The granting these privileges to the burgh of Yarmouth, was effectually emancipating the inhabitants; no sooner, therefore, had this charter passed, than the men of Lothingland, and particularly the inhabitants of Little Yarmouth and Gorleston (much more considerable places than now) began to be alarmed at the acquisitions of their neighbours, and dreaded their future power. In consequence of this grant several infringements were made, and many disputes arose; however, they did not arise to any considerable degree, till about the twelfth year of Henry III., when Roger Fitz-Osbert [4d] who was then the king’s bailiff or warden of Lothingland, endeavoured to draw the trade of herrings and other goods to his own side of the river Yare, and took certain customs in the port of Yarmouth, contrary to the liberties which the burgesses claimed by their charter.
Complaints against these proceedings of the bailiff of Lothingland were exhibited by the burgesses of Yarmouth, and king Henry, willing to terminate the dispute, as being a party concerned, and being also desirous of being informed what customs really belonged to Yarmouth, and what to his manor of Lothingland, sent Martin de Patteshall, an itinerant justice, to determine it, who took an inquisition at Yarmouth upon the oaths of forty-eight persons belonging to the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, upon which a verdict was found, that all wares ought to be unladen and sold at Great Yarmouth, and that all the haven belonged to the burgesses of Yarmouth; but that small merchandise and provisions of all kinds might be unladen on the Yarmouth or Lothingland side of the river, at the option of the owners or importers thereof. This affair being thus decided, the respective parties continued for some time on more amicable terms, but it was of short duration, for upon king Henry’s exchanging the manor of Lothingland, and the rent of the fee-farm of Yarmouth, in 1228, with John de Baliol, for certain lands in Cheshire, it opened a new source of contention; for although the men of Yarmouth had seemingly the advantage in the late decision yet, as a license was given to unlade ships with provisions on either side, and as fish—which was the chief merchandise then carried on—was evidently included in that permission, they soon found, that in reality, they had gained no other advantage than an expensive suit and an ambiguous decree. John de Baliol seems to have been as well apprized of this as of their inability to dispute it with him, for in 1244 he brought a writ against the burgesses for depriving him of his customary tolls in Little Yarmouth, which alarmed them so much, that, two years after, we find them soliciting the king for a new exclusive charter, that all merchandises and wares, as well fish as other commodities, should be sold at Yarmouth only by the hands of the importers thereof.
Whatever were King Henry’s motives for thus confining the trade, and injuring the property which John de Baliol undoubtedly had in it, I know not, but he granted the burgesses their request, and gave them a new charter agreeable to their desires; notwithstanding which, I find the bailiff of Lothingland took the usual customs the very next year, and also continued to do so whilst the manor remained in the hands of the Baliols, and consequently fresh disputes about the customs were continually arising.
In 1259 John de Baliol died, and was succeeded by his son, John de Baliol, afterwards king of Scotland, and it appears that the usual disputes were in agitation during the time he held this manor; but upon his acquiring the kingdom of Scotland, the burgesses of Yarmouth were obliged to submit to so powerful an opponent, for we find, he levied the following customs; for every foreign ship, eighteen pence; and of every English ship trading to or from the port of Yarmouth, fourpence; of every cart or horse-load of merchandize passing through his manor a half-penny; and for every last of herrings imported for a foreign merchant, fourpence; of every stall, fourpence; and of every window where bread was placed to sell, fourpence. The last is a remarkable article for a tax; and I can account for it no other way than by supposing the men of Yarmouth used to make bread and send it to be sold at Little Yarmouth and Gorleston for the supply of their herring fleet, in case of necessity.
The manor of Lothingland and fee-farm of Yarmouth being in the hands of the Baliols, by virtue of the above-mentioned exchange, were now in the actual possession of John de Baliol, king of Scots; but upon this king’s renouncing his homage to King Edward 1st, all his English estates became forfeited, and by his resignation afterwards of his person, his dignity, his kingdom, and all his private states, the said manor of Lothingland, and the fee-farm of Yarmouth, once more reverted to the crown. This was accounted by the burgesses of Yarmouth as a most happy deliverance, they thereby getting rid of a troublesome and powerful neighbour, who not only vigorously supported the rights of his manor, but interfered also with their trade, and was willing to become a partner in their gains; for the Baliols, both father and son, had for many years, by their bailiffs, greatly infringed on the liberties of Yarmouth, by taking customs in that port, contrary to its charters, to the great injury of the burgesses which they were under the necessity of submitting to as being unable to contend with such powerful adversaries. But after the above forfeiture the burgesses of Yarmouth adjudging it to be a seasonable opportunity for having their grievances redressed, made application to King Edward 1st in the 34th year of his reign, to have the charter granted by his predecessor Henry 3rd more clearly explained, and to be expressed in such manner as should leave no room for farther disputes.
The king in order to compromise the difference between the respective parties, requested the assistance of his council; and notwithstanding the opposition from Little Yarmouth and Gorleston, yet it appearing upon enquiry that as the manor of Lothingland and fee-farm of Yarmouth were now in the hands of the said King Edward, and that certain privileges had been granted to the burgesses of Great Yarmouth by the charter of Henry 3rd, therefore his said Majesty, in the year above-mentioned, complied with the request of the burgesses, and both explained and ratified the said charter of King Henry. [6]
The manor of Lothingland continued in the crown but a short time; for king Edward 1st in his 34th year, anno 1306, gave it, with all Baliol’s English estates, to John de Britainy, Earl of Richmond, his sister’s son. [7a]
The burgesses of Yarmouth, however well pleased they might at first appear with the loss of their old neighbours, quickly found that they had acquired nothing by the exchange, for John de Britainy was no less determined upon a vigorous defence of the rights of his manor than his predecessors; and as he was a much more powerful opponent, so, in the end, he was a much more troublesome one. Previous, however, to the settlement of the manor of Lothingland upon this nobleman, the burgesses of Yarmouth had obtained from king Edward a charter confirming that of his father, and commanding that all fish and other merchandize brought up the river should be sold at Yarmouth only, and that no person whatever should purchase any goods as they were carrying up the stream. Thus, in spite of the absurdity and injustice of making all commercial transactions centre in themselves, under the pretence of their being a free burgh by charter, the men of Yarmouth effectually hindered those of Little Yarmouth and Gorleston from sharing in the trade, which their situation rendered them as equally capable of carrying on to advantage as their neighbours. Such was the state of affairs between the contending parties, when the grant of the manor of Lothingland was given to the Earl of Richmond. Though it appears he took no cognizance of their disputes till the 2nd of Henry 3rd, anno 1328, yet he could not remain so long ignorant of them; though it is probable the distance of his residence (Richmond Castle, in Yorkshire) from this place and the small account a nobleman of his large possessions must naturally make, of so trifling an addition to them, might render him unwilling to engage in an expensive suit, which at best, could procure him very insignificant advantages. However, after repeated application from the inhabitants of Gorleston and Little Yarmouth, and the rest of the tenants of Lothingland, [7b] about the 8th and 19th of Edward 2nd, the Earl, about the year above mentioned, exhibited a petition to king Edward 3rd.; in which he alleged, that half the haven of Yarmouth belonged to him in right of his manor; and that he ought to have as his ancestors, who held this manor before him, undoubtedly had, the arriving, discharging, and laden of ships, goods and merchandizes, and a free buying and selling for his tenants of Little Yarmouth and Gorleston, as had been the case till king Henry 3rd by his charter to the burgesses, granted that these things should belong solely to Great Yarmouth, and the aforesaid free buying and selling should be done there only; and as the burgesses of Yarmouth claimed all their restrictive power from this charter, the earl wisely considered, that without removing the cause, the effect must still subsist; therefore, in the same petition he attacked the charter itself, and represented to the king, that it had not been rightly granted king Henry not being timely apprized of the destructive tendency such a grant must necessarily have upon the fishing trade, how contrary its dictates were to the common rights of mankind, and, particularly, how injurious to the crown itself, as the original proprietor of the manor of Lothingland. So severe an attack upon the Yarmouth palladium, roused the burgesses from their wonted security, and they were summoned to appear personally before the king and his Council, to make their defence against the Earl and to produce their charters, records, and reasons to the contrary. The burgesses accordingly appeared, and urged in their behalf, that the claims demanded by the Earl were erroneous and ill-grounded: and exhibited several grants given them by preceding kings, as the charter of king John, that of Henry 3rd, the confirmation of the same by Edward 1st, and the decisions in favour of the burgh, in the 8th and 19th of Edward 2nd, in the Exchequer and other courts, all tending to confirm the rights they claimed, and to invalidate the earl’s assertions; in which they had ever been victorious.
The burgesses of Yarmouth founded the merits of their cause on the charter which had incorporated them. The men of Lothingland, on ancient customs before those charters existed; alledging that the Manor was part of the ancient demesne of the crown, and that the customs and privileges claimed by the Earl of Richmond and his tenants, are the same as were demanded in the times of Canute and Harold, and the succeeding kings of England, being owners of the said Manor, and by many other pleadings, they asserted their lawful right to those privileges, both by prescription and long-continued possession; but, after hearing the controversy, the cause was determined in favour of Yarmouth, and the burgesses triumphed once more over their rival neighbours.
The ill success of this application did not deter the Earl from making another, which had the same great end in view, the wresting from the burgesses their great Charter of Incorporation; but, after many pleadings and decisions, before the king and council, the parliament and the judges, the Earl had no better success than before; for in the end it only served to strengthen the designs of the men of Yarmouth, by the entire overthrow of the adverse party; the affair being at length finally determined in favour of the burgesses, 5th Edward 3rd, anno 1332.