VIII. FROM THE CHARTER OF CHARLES II.
1683 TO 1777.
The Charter of Charles II. was granted in 16S3 (in place of one granted by Elizabeth) with the hope of trans forming the Dover Corporation, then leaning towards Nonconformity, into a tool that would send members to Parliament to support the Government. That Charter did not answer the purpose of its authors, and it remained practically a dead letter, being eventually repealed by Pro clamation in the first year of the reign of William III. More particulars of this Charter will be found in the " History of the Corporation," in Section Five.
1683 William Stokes
1683 George West
1684 Thomas Teddiman (157)
(157) Thomas Teddiman, who was Mayor in 1684, was a son of Admiral Teddiman, a Mayor of the time of Charles I.
1685 Robert Jacob (158)
(158) Robert Jacob, chosen Mayor in 1685, was elected to the office three times. In his first Mayoralty the Corporation resolved to revive the decree of 1587, that the Common Prayers of the Church of England, including the prayers for the King and the Royal Family, should be read at the beginning of every Common Council. He was a member of the French Protestant Church, which then haxi a meo'iing place in Dover, and in his second Mayoralty he was re moved from office by the Privy Council, in the reign of James II. His third Mayoralty was in the reign of Queen Anne, when he was advanced in years, still a staunch Huguenot.
1686 Richard Cook (159)
(159) Richard Cooke, Mayor in 1686, found the Corporation money chest so bare owing to expenditure connected with the Charter, that it became necessary to sell some Corporation property, includ ing a piece of land near " Day Stone," end the Chamber over Biggin Gate, which the Corporation Minutes state was sold " by the Candle."
1687 George West
1688 Robert Jacob
1688 Edward Roberts (160)
(160) Edward Roberts, who only held the office of Mayor six weeks, was a stop-gap. Robert Jacob, who had been elected on 8th September, 1688, was removed by the Privy Council, and Edward Roberts put in his place, but after six weeks, the Privy Council removed him to allow one of the old Jurats. Captain William Stokes, to be elected Mayor. This was a few days before the abdication of James II.
1688 William Stokes
1689 John Bullarke
1690 Thomas Scott (161)
(161) Thomas Scott, Mayor in 1690 and 1691, was the father in-law of Michael Russell, a later Mayor. This Mayor ordered the ringing of the Cxirfew BeU to be revived, and the three silver maces to be sold.
1691 Thomas Scott
1692 Clement Bucke (162)
(162) Clement Bucke, Mayor in 1692 and 1693, was a resi dent of St. James's Parish, and his tomb is in St. James's Old Church. In his Mayoralty Edward Boyter was elected Town Sergeant in the room of Thomas Pepper, deceased.
1693 Clement Bucke
1694 John Hollingbery (163)
(163) John Hollingbery, first chosen Mayor in 1694, was in the office eight times during a period of twenty-seven years. He was a Maltster, and a Colonel in the Dover Trained Bands. He presented to the Corporation the portraits of Charles II. axid William in.
1695 John Hollingbery
1696 Edward Franklyn (164)
(164) Edward Franklyn was a naturalized Dutchman and a friend of Mr. Isaac Minet, yet in his Mayoralty it was ordered that Isaac Minet's permit to "keep shcp " did not give him a vote.
1697 Edward Franklyn
1698 Edward Wivell (165)
(165) Edward Wivell was the head of the Dover Victualling Department. He was Mayor six times from 1698. He obtained the Freedom of Dover by marriage with the daughter of Captain William Stokes, a former Mayor. His wife died before his first Mayoralty, but the Common Assembly resolved, "That the death of his wife, Margery, did not make void his being a Jurate, Justice of the Peace, and Mayor; he being a freeman of the Corporation by marriage with the said Margery, who was the daughter of William Stokes de ceased." In Mr. Wivell's second Mayoralty, 20th January, 1799, it was resolved to present the freedom to Mr. Isaac Minet.
1699 Edward Wivell
1700 Edward Wivell
1701 John Hollingbery
1702 John Hollingbery
1703 John Hollingbery
1704 John Hollingbery
1705 Peatley Sturgesss (166)
(166) Peatley Sturgess, Mayor in the yars 1705 and 1706, is not otherwise mentioned.
1706 Peatley Sturgess
1707 Edward Wivell
1708 Edward Wivell
1709 Edward Wivell
1710 Richard Bax (167)
(167) Richard Bax was Mayor in 1710 — the year in which the Statutory Regulation was made that a Mayor shmjld not be re-elected until he had been one whole year out of office.
1711 Robert Jacob
1712 Thomas Broadley (168)
(168) Thomas Broadley, Mayor in 1712 and 1728, was a Surgeon who resided in a large house near the top of Snargate Street; oa the seaward side, called Broadley's Mansion.
1713 James Flinder (169)
(169) James Flinder wae Mayor in the years 1713, 1717 and 1720. In his first election to the Mayoralty he was opposed by Robert Daines, who was proposed by the Freemen without being on the list nominated by the Bench of Jurats. Daines obtained the majority of votes, but the Court of Common Pleas declared Flinder duly elected. In Mr. Flinders first Mayoralty Hubert Randolph was appointed Recorder.
1714 John Knott (170)
(170) John Knott, Mayor in the years 1714 and 1721, was elected on the second occasion to fill the vacancy caused by the removal of John Hollingbtry from office because George I. disliked Tories.
1715 Samuel Walton (171)
(171) Samuel Walton, Mayor in 1715 was a Carpenter and Builder in Walton's Lane, a thoroughfare that used to be near Finnis's Hill, with a workshop adjoining St. James's Passage, in St. James's Street.
1716 John Cannon (172)
(172) John Cannon was an owner of property on both sides of Cannon Street at the time when he was Mayor in 17 16. His father was Captain Cannon, who was Deputy Governor of the Castle during the Commonwealth. John Cannon was a baker and a farmer. His residence and bakery was on the east side of the street and his farmyard on the west. He was, after the Kennetts, owner of Queen's Garden.
1717 James Flinder
1718 John Hollingbery
1719 Henry Blindstone (173)
(173) Henry Blindstone was a Captain of a Mail Packet on the Dover Station. He was chosen Mayor in 1719 and 1729, but died soon after his second election.
1720 James Flinder
1721 John Hollingbery
1721 John Knott
1722 Henry Blindstone
1723 John Perkins (174)
(174) John Perkins was chosen Mayor in 1723; Dover was then in a very depressed condition owing to disturbances by the Jacobites.
1724 Matthew Kennett (175)
(175) Matthew Kennett, was a .son of Basil Kennett, 'Vicar of Postling, and brother of White Kennett, who was Bishop of Peter borough. The Kennetts continued to hold municipal offices in Dover down to Matthew Kennett, Clerk to the Justices, who died in 1857.
1725 Charles Smith (176)
(176) Charles Smith, Mayor in 172^ and 1729, in his fir.<!t Mayoralty ordered the Corporation's old Store House, standing on the low cliff on the west side of Limekiln Street, to be leased to the Overseers of St. Mary's Parish, to be converted into a Poor House.
1726 James Lamb (177)
(177) James Lamb, who was Mayor in 1726 was a Brandy Merchant.
1727 John Perkins
1728 Thomas Broadley
1729 Henry Blindstone, ob.
1729 Charles Smith
1730 Goddard Gay (178)
(178) Goddard Gay was of a Kentish family of French origin and wrote their name Le Gay. They owned the Manor of Evington in Elmsted Parish. Richard Gay, a descendant of this family, had a Mustard Mill above Worthington's Lane, in Biggin Street, which was destroyed by fire in 1849.
1731 Thomas Underdown (179)
(179) Thomas Underdown, a merchant and ship owner, was Mayor in 1731 and 1733.
1732 James Hammond (180)
(180) James Hammond, who was Mayor in 1732 was Clerk of the Cheques of Dover Harbour and a son of James Hammond, the owner of Hammond's Quay in 1670. In 1727 he bought some old property that had been St. Martin's Churchyard, where the Carlton Club now is, and built a house there which encroached on land where stocks, cage, and pillory used to stand. On this encroacliment an action was fought at the Kent Assizes in 1735, 'when the Court allowed Mr. Hammond's house to remain, but ordered him to pay a rent to the Corporation of 5s. a year for the ground for 900 years. That time has not yet expired, but the rent does not survive.
1733 Thomas Underdown
1734 Thomas Wicks (181)
(181) Thomas Wicks was a wig-maker.
1735 John Matson (182)
(182) John Matson, Mayor in 1735, was Agent Victualler at Dover. His salary from the Crown was £200. In October, 1745, while he held that office a great part of the Victualling Office on the premises of the Maison Dieu was destroyed by fire. It was recon structed at a cost of £1719, and John Matson's salary was reduced to £150. He died four years after the fire.
1736 Peter Monin (183)
(183) Peter Monin, who was Mayor in 1736, gave a new clock which was set up in St. Mary's Tower in place of the old Town Cloc'^. r''inove<l from St. Martin's Church in 1539- In this Mayoralty the Common Council granted a new lease to James Willes (in place of one granted in 1711;, to James and Joan Willes), for twenty-one years at 4s. a year, of the cow house and three pieces of land, at a place called "Upmarket," in the parish of St. James's.
1737 James Gunman (184)
(184) James Gunman, who was Mayor in 1737, wn<! a retired Commanrl'^r of the N?vy. He made a survey of the Channel and at one ti;ne the Varn bank was named after him "Gunman's Shoal." He married Elizabeth Wivell, daughter of a former JIayor, and through her inherited Barton and Goombe Manors. His residence was Gunman's Mansion in Biggin Street. His wife predeceased him and he, being a rich widower, there was a rumour that he was about to marry a young widow. This rumour, reaching the ears of his friend, Lord Chancellor Hardwick, his lordship wrote to Captain Gunman a letter, which is curious reading, begging him, for the sake of his family, not to take that step, and Captain Gunman replied that the report was without foundation. The original of that letter is in the possession of Mr. Martyn Mowll, of Dover, and it is printed in Mr. C. York's "Life and Correspondence," of Lord Hardwicke.
1738 John Dalgliesh (185)
(185) John Dalgliesh was a Captain of a Naval Packet on the Dover Station.
1739 Goddard Gay
1740 Richard Hollingbery (186)
(186) Richard Hollingbery was a malster, a Colonel of the Dover Trained Band, and a Barrack Master at the Castle.
1741 Robert Wellard (187)
(187) Robert Wellard was a descendant of William and Alice Wellard, who owned the " Cock " Brewhouse, which in 1650 stood on the site of Trinity Church. Before being elected Mayor, Robert Wellard had been for twenty-one years Town Clerk, and he held that office during his Mayoralty.
1742 Nathaniel Smith (188)
(188) Nathaniel Smith was the "Stormy Petrel" of the Jurats' Bench, and frequently was clever enough to upset the plans of the ruling clique.
1743 Vincent Underdown (189)
(189) Vincent Underdown, Mayor in 1743 and 1745, at the end of his second Mayoralty, owing to some unpleasantness, continually absented himself from the Jurats' Bench, for which he was expelled from the Corporation.
1744 Cuthbert Hodgson (190)
(190) Cuthbert Hodgson, a Huguenot, and a Captain of one of the Mail Packets at Dover, was a friend of Isaac Minet.
1745 Vincent Underdown
1746 John Dalgliesh
1747 Robert Walker (191)
(191) Robert Walker, who was Mayor in 1747, afterwaixJs took but little interest in the Corporation.
1748 Richard Rouse (192)
(192) Richard Rouse wae a wine merchant, and resided at Archer's Court.
1749 Thomas Bean (193)
(192) Thomas Bean was a brewer (with Richard Rouse as his partner), having his place of business where Messrs. A. Leney and Co.'s brewery now is. The place was then called " Bean's Corner." The business passed from Bean and Rouse to the Walker's, and from them to the present owners.
1750 Henry Jelly (194)
(194) Henry Jelly was the land surveyor of the Dover Customs House. The building of the Castle Jetty was commenced in his first Mayoralty.
1751 Christopher Gunman (195)
(195) Christopher Gunman was the son of James Gunman, and filled the of&ce of Collector of Cxistoms at Dover.
1752 John Broadley (196)
(196) John Broadley, surgeon, another of the family residing at Broadley's Mansion, near the top of Snargate Street, was Mayor in 1752- He acted as Judge of the Cinque Ports Admiralty Court, in 1754.
1753 Nathaniel Smith
1754 Henry Jelly
1755 Michael Russell (197)
(197) Michael Russell, elected Mayor in 1755, was not acceptable to the '"ruling clique," because he was a "linen draper." They had striven to prevent his election as a Jurat with the object of keeping him out of the Mayoralty. But he had powerful supporters, and by the influence of the Earl of Hardwicke and Lord Anson, ne was appointed Agent Victualler in the Maison Dieu, to the disappointment of many other Dover men who sought the appointment. Having found his way to the Mayoralty, he acquitted himself well. His son, Henry, entered the legal profession, in which he was helped forward by Lord Hardwicke, and eventually Henry Russell became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Bengal. Michael Russell died at Dover in 1793, and Henry Russell, the Chief Justice, retiring in 1812, was created a Baronet and a Privy Councillor. He settled at Swallowfield, in Berkshire, and distinguished men have from time to time succeeded to that baronetcy, one of whom was Sir George Russell, a County Court Judge, who vised to sit as Judge in the Maison Dieu, where his great-grandfather superintended H.M. Victualling Department.
1756 John Bazely (198)
(198) John Bazely, previous to his first Mayoralty, made himself famous as the captain of the privateer, "The Eagle." He had adopted this career owing to a Royal Proclamation, issued in 1743, which sanctioned and encouraged privateering as a help to the nation's cause. When John Bazely was chosen Mayor in 1756 he was an important man, and five years later, when he was again Mayor, his good reputation had ripened. In his first Mayoralty he took the lead in sending a petition to Parliament, to secure a larger share of the tonnage dues to carry out necessary Harbour works at Dover. The petition, which, has since become historical under the title of "The Case of Dover Harbour stated, 1756," resulted in securing to Dover one half of the tonnage dues instead of one-third. In his second Mayoralty Captain Bazely succeeded in piloting through Parliament clauses in a Turnpike Bill, which resulted in the making of the first turnpike road to Dover from Folkestone— the one that entered Dover by Archcliffe Road and Limekiln Street, the Pier being at that time the busiest part of Dover.
1757 Alexander Wellard (199)
(199) Alexander Wellard bad been Town Clerk for thirteen years, and continued to hold the office of Town Clerk while he was Mayor. His residence was in Bench Street, at the corner of Chapel Lane, but he sold it in 1754 to the Churchwardens of St. Mary's Church, and it was used as a minister's house.
1758 Thomas Richards (200)
(200) Thomas Richards was a captain of a Mail Packet at Dover. His appointment to that post in 1751 was the first time a Dover man had been placed in command of a Dover Mail Packet since the accession of George I.
1759 Richard Rowse
1760 Christopher Gunman
1761 John Bazely
1762 Michael Russell
1763 James Hammond (201)
(201) This James Hammond, chosen Mayor in 1763, was Mayor three times. He may be calletl James Hammond III. His grand father was the original owner of a quay at the Crosswall in the year 1676. His father was the Clerk of the Cheque of Dover Harbour, and this James Hammond in his youth had control of Harbour works on behalf of his father. He placed on record many facts concerning old Dover, partly from his own observations and partly extracts which he took from records at the Haihour, the Castle, and St. Mary's Vestry. During his Mayoralty, in 1763, the Three Gun Battery, which stood on the margin of the Pent where New Bridge now is, was repaired for the use of the Dover Volunteers.
1764 Robert Wellard (202)
1765 Hughes Minet (203)
(202) Robert Wellard was a retired captain uf the Navy, who had charge of a Mail Packet at Dover. He resided at the top of Biggin Street, where the " Prince Albert " Inn and the houses below it stand.
(203) Hughes Minet, elected Mayor in 1765, was a grandsSn of Isaac Minet, and the son of the Rev. John Minet, the Rector of Eythorne. He was named Hughes after his mother, who was of the Hughes family of the Manor of Capel-le-Ferne. He was a partner in the Bank of Minet and Fector.
1766 David Sutton (204)
1767 John Latham (205)
(204) David Sutton was a captain in the Dover Mail Packet Service.
(205) John Latham, Mayor in 1767, 1779, and 1788, was the first of the Latham family who took part in Dover Corporation affairs. Samuel Latham, who came from Lewes, settled in Dover in 1664. His son became a Freeman of Dover, and his grandson, John, was the Mayor above mentioned. Like the Minets, the Lathams first started in the shipping businoas and then became bankers.
1768 Thomas Broadley (206)
1769 John Coleman (207)
(205) Thomas Broadley, Mayor in 1768, was the son of John Broadley, and grandson of Thomas Broadley, former Mayors, and they all three were successively " Doctor Broadley," of Broadley's Mansion, Snargaie Street.
(207) John Coleman, Mayor in 1769, was a well known surgeon, whose residence was in Stroud Street, where the Harbour Railway Station now stands.
1770 T. Buteman Lane (208)
1771 Edmund Barham (209)
(208) Thomas Bateman Lane had the distinction of being the first Mayor on the roll who had two Christian names. He was Deputy Lieutenant of Dover Castle.
(209) Edmund Barham, a member of the Kentish Barham family, was the son of John Barham, and brother of Richard Barham, the father of Thomas Harris Barham, who wrote the " Ingoldsby Legends."
1772 Sampson Farbrace (210)
(210) Sampson Farbrace, Mayor in 1772, was the owner of Buckland Manor, the Manor House at that time being north of the river, opposite Buckland Ford.
1773 Christopher Gunman
1774 Henry Jelly (211)
(211) Henry Jelly, Mayor in the years 1774, 1781, and 1790, was the son of a former Mayor of that name.
1775 James Hammond
1776 James Gunman (212)
(212) James Gunman was a son of Christopher Gunman, and a grandson of Captain James Gunman, all of whom were Mayors, and resided at Gunman's Mansion, Biggin Street. They were Hanovarians, and their ancestors came over with George I.