Marcel Backhouse

1561–1566: Co-operation and harmony

The presence of Flemish Strangers in Kent in the sixteenth century was by no means an innovation.¹ Trade relations between England and Flanders were firmly established as early as the eleventh century and already in 1303 between Flanders and Sandwich in particular. In the thirteenth century the Kentish ports became the principal ports of shipment for the exportation of wool and cloth to the Continent. In the fourteenth century Sandwich’s cloth and wool export had become sufficiently important to justify the appointment of special officers.²

William Cecil, Queen Elizabeth’s most trusted adviser, was extremely conscious of the economic potential the foreign refugees in England represented. The success of the ‘New Draperies’, established as early as the fourteenth century in the rural Westkwartier of Flanders and, from the mid-sixteenth century onwards, with Hondschote and its neighbourhood as a booming textile centre, prompted Lord Burghley to conduct a venturing experiment, a characteristic part of the Tudor economic policy of attracting and inviting foreign craftsmen to this country.³ When in May 1561 a small number of Flemish immigrant families, already settled in Sandwich,⁴ presented their request to the local authorities to officially recognise the Strangers’ community, the town council immediately approached the Privy Council to that effect. Cecil did not hesitate to endorse this ambitious project in the hope of reviving the town’s economy. Towards the end of the fifteenth century the structural condition of the port of Sandwich had begun to deteriorate. As the sea gradually withdrew, the mouth of the river Stour silted up and consequently the port declined to the status of a little backwater.⁵

Lord Burghley seized the opportunity presented by the Strangers to revive the flagging economy of Sandwich and convinced the Queen to grant permission to allow Stranger workmen to settle in the town. On 6 July 1561 she authorised the royal warrant by which Sandwich became the home of the oldest exile community outside the capital under the following conditions. Apart from their limitation in number (only between 250 and 300 persons were allowed to settle) the newcomers were to be of honest and quiet disposition and had to be skilful in making baize, says or serges and other cloths not formerly manufactured in England.⁶

The latter condition was strictly observed by the Dutch Refugee Church in London, who took part in the settlement negotiations. It carefully recommended only compatriots possessing the required skills for settlement in Sandwich. Of the (provisionally) 1,577 identified Strangers who emigrated to, or were born in, Sandwich, I have been able to establish the occupation of 520, i.e. 32.9 per cent. It should, however, be noted that sometimes the evidence about the occupation of a Stranger comes from his time in Flanders and some Strangers changed their occupation when they settled in Sandwich. For the period 1561–6 the Flemish community at Sandwich was divided into two distinctive categories: those recommended by the Dutch Refugee Church in London and those Strangers who escaped from Flanders and travelled to Sandwich directly or via another locality. Of the original exiles who came from London (I identified 107) we note twenty-four say workers, fifty-seven baize workers, one weaver and twenty-five masters: six master-say workers and nineteen master-baize workers. Of those 107 at least twenty were commended to Sandwich by the London Dutch Church, namely seventeen master-baize workers and three baize workers. One schoolteacher was also sent to the town.⁷

The restrictions on the introduction of the ‘New Draperies’ explains why many Strangers who exercised different occupations in their own country became baize and say workers when they arrived at their new settlement. We know the names of 433 refugees who emigrated to Sandwich between 1561 and 1566 and of these we know the birthplace of 159: apart from six, who originated from Bruges, Bethune and Antwerp, all the rest, i.e. 153 or 96.2 per cent, were born in or inhabited thirty-three different localities that were situated in the Westkwartier of Flanders, the stronghold of the ‘New Draperies’.

Of those 159 we know the occupation in Flanders and Sandwich of seventy-six of them. Of those seventy-six Flemish exiles thirty-nine exercised different occupations in Flanders from those they practised at Sandwich, i.e. hatters, cobblers, smiths, millers, booksellers, etc. As the textile industry in the Westkwartier of Flanders had developed above all in the countryside, the ‘New Draperies’ were nothing else than a commercialisation of peasant techniques. The original textile workers and manufacturers were farmers (i.e. tenant farmers, peasants and smallholders) for whom the industry provided a means to supplement their income by weaving. Therefore those who are not known to have been closely involved in the manufacture of the ‘New Draperies’ in Flanders would have acquired knowledge of the techniques of weaving.⁸

At the time of their arrival in Sandwich in 1561 the Strangers complied with the conditions of settlement and their activities were strictly regulated. On 22 December 1561 a delegation appeared before the mayor and jurats and discussed the sealing of their baize and says. It was agreed that the Strangers would pay 4d. for any fine piece of cloth and 2d. for baize and says ‘more coursely wroughte’. They also agreed to pay the third penny for any default.⁹ Willem Brand, a silk weaver from Mesen, was made responsible for the collection and paying in of this money and he was sworn in accordingly.¹⁰,¹¹

Sandwich town council did everything possible to promote the ‘New Draperies’ on which the prosperity of the town rested. On 8 January 1562 the mayor and jurats granted the Flemish exiles a market hall for the sale of their products on Wednesday morning. On 24 April of the same year they were allowed two market days for the sale of their baize and says and other cloths made by them, namely on Wednesday and Saturday morning. There were certain restrictions, however, intended to protect the interests of the town and the local English inhabitants. On Wednesday morning only freemen of the town were allowed to buy their products, whilst on Saturday freemen as well as the Strangers could buy. All cloths not sold on the Wednesday could be offered for sale to anyone on Saturday. Cloths unsold after both market days were permitted to be sent to another market by the maker, provided that none of these products was sent to London either by maker or buyer. There was a 10s. fine on any cloths otherwise sold.¹² For the quality control of those products twelve carefully chosen men, presumably Strangers, attended daily at the hall to check the standard of the stuffs brought in.¹³

From the outset the Strangers had their own tailors, which threatened the local highly organised Tailor Corporation. Soon agreements between the latter and the Flemish exiles were reached and ratified by the mayor and jurats. On 10 July 1562 it was decreed that eight Stranger tailors were allowed to exercise their occupation. The agreement stipulated that they might only make Flemish apparel until the next feast of St John the Baptist (24 June 1563). Any offender was liable to a fine of 40s., with half the proceeds going to the town and the other half to the Corporation of Tailors.¹⁴ This agreement was renewed on 3 September 1563.¹⁵

On 28 June 1564 a further agreement was settled between the two parties: Lyven Symons, Stranger tailor, was allowed to open shop. In return he had to pay 5s. each year to the Corporation of Tailors. He was not allowed to employ foreign workmen.¹⁶

Lord Burghley’s project was taking shape. Within a short space of time of settling in the town, many Flemish exiles were involved in the manufacture of the ‘New Draperies’ as they had been in the Westkwartier. Gradually Sandwich prospered. When Archbishop Parker visited the Cinque Port in 1563 he came to the conclusion that the Strangers were ‘very godly on the Sabbath day and busy in their work on week days, and their quietness such as the Mayor and his brethren had no cause of variance between themselves coming before them’. He further stated that ‘profitable and gentle Strangers ought to be welcomed and not grudged at’.¹⁷ But for how long?¹⁸