early modern

Introduction

Great Yarmouth’s attempted dominance of Lowestoft and control of the latter’s trade only came to an end during the second half of the 17th century, when its legally backed dominance was ended and the Suffolk town placed beyond its jurisdiction.

Introduction

The Church of England, as it stands today, is an organisation which originated in the need for a Tudor monarch (Henry VIII) to produce a male heir and secure his family’s tenure of the Crown and which then became part of a North European, Protestant, theological revolution. It is currently undergoing one of its periodic phases of change.

Reasons for the move

It is perhaps unwise to single out any one particular event in the life of a community over a period of about 1,500 years as being the crucial or formative one (other than its founding), but there is a good case for doing so where Lowestoft is concerned.

17th & 18th Century Naval Commanders

It is a claim – not made lightly by this writer – that no town of its size, in the whole of England, produced as many eminent top-rank Naval commanders as Lowestoft did between 1660 and c. 1720. During that time, no less than four admirals and five captains came from five local families mainly involved in fishing and maritime trade: the Allins, the Arnolds, the Ashbys, the Leakes and the Mighells.

Provision of credit in the community

The importance of scriveners as community bankers in London during the second half of the 17th century has been noted, as has their role as providers of funds elsewhere. Nor has the function of the goldsmith escaped attention. Lowestoft, being a town of modest size, had few named scriveners among its inhabitants (no more than six or seven have been identified between 1560 and 1730) and most of them had other occupations.

An Inventory of all and singular the goods and chattels, rights and credits, of Elizabeth Pacy late of Lowestoft in the county of Suffolk, widow, deceased, valued and apprized by John Wilde, Henry Warde, Samuel Smyth, John Aldred, John Fowler and James Pacy the 18th day of August Anno. Dm. 1682 as followeth vizt. 

Saved by the Argus

One of the earliest balloon flights in England took place on Saturday, 23 July 1785, at 4.25 p.m. in Quantrell’s Gardens, Norwich – located in the city adjacent to present-day Queen’s Road (part of the A147) in the area now occupied by a large Sainsbury supermarket.

On 15 January 1737 – the year being 1736, by use of the old Julian Calendar – King George II (1683-1760) made a sudden and unplanned landing at Lowestoft, on a return journey from the North-western German province of Hanover – where he and his father, George I, were the rulers (as Electors) as well as being monarchs of Great Britain. Both of them made summer journeys, periodically, to spend time in their land of origin, and it was on his return from one of these that George II was forced to put ashore.

Inns

The configuration of roads and the importance of land transport have always been major influences on the development of towns and their inns. Large yards were necessary for stabling horses, and for standing carts and carriages; buildings were required for storing hay and other forage; and provision had to be made for watering the animals. Adequate accommodation was also needed for those people making overnight stops or staying in a place for longer.

Lowestoft Houses – 16th-18th Century   

The most commonly mentioned items of interior decoration during the later part of the 16th century, in the houses of the merchants and the better-off tradespeople and craftsmen, are stained or painted canvas cloths. These served to decorate the walls on which they hung and they probably also served as draught-inhibitors. They were present in bedchambers, as well as in halls and parlours, but no indication is given as to whether they had scenes depicted upon them or whether they were simply covered in patterns.