[Extracts from The Fishmongers' Company in Ulster, by James Stevens Curl, published by the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society in 1981.]
[Extract from the introduction to this book, outlining the involvement of the London Companies in the Plantation of Ulster]:
...[In 1609] A prospectus was now drawn up called 'Motives
and Reasons to Induce the City of London to Undertake the Plantation
in the North of Ireland' that contained four main sections. The
first emphasised that the City should 'Plant' the ruined town
of Derry and the town of Coleraine to provide security and ports.
The King was to grant Corporations to both towns and to grant
to them the lands bounded by the Foyle, the Atlantic, and the
Bann, no southern limit to the lands being detailed. Some 1,000
acres were to be allotted to each of the towns for their commons,
rent free, and the rest was to be Planted with undertakers chosen
by the City. The towns were to have the benefit of customs on
all exports and imports for 21 years, admiralty rights on the
coasts, and the salmon fisheries. The second and third sections
dealt with products of the sea and of the woods, and the possibilities
of trade. The fourth part speculated on the advantages of employment
and the provision of accommodation for the surplus population
of London. There was a precedent here, for the City of Bristol
had repopulated Dublin in the reign of Henry II, and it was felt
that the benefits to London would be even greater than those enjoyed
by Bristol because there would be possibilities of trade throughout
Ulster and the Western Isles of Scotland.
The City summoned each of the City Companies to call their most
substantial members in order to discuss the Plantation of Ulster.
Sir Thomas Phillips was closely examined on the facts and details,
and it was decided to send a deputation to Ireland to verify the
accounts of the lands. A precept was sent to the Companies ordering
them to prepare lists of members who would contribute, and, ominously,
to take the names of those who refused. A special meeting was
called by the Clothworkers, but many Members failed to attend
and were fined accordingly. At the Fishmongers' Court of Assistants
there were dissenting voices saying that it 'were best never to
entermeddle at al in this busyness... for... it is thought it
will be exceading chargeable'. Despite these worries, and with
the possibility of being fined or otherwise pressurised, no less
than 43 members of the Company put their names down as subscribers.
21 members were able to subscribe, but refused, and 29 members
failed to turn up.
The lack of enthusiasm caused the City to determine to raise money
by assessing each Company, and it is absolutely clear that the
Companies had little stomach for the Plantation scheme, and in
many cases members were utterly opposed to investing any money
in Ireland at all. The Common Council of the City selected four
'wise, grave, and discreet' citizens to be sent to Ireland to
view the lands. These represented the Goldsmiths, Haberdashers,
Painter-Stainers, and Drapers, but the Haberdashers were later
replaced by a representative of the Mercers. £300 was allowed
for expenses. Chichester was told of this, and that Sir Thomas
Phillips was to accompany the Deputation. He was also told of
the importance of securing the cooperation of the City, and was
asked to ensure that the Deputation should receive nothing but
favourable impressions.
At the outset, therefore, the Deputation was the victim of an
elaborate confidence trick, for the persons who acted as guides
to the Londoners were to shield them from rumour, to show them
agreeable plans, and to lodge them in good English houses, although
Chichester was also told that no interest should prevent the Deputation
from gratifying any desire expressed within the terms of its task.
Phillips was an excellent guide. The Deputation had seen enough
to enable a satisfactory report to be prepared for the Common
Council. In 1610 a levy was raised on the Companies, and Articles
of Agreement were drawn up and signed between the Privy Council
and the City. A Company was constituted within the City, consisting
of a Governor, Deputy Governor, and 24 Assistants, to be called
'The Society of the Governor and Assistants, London, of the New
Plantation in Ulster, within the Realm of Ireland', but after
the nestoration of King Charles II became known as The Irish Society.
This was a Standing Committee of the City of London Common Council
that was entrusted with the management of the Plantation.
Capital now had to be raised, and a precept was sent to 50 Companies
requiring them to raise £5,000 by 2 February 1610. A very
large part of this failed to materialise, and the Master and Wardens
of Companies were required to commit to prison those members who
refused to pay their assessments that had previously been determined
according to means Very poor members were excused. Thus at the
very beginning a lack of enthusiasm failed to produce that most
essential of elements - money. The Fishmongers' Company, being
wealthy, had no difficulty in complying with the Lord Mayor's
demands, but other Companies were in serious difficulties at an
early stage. Prison and fines were invoked to encourage an opening
of coffers, but even so certain Wardens of the Clothworkers' Company
were languishing in gaol by the summer, as were members of the
Drapers', Grocers', and other Companies. Threats, coercion and
other means had to be used to raise the expected funds. Clearly
Ireland was bad news for the careful Londoners who had little
faith in the wisdom of committing their money to distant, hostile,
unstable, barbarous, Papist Ulster, reluctance to 'entermeddle
at al' and fears that the 'busyness' would 'be exceading chargeable'
were uppermost in the Londoners' minds. Prison and fines were
preferable.
The protests of the Companies resulted in a reduction of the contributions
of some, increase in the amounts paid by others, and a stabilisation
of the levies on the Fishmongers', Drapers', Vintners', and Clothworkers'
Companies. Early in 1611 the Drapers', Fishmongers', Goldsmiths',
Grocers', Ironmongers', Mercers', Salters', and Vintners' Companies,
and ten of the smaller Companies, accepted lands. The rest declined.
Not all the 6reat Companies had accepted land in the first place.
The Fishmongers at first declined, and only accepted when the
Goldsmiths and others decided to proceed. The Fishmongers, like
other Companies, had told the Lord Mayor that they would accept
land if most of the other Companies accepted, but conditional
acceptance was not permissible. When instalments became due, several
Companies were unable to meet their assessments, and tried to
extricate themselves from further involvement.
By 1613 £30,000 raised from the Companies had been spent
by the Irish Society, and further sums were urgently required.
Soon 55 City Companies were being taxed according to the existing
scales of assessment, and the Companies were compelled to pay
up. In 1610, 130 masons, carpenters, and other builders were sent
to Derry from London with tools and materials. They were placed
under the direction of William Gage. The chief agent of the Irish
Society was John Rowley, a Freeman of the Drapers' Company. His
deputy was Tristram Beresford, of Westerham, Kent. The names of
Gage and Beresford constantly recur in connexion with the Proportion
of the Fishmongers' Company, and that of Rowley in connexion with
the Proportion of the Drapers' Company. Proclamations were posted
at the Royal Exchange in London offering land in Ireland at four
pence per acre, but even this was not sufficient to attract Londoners.
Indeed, the builders who had already left were not expected to
live long enough to complete the work, and the Londoners had no
doubts that the Irish would once again destroy everything that
had been accomplished.
When Rowley and Beresford arrived in Ireland work got under way,
and considerable construction had been completed in Coleraine
by 1610. In 1611 a slow trickle of private settlers began to arrive,
and more houses were built in Coleraine. Work began on the building
of fortifications at Derry, the church was repaired, and houses
were erected. By 1611 the City had built 100 houses and the fortifications
at Coleraine. 527 workmen were engaged in Ulster, and work had
begun in Derry itself. English and Irish workmen were engaged
in felling timber in the woods. In the countryside, the problems
were greater. Not only was the terrain difficult, but the natives
were dangerous. Yet it was not a feasible proposition to remove
the natives, as this would prevent food being provided for the
settlements. It was regarded as essential to replace the natives
with British settlers as soon as possible to stabilise the country.
Phillips began to lay out his settlement at Limavady, where he
had been granted the castle and 3,000 acres to compensate him
for Coleraine, which was now in the hands of the Londoners. He
was also granted 500 acres near Toome, at Moyola, and so possessed
two large parcels of land in the territories of the City of London.
Other areas belonged to the Bishop and Dean of Derry and to the
Archbishop of Armagh, and these were found all over the County
of Coleraine and the Barony of Loughinsholin. Both Rowley and
Beresford took leases on these Church lands. By 1612 Coleraine
was more or less completed...
[The book goes on to describe in some detail the Fishmongers'
work in the Ballykelly area].
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