRO, PROB 11/156-913U "Will of Thomas Walker," f. iBhr;

MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 123 and 123n; Parry, Exeter School, p. 39.

^^MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 122-123; Parry, Exeter School, pp. 37-58.

^MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 121-123; HMC, 73rd. Report (1916),

"Records of Exeter,1* 1567
86
Cheyney, Handbook of Dates, pp. 66-68; Sir William Ball,
Lincolns inn. lis History and "Traditions (London: Stevens and Sons,
19U7)} p. 15. All available evidence indicates that the post required
five or six days to come from London to Exeter: see Sheldon, Trackway
to Turnpike, pp. 78, 80-81, and 85. See also: Sir Gerald Berkeley
Hurst, A Short History of Lincoln's Inn (London: Constable and Company,
19U6), pp. b-9; Lincoln1s Inn, Admissions, I, 216.

Chapter IXI. Apprentice-at-Law, 1632-16IjO

Pages 119-171

1Brushfield, "Diary of a Citizen," 213 and 238; ERO, Orphans

 670

Court Inventory 178. By 1632, carriers left Exeter regularly for

f London at least once a week. The evidence suggests that the carriers,
with their trains of pack horses, usually made the trip in six days.
Riders moving steadily but not in an inordinate rush could reach London
in five days. By way of an established foot post on the main Plymouth-
to-London road, one could dispatch a letter from Exeter to London and
receive a reply in from nine to eleven days: see Sheldon, Trackway
to Turnpike, pp. 75-85. Cheyney, Handbook of Dates, p. 121:.

^Donald Lupton, London and the Country Carbonadoed and Quartered

. . . (1632), pp. 1-2 as quoted in Bridenbaugh, Vexed and Troubled
Englishmen, p. l6lj Wilfred R. Prest, The Inns of 6ourt under Elizabeth
1 and the"*Early Stuarts, lg90-l6U0 (London: Longman, 1972J, pp. 157-10..
3
Sheldon, Trackway to Turnpike, pp. 65-85; Pickard, Population of
Exeter, pp. 36 and LO; L. G. Wickham Legg, ed., "A Briefe Description
of a Journey Made into the Westerne Counties [1635]," Camden Miscellany,
XVI (1936) [Publications of the Royal Historical Society, London.
Camden Third Series, vol. £2], 72-78; Bridenbaugh, Vexed and Troubled
Englishmen, pp. 219n, 220, and 221*-225.

^Cheyney, Handbook of Dates, p. 67; Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 50-

51, 131, and 135; Lincoln's Inn, The Records of the Honorable Society
of Lincoln's Inn. The Black Books, ed. William Paley Baildon (London:
Lincoln's Inn, 1898J, II, xxi, 2U, and 71.

Cheyney, Handbook of Dates, p. 12k; Modyford was in London six

days later: Lincoln's Inn, Admissions, I, 216; Hoskins, Two Thousand
Years, Maps IV, V, and VI; Legg, ed., "Journey into the Western
Counties," 73; Sheldon, Trackway to Turnpike, pp. 75, 79 and 82;
John Ogilby, Britannia (1675; rpt. Amsterdam: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum,
1970), pp. 2& T .

^Sheldon, Trackway to Turnpike, pp. 62-63, 72-73, and 75; Ogilby,

Britannia, pp. 27'and' 53; Joan Parkes, Travel in England in the
Seventeenth Century (London: Humphrey Milford, 1925), pp. 12 and 18;
Axminster appears to have been the usual place for travellers making
the trip from Exeter to London or London to Exeter to spend the first
or last night on the road: see Sheldon, Trackway to Turnpike, pp, 75
and 85. ------ -------- ---
7
Ogilby, Britannia, pp. 25-27 and 50-53; Sheldon, Trackway to
Turnpike, pp. 72 and 05; Parkes, Travel in England, pp. 12-llj, 18,
and 53.
Q
Parkes, Travel in England, pp. 18 and 13-15; Ogilby, Britannia,
pp. 25 and k9 -5o; Bridenbaugh, Vexed and Troubled Englishmen, pp. 218-
222 .
9
Ogilby, Britannia, pp. 25 and U9-50; Norman G. Brett-James, The
Growth of Stuart London (London: George, Allen and Unwin, 1935), map
opposite p. Vd.

’'"^Lincoln1s Inn, Admissions, I, 216; Lincoln's Inn, Black Books,

 671

H , iii, x, xxi, 278 and 30l*; Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 27-28 and 151*;
Cheyney, Handbook of Dates, p. 121*.
11
Prest, Inns of^Court, pp. 115 and 3-1*; William Searle Holdsworth,
A History of English Law, Third Edition (Boston: Little, Brown, and
Company, 1^277; H',‘'UtJU-^99 and 50l*-5l2.
12
The description of the location of Lincoln's Inn is that of Sir
John Fortescue, bencher of Lincoln's Inn (11*20's) and chief-justice of
King's Bench (ll*l*2ff.) as quoted by Hurst, Short History of Lincoln's
Inn, p. 9s Prest, Inns of Court, p. 1; Ball,Lincoln's inn, pp. 3-5s
Brett-James, Growth of London, p. 152.

^Hurst, Short History of Lincoln's Inn, p. 6 j William Holden

Spilsbury, Lincoln* s',Inn: It's' Ancient and Modem Buildings with an
Account of the Library (London; Reeves and Turner, 1873iT PP- 1*6-50;
maiT oi1^tondon by John Ogilby et.al. provided in pocket at end of
volume of Sir William Besant, London in the Time of the Stuarts (London:
Adam and Charles Black, 1903).

^Spilsbury, Lincoln's Inn: Buildings, pp. 1*8-51.

"^Ball, Lincoln's Inn, pp. 5 and 9-10; Prest, Inns of Court,p. 20;
Lincoln's Inn, Black Books', II, 305: III, 79 and 81.

^Hurst, Short History of Lincoln's Inn, p. 5? Spilsbury, Lincoln's

Inn: Buildings, pp. 52-56; Lincoln's Inn, Black Books, III, ii and
111, xxi; Sail, Lincoln's Inn, p. 7- ----------
17
Lincoln's Inn, Black Books, II, ii-iv; Hurst, Short Historyof
Lincoln's Inn, pp. 3-1* and 12-13; Prest, Inns of Court, p. 1*7.
18
Lincoln's Inn, Black Books, II, ii-iv; Ball, Lincoln's Inn, p.
1*
1.
19
The general sources of this paragraph are: Lincoln's Inn, Black
Books, H , iv-v, xxxix, and HI, xxxi; Hurst, Short History of Lincoln's
Inn, p. 17; Ball, Lincoln's Inn, pp. 12-13 and 17-18; Prest, Inns of
Sourt, pp. 93, 106??.,~l5i*-l55, 205, and 228. Fortescue's statement is
found in his De Laudibus Legum Angliae (11*68-11*71) as quoted in Hurst,
Short History"? Idncoln1s Bin, pT 9 “ Prynne's quotations are taken
from his ferieff Polemical Dissertation concerning the true time of the
Inchoation and determination of the Lord’s faay--Sabbath (16^^) as
quoted In Hurst, SITorldistory- of Lincoln's Inn, p. 17 and his Histrio-
Mastix (1633) as quoted in1?rest"lnns of Court, p. 106.

^^Walter C. Richardson, A History of the Inns of Court: With

Special References to the Period of the Renaissance (Baton Rouge:
Claitor's Publishing Di'vxsibnj'W?^, p. i*d2; Prest, Inns of Court,
p. 1*8 .
21
Ball, Lincoln's Inn, p. 17; Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 180 and
205; Lincoln's Inn, dlack Books, II, 181, 201, and 203-201*.
 672

22
Spilsbury, Lincoln's Inn: Buildings, pp. 62-6?.
23
Ibid., pp. 69-78; Ball, Lincoln's Inn, pp. 69-66; Lincoln's
Inn, Black Books, II, 167, 201, 226, and h5o.

“^Citing Donne's sermon published after being preached at the

consecration service as quoted by Prest, Inns of Court, p. 217;
Lincoln's Inn, Black Books, H , 3Hj Spilsbury, Lincoln's Inn;
Buildings, pp. 81-83; Cheyney, Handbook of Dates, p. 12b.

^Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 20I4 and 210; DNB, VIII, 908; Lincoln's
Inn, Black Books, II, 308-305, 309, and 318.
26
Characterized so by Prest in Inns of Court, p. 211*. These were
part of the requirements which their preachers had to meet in order to
be acceptable to the king as laid out in a letter from Bishop William
Laud to the Inns of Court on December 16, 1633: Lincoln's Inn, Black
Books, II, 318* See also Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 188-189, 197, and
203-206; Spilsbury, Lincoln's Inn; Buildings, p. 81*.
27
Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 1*2 and 209-206.
28
Lincoln's Inn, Black Books, II, xiv-xvi; Spilsbury,
Lincoln's Inn: Buildings, pp. 1*9-50.
29
Lincoln's Inn, Black Books, II, xiv-xvi: III, xxix and 79-81.

^Lincoln's Inn, Black Books, H , xii-xiii, 78, 291-292, 297, 299,

and 303j Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 166 and 209.
31
Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 9-7 and 11-12; Richardson, History of
Inns of Court, pp. 83-89.
32
Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 9-10 and 16.
33
Lincoln's Inn, Black Books, II, 308 and III, Plan of Lincoln's
Inn Fields appended; Presi, Inns of Court, pp. 92, 99, and 138-139*

^Lincoln’s Inn, Black Books, HI, xxxix, 79, and Plan of

Lincoln's Inn Fields appended; Spilsbury, Lincoln's Inn; Buildings,
pp. 86-88 and 98; Prest, Inns of Court, p. £l.

Lincoln's Inn, Admissions, I, 216-217 and 220ff.; Lincoln's

Inn, Black Books, H , 33°. Eleven volumes of Green's diary have
survived, ii has been edited, but only excerpts of it have been
published in E. M. Symonds, ed. "The Diary of John Green, 1639-1697,"
English Historical Review, X L I H (1928), 389-398*

^Lincoln's Inn, Black Books, H , xxii-xxv, 85, 103, 109, 291,

309,* Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 50-91, 93-58, 97, 130, and 133-135;
Ball, Lincoln's inn, pp. 28-29 and 37; Richardson, History of the Inns
of CourE, pp. 100, 198-195 and 209*
 673

37
Frequently, students who were resident at one of the Inns of
( Chancery or one of the universities prior to or after admission to
Lincoln's Inn were allowed to count time spent in those institutions
toward their continuance requirements. Moreover, it was not unusual
for candidates who could not offer such extenuating circumstances to
be extended a call to the bar without the seven years continuance.
Upon occasion, some continuance coupled with some participation in the
learning exercises of the Inn plus the patronage of a noted person in
the Inn or in the courts could effect a call. Finally, by the late
1630's, the "post-call continuance" requirements were sometimes
ignored, and the barrister was admitted to plead in the courts without
fulfilling them. See Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 50-51 and 51*-58;
Richardson, History of the Inns o£ Court, pp. 153-159.
30
Sir David Lindsay Keir, The Constitutional History of Modem
Britain Since ll*85 (London: Adam and Charles Biaclc, 1961J, pp. 27ff.j
cheyney, handbooTT*of Dates, pp. 65-7U and passim; Richardson, History
of the Inns of Court, ppT“98-99.

“^Richardson, History of the Inns of Court, pp. 99, 101, and 131-
135; Lincoln's Inn, Black Books, II, xxiv-xxv; Cheyney, Handbook of
Dates, pp. 65-69; Prest, Inins of Court, pp. 59 and 105.

^Richardson, History of the Inns of Court, pp. Ili3—lij-8-

l4lPrest, Inns of Court, p. 11*2: pp. 116-121*, 131-132, and 139-

11*1; Notestein, Eve o£ Colonization, pp. 88-89; Richardson, History of
the Inns of Court, p. 99.

^Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 139-ll*l and 151; Sir Edward Coke aimed
at providing a guide to study for the student of law in The First Part
of the Institutes of the Laws of England, or, A Commentary on Little­
ton, not ihe name of a lawyer onely7 but the Law it self," (IbSbj; and
in nis preface to sir Henry Rolle's Abridgement, (16671, Sir Matthew
Hale attempted the same: see Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 130-131, ll*li-
11*5, and ll*5*i.

k^Ibid., pp. 132 and 11*3-11*1*; DNB, VIII, 902; Richardson, History
of the Inns of Court, pp. 193-199.

^Richardson, History of the Inns of Court, pp. 138-11*2.

^John Modyford's library contained books valued at 1$ in 1628;

books of equal value filled a sizeable chest belonging to his neighbor,
John Hayne, in 1639; we would expect to find among them a few works
most useful to a busy J.P.: see ERO, Orphans Court Inventory 178;
Brushfield, "Diary of a Citizen," 232; Notestein, Eve of Colonization,
p. 53; and Bridenbaugh, Vexed and Troubled Englishmen, pp. 25tin and 31*1.
Other sources for this paragraph include: Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 11*3-
11*5 and 163; Richardson, History of the Inns of Court, pp. 196-198; and
Spilsbury, Lincoln's Inn: buildings, pp. 162-165, 165-166, 168, 178-
179, and iB t t E T ------
 67k

r* Lincoln's Inn, Admissions, I, 216; Lincoln's Inn, Black Books,

L H , ii, xvii-xviii, xxiv-xxv, and 302; Symonds, ed., "Diary of John
Green," 388-389; Cheyney, Handbook of Dates, p. 12k; Richardson,
History of the Inns of Court, pp. 99-103, 107, and 119; Prest, Inns
of”Court, pp. 119-l^U; Ball7 Lincoln's Inn, pp. 29-30.

^Lincoln's Inn, Black Books, II, xvii-xviii; Prest, Inns of

Court, pp. 123-12k and 127; Richardson, History of the Inns of Court,
pp. loii, 106, 111-113, and 116; Ball, Lincoln's Inn, p. 33.

^Lincoln's Inn, Black Books, II, xxv-xxvi; Prest, Inns of Court,

pp. 117-119; Richardson, History of the Inns of Court, pp. 129-136,
especially 131n, 132n, 133n, and 13Un.
Ii9
Lincoln's Inn, Black Books, II, xxvi; Richardson, History of the
Inns of Court, pp. 131, 131n, and 135; Prest, Inns of Court, p. 119.

^Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 131-132 and l£l; Richardson, History

of the Inns of Court, p.“150.

^Lincoln's Inn, Black Books,H , 286, 312, and 31k; Prest, Inns
of Court, pp. I5k-l55 an<i 230-231; Richardson, History of the Inns of
Gourt, pp. 231-232.
52
Lincoln's Inn, Black Books, H , 315-318; Prest, Inns of Court,
pp. 230-231; Richardson, History- of the Inns of Court, pp. 232-233.
53
Prest, Inns of Court, p. 180: Prest draws from the experiences
of many who, as students at the Inns of Court in the 1620's and l630's,
enjoyed much which the city at large had to offer: see pp. 92, 131,
IkO, 15U-155, 157, 159, 167, and passim; Lincoln's Inn, Black Books,
II, 177 and III, 79; Besant, Stuart London, p. 276; Brett-James, Growth
of London, pp. 59 and 15k.

^Lincoln's Inn, Black Books, H , 296, 305, 319, 32k, 3k0, and
3k6-3k7; Bridenbaugh, Vexed and Troubled Englishmen, p. 18k; Brett-
James, Growth of London, p. l56.

^Brett-James, Growth of London, p. kk7; Besant, Stuart London,

pp. 182 and 275; Bridenbaugh, Vexed and Troubled Englishmen, pp. 3k9-
350.

^Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 33, 131, 159, and 167; Thomas Burke,
The Streets of~London through the Centuries (New York: Charles
Scribners Sons, 19U0), pp. 29 and 5k; Notestein, Eve of Colonization,
pp. 52-53; Brett-James, Growth of London, p. 367*
57
Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 159-161, 167, and 169; Symonds, ed.,
"Diary of John tireen,^ 3b6.

^Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 161-162 and 207-208; Theodore K. Rabb,

Enterprise and Empire: Merchant and Gentry Investment in the Expansion
of England, 1575-1650 (Cambridge, kass.: Harvard University Press,
 675

1967), pp. 21+-25, 25n, and $1; MacCaffrey, Exeter, pp. 171-172 and 172n;
Ralph Davis, The Rise of the Shipping Industry in the Seventeenth and
Eighteenth Centuries (London; Macmillan, 1962;, p. 37j Sir Alan C.
Burns, History of the British West Indies (London: George Allen and
Unwin, 195h), pp. 2o2-2ll.
do
Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 17, 20, 157, 159, 166-167, and 169}
Bridenbaugh, Vexed and Troubled Englishmen, pp. 161+ and 31+2; Brett-
James, Growth of London, pp. 29-31; Burke, Streets of London, pp.
26-28.

^Bridenbaugh, Vexed and Troubled Englishmen, p. 31+2j Brushfield,

"Diary of a Citizen,^ £31'; Lincoln's Inn, Black Books, II, 311.

^^Robert Cecil, Lord Burghley, as quoted in Prest, Inns of Court,

p. 58J ERO, Tingey, ed., "Calendar of Deeds," Membrane li+5, no, 18517
Hoskins and Finberg, Devonshire Studies, p. 335J Hoskins, Devon, p.
86; DNB, XVII, 162-16T.
£p
Lincoln's Inn, Black Books, H , xxvi; Richardson, History of the
Inns of Court, pp. 132-135; Notestein, Eve of Colonization, p. 88.
63
Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 155 and. 159; Symonds, ed., "Diary of
John Green," 386-387; Besant, Stuart London, p. 320.

^Lincoln's Inn, Black Books, II, 328 and 326-329; Symonds, ed.,
"Diary of John Green," 587-388.

^Symonds, ed., "Diary of John Green," 388; DNB, XII, 1320-1321;

Prest, Inns of Court, p. 121+; Richardson, History of the Inns of Court,
p. 117.

^Symonds, ed., "Diary of John Green," 389; Prest, Inns of Court,

pp. 105-106.
67
Mullett, The Bubonic Plague, pp. 179-180; Lincoln's Inn, Black
Books, U , 339-3W.
68
CCC, V, 3279; DCNQ, XXVII, 113; Keeler, Long Parliament, pp.
375-376; Alexander, "Exeter Members of Parliament," 212; Reynell-
Upham and Tapley-Soper, Registers of the Cathedral, p. 23; CSFD, (1636-
1637), 521; Izacke, Remarkable Antiquities, p. 15Uj Vivian,"Visitations
of Devon, pp. 309-310; CSFD, (1635-1636J, 221-222. See also Chapter
i, pp. 1+2-I+3 and Chapter 2, p. 1+9.

^William S. Powell in his The Proprietors of Carolina (Raleigh,

N. C.: 1963), p. i+9 indicates that John Colleton married Catherine
Amy, daughter of William Amy of Exeter. I believe either he or the
genealogist he draws upon for this information was in error at this
point. William Amy was evidently a brother to Thomas Amy who married
Thomas Modyford's Aunt Anne Walker. If it was William's daughter whom
John Colleton married, then he married Katherine Amy, a niece of Thomas
Amy who was Thomas Modyford's uncle by marriage. Thus, the kinship tie
 676

between the two men would have been extremely tenuous. Their sense of
kinship in later life appears too strong for such to be the case. The
facts that Thomas Amy had a daughter named Katherine, that she grew up
on the same street only a house or two away from John Colleton, that
they attended the same parish church, that she was approximately the
right age for the match, that this match would have made Thomas Mody­
ford and John Colleton first cousins by marriage— all argue in favor
of the Katherine whom John Colleton married being the daughter of Anne
Walker and Thomas Amy. Other sources for this paragraph are: Westcote,
View of Devonshire, p. 619; Daniel and Samuel Lysons, Devonshire. Vol.
Vi of Magna Britannia: Being a Concise Topographical Account of the
Several Counties of Great feritain (London: Thomas Cadell, 1022J, Pt.
1, cxxvi; HMC, 73rd. Report ^i9if>), "Records of Exeter," 1:16; Rowe and
Jackson, eds,, Exeter Freemen, p. 169; Colby, The Visitation, p. 66;
EL, Add. MSS, 21:120, f. 213a; Brushfield, "Diary of a Citizen," 26h;
CCC, I, 119; Ethel Lega-Weekes, ''Neighbors of North Wyke, Part III:
ETSouth Tawton," TDA, XXXV (1903), 509; and CSFD, (1936-37), 369.
70
Oliver, Caribbeana, IV, 337-338; Vivian, Visitations of Devon,
729; MacCaffrey, Sxeter, pp. 221: and 2$$; Reynell-Upham and Tapley-
Soper, Registers of the Cathedral, pp. 2-3; Colby, The Visitation,
p. 161; Stephens, Seventeenth-Century Exeter, p. k3; Brushfield,
"Diary of a Citizen," 19U-193; howe and Jackson, eds., Exeter Freemen,
p. 13U-
71
Bridenbaugh, Vexed and Troubled Englishmen, pp. 3U2 and 3U8;
Brushfield, "Diary of a Citizen," 206-2077 231-232, and 262; Harte,
"Eccleseastical and Religious Affairs," p. 50.
72
The long recess precluded a number of learning exercises; it
would have been necessary for Modyford to have returned to the Inn by
October, 1637, and to have applied himself diligently henceforth to the
learning exercises of the house in order to have met his immediate
precall requirements: Lincoln’s Inn, Black Books, U , 3iiU and 350;
Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 57-58 and 133; Cheyney, Handbook of Dates,
p. 150.
73
That Modyford completed the crucial exercise of his post-call
continuance and was thus considered by the benchers fully qualified is
evidenced by the benchers' examination, some two years later, of those
called with Modyford in January, 1639, and finding only one Leonard
Ward who had not as yet brought in his bar moot: see Lincoln’s Inn,
Black Books, IX, 357, 309 and xxii-xxiv; Ball, Lincoln’s Inn, p. 37;
frresi, Inns of Court, pp. 50-51.

Chapter IV. Cavalier-Barrister, 161:0-161:7

Pages 172-216

It was Serjeant Maynard who termed the law "a bablative art" as
 677

cited in Notestein, Eve of Colonization, p. 89. Other sources of this

| paragraph include: Richardson, History of the Inns of Court, pp. 131-
133, 137-138, 1U2-1U3, and lUSi Prest, Inns of Court, p. 116 and passim.
These attributes, and those outlined in the two paragraphs which follow,
are those— the authorities seem to agree— which a talented young man
who applied himself to the learning opportunities of the Inn could
reasonably be expected to attain as a result of his total educational
experience there. That Thomas Modyford had personally acquired these
skills, insights, and values to a marked degree by the early years of
his adult life is demonstrated repeatedly in the experiences of his
public career. In a sense, therefore, the remainder of this paper
constitutes the most effective footnote to these paragraphs. See also
Chapter 2, pp. 5k-58.
2
Professor Pocock's term is recalled from his Ancient Constitution
and Feudal Law (1957), p. 31 by Prest in his Inns of Court, p . 221.
See also trest, S m s of Court, pp. 118-123 and. 221;~tloTdaworth, History
of British Law, H , 511-512.

^Lord Clarendon's statement (Sir Edward Hyde) is cited by Prest,

Sins of Court, p. 223. See also Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 21-27, U0-
63, 166, 269, and 222$ Holdsworth, History of Law, TX, 510-511$ and
Notestein, Eve of Colonization, p. 95.

^Kitson-Clark's characterization of the role of law in English

life is found in his The English Inheritance; An Historical Essay
(London: 1950), pp. 26-2? as cited in Bridenbaugh, Vexed and Troubled
Englishmen, pp. 239—2U0j Prest, Inns of Court, p. 22.

^The works cited here constitute the sources of this paragraph

and the one which immediately follows: Notestein, Eve of Colonization,
pp. 92-96$ Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 22, 57, and 68-6£; Richardson,
History of the Inns of Court, pp. 85-86j Brushfield, "Diary of a
Citizen,11 20h, 209, and passim; see also the careers of Sir Orlando
Bridgeman (DNB, II, 1226-1220J, Sir John Finch (DNB, VII, 16-18),
William HakewTll (DNB, VIII, 896-895), Sir MattheSHiale (DNB, VIII, 902-
908), William LentKaTl (DNB, XI, 936-960), and William NoyTDNB, XIV,
698-700).
^See note 5.

^ThurloeSP, I (1638-1653), 537$ see Chapter 1, pp. 29-31 and 66-

66; see Chapter 2, pp. 32-36* Principally, the projections of this
paragraph are based upon the writer's impressions of the overall pattern
of Modyford's development from early childhood into full adulthood.
Q
Notestein, Eve of Colonization, pp. 57 and 92$ Prest, Inns of
Court, pp. 22-23, 56-58, and 229-2jb.
9
Lincoln's Inn, Admissions, I, 220, 222, and 232; Lincoln's Inn,
Black Books, II, 302-363, especially 339, 366-365, 350-351, 35k, 356-
358, and 363; Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 209 and 230; Symonds, ed.,
"Diary of John Green," 386-389$ fiacCaffrey, Exeter, p. 262$ DNB, XIV,
 678

698-700; XVH, 61*0-61*2; XXI, 663-636; TIE, 902-903; IV, 1036-101*5; I,

i 1*73-1*75; H , 1226-1228; XVI, 350-351; and VIH, 89U-895-

^John Roby, Members of the Assembly of Jamaica for the Parish of

St. James (Montego Bay; 1837), PP. 16-18 and passim; HMC, 73rd. Report
(1916), '’Records of Exeter," 188; Bridenbaugh,' Vexed and Troubled
Englishmen, p. 33j Oliver, ed., Caribbeana, IV, 337; Hurst, Short
History oT Lincoln's Inn, p. 2.

■^■Roby, Members of the Assembly, pp. 16-17; DNB, XV, 128; Edward
Hasted, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent
(1797 -l801; rpt. Menston, Yorkshire: Scholar Press, 1972}, IX, 271-
272; CSPD, (1611-1618), 268; CSPD, (1639-161*0), 157; CSPD, (161*1-
161(3)7179.
12Roby, Members of the Assembly, pp. 16-17; DNB, VII, 12-17;
Prest, Inns of Court, pp. 23, 37, 1*0, 65, 10l*, 11*1*7151, and 213;
Hasted,Tent, VTI,~28l; CSPD, (1637-1638), 6U6; CSPD, (1639-161*0), 31*9;
Roger Lockyear, Tudor and Stuart Britain, 11*71-17H* (New York: St.
Martin's Press, 1£61*), pp. S5I and 263-261*; Oliver, ed., Caribbeana,
IV, 337.

13Hasted, Kent, VH, 280-281; CCC, V, 3272-3276; HMC, 73rd. Report

(1916), "Recordro? Exeter," 188; D M T VII, 17; CCC, HI, 2061.

^ A l l of Sir Henry Palmer's properties in Kent appear to have

passed indirectly or directly to his second son, the second Sir Henry
Palmer: see DNB, XV, 128; Hasted, Kent, IX, 151, 162, 165, 175, 271-
273, 282, and 1*66-1*67. Other sources for this paragraph are CSPD,
(1611-1618), 69; CSPD, (1625-1626), 359, 388, and passim; CSFTTTi631*-
1635), 236; CSPD,TI539-l61*0), 11*7, 157, and 179; and Plfe,"Yff, 12-17.
See Chapter 1, p. 1*5 and Chapter 2, p. 53-

^Hasted, Kent, VII, 261*, 280, 399-1*00 and IX, 271-272, 282;
CSPD, (l63U-l635TT^Li*°-1W-S CSPD. (161*0-161*1), passim; DNB, VII, 17.

~^DNB, VH, 16-17; Lockyer, Tudor and Stuart Britain, pp. 263-261*.

■^Lockyer, Tudor and Stuart Britain, pp. 2l*l*-266; DNB, VII, 17;
CSPD, (1639-161*077^1*7 and 1X61*1-161*3), 95 and“l79.
3.8
Thomas was in Exeter in April, 161*2, where he enrolled the
purchase of a new estate in the county: see ERO, Tingey, ed., "Calendar
of Deeds," Membrane 1-2, No. 1897. All available evidence also attests
that Modyford was living in Exeter at the outbreak of the Civil War.
19^ERO, Orphans Court Inventory 178, f . 1; Mary Coate, Cornwall in
the Great Civil War and Interregnum, I6i*2-l660: A Social and Political
study ^Oxford: 1933), p. 3Hj Izacke, Remarkable Antiquities, p. l55;
Alexander, "Exeter Members of Parliament, *' 203 and 210-211; Keeler,
Long Parliament, p. 376; CSPD, (Addenda: 1625-161*9), 1*90; Stephens,
Seventeenth-Century Exeter, p. 1*3; HMC, 73rd. Report (1916), "Records
of Exeter,11 32!*; Vivian, Visitations of Devon, p. 310; CCC, HI, 2211*-
 679

2215.
20
ERO, Deeds, Roll 65, No. 1897, Membrane 1-2; Hoskins, Devon,
pp. 1*1:9-1450; Ordnance Survey, Quarter Inch Map, Sheet 15, "South West
England"; Hasted, Kent, VH, 261; and 399-1400; and IX, 270.
21
Lockyer, Tudor and Stuart Britain, pp. 266-273; Davies, The
Early Stuarts, pp. 113-125.
22
Eugene A. Andriette, Devon and Exeter in the Civil War (Newton
Abbot, Devon: David and Charles, 1971), PP* 170-172.
23
John G. A. Pocock, Ancient Constitution and Feudal Law, p. 55
as cited by Prest, Iims of 6ourt, p. 251. Other sources of this
paragraph are: CCC, H , 1278-1279; Lockyer, Tudor and Stuart Britain,
pp. 21:6, 21:8, and 271; Andriette, Devon and Exeter 'in the divil WarT
pp. 56-57; Prest, Inns of Court, p. 225.

2ilDNB, VH, 5, 7, 11, 114-17; DNB, XV, 128; CSPD, (I6ll-l6l8),

69; CCC7TEI, 1878; Hasted, Kent, TIT, 280; CCC,T7"3272; MacCaffrey,
Exeter, pp. 23, 26-28, 89, and 150.
25
Coate, Cornwall in the Civil War, pp. 30-31, 314-39, 65-66 and
79-89; Edgar, Sir"'fta'lph Hopl'on,'"pp, 5H53, 100 ff., and 119; CCC, HI,
221i;-22l5; Alexander, "Exeter Members of Parliament," 212; CCb, III,
1366-1367; DNB, XUI, 59U-595.

26CCC, II, 1381 and V, 3279; Keeler, Long Parliament, p. 376.

27
Stephens, Seventeenth-Century Exeter, p. 1:3; CCC, II, 121*2;
BL, Add. MSS, 21^.50, is. 213 a-b; Powell7Ihroprietors of North Carolina,
p. 1*9; CCC, H , 1279.
26
Edgar, Sir Ralph Hopton, pp. 51;-55; Lincoln's Inn, Black Books,
II, p. 356 and"passim; CCC, it, 1279-

2^Coate, Cornwall in the Civil War, 31-32 and 191-215; Andriette,

Devon and Exeter in the Civil War, pp. 61;-66; Hoskins, Devon, p. 196.
30
Andriette, Devon and Exeter in the Civil War, pp. 61, 73-7U,
and 76; BL, add. MSS," 2hlSo, f . 215a. that Mody£ord exercised command
as a junior officer in military engagements during the first year of
the war is strongly suggested by two factors. First, a few years later
in Barbados, his facility in exercising his regiment of militia and
his decisive command amidst a crisis attest actual experience as a
military commander in the field (See Chapter 5, p.268). Second, for
a young man of twenty-three, his appointment to the commission of the
West and his promotion to the rank of colonel suggest either demon­
strated effectiveness of command, unusual prominence In a locality, or
unusual expenditure for the king's cause. Of these, the first best
fits what evidence is available. Unless by virtue of his properties
in the County of Devon, he would not have held a command in the militia
at this time; he had not yet acquired freedom of the city of Exeter.
 680

(See Rowe and Jackson, eds., Exeter Freemen, p. 137.)

31CCC, H , 1279; Andriette, Devon and Exeter in the Civil War.

p. 9$} Amos C. Miller, "The Impact of the Civil War on Devon and the
Decline of the Royalist Cause in the West of England, 161*1*-5," IDA,
CIV (1972), li+9; HMC, 73rd. Report (1916), "Records of Exeter,"“I?,
213, and 32$; Prest, Inns of Court, p. 63; Eugene Andriette, "Royalist
War-time Administration of ^Devon and Exeter: 161*3-161*6," DCNQ, XXXI
(April-July, 1968), 1*1 and 1*6; Mary Coate, "Exeter in the' Civil War
and Interregnum," DCNQ, XV I H (193U-1935), 3k3 and 31*5.
32
Andriette, "Royalist War-time Administration," 1*1 and 1*3; Edgar,
Sir Ralph Hopton, pp. 51 and 173 ff.; Andriette, Devon and Exeter in
the (!ivil' War,'pp. 109, 109n, 113, and 135 ff.; Miller, "The Impact of
Civil War onlDevon," 156. Since the records of the royal commissioners
for the western counties are no longer extant, a complete list of the
commissioners may not exist. An approximation can be attained, how­
ever, by combining the lists in Andriette, "Royalist War-time Adminis­
tration," U6 and Coate, Cornwall in the Civil War, p. 173.

^Edgar, Sir Ralph Hopton, pp, 173 ff.; Andriette, Devon and
Exeter In the Civirwar, pp. 109-113 and 135-11*0; Andriette, "loyalist
War-time Administration," 1*1-1*2; Coate, Cornwall in the Civil War,
pp. 172-173.

Andriette, "Royalist War-time Administration," 1*1-1*3.

35
Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, The History of the Rebellion and
Civil Wars in England Begun in the YearTL61*l (Oxford: 1701*), II, 1*93-
500; Andriette, Devon ana Exeter in the Civil War, pp. 137-139; Miller,
"The Impact of Civil War onDevon," 157-l5d, Il6U, and 168.
36
Andriette, "Royalist War-time Administration," 1*3; CCC, H ,
1226; CCC, II, 1287; DNB, XVI, $9; Richard Symonds, Diary the Marches
of the~Royal Army during the Great Civil War, ed. Charles Edward Long.
Camden Society Publications, First Series, No. 7h (London: Camden
Society, 1859)* 38 and 15U; Andriette, Devon and Exeter in the Civil
War, pp. 115-116; Francis B. Troup, "A Cavalier's Notebook,TDA, XXI
OT89-1890), 1*01-1*03; CCC, II, 1228; CSPD, (161*5-161*7), 1*92; CCC, II,
11*19; CCC, H , 1126; c5c71, 51*2; DNB, VH, 1*18; P. H. Hardacre, "The
End of the Civil War m Devon: A Royalist Letter of 161*6," TDA, LXXXV
(1953), 100; CCC, H , 1311; Mary Coate, "Exeter in the Great Civil
War and Interregnum," DCNQ, XVTTT (193U-1935), 3l*6; Coate, Cornwall in
the Civil War, p. ll5;~CCC, II, 1278-1279-

■^Coate, Cornwall in the Civil War, pp. 103-101* and 110; Andriette,
"Royalist War-time Administration," t*l-l*l*; Paul Q. Karkeed, "Extracts
from a Memorandum Book Belonging to Thomas Roberts and Family of Stock-
leigh Pomeroy, 1621-161*1*," TDA, X (1878), 328-329; Coate, "Exeter in th
the Great Civil War and Interregnum," 338; Andriette, Devon and Exeter
in the Civil War, p. 105*

^Andriette, "Royalist War-time Administration," 1*1-1*!*; Rowe and

 681

Jackson, eds., Exeter Freemen, p. 137.

39
The quotes are from the minutes of the Committue for Compounding:
CCC, H , 1278-1279; see also Andriette, "Royalist War-time Administra­
tion," 1*2.

^BL, Sloane MSS, 1708, "F, Bernard Nativities," f . 117a; CSPC,

V, 221*, 278, and 330; Roly, Members of the Assembly, p. 17; Oliver, ed.,
Caribbeana, IV, 338; ReyneH-Upham and Tapley-Soper, Registers of the
CathedraT7 p. 68.
11
Coate, "Exeter in the Civil War and Interregnum," 3U7—3U8;
Andriette, Devon and Exeter in the Civil War, pp. Ill, 136-137, 11*1,
11*7-11*8, and passim.
1*2
Hoskins, Devon, pp. 197-198; Andriette, Devon and Exeter in the
Civil War, pp. 155-3-56.
1^
Andriette, Devon and Exeter in the Civil War, pp. 160-161 and
165-166; Coate, "Exeter in the civil War and interregnum," 31*8-31*9;
ccc, 11, 1278-1279.
1*1*
CCC, H , 1279; Coate, "Exeter in the Civil War and Interregnum,"
31*9; Andriette, Devon and Exeter in the Civil War, pp. 165-166.

^CSFD, (161*5-16147), 1*16; CCC, I, 38; Coate, "Exeter in the Civil

War andTErkerregnum," 3i*9; Andriette, Devon and Exeter in the Civil
War, p. 166.

^Coate, '•Exeter in the Civil War and Interregnum," 31*9; Izacke,

Remarkable Antiquities, p. 159.

^Hoskins, Devon, p. 198; Miller, "The Impact of Civil War on

Devon," 168-170; Andriette, Devon and Exeter in the Civil War, pp. 168-
169; Coate, Cornwall in the Civil War, pp. 215-S2Q.

^CSPD, (161*5-161*7), 1*16-1*17.

1,0
DNB, VII, 8-9, 11, and 17; CSPD. (161*1-161*3), 95-96; CCC, HI,
1878 and 2061; CCC, V, 1*57; Clarendon, History of the Rebellion, I,
521*; Thurloe SPTTl, 331, 332, 31*1, 353, and 373; Thurloe 5P7tV, 299.

5°CCC, H , 1381; CCC, V, 3279; CCC, H , 1259; Stephens, Seven­

teenth-Century Exeter, p. 1*3; Coate, "Exeter in the Civil War and
Interregnum," 3!*^; CCC, HI, 2211*; Coate, C o m w a H in the Civil War,
p. 281*; CCC, H , 136'6'-1367; Maurice Ashley, '
General Monck (Totowa, N.
J.: Rowman and Littlefield, 1977), PP* 1*8-58; Izacke, Remarkable
Antiquities, p. 159; CCC, H , 1356; BL, Add, MSS, 21*120, f. 21>a.
Though Thomas KendaH's father's properties were sequestered, there is
no record of the younger KendaH's estate being confiscated; see CCC,
H , 121*2 and the indices to the volumes of this calendar.

^Thurloe SP, I, 77-81; the quote is from p. 81; Davies, The Early
 682

Stuarts, pp. Ihl-lli2; Paul H. Hardacre, The Royalists during the

Puritan Revolution (The Hague, Netherlands: Martinus tlijhoff, 1956),
pp. it~2l and

? CSPD, (16U5-161j7), Ul6-itl7j CCC, IT, 1278-1279. The "delinquent"

was required to come to London, appear before the committee, take the
necessary oaths of loyalty to Parliament, present evidence related to
his case, await the outcome, and pay his fine: see CCC, II, 1367, 1391,
and 1535* See also Hardacre, Royalists, pp. 20-23, 11, 68-69, and 78.
£3
ERQ, Deeds, Roll LXV, No. 1897, Membranes 1 and 2; ERO, Orphans
Court Inventory 178; PRO, PROB ll/l5h-913li, 'Will of John Modyford";
Hardacre, Royalists, pp. 26, 33, and 65-67; Oliver, ed., Caribbeana,
IV, 337; ERO, Testamentary Bundles, Bundle 29, f . 6365 CCC, III, 22lij-
2215; PRO, PR0BU/156-913U, "Will of Thomas Walker," fs. l5Ub and 153a.

^DNB, XIII, 5h0j Hardacre, Royalists, p. 33; Thurloe SP, II, 373J
James A. Williamson, "The Beginnings of an Imperial Policy, 16h9~
1660," The Cambridge History of the British Empire, ed. J. Holland
Rose et. al., I (New lork: Macmillan, 1929J, Chapter 7, 209-211.
Some of the projections of this paragraph are based upon the overall
impression made by Modyford's actual struggles during the years
immediately following to find or to develop an environment in which
best to realize his ambitions. This pattern is extensively documented
in Chapters 5 and 6.
35
Richard LIgon, A True and Exact History of the Island of
Barbadoes (1657; rpt. tiondon: Frank Cass and Company, 1^70J, pp. 21-22.
56
C. S. S. Higham, The Development of the Leeward Islands under
the Restoration, I66O-I6B8; A Study of the foundations of the Old
Colonial System (Cambridge: tniversity Press, 192.1), pp. x and xiv;
A. P. iNewton, "The Great Emigration, I6I8-I6I1.8," The Cambridge History
of the British Empire, ed. J. Holland Rose et. al., T tNew 'York:
Macmillan, 'l$29)) Chapter 5, lb2-lU5; Richard S. Dunn, Sugar and Slaves:
The Rise of the Planter Class in the English West Indies,~16ZU-1713
(chapel Hill, ft. C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1972J, pp.
16-18; Carl and Roberta Bridehbaugh, No Peace Beyond the Line: The
English in the Caribbean, I62I4-I69O (New York: Oxford University Press,
1972J, pp. lO-ll.
57
George Louis Beer, The Origins of the British Colonial System,
1578-1660 (New York: Macmillan, 1922), pp. 26^-265; Wewton, "The
Great Emigration," 178-179; Williamson, "Imperial Policy," 209;
Bridehbaugh, No Peace Beyond the Line, p. 12.

^^Williamson, "Imperial Policy," 110; Dunn, Sugar and Slaves,

pp. 19-20 and 59-67*
59
J. H. Bennett, "The English Caribbees in the Period of the Civil
War, 16U2-16U6," William and Mary Quarterly, Series 3, XXIV (1967),
3^9-363, 367-370, 372-373, antf 377; BSK, Y, 291, 322, and 321*;
Williamson, "Imperial Policy," 210-21XT”
 683

DNB, XI, 1086; Hardacre, Royalists, p. 80; Coate, Cornwall in

the Civil' War, pp. 38-39, 99, and llt-llB; Bennett, "English Caribbees,"
373; Vincent T. Harlow, A History of Barbados, 1625-1685 (1926; rpt.
New York: Negro Universities Press, 1969J, p. 29.
61
Scottish Record Office, Edinburgh, Hay of Haystown MSS, "Thomas
Robinson to Thomas Chappell, September 2L(, 161*3" as cited in Bennett,
"English Caribbees," 372; Stephens, Seventeenth-Century Exeter, pp. 12,
19, 113, 116, and 173; T. S. Willan,"TKe"English'JCoaisting Tra5e, 1600-
1750 (New York: Augustus M. Kelley, 19&7), p. l05; Harlow, Barbados, ~
pp. 36-37.
62
CCC, II, 1278-1279; Lincoln's Inn, Admissions, I, 23h; Brown,
Shaftesbury, pp. b3-50 and 6h; K, H. D. Hal'ey, The First Earl of
Shaftesbury (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968), pp. U1-U9, 56-60, and 6h;
bunn, Sugar and Slaves, pp. 52n, 68, and llh-115; Harlow, Barbados,
pp. 66; Bridenbaugh, No Peace Beyond the Line, pp. 13h and l5d;
Thurloe SP, II, 200; Vere Langford 61iver, TheHistory of the Island
of Antigua (London: Mitchell and Hughes, l89UJ^ Ij xx, x x x , and xxxiii;
Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, p. 2.

^Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, pp. 1-2 and 21-22; Dunn, Sugar
and Slaves, pp. ltJ-l£ and 30-31; Bennett, "English Caribbees," 372;
Harlow^ Barbados, pp, 29 and 39-h2; Oliver, Antigua, I, xx. The
original partnership between Modyford and Kendall expanded and continued
for many years as is reflected in the following deeds: BA, Recopied
Deeds '/9h0; BA, Recopied Deeds 3/526, September 10, 161*8; BA, Recopied
Deeds 3/752, June 10, 1650; BA, Original Deeds 2/13U, June 20, 1650;
BA, Recopied Deeds 3/9k0, December 20, 1653. PRO, PROB 11/323-9131*
"Will of Thomas Kendall"; Helyar MSS, July 10, 1677: "Sir Thomas
Modyford to William Helyar."

^\igon, True History of Barbadoes, pp. 1, 17, 21-22, and l+2-l*3;

CCC, II, 1536.
65
Though Ligon made the trip out with Modyford, lived on his
plantation for three years, and described Modyford, his associates,
and their plantations in detail, he never once mentioned Elizabeth
Modyford or the children; I accept this as virtually conclusive
evidence that Modyford1s family was left in England until some point
in the early l650's. Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, pp. 21-23.

^Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, pp. 1-2, 8, 18, and 21-22;

Ordnance Survey, Route Planning Map of Great Britain, South Sheet, 1972.
67
Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, pp. 1-2, 1*, 7> 13-ll*> and 22.

68Ibid., pp. 1-2.

69
Ibid., pp. 1-2; Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, The History of
the Great Rebellion, ed. Roger Lockyer (London: Oxford University
Press, 106?), p. 518; Coate, Cornwall in the Civil War, pp. 218-220;
 681*

Ordnance Survey, Quarter-Inch Map, Sheet 15, "South West England."

Chapter V. Planter-Politician in Barbados, 161*7-1652

Pages 217-271

^Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, pp. 2 and 22; J. H. Parry and

P. M. Sherlock, A Short History of the' West Indies (london: Macmillan,
1957), pp. 108-109; kveline C.Martin, "The English Slave Trade and
the African Settlements," The Cambridge History of the British Empire,
ed., J. Holland Rose et, al., t (New York: Macmillan, 1929), Chapter
15, UJ4U-UU5 Higham, The Leeward Islands, p. xi.
True History of Barbadoes, pp. 2-3.

Ibid. pp. 3-6, 8, 10, 11*, and 20.

Ibid. pp. 8-13.

Ibid. pp. 13 and ll*-l8.

Ibid. p. 19; Higham, The Leeward Islands, pp. xi-xii.

'Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, p. 19; Higham, The Leeward

Islands, pp. ix-x,
Q
Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, pp. 19-21; Cheney, Handbook of
Dates, p. 139*
g
Ligon was unable to visit certain parts of the island while he
was there; his estimate of the island's size, based upon the earlier
calculations of one Capt. Swan, a local surveyor, proved overly
generous. See Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, pp. 20-21 and 26.
Other sources of this paragraph are: N. Darnell Davis, The Cavaliers
and Roundheads of Barbados. 1690-1652 (Georgetown, British Guiana:
Argosy Press, 1887^7 PP* 20-26; Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, p. 26.

^Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, pp. 21-22.

•^Ibid., pp. 25, 35# 92, and 100; E. M. Shilstone, "Old Days and
Old Ways in Bridgetown," JBMHS, V, No. 1* (August, 1938)# 169-173# H.
G. Hutchinson, "The Old Cbturches of Barbados," JBMHS, V, No. 1* (August,
1938), 180-183; Jerome S. Handler, ed., "Father Antoine Biet's Visit
to Barbados in 16#*," JBMHS, XX XH (1965-1966), 61*-65 and 69; Davis
Papers, Box II, Packet io, "A Plan of Old St. Michael’s Churchyard,
July 25, 1776, from One Drafted about 1658"; Davis Papers, Box XV,
Notebook 1, "Notes on an Early Panorama of Bridgetown and a Copy of the
Panorama Itself" (Originally printed as "An Early Panorama of Bridge­
town, Barbados, from an Engraving by J. Kip after Samuel Copen, 1695#"
The West India Committee Circular, May 6, 1913, 196 ff.); Tony
 685

Campbell, ed., The Printed Maps of Barbados from the Earliest Times to
1873 (London: Durrani House, 1965), Plate XVI, too. 3V (J Gibson, A
Plan of Bridgetown in the Island of Barbados," 1766).
12
See the sources cited in note 11.
13
Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, pp. 21-22; Oliver, Antigua, I,
xx; BL, Sloane M33,3652,f. 59b; Robert H. Schomburgk, The History of
Barbados (London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longman, l8L*tj), p. 00;
bunn, £ugar and Slaves, pp. 76-77.

^Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, p. 22.

1?
Ibid.; A "Plan of Bridgetown" as illustrated in E. M. Shilstone,
"Old Days and Old Ways in Bridgetown," pp. 17l*/l75; Campbell, ed., The
Printed Maps of Barbados, Plate XVI, No. 37 (J* Gibson, "A Plan of
Bridgetown . . .," 17bb) and Plate XXI, No. 50 (T. Payton, "A Survey of
Carlisle Bay in the island of Barbados . . .," [admiralty chart],
1821); Bridenbaugh, No Peace Beyond the Line, pp. 36, 5U» 57, and 58;
Davis Papers, Box Vil, Backet 3, Packet U, and Packet 33h; Dunn,
Sugar and Slaves, p. 51.

■^The map which Ligon prepared for inclusion in his "True and
exact history of the Island of Barbadoes" is useful primarily for its
general outlines of the island and the location of some of the plan­
tations fronting the sea. His placement of plantations and principal
topographic features in the interior is often incorrect and at times
seriously misleading. For example, citing his placement of the
Hilliard and Drax plantations, one would expect them to have been
located some five miles due east from Bridge Town and some two to three
miles inland from the southern coast in Christ Church Parish. In fact,
they were seven to nine miles northeast of Bridgetown. Drax Hall lay
on the boundary of the parishes of St. George and St. John; the
Hilliard-Modyford farm lay a mile farther in St. John’s Parish, some
two miles southwest of St. John's Church, three miles at the most from
the western coast: cf. Campbell, The Printed Maps of Barbados, Plate
I, No. 1 (R. Ligon, "A Topographicall Description . . . of Barbadoes
. . .," 1657), Plate V, No. 8 (R. Ford, "A New Map of . . . Barbadoes
. . .," 1681), and Plate IX, No. 21* (H, Moll, "The Island of Barbadoes,"
1729). Other sources of this paragraph include: Ligon, True History
of Barbadoes, pp. 22 and 39; David Watts, Man’s Influence on the
Vegetation of Barbados, 1627 to 1800. Occasional Papers in Geography
NoT U (.Hull, Sigland: University of Hull Publications, 1966), pp. 1*1-
1*3; Schomburgk, History of Barbados, pp. 8-10, 216 and 227; BA,
Recopied Deed 3 / % 2 6 T Bunn, Sugar and Slaves, p. 29.
17
Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, pp. 21-22 and 25; Schomburgk,
History of Barbados, p. 22?; Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, p. 27.
1_8
Some of the earlier Barbadian deeds are so deteriorated as to
defy, occasionally, the deciphering of certain specific details. From
them we can acquire, however, the character of the property and its
conveyance in broad outline. See BA, Original Deed 2/l3l*, Recopied
 686

^ Deed 3/752, and Recopied Deed 3/9U0; collaborative evidence is found in

Davis Papers, Box IT, Packet 33d, Packet 33k, and Packet 33m: Box TUI,
^ Packet 8: and in n.a., "Old Plantation Customs," JBMHS, TH, No. 3
(May, I9I4O), 110; see also Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, pp. 22
and 31•
19
Though Ligon does not describe the Hilliard-Modyford plantation
house specifically, he obviously uses it as a frame of reference for
describing Barbadian houses and furnishings in general. Property in­
ventories and conveyances of the period reinforce the picture which
emerges. See Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, pp. 22, 30, l;2, l|lj, and
61+; n. ed., "The Lucas MSS Tolumes in the Barbados Public Library: The
Furniture of Houses in Former Times," JBMHS, XXII, No. lj (August,
1955)y 178-187j Neville Connell, "Furniture and Furnishings in Barbados
during the 17th Century," JBMHS, XXIT, No. 3 (May, 1957), 103, 106,
108-109, and 112-113; PunnT^ugar and Slaves, p. 76.
20
Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, pp. 22 and 87-92.

2^Ibid., pp. 22, kb, and 5^-55*

22Ibid., pp. 22 and $6.

23
Ibid., p. 22. The original deed and articles of partnership are
no longer extant; we know of its existence and the essence of the agree­
ment, however, by a renewal of those articles of partnership in BA,
Recopied Deed 3/526. See also Davis Papers, Box IT, Packet 33d: Box
TH, Packet lU: BOX TUI, Packet 8 (Notes taken from early Barbadian
deeds relating to this plantation).

^^Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, pp. 23—21+ and 96.

-’The story of the introduction of sugar culture into Barbados has

been recently and ably told from the best evidence by Dunn, Sugar and
Slaves, pp. 59-67 and Bridenbaugh, No Peace Beyond the Line, pp. 76-
97* Even more attention has been given to background and related
developments by Richard B. Sheridan, Sugar and Slavery: An Economic
History of the British West Indies. 1623-lV1/^ (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
University Press, 1973), Chapters 2, 6, and i . See also Ligon, True
History of Barbadoes, pp. 85-86.
26
Ibid.; Oliver, ed., Caribbeana, IT, p. 368.
27
Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, p. 22; BA, Recopied Deed
3/526; Davis Papers, Box XV^ Packets jl3d and 33k» Box TUI, Packet 8.

2®Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, p. 22; Davis Papers, Box IT,

Packet 33k; Box Vi±, Packet 33h: BA, Original Deed 2/13U: Recopied
Deed 3/752; Thurloe SP, H , 200.

2^Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, pp. 22 and 113-1114.

3°Ibid., pp. 89-92 and 113-lIii.

 687

31rbid., pp. 22, 29-30, 37, 1*3-1*1*, 1*7, 53, 55-56, and 113-111*.

32Ibid., p. 55.

33BA, Recopied Deeds 3/3l*l* and 3/526; Davis Papers, Box VH,
Packet 11*: Box VET, Packet 8; Oliver, ed., Caribbeana, VI, 76;
Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, pp. 22, 31*, i*0-l*3, and 102-103.

^Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, 85-86, 88, and 92-93.

3*Ibid., p. 108: pp. 29-31, 33, 37-38, 1*3-1*!*, 55-57* BA., Recopied
Deed 3/326.

3^Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, pp. 50 and 100-101; Harlow,

Barbados, 1625^1685, pp. 3.3l-3ffi.
37
Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, p. 1*3; Handler, ed., "Father
Biet's Visit in 1651*," 66-68; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, pp. 331-
33l*; n. ed., "The Lucas MSS Volumes in 'the Barbados Public Library:
Early Conveyancing Documents," JBMHS, XXIH, No. 3 (May, 1956), 117;
Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, p. 26.
qg
Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, pp. 29-33, 35-36, 62-67,
69-72, 101, and 117-lib; Schomburgk, History of Barbados, pp. 22-29;
Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, p. 5-
39
Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, pp. 22 and 96; Dunn, Sugar
and Slaves, pp. 66 and bl-bk; c6fcc, V, 121*.

^Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, p. 50: pp.1*7,53-51*, and

passim.

^Ibid., pp. 21-22, 1*3, and 1*6; Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, pp. 69-
73.
1*2
Winthrop D. Jordan, White over Black: American Attitudes Toward
the Negro, 1550-1812 (Chapel Kill, N. C.:l£6bj, chapter 1; Ligon,
True history of Harbadoes, pp. 1*1*-1*5 and passim; Dunn, Sugar and
Slaves, pp. 71-7U; Helyar MSS, Edward Atcheriey to William Helyar,
March 2, 1677*
1Q
Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, p. 51: pp. 51*-55; I am
indebted to Richard Dunn for the aptlydescriptive term, "unbottoned":
Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, p. 12.

Oliver, ed,, Caribbeana, VI, 73 and 76; BA., Recopied Deed

3/31*1*: Counter Deeds 2/661, 3/309, and 3/907; n. ed., "The Lucas MSS
Volumes in the Barbados Public Library: Early Grants of Land," JSfflS,
X2HI, No. 2 (February, 1956), 68-77; Schomburgk, History of
Barbados, pp. 228-230; Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, p . 69; Ligon, True
History of Barbadoes, p. 2; Campbell, ed., Printed Maps of Barbados,
Plate V, ho. b (.ft. Ford, "A New Map of . . . Barbadoes . . .," 16dl).
 688

Parish Vestry Minutes of St. John's Parish, Barbados (Deposited

in Barbados Museum and Historival Society), p. 1 as cited in Briden-
baugh, No Peace Beyond the line, p. 1?8, n. 68; Schomburgk, History
of Barbados, p. 22ct; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, p. 336.

^n. ed., "The Lucas MSS Volumes in the Barbados Public Library:
Early Grants of Land," J M H S , XXIII, No. 2 (February, 1956), 68-70;
Campbell, Printed Maps of Barbados, Plate I, No. 1 (R. Ligon, "A
topographicall Description . . . of Barbadoes . . 1657) and Plate
V, No. 8 (R. Ford, "A New Map of . . . Barbadoes . . .," 1681); Ligon,
True History of Barbadoes, pp. 36, 39, and 62; BA, Recopied Deed
3/526; Davis Papers, Box VHX, Packet 8.

^Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, p. 57: pp. 28, 36, 38-39*

and 52-53.

^Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, pp, 23, 57-58, and 105-106;

Handler, ed., ^Father tiiet's Visit in 1656," 67-68; Dunn, Sugar and
Slaves, p. 67.
69
The calculations of this paragraph and of the following one are
based upon Ligon's quotations of current sugar prices collaborated by
prices quoted by Richard Dunn from other sources. For muscavado sugar
sold in Barbados, Ligon quotes 3d per pound; Dunn quotes 28s per
hundred weight. For muscavado sugar sold in London, Ligon quotes from
6d to 12d per pound; Dunn quotes £6 per hundred weight. For the best
white sugar sold in London, Ligon quotes 20d per pound. The estimates
of production and income are conservative. The calculations further
involve two, well supported inferences: (1) that by 1650, Kendall
Plantation had added at least forty additional acres of ripening canes
to the acreage of cane Modyford found upon arrival; and (2) that by
1650, not over half the sugar being shipped was, as yet, of the finest
clay-cured type. Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, pp. 92-93, 95-96,
and 112; Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, p. 205. See also Helyar MSS, Thomas
Modyford to William kelyar, July 10, 1677.

^See the sources in note 69*

^Ligon, True History of Barbadoes, p. 96: pp. 119-121.

52W. Adolphe Roberts, Sir Henry Morgan, Buccaneer and Governor

(New York: Covici-Friede-Publishers, 1$33)> p'» 22.

^Burns, British West Indies, pp. 195-200 and 223-225.

^Scottish Record Office, Edinburgh, Hay of Haystoun Manuscripts,

William Powrey to Archibald Hay, July 5, 1665; Bridenbaugh, No Peace
Beyond the Line, p. 157; George Frere, A Short History of Barbados,
from Its frirst 'Discovery and Settlement, to 6he End of the Year 1767
(London: J. Dodsley, 176tlj, pp. t-ll; kennett, "The English Caribbees,"
367-373.
55
EL, Egerton MSS, 2395, fs, 69a-53b: A. B. (A diligent Observer
 689

of the Times), A Brief Relation of the Beginning and Ending of the

Troubles of Barbados/ with the True Causes Thereof (London; Peter
Cole. 1653)* P* 1; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, pp. 1*5-U63 Burns,
British West Indies, p. 235.

-^A. B,, The Troubles of Barbados, p. 1; Davis, Cavaliers and

Roundheads, pp. 137-1U1.

^7DNB, XX, 668-669j H. G. Hutchinson, "The Walronds, Co-Heirs of

AncientTarony," JBMHS, XI, No. 2 (February* 19UU)> 89-90; Davis Papers,
Box VH, Packet lh; SA, Recopied Deed 3/526; Ligon, True History of
Barbadoes, p. 35; Harlow, Barbados, 1629-1689, p. 52.

^®A. B., The Troubles of Barbados, p. 2; Nicholas Foster, A

Briefe Relation of the Late Horrid Rebellion Acted in the Islanct
Barbados, In the West Indies (London; I. G. for Richard Lawndes, 1650),
pp. 5-6; Davis, Cavaliers and Roundheads, pp. 137-139*

^Davis, Cavaliers and Roundheads, pp. 11*2-1U3 and 156-158.

^°A. B., The Troubles of Barbados, p. 3; Schomburgk, History of

Barbados, p. 2?Q; Gavis, Cavaliers and Roundheads, pp. lLtO-li|2.

^Foster, The Late Horrid Rebellion, p. 9: pp. 10-11; A. B., The

Troubles of Barbados, p. 3; Davis, CavaXiers and Roundheads, pp. 11*1-
ll*3; barlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, pp. 1*9-50.

^^Foster, The Late Horrid Rebellion, p. 11*: pp. 11-12; A. B., The
Troubles of Barbados, p. 5; bavis. Cavaliers and Roundheads, pp. ll*2- “
ll*3; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, p. 50.
63
Foster, The Late Horrid Rebellion, pp. 18-21*; A. B., The
Troubles of Barbados, pp.T 3-1*; Davis, Cavaliers and Roundheads, pp.
ll*5-ll*6; harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, pp. 50-51.
61*
Foster, The Late Horrid Rebellion, quotes from pp. 21*, 26, and
36: pp. 18-36; A. B., The Troubles of Barbados, p. 1*; Davis, Cavaliers
and Roundheads, pp. 11*7-15 Harlow, iBarbado’sT' 1625-1685, p. 52.

^Foster, The Late Horrid Rebellion, pp. 37-38; A. B., The

Troubles of Barbados, p. I*; Davis, Cavaliers and Roundheads, pp. 150-
l51; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, pp. 52-53; Davis Papers,Box H ,
Packet 13.

^Foster, The Late Horrid Rebellion, pp. l*5-l*7; A. B., The

Troubles of Barbados, p. hj^avis, Cavaliers and Roundheads, pp. 156-
lgO; Schomburgk, History of Barbados, p. 270.
67
Foster, The Late Horrid Rebellion, pp. 38-39; A. B., The
Troubles of Barbados, pp. U-5; Davis, Cavaliers and Roundheads, pp.
152-153~.----------- ----------------------

^Foster, The Late Horrid Rebellion, pp. 39 and U3; Harlow,

 690

Barbados, 1625-1685, p. 53*

^Davis, Cavaliers and Roundheads, p. If#: pp. 151*-155; Foster,

The Late Horrid Rebellion, pp. l*0-I*U~~and 80.

7°A. B., The Troubles of Barbados, p. 5: PP* l*-5; Davis, Cavaliers

and Roundheads, pp. lj?7-158.

7^A. B., The Troubles of Barbados, p. 5; Davis, Cavaliers and

Roundheads, pp. 160-l6l; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, p. 55*

72Dr, m , 503-501*; CSPC, I, 327; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685,

pp. 55-57.

7\ . B., The Troubles of Barbados, pp. 5-6; Harlow, Barbados,

1625-1685, p p *TT59'

7Voster, The Late Horrid Rebellion, pp. 1*8-58.

75
Ibid., pp. 63-70.

76Ibid., p. 78: pp. 52-61.

77
Bodleian, Tanner MSS, 51*, f * 153a: Gayles Sylvester to his father
in England, August 9, 1651.

7^Foster, The Late Horrid Rebellion, pp. 71, 72, 78, and 89:
pp. 71-81; Davis Papers, Sox XII, Packet 3.
79
Foster, The Late Horrid Rebellion, pp. 81-83; Davis, Cavaliers
and Roundheads, p. 170.
fln
A. B., The Troubles of Barbados, p. 5 and p. 6; Harlow,
Barbados, 1625-1605, P* 59*
81
A. B., The Troubles of Barbados, p. 6; BL, Add. MSS, 21*120,
f. 215a; CCC, ll, 1356; CSPb, (3.650J; Powell, The Proprietors of
Carolina, pp. 1*7-1*9; E. M. Shilstone, "The Thirteen Baronets,*1 JBMHS,
Vol. iT, No. 2 (February, 1935), 91; Davis Papers, Box IV, Packet 33c.
82
A. B., The Troubles of Barbados, p. 6; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-
1685, PP* 60-61.
83
A. B., The Troubles of Barbados, p. 6; Davis, Cavaliers and
Roundheads, pp. 173-3-75*

^^Davis, Cavaliers and Roundheads, p. 219; Shilstone, "The

Thirteen Baroneis," £l.

^ CSPC, I, 31*2-31*3; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, pp. 61-61*.

86
Great Britain, Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum, 161*2-
1660, 3 volumes. (London':'Wyman and Sons, 1911), H , 1*27: 1*27-1*28;
 6?1

CSPC, I, 3U3-3UU, 3U7-301, and 307-359j Bodleian, Tanner MSS, 00, fs.
TJBa-b; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, pp. 61-63 and 68-69.
Qn
BL, King's Pamphlets, E.6ljli.(li): A printed copy of this "Declar­
ation" (London, 1601) is supplied verbatim by Schomburgk, History of
Barbados, Appendix X, pp. 706-708; Scottish Record Office, rfa'y MSS.
9h2; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1680, pp. 6U-66.

®®Bodleian, Tanner MSS, 01j, f . 103a; Davis, Cavaliers and

Roundheads, p. 170j Harlow, Barbados, 1620-1680, pp. 66-69.
89
Samuel Rawson Gardiner, ed., Letters and Papers Relating to the
First Dutch War, 1602-160U, 6 volumes'. Publications of the Naval
Records Society, Volume (London: Naval Records Society, 1899),
I, 67-76j Bodleian, Tanner MSS, 05, f . 79a: Sir George Ayscue to Lord
President Bradshaw, October 19, 1601; CSPC, I, 362 and 37h.

^Bodleian, Tanner MSS, 00, f . 70a-b; Sir George Ayscue to Lord

Willoughby; Lord Willoughby's reply, October 17, 1651.

93Ibid., fs. 71-72; CSPC, I, 36h.

92Davis Papers, Box HI. Packet 5: Extracts from the Barbadian

Council Books, IX (1600-1603), published by Gabriel Grup in a series
on "The Record Office" in the Barbados Advocate; CSPC, I, 365.

^Bodleian, Tanner MSS, 55, fs* lliOb-lljla; CSPC, I, 366-367.

^CSPC, I, 366-368 and 3705 A. B., The Troubles of Barbados,

p. 7; Davis, Cavaliers and Roundheads, pp. 233-2Li|.
90
Bodleian, Tanner MSS, 55, f * lhla: fs. liiOb-lljla; A. B., The
Troubles of Barbados, p. 7; Davis, Cavaliers and Roundheads, pp.~£5h-
230; karlow, Barbados, 1620-1680, pp. 7^4—7^*

^PRO, C.O. l/ll, No. 38 as cited in Harlow, Barbados. 1620-1680,

p. 76, n. 2; A. B., The Troubles of Barbados, p. 8;' tefrc, I, 368;
Davis, Cavaliers and Roundheads, pp. 235-2jb.

^A. B., The Troubles of Barbados, p. 8; CSPC, I,369-370; Davis,

Cavaliers and Roundheads, pp. 237-239.

^Bodleian, Tanner MSS, 50, f . lUla; CSPC, I, 370; Davis,

Cavaliers and Roundheads, p. 239.

^A. B., The Troubles of Barbados, p. 9; CSPC, I, 370 and 3705

Davis, Cavaliers and feoundheadsV pp.~239-2b0.

. ~ ^ CSPC, .1, 3715 A. B., The Troubles of Barbados, p. 95 Davis,

Cavaliers and Roundheads, p. 2L0.

^■Bodleian, Tanner MSS, 50, IILU5 A. B., The Troubles of

Barbados, p. 95 CSPC, I, 3725 Schomburgk, History of Barbados, p. 279;
 692

Davis3 Cavaliers and Roundheads, pp. 2k0-2kl.

102BL, Add. MSS, 11101, f. 95a-b: fs. 95a-97a: Articles of

Surrender of Barbados to the Commonwealth, January 11, 1652; CSPC, I,
372; Davis, Cavaliers and Roundheads, pp. 2145-255 and 318.

10^CSPC, I, 37U-375, 380, and 391; Davis, Cavaliers and Roundheads,

pp. 250-256; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, PP* 81-82.

Chapter VI. A Bid for High Office, 1652-1661;

Pages 272-339

^Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, pp. 83-86 and 9k-100.

2
Ibid., pp. 83-85; Great Britain, Acts and Ordinances of the
Interregnum, I6k2-l660, H , lj.27; Williamson, "Imperial Policy," 216-217.

^Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, pp. 83-9k-

^Ibid., pp. 9U-100.

^Thurloe SP, HI, 622.

^Bodleian, Tanner MSS, 55, f . Ik2a-b; CSPC, I, 373-371*; CSPC, V,

528-530; Adelaide Berta Helwig, "The Early kistory of Barbados and Her
Influence upon the Development of South Carolina," Diss. University
of California 1931, PP. 122-123; Davis Papers, Box IV, Packet 30:
"Extracts from the Barbadian Council Books," H (1650-1653), p. 2;
n. ed., "Some Records of the House of Assembly of Barbados," JBMHS, X,
No. 1; (August, 19k3), 175-176; Longleat, Wiltshire, Coventry MSS,
76, f. k6a; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, pp. 88 and 99-100.

^CSPC, I, 373 and 37k: 388; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, pp. 98-
99; A. D. Innes, The Maritime and Colonial Expansion of England under
the Stuarts, l603-l?lk (London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company,
1931'), PP- 21^ 19"
8
CSPC, I, 373 and 37k; Ashley, General Monck, pp. 97 ff.

9BL, Add. MSS, llkll, f. 95b; CCC, H , 1356; Powell, The Pro­
prietors of Carolina, p. k9; BA, Recopied Deed 2/807, Recopied Deed
3/Vku, ttecopiecT Deed 8/231* Counter Deed 2/601, Counter Deed 3/907;
Oliver, ed., Caribbeana, IV, 368; PRO, PRO 30/2k/k9, Shaftesbury
Papers, X/J, 2667: An arbitration of differences between Sir Anthony
Ashley Cooper and Captain Gerrard Hawtaine, co-partners in a Barbadian
plantation, before John Colleton's court in Barbados, June 18, 1652.

•^There is no evidence to place Elizabeth Modyford and her

children in Barbados prior to 1653. There is no evidence that Thomas
 693

Modyford returned to England prior to or at this time. The lengthy

visit of Thomas Kendall to Barbados at this time, the close relation­
ships among the Modyfords, Kendalls, and Colletons, the evidence that
additional children were b o m to the Modyfords in the mid 1650 's— all
argue for the interpretation given. See: BL, Sloane MSS, 1708, f .
117a5 Oliver, ed., Caribbeana, VI, 85; CSPD, (1656-1657),
587; BA, Counter Deed 5 /5 h o (September, 1659); Davis Papers, Box IV,
Packet 33n; n. ed., "Texbracts from Wills Relating to the West Indies
Recorded in England," JBMHS, XU, No, I* (August, 181*5), 195 and passim;
Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, pp. 28, 115, 15U, and 258; CSPC, V, 208.

^CSPC, I, 380 and 381*; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, pp. 9l|-97*

^PRO, C.O. 1/12, No. 2 as cited in Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685,

p. 100, n.3: the calendar ofthis item is CSPC, I,' 399;' see 'also CSPC,
I, 381*; Barbados Public Library, Lucas MSS, "Minutes of the Council,11
I (February, l65U-October, 1657), 63-61*; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685,
pp. 97-100.

13CSPC, I, 1*08: 395, UOl*, and 1*06; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685,

pp. 100-101.

^CSPC, I, 1*08; Thurloe SP,II, 196.

^ CSFC, I, 1*08: 1*06-1*07 and 1*13; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685,

pp. 101, n .3 and 102, n.2 .

^Bodleian, Rawlinson ICS, A7, I. 53l*a; Thurloe SP, I, 537;

BL, Egerton MSS, 2305, f . 175a-b; CSPC, I, 1*07 anci~I*137 Harlow,
Barbados, 1625-1685, p. 103 and 103, n.2.
17
If Searle received Cromwell's order to appoint Modyford, James
Drax, and John Birch to the Barbadian Council (CSPC, I, 1*13), he did
not act upon it in the near future. When Thomas Middleton and William
Hilliard departed for England in June, 1651*, Henry Sweete and Edward
Pye replaced them as members of the Council. See Lucas MSS, "Minutes
of the Council," I, 22-23, 29, 3l*-35, 37, U8, 50, 57, 67, 70, 75, and
passim. See also Thurloe SP, H , 199; Williamson, "Imperial Policy,"
221* .
lQ
Williamson, "Imperial Policy," 213-227; Charles Firth, Oliver
Cromwell and the Rule of the Puritans in England (New York: G. P.
Putnam's Sons, 1900J, pp. 35)2-391*.

1^Williamson, "Imperial Policy," 222-228; Firth, Oliver Cromwell,

pp. 396-1*00.

^ I n the Treaty of Vervins (1598) between Henry IV of France and

Philip II of Spain, one reads of "les lignes de l'enclos des amities."
"Beyond the Line" means that boundless area west of the longitude
of the outermost of the Azores Islands and south of the Tropic of Cancer.
For many decades during the seventeenth century, no matter how friendly
relations were among the European nations, no peace agreement bound the
 691*

men who ventured west and south of the Line. See Brideribaugh, No Peace
Beyond the Line, p. 3. Other sources of this paragraph include: Frank
Strong, "Causes of Cromwell's West Indian Expedition," AHR, IV (October,
1898-July, 1899), 229: 230-232$ Bryan Edwards, The History. Civil and
Commercial, of the British Colonies in the West Indies, 3rd, ed.
(iLondon: John s'tock^ale, ldOl), I, ltiO-lH^; frirth, Oliver Cromwell,
p. 399.

2^Bodleian, Rawlinson MSS, A 2l|, pp. 11-17: "Some . . . true

Observations concerning the West Indies, . . . presented to . . . Oliver,
Lord Protector . . . ."; Bums, British West Indies, p. 2lt7.
22
Bodleian, Rawlinson MSS, A 2it, p. 8: pp. 8-9: "A Paper of
Colonel Muddiford concerning the West Indies"; Thurloe SP, HI, 62.
23
Bodleian, Rawlinson MSS, A 2lt, p. 10: pp. 9-10; Thurloe SP,
m , 62-63.
^Strong, "Causes of Cromwell's West Indian Expedition," 232-
233; John William Fortescue, A History of the British Army (London:
Macmillan and Company, 1899), I, 259-260; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685,
pp. 105-106.

2^Fortescue, History of the British Army, I, 260-261; Ashley,

General Monck, p. 23; EL, ActcT. HsS, JJlt±o, pp. 86-92: Instructions
unto Genii Robert Venables given by his Highness by advice of his
Council upon his expedition to the West Indies; BL, Add. MSS, llltlO,
pp. 109-113: Instructions unto Genii W. Penn Commander in Chief of a
Fleet of Ships into the parts of America; Thurloe SP, HI, 17: IV,
71; Granville Penn, Memorials of the Professional Life and Times of
Sir William Penn . . . (London: James Duncan, 1833), II, 23, 27, arid

26
"Extracts From Henry Whistler's Journal of the West India
Expedition," Appendix E of C. H. Firth, ed., The Narrative of General
Venables with an Appendix of Papers Relating to the Expedition to the
West Indies and the Conquest of Jamaica, 165m-1655, Camden Society
Publications, New Series, No. 60 (London: Longmans, Green, and Co.,
1900), 1U5; Penn, Memorials, H , 61; John F. Battick, ed., "Richard
Rooth's Sea Journal of the Western Design, 165U-55," Jamaica Journal,
V, No. 1; (December, 1971), 1*; Handler, ed., "Father Beit's Visit in
165U," 65; n.a., "Governors' Residences," JBMHS, X, No. It (August,
19if3), 152; S. A. G. Taylor, The Western Design: An Account of Crom­
well's Expedition to the Caribbean (Kingston, Jamaica: The Institute
of Jamaica and the Jamaica Historical Society, 1965), p. 15.

27Thurloe SP, HI, 2lt9-250; Thurloe SP, HI, 157: J. Berkenhead

to Secretary Thurloe from Barbados, February 17, 1655; Penn, Memorials,
H , 61.
OO
BL, Add. MSS, llltlO, p. 139: "Narrative of General Venables of
the Western Design" (an apology of his command of the expedition con­
taining many letters, warrants, proclamations etc.), 1655, in large
 695

part edited and published in Firth, ed., Narrative of General Venables;

Thurloe SP, HI, 566: Thomas Modyford to Secretary Thurloe, June 20,
Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, pp. 106-107.

^ Thurloe SP, HI, 157:158: J. Berkenhead to Secretary Thurloe,

February 17, 1655; Battick, ed., ,tRooth,s Sea Journal,” 5; Thurloe SP,
HE, 75b: Captain Gregory Butler to the Protector; Thurloe SP, HI,
lb2: Captain Gregory Butler to the Protector, February”7, 16555
Bodleian, Rawlinson MSS, A 28, p. 13b: Thomas Modyford to his brother,
James Modyford (or his brother-in-law, Thomas Kendall?) in England,
July 6, 1655; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, p. 107.

^Bodleian, Rawlinson MSS, A 28, p. 13b: Thurloe SP, HI, 620-

621j Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, pp. 107-108.

^Bodleian, Rawlinson MSS, A 28, p. 13b: Thurloe SP, HI, 621;

Thurloe SP, HI, 159: J. Berkenhead to Secretary Thurloe, February
17, 1&55j Thurloe SP, HI, 250: Edward Winslow to Secretary Thurloe,
March 16, 1655.
32
Firth, ed., Narrative of General Venables, p. 8: pp. 8-10j
Thurloe SP, III, 325; Taylor,~Wes^em~Design, p. 12; Thurloe SP, III,
250; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685,” pp. 109-111.
33
Thurloe SP, III, 158: J. Birkenhead to Secretary Thurloe,
February 17, 1655; Lucas MSS, "Minutes of the Council," I, 98; Firth,
ed., Narrative of General Venables, pp. 8 and 12-13; Harlow, Barbados,
1625'-l6bg, p. lo£.

^ Thurloe SP, IH, 621; Firth, ed., Narrative of General Venables,

pp. xxiv and xxx-xxxii; Taylor, Western Design, p. 1£; Marlow,
Barbados, 1625-1685, pp. 107-108.

•^Thurloe SP, IH, 621; Firth, ed., Narrative of General Venables,

p. 12; Lucas MSS, "Minutes of the Council," I, 95>-£6.
36
Thurloe SP, III, 2b9; Lucas MSS, "Minutes of the Council," I,
8b-85; 92-$3* and 267; Firth, ed., Narrative of General Venables, pp.
10-11; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, ppTTl^-iH.
37
Helen J. Crump, Colonial Admiralty Jurisdiction in the Seven-
teenth Century (London: Longmans, Green and Company, 1931), pp. 95-
£? arid 102;' Lucas MSS, "Minutes of the Council," I, 233; CSPC, XH,
Addenda, 628. In all correspondence between the Prize Office of
Barbados and the Admiralty Commissioners in England of this period,
Thomas Modyford*s name is always signed first among the names of the
Barbadian prize commissioners: see CSPC, IX, Addenda, 93-55 and HL,
Add. MSS, 18986, f. 205a-b. Other sources of this paragraph include:
Thurloe SP, HI, 229 and 352; Helwig, "Early Barbados and South
Carolina,'* p. 28.

•^Thurloe SP, HI, 325; Battick, ed., "Rooth's Sea Journal," 6

and 8; Taylor, Western Design, p. 21; BL, Add. MSS, HblO, p. 88;
 696

Firth, ed., Narrative of General Venables, p. U9; Penn, Memorials, H ,

1*6, 70-72 ana"7^

•^Thurloe SP, IV, 28j C. H. Firth, ed., The Clark Papers.

Selections from the Papers of William Clark. Royal Historical Society
hiblications (London: Longmans' Green, aiid Co., 1899), III, 5U-58.

k°Thurloe SP, IV, 28 and 30; BL, Add. MSS, lllilO, pp. 186-193;
Firth, ed'.',' Narrative of General Venables, pp. U7-l*8 and 137-139;
Taylor, Western design, p 22; CSPC, IX,"Addenda, No. 26lj Bums,
British West Indies, pp. 252-26X.

^"Those wishing to pursue in greater depth the progress of the

Western Design and of the gradual subjugation of Jamaica should refer
to C. H. Firth, ed., The Narrative of General Venables; S. A. G. Taylor,
The Western Design; and Irene A. Wright "The Spanish Resistance to the
English Occupation of Jamaica, 1655-1660," Transactions of the Royal
Historical Society, Fourth Series, XIII (19lOJ, 117-11*7 • The principal
sources of this paragraph include: Thurloe SP, IV, 29; Firth, ed.,
Narrative of General Venables, pp. 36-U7 and 168-169; CSPC, I, U29;
Firth, ed., Clark Papers, 111, 51-53.

k^Thurloe SP, III, 565.

^CSPC, IX, Addenda, 92-95; BL, Add. MSS, I8986, f. 265a-b.

^Thurloe SP, III, 621: 621-622 and 566; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-
1685, pp. llj-HH. ------- ------
L5
Thurloe SP, HI, 622: 621-622; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685,
pp . — *-----------
146
Thurloe SP, HI, 565; Taylor, Western Design, p. 13.
U7
Arthur Percival Newton, The European Nations in the West Indies,
1U93-1688 (London: Adam and Charles black, 1933J, p. 21h; Strong,
^Causes of Cromwell's West Indian Expedition," 2^3-2li5; Firth, Oliver
CromweH, pp. 350, 392-393, Uol;, and U08.

^Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, pp. H9-120.

1.0
47BL, Add. MSS, lUjll, f . 13a: f . 9b; Thurloe SP, IV, 6-7 and 39-
IiO: V, 652: VI, 169; EL, Egerton MSS, f . 176a-b; Harlow, Barbados,
1625-1685, pp. 18-23.

^°Bodleian, Rawlinson MSS, A 26, p. 287: pp. 28U-287; Thurloe SP,

III, 566 and 683: IV, 651-652.

^BL, Add. MSS, 35251, fs, 39a-ljOa: "The Protestation of me Tho:

Modiford Presented ye Lieu:t Gen:rH by ye hands of Seigmt Major
Tho: Nowell, his Highness Secretary of this Island Barbados this 20th
March 1655"; Lucas MSS, "Minutes of the Council," I, 190: cf. with
"Minutes of the Council," I, 201-202.
 697

<2
Thurloe SP, IV, 651-652 and 665: V, 56*i; Lucas MSS, "Minutes of
the Council," I, 358-360; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1665, pp. 119-120;
Helwig, "Early Barbados and South Carolina," p. 30.
53
This interpretation makes the most sense out of the maneuvers
of the governor and Council during the next several months relative
to Judicial reform. It also explains some conflicting evidence
reflecting the relationship between the governor/Council and the
commissioners of prize. See CSPC, I, 1*56: Petition of Major General
John Colleton; Lucas MSS, "Minutes of the Council," I, 232, 261t, 352-
353, 381, and 390-391$ Thurloe SP, VI, 296; see especially BL, Add.
MSS, 111(11, f . 60a in which Thomas Povey chides Governor Searle some­
what while providing a key to understanding the whole affair: "I know
well you had beforehand . . . advised Mr. Noell, what might be donn,
to the Satisfaction of his Highness in the alteration of the Judges,
but if you had then clearely acquainted him that it was intended for
the laying Judge Colleton aside, and have consulted how expedient that
might bee, you would have received his free advice . . . ."

^ Thurloe SP, III, 622; Lucas MSS, "Minutes of the Council," I,

is f illecTwIth allusions to Colleton's court: see pp. 2, 10-11, 17,
19, 28, id, U8-U9, 57, 85, 100, 115, 153-15**, 202, 231, 296-297, 302,
316-317, and passim: appeals to the Council from Colleton's court, a
few of which involved reversals of Colleton's decisions, are recorded
on pp. 171, 179, 265-267, 280-281, and 293-29*4.

^Lucas MSS, "Minutes of the Council," I, 26*;, 327, 329, 352-

35*4, and 369-372.
56
BL, Egerton MSS, 2395, f • l*48b; see the instances of such
obstruction documented in the paragraph below.
57
Given Modyford1s overwhelming desire to establish himself in
the eyes of the Lord Protector as a person of merit and repute (and
his prospering condition as a rising planter), what possible motive
could he have had for a genuine neglect of duty as chief of the Prize
Office? For dipping a hand into the till? See Lucas MSS, "Minutes
of the Council," I, 233: 381: 390-391: Thurloe SP, IV, 296.
58
Lucas MSS, "Minutes of the Council," I, 329 and 337: John
Colleton is on record as continuing to preside over St. Michael!s
Court at least until May, 1657; CSPC, I, U56; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-
1685, pp. 119-120.
59
Charles M. Andrews, "British Committies, Commissions, and
Councils of Trade and Plantations, 1622-1675," Johns Hopkins Univer­
sity Studies in Historical and Political Science, XXVI (1908),
U9-51; Britienbaugh, No Peace fteyond the Line, p.~ 86.
60
Andrews "British Committees," 51-55; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-
1685, pp. 119-120; Lucas MSS, "Minutes of the Council," t, llo; BL,
AH37 MSS, 111(11, fs. 6b-7a: f. 7a-b: fs. 8a-9a: fs. 16a-17a: fs. 37b-
38a: fs. l(3b-*4*(a: and fs. *(9b-50a; CSPC, I, 1(60.
 698

61The evidence upon which this paragraph depends is less than con­
clusive, but the account rendered makes the best sense of the evidence
available. From the Minutes of the Council, we know that John Colleton
was presiding over St. Michael's Court as late as May, 1657, that he
was dismissed from his judgeship in July, 1657, and that he was not
referred to as being present in the island again until March, 1658. We
know that his kinsman, Henry Colleton, was replaced as clerk of this
court in July, 1657, because he was "about to depart the island."
Colleton's first petition is dated February 3, 1657. The editor of the
calendar (CSPC, I) erroneously dates his second petition February, 1657,
also. The context requires that this petition have been presented
sometime during the fall of 1657. What we have identified as Cromwell's
order for Colleton's reinstatement was entered in the original Council
Book following the minutes for October 23, 1657. Along with accom­
panying documents, however, it was so deteriorated as to be unreadable
by the transcriber. We identify it by the pointing, but less than
conclusive, headings in the margin. The arrival of such an order by
this time is required, however, by allusions to Cromwell's interference
in the appointment of judges in the Barbadian's address to the Pro­
tector of November 2, 1657, the contents of which we know from
references to it in Thomas Povey's letters. As sources of this
paragraph see: CSPC, I, U56: U55-U56; Lucas MSS, "Minutes of the
Council," I, 3297*337, 381-381;, and I;l5-ia6j BL, Add. MSS, lllill, f.
57a: Thomas Povey to Daniel Searle, January 8, 1658; f . 53a: Thomas
Povey to William Povey, January U, 1658; Harlow, Barbados^ 1625-1685,
pp. 120-121 (Harlow must be used with care here since he is inaccurate
in chronology and a few minor details.).
62
BL, Add. MSS, llt;Il, f. 58b: fs. 58a-60b: Thomas Povey to Daniel
Searle, March 27, 1658; f . 53b: Thomas Povey to Daniel Searle, January
9, 1658j Harlow, Barbados 1625-1685, p. 121.
63
The quotes of this paragraph are taken from the following
sources in sequence: BL, Add. MSS, lllill, f . 39b: Thomas Povey to
William Povey, August 20, 1657j fs. 58b, 59b, and 58b: Thomas Povey to
Daniel Searle, March 27, 1658; f . 5Ub: Thomas Povey to Daniel Searle,
January 8, 1658.

6i;BL . Add. MSS, lll;ll, fs. 58a-60b (Povey made it abundantly

clear to Searle the danger he was in if matters were not composed with
Colleton and Modyford.)j Lucas MSS, "Minutes of the Council," I, ljl5-
lg.6; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, p. 121; BL, Add. MSS, lllill, fs.
56b-57a: Thomas Povey to William Povey, April 3, 1658; f . 71a: Daniel
Searle to Martin Noell, May 10, 1658.

6^BL, Add MSS, lllill, f . 71a-b: f . 71b: fs. 71a-72b; Lucas MSS,
"Minutes of the Council." I, lil9, 1(21, U25, and U30; Harlow, Barbados,
1625-1685, p. 121.
66
Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, p. 122.
6?
BL, Add. MSS, lllill, f. 81;a: f. 81;a-b.
 699

68
BL, Add. MSS, lllill, f. 90a: f. 90b: fs. 90a-92a; BL, Add. MSS,
lllill, f. 89b: Declaration from the Councell of State to the Governor
and Councel of the Island of Barbados, June 9 [sic. June 6 ], 1659j
BL, Add. MSS, lllill, fs. 85a-86b: Thomas Povey to Daniel Searle, June
8, 1659j CSPC, I, U76.

^BL, Egerton MSS, 2395, f • 182b: fs. I82a-l83a: "To the Supreame
Authority the Parliamt of the Comon Wealth of England: The humble
Petition of the Representatives of the Island of Barbados, for and in
behalfe of the Inhabitants thereof," December 11, 1659.
70
BL, Egerton MSS, 2395* f • 238: "The Declaration and Act of ye
Governor, Councell, and Assembly for the Continuance of ye Peace of
this Island," January 19, 1660; CSPC, I, Ii79j On May 6, 1660, an
unidentified correspondent wrote from Barbados: "At a general muster
of the island, about six months past [November, 1659], Col. Wm.
Fortescue proposed a health to the Governor, 'To our Master,1 upon
which Modyford pretended cause of offence,"; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-
1685, pp. 12l|-125j Higham, The Leeward Islands, pp. 5-0*

7^BL, Egerton MSS, 2395, fs. 2li5-25l: "A Commission for Coll.
Tho: Muddiford to be Gov:r of Barbados'; see the king's reference to
Modyford in his lett to George Monck on May 17, 1660, as evidence that
Monck was looking after Modyford's interests during this period of
transition: Bodleian, Clarendon MSS, 72, f . i|08; Harlow, Barbados,
1625-1685, p. 125.
72
Ashley, General Monck, Chapter 15; David Ogg, England in the
Reign of Charles il (London: Oxford University Press, 1 9 6 7 ) , p. 155.

"^Bodleian, Clarendon MSS, 72, f . 1|08: F. J. Routledge, ed.,

Calendar of the Clarendon State Pepers Preserved in the Bodleian
Library, V (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970), 3U; CSPC, I, 1|80 and l|8ii;
Higham, The Leeward Islands, p. 10.

7^CSPC, I, li8ii and l|86-i|87.

7^PR0, C.O. 3l/lj "Minutes of the Council of Barbados," July 31,

1660; CSPC, I, i»87: i486—U87J Higham, The Leeward Islands, p. 10;
n. ed., "Some Records of the House of Assembly of Barbados," JBMHS,
Vol. X, No, U (August, 19lt3), 177-178; CSPC, V, 639-

7^EL, Egerton MSS, 2395, f. 267; Andrews, "British Committees,"

62-63; CSPC, I, ii79, U83-i|8ii, and 1|88-1|89; Lillian M. Penson, The
Colonial Agents of the British West Indies (London: University"^?
London Press, 192I1J, pp. 25-21/.

77CSPC, I, l|86-l|87; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, pp. 128-129;

Penson, Colonial Agents, pp. 28-29.
7A
CSPC, I, l|89-ll90; Penson, Colonial Agents, pp. 30-31 i Higham,
The Leeward Islands, pp. Ili-l5.
 700

79CSPC, I, 1*89-1*90; BL, Add. MSS, 111*11, fs. 28a-2?b.

8cW the king promised to retain Modyford in his post when he had
already confirmed Willoughby as governor in July and again in September
is not clear. See Higham, The Leeward Islands, p. 15: pp. 11-15,
CSPC, I, 1*92.

8lHL, Add. MSS, 111*11, fs. 28a-29b; CSPC, I, l*9l* and 1*96: V, 3j
Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, p. 132.

82FR0, C.O. 3/11, pp. 31-32 and 35; CSPC, I, 1*92, l*9l*, and 1*96;
Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, pp. 132-133-

PRO, C.O. 3/11, P. 38: pp. 38-1*0; CSPC, V, 1-1*; Harlow, Barbados,
1625-1685, pp. 133-131*.
qi
George Monck had been greatly instrumental in effecting the
king's restoration. Consequently, during the months immediately
following the Restoration, he was awarded numerous positions and titles
of importance. See Ashley, General Monck, pp. 211-212 and DNB, XIII,
603-605. Other sources of this paragraph include: CSPC, V, 3: 3-h}
APC Col., I, 306: 305-306; Higham, The Leeward Islands, p. 19.

8^CSPC, V, 11*.

8^Ibid., 20: 27, 28, 33, 1*1*, 1*5-1*6, and 1*9; see also the originals
of these items in PRO, C.O. l/l5, No. 52: C.O. 31/1, No. 1*2:
C.O. 1/15, No. 69: C.O. l/l5, No. 70: C.O. l/l5, No. 71s C.O. 31/I,
pp. 56-62 as cited in Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, pp. 135-138.
O7
For a detailed account of the controversy over the Carlisle
patent, see Williamson, The Caribbee Islands, Chapter 10 or Higham,
The Leeward Islands, pp. 11*-18. Sources of this paragraph include:
CSPC, V, 27, 29, 1*5-1*6, 1*8, 1*9, and 5lj Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685,
pp. 137-138; Higham, The Leeward Islands, pp. 21-2£.
OO
Oliver, ed., Caribbeana, IV, 338: VI, 77i Davis Papers, Box
1*, Packet 33<n: Box 11*, Notebook 23, p. 9} BA, Recopied Deed 3/3i*l*:
Counter-deed 3/309; John Roby, Monuments of the Cathedral-Church and
Parish of St. Katherine (Montego Bay, Jamaica: Alexander Holmes, 1831),
p. 16; John koby, Biographical Notes of the Members of the Assembly of
Jamaica for the Parish of iSi. James (Montego Bay, Jamaica: The Jamaica
Standard, 1837J, PP* lV-lhj Philip Wright, Monumental Inscriptions of
Jamaica (London: Society of Genealogist, 1966')",' p. Il9; CSPC, V, 20b.

^William Hilliard’s name is no longer connected with these

properties in any of the transactions involving them in the 1660's,
but each of the brothers-in-law speaks of his "halfe deale" in the
plantations. Sources of this paragraph include: BA, Recopied Deed
3/9l*0, Recopied Deed 3/3i*U, Recopied Deed 8/231: Counter Deed 5/51*0;
Davis Papers, Box 1*, Packet 33k; PRO, PROB 11/323-9131*: "Will of
Thomas Kendall," July 7, 1655j CSPC, I, l*5l; Bridehbaugh, No Peace
Beyond the Line, p. 383.
 701

90
Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, pp. 80 and 201-208$ Charles M. Andrews,
"The Acts of Trade,11 The Cambridge History of the British Empire, X
(New York: Macmillan, 1^2$J, 268-272.
91
CSPC, I, 1*93: 1*90; Ashley, General Monck, pp. 271 ff.; Andrews,
"British Committees," 61-68$ Bodleian, Rawlinson MSS, C9b, f. 35:
"The names of his Marties Councell for Forraigne Plantacons, 1660"$
CSPC, V, 1-2, 30, and 32$ Penson, Colonial Agents, p. 30.
92
DNB, VII, 8-9$ Alexander, "Exeter Members of Parliament," 205
ana 212$ Concise DNB, I, 533; DNB, XIII, 5bO-5bl; Winslow Jones, "The
Slannings of Leye, Bickleigh, and Maristow," TDA, XIX (1887), b60-
1*65; Thurloe SP, IV, 119-120$ Oliver, ed., Caribbeana, IV, 3b0.

^Andrews, "British Committees," 61-79; Andrews, "The Acts of

Trade," 268-277$ Beer, The Old Colonial System, I, 1-11.

G. Davies, The Royal African Company (London: Longmans,

Green and Company, 1957), pp. 1-16, 21, and 23$ BL, Add. MSS, 111*11,
f. 92-b; "A Petition of the Planters of Barbados to the Council of
State," [late l650«s].
95
George Frederick Zook, The Company of Royal Adventurers Trading
into Africa (Lancaster, Pennsylvania: The New Printing Company, 1919),
pp. 8-17 and 72-73; Davies, The Royal African Company, pp. 38-1*3;
Elizabeth Donnan, ed., Documents Illustrative of the History of the
Slave Trade to America (Washington: Carnegie institute of Washington,
193b)," I, 88,' 168n,"and 171; CSPC, V, 88.

^ A proposal submitted on the eve of the reorganization of the

Company of Royal Adventurers (late 1662) seems to imply that the
company was then licensing, for a fee, any English trader who wished
to deal in Negroes, as long as he did not put in at the company's
favored locations of trade along the African coasts: see CSPC, V, p.
120. Sources of this paragraph include: Donnan, ed.. Documents of the
Slave Trade, I, 110$ CSPC, V, 123-121*.

^CSPC, V, 121*: 123-121*$ Zook, Royal Adventurers, pp. 87-88.

og
CSPC, V, 119-122$ Zook, Royal Adventurers, p. 88$ Davies, The
Royal African Company, pp. l*l-i*2$ E. M. Shilstone, "The Thirteen
fiaronets," JBM H S , Vol. H , No. 2 (February, 1935)* 91.

99CSPC, V, 123 and 125$ Zook, Royal Adventurers, pp. 7i*-88.

■^^PRO, T. 70/61*6 in entirely (1*8 folios) but especially fs.

l*b-7a, lOa-lla, ll*a-20a, 31a-l*0a, and l*6a. Zook in "The Company of
Royal Adventurers Trading into Africa, 1660-1672," Journal of Negro
History, IV (2), (April, 1919), p. 217 calculated the number of slaves
handled by the Barbadian factors to have been 3*075. My examination
of the ledger leads me to believe his figures were conservative. See
also: A. P. Thornton, "The Organization of the Slave Trade in the
English West Indies, 1660-1685," William and Mary Quarterly, Series 3,
 702

XII (July, 1955), 1*01; Donnan, ed., Documents of the Slave Trade, I,
88-89j and CSPC, V, 193-196: Sir Tho. Modyford and P. Colleton to
the Governor, Deputy Governor, and Court of Assistants [of the Royal
African Company], March 20 and March 31, 1661*.

101PR0, T. 70/61*6, fs. 13a and 3U; CSPC, V, 193-19ii; Zook,

Royal Adventurers, pp. 73-73.

^Tlodyford was re-elected to the Assembly and the Speaker's

chair in December, 1662, When the Assembly was summoned again in
August, 1663, however, Samuel Farmer was chosen Speaker: see CSPC, V,
116 and Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, p. ll*5. See also PRO, T.70/75,
19j Zook, Royal Adventurers, pp. 73-755 Thronton, "Slave Trade in the
English West Indies," 1*07•

■^Bodleian, Clarendon MSS, 80, f. 283a: f . 283a-b: "A Narrative

touching the Proceedings of his Excellency and Councell [of Barbados]
against Coll. Humphrey Walrond"; CSPC, V, 125, 128, 133, 13U, 137,
165, 166, 168, and 170; Harlow, Barbados, 1625-1685, pp. 11*1-ll*8 and
ll*8n.

10^CSPC, V, 169, 185, 188, 195, and 218; HMC, 29th. Report, III
(189U), MSs_of the Duke of Portland, 278.

■^J. A. Williamson, "The Colonies after the Restoration, 1660-

1713," The Cambridge History of the British Empire, ed., J. Holland
Rose et. al., I (New York: Macmillan, 1 chapter 8, esp, pp. 21*5
and 21*7-256.
106
CSPC, V, 125-126, 133, 13?, and 152; Hugh T. Lefler, History
of North Carolina (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc.,
1936J, I, 39J ilelwig, "Early Barbados and South Carolina," pp. 172-
173 and 177.
107
North Carolina, Colonial Records of North Carolina, ed.,
William L. Saunders, I (Raleigh: P. M. kale and others, 1886), 39-1*1,
1*6-1*8, and 57-59; CSPC, V, 153-157; Helwig, "Early Barbados and South
Carolina," p. 17U.

108CSPC, V, 153: 161.

1Q9Thurloe SP, IH, 565; BL, Add. MSS, lll*10, pp. 311-319: PRO,
C.O. 32l*/l, 253-358; CSPC, V, 177: "Description of Jamaica, surveyed
by Sir James Modyford," 1663; A. P. Thornton, West-India Policy under
the Restoration (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1956], pp. 60-61.
110
CSPC, V, 180-181; Thornton, West-Indla Policy, pp. 1*3—UU, ii7-
1*8, 51-52, 57, and 60-61.

111CSPC, V, 181; Thornton, West-India Policy, p. 61.

112CSPP, (1663-1661*), 1*87; William Courthope, Synopsis of the

Extinct Baronetage of England . . . (London: J. G. and F . diverton,
 703

1835)* P* 136; Calendar of Treasury Books, I (1660-1667)* 587 and 589;

CSPC, V, 181, ltJ5-l«b, and 190-I91.

n 3 CSPC, V, 193, 206-207, and passim.

n U CSPC, V, 189, 193, and 206-207.

^ P R O , C.O. 1/18, No. 65: CSPC, V, 208: Modyford to Secretary

Bennet, May 10, 166U; Thurloe SP, D lI, 565: Mr. Muddiford to Secretary
Thurloe, June 20, 1655. In addition to Modyford1s direct dispatches
to the king and Secretary Bennet, Thomas Kendall and others were
continuing to present other proposals enumerated to them earlier by
Modyford. See CSPC, V, 180-181 and 208-210. See also Calendar of
State Papers, Venetian, XXXIV (1661;-1666), 25-26; Thornton, West-India
Fol'
l'cyT pg r f e 5 I; anT"6U, n.l. ---------

CSPC, V, 207-210, 212-213, 219, and passim; Oliver, ed.,

Caribbeana, IV, 338, 311: VI, 75-

Chapter VII. Developing and Defending Jamaica, I66I4-I667

Pages 3UO-U.8

'S'or three or four illustrative journeys from the outer edge of

the Caribbean to Jamaica, some with stops at Barbados and others with­
out, see Basil Lubbock, ed., Barlow's Journal of His Life at Sea in
King's Ships, East and West Indiamen, and d)ther Merchantmen from 1559
to 1703 (London: Hurst and Blackett, 1 9 3 M * X*~esp* 313, 320-321,
330-131, and 31*5. For sailing conditions and patterns of this area
see Samuel Eliot Morison, Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of
Christopher Columbus (Boston: tittle, Brown and Company, 19U2), I,
'•Ships and Sailing,11 xxi-xlv. See also PRO, T70/6U6, f . 8a; CSPC,
V, 207-211 and 217; National Geographic Society, Maps of the West
Indies and Central America (Washington, D. C. : Cartographic Division,
1970).
2
Samuel Eliot Morison and Mauricio Obregon, The Caribbean as
Columbus Saw It (Bsoton: Little, Brown and Company, 196LJ, pp. 221-
£U3; Richard Blome, A Description of the Island of Jamaica. Compiled
from the notes of Sir Thomas Lynch (London: D. Newman, I678), pp. 20-
21; Frank Cundall, Biographical Annals of Jamaica (Kingston, Jamaica:
The Institute of Jamaica, 190h), p. ?; bavid fiuisseret and Jack
Tyndale-Biscoe, Historic Jamaica from the Air (Barbados: Caribbean
Universities Press, 19693, pp. v and 2.
3
Taylor, The Western Design, pp. 38-U8; Frank Cundall, Historic
Jamaica (1915; rpt, New tork: Johnson Reprint Corporation, 19ti),
pp. 6-b; Blome, Description of Jamaica, pp. 16 and 20-21; HL, Add.
MSS, HI 4IO, pp. 2'6-2?; John Lynch, Spain under the Hapsburgs (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1969), IX, 175; Buisseret and Tyndale-
 70Li

Biscoe, Historic Jamaica from the Air, pp. v, 2, and 1*. For a fuller
account of the Spanish period of Jamaican history see Francesco
Morales Padron, Jamaica Espanola (Seville: 1952); Frank Cundall and J.
L. Pietersz, Jamaica under the Spaniards (Kingston, 1919); and H. P.
Jacobs, "The Spanish Period of Jamaican History," JHR, III, No. 1
(1997), 79-93.

^Julian de Castilla, "The English Conquest of Jamaica, 1655-1656,"

Camden Miscellany, XHI, Camden Society Publications, Third Series,
NoV 3"i* (London: Offices of the Society, 1921*), 13-15 and 20; Irene A.
Wright, "The Spanish Resistance to the English Occupation of Jamaica,
1655-1660," Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Fourth
Series (London: Offices of the Society, 1930), XIII, 117-11*7; Taylor,
The Western Design, Chapters 7-10.

*CSPC, I, 1*31, 1*33, 1*1*1, UU6, 1*1*7, 1*50, 1*58, 1*66, 1*76, and passim.
Thurloe SP, IV, 5l: V, 77, 1*1*1, 500, and 769; Fortescue, History of
the British Army, I, 261*; Wright, "Spanish Resistance," 11*6; Taylor,
Western design, Chapters 16 and 17.

^Blome, Description of Jamaica, p. 23. A letter of marque or

reprisal was a commission issued to a ship's captain and crew by a
person of authority (e.g. a king, admiral, or colonial governor as vice
admiral) authorizing that ship to make war on the subjects and shipping
of another designated nation: see Violet Barbour, "Privateers and
Pirates of the Wjest Indies," AHR, XVI, (October, 1910-July. 19H),
531-532. For this paragraph, see also CSPC, I, 1*31, 1*1*2, 1*67, 1*80,
and 1*82; Thurloe SP, V, 151-151*, VI, llSTT80, 392, 51*0-51*2, and 831*:
VII, 55, 261-262, and 51*0.
7
As background for Chapters VII and VIII, I am deeply indebted to
the careful and well-grounded study of A. P. Thornton in West-India
Policy under the Restoration (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1956)• For this
paragraph see pp. 9-12, i*3-i*8, and 67-76. See also C. H. Haring,
Buccaneers in the West Indies in the XVI Century (London: Methuen and
Company, i9loj, p. loo.
O
CSPC, V, 21: 5-6, 23, 37, 38, and l*2-l*3; Taylor, Western Design,
pp. 127-128ff; Barbour, "Privateers," 51*2.

^CSPC, V, 85: 81-82, 88-89, 96-97, and 99; Thornton, West-India

Policy, pp. 1*8-55.

10BL, Add. MSS, 111*10, pp. 5-6: "The Condition of the Island of
Jamaica at ye Lord Windsor’s departure being ye 28th Octo: 1662";
CSPC, V, 106, 109, and 112; Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 56 and
TT79; C. H. Firth, "The Capture of St. Jago de 6uba,11 English
Historical Review, XIV, 536-51*0.

n HL, Add. MSS, 111*10, p. 30: p. 31: pp. 26 and 29-31: "A Briefe
Account of the State of Jamaica by Sir Charles Littleton at his retume
from thence to the Lord Chancellor"; CSPC, V, 210: X, 1*57; Noel B.
Livingston, Sketch Pedigrees of Some of the Early Settlers in Jamaica
 705

(Kingston: The Educational Supply Company, 1909), pp. 87-89.

12
CSPC, V, 129, 152, and 210-212; Edward Maunde Thompson, ed.,
Correspondence of the Family of Hatton. Being Chiefly Letters Addressed
•bo chrishopher First Viscounb Hatton, 1601-1701*. Camden Society
Publications, Third Series, No. 22 (Westminster: Nichols and Sons,
1878), I, 12 and 28-31.
13
CSPC, V, 210-211; Oliver, ed., Caribbeana, II, 101. The term
"Old Stander" was generally applied to those soldier-planters who came
in with General Venables at the conquest and survived to make con­
tributions toward the settlement and development of the colony: see
S. A. G. Taylor, The Western Design, pp. 203, 212, and 223,

^CSPC, V, 211: 210-212, and 219.

15
Modyford instructed Lieutenant Governor Morgan upon Morgan's
departure from Barbados in early May to drop off settlers at several
points along the southern coast, unloading none but "merchants and
traders" at Jamaica's principal port. His letters to Secretary Bennet
following his own arrival imply that he did the same. See CSPC, V,
209 and 219. See also: Thomas Lynch, ed., The Laws of Jamaica Massed
by the Assembly and Confirmed by His Majesty"in Council, April 17,
l6t)I*. fro Whi°n Is Added, ~bhe Sta^'e of"Jamaica as It Is Now underJ~the
Government of sir thomas Lynch, with a targe kapp of the Island (’London:
Charles Harper, i6tih), p. ii; Colin G. Clark and Alan G. Hodgkiss, eds.,
Jamaica in Maps (London: University of London Press, 197U), p. 13.

^ O f the four ships used to transport Governor Modyford, Lieutenant

Governor Morgan, and 987 Barbadian emigrants to Jamaica, H. M. S.
Westereate was a fifth-rate frigate and H. M. S. Swallow a ketch
engaged in the regular service of the Royal Navy; H. M. S. Marmaduke
was a fourth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy on loan to the Company of
Royal Adventurers; the Blessing was an English merchantman belonging
to a Quaker, John Perrott, which was hired as a transport for this
occasion: see CSPC, V, 158, 176, 207-209, 217, and 219; Bodleian,
Rawlinson MSS, A 197, fs. £b-6a, 9b-10a, and 20b-21a: "Samuel Pepy's
Descriptive Lists of the Ships of the Royal Navy, 1660-1675"; and PRO,
T70, 61*6, fs. 5a, and 7b: "Barbados Ledger, 1662-1661*." The finer
points of sailing are well laid out in Morison, Admiral of the Ocean
Sea, Chapter 1. For the typical pattern of sailing into Port Royal
and detailed descriptions of maneuvering and coming to anchor within
the harbor see: Inst. Jam., Taylor MS, p. 1*99; Michael Pawson and
David Buisseret, Port Royal, Jamaica (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975),
p. 1*6; Lubbock, ed., Barlow's Journal, pp. 318, 321, and 331; and PRO,
Adm. 51/1*389/12, fs. 2tS2a, £B6a, and 300b: "The Journal of James
Waymouth of Voyages in H. M. S. Welcome, October, 1670-August, 1672."
Other sources of this paragraph 'include: W. Adolphe Roberts, Sir Henry
Morgan, Buccaneer and Governor (New York: Covici-Friede-Publishers,
19331, p. d; William A. claypole, "The Settlement of the LIguanea Plain
between 1655 and 1673," JHR, X (1973), 11-12 and li*; Pawson and
Buisseret, Port Royal, pp. 5 and 8l; Inst. Jam., Taylor MS., pp. 1*91-
1*92; W. Adolphe Roberts, Jamaica: the Portrait of an Island (New York:
 706

Coward-McCann Inc., 1955), p. 3ii.

17
F. J. Osborne and S. A. G. Taylor, trans. and ed., "Edward
D'Oyley's Journal," JHR, X (1973), 85 and 85 n.l; Roberts, Portrait
of an Island, p. 32; inst. Jan., Taylor MS., p. U98.
18
Pawson and Buisseret, Port Royal, p. 5, Chapter 2, and p. 80;
Osborne and Taylor, trans. and ed., "Edward D'Oyley's Journal," 33,
37, U2 n.3, 58, 58 n.l 59, 77, 85, 85 n.l, 102, and passim; Taylor,
The Western Design, pp. 129-131; Roberts, Sir Henry Morgan, p. 8;
cspJ, V, ITT
19
With the emergence of the "Taylor Manuscript" (Institute of
Jamaica) containing a vividly descriptive chapter on Port Royal in
1688; with the compiling of real estate transactions in Port Royal
prior to 1692 by the Institute of Jamaica (indexed and printed on
3 x 5 cards by the National Geographic Society) from the original
patents and deeds preserved In the Island Record Office; with the
archaeological work begun by Mr. Edwin Link (1656 and 1659, under the
joint sponsorship of the National Geographic Society, the Smithsonian
Institution, and the Institute of Jamaica), continued by Mr. Norman
Scott (I960), Mr. Robert Marx (1966), and Mr. Philip Mayes (1968), and
currently being perpetuated by the Port Royal Project; with the
publishing of "Edward D'Oyley's Journal" (BL, Add MSS, 122*23: first
installment in JHR, X (1973), pp. 33 If.); and with the recent pub­
lication of Michael Pawson1s and David Buisseret1s able study, Port
Royal, Jamaica— it is now possible to know much about this fascinating
town prior to its catastrophic destruction by the earthquake of 1692.
I am deeply grateful to C. Bernard Lewis, director of the Institute
of Jamaica, and to the librarians of the West India Reference Library
for enabling me to consult and to microfilm portions of the Taylor MS
and for providing me with a set of the printed "Real Estate Tran­
sactions . . . Port Royal, Jamaica." I extend a special thanks to
Professor David Buisseret for a very pleasant day spend in his company
touring the present town and historic sites of Port Royal and for the
privilege of reading several chapters of Port Royal, Jamaica in
typescript before it went to the publisher. These are simply two of
the many ways he has extended to me the hand of friendship. The
principal sources of this paragraph include: CSPC, V, 36, 37, 38, 57,
59, 111, 115, 130, 136, 138, 19k, 196, and 2l27“Taylor, The Western
Design, p. 131; Pawson and Buisseret, Port Royal, pp. 6-7, and 83.
For an artist's reconstruction of the town at the time of the earth­
quake, see Marion Clayton Link, "Exploring the Drowned City of Port
Royal," National Geographic Magazine, CXVH (February, I960), 152-151:.
For an update on the archaeological work being done on the site, see
n. a., "The Port Royal Project," Jamaican Journal, Vol. IV, No. 2
(June, 1970), 2-12.

^S’or this paragraph and those which immediately follow, I have

drawn from several early plans of Port Royal— BL, Add. MSS, 51P-U,
No. 5i "A Draught of Port Royal, 1683" by William Hack; BL, Add. MSS,
ll*l*92*> f. 22a: "A Plan of Port Royal Showing the Town as It Was Before
and After the Earthquake of 1692"; Frank Cundall, "A General Plan of
 707

Port Royal, Jamaica" featured in "Outlines of the History of Port

Royal," The West India Committee Circular (September 23, 1913), UUl—
1*1*3. The illustrations provided as Map 7 and Map 8 are adapted
directly from Map 8 and Map 9 in Pawson1s and Buisseret's Port Royal,
Chapter VH, and my reconstructions are heavily indebted to their more
detailed researches. For this paragraph also see Pawson and Buisseret,
Port Royal, pp. 81-82.
21
Pawson and Buisseret, Port Royal, pp. 10-13, 85-86, 93-91*, and
Appendix 13; CSPC, V, 37, hi,' 59™and Z38.
22
Pawson and Buisseret, Port Royal, PP* H , 13, 86-87, and 9l*-95;
Link, "Exploring the Drowned City," ±52.
23
Pawson and Buisseret, Port Royal, pp. 83, 81*, 85, and 9l*;
National Geographic Society, Port Royal Real Estate Index, card 571;
BL, Add. MSS, 111*10, f.l.
21*
Pawson and Buisseret, Port Royal, pp. Il*-l8, 6k, 67, 81*, 86,
88, 90-91, and 101*; Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, p. 182; Real Estate Index,
card 833.
25
^Pawson and Buisseret, Port Royal, pp. Il*-16, 89, 92, and 9U;
Real Estate Index, cards 19, T37T3?2,"'U6Q, 705, 713, and 727 -
26
Pawson and Buisseret, Port Royal, pp. 91* and 106-107; Dunn,
Sugar and Slaves, pp. 182 and 181*; Taylor MS., p. 1*92; Taylor, The
Western Design,"pp. 122-123 and 203; Real Estate Index, cards 20,
1*66, 567-568, 572-573, 6B1, 6$5, and ?28.

2^CSPC, I, 57; Taylor MS., p. 1*92; Real Estate Index, cards 283-
286, 30^356, 310, 325, 1*03, 1*05-1*06, 517, 5^5, 7U», % 9 , and 785.
pQ
Taylor MS., pp. 1*91* and 1*98-1*99; Claypole, "The Settlement of
the Liguanea Plain," 8, 12, and 11*; CSPC, V, 55; Pawson and Buisseret,
Port Royal, pp. 63-61*, 67, 83, 102-103, and Appendix 3-
29
CSPC, V, 218 and 22l*; Pawson and Buisseret, Port Royal, pp. 21,
23-21*, 1*1-1*3, and Appendix 2; Helen Crump, Colonial Admirai-Ey Juris­
diction, pp. 101 ff.

^Pawson and Buisseret, Port Royal, pp. 65-66 and 70; Lubbock,
ed., Barlow's Journal, pp. 313-315 and. 321-322.

^ “Taylor MS., p. 502; Pawson and Buisseret, Port Royal, pp. 81*,
101*. 107, and 118-119; IR0, Deeds, I, 16; Real Estate Index, cards
67, 70, 219, 317, 372, 1*1*1*, '1*70, 51*3, 705, ?15, and 7^7-
32
Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, pp. 181-185; Roberts, Sir Henry Morgan,
pp. 9-10.

■^CSFC, V, 219: 210-211. Though we are not favored with detailed

accounts of the reception in Jamaica of Lord Windsor and Sir Thomas
 708

Modyford, for the reception of their successors— Sir Thomas Lynch,

Lord Vaughan, the Earl of Carlisle, and Christopher, Duke of Albemarle
— see: BL, Add. MSS, lll|10, fs. 372-375; CSPC. IX, pp. 192 and 206;
Longleat, Coventry MSS, 7h, f * 56: Sir Henry Morgan to Secretary
Coventry, April 15, 1675; Longleat, Coventry MSS, 75, f • 262b; Taylor
MS*, PP* 578-587* The repetitive pattern which, with minor variations,
was pursued in al3 these receptions strongly suggests that it was
instituted in the reception of the first notable person to be received
as governor— Lord Windsor— and was followed thereafter. It was, no
doubt, therefore operative at Modyford1s arrival.
qI
See the sources cited in note 33* See also Pawson end Buisseret,
Port Royal, pp. 8, 37-38, and 110-113; CSPC, V, 219-220.
35
Inst. Jam., MS. 60, "The Council Book of Jamaica," (hand
copied transcripts of Council Minutes), I, 97: 96-97; CSPC, V, 212.

^"Council Book of Jamaica," I, 98-99; CSPC, V, 212-213*

37"Council Book of Jamaica," I, 7Us 73-7U and 98-99; CSPC, V,

219; Pawson and Buisseret, Port Royal, p. 111*.

38CSPC, V, 106, 108, 113-llU, 122, 12U, 128, 151, 165, 173, 191*,
196, 2l2,and 219; Frank Cundall, The Governors of Jamaica in the
Seventeenth Century (London: Hazell, Watson, and Viney, 19^6), p. 23*

39FRO, C.O., XIV, No. 57, fs. 6-7: "An Early Account of Jamaica,"
November 2, 1660 [by Thomas Lynch]; "Edward D'Oyley's Journal," 102;
Taylor, The Western Design, pp. 52-53; Taylor MS., p. Cundall,
Historic Jamaica, p. dU;Pawson and Buisseret, Port Royal, pp. 9 and
rr

^Taylor MS., p. 509; BL, Add. MSS, llUlO, p. 2; Taylor, The

Western Design, pp. 53-55, 206, and map between page U8 and page U9;
JA, Estate Platts, St. Catherine Plat Book, I, no. 1*7, f* 55: f . 82.
m
The plan of St. Jago de la Vega presented as Map 9 has been
reconstructed by the writer using evidence drawn from estate platts
and deeds of properties in the area. It must be emphasized, however,
that the evidence is not as abundant as for the town of Port Royal
during this period and is, in some cases, confusing. This plan of the
town is offered as a tentative reconstruction, therefore, pending
further research. The plan and the description of the town articulated
in this paragraph and the three paragraphs to follow draw heavily upon
the following sources: JA, Estate Platts, St. Catherine, I, No.s 1*0,
136, 151, 321, and 381;: H , No.s 191 and 3U5: HI, No.s 199, 737,
750, 786, and 833; JA, Land Patents, V, f . 170z-b; IRQ, Deeds, IV,
fs. 17^-175* For this paragraph see also C. H. Haring, The Spanish
Empire in America (New York: Oxford University Press, 19U7), PP* 160-
16l and Pawson and Buisseret, Port Royal, p. 96.
1|2
See the sources cited in note hi. In addition, see: Taylor MS.,
p. 510; BL, Add. MSS, lllao, p. 3h ; PRO, C.O. XIV, No. 57; Cundall,
 709

Historic Jamaica, p. 9U; Taylor, The Western Design, pp. II46—11*7;

'^Edward D'Oyley's Journal," 37 n. 5j Pawson and Buisseret, Port Royal,
pp. 9-10 and 12j CSPC. V, 2k 5 ‘
, and IRO, Deeds, III, fs. 12$b-126a.
Much of the confusion which hampers a clear-cut reconstruction of a
plan of St. Jago during this early period stems from the existence of
two "parades" in the town. Contemporary patents and conveyances refer
to both; one had difficulty being certain which is meant. During the
16601s and early 1670's, however, it appears that the Church Parade
is the one in focus. By the 1680's, regular mention is being made of
a parade more centrally located, that which was to become the focus
of public life in the eighteenth century. See "A Plan of the Town of
St. Jago de la Vega," 1786 as featured in Tyndale-Biscoe and
Buisseret, Historic Jamaica from the Air, p. h-

^Firth, ed., Narrative of General Venables, p. 139; PRO, C.O.,

XIV, No. 57, P* 6; Edward D'Oyley's Journal," h5 and 8I1 n. 2j JA,
Estate Platts, St. Catherine, I, No.s 1*0, 126, 136, 151, 321, 381*,
and 693: IH, No.s 323, 381, 382, 717, and 737; JA, Land Patents, I,
f. 82: H , f. 169.

^Haring, Spanish Empire in America, p. 161; Cundall, Historic

Jamaica, pp. 8-9; Taylor MS., p. 509; Taylor, The Western Design, p. 1*5*

^"Edward D'Oyley's Journal," 58; Taylor IK., pp. 509-511; JA,

Estate Platts, St. Catherine, I, No. 1*0. The "King's Arms," situated
on a parcel of land two hundred feet square facing the Church Parade,
was sold to Sir Thomas Lynch, Modyford*s successor, on September 5,
1671. It was Lynch's principal dwelling in town during his tenure as
deputy governor, 1671-1675: see IRO, Deeds, IV, fs. 17U-175*

^For evidence which locates Lieutenant Governor Edward Morgan's

house see: JA, Estate Platts, St. Catherine, I, No. 31*5: III, No. 199*
At Morgan's death in 1665, his house became the rectory of the Church
of the Red Cross and, thus, the house of Reverend Henry Howser: see
Cundall, Historic Jamaica, pp. 93-9U. Not until I678 did the Crown
establish a "King's House" in St. Jago. During January of that year,
through Charles Modyford the king purchased four houses in St. Jago
from one Thomas Yates for 1500. One of these was then extensively
remodeled for the Earl of Carlisle as he came out to assume the gover­
norship. See Calendar of Treasury Books, V (1676-1679), 1322 and HL,
Sloane MSS, 272l*, fs. 72-78. For evidence which describes and locates
(albeit not conclusively) the first two houses which Modyford purchased
in St. Jago see: IRO, Deeds, I, fs. 8b-9a and f . Ula: HI, f . 18b;
JA, Estate Platts, St. Catherine, I, No. 317; JA, Land Patents, I,
f. 169b.

^CSPC, V, 219.

^CSPC, V, 238; 219; Richard Blome, A Description of the island

of Jamaica' (London: D. Newman, 1678), pp. lh-15; John Qgilby, America
(London:"John Ogilby, 1671), pp. 338 and 31*5; Taylor, The Western
Design, pp. 205-206; Thomas Lynch, ed., Laws of Jamaica . . . 16*51*,
p. ii; W. Robert Moore, "Jamaica— Hub of the Caribbean," kaiionaY"
 710

Geographic Magazine, CV (January-June, 195k)> 33k.

U9
Modyford*s commission and instructions provide us a clear
picture of what Whitehall expected of him and the powers and privileges
with which he was equipped to achieve it. Various versions of these
are found in: CSPC, V, 185-188j Bodleian, Rawllnson MSS, A255, p.
U7 ff.j Bodleian, Rawlinson MSS, A3b7, f. 81 ff.j JA, Land Patents, I,
97-100. See also: Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 6I-6I4.
50
Ibid. See also, CSPC, V, 239 j Thornton, West-India Policy,
pp. 73-Bb.
51
CSPC, V, 185j Taylor, The Western Design, pp. 201 and 203; Dunn,
Sugar and Slaves, pp. 176-177j Inst. Jam., File of Miscellaneous
Extracts^ Ttem ^O, "Notes on the State of Jamaica," pp. U, 5 S 21, and
22j J. G. Young, "The Beginnings of Civil Government in Jamaica,"
JHR, I (June, 191(5), 50-53.

*2CSPC, V, 185-186.

^Ibid., 187-188, 210, and 25k. With the degree of religious

toleration present in Jamaica at this time during a relatively
intolerant era, we are not surprised to learn that by 1688 there were
in Port Royal active congregations of Quakers, Jews, Catholics, and
Presbyterians as well as Anglicans. See Taylor MS., p. 50k; Pawson
and Buisseret, Port Royal, pp. 116-118.
$k
CSPC, V, 187j Inst. Jam., Journal of the Assembly of Jamaica,
I. Appendix: Statistical Papers, 29'*" PRO',' T70/75, 19-20: August 5,
io6h as cited in Thornton, "Organization of the Slave Trade in the
West Indies," U07J JA, Land Patents, I, 100.
55
CSPC, V, 193, 209, 2k5, 257, 280, 303, and passim. See also
Chapter Vt, pp. 50-51 and n. 91 above.

^Bodleian, Clarendon MSS, 82, f. 253a: Letter from Richard Povey

in Port Royal to Sir Charles Lyttleton in England, December 10, 166k;
CCSP, V, U5i.
57
H. P. Jacobs, "The Colbeck Papers," Jamaican Historical Review,
III, No. 3 (March, 1962), 55-56; Cundall, Governors of Jamaica, p. 23;
CSPC, V, 251-2523 BL, Add. MSS, 121(30, f. 2£a? William Beeston's
Journal."
58
The words of the quote are those of Modyford*s colleague,
Governor Francis Lord Willoughby of Barbados in a similar predica­
ment; the sentiments, however, are quite accurately Modyford *s own in
this instance. See PRO, C.O. l/l9, No. 92 as cited in 'Thornton,
West-India Policy, p. 65. See also CSPC, V, 22U, 237, 2kk-2k5, and 251-
252; Inst. Jam., File of Miscellaneous Extracts, "The State of Jamaica
in the Yeare 1670," pp. 6-8 .

5?CSPC, V, 223-221; and 330; J. H. Parry, "The Patent Offices in

 711

tbe British West Indies,” English Historical Review, LXIX (199k)f

201-202; Oliver, ed., Caribbeana, I, l35t U , 99 and 101; Lynch, ed.,
Laws of Jamaica . . . 16Bu,~pp^~xi-xii and xiv-xvi.

6°PR0, C.O. 1/61;, No. 88: CSPC, XII, 637-638; Charles A. Lindley,
"Jamaica, 1660-1678: Or the Rise of an Autonomous Society,” Diss.
University of Pennsylvania 1932, p. 80.
61
"The State of Jamaica in the Yeare 1670," pp. 7-8; Young,
"Beginnings of Civil Government," 60-63; CSPC, XII, 637-638. (This
undated item is clearly incorrectly calendared for 1672. It was
written in early 1669 and, therefore, should be calendared in volume
V, approximately pp. 280-300.)

62CSPC, V, 22!;: 223-221; and 253-251;.

^ Ibid., 238; "The State of Jamaica in the Yeare 1670," p. 5.

^Bodleian, Clarendon MSS, 82, f . 253b: fs. 253a-253b; BL, Add.

MSS, 12U30, fs. 29b-30a; Inst. Jam., Journal of the Assembly of
Jamaica, I, 2; "Council Book of Jamaica," I, 88; Lindley, "Rise of an
Autonomous Society," pp. 76-77; Young, "Beginnings of Civil Govern­
ment," p. 58.

^CSPC, V, 277. H, P. Jacobs suggests in "The Colbeck Papers,"

p. 56 that Modyford influenced the election to this Assembly of several
men upon whom he could depend for support. See also: "Council Book of
Jamaica," I, 88; Journal of the Assembly, I, 2-3; Harvey L. Da Costa,
"The First Constitutional Struggles JHR. IH, No. 1 (March, 1957)*
23-21;; Young, "Beginnings of Civil Government," 58-59; Bodleian,
Clarendon MSS, 82, fs. 253a-251ia; Lindley, "Rise of an Autonomous
Society," pp. 76-78. Sir Thomas Whitstones appears to have been a
somewhat flamboyant soldier of fortune who came to Jamaica in hopes of
recouping his fortune. As late as September 3, 1661, we find him
petitioning the king for release from Marshalsea Prison (in for debt?)
and permission to go to Jamaica. He was one of the "gentlemen" who
accompanied Windsor and Lyttleton to Jamaica in 1662, having found
sufficient finance to sponsor twenty yeomen or indentured servants
whom he brought out with him. While patenting lands in St. Catherine
and elsewhere and commencing a plantation, he commanded one of the
privateers out cruising under Lyttleton's commissions in I663. See
CSPC. V, 55; Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. U9-90 n.5; HL, Add. MSS,
1110-0, f . 10 as reproduce^' in' Pawson and Buisseret, Port Royal,
Appendix 2, p. 155.

66Bodleian, Clarendon MSS, 82, f . 253b; BL, Add. MSS, 12l;30,

f. 30a; Lindley, "Rise of an Autonomous Society," pp. 77-78.

67Bodleian, Clarendon MSS, 82, f . 253b; BL, Add. MSS, 12U30, f .

30a; Lindley, "Rise of an Autonomous Society," p. 78.
68
BL, Add. MSS, 121;30, f. 30a; Young, "Beginnings of Civil
Government," 59-60; Lindley, "Rise of an Autonomous Society," pp. 78-79.
 712

69HL, Add. MSS, 121*30, f. 31: 121*08, f. 9: 121*30, f. 30b; CSPC,

( V, 277j Lindley, "Rise of an Autonomous Society," p. 78.
70
CSPC, V, 278, 281, and 330; Lindley, "Rise of an Autonomous
Society," pp. 78-79; W. A. Feurtado, Official and Other Personages of
Jamaica, from 1655 to 1790 (Kingston, Jamaica: W. A. Feurtado's Sons,
10^6), pp. xvi, 20, dO, and 9i*.

71Bodleian, Clarendon MSS, 82, f. 251*a: f. 251*b: fs. 253b-25l*b.

72HL, Add. MSS, 121*30, f. 30a; Bodleian, Clarendon MSS, 82, fs.
251*b-255a; CSPC, V, 21*5 and 250-251; "Council Book of Jamaica," I, 91.
73
Bodleian, Clarendon MSS, 82, f. 255a; "Council Book of Jamaica,"
I, 90-91; Lindley, "Rise of an Autonomous Society," p. 79. As a basis
for several of the paragraphs which immediately follow, the corres­
pondence of Thomas lynch, William Beeston, and Richard Povey are used
as some of the richest sources for this period. Every effort is made,
however, to "balance" the obvious bias of these three men, each of
whom had personal reasons to dislike Modyford.

7^CSPC, V, 280 and 551*; VII, 60-61; Bodleian, Clarendon MSS, 82,
fs. 255a-255b; "Council Book of Jamaica," I, 91 and 96; Lindley, "Rise
of an Autonomous Society," p. 80.

7*BL, Add. MSS, 121*30, f. 30b; CSPC, V, 251-252; Bodleian,

Clarendon MSS, 82, f. 255b; Lindley, ^Tse of an Autonomous Society,"
pp. 8I-83.

7^PR0, C.O. 139/1, f. 72 as cited in Lindley, "Rise of an

Autonomous Society," p. 88; Journal of the Assembly, X, 3; CSPC, V,
550; "Council Book of Jamaica," I, 75, 92, 9k, ana 95*

77Bodleian, Clarendon MSS, 82, f . 256a; BL, Add. MSS, 121*30, f .

30b; "Council Book of Jamaica," I, 75-96; Journal of the Assembly, I, 3*

70Bodleian, Clarendon MSS, 82, f . 256b; BL, Add. MSS, 121*30, f .

30b; Lindley, "Rise of an Autonomous Society, p.83.

79CSPC, V, 251-252; Bodleian, Clarendon MSS, 82, f. 238a.

80CSPC, V, 258-259 and 550; "Council Book of Jamaica," I, 77-78;

"The State of Jamaica in the Yeare 1670," p. 5; Lynch, ed., Laws of
Jamaica . . . 1681*, p. xvii.
Oi
CSPC, V, 550; "The State of Jamaica in the Yeare 1670," p. 5;
"Councir^ook of Jamaica," I, 79-82, BL, Add. MSS, 111*10, fs. 50-53;
Lynch, ed., Laws of Jamaica . . . 1681*, p. xviii.

82BL, Add. MSS, 111*10,p. 50; CSPC, V, 550; "Council Book of

Jamaica," I, pp. 88 and 92; "The State of Jamaica in the Yeare 1670,"
pp. 5-6; Lynch, ed., Laws of Jamaica . . . 1681*, p. xviii.
 713

83 , ,
"The State of Jamaica in the Yeare 1670," pp. 6-7; Lynch, ed.,
Laws of Jamaica . . . l68U« pp. xi-xii and xiv-xv; Keir, The Consti­
tutional History, of Modem Britain, pp. 3U9 and 357; Crump, Colonial
Admiralty Jurlsdiction7 p. lol .

8^Lynch, ed., Laws of Jamaica . . . 168U, pp. xiv and xvii-xviii;

"Council Book of Jamaica,” I, 77-86; BL, Add. MSS, lll;10, pp. 39-53;
Lindley, "Rise of an Autonomous Society," pp. 88-89.
85
Blathwayl .apers, XXIH: Thomas Lynch to William Blathwayt,
June 12, 1682 as cited in Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, p. 159, n. llj;
CSPC, V, 287; Jacobs, "The Colbeck Papers," 56.
R6
"The State of Jamaica in the Yeare 16?0," pp. 7-8: PP. 17-18;
Lynch, ed., Laws of Jamaica . .. I68I4, pp. viii-ix and xiii; Thornton,
West-India Policy, p. 169; Lindley, "Rise of an Autonomous Society,"
p . B9 . Disgruntled Island Secretary Richard Povey exclaimed: "I do
not know the pollity or designe of this, to make almost as many
Magistrates as there are Planters in the Island, and puzzell poore and
simple Men, wth Rules, and formes they can never understand or practice
. . . . B this raeanes all the Assembly are made . . . his Ex:cy es
Etemall Vassalls." See Bodleian, Clarendon MSS, 82, f. 257a.

87Bodleian, Clarendon MSS, 82, f . 257a; BL, Add. MSS, 121:30, f .

30b; Lindley, "Rise of an Autonomous Society," p. 83; Cundall,
Governors of Jamaica, pp. 23-21:.
QQ
EL, Add. MSS, lli:10, p. 3h: "A View of the Condition of Jamaica
20 October, 166U"; Inst. Jam., Miscellaneous File of Extracts, "The
State of Jamaica in the Yeare 166U," p. 3: "The State of Jamaica in
the Yeare 1670," pp. 27-28; CSPC, V, 238.

89CCSP, V, 539-5^0; CSPC, V, 291 and U9U; Ogilby, America, p. 28;

Pawson and Buisseret, Pori ftoyal, pp. 37-38; "The State of Jamaica in
the Yeare 1670," pp. 9, 12, and 17.

90CSPC, V, 122, 130, 168, 212, 287, 318, 321, 321:, and 555;
"Council Book of Jamaica," I, 102-103, 108-109, 112, and lli:-U7.

9^CSPC, V, 188, 208-209, 213, and 220; Zook, Royal Adventurers,

p. 88; Davies, The Royal African Company, pp. 1^L-U2. See also
Chapter VI, pp. 52-57 above.

92CSPC, V, 636; "Council Book of Jamaica," I, 101; CSPC, V, 211,

213, 2157^17, and 228.

93CSPC, V, 217, 219, 22U-225, and 636; Violet Barbour, "Privateers

and Pirates of the West Indies," American Historical Review, XVI
(October, 1910-July, 1011), 5U5-5L6.
9k
7^CSPC, V, 218-220, 22i:-225, and 228.

"ibid., 221:: 219 and 281; Thornton, West-India Policy, p. 85;

 711*

Barbour, "Privateers," 51*6.

^CSPC, V, 252; Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 85-69.

97
Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 86-88.

^CSFD, IV, 90: Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 73 and 89-90;

George Louis Beer, The Old Colonial System, 1660-1731* (New York: The
Macmillan Company, 19^2)3 t, 532-333.
99
CSPC. V, 252-253, 27I1, 279-281 and 291; Barbour, "Privateers,"
51*6-51*7i Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 85-89.

100CSPC, V, 291: 291-292; Thornton, West-India Policy, p. 92;

Barbour, ^Privateers," 51*7.
■ 101
CSPC, V, 238, 277-278, 280, and 312.
102
APC Col., I, 389-390 and 393-391*J JA, Land Patents, II, f. 52b;
CSPC, V,“21*5 and 281.

"^Young, "Beginnings of Civil Government," 61*; Roberts, Sir Henry

Morgan, p. 227; PRO 30/2l*/l*9, X/j 2067, Shatesbury Papers: "A Designs
for the Setling a Cocoa Walks or Plantation in Jamaica with a Calcu­
lation of Its Cost and Profitt Estimated this 3 0 of August 1667” by
Thomas Modyford.

1QltCSPC, V, 221*, 278, 280, and 330; Bodleian, Clarendon MSS, 82,
f. 258a.

"^Thronton, "Slave Trade in the English West Indies," 1*07;

Lincoln's Inn, Admissions, I, p. 289; BA, Recopied Deeds, 8/231: 9/7:
and 9/9J CSPC. V, 3^6, 353, 358, and 621. It is possible that Sir
Thomas's third son, Charles, just turned twenty-one years of age, was
left in Barbados also to help manage Buckland-Henty-Kendall. But it
is likely that during the years 1661*-1667 (or earlier) Charles spent
some time at the Inns of Court in London. Though there is no record
of his admission to Lincoln's Inn (as there is for his cousins, Thomas
and James Kendall), many of the activities of his adult life pre­
supposed some knowledge of the law. He frequently acted as attorney
for his father and others. In 1687, he was chief justice of Jamaica.
He first appears in the public record as he assumed the role of agent
for Jamaica in London in 1667. See BL, Sloane MSS, 1708, f. 117:
"F. Bernard Nativities"; Taylor Ms., pp. 578-579,* CSPC. V, 527, 550,
and passim.

■^There is no evidence to indicate that the Lyttleton house was

sold during the lifetimes of Sir Thomas Modyford, First Baronet; Sir
Thomas Modyford, Second Baronet; or Sir Charles Modyford, Third Baronet.
Moreover, there is no evidence which attests that Sir Charles Modyford
purchased another house in St. Jago for his dwelling when he came out
to the island. Thus, we may reasonably assume that the house in town
inventoried in November, 1687, after Sir Charles's death is none other
 715

than the house which had been the Modyfords' principal dwelling in town
since 1661*. See: JA, Inventories, IH, f. 79: Sir Charles Modyford;
IRO, Deeds, IH, f. l8bY

10^IRO, Deeds, I, fs. 8b-9a and iila: m , fs. l8b-l?a, and I87a-b:
X, f . 200; JA, Land Patents, II, f . 16?: IV, fs. 50a and 115; JA,
Estate Platts, St. Catherine, I, No.s 136, 151, 192, and 317: H , No.
38b: m , No. 382. The unfolding of Modyford's Jamaican estate can
only be reconstructed approximately. Volume II of Deeds, which
undoubtedly records a number of transactions of his, was withdrawn from
search due to its deteriorated condition during both periods of my
searches in the Island Rec^-.’d Office. Moreover, much of the land
patented in the name of Tuomas Modyford Junior was actually controlled
and developed by Sir Thomas;it is impossible to know precisely which
plots actually were those of the younger Thomas. See Modyford1s
statement of September 23, 1670 to Lord Arlington accompanying a survey
of landholdings in the island forwarded to the English Administration:
"His majesty will find great quantities of land granted to some
persons, among whom his son, 6,000 granted, whose name he made use of
for himself, having about J4OO persons in his family [including 328
slaves and U2 Christian servants], and so but half their due . . . ."
CSPC, VII, 98 and IRO, Deeds, III, f. 19a.

■^CSPC, V, 219 and 238; Lynch ed., Laws of Jamaica . . . 1681;,

p. xii.
109
IRO, Deeds, I, f. 17b;Tyndale-Biscoe and Buisseret, Historic
Jamaica from the Air, pp. 6-7; JA. Estate Platts,St. Catherine, II,
Angels jpiat (sections 1, 2, and 3); Taylor, The Western Design, pp. 71,
205, 208, and fold-out map; R. M, Bent and Enid L. Bent-dloldxng, A
Complete Geography of Jamaica (London: Collins, 1966), pp. 23-2lt;“*
InsY. ifam., File of Miscellaneous Extracts, "Notes on the State of
Jamaica," p. h.

n °FR0, C.O. XIV, No. 57, p. 6 ; "Edward D'Oyley’s Journal," 95;

IRO, Deeds, I, fs. 17b, llb-12a, and 17b-l8a: III, f. 18b; JA, Estate
Platts, St. Catherine, II, Angels Plat (sections 1, 2, and 3). The
First land grants in Jamaica were made upon a base of twenty acres per
person coming in or brought in to settle upon and work the land.
Thus, early plantations of forty, sixty, eighty, and one hundred acres
were common. Before Modyford's arrival, the base unit was increased
to thirty acres per person. See "Edward D'Lyley's Journal," 86 n.l.

m i*>, Deeds, I, fs. 31a-b and l;3a: HI, f. 18b; JA, Estate
Platts, St. Catherine, I, No.s 76, 185, and 2h7: II, Spanish Town
Plat (No. l5l), Angels Plat (sections 1, w, and 3), and the Town
Savanna Plat (No. 381;, f. 56): IH, No.s 281; (f. 130), 28? (f. 115),
288 (f. 113), 290 (f. 129), and 338 (f. 115); JA, Land Patents, H ,
f. 202a-b.
112
IRO, Deeds, IH, f . 18b; JA, Land Patents, H , fs. 53b-51ia,
lUla, and 169b; JA. Estate Platts, St. Catherine, I, fl 56 (No. 381;),
 716

f. 82, and f. 88 (No. 317): H I , fs. 128-130 and I h l .

113
J, Harry Bennet, "Cary Helyar, Merchant and Planter of Seven­
teenth-Century Jamaica," William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, XXI
(196h), 60-61; J. Harry Bennet, ,TWilliam Dampier, Buccaneer and Planter
Planter," History Today, XIV (196U), I47U—U7^J John Carter Brown
Library, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island: Charles Bochart
and Humphrey Khollis, "A New and Exact Mapp of the Island of Jamaica,"
168U as reproduced in Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, p. 173j Survey Depart­
ment, Kingston, Jamaica, Survey Maps of Jamaica (London: Directorate
of Overseas Surveys, 1962-1965; rpt. l97<)), Sheets Q and L; Lynch, ed.,
Laws of Jamaica . . . l68h, pp. 1L9-151 and map on page 337.
lii^Q, Deeds, I, fs. 26-27, h7a-b, and 70-71: III, fs. 18b, 19,
and 20$ JA, Land Patents, II, fs. 53b and 171b-172a; JA. Estate Platts,
St. Catherine, III, No. 286, f. 109: St. John, I, f. l6L; CSPC, VII,
UU2; Survey Maps of Jamaica, Sheets G and L; Bocart and Knoilis, "A
New and fexact Mapp of the Island of Jamaica," l68Uj Lynch, ed., Laws
of Jamaica . . . 168L, map on p. 337.
11?
Lynch, ed., Laws of Jamaica . . . I68U, map on page 337; John
Oldmixon, The British fempire in America . . . (London: J. Brotherton
and J. Clarice, l7iiL), II, 310. George Wilson Bridges, The Annals of
Jamaica (London: John Murray, 1828), I, 265; PRO, 30/2k/k9 X/J 2067,
Shaftesbury Papers: "A Designs for the Setling a Cocoa Walke of
Plantation in Jamaica with a Calculation of Its Cost and Proffitt
Estimated this 3 0 ^ of August 1667"; Roberts, Sir Henry Morgan, p. 227;
Young, "Beginnings of Civil Government," 6I1; Heiyar Mss, Setters from
Cary Helyar to William Helyar, September 2I4, 1670, November 7, 1670,
and January 12, 1671.
116
CSPC, V. 292, 319-320, 329,333, and 35U-355; Barbour,
"Privateers," 5h7*
117
fCSPC. V, 329-333 and L07-L08; Barbour, "Privateers," 5^7. The
policy of "no purchase, no pay" simply decreed that if no prey was
found and no booty was secured there would be no pay for the men
involved. This policy had been instituted as a part of the code
(called the Custom of the Coast) of the "Boucaniers," that inter­
national community of refugee mariners and hunters who inhabited the
north shore of Hispaniola and the adjacent island of Tortuga. Many
of the Jamaican privateers were originally associated with this group.
The policy became widespread among privateers and pirates cruising the
Caribbean. See: A. 0. Exquemelin, The Buccaneers of America (1678,
Dutch: 168L, English; rpt. London: The Polio Society (W. & J. Mackay
LTD.], 1969), PP. 9-10 and 58-60; Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 92-
93; CSPC, V, 292.

rL8CSPC, V, 362-363, 385, and 387-389; CCSP, V, 5U7; BL, Add.

MSS, llhlo', fs. 303-30U; Francis Russel Hart, Admirals of the Caribbean
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1922), pp. L9-50; Barbour, "Privateers,"
5U9-500.
 717

119
CSPC, V, 329: 357: 329, 339, 3$l*, 356, and 357-
120
In an impressive apologia forwarded to the English Administra­
tion, the Jamaican Council enumerated many reasons why "the granting
the said Commissions did extraordinarily conduce to the Strengthening,
Preservation, enriching, and consequently advancing the settlement of
this Island": "Council Book of Jamaica," I, 119: 117-120. See also:
CSPC, V, 358-359: TUI, 38-39
121
CSPC, V, i*06: 361-362, 385, 387, 389, and 1*06: VII, 38*
Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 93—9U-
122
CSPC, V, 382-381*, l*0$-t*06, and 60$ * Barbour, "Privateers,"
550-551. Among the commanders of the garrison at Providence Island
when it was overwhelmed by Spanish forces was Sir Thomas Whitstones,
Speaker of the second Jamaican Assembly. He apparently died after
some seventeen months of imprisonment in the dungeons of Panama. See
CSPC, V, 60$.

123CS?C, V, 387, 389, 1*0$-1*07, and 1*1*1; Barbour, "Privateers,"

551-552.
12ii
CSPC, V, 1*06-1*07: 1*05-1*07 and 1*1*1* Barbour, "Privateers," $50-
553.
' 12^
JCSPC, V, 1*06: 391, 1*05-1*07, 1*33, 1*37, 1*1*1, and l*9l** "Council
Book of Jamaica," I, 122-121* and 128-137.
126
CSPC, V, 1*67-1*77, and 1*87-1*90* Thornton, West-India Policy,
pp. 9U-96; Ashley, General Monck, pp. 237-21*0* Barbour, "Privateers,"
553.
127
CSPC, V, 1*$7-1*58, 1*59, 519-520, and paasim; Barbour,
"Privateers," 553-551*.

Though most of the facts included in the four summary para­

graphs above have been thoroughly documented throughout the chapter,
the following sources have also contributed to this assessment of
Modyfordfs status in 1667: CSPC, V, $88-$89 and passim: X, 1*$6*
"Council Book of Jamaica," t, 138 and ll*9-l$0* Agnes M. Whitson, The
Constitutional Development of Jamaica— 1660-1729 (Manchester: Man-
chester University Press, 19^9J, pp. 29-33* Roberts, Portrait of
Jamaica, p. 29* Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, pp. l$l*-l$5i Thomson, West-
India Policy, pp. 61*-66.

Chapter VIII. Connivance and Its Consequences, 1667-1671

Pages l*19-$88

~*~CSPC, V, 1*07: 1*07-1*08 and 6l$* Thornton, West-India Policy, p. 98.

 718

2
CSPC, V, 1*07; Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 81* and 251.
-a
PRO, State Papers, 9i*/I*9, 57: Franshawe to Lord Arlington,
August 2/12, 1655 as cited in Thornton, West-India Policy, p. 90 n. 3j
CSPC, V, 1*07; Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 87-96.
1*
CSPC, V, 1*07; Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 91 and 97; A.
Pierce Higgins, "International Law and the Outer World, 11*50-161*8,"
Cambridge History of the British Empire, I (New York: Macmillan, 1929)*
Chapter VI, 191; Barbour, "Privateers," 553* The Earl of Sandwich, the
English ambassador who secured the Treaty of Madrid with Spain in 1667,
wrote Lord Arlington intimating that it was for the secretary to decide
to what extent the English in the West Indies should be informed about
the terms of the Treaty of Madrid; he was never sent a copy of the
document, nor a copy of the Treaty of Munster to which it referred.
Thus, it appears that Arlington intended deliberately to keep Modyford
and the Jamaican Council in partial ignorance concerning Anglo-Spanish
diplomacy of this period. See Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 97 and
101; CSPC, V, 528.

5CSPC, V, 358, 1*93-1*93* 51*5-51*6, 550, 556, and passim; Westminster

Abbey Muniments, WAM MSS, 11913, 11917* and 11920: Letters from Sir
James Modyford in Jamaica to Sir Andrew King, merchant of London,
December, 1667-October, 1668.

6CSPC, V, 358, l*21*-li32, 1*93-1*91*, 527, 51*5-51*6, 550, 556, 621, and
assim: Vfl, 9l*, 101, 250-251, 311*, and passim; A. P. Thornton, "The
Sodyfords and Morgan: Letters from Sir James Modyford on the Affairs
of Jamaica, 1667-1672, in the Muniments of Westminster Abbey," JHR,
H , No. 2, (October, 1952), 1*5; WAM MS. 11913; Vivian, Visitations of
the County of Devon, p. 310; Feurtado, Official Personages of! Jamaica,
p. 95; tarry, "Patent Offices in the British West indies," 201-202;
Oliver, ed., Caribbeana, IV, 337; Helyar MSS, November 27, 1671: Cary
Helyar to William Helyar"; DNB, II, 1227.

^WAM MS. 11913, December 27, 1667: Sir James Modyford to Sir
Andrew King; Barbour, "Privateers," 551*; CSPC, V, 51*5-51*6.

8CSPC, V, 363, 1*05-1*07, 1*1*1, 1*85-1*86, 615-617, and 622; Thornton,

West-India Policy, pp. 65-66 and 99-100.

^Thornton, West-India Policy, p. 99: pp. 99-100; Barbour,

"Privateers," 552-553; <SS^C,'V, 27l*» 361-362, 1*05-1*07, and 1*11.

10CSPC. V, 610: 360-361, 363, and 387; A. 0. Exquemelin, The

Buccaneers of America, pp. 13-15; Alexander Winston, No Man Knows My
&rave: Privateers and Pirates, 1665-1715 (Boston: Houghton kii'ilin,
1969J* PP* l*i*-3Q; Roberts, Sir Henry Morgan, Chapters I and H ; Ashley,
General Monck, pp. 86, 110-U7*'137, I'l*7,"l67-l68, 173-171*, I81*-l86,
and 219 1 <John Roby, The History of the Parish of St. James in Jamaica
(Montego Bay, Jamaica: Alexander Holmes, 1831J, p. lln; Philip Lindsay,
The Great Buccaneer (New Tork: Wilfred Funk, 1951), PP* 36-1*8. While
in exile, Colonel Sir Edward Morgan had married the daughter of a
 719

Saxon nobleman, John-George, Baron of Polnitz, He and his wife

journeyed to the West Indies in I66I4 with several children. Of them,
at least four survived to contribute to Jamaica's development— three
daughters and one son. The eldest surviving daughter, Anne Petronella,
married Colonel Robert Byndloss whom Modyford appointed chief judge of
the Port Royal Court of Common Pleas and made responsible for exacting
securities from all privateer captains in port that they would enlist
in Jamaica for privateering ventures only men who were "free, un­
married, and without plantations." The second daughter, Mary Elizabeth,
married Captain Henry Morgan. The third daughter, Joanna Wilhelmina,
married "Old Stander" Colonel Henry Archbould, member of the Council
and owner of two thousand acres in St. Andrew's Parish. The son,
Charles, acted for some time as deputy island secretary after Modyford
deprived Thomas Povey of that post. Both Robert Byndloss and Charles
Morgan were close to Henry Morgan and functioned as his political
henchmen during the final phase of his career in Jamaica. See: CSPC,
V, 2^8, 321*, and 329* VU, 100; Roberts, Sir Henry Morgan, p. 55;
Roby, St. James Parish, p. 12.

n CSPC, V, 610-612; Barbour, "Privateers," 555-556. For a

detailed,- eye-witness, somewhat lurid account of this and all other of
Morgan's exploits mentioned in this chapter see A. 0. Exquemelin, The
Buccaneers of America. For a judicious, scholarly treatment of the
same see C. H. Haring, Buccaneers in the West Indies. Among the
sources cited in note 16 above, the works of Winston, Roberts, and
Lindsay are also useful for following Morgan's privateering ventures.
Moreover, if one discounts numerous minor errors of fact, Rosita
Forbes's Sir Henry Morgan, Pirate and Pioneer (London: Cassell, 191*8)
is a delight io read.
12
CSPC, V, 616: 610-612 and 615-617; Thornton, West-India Policy,
pp. 101-16^; Charles Gibson, Spain in America (New York: harper and
Row, 1966), pp. 123-125; Roberts, Sir Henry Horgan, pp. 93-95; Forbes,
Pirate and Pioneer, pp. 70-71.

■^Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 102-103; Thornton, "The

Modyfords and Morgan," 1*0.
Ill
Sir James Modyford noted to a friend in May, 1668: "There will
be a counsell about it, but wt ye result will be I cannot tell you,
&. we are soe remote in our several habitations, yt we cannot come
suddenly together." See WAM MS. 11918: Sir James Modyford to Sir
Andrew King. The Jamaican Council met three times in 1666, four times
in 1667, four times in 1668, only once in 1669, five times in 1670,
and three times before June in I67I. See the pattern of meetings and
the issues dealt with illustrated in CSPC, V, 358, 391* k33, 1*37,
1*93, 519, 552, 555, 597, and 621: V H 7 T 3 , 61, 61*, 72, 81*, 160-161,
188, and 220-221. For the weightier issues see CSPC, V, 358, k33, 1*37,
552, and 597: VH, 61, 61*, 72, 81*, 160-161, and 223=221. See also
"Council Book of Jamaica," I, 75-178: especially 150 and 155; Lindley,
"Rise of an Autonomous Society," pp. 137 and 11*0.

^"Council Book of Jamaica," I, 88, 97-99, 121*, 11*6 and passim;

 720

CSPC, V, 19U, 212-213, 239, 2l£, 277-278, 319, 329-331, U90, 5 k 0, and
597: V U , 18 and 272. See also Chapter VII, sections 7 and 8, above.

"^"Council Book of Jamaica," I, 88, 97-99, 121;, and passim; CSPC.

V, 212-213, 3 5 3 , 3 5 8 , k33, 550-55l> 591, and passim; CCSP, V, 5i;7.
The estimates of acreage owned by members of the 'Council in the various
parishes cited here and in the paragraph to follow are taken from
Modyford's survey of the island submitted to the English Administration
in September, 1670: see CSPC, VU, 98-105. See also: Young, "Begin­
nings of Civil Government," '50-57; Pawson and Buisseret, Port Royal,
pp. 12, 15, 21m, 26, 79, 162, and 168.
17
"Council Book of Jamaica," I, 1U6, 167, 173,and passim; CSPC,
V, 212-213, 597, and passim: VU, 53, 81*, 125-126, 160, ltJB, and passim;
Young, "Beginnings of 'Civil Government," 50-57; Pawson and Buisseret,
Port Royal, pp. 15, 61;, 158, 166, 169, and 183; Inst. Jam., File of
Miscellaneous Extracts, "Notes on the State of Jamaica," pp. 6, 16,
and 17.

18CSPC, V, 212-213, 358, and 597: VU, 53, 98-105, 160, and 236;
Young, "Beginnings of Civil Government," 50-57.

^"The State ofJamaica in the Yeare 1670," p. 8; CSPC, V, 550-

551 and 588-589: VU, 96. Styles claimed his 3,200 acres by virtue of
a patent under the privy seal of England which, he averred, had been
"lost" during his voyage to the island. Modyford was suspicious of
the claim, and he was confident Styles could not provide the number of
laborers such a large grant required. See CSPC, VU, 98—99*
20
CSPC, V U , 251.

^CSPC, V, 391 and 555; "Council Book of Jamaica," I, 1k5: Htf:

lli5-!l*7“

22"Council Book of Jamaica," I, 15U: 15U-155 and 169-170; CSPC,

V, 53: VU, 161.

2^"Council Book of Jamaica," I, 167: 175: 150, 165, 167-169, and

175; CSPC, V, 251.

^"Council Book of Jamaica," I, 167: ll;7-lU9, 167, and 172-173;

CSPC, V, 597-
25
"Council Book of Jamaica," I, 167: ll;7-ll*9, 167, and 172-173;
CSPC, V, 597.
26
CSPC, V, 1*91* and 536; VU, 21*9-250, 299, and 305; Journal of
the Assembly, I, Appendix: Statistical Papers, 26; Lindley, ^Rise of
An Autonomous Society," pp. 138-ll;2; Thornton, West-India Policy,
p. 250.

27CSPC, V, 186-187, 251, and 287: VU, 39, 95, 235, 250, and 305;
Calendar of Treasury Books, I, 667, 685, and 720; "The State of Jamaica
 721

in the Yeare 1670," p. 26; Journal of the Assembly, I, Appendix:

Statistical Papers, pp. 21, 29, and 32.

28CSPC, V, 528, 551, 55U, and 6H 4; BL, Add. MSS, 11^10, pp. 39k-
395, August 20, 1671: Sir Thomas Lynch to Sir Thomas Clifford} Calendar
of Treasury Books, II, 251 and U32; APC Col., I, U85.

^That I am interpreting this evidence correctly— i.e., that both

the king's establishment and the island's revenue were to contribute to
the colonial officer's salary— is borne out by Sir James Modyford1s
letter to Sir Andrew King (December 27, 1667) shortly after his arrival
in Jamaica and his appointment as lieutenant governor thereof: "And
however Providence was retaken before my arrivall long, yett I have a
little of a command herej to witt, Deputie Governor or Lieut. Generali
of this island (then w0*1 none is beyond it for fruitfulness & future
hopes of riches) wc^ yealds me (ye Exchequer money being pD att home)
a f1,000 st. p. annum . . . ." Only by combining what was prescribed
by the Privy Council and what was prescribed by the Jamaican Assembly
could he have arrived at that figure. See: WAM MS. 11913. For this
paragraph, see also: Journal of the Assembly, I, Appendix: Statistical
Papers, pp. 21 and 29, CSPC, VII, 235 and 250; EL, Add. MSS, llljlO,
pp. 395 and 580, August 26, 1671 and July 6, 1672: Sir Thomas Lynch to
Sir Thomas Clifford; Thornton, "Slave Trade in the English West Indies,"
1*07-li08.
30
Journal of the Assembly, I, Appendix: Statistical Papers, p. 29;
BL, Add. MSS, HiilO, pp. 579-580.

31CSPC, V, 536; EL, Add. MSS, III4IO, p. 396; CSPC, V, 26I4, U9U,
and 536: VII, 235; Journal of the Assembly, I, Appendix: Statistical
Papers, p. 29.
32
Since Kendall died in December, 1666, in the midst of the
Second Dutch War, it is unlikely that news of his death reached the
West Indies until the following summer. Few ships made the trip during
this period. See CSPC, V, 363 and i*67. For this paragraph, see also:
CSFD, H , (1661-1657J7 537: IV (I66I4-I665), 81, 286, and 291: V (1665-
1555), 218 and i*28: and VI (1666-1667), 333 and 37b; CSPC, V, 32, 353,
and 621; JA, Land Patents, H , fs. 52b-53a; PRO, PR0B"TT/323-913U:
Will of Thomas Kendall; Andrews, "British Councils of Trade and
Plantations," 67-85.
33
Sir James Modyford seems not to have known about Colleton's
death when he arrived at Jamaica in July, 1667. Lord Willoughby was
apparently unaware of it also when he wrote to Lord Arlington in
September: see CSPC, V, i+53, I486, 1*90, k99, and 506. For this para­
graph see also: tMC, 73rd. Report (1916), "Records of Exeter," 75-76;
n. ed., "Extracts from Wills Relating to the West Indies Recorded in
England," JBMHS, XU, No. U* (August, 19U5), 195; CSPD, H I (1663-
166U), 148571^(1666-1667), 370, 106, U38, I4I4O, h & T T & l , U73, and 575:
V H (1667), 30; CSPC, V, 268-269, 279, 286, 30I1, 353, 378, 381-382,
392, U78, h99, ani 5o6-507; Andrews, "British Councils of Trade and
Plantations," 68.
 722

31,
Oliver, ed., Caribbeana, VI, 73 and 77; CSPC, V, 208j BL, Add.
MSS, llltlO, pp. 391 and 393, August 20, 1671: Sir Thomas Lynch to the
Earl of Sandwich, President of the Council for Foreign Plantations;
Roby, Parish of St. James, pp. 19-20;.E. A. Cruikshank, The Life of
Sir Henry Morgan with anT~Account of the English Settlement ofthe
Island of Jamaica, I655-I&60 (Toronto: Macmillan, 1935), P • UQ9■

3 % P C , V, 616: 278, 329-330, and 615-616; Cruikshank, Sir Henry

Morgan, pp. 53, 76, and 95-96.

^DNB, XIH, 51*2; Philip Wright, comp., Monumental Inscriptions of

Jamaica (.London: Society of Genealogists, 196t>J, p. I19.

^The sources are strangely silent about Lady Modyford1s funeral,

but of a certain pattern we can be assured. With this, the following
sources are useful. Roby, Monuments of the Cathedral Church, p. 16;
Church of England, The Prayer-Book, pp. 156-137i koby, Monuments,
pp. 8-16; CSPC, VH',~ 250 am" 305i* CSPD, IX (1668-1669), "252” Lynch,
ed., Laws of Jamaica . . . 168U, pp. xvi-xvii.

^^Modyford wrote no official dispatches home to England for seven

months following his wife's death; this was a notable departure from
his usual practice. See CSPC, V, 622-61*2: VII, 1-72. For this para­
graph see: CSPC, V, 615: 615-616, 621-622, and 633-63*4; Barbour,
"Privateers,'1 557 •

39CSPC, V, 621-622.

k°ibid., 622 and 633-63*4,- CSPD, VIII (1667-1668), 21*3, 1*01*, 101,
and U76; I lFc Col., I, U59, 1+6U— , 1*71-1*72, 553, and 580.
1*1
CSPC, IX, 5l8-5l9j Exquemelin, Buccaneers, pp. 117-118; Winston,
No Man Knows My Grave, pp. 60-61.

k2BL, Add. MSS, 121*30, f. 32b: "William Beeston's Journal";

Exquemelin, Buccaneers, pp. 118-121; Winston, No Man Knows My Grave,
p. 61} Roberts, Sir kenry Morgan, pp. 115'-116.
|«

WAM MS. 11926, May 20, 1669: "Copie of a Narrative concerning ye

Expedition att Madrehaya"; Exquemelin, Buccaneers, pp. 121-136; Winston,
No Man Knows My Grave, pp. 61-67; Roberts, Sir Henry Morgan, pp. U 9 -
TjKT
^APCCol., I, 1*97-1498; CSPV, XXXVI (1669-1670), 60, 73, and 77;
Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 107-109.
Ii5
APC Col., I, 1*98: I497-I498; Bodleian, Rawlinson MSS, A I178, fs.
53 ff• and PRO 30/2l*/l*9 X/j 2067, Shaftesbury Papers: "B. Worseley's
Treatises on the Jamaican Privateers" of December, 1668 and February,
1669; CSPC, VU, 1; CSPV, XXXVI (1669-1670), 1*6, I48, 61, 63, and 96;
Thornton, 'West-India Policy, pp. 106-108.

^CSPC, VU, 5*4: Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 107-108 and HO.
 723

U7
Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 105-106, and 108-109; Barbour,
"Privateers," 558-559.

^Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 111-112; Barbour, "Privateers,"

558-559. ---------------
U9
Thornton, "The Modyfords and Morgan," hO-hl.
50
Sir Thomas's letter of June 15, 1669 to the Count of Molina is
found in PRO, C.O. 138/1, hi or CSPC, VU, 27-28 and is quoted sub­
stantially in Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 109-110. For this
paragraph see also: BL, Add'. MsS, 121*30, f. 32bj CSPC, V U , 38-1*0 and
1*2; WAM MS. 11929, June 21*, 1669: Sir James Modyford to Sir Andrew
King; Barbour, "Privateers," 558-559*

51CSPC, VII, 1*6, 50-51, and 58; Barbour, "Privateers," 558-559.

52
Bennett, "Cary Helyar, Merchant and Planter," 57: 56-57; Helyar
MSS, December 15, 1670, Cary Helyar to William Helyar: November 7,
1670, Cary Helyar to William Helyar; Donnan ed., Documents of the Slave
Trade, I, 171; Thornton, "Slave Trade in the English West Indies,"
OT T ' c s p c , V, 1*85.
53
Throughout the spring and summer of 1668, the Spaniards in
Madrid, desperate at this point for alliances, gave serious consider­
ation to granting the English what the Earl of Sandwich proposed— a
"free port" in Spanish America or a monopoly of the logwood trade with
Campeche. Rumors of these negotiations reached Sir James in Jamaica
in May. See Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 103-101* and 101* ns. 1-2.
The quote in this paragraph is drawn from WAM MS. 11921, November 1*,
1668: Sir James Modyford to Sir Andrew King. See also: WAM MS. 11917,
May 11, 1668: Sir James Modyford to Sir Andrew King.

^^AM MS. 11918, May 30, 1668, Sir James Modyford to Sir Andrew
King: 11910, December 27, I667, Sir James Modyford to Sir Andrew King:
111*18, January 3, 1668, Agreement between Sir Andrew King and Charles
Modyford for the Execution of Sir James Modyford’s Affairs; CSPC, V,
527.

^CSPC, V, 51*5-51*6. 552, and 602: VII, 21*9, 251*, 273, 357, and
1*70; CSPdTv (1665-1666), 235; IRO, Deeds, III, f. 88b-89a; JA, Estate
Platts, St. Catherine's, m , No. 1*17, f. 112; JA, Land Patents, HI,
fs. llOa-b, I82b-l83a, and passim; Real Estate Index, cards 552 and
638; Pawson and Buisseret, Port Royal, pp. 9^-9

^ W A M MS. 11921, November I4, 1668; Calendar of Treasury Books,

H I (1669-1672), 76, 92, 98, and 111; IRO, Deects, III, fs. 3i*a-b and
2li9a-b; JA, Estate Platts, St. Catherine, HI, No. 321*, f. 128; "The
State of Jamaica in the Yeare I67O," p. 30; Lynch, ed., Laws of Jamaica
. . . 1681*, pp. 11*9-151. For examples of mortgages granted hy the
Modyfords, see: IRO, Deeds, I, fs. i*7b and 78b-79a: VI, fs. 219a-b.
57
JA, Land Patents, H , fs. 12b-13a, 130b, 197a-b, 198b-199a, and
 721*

202aj IRO, Deeds, m , fs. I8a-19b, 127a-b, 2l6b-217b, and 221b-222b;

JA, Estate Platts, St. Catherine, II, Angels Plat (sections 1, 2, and
3) and No. 309, f . 85: m , No. 10*5, f. 110.

^8IR0, Deeds, I, fs. 61*a-b and 78b-79a: V, fs. 180-183j "Council

Book of Jamaica," I, 1$1-1!?2} CSPC, V, 621. See also Charles Bochart
and Humphrey Knollis's "A New and Exact Mapp of the Island of Jamaica,"
1681* featured as Map 10, p. 390, Chapter V U .
do
IRO, Deeds, I, fs. l*2a-b and l*7b; JA, Land Patents, II, fs.
207b-208a; JA, Estate Platts, St. Catherine, IH, No. 288, f. 113;
WAM MS. 11913, December 27, 1667: Sir James Modyford to Sir Andrew
King; Oliver, ed., Caribbeana, IV, 3l*0.
60
George Nedham, second son of Sir Robert Nedham of Poole Park,
County Salop, was a Royalist who, after the Battle of Worcester, fled
to Antigua whence he migrated to Jamaica. His younger sister, Eleanor,
was mistress to James, Duke of Monmouth (the eldest of Charles II’s
bastards) and bore him three children. Mary Modyford remains somewhat
of a mystery. No conveyances have been found providing a dowry for
this marriage. Moreover, although George Nedham witnessed a number of
important conveyances in the life of the Modyford family and held in
trust for a while the estate of Sir Charles Modyford after his death,
neither he, his wife, nor any of their children are mentioned in the
wills of Sir Thomas Modyford, Second Baronet or Sir Charles Modyford,
Third Baronet. (The will of Sir Thomas Modyford, First Baronet,
appears no longer to be extant.) Nevertheless, both E. A. Cruikshank
in The Life of Sir Henry Morgan (p. 1*09) and John Roby in The History
of the Parish of 5b. James (pp. 17-22) refer to the marriage; Roby
chronicles the birth and marriage of several children (Robert, the
eldest, was b o m in June, 1672). It is known that, at the time of the
marriage, George Nedham had somewhat over extended himself (upwards of
2,000 acres) and was heavily in debt. Perhaps Sir Thomas helped
Nedham resolve certain of these obligations in return for Nedham*s
pledge to seek nothing further from his estate. See: IRO, Deeds, III,
fs. I8a-19b: X, fs. 1*1 and 200; JA, Land Patents, VII, f. 81*; IRO,
Wills, File 228/73 C.D.S. 10, f . 213, October 10, 1679: Will of Sir
Thomas Modyford (Second Baronet); IRO, Wills, File 228/73 L.O.S. 6,
f. 105, November 20, 1688: Will of Samuel Barry; PRO, PROB H/397-
9256, f . 325, January 18, 1680: W i H of Sir Charles Modyford; CSPC.
VII, 101.

^‘S ’or the evidence supportive of this paragraph, see: IRO, Deeds,
HI, f . 19b, fs. 19b-20a: XVH, f . 83; JA, Land Patents, H , fs.
208a-b: IH, (Sir James Modyford, September 15, 1669, n.d.) and f.
191b: IV, f. 171b; CSPC, VH, 1*1*2; JA, Estate Platts, St. Thomas’s in
the Vale, H , fs. 16,35, and 57.
62
IRO, Deeds, I, fs. 6lb-62a and 78a-b; JA, Land Patents, IH,
(Thomas Tothill, September 23, 1669, n.f.) and l67b-l68b: IV, fs.
ll*a-b; JA, Estate Platts, St. Andrews, H , No. 121* (f. 135), No. 155
(f. 38), and (f. 13l*); CSPC, V H , 100.
 725

63 -
JA, Land Patents, IH, fs. I5b-l6a and 221a-b.
6h
Blome, Description of Jamaica, pp, 8 and 11; Roberts, Sir Henry
Morgan, p. 227; Bennett, "Cary Helyar, Merchant and Planter," 60 and
66-67j PRO 30/2li/li9 X/j 2067, Shaftesbury Papers, August 30, 1667*

^Bennett, ,rCary Helyar, Merchant and Planter," 56 and 60; Dalby

Thomas, An Historical Account of the Rise and Growth of the West-India
Colonies . . . (London, 169O; rpt. in The Harielhn Miscellany . .
Ix1, London, ItilO), l;22-l;23; John Oldmixon, the British fempire in"
America . . II (London, 17^1), 310; Lynch, ed.. Laws of Jamaica
. . . 160U, map on p. 337; Bridges, Annals of Jamaica, I, p. 265;
PRO, 30/2U/U9, X/j, 2067, Shaftesbury Papers, August 30, 1667; Helyar
MSS, April 15, 1671: Cary Helyar to William Helyar; Xoung, "Beginnings
of Civil Government," p. 61;.
66
Blome, Description of Jamaica, p. 9; Oldmixon, British Empire,
IX, 329; Bennett,' '^Ca'ry Helyar, kerchant and Planter," 60; Helyar MSS,
June 25, 1671 and March 7, 1672, Cary Helyar to William Helyar; Lynch,
ed., Laws of Jamaica . . . 168U, map on p. 337-
67
PRO, 30/2L|/U9 X/j, 2067, Shaftesbury Papers, April 30, 1669:
Letter from Sir Thomas Modyford to the Plantations Committee [appar­
ently] to the Privy Council re. pimento and cocoa; APC Col., I, 1;87:
i;87-l;88; Roby, Monuments of the Cathedral, p. I5n; Helyar kSS, January
25, 1671: Cary Helyar to William Helyar; Young, "Beginnings of Civil
Government," p. 61;; "State of Jamaica in the Yeare 1670," p. 30.

^IRO, Deeds, IH, fs. l8a-19b and 2l;9a-b.

^CSPC, VH, 195; Lynch, ed., Laws of Jamaica . . . 1681;, map

opposite p. 1 and map on p. 337; Bennett, "Cary Helyar, kerchant and
Planter," 58 and 6k-6$; "The State of Jamaica in the Yeare 1670,"
p. 30; PRO, 30/2ii/U9, X/J, 2067, Shaftesbury Papers, April 30, 1669;
IRO, Deeds, IH, fs. I8a-I9b and 2i;9a-b.

^"Council Book of Jamaica," I, 161;; Helyar MSS, June U, 1672:

Cary Helyar to William Helyar; CSPC, V H , 238-239 and 2^1.
71
Helyar MSS, November 27, 1671: January 12, 1671: September 21;,
1670: November 7, 1670: Cary Helyar to WiHiam Helyar.

"^Bridenbaugh, No Peace Beyond the Line, pp. 211-225; Sir Alan

Burns, History of the~British West Indies (London: George Allen &
Unwin, l i pp. 3^1-jlj; CSPC, V, 3±2^3l3 and 528-530. See also the
petition of merchants and planters of Jamaica residing in London
asking for the retention of Modyford as governor on November 9, 1670:
"The Island of Jamaica has since 1661; been under the Government of
Sir Thos. Modyford, whose prudent government hath not only exceedingly
advanced the improvement of said island by the invitation of planters
but hath also encouraged the old and attracted new merchants and
planters to proceed vigorously in supplying those plantations with all
things necessary . . . .": CSPC, VII, 129.
 726

73CSPC, V, 210, 277-278, UUU-UU5, 1»59, 517, 527, and 63U: VII,
52-53.

7l4CSPC, VH, 79: 191: 7, 5l, 65, 78-79, 8I4, and 233; Helyar MSS,
December"^, I67O: Cary Helyar to William Helyar j "Council Book of
Jamaica," I, 165; Ogilby, America, map entitled "Jamaicae Descriptio,"
n.p.
75
Just before Modyford's arrival in Jamaica, Thomas Lynch
estimated the population to be about 5,000. Modyford's survey of the
parishes in 1670 produced a total of 15, 198. A similar survey taken
by Sir Thomas Lynch in March, 1673, resulted in a total of 17,272. Hy
March, 1673, shortly after the Company of Royal Adventurers had been
reconstituted the Royal African Company and had commenced its trading
anew, fifty-five per cent of Jamaica's population were Negro slaves.
See: CSPC, V, 210: VU, lOlj and 265; Journal of the Assembly, I,
Appendix: Statistical Papers, 20, 28, and h0. The total number of
land patents and acres granted during Modyford's administration is
based upon Richard Dunn's tabulation from JA, Land Patents, Index
(1661-1826), File 1 B/ll. See: Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, pp. 15U-155.
76
CSPC, VU, 9U-95: 9U-96, 99-10U, and 106-107; Dunn, Sugar and
Slaves, pp. U 6, 155, and 3ljO-3Ul.

77CSPC, VU, U, 98-105, and 129; Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, pp. l5i|-
155 and 166-171. The map entitled "Jamaicae Descriptio,'" featured in
Ogilby, America, and based upon Modyford's parish-by-parish survey of
the island' in' i670, identifies 1U6 plantations by name of owner and
principal crop.
78
As one reads carefully the Helyar Manuscripts, he becomes keenly
aware that most of what Cary Helyar communicates concerning planting
and the development of a plantation is a parroting of statements made
to him or others by Sir Thomas Modyford. For this paragraph, see:
Bennet, "Cary Helyar, Merchant and Planter," 59: 58-63; WAM MS. U697,
March 8, I67I: Sir James Modyford to Sir Andrew King; Helyar MSS,
November 7, 1670: January 25, 1671: April 15, 1671: and May 22, 1671:
Cary Helyar to WiUiam Helyar; Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, pp. 168-169;
Bridges, Annals of Jamaica, I, 73 and 265; C. Leslie, A New History of
Jamaica, £nd, ed. Qn. pub.: 17i|0), pp. 87-89; Lindley, "klse of An
Autonomous Society," pp. 150-151.
79
Andrews, "British Councils of Trade and Plantations," 96-105;
CSPC. V, 278: VU, 10^-105, 107, and 133; "The State of Jamaica in
the Yeare 1670," pp. 30-31; Lindley, "Rise of An Autonomous Society,"
pp. 150-151.

80BL, Add. MSS, HI 4IO, p. 1^10; CSPC, V, 358, 363, U67, and 553:
V U , h-B and 52-53; Pawson and Buisseret, Port Royal, p. 67; WAM MSS,
U917 (May U , 1668), U921 (November Ii, 1668), and U922 (January 20,
1669): Sir James Modyford to Sir Andrew King; "State of Jamaica in the
Yeare 1670," p. 21; Lindley, "Rise of An Autonomous Society," pp. Ili9-
150.
 727

i’or examples of powers of attorney issued to Sir Thomas Modyford,

Major General Thomas Modyford, Sir James Modyford, Charles Modyford,
and Attorney General Edmund Duck, see IRO, Deeds, I, fs. 38a-b, U3b-
iiUb, 7Ua-b, and 82a-83b: HI, fs. 2iib and 108a-109b; Helyar MSS,
October 2l», 1669: Bond of Edward Gregory to pay 70 to Cary Helyar;
WAM MS. 11686, October it, 1670: Gerhard Langerman's order to Sir James
Modyford to pay a debt collected by Modyford for Langerman to Sir
Andrew King: Pawson and Buisseret, Fort Royal, Appendix U, pp. 108,
162, and 166.
Qp
Thornton. West-India Policy, pp. 105, 108-109, and 111-112;
Barbour, "Privateers," 559-560.

8^CSPC, VII, 5U, 59-60, and 62-63; Thornton, West-India Policy,

p. 110; Barbour, "Privateers," 559j Winston, No Man Knows My Grave,
pp. 67-68.
8I1
CSPC, VH, 59: 59, 62-63, and 65; Barbour, "Privateers," 529.
Cousin George Monck, Duke of Albemarle, died in his quarters at the
Cockpit, Westminster, on January 3, 1670; Duchess Anne succumbed on
January 29. See Ashley, General Monck, pp. 21j5-256.
85
CSPC, VH, 122: 72 and 122; "Council Book of Jamaica," I, 162;
Winston, No Man Khows My Grave, pp. 67-68; HMC, 29th. Report (l89ii),
"MSS of the Duke of Portland," III, 316.

"Council Book of Jamaica," I, 162-163; BL, Add. MSS, H268,

fs. 69-70; CSPC, VH, 72—7i*j Barbour, "Privateers," 560.

87CSPC, VII, 75: 78: 80: 7U-75, 78-80, and 82; Thornton, West-
India Policy, p. 117; Haley, The First Earl of Shaftesbury, Chapter 12.
OO
CSPC, VH, 68: 68-69: 83: 68-69 and 82-83: Thornton, West-India
Policy, p. IH; Barbour, "Privateers," 560; Hart, Admirals, p. 7U.
In' Arlington's dispatch to Modyford of June 12, 16?0, the secretary
also passed on to the governor the king's opinion that Modyford's over-
all management of Jamaican affairs was the colonial "government which
his Majesty looks upon as the most valuable he has, or at least,
capable of being made so." See CSPC, VH, 69.

^ CSFC, VII, 120, lh2, and 202; Barbour, "Privateers," 561;

Winston, No Man Knows My Grave, pp. 69-72.
90
CSPC, V, 361: 360-361; Roberts, Sir Henry Morgan, pp. 131-133.
I think it highly probably that Modyford and Morgan aiscussed the
prospect of an attack upon Panama while Morgan was mobilizing his
forces in Port Royal during July. Modyford probably knew the admiral
favored this city as a target when the fleet left the Point; hence, his
prompt sending of a courier after Morgan with Arlington's proscription
against land attacks. For their own protection, both were careful to
put nothing in writing about this scheme. Once Morgan promised
obedience to the king's command, however, even with tongue in cheek,
the responsibility for foHowing through with this scheme in the face
 728

of direct orders to the contrary was Morgan's alone. See CSPC, VII,
78 and 81*.
91
CSPC, VH, 11*2 and 201-202; Winston, Mo Man Knows My Grave,
pp. 69-72/ Barbour, "Privateers," p. 561; Livingston, Sketch Pedigrees,
pp. 103-10ii.

^CSPC, VII, 11*2; Winston, No Man Knows My Grave, pp. 71-72.

Lindsay (The Great Buccaneer, pp. and Roberts (Sir Henry
Morgan, pp. il*3-ii*i*J, among 'others, imagine that the courier 'did find
the fleet at the Isle des Vaches and that he delivered to Morgan a
cover letter from Modyford instructing the admiral to return the
official dispatch (containing the articles of peace) unopened. Thus,
it would appear as though it never reached him. Such deception was
hardly necessary. Until Modyford received official notice of the
Madrid pact and further specific orders relative to the privateers, he
remained fully authorized to have the rovers patrolling the seas and
attacking Spanish shipping at will. There is a more plausable explan­
ation. Weather conditions during this season and the necessity to
tack painfully into the prevailing winds to reach the Isle des Vaches
simply delayed the courier beyond the date of the fleet's departure.
For weather (fall, 1670) see CSPC, VH, 120-129.
93There are four principal accounts of the Panama expedition by
participants: Henry Morgan1s (CSPC, VH, 201-203); William Fogg's
(CSPC, VH, 190); Richard Browne^s (CSPC, VH, 252-253); and A. 0.
Exquemelin's (The Buccaneers of America, pp. 139-173), All four agree
substantially as to the main facts andconstitute the bases of this
paragraph and the two below. See also Barbour, "Privateers," 561-562;
Winston, No Man Knows My Grave, pp. 72-79.
9l*See also Winston, No Man Knows My Grave, pp. 80-81.
95
Thornton, "The Modyfords and Morgan," 57; CSPC, VII, 220 and
253; Barbour, "Privateers," 562.
96
CSPC, VII, 68: Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 113-116.

97CSPV, XXXVI, 216; LC, Phillips Collection, "Journal of the

Council for Foreign Plantations," (September 26, 1670), pp. 9-10.
98
7 See CSPC, VH, 78, 83, 9h-105, 107-109, and 120-122.
99
77CSPC, vn, 83: 108: 105: 9l*-96 and 105-109; LC, Phillips
Collections, "Journal of the Council for Foreign Plantations," (Novem­
ber 1, 5, 8, 1978), pp. 21-21*.

100CSPC, VH, 121-122: 129.

101
LC, Phillips Collection, "Journal of the Council for Foreign
Plantations," pp. 21-27; Barbour, "Privateers," 563; Thornton, West-
India Policy, pp. 118-121.
 729

102
CSPC, vn, 159: 151-152, 159-160, and 2l8j LC, Phillips
Collection, "Journal of the Council for Foreign Plantations," p. 30;
HMC, 25th. Report (1870), "MSS of S. H. LeFleming," 73; CSPD, XI
( 1 6 7 1 ) , 21*1*.
103
Roberts, Sir Henry Morgan, pp. 185-186; Cruikshank, The Life
of Sir Henry Morgan, p . 203.

1QiiCSPC. VH, 273; PRO, Adm. 51/1*389, f. 282a;HL, Add. MSS,

111*10, pp. 372-375 s Sir Thomas Lynch to Lord Arlington, June 27, 1671;
The Royal Society, Carlton House Terrace, London: Royal Society Ms.
83: Letter from George Ellwood in Jamaica, June 15, 1672.

10^CSPC, VII, 238: 159-160, 236, 21*1, 21*9, and 273; HL, Add. MSS,
111*10, ppT?75-378; "Council Book of Jamaica," X, 178-182.

106CSPC, vn, 21*5, 21*8-21*9, 273, and 336.

107
CSPC, vn, 273: 337: 21*5, 21*9-21*9, and 273; HL, Add. MSS,
111*10, pp.- 289-391: Sir Thomas Lynch to the Earl ofSandwich and the
Council for Plantations, August 20, I.67I; Royal Society Ms. 83: Letter
from George Enwood in Jamaica, June 15, 1672.

108CSPC, Vn, 21*8: 21*5, 21*8-21*9, and 252; BL, Add. MSS, 111*10,
pp. 292-253; "Council Book of Jamaica," I, 183-185.
109
BL, Add. MSS, ni*10, p. 393; August 20, 1671; CSPC, VII, 251*:
21*5-21*9, 251*, and 336.

^ C S P C , Vn, 21*9 and 251*.

in
There is no evidence that Modyford had returned to England
before this date since his initial exodus in 161*7. For the paragraphs
immediately above see CSPC, Vn, 273 and 298.

Chapter IX. The Tower and Afterwards, 1671-1679

Pages 589-61*8

1
The Tower of London, A Department of the Environment Guidebook
(London: Her Majesty1^ Stationery Office, 1967: rpt. 1971), PP. 1-18;
A. L. Rowse, The Tower of London in the History of England (New York:
G. P. Putnam's sons, 1y'{z), pp. 9-llj Oiwen necney, Prisoners in the
Tower (London: Pitkin Pictorials Ltd., 1972), pp. 2-3.

*TElowse, The Tower in the History of England, pp. 155-157 and 178.
3
Hedley, Prisoners in the Tower, pp. 19-20; The Tower of London,
pp. 8-9; James A. Williamson, The Age of Drake (New York: World !Pub-
lishlng Co., 1965), pp. 361-370; A. L. kowse, The Expansion of
 730

Elizabethan England (New York: Harper and Row, 1955), pp. 221-225;
Rowse, The Tower' in the History of England, pp. 123-llil; Firth,
Narrative of General Venables, p. 81 and passim.

^CSFC, VII, 218, 235, 257-258, and 273; CSPV, XXXVII (1671-1672),
86; CSFffT x i (1671), 2hk, 25k, U8U, 50l±-505, 5757 and 578.

CSPC, VH, 272-273; CSPD, XI (1671), 567, 572, 575, and 582;
CSPV, O T T n (1671-1672), IZ77
6
CSPD, XI (I67I), 592; Florence M. Grier Evans, The Principal
Secretary of State. A Survey of the Office from 1558 to l680 (Man­
chester: The tJniversity Press, 1923), p. 127; Thornton, kest-India
Policy, pp. 120-121.

7CSPP, XI (1672), 592: XII (1671-1672), hi; DNB, XV, lh8. The
two earliest orders in the Records of the Tower oT"Tondon, Constable's
Office, relative to Sir Thomas's confinement are illegible. The first
that is fully readable is a warrant for Sir Charles Lyttleton to see
Sir Thomas on December 17. See PRO, WO 9h/l, C/5h31, December 17 and
22, 1671.

8CSPV, XXXVII (1671-1672), 95: 136; Thornton, West-India Policy,

p. 121"
9
The evidence for this hearing i.s twofold: (1) the record of
Modyford1s responses to the council's queries and an entry in the
council's journal acknowledging that his answers had been "brought in";
(2) a letter from Sir Thomas lynch to Sir Charles Lyttleton responding
to a letter of Lyttleton's of December 1, 1671. Lyttleton had informed
lynch that Sir Thomas Modyford had used a public occasion to complain
somewhat about Lynch's proceeding in arresting him, especially since
it denied him the opportunity to make a voluntary submission to His
Majesty's pleasure. Modyford had also revealed that Lynch had assured
him that his life and fortune were in no danger. Both disclosures had
caused certain members of the Council for Plantations to be critical
at the moment (December 1, 1671) about Lynch's procedures. A thorough
search of the Calendars of State Papers (Colonial), the Acts of the
Privy Council (Colonial), and the "Journal of the Council for Plan­
tations1' reveals no record of a special hearing to deal further with
Modyford*s perpetration of war against the Spaniards. For this
paragraph see: CSPC, VH, 238: 302-306; LC, Phillips Collection,
"Journal of the Council for Plantations," p. 21 (November 1, 1670),
pp. 23-2U (November 8, 1670), p. 71 (November 28, 1671), and passim;
Ralph Paul Bieber, "The British Plantation Councils of 1670-lofii,"
English Historical Review, XL (January, 1925), 99; BL, Add. MSS,
llqlb, pp. U96-5Q3: 'Sir Thomas Lynch to Sir Charles Lyttleton, March 5,
1672.

^FRO, WO 9k/l, C/5U31, January-May, 1972: Warrants for Charles

Modyford to have access to his father, a prisoner in the Tower; CSPD,
X U (1671-1672), 78, 117, 122, 153, 167, 173, 238, 397, and ^07;
Bieber, "British Plantation Councils," 95.
 731

"^"PRO, WO 9l*/l, C/51*31, January-July 1972: Warrants for visitors

to see Sir Thomas Modyford, prisoner in the Tower; DNB, I, 523-521*;
cspd, x n (1 6 7 1 -1 6 7 2 ), 1*7 and 61*; CSPC, v n , 313.
12
CSPD, XIV (1672-1673), 137: 56; PRO, WO 9l*A, C/5U31: Constable's
draft upon the Exchequer, Michaelmas Quarter, 1672; Arthur Henry Cook,
"Prisoners of the Tower," (reproduction of an original manuscript:
bound, two volumes in one, 1959), H , 153-151*.
13
Wellcome Historical Medical Library, Ms. 107, f . 2: "Merchant
Captain's Notes"; CSPC, V, 361 and 527.

^John Cadbury, The West India or Jamaica Almanack (London: I67U),

dedicatory page, pp. 1 and 1U-16: (London: 1&75), pp. 7-19 [Found
among the British Library's collection of rare printed books— HL,
P. P. 21*61*. g. (6) and (7)],* CSPC, VII, 358-359; LC, Phillips Collec­
tion, "Journal of the Council for Plantations," pp. 72-73*

15CSPC, VII, 1*01; CSPD, XIII (1672), 1*89 and 550.

FRO, WO 9I4/5,c/51*31, p. 53: Orders of Sir John P.-.uison *0 b*

kept by the officersand soldiers of the garrison; The Tower of London,
pp. 36-1*0 and 1*7; Rowse, The Tower in the History of England, p. 156.

17PR0, WO 9l*/5, C/51l31, PP. 53-5b 9U/1*, C/5U31, PP. 171-172;

Rowse, The Tower in the History of England, p. I3I4; The Tower of London,
pp. 8, 39, and U3-hV.
18
Helyar MSS, September 10, 1671: Cary Helyar to William Helyar;
ERO, Deeds, D 12/ll*,September 26, 1672; CSPC, VII, 258; Helyar MSS,
July 10, 1677: Sir Thomas Modyford to William Helyar.

19CSPC, VII, 550: 137 and 1*89: CSPD, XV (1673), 1*37-1*38; Lindsay,
The Greai feuccaneer, p. 180; The Tower of London, pp. 39-1*0.
20
CSPD. XV (1673), 181*.

2^Ward, Christopher Monck, pp. 30-69 and 281-283; Concise DNB,

p. 533; CSPD, W I (1&72-1673), 82-83, 1*1*7, 1*87, and passing
22
Thompson, ed., Correspondence of Hatton, I, 107-108; CSPD, XV
(1673), 1*37-1*38, and 1*UT

23CSPC, VII, 299, 31*3-31*5, 31*7, and 623; BL, Add. MSS, 111*10,
pp. 553-551*: Sir Thomas Lynch to Lord Arlington, April 3, 1672;
Coventry MSS, 76, f . 255a: Sir Thomas Lynch to Sir John Lewis, April
3, 1672; Roberts, Sir Henry Morgan, pp. 193-202; Thornton, West-India
Policy, pp. 223-221*.

2W , VII, 251*; Oliver, ed., Caribbeana, III, 21*2: IV, 339;

"Council Book of Jamaica," I, 235; IRO, Deeds, I, fs. 200a-201a: VI,
fs. 168b-169b.
 732

23CSPC, VII, 125, 188, and 236: "Council Book of Jamaica," I,

190, 2057^08, 215, 218-219, 226, 228, 230, and 238: II, 9-
26
CSPC, VII, U21: 515; Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, pp. 156-157;
"Council Book of Jamaica, H , 9; BL, Add. MSS, llltLO, p. 58Us Sir
Thomas Lynch to Sir John Trevor, October 9, 1672.

27IRO, Deeds, I, fs. 170-171, 202-203, and 231: IV, fs. 322-323:
VI, fs. 113-115: XIV, f. 182.
Pfi
IRQ, Deeds, I, fs. 228-229: IV, fs. 131-132 and 30U-307: V, fs.
209-210.

29IRO, Deeds, I, fs. 168, 175, and 200-201: IV, fs. 187-188:
VI, f. 168.
■an
CSPC, VII, U85: U63, U85, and 608; "Council Book of Jamaica,"
I, 237:"TT710-11, 20-21, and 30-31; Journal of the Assembly, I, 5;
Fawson and Buisseret, Port Royal, pp. 36-39.

31JA, Land Patents, IV, fs. 97-98 and 172a-b: V, fs. 170 and
passim: VI, fs. 39a-b and 17i;-175; IRO, Deeds, I, f. 230a-b: VI,
fs. 188 and 219a-b; Thornton, "The Modyfords and Morgan," 57; Helyar
MSS, July 10, 1677: Sir Thomas Modyford to William Helyar.

32CSPC, VII, 218, 273, and hlO-hll: IX, 203; Donnan, ed., Docu-
ments of the Slave Trade, I, 182-183; J» R- Tanner, ed., A Descriptive
Catalogue of the Naval Manuscripts in the Fepysian Library^at Magdalene
College, Cambridge (London: Naval Records Society, 196k), II, 155;
tarry, "Patent Offices in the British West Indies," 203.
33
Oliver, ed., Caribbeana, IV, 338; IRO, St. Catherine's Copy
Register (baptisms, burials, marriages), p. 27: A copy of the baptismal
records of Sir Charles Modyford1s children transcribed from the family
Bible, July 28, 1687; personal observations upon the site; Helyar MSS,
July 10, 1677: Sir Thomas Modyford to William Helyarj BL, Add. MSS,
5hl5, E.I.: John Leeke, et. al. . "An Exact Surveigh of the Streets,
Lanes, and Churches within the ruines of the City of London . . .
December . . . 1666."

^Oliver, ed., Caribbeana, IV, 338; BL, Add. MSS, 3hl8l, fs. 2-U:
"Abstracts from Jamaican Wills"; IRO, Wills, VI, fs. 129-130: Will of
Sir Charles Modyford; Helyar MSS, July 7, 1677: Sir Thomas Modyford to
William Helyar; CSPD, XIII (1672), 550.

33Thomton, West-India Policy, pp. 97, 99-100, and 116-123;

Thompson ed., Correspondence of Hatton, I, 107-108.

CSPV, XXXVIII, 20I4; Journals of the House of Commons, IX

(October 10, 1667-April 28, ibbt), 293.

37Commons Journals, IX, 293-295; CSPV, XXXVIII, 20h-205; Debates

of the flouse of Commons, from the Year~T557 to the Year 169U, comp'."by
 733

Anchitell Grey (London: D. Henry and R. Cave, 1763), II, 299-301.

Commons Journals, IX, 295-296; Commons Debates, II, 301-302

and 311-512; C5PV, M f a l , 20li-205.
39
As a member of the House of Commons, Sir John Robinson could
not be sued in the ordinary courts without the consent of Commons. For
this paragraph see: CSPD, XVI (1673-1675), 139 and 15U; RCS Lib.,
Davis Papers, Box 10, Notebook L, p. Ui.

k°BA., Deeds, 9/7 and 9/9.

| -i

PRO, PROB 11/323-913U, fs. 179-180: Will of Thomas Kendall;

Vivian, Visitations of Devon, p. 310; CSPC, VII, 129, 388, and U10;
Keeler, The Long' Parliament, p. 376; A. J. P. Skinner, "Southcott of
Dulcishayes, Kilmington,11 IDA, XLVIH (1916), 291; Cresswell, Exeter
Churches, p. 106.

lasted, Kent, VII, 281.

h3
BA, Deeds, 9/7 and 9/9; IRO, Wills, File 228/73: Will of Thomas
Modyford (Second Baronet).

^Roberts, Sir Henry Morgan, p. IOI4; John Evelyn, The Diary of

John Evelyn, ed. William Bray (Akron, Ohio: St. Dunstan Society, 1901),
nm; n, 362-363.
U5CSPV, XXXVIII, 281; LC, Phillips Collection, "Journal of the
Council' of Trade and Plantations," pp. 67, 99, and 102.

^Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 1U9-152; Bridges, The Annals of

Jamaica, I, 270-273.

^Harvey L. Da Costa, "The First Constitutional Struggles," JHR,

H I (March, 1957), 2U: 2U-26.
1o
Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 153-158; Tanner, ed., Catalogue
of Naval MSS, H , 155, 535, 35'5n, 351, and 37U; Roberts, Sir'Henry
Morgan, pp. 202-203; Coventry MSS,7h, December 11 and 28, 16 7h and
January 2, 1675: Letters from Lord Vaughan aboard H. M. S.Foresight
in the Downs.
h9
Coventry MSS, 7h, December 11, I67I4: Lord Vaughan to Henry
Morgan; Coventry MSS, 7U, March 8, 1675: Sir Thomas Lynch to Henry
Coventry. The proof that Sir Thomas Modyford returned to Jamaica via
H. M. S. Foresight along with Lord Vaughan rather than accompanying
Sir Henry korgan aboard the Jamaican Merchant as some writers have
averred is found in CSPC, IX, 2d9.

^°BL, Add. MSS, llhlO, fs. ^6-1:57: Sir Thomas Lynch to Secretary
Williamson, January 13, 1672; Coventry MSS, 7k, March 22, 1675: Lord
Vaughan to Henry Coventry; Coventry MSS, 7k, March 8, 1675: Sir Thomas
Lynch to Henry Coventry; Coventry MSS, 7k, April 15, 1675: Sir Henry
 731*

Morgan to Henry Coventry; CSPC, IX, 182, 185, 192, and 206. As one
reads Morgan's contrived explanations for not traveling in consort with
the Foresight and for the wreck of the Jamaican Merchant, one can
hardly escape the conclusion that Sir Henry deliberately connived to
pursue a more direct route to Jamaica, to publicize his return at the
old rendezvous, and to arrive in Jamaica in advance of Lord Vaughan in
order to enjoy a brief period of acclamation. At any rate, such a
scheme was perfectly in character for Sir Henry.

^Coventry MSS, 7U,March 22, 1675: Lord Vaughan to Henry

Coventry; CSPC, IX, 206;182, 185, 192-193, and 206; Coventry MSS, 7U,
April 15, 1675: Sir Henry Morgan to Henry Coventry; "Council Book of
Jamaica," II, pp. 60-63; Cruikshank, The Life of Sir Henry Morgan,
p. 227.
52
Coventry MSS, 7i*,March 22, 1675: Lord Vaughan to Henry
Coventry; CSPC, VII,567: IX, 181*, 203, and 800; "Council Book of
Jamaica," il, 60-63-
53
CSPC, IX, 31*2; Coventry MSS. 7l*, December 12, 1675: Lord Vaughan
to Henry Coventry; Coventry MSS, 7I4., f . ll+8b: "An Acompt of the Present
State and Condition of his Maj Island of Jamaica," January 1, 1676.

^JA, Inventories, HI, IB/ll/3/3, f . 79J Coventry MSS, 7l*, fs.

Il*8b-I50b, 151b, and l£>3a: "An Acompt of the Present State and Con­
dition of his Maj es Island of Jamaica," January 1, 1676.
55
WAM MS. 11351, June 28, 1676: Sir Thomas Modyford to Sir Andrew
King; Thornton, "The Modyfords and Morgan," 60 n.26.
56
"Council Book of Jamaica," II, 63j Thornton, West-India Policy,
pp. 168-169.

^"Council Book of Jamaica," II, 69-98; CSPC, IX, 21i*-220 and 230;
Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 167 and I69.

Coventry MSS, 7l*, May 19, 1676: Lord Vaughan to Captain Primier;
Bridges, Annals of Jamaica, I, 278: 275-278; CSPC, IX, 3l»2-3l*1*.
59
Coventry MSS, 7U, September 20, 1675: Sir Henry Morgan to Henry
Coventry; Coventry MSS, 7l*, July 20, 1675: Henry Coventry to Lord
Vaughan.
60
Coventry MSS, 74, f . 19: Sir Thomas Lynch to Lord Arlington,
September 23, 1671*; Bridges, Annals of Jamaica, I, 276; CSPC, IX, 262-
263, 271, and 281; Thornton, West-India Policy, pp. 219-220.'

CSPC, IX, 231*: 271, 281, 315, and 389; Coventry MSS, 7i*,
December 12, 1675: Lord Vaughan to Henry Coventry; BL, Add. MSS, 25130,
f . 56: Henry Coventry to Lord Vaughan, August 21*, 1675*
62
Coventry MSS, 7l*, May 23, 1675: Sir Henry Morgan to Secretary
Coventry; Coventry MSS, 71*, December 10, 1675: Sir Henry Morgan to
 735

Secretary Coventry.

^HL, Add. MSS, 25120, f . 52: fs. 52-53: Secretary Coventry to

Lord Vaughan, July 30, 1675.
6ii
Coventry MSS, 7k, May 18, 1675: Lord Vaughan to Henry Coventry;
Coventry MSS, 7ii, April 6, 1676: Sir Henry Morgan to Coventry;
Coventry MSS, 7l*, January 29, 1676: Vaughan to Coventry; Coventry MSS,
7k, March 22, 1676: Vaughan to Coventry; Coventry MSS, 7k, April 29,
I676: Vaughan to Coventry; Coventry MSS, 7k, February 2, 1676: Vaughan
to Henry Morgan.

6*CSPC, XX, U90: 311 and 1*89-1*91; Coventry MSS, 75, July 21*, 1676:
"An exemplification of all the Proceedings upon the citation of Sir
Henry Morgan and Robert Byndloss before the Councill."

^The conclusions of this paragraph are try own. They are the
product of a tracing of Morgan's career through a wide range of sources
but especially of the reading of reams of Morgan's correspondence in
the Coventry MSS, vols. 7U-75. This portrayal may be a bit harsh, but
I am convinced that it does not miss the mark by much. Morgan has
decidedly had too much press, too good a press, far too long. For
examples of his efforts at character assassination see: Coventry MSS,
7U, December 12, 1675: Vaughan to Coventry; Coventry MSS, 7k, December
10, 1675, April 6, 1676, and July 2, 1676: Morgan to Coventry; "Council
Book of Jamaica," II, p. 115.

67CSPC, IX, 1*70; Coventry MSS, 75, f . H6a: Sir Thomas Modyford
to Charles Modyford, October 12, 1676; JA, Land Patents, II, fs. 61*-
65: III, fs. I51*-l55; JA, Estate Platts, St. Catherine, III, f. 101*:
St. Thomas in the Vale, II, f . 2; Coventry MSS, 75, f * 117a: Deposition
of Sir Thomas Modyford, October, 1676.
£0
CSPC, IX, 1*71; Coventry MSS, 75, f. 113a: "William Bragg's
Accusations against Sir Thomas Modyford," September 27, 1676; Coventry
IKS, 75, fs. Ill:-115: "Deposition of William Bragg," October 1, 1676;
Coventry MSS, 75, I* 117a: "Deposition of Sir Thomas Modyford,"
October, 1676.

^Coventry MSS, 75, f * 116b: Sir Thomas Modyford to Charles

Modyford, October 12, 1676; CSPC, IX, 1*57-1*58; Coventry MSS, 75, fs.
86a-b: Lord Vaughan to Henry Coventry, October 21*, 1676; "Council Book
of Jamaica," II, 187-188.

7°CSPC, IX, 1*71; Coventry MSS, 75, f. 123: "Report of the Judges
of the Supreme Court to Governor Vaughan on the Modyford-Bragg Trial,"
December li, 1676; Coventry MSS, 75, f. 122: "Transcript of the Trial of
Sir Thomas Modyford vs William Bragg," November, 1676.

71CSPC, IX, 1*71: Coventry MSS, 75, fs. 125-126: Henry Morgan
Reports to Secretary Coventry on the Modyford-Bragg Trial, December
18, 1676.
 736

72
Coventry MSS, 75, fs. 86 and 111; Lord Vaughan to Secretary
Coventry, October 2k and November 20, 1676.

*^IR0, Deeds, VI, fs. 188 and 219a-b: VIII, fs. Id4-1;5; Helyar
MSS, July 10, 1677: Sir Thomas Modyford to William Helyar; BA, Deeds,
9/1 and 9/ 9 .
Ik
IRO, Deeds, VI, May 17, 1675: VII, fs. U6-U7, 83, and 256:
XII, f. 121;.
75
'^IRO, Deeds, VII, fs. 5-6 and 29: XII, f. 170; JA, Land Patents,
VII, f. 8Ua-b.
76
IRO, Deeds, VI, f. 230a-b: VUI, fs. 28 and 265j JA, Land
Patents, VI, fs. f;20-l;21.
77
A few of the plots tabulated here among the Modyfords' holdings
were owned in partnership with others (e.g., Sir Thomas and Thomas
Kendall; Sir Thomas and John Noy; Thomas Junior and Thomas Ballard;
Thomas Junior and George Nedham). In those instances, only that
portion of the acreage actually owned by the Modyfords has been in­
cluded. Many of the 68 plots of land cited were, of course, consoli­
dated into '•Angels11 (at least ll; plots) and "Palmer's Hut" (at least
6 plots). Sir Thomas and Thomas Junior acquired lands in the parishes
of St. Elizabeth, Clarendon, Port Royal, St. Catherine, St. John, St.
John/St. Thomas in the Vale, St. George, St. Mary, St. Ann, and St.
James. In addition, Sir James Modyford patented or purchased lands
in St. Andrew's and St. David's as well. The sources from which this
summary has been calculated have largely been cited throughout Chapter
7, 8, and 9. In addition, the following should be noted: Richard
Dunn's tabulation from.JA, Index to Jamaican Land Patents, 1661-1826,
File 1 B/ll (see Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, pp. l$k and I51tfi) which I
have modified considerably with the results of my own detailed searches;
IRO, Deeds, VUI, fs. UU-U5 and 160: X, fs. Itl, 9k, 100-101, and 116;
WAMMS. 11691, August 30, 1675: Charles Modyford to Andrew King; WAM
MS. 11701;, October 20, 1675: "Order of the Court of Chancery in the
suit of Dame Elizabeth Modyford . . . against Sir Andrew King; CSPC,
VH, 99-10U; Lynch, ed., Laws of Jamaica . . . 1681;, map opposite p. 1
and map on p. 337; JA, Land Patents, v m , pp. 3bo-358, 361-362, and
passim.
7fl
BL, Sloane MSS, 2723, f . 30a-b; Feurtado, Official Personages,
p. 67; IRO, Deeds, I, fs. llb-12a: HI, fs. l8a-19b; JA, Land Patents,
pp. 23-25; JA, Estate Platts, St. Catherine, II, Angels Plat (sections
1, 2, and 3) and No. 67, f . 38; JA, Inventories, HI, fs. 79-81.
79
Oliver, ed., Caribbeana, I, 19, 60-61, 109, and 119; HL, Add.
MSS, 21931, fs. 9 and ll; Wright, Monumental Inscriptions, p. 118;
Cundall, Governors of Jamaica, p. 30; Roby, Monuments of the Cathedral,
pp. 71-72; Coventry MSS, 75, January 7 and 20,'"l6V?: Henry Morgan to
Secretary Coventry.
fin
Oliver, ed., Caribbeana, II, 211 and 211 n.5; CSPC, I, U70:
 737

V, 1*7, 55, 116, and 1*87-1*90: VII, 100: XII, Addenda, 632; Young,
"Beginnings of Civil Government," 50; Claypole, "Settlement of the
Liguanea Plain," 18; Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, pp. 176-177; JA, Land
Patents, VI, pp. 511-512: VII, f . 21a-b; IRO, Deeds, VIII, f3. 5-6,
20, 29, and 256: X, 212-213.
81
Bridges, Annals of Jamaica, I, 265; Blome, Description of
Jamaica, p. 9; Lynch, ed., Laws"*of Jamaica . . . 166Z*, map opposite
p. 1 and map on p. 337; IRO, Deeds, III, fs. 18a-19b. Much of this
paragraph is based upon the inventory of "Angels Plantation" taken
eight years after Sir Thomas Modyford's death. The sources reflecting
Charles Modyford's life in Jamaica (1681-1687) suggest a diminishing
of planting activities from these peak years of production under his
father's management. See JA, Inventories, III, fs. 79-81.
82
Helyar MSS, September 21*, 1670: November 7, 1670: January 12,
1671: November 27, 1671: Cary Helyar to William Helyar; Helyar MSS,
March 2, 1677: Edward Atcherley to William Helyar; "Council Book of
Jamaica," II, 15; Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, pp. 217-218.
DO
Thornton, "Organization of the Slave Trade," i*0l*-i*06; Dunn,
Sugar and Slaves, p. 157j Helyar MSS, March 2, 1677: Edward Atcherley
to William Helyar.

% u n n , Sugar and Slaves, pp. 157 and 260; Bennett, "William

Whaley," 118; "Council Book of Jamaica," II, 100-110 and 180 ff.
85
Helyar MSS, July 12, 1677: Joseph Bryan to Matthew Bryan;
Helyar MSS, June 8, 1678: Bryan to William Helyar; Bennett, "William
Whaley," 118-119; Lubbock, ed., Barlow's Journal, p. 31l*.
86
My thought and expression of the above two paragraphs have been
tutored somewhat by Notestein, Eve of Colonization, Chapters 2, 3, 5,
18, and Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, Chapter 10.
0*7
PRO, C.O. 30/2/16: "Barbados Act for the better ordering and
governing of Negroes," September 27, 1661 as cited in Dunn, Sugar and
Slaves, p. 339 and 339n.
00
JA, Inventories, III, fs. 79-81.

^Coventry MSS, 75, March 6, 1677: Vaughan to Secretary Coventry;

CSPC, X, 1*0, 55, and 57; "Council Book of Jamaica," II, 201-203.
90
Coventry MSS, 75, May 31, June 26, July 20, August 3, 1677:
Vaughan to Coventry; Coventry MSS, 75, Map 31, 1677: Henry Morgan to
Coventry; "Council Book of Jamaica," H , 205-257*

91«Council Book of Jamaica," H , 260-287; CSPC. X, li*6-ll*9;

Coventry MSS, 75, September 10 and October 20, 1677: Vaughan to
Coventry.

"Council Book of Jamaica," H , 286-287; CSPC. X, 221-222;

 738

Bridges, Annals, I, 279-280.

93CSPC, X, 232, 233, 21*7, 256, and 258; Thornton, West-India

Policy, pp. 22L*-226; "Council Book of Jamaica," II, 290-563.

^CSPC, X, 220 and 230-232; Da Costa, "Constitutional Struggles,"

26. ---
9?
CSPC, X, lh5, 182, 220, 230-231, and 250; Da Costa, "Constitu­
tional Struggles," 26.
96
CSPC, X, 280-281; Coventry MSS, 7$, July 29, 1678: Henry Morgan
to Coventry; Coventry MSS, 75, July 31, 1678: Earl of Carlisle to
Coventry; Da Costa, "Constitutional Struggles," 27; "Council Book of
Jamaica," II, 30l*-308.

97CSPC, X, 273-271*, 280, 286-288, 290-291, 29l*-2?5, and 300;

Da Costa, '^Constitutional Struggles," 27-28; "Council Book of Jamaica,"
II, 310-312.
98
CSPC, X, 301: 300-305 and 3U7J Archives Department, Colonial
Williamsburg, William Blathwayt Papers, 22, June 10, 1679: Lord
Carlisle to William Blathwayt.
99
Coventry MSS, 7l*, fs. 152-153: "An Acompt of the Present State
and Condition of his Majties Island of Jamaica . . .," January 1, 1676.
TOO
BL, Sloane MSS, 2721*, f. 33: Gambia Committee to Lord Carlisle,
March 27, 1678; Coventry MSS, 75, f • H6: Sir Thomas Modyford to Charles
Modyford, October 12, 1676.

101CSPC, X, 136, 211*, 331, and 378-379; Donnan, ed., Documents of

the Slave Trade, I, 21*2, 21*5, and 258; Blathwayt Papers, 22, March' £1*,
167^: William Blathwayt to Lord Carlisle; APC Col., I, 799, 807, and
885- 886. -----------
102
After lengthy debate between the Jamaicans and the Lords of
Trade, the Lords were to give in eventually to the insistance of the
Jamaicans that the king, through his commissions to the previous
governors, had permanently granted them the privilege of represen­
tative government and the right to be ruled by the laws of England.
The Lords reluctantly reverted to the old system of government in late
1680. See Da Costa, "Constitutional Struggles," 31-33. For this
paragraph see: CSPC, X, 3U8—3i+9, 367, 369, and 379; Da Costa, "Con­
stitutional Struggles," 28-30; Blathwayt Papers, 22, February 28, May
30, and July ll*, 1679: William Blathwayt to Lord Carlisle.

103CSPC, X, 1*07-1*10; Thornton, West-India Policy, p. 226.

10ltCSFC, X, 1*11: 1*13: M3: 1*10-1*13.

10^HL, Sloane MSS, 2723, f. 30; BL, Sloane MSS, 2721*, fs. 38-1*6;
Coventry MSS, 75, f • 280b: Lord Carlisle to Coventry, October 21*, 1678;
 739

CSPC, X, Slil-SU2.

‘'"^Roberts, Sir Henry Morgan, p. 232j Helyar MSS, July 10, 1677:
Sir Thomas Modyford to William Helyar j Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, pp.
332-3314.
107
W. R. Bailey, "The Geography of Fevers in Early Jamaica,"
JHR, X (1973), 23-31J CSPC, X, Ijlli-ljlS; Roberts, Sir Henry Morgan,
p. 232j Cundall, Governors of Jamaica, pp. 29-30; Blathwayt Papers,
27, September 16, 1679: Rowland Powell to William Blathwayt; Narcissus
Luttrell, A Brief Historical Relation of State Affairs from September,
1678, to April, I7U 4 (.Oxford: University £ress, ibfJ7)i 22; IRO, Deeds,
x, cL iks-ihj; 211-2111! n , f. 21.
108
Cruickshank, Sir Henry Morgan, p. 288; Roby, Monuments, pp.
13-16; Roberts, Sir Henry Morgan, p. 232.

Epilogue: An Evaluation

Pages 6I49-63I4

From the dedication of John Gadbury, The West India, or Jamaica,

Almanack (London: 167U)- This quote also appears as an epigraph
within the title of this work.

2CSPC, v n , 129.

Cundall, Governors of Jamaica, p. 28.

^Ibid.

^Notestein, Eve of Colonization, p. 3?*

6
For directing my attention to certain conclusions concerning
Thomas Modyford, I am indebted to Whitson, Constitutional Development
and Roberts, Portrait of an Island.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. PRIMARY SOURCES

A. Manuscripts

1. British Repositories

a. Bodleian Library, Oxford

Ashraoleian MSS, vols. 836 and 837* (Items reflecting the funeral of
Sir George Smith in Exeter, 1619.)

Clarendon MSS, vols. 72, 77, 80, 81, 82, 8U, and 87. (Letters of
Charles Rex, James Duke of York, Sir John Colleton, Humphrey
Walrond, Lord Willoughby, Richard Povey, Samuel Long, and Thomas
Modyford: Barbados and Jamaica, 1660-1666.)

Rawlinson MSS A., vols. 7, 2U, 27, 28, 28, 36, 37* and 39* (Corres­
pondence of Thomas Modyford, James Modyford, Thomas Kendall,
Daniel Searle, Oliver Cromwell, and the commissioners for the
'Western Design" focusing upon Barbados, 1653-1656.)

Rawlinson MSS A., vols. 255, 328, 31+7, and 1*78. (Collection of com­
missions, instructions, warrants, proposals, and accounts relating
largely to Jamaica, 166U-1671.)

Tanner MSS, vols. 5U, 55, and 56. (Correspondence of Lord Willoughby,
George Ayscue, and others relating to Barbados and the Common­
wealth, 1650-1657.)

b. British Library, London

Additional MSS hl57. Letter from Daniel Searle to Oliver Cromwell,

Nov. 7, 1655-

Additional MSS 5hlh, No.s h, 5, 15, and 25. (Maps of Jamaica, Port
Royal, Barbados, and the Caribby Islands.)

Additional MSS 6027. Contains a diagram of Exeter Castle.

Additional MSS 11268. Papers relating to Jamaica and to Henry Morgan1s

raid on Panama, 1670-1671.

7hO
 71*1

Additional MSS 111*10. Papers relating to the West Indies, 165U-1682.

(Contains correspondence re. to the "Western Design" [1655],
James Modyford's "Survey of Jamaica" [1663], and letters from Sir
Thomas Lynch to Lord Arlington [1671-1672].)

Additional MSS 111*11. Thomas Povey's register of letters relating to

the West Indies, 1655-1661. (Of prime importance for the history
of Barbados during this period.)

Additional MSS 121*23. The Journal of Edward D'Oyley: Jamaica, 1655-

1662.

Additional MSS 11561*, fs. 36-37. (Plan of the city of Exeter.)

Additional MSS 121*28. A paper on the governors of Jamaica, 1660-1752.

Additional MSS 121*25. (Includes Robert Venables's account of the

"Western Design," Thomas Modyford*s "Laws Military," and Mr.
Nevil's "Present State of Jamaica": Jamaica, 1655-1677*)

Additional MSS 121*30, fs, 55 If. ("William Beeston's Journal''^ it

reflects the development of Jamaica, 1660-1700.)

Additional MSS 15U95• Port Royal before and after the earthquake.

Additional MSS 18986. Letters and inventories from Thomas Modyford and
fellow prize officers in Barbados, 1655*

Additional MSS 21931. Lists of marriages and wills in Jamaica, 1663-

1697.

Additional MSS 21*120. Contains genealogical gleanings re. John

Colleton's family.

Additional MSS 25120. Henry Coventry's correspondence with governors

Vaughan and Morgan of Jamaica, 1675-1678.

Additional MSS 33275* Edward Slaney's "Map of Jamaica," 1678.

Additional MSS 31*181. Contains abstracts of the wills of Charles

Modyford, Sir Thomas Modyford (Fifth Baronet), Richard Beckford,
and Hender Molesworth.

Additional MSS 35251. Contains Thomas Modyford's "Protestation" to

Oliver Cromwell and accompanying letter to Thomas Noell. March
20, 1655.

Additional MSS 1*0711. Contains letters from James Modyford to a

friend in Surrat, India. March 10, 1662/3.

Egerton MSS 2395. Papers relating to the English colonies in America

and the West Indies, 1627-1699. (Contains letters, petitions, and
proposals by Thomas Modyford in Barbados, 1652-1659 and papers
 7h2

relating to his governorship there in 1660.)

Egerton MSS 261*8. Francis Barrington's account of the "Western

Design." June-July, 1655*

Harleian MSS 1510. Report from the Commissioners of Prizes at White­

hall, January, 1667• (Contains information about Jamaican prize
ships.)

Sloane MSS 1708. F. Bernard Nativities. (Contains data on Thomas

Modyford's children.)

Sloane MSS 2723, fs. 32 ff. (Letters written by Thomas Modyford from
"Angels".)

Stowe MSS 185. Oliver Cromwell's instructions to the leaders of the

Western Design, 1651*.

c. Devon County Record Office, Exeter

Moger, Olive, comp. Abstracts of Testamentary Causes brought intothe

Episcopal Consistory Court of Exeter. Series I: 10 volumes and
index. Series II: 17 volumes and index.

Moger, Olive, comp. Abstracts of Wills in the Principal Probate

Registry of Exeter. 1*6 volumes and index.

Tingey, John C., comp. A Calendar of the Deeds Enrolled within the
County of Devon in Pursuance of the Statute, 27 Henry, VUI.
1* volumes. Typescript transcriptions.

Seymour Papers

d. Exeter City Record Office, Exeter

Moger, Olive, comp. Copies of Transcripts and Extracts from Wills and
Other Records. Typescript Copies. Exeter Reference Library.

Deeds

Orphans Court Inventories

Parish Binders. St. Kerrian

Miscellaneous Rolls

Testamentary Bundles

Wills

Tingey, John C., comp. Tingey Index. A cross-referenced card file of

 people, places, events etc. of Exeter and Devon. Exeter Reference
Library.

e. Lambeth Palace Library, London

Fulham MSS. General Correspondence, vol. 18, fs. 93-292. (Letters

from the clergy and others in Jamaica to the Bishop of London:
Jamaica, 1661-1739*)

f. Longleat House Library, Wiltshire

Coventry MSS, vols. 7U-78. Secretary Henry Coventry's correspondence

with various English colonies in the l670's. Of these, vol. 7k
constitutes vol. I of the Jamaica Correspondence (1673-1676)j
vol. 75 constitutes vol. U of the Jamaica Correspondence (1676-
1679). Filmed by University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.

g. Public Record Office, London

Admiralty Papers.
Adm. 51/1201. Alphabetical list of captain's logs. 2 vols.

Adm. 5lA389/No. 12. James Waymouth's sea journal entitled:

"Wellcome Books: James Waymouth, His Booke, 1670."

Adm. 52/2609. Alphabetical list of master's logs. 2 vols.

Colonial Office Papers.

C.O,, several classes. (I have quoted directly from a few items
in this group, but I have largely depended upon the extensive,
printed calendars of same— the Calendars of State Papers,
Colonial.)

Principal Probate Registry.

PROB. The wills of Sir John Colleton, Sir Peter Colleton, Thomas
Kendall, John Modyford, Charles Modyford, and Thomas Walker.

Shaftesbury Papers.
PRO, 30/2I4/U8 and k 9 * (Miscellaneous papers relating to the
English colonies, 1660's and l670's.)

Treasury Papers. Records of the African Companies.

T70/6I46. Ledger of the Company of Royal Adventurers' factors in
Barbados, 1662-166U.

War Office Papers. Records of the Tower of London.

WO 9I1/I State Prisoners: Commitments and Orders, I66O-I69O.

WO 9h/h State Prisoners: Commitments and Orders. Constable's

Office Papers.

WO 9U/5 Garrison Papers, 1660-1837*

 7Wi

Samuel Pepy's List of Ships and Officers, 1660-1688.

With a cross index to Naval Records Society, vol. 2k. Compiled
by W. B. Rowbotham.

h. Royal Commonwealth Society Library, London

Davis, N. Darnell, comp. Davis Papers. (A collection of manuscript

transcripts, genealogical data, extracts from official records,
research notes, and brief drafts on historical themes relating to
West Indian history, especially focusing upon Barbados in the
17th century. Fifteen file boxes of envelopes filled with loose
papers.)

i. Royal Society Library, London

Royal Society MS. 83. Letter from George Ellwood in Jamaica, June 15,
1672.

j. Somerset County Record Office, Taunton

Helyar MSS. A collection of letters, account books, and estate records

reflecting the development of Bybrook Plantation, Bog Walk,
Jamaica, and life in Jamaica, 1662-1700. (Available on microfilm
from the Bennett Collection, Mirabeau B. Lamar Library, University
of Texas, Austin.)

k. Westminster Abbey Muniments, London

Modyford Papers
W.A.M. MSS 113ii9-H939. A series of letters and business papers
exchanged between Sir James Modyford in Jamaica and Sir Andrew
King in London, 1667-1672.

1. Wellcome Historical Medical Library, London

Wellcome MS. 107. Merchant Captain's Notes. (Reflects voyages to

Jamaica around 1670-1671.)

2. Caribbean Repositories

a. Barbados Archives

Deeds
Original Deeds
Counter-Deeds
Recopied-Deeds
 7li5

b. Barbados Public Library

Lucas MSS. Minutes of the Barbados Council, vol. I and index:

February, l65U-December, 1658. (This item is a transcript of
vol. H I of the original Council Minutes which are largely lost
for this early period.)

c. Island Record Office, Spanish Town, Jamaica

Deeds, vols. I-XVT

Parish Registers: St. Catherine, St. Andrew, St. Thomas in the Vale.

Wills

d. Jamaica Archives, Spanish Town

Estate Platts: St. Catherine, vols. I-IIIj St. Andrew, vols. I-IIj
St. Johnj St. Thomas in the Vale, vol. H .

Inventories, vols. H-XVI.

Land Patents, vols. I-XV.

e. Institute of Jamaica, West India Reference Library, Kingston

MS. 60. MSS Transcripts of the Jamaica Council Minutes, vol. I (June,
1661-July, 1672) and vol. II (August, 1672-September, 1678),
Vol. Ill is missing.

MS. 105. Taylor, John. Multum in Parvo. Taylor's second part of the
Historie of his life and Travels in America. (Geographic
description and natural history of Jamaica in 1688.)

3. United States Repositories

a. Colonial Williamsburg, Archives Department, Williamsburg, Va.

William Blathwayt Papers, hi volumes, 1675-1715. Volumes 20-28

relate to Jamaica. Vol. 22 is cited (1678-1679.)

b. Library of Congress, Washington, D. C.

Phillips Collection. Item 8539, p. 1: Great Britain, Journal of the

Council for Foreign Plantations (August 3, 1670-September 20,
1672) and Journal of the Council for Trade and Plantations (October
12, 1672-December 22, I67U.)
 7h6

B. Published Documents, Calendars and Reports

Barbados. Acts Passed in the Island of Barbados from 16U3 to 1762.

inclusive. Edited by Richard Hall, tondon: Printed for Richard
kali, l7bh.

Cary, Henry, ed. Memorials of the Great Civil War in England from
I6i46 to 16527 fMrois. London: 10b2 .

Cash, Margaret, ed. Devon Inventories of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth

Centuries. Exeter: Devon & Cornwall frecord Society, 1966.

Church of England. Book of Common Prayer of Queen Elizabeth. 1559 •

Reprinted Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms,

Donnan, Elizabeth. Documents Illustrative of the History of the Slave

Trade to America. U vols. Washington: Carnegie Insiiiuiion of
Washington, 1930-1935•

Firth, Charles H., ed. The Clark Papers. Selections from the Papers of
William Clark. 1; vols. Royai Historical Society Publications.
London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1899•

Fry, Edward Alexander, ed. Calendars of Wills and Administrations

Relating to the Counties of Devon and CornwaLL, Proved in £Ke Court
oT'the Principal Registry of the kishops of Exeter, 1%%$-1799* and
oT* Devon Only, Proved, in ihe Court of the Archdeaconry of Exeter/"
15L0-1799 • London: Lhe feritish kecord ^Society, l90b.

Gardiner, Samuel Rawson and Atkinson, C. T. Letters and Papers Related

to the First Dutch War. 5 vols. London: Naval ftecord Society,
W W 3 9 TT.------------

Granville, Roger and Mugford, W. E., cotnps. Abstracts of the Existing

Transcripts of the Lost Parish Registers of Devon, 159&-16UL.
Exeter: William Pollard & Co., 19od.

Great Britain. Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum, 16U2-1660.

3 vols. London: kis Majesty's Stationery 6ffice, 19ll.

Great Britain. Calendar of the Clarendon State Papers Preserved in the

Bodleian Library. 3 vols. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1860-1970.

Great Britain. Calendar of Treasury Books, 1660-1667. Edited by William

A. Shaw. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 190U.

Great Britain. A Collection of the State Papers of John Thurloe. Esqj

Secretary/First, to iWCouncil of State, and Afterwards to the
Two Projectors, Oliver and kichard Cromwell. 7 vols. London:
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Great Britain. Debates of the House of Commons, from the Year 1667 to
 7h7

the Year 169U. 10 vols. London: D. Henry and R. Cave, 1763.

Great Britain, Historical Manuscripts Commission. The Manuscripts of

the Dean and Chapter of Wells. (In the Third Report.) London: Her
Majesty's Stationery 6ffice, 1872.

Great Britain, Historical Manuscripts Commission. The Cowper Manu­

scripts . (Appendix, Pt. 1, of the Twelfth Report.) London: Her
Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1888.

Great Britain, Historical Manuscripts Commission. The Manuscripts of

His Grace the Duke of Portland, Preserved at Welbeck Abbey. 0
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Great Britain, Historical Manuscripts Commission. The Manuscripts of

S . H . LeFleming, Esq..of Rydal Hall. London: Her Majesty's
Stationery Office, ltJ90.

Great Britain, Historical Manuscripts Commission. Reports on the

Records of the City of Exeter. London: His Majesty's Stationery
O m c e , T£L'6. ---------

Great Britain, Journals of the House of Commons, from October the 10th
1667, in the Nineteenth Year of1 the keign of king Charles the
Second, to April the ^6B7< in the Third Year of the R'ei'gn of
ISIng James the Second. ^5 vols. London: PrInbed hy order of the
House ot Commons, n. d.

Great Britain, Public Record Office. Acts of the Privy Council of

England, Colonial Series. 6 vols. Hereford: Anthony Brothers and
London: His Majesty1s Stationery Office, 1908-1912.

Great Britain, Public Record Office. Calendar of State Papers and

Manuscripts, Relating to English Affairs, Existing in the Archives
and Collections of Venice, and in O'^Her Llbraries"of' Northern
Italy. 38 vols. London: kxs' Majesty's Stationery Office, YHfeli-
ror

Great Britain. Public Record Office. Calendar of State Papers, Colonial

Series. h2 vols. London: Longman, Green, Longman, & Roberts, 1860-
1953.

Great Britain. Public Record Office. Calendar of State Papers, Domestic

Series, of the Reign of Charles I~ahd ol Charles II. Edited by
Mary Ann fevereVt Green'. 28 vols. London: Longman, Green, Longmans
& Roberts, 1860-1939.

Great Britain, Public Record Office. Calendar of the Proceedings of the

Committee for Compounding, 16U3-1660. Ed'j-bed' by Mary Ann Everett
Green. 5 vols. London: tier Majesty's Stationery Office, 1889-1892.

Harlow, V, T., ed. Colonizing Expeditions to the West Indies and

Guiana, 1623-1667.' 'rfakluyt Society, Second series, vol. 5b.
 7U8

London: The Hakluyt Society, 1925.

Hoskins, William George, ed., Exeter in the Seventeenth Century: Tax

and Rate Assessments, 1602-1699. Devon and Cornwall Record
Society, New Series, vol. £. Torquay: The Devonshire Press, 1957.

Interesting Tracts, Relating to the Island of Jamaica. Consisting of

Curious Staie Papers, Councils of War, Letters, Petitions,
Narratives etc. which Ihrow Great Light on the^History of hhat
Island, From Its Conquest, bown to the Year 1702. St. Jago de la
Vega: Lewis, Luvan, and Jones, 1000.

Jamaica, House of Assembly. Journals of the Assembly of Jamaica.

Ill vols. Jamaica: Alexander Aikman, ldll.

Jamaica. The Laws of Jamaica Passed by the Assembly and Confirmed by

His Majesty in Council, April 17, l6dlu to which Is Added, ihe
State of Jamaica as It Is now under the (jovemment of Sir Thomas
^nch, with a Large Mapp of the Island. London: Charles Harper,

Jamaica, Port Royal. City of Port Royal Land Records. Real Estate
Transactions before 1692 Earthquake'.'Washington, D. C.: National
Geographic Society, February, I960.

Lincoln's Inn. The Records of the Honorable Society of Lincoln's Inn.

Admissions. Compiled by Joseph Foster. 2 vols. London: Lincoln^s
Inn, 189b.

Lincoln's Inn. The Records of the Honorable Society of Lincoln's Inn.

The Black kooks. Edited by William Paley kaildon. U vols. London:
Lincoln's Inn, 1897-1902.

North Carolina. The Colonial Records of North Carolina. 30 vols.

Raleigh: P."M."Hale, lBBt-IJll*.

Peacock, Edward, ed. The Army Lists of the Roundheads and Cavaliers,
Containing the Names of the Officers in the Royal and Parliamen­
tary Armies of~16S£. 2d ed., enl. London: Chatto & Windus, 107U.

Reynell-Upham, W. W. and Tapley-Soper, H., eds. The Registers of

Baptisms. Marriages & Burials of the City of fcxeler.' 2 vols.
Exeter: Devon and Cornwall Record Society, 1910 and 1933.

Rushworth, John, ed. Historical Collections: Beginning with 1618 and

Continuing through the Death of Charles 1 irTl&hy. d vols.
London: Printed for D, Brown et. al., 1^21.

Tanner, J. R., ed. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Naval Manuscripts

in the Pepysian Library at kagdalene College, Cambridge. U vols.
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Thompson, Edward Maunde, ed. Correspondence of the Family of Hatton,

 7h9

Being Chiefly Letters Addressed to Christopher First Viscount

Hatton, I6Q1-170U. 2 vols. Camden Society Publications, Third
Series, Nos. 22 & 23. Westminster: Nichols and Sons, I878.

G. Contemporary Memoirs, Diaries, Correspondence, Tracts

Barlow's Journal of His Life at Sea in King'3 Ships, East & West
Indliam'en & Other Merchantmen from 1659 to lt03. Transcribed by
Basil Lubbock.~~2 vols. London: Hurst & Blackett, 1931*.

Battick, John F. "Richard Rooth's Sea Journal of the Western Design

l651*-55." Jamaican Journal, T (December, 1971), 3-21.

Brushfield, T. N. "The Financial Diary of a Citizen of Exeter, 1631-

161*3." Transactions of Devonshire Association, XXXIII, 187-269.

Carleton, Mary. News from Jamaica in a Letter from Port Royal Written
by the German Princess to Her frellow Colleagiates and Friends in
New-Gate. London: Fe-fcer Lillicrop, 167I.

Chadwyck-Healey, Charles E. H., ed. Bellum Civile: Hopton's Narrative

of His Campaign in the West, l6t*2-16UU and 6thergapers. Somerset
Record Society, vol. 3CVIII. London: Harrison and Sons,n.d.

Coate, Mary, ed. "An Original Diary of Col. Robert Bennett." Devon and
Cornwall Notes and Queries, XVHI (1935), 251-239*

Exquemelin, A. 0. The Buccaneers of America. Original English edition:

London: George Routledge & Sons, 1685. Recent edition: trans. by
Alexis Brown. London: The Folio Society, 1972.

Evelyn, John. The Diary of John Evelyn. Edited by William Bray. 2 vols.
Akron, Ohio: St. Dunstan Society, 1901.

Firth, Charles Harding. The Narrative of General Venables. Camden

Society Publications, New Series, No. 61. London: Longmans, Green,
and Co.,

Greene, John. "Legal Diary, 1635-1659." English Historical Review,

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Hooke, Robert. Diary of Robert Hooke. Edited by Henry W. Robinson and

Walter Adams. London: 1935-

Karkeek, P. Q. "Extracts from a Memorandum Book Belonging to Thomas

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 750

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Sloane, Hans. A Voyage to the Islands of Madera, Barbados. Nevis, St.

Christopher and Jamaica, with a Natural''History of the Herbs ancE
!frees, Four-Footed Beasts, Fishes, Birds, insects, Reptiles, etc.
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1757-1rg.- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Great Civil War. Edited by Charles fidwarcTlongT Camden Society
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D. Early Histories and Biographies

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A. B, A Brief Relation of the Beginning and Ending of the Troubles of

the Barbados, with the tfrue Causes Thereof.London: Peter Cole,
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Beeston, William. "An Historical Account of the Establishment of the

Colony of Jamaica, Its Constitution, Form of Government, and
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Davies, J. The History of the Caribbee Islands. London: 1666.

Dunsford, M. Historical Memoirs of the Town and Pariah of Tiverton.

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Foster, Nicholas. A Briefe Relation of the Late Horrid Rebellion Acted

in the Island Barbados, in the West-Indie s'. 1650. Reprinted London:
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Frere, George. A Short History of Barbados, from Its First Discovery

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1760.

Hall, Richard. A General Account of the First Settlement and of the

Trade and Constitution of the Island of Barbados. Written in the
year 1^55• Barbados: ljjpPh.

Histoire^de la Jamaique, Traduite de l"AngIois. London: Chez Nourse,

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Hooker, John. The Description of the Citie of Excester. Transcribed and

edited from a manuscript in the Archives of the city of Exeter by
Walter J. Harte, J. W. Schopp, and H. Tapley-Soper. Exeter: Devon
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Hyde, Edward. The History of the Great Rebellion. Edited by Roger

Lockyer. London: Oxford University Press, 1967.

I. S. A Brief and Perfect Journal of the Late Proceedings and Successe

of the English Army in the West-Indies, Continued until June the
2IIW 1655" Together with Some Quere's Inserted and Answered.
London: 16^5•

Izacke, Richard. Remarkable Antiquities of the City of Exeter. London:

Edward Score, John March, & Nathaniel Thome, 172^.

Leslie, C. A New History of Jamaica, from the Earliest Accounts to the

Taking oi1 Porto Bello by Vice-Admiral Vernon, in Thirteen Letters
?rom a Gentleman to His Friend. 2d ed.

Ligon, Richard. A True & Exact History of the Island of Barbados.

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Luttrell, Narcissus. A Brief Historical Relation of State Affairs from

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IB5T

Memoirs of the First Settlement of the Island of Barbados, and Other

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Prince, John. Danmonii Orientales Illustres: or, The Worthies of Devon.

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 752

E. Maps and Geographical Descriptions

Blome, Richard. A Description of the Island of Jamaica, with the Other

Isles and Territories in America, to which the English are
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Cadbury, John. The West India, or Jamaica, Almanack. London: John

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Halliday, F. E., ed. Richard Carew of Antony. The Survey of Cornwall.

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Hickeringill, Edmund. Jamaica Viewed; with All the Forts, Harbours, and
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Kip, J. An Early Panorama of Bridgetown, Barbados. 1695- Reprinted in

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Mordden, Robert and Berry, William. A New Map of the English Plantations
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E. Maps and Geographical Works

Bent, R. M. and Bent-Golding, Enid L. A Complete Geography of Jamaica.

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{
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t
I
VITA

CARLTON ROWE WILLIAMS

Born: December £, 1935

Louisville, Kentucky

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS ATTENDED

University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky., 1968-1978 Ph.D. (Candidate)

(British, European, U.S. History: Higher Education)

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N. C., 1960-1963* M.A. + 9 hrs.

(British and European History: 18 hrs. Secondary Education)

Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, N. C., spring I960.

(Ill hrs. selected studies in Religion)

Queens College, Charlotte, N. C., 1958-1959* A.B.

(History)

Western Kentucky State College, Bowling Green, Ky., 1956-1957.

Carson-Newman College, Jefferson City, Tenn., 1953-1955*

Central City High School, 1953.

PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS HELD

Assistant Dean for Advising and General Studies

Division of Basic Studies
College of Arts and Sciences
University of Kentucky
July 1, 1975 - June 30, 1978

Assistant to the Dean (full time)

College of Arts and Sciences
University of Kentucky
July 1, 1972 - June 30, 197U

Assistant to the Dean (half time)

College of Arts and Sciences
University of Kentucky
July 1, 1972 - June 30, 197U

770
 771

Coordinator, Evaluation of the Kentucky Title I Program, 1966-1971*

University of Kentucky Research Foundation, 1972 - 1973*

Instructor in British History

Department of History
University of Kentucky
Summer sessions 1970, 1971

Staff Assistant, University Senate Committee on the Criteria and

Processes for Establishing Priorities among Academic Programs.
University of Kentucky
1969 - 1970

Special Teaching Assistant in British History

Department of History
University of Kentucky
1968 - 1970

Instructor in History
Paducah Junior College
Paducah, Kentucky
1965 - 1968

Teacher of History
Smith Senior High School
Greensboro, North Carolina
196U - 1965

Teacher of History
Cary High School
Cary, North Carolina
1963 - 1961*

Historian and Training Specialist for the National Park Service for eight
summer seasons. (Blue Ridge Parkway: Guilford Courthouse National Military
Park)
i9 6 0 - 1968

Minister of Church Music, Education, and Youth Programs

Dallas Baptist Church
Dallas, North Carolina
1958 - I960

Teacher of English and Literature

Bremen Consolidated School
Bremen, Kentucky
1957 - 1958

Pastor, Beechland Baptist Church

Logan County, Kentucky
1957

Associate Pastor, Long Creek Memorial Baptist Church

Dallas, North Carolina
1956
 772

SCHOLASTIC AND PROFESSIONAL HONORS

% Nominated to the Board of Directors, Association of General and Liberal

Studies, fall, 1977

Dissertation Research Travel Grants, 1972 (research in England and Jamaica)

University Dissertation Research Travel Fund
United States Steel Foundation
University of Kentucky Research Foundation

Dissertation Year Fellowship, 1972-1973 (Relinquished in order to accept

position as Assistant to the Dean, College of Arts and Sciences)

United States Steel Fellow at the University of Kentucky, 1970-1972

Chairman, "Seminar on the Governance of the University," fall, 1972,

sponsored by the Center for Developmental Change, the University
of Kentucky

Vice President, History GraduaterStudents1 Association (One of the first

two students admitted to departmental meetings with voting powers
and responsibilities), 1970-1971

Chairman, Constitution and Bylaws Committee, Kentucky Association of

Junior Colleges, 1967-1969

President, Faculty Assembly, Paducah Community College, 1965-1968

Treasurer, Faculty Club, Smith Senior High School, Greensboro, North

Carolina, 196L-1965

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS

"Are We Preparing the TA for Teaching? New Trends for a Complex Problem,"
UK Teaching News and Notes, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Feb,, 1977). (7 pp.)

"Annual Report on the Academic Advising Service, 1975-1976," Division of

Basic Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. January, 1977 (18 pp.)

(With Professor David Buisseret, University of the West Indies) A grant

proposal for a collaborative project in historical research and
writing submitted to the National Endowment for the Humanities,
May, 1975— "Producing a Comprehensive History Entitled: THE FOUNDING
OF BRITISH JAMAICA, 1655-1713." (Ii3 pp.) Proposal not funded.

(With Dr. John Stephenson) The Developmental Studies Program: A Detailed

Proposal for Development Services far Academically Disadvantaged
Siudenis ai the University of Kentucky. Spring, 1975. (96 PP*)

Dean Art Gallaher and Administrative Associates, Recommendations for the

Reorganization of the College of Arts and Sciences, University of
Kentucky, braft by Carlton Williams, Assistant to the Dean. June,
197U. (75 pp.)
 773

"College of Arts and Sciences" [a profile of the collegefs philosophy,

perspectives, and programs], The Kentucky Alumnus, Fall, 1973*

Alternative Models for the Organization of the Arts and Sciences at the
University of Kentucky. August, 1973. (6b pp.J

Existing Examples of Attempts to Organize or to Reorganize the Arts auid

Sciences in Large State Universities for Purposes of kore Effective
Program Development, Integration, and Management. August, 1973.

Existing Models of University Organization Relative to the Delivering of

the General Education Experience. August, 1973. (27 pp.]

An Evaluation of the Title I Program of Kentucky, 1966-1971: An Interim

Report. University of keniucky Research Foundation. June, 197^.
(63 pp. St appendices)

A series of eight "Aids toward Helping Beginning College History Students

Develop Study Skills" distributed to participants in the Study
Skills Institute for Junior College Teachers, Somerset, Kentucky.
Summer, 1971.

A series of six "Interpretive Problems in British History." Summer, 1970.

(Approx. 30 pp. each). Charles E. Herrill Books Inc. has extended
an invitation to submit these for publication review when time
permits completion of the series.

"Designing, Developing, and Implementing a Comprehensive System for the

Evaluation, Reward, and Improvement of Faculty Performance in the
Community College." December, 1969* ( H I PP.)

Constitution and Bylaws. Kentucky Association of Junior Colleges. 1969.

1966.
Constitution and Bylews. Faculty Assembly, Paducah Community College.

"The Public Career of Sir Thomas Modyford, Planter-Politician in the

British West Indies, 161*7-1679." M.A. thesis, 1966. (178 pp.)
Solicited, reviewed and promoted for publication by the Editorial
Board of the Department of History, University of the West Indies.
No publisher was found willing to undertake it as a commercial
venture. Currently being expanded into doctoral dissertation.

(Several of the above writings have either been published or extensively

duplicated and distributed widely in select circles both locally and
nationally.)