[807] The Information of William Gunnell, and others, of Great Yarmouth, 25th September 1654. Verbael of the Ambassadors, 600, 601.
[808] Ibid., 612, 614, 646, 689, 711. From the sworn depositions made before the Burgomasters of Enkhuisen, it appears that that town had at least 246 busses at the Yarmouth fishing in 1654.
[809] Brit. Mus. MSS. Stowe, 152, fol. 135.
[810] Proc. Council of State, 9th June 1654. Vice-Admiral Lawson, in transmitting to the Admiralty the request from the Governor of Calais, said it had been the practice for the French and Spanish men-of-war to suffer the fishermen of each nation to fish freely, although the war between these Powers had lasted so long. State Papers, Dom., xcviii. 13.
[811] Bills to repeal it were introduced into the Commons in 1656, 1657, and 1658. Commons’ Journals, vii. 451, &c.
[812] An Act for the Encouraging and Increasing of Shipping and Navigation, 12 Car. II., c. 18, cl. v. 1660.
[813] An Act for the Encouragement of Trade, 15 Car. II., c. 7, ss. xiii., xiv. 1663.
[814] An Act against importing Cattle from Ireland and other parts beyond the Seas, and Fish taken by Foreigners, 18 & 19 Car. II., c. 2, s. ii. Any ling, herring, cod, pilchard, fresh or salted, dried or bloated, or any salmon, eels, or conger, taken by aliens and brought into the realm, were liable to be seized by any person for his own benefit and the benefit of the poor of the parish. The prohibition to import stockfish and live eels was withdrawn by 32 Car. II., c. 2, 1680.
[815] “To the High and Mighty Monarch Charles ye Second, &c., the humble petition of Simon Smith, late agent for the Royall Fishing,” MS. prefixed in a copy of The Herring-Bvsse Trade, and A True Narration of the Royall Fishings of Great Brittaine and Ireland, bound together in vellum, elaborately ornamented in gold, and bearing the royal arms and the letters C. R. on both sides.
[816] Sir Edward Nicholas to the Lord Mayor, 23rd July 1660. Remembrancia, p. 143. There is an undated copy among the State Papers (Domestic) erroneously calendared under September 1662 (vol. lix. 6: compare vol. xli. 19, under date September 1661). The original is in the Guildhall. Simon Smith was employed in the preliminary work connected with the Society, and in 1662 rendered an account of his disbursements, amounting to £456, including £150 “for setting the poor to work so as to breed up teachers for making nets, &c.” State Papers, Dom., liv. 77.