This sketch, imperfect as it is, of the trades and occupations of the inhabitants of our town, will, I think, leave no doubt in your minds that Lowestoft was at this time a very respectable little town—well represented by residents of every grade in the social scale—and frequented by the inhabitants of Lothingland, and the adjoining parishes in the south, for shopping and business purposes. Indeed, that the neighbourhood was more dependent on Lowestoft for shopping purposes than now, we can understand, when we bear in mind the absence or extreme badness of the roads, which rendered communication with any town beyond Beccles difficult and expensive. Yarmouth was not far off; but Yarmouth although richer and more populous, could not afford counter attractions to Lowestoft as a shopping town, at all events for the residents on the Suffolk side of the water.
Lowestoft as a Market Town.
Lowestoft had been a market town for more than a hundred years, but it does not appear that the market was ever much of a success. There was no large population like that of Yarmouth requiring a large supply of provisions and vegetables in addition to the produce of the townspeople’s own gardens and the neighbouring farms. Nor could a place with only half the environment of an ordinary inland town be a convenient centre for the sale of general agricultural produce, particularly with another large market at Beccles.
Population.
While furnishing information as to the character of the town, the register supplies us with trustworthy evidence of its size and population in Elizabeth’s time. A comparison of the numbers of marriages, christenings, and burials for the two periods of 21 years comprising our period, shows no evidence of increase during Elizabeth’s reign, while a comparison of the entries in this period with the corresponding entries for the 21 years, 1754–1774, shows that there was no material increase in the population after a lapse of some 200 years.
| Marriages. | Christenings. | Burials. | |
| 1561–1581 | 278 | 1,033 | 923 |
| 1582–1602 [72] | 295 | 973 | 1,052 |
| 1754–1774 | 321 | 1,276 | 1,010 |
We know from actual survey that in 1775 the population was 2,235, and the number houses 445. This population, compared with the number of burials shown above, gives a death-rate of 21 per 1,000. The mortality in Elizabeth’s time was probably much higher. Putting it at 26 per 1,000, the average number of burials stated above would represent a population of about 1,800. I think we may regard this number as a safe estimate of the population of our town during Elizabeth’s time, and that the number of houses would be about 360. In 1801 the population was 2,332, and I am inclined to think that there was very little difference in the size and character of our town in the 16th century compared with what it was at the beginning of the present century.
Dutch Refugees.
We cannot pass from this part of our subject without noticing an interesting episode in the history of the town which belongs to this period. About the year 1571 the resident population of Lowestoft was temporarily enlarged by the hospitable reception of a number of “Dutch Folk,” as they are called in the register. These were refugees from the Low Countries, who sought shelter in this country, at the invitation of Elizabeth, from the ruthless persecution of the Duke of Alva. Thousands of these Protestant refugees were admitted into English towns—some 4,000 into Norwich. Swinden gives us a copy of a letter of Elizabeth written in 1568 to Yarmouth, asking them to admit 30 Dutch families to the privileges of their town. Whether a similar letter was written to Lowestoft we know not, but it is evident from the register that quite as large a number as this must have found asylum here, and made it their home for some three or four years. Marriages, christenings, and burials of “Dutch Folk” appear frequently in the register during these years, and the fact that among the burials for one year (1573) no less than 10 Dutch names appear, shews that there were a considerable number then living here. Among the names are some that seem to belong to families of rank. They left about the year 1574, when Alva had been recalled; and when the terror of his executions had been replaced by a patriotic eagerness to take part in the war which was soon to result in the Freedom of the Netherlands.
The following account of the home comforts enjoyed by the less wealthy of our ancestors in the early part of the 16th century, as compared with the incipient luxury of the Elizabethan age, is given us by the author of the “Chronicles of Holinshed,” who lived during this period.