Post-horse routes, royal progresses and government communications in the reign of James I

Journal of Transport History

Volumn 18, Issue 2, 1997, Pages

  Harrison, Philip ^a   Brayshay, Mark ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

HISTORICAL STUDY; TRANSPORT DEVELOPMENT; TRANSPORT HISTORY;

EID: 0031409048     PISSN: 00225266     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/002252669701800203     Document Type: Article

References (86)

1. These ideas are explored in Margaret Aston, The Fifteenth Century: the prospect of Europe (1979), pp. 49-34. See also M. Brayshay, 'The royal post-horse routes of Hampshire in the reign of Elizabeth I', Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club and Archaeologial Society, 48 (1992), pp. 121-34.
2. These ideas are explored in Margaret Aston, The Fifteenth Century: the prospect of Europe (1979), pp. 49-34. See also M. Brayshay, 'The royal post-horse routes of Hampshire in the reign of Elizabeth I', Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club and Archaeologial Society, 48 (1992), pp. 121-34.
3. M. Brayshay, 'Royal post-horse routes in England and Wales: the evolution of the network in the later sixteenth and early seventeenth century', Journal of Historical Geography, 17 (1991), pp. 373-89. Following the accession of James I in 1603, Treasury funding was withdrawn from a number of standing post routes established in the final years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. These included the routes from London to Bristol and Milford Haven and links with Shropshire, north Devon and Cornwall.
4. J. Crofts, Packhorse, Waggon and Post. land carriage and communications under the Tudors and Stuarts (1967), pp. 67-70;
5. M. Brayshay, 'Royal post-horse routes in south-west England in the Reigns of Elizabeth I and James I', Transactions of the Devonshire Association, 123 (1991), pp. 121-34. Most post masters retained the services of only one post boy, whose round trip to the next stage might take anything up to six hours. In the interests of efficiency, government letters were seldom sent singly, but usually in bundles or 'packets', and most post rooms received only one or two packets per day.
6. The authors are preparing for publication a paper based on Mark Brayshay's unpublished contribution to the conference on 'European Cities and their People' held in the Universiteit van Amsterdam in September 1991. The paper analyses posting speeds in England and Wales in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. See also M. Brayshay, 'Post-haste by post-horse: communications in Europe, 1400-1600', History Today, 42 (1992), pp. 35-41.
7. Crofts, Packhorse, Waggon and Post, pp. 51-6,
8. Brayshay, 'Royal post-horse routes in England and Wales', p. 374. A copy of the approval of the Privy Council of the carriage of private letters by the royal post masters of the West Country exists in the Devon Record Office, DRO H.H/5/329, dated 21 November 1629.
9. Brayshay, 'The royal post-horse routes of Hampshire', pp. 122-3.
10. Crofts, Packhorse, Waggon and Post, pp. 57-77; Brayshay, 'Royal post-horse routes in England and Wales', pp. 373-89, G. Walker, Haste, Post, Haste: postmen and post routes through the ages (1938), pp. 35-63; H. Joyce, The history of the Post Office (1893), pp. 1-15; R. M. Willcocks, England's Postal History to 1840 (Perth, 1975), pp. 2-15; H. Robinson, The British Post Office: a history (Princeton, N.J., 1948), pp. 3-22.
11. Crofts, Packhorse, Waggon and Post, pp. 57-77; Brayshay, 'Royal post-horse routes in England and Wales', pp. 373-89, G. Walker, Haste, Post, Haste: postmen and post routes through the ages (1938), pp. 35-63; H. Joyce, The history of the Post Office (1893), pp. 1-15; R. M. Willcocks, England's Postal History to 1840 (Perth, 1975), pp. 2-15; H. Robinson, The British Post Office: a history (Princeton, N.J., 1948), pp. 3-22.
12. Crofts, Packhorse, Waggon and Post, pp. 57-77; Brayshay, 'Royal post-horse routes in England and Wales', pp. 373-89, G. Walker, Haste, Post, Haste: postmen and post routes through the ages (1938), pp. 35-63; H. Joyce, The history of the Post Office (1893), pp. 1-15; R. M. Willcocks, England's Postal History to 1840 (Perth, 1975), pp. 2-15; H. Robinson, The British Post Office: a history (Princeton, N.J., 1948), pp. 3-22.
13. Crofts, Packhorse, Waggon and Post, pp. 57-77; Brayshay, 'Royal post-horse routes in England and Wales', pp. 373-89, G. Walker, Haste, Post, Haste: postmen and post routes through the ages (1938), pp. 35-63; H. Joyce, The history of the Post Office (1893), pp. 1-15; R. M. Willcocks, England's Postal History to 1840 (Perth, 1975), pp. 2-15; H. Robinson, The British Post Office: a history (Princeton, N.J., 1948), pp. 3-22.
14. Crofts, Packhorse, Waggon and Post, pp. 57-77; Brayshay, 'Royal post-horse routes in England and Wales', pp. 373-89, G. Walker, Haste, Post, Haste: postmen and post routes through the ages (1938), pp. 35-63; H. Joyce, The history of the Post Office (1893), pp. 1-15; R. M. Willcocks, England's Postal History to 1840 (Perth, 1975), pp. 2-15; H. Robinson, The British Post Office: a history (Princeton, N.J., 1948), pp. 3-22.
15. Crofts, Packhorse, Waggon and Post, pp. 57-77; Brayshay, 'Royal post-horse routes in England and Wales', pp. 373-89, G. Walker, Haste, Post, Haste: postmen and post routes through the ages (1938), pp. 35-63; H. Joyce, The history of the Post Office (1893), pp. 1-15; R. M. Willcocks, England's Postal History to 1840 (Perth, 1975), pp. 2-15; H. Robinson, The British Post Office: a history (Princeton, N.J., 1948), pp. 3-22.
16. Brayshay, 'Royal post-horse routes in England and Wales', p. 376.
17. Brayshay, 'Royal post-horse routes in south-west England', p. 93.
18. Brayshay, 'The royal post-horse routes of Hampshire', p. 124.
19. The discharge of the posts towards Bristol is documented in Public Record Office (hereafter PRO) Audit Office (hereafter AO1) 1951/12 and 1951/13. See also: Historical Manuscripts Commission, Calendar of the Manuscripts of the Most Honourable the Marquess of Salisbury Vol. 9, Part XXI, 1609-12 (1970), pp. 362-3; F. Peck, Desiderata Curiosa, or, A collection . . . of pieces relating chiefly to English history: consisting of choice tracts, memoirs, letters, wills and epitaphs (1779), p. 205; A. Haynes, Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury: servant of two sovereigns (1989), pp. 207-16; J. C. Beckett, A Short History of Ireland (1979), p. 65.
20. The discharge of the posts towards Bristol is documented in Public Record Office (hereafter PRO) Audit Office (hereafter AO1) 1951/12 and 1951/13. See also: Historical Manuscripts Commission, Calendar of the Manuscripts of the Most Honourable the Marquess of Salisbury Vol. 9, Part XXI, 1609-12 (1970), pp. 362-3; F. Peck, Desiderata Curiosa, or, A collection . . . of pieces relating chiefly to English history: consisting of choice tracts, memoirs, letters, wills and epitaphs (1779), p. 205; A. Haynes, Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury: servant of two sovereigns (1989), pp. 207-16; J. C. Beckett, A Short History of Ireland (1979), p. 65.
21. The discharge of the posts towards Bristol is documented in Public Record Office (hereafter PRO) Audit Office (hereafter AO1) 1951/12 and 1951/13. See also: Historical Manuscripts Commission, Calendar of the Manuscripts of the Most Honourable the Marquess of Salisbury Vol. 9, Part XXI, 1609-12 (1970), pp. 362-3; F. Peck, Desiderata Curiosa, or, A collection . . . of pieces relating chiefly to English history: consisting of choice tracts, memoirs, letters, wills and epitaphs (1779), p. 205; A. Haynes, Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury: servant of two sovereigns (1989), pp. 207-16; J. C. Beckett, A Short History of Ireland (1979), p. 65.
22. The discharge of the posts towards Bristol is documented in Public Record Office (hereafter PRO) Audit Office (hereafter AO1) 1951/12 and 1951/13. See also: Historical Manuscripts Commission, Calendar of the Manuscripts of the Most Honourable the Marquess of Salisbury Vol. 9, Part XXI, 1609-12 (1970), pp. 362-3; F. Peck, Desiderata Curiosa, or, A collection . . . of pieces relating chiefly to English history: consisting of choice tracts, memoirs, letters, wills and epitaphs (1779), p. 205; A. Haynes, Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury: servant of two sovereigns (1989), pp. 207-16; J. C. Beckett, A Short History of Ireland (1979), p. 65.
23. J. B. Nichols, The Progresses, Processions and Magnificent Festivities of King James the First, his Royal Consort, Family and Court, 4 vols (1828); J. B. Nichols, The Progresses and Public Processions of Queen Elizabeth, 3 vols (1823-25); J. Osborne, Entertaining Elizabeth I: the progresses and great houses of her time (1989).
24. J. B. Nichols, The Progresses, Processions and Magnificent Festivities of King James the First, his Royal Consort, Family and Court, 4 vols (1828); J. B. Nichols, The Progresses and Public Processions of Queen Elizabeth, 3 vols (1823-25); J. Osborne, Entertaining Elizabeth I: the progresses and great houses of her time (1989).
25. J. B. Nichols, The Progresses, Processions and Magnificent Festivities of King James the First, his Royal Consort, Family and Court, 4 vols (1828); J. B. Nichols, The Progresses and Public Processions of Queen Elizabeth, 3 vols (1823-25); J. Osborne, Entertaining Elizabeth I: the progresses and great houses of her time (1989).
26. The exact number of advisers, secretaries and servants of the royal household tended to vary during the king's summer peregrinations, but there were occasions when members of the Privy Council were called together for a meeting attended by King James while he was on his progress.
27. The Audit Office accounts indicate that there were two or three posts who organised the service in London, each dealing with the packets for particular routes. It is not known precisely where they were located, but it is likely that it was at commercial inns on the main roads leading out of the City. The Post of the Court operated from Whitehall Palace.
28. J. Ridley, The Tudor Age (1988), pp. 82-5; W. MacCaffrey, Elizabeth I (1993), pp. 376-9, R. Strong, Splendour at Court: Renaissance spectacle and illusion (1973), pp. 83-4.
29. J. Ridley, The Tudor Age (1988), pp. 82-5; W. MacCaffrey, Elizabeth I (1993), pp. 376-9, R. Strong, Splendour at Court: Renaissance spectacle and illusion (1973), pp. 83-4.
30. J. Ridley, The Tudor Age (1988), pp. 82-5; W. MacCaffrey, Elizabeth I (1993), pp. 376-9, R. Strong, Splendour at Court: Renaissance spectacle and illusion (1973), pp. 83-4.
31. The costs of entertaining Queen Elizabeth and her large retinue could be as much as £1,000 per day; see C. Hibbert, The Virgin Queen, Genius of the Golden Age (Wokingham, 1991), pp. 142-45; MacCaffrey, Elizabeth I, p. 376; Osborne, Entertaining Elizabeth I, p. 19.
32. The costs of entertaining Queen Elizabeth and her large retinue could be as much as £1,000 per day; see C. Hibbert, The Virgin Queen, Genius of the Golden Age (Wokingham, 1991), pp. 142-45; MacCaffrey, Elizabeth I, p. 376; Osborne, Entertaining Elizabeth I, p. 19.
33. The costs of entertaining Queen Elizabeth and her large retinue could be as much as £1,000 per day; see C. Hibbert, The Virgin Queen, Genius of the Golden Age (Wokingham, 1991), pp. 142-45; MacCaffrey, Elizabeth I, p. 376; Osborne, Entertaining Elizabeth I, p. 19.
34. R. Strong, Portraits of Queen Elizabeth I (1963), pp. 86-7; R. Strong, The English Icon: Elizabethan and Jacobean portraiture (1969), p. 240; Strong, Splendour at Court, p. 84.
35. R. Strong, Portraits of Queen Elizabeth I (1963), pp. 86-7; R. Strong, The English Icon: Elizabethan and Jacobean portraiture (1969), p. 240; Strong, Splendour at Court, p. 84.
36. R. Strong, Portraits of Queen Elizabeth I (1963), pp. 86-7; R. Strong, The English Icon: Elizabethan and Jacobean portraiture (1969), p. 240; Strong, Splendour at Court, p. 84.
37. Hibbert, The Virgin Queen, p. 144.
38. P. Slack, The Impact of Plague in Tudor and Stuart England (Oxford, 1985), pp. 144-69.
39. Hibbert, The Virgin Queen, p. 136; Ridley, Elizabeth I, p. 377.
40. Hibbert, The Virgin Queen, p. 136; Ridley, Elizabeth I, p. 377.
41. T. Risdon, Chorographical Description, or survey of the county of Devon (Plymouth, 1811), p. 4. See also William Camden, Britain, or, a chorographicall description of the most flourishing kingdomes of England, Scotland and Ireland, translated newly into English by Philemon Holland (1637), who contrasted the 'safe rodes' of Bent and the 'high rodes' made by the Romans in Leicestershire and Warwickshire with the 'roughes and rocks' of Caernarfonshire and the 'wet and weely . . . miry and moorish' roads of Somerset, which caused 'exceeding great trouble to those that travel' there.
42. T. Risdon, Chorographical Description, or survey of the county of Devon (Plymouth, 1811), p. 4. See also William Camden, Britain, or, a chorographicall description of the most flourishing kingdomes of England, Scotland and Ireland, translated newly into English by Philemon Holland (1637), who contrasted the 'safe rodes' of Bent and the 'high rodes' made by the Romans in Leicestershire and Warwickshire with the 'roughes and rocks' of Caernarfonshire and the 'wet and weely . . . miry and moorish' roads of Somerset, which caused 'exceeding great trouble to those that travel' there.
43. PRO, State Papers (hereafter SP) 39/7, f. 13. In 1617 Sir Richard Morrison, a lieutenant of the Ordnance, was paid £73 19s 2d to supply eleven additional carts for King James's journey to Scotland, the 'fifty carts, for which £469 12s 8d was formerly paid, proving insufficient'.
44. For example, the progresses to Sherwood in 1612 and 1616, and the journey to Hampshire in 1613.
45. King James's Journey is described and documented in Nichols, The Progresses, Processions and Magnificent Festivities, Vol. 3, pp. 255-436.
46. A. Fraser, King James VI of Scotland and I of England (1974), p. 77.
47. G. Davies, The early Stuarts, 1603-1660 (Oxford, 1957), p. 263.
48. Numerous letters and warrants establishing temporary posts can be found in PRO, Privy Council Registers (hereafter PC), 2/39-53, and in the Warrants (Sign Manual), PRO SP 39.
49. British Library (hereafter BL), Stowe MSS 173, f. 24.
50. Cecil died on 24 May 1612, midway through his return journey from Bath.
51. BL, Stowe MSS 173, f. 24.
52. BL, Stowe MSS 173, f. 24.
53. PRO, SP 14/81, f. 99.
54. PRO, PC 2/30, f. 583.
55. PRO, PC 2/28, f. 59. There are numerous other hints that government business was often delayed while the king was on progress. In a letter to the Lord Deputy in Ireland concerning Irish affairs, dated 12 June 1615, for example, the Privy Council (PRO, PC 2/28, ff. 9-10) observed that 'to the ende they may find that expedicion here is as desired, wee have thought that his Majestie beginneth his progresse about the 20th of the next moneth, soe as unless they may be here in convenient tyme to have their demaundes hearde and considered of before the progresse, they must necessarily expect his Majesty's retourne which will not be until September'.
56. The route made use of ordinary stages wherever possible, but the king's itinerary was not planned so as to take advantage of the established network. See, for example, PRO, SP 14/90, f. 109, 'A list of the projected stages for the King's journey to Scotland'. Informing those who were required to host the court is dealt with in N. Williams, 'The Master of the Royal Tents and his records' in F. Ranger (ed.), Prisca Munimenta: studies in archival and administrative history presented to A. E. J. Hollaender(1973), pp. 162-8, and in Hibbert, The Virgin Queen, pp. 134, 138-9. See also Calendar of State Papers (Domestic), warrant (dated 14 July 1614) to furnish Sir Thomas Tyringham, master of the privy buck hounds, with 'sixteen beds and provision for thirty horses and for the king's hounds, in all places adjacent to the court'.
57. The route made use of ordinary stages wherever possible, but the king's itinerary was not planned so as to take advantage of the established network. See, for example, PRO, SP 14/90, f. 109, 'A list of the projected stages for the King's journey to Scotland'. Informing those who were required to host the court is dealt with in N. Williams, 'The Master of the Royal Tents and his records' in F. Ranger (ed.), Prisca Munimenta: studies in archival and administrative history presented to A. E. J. Hollaender(1973), pp. 162-8, and in Hibbert, The Virgin Queen, pp. 134, 138-9. See also Calendar of State Papers (Domestic), warrant (dated 14 July 1614) to furnish Sir Thomas Tyringham, master of the privy buck hounds, with 'sixteen beds and provision for thirty horses and for the king's hounds, in all places adjacent to the court'.
58. The route made use of ordinary stages wherever possible, but the king's itinerary was not planned so as to take advantage of the established network. See, for example, PRO, SP 14/90, f. 109, 'A list of the projected stages for the King's journey to Scotland'. Informing those who were required to host the court is dealt with in N. Williams, 'The Master of the Royal Tents and his records' in F. Ranger (ed.), Prisca Munimenta: studies in archival and administrative history presented to A. E. J. Hollaender(1973), pp. 162-8, and in Hibbert, The Virgin Queen, pp. 134, 138-9. See also Calendar of State Papers (Domestic), warrant (dated 14 July 1614) to furnish Sir Thomas Tyringham, master of the privy buck hounds, with 'sixteen beds and provision for thirty horses and for the king's hounds, in all places adjacent to the court'.
59. The route made use of ordinary stages wherever possible, but the king's itinerary was not planned so as to take advantage of the established network. See, for example, PRO, SP 14/90, f. 109, 'A list of the projected stages for the King's journey to Scotland'. Informing those who were required to host the court is dealt with in N. Williams, 'The Master of the Royal Tents and his records' in F. Ranger (ed.), Prisca Munimenta: studies in archival and administrative history presented to A. E. J. Hollaender(1973), pp. 162-8, and in Hibbert, The Virgin Queen, pp. 134, 138-9. See also Calendar of State Papers (Domestic), warrant (dated 14 July 1614) to furnish Sir Thomas Tyringham, master of the privy buck hounds, with 'sixteen beds and provision for thirty horses and for the king's hounds, in all places adjacent to the court'.
60. The inspection and repair of local roads in advance of a progress are recorded in many provincial city ledgers from the time of Queen Elizabeth onwards. Thus, for example, see: Wiltshire Record Office, G23/1/3, f. 32, Salisbury City Ledger, which records the payment of 10s to 'thover seer of the waves' in an account of 'what monie was payed when her ma[jes]tie was at this cittie'. Royal purveyance had become a highly controversial issue by the reign of James I. See S. T. Bindoff, Tudor England (1950), p. 133; J. P. Kenyon, Stuart England (1978), p. 68; A. G. R. Smith, 'The Great Contract of 1610', in P. Clark, A. G. R. Smith and N. Tyacke (eds), The English Commonwealth, 1547-1640: essays in politics and society (1970), p. 115.
61. The inspection and repair of local roads in advance of a progress are recorded in many provincial city ledgers from the time of Queen Elizabeth onwards. Thus, for example, see: Wiltshire Record Office, G23/1/3, f. 32, Salisbury City Ledger, which records the payment of 10s to 'thover seer of the waves' in an account of 'what monie was payed when her ma[jes]tie was at this cittie'. Royal purveyance had become a highly controversial issue by the reign of James I. See S. T. Bindoff, Tudor England (1950), p. 133; J. P. Kenyon, Stuart England (1978), p. 68; A. G. R. Smith, 'The Great Contract of 1610', in P. Clark, A. G. R. Smith and N. Tyacke (eds), The English Commonwealth, 1547-1640: essays in politics and society (1970), p. 115.
62. The inspection and repair of local roads in advance of a progress are recorded in many provincial city ledgers from the time of Queen Elizabeth onwards. Thus, for example, see: Wiltshire Record Office, G23/1/3, f. 32, Salisbury City Ledger, which records the payment of 10s to 'thover seer of the waves' in an account of 'what monie was payed when her ma[jes]tie was at this cittie'. Royal purveyance had become a highly controversial issue by the reign of James I. See S. T. Bindoff, Tudor England (1950), p. 133; J. P. Kenyon, Stuart England (1978), p. 68; A. G. R. Smith, 'The Great Contract of 1610', in P. Clark, A. G. R. Smith and N. Tyacke (eds), The English Commonwealth, 1547-1640: essays in politics and society (1970), p. 115.
63. Hibbert, The Virgin Queen, p. 139.
64. PRO, SP 14/90, f. 118.
65. In September 1621 Richard Lacavell, a groom of the chamber, was paid £25 for 'keeping his majestie's silkworms from the first day of May . . . until the last of . . . September and attending his majestic with the same this last progress': J. V. Lyle (ed.), Acts of the Privy Council of England, 1623-23 (1932), p. 34.
66. Hibbert, The Virgin Queen, p. 134.
67. J Parkes, Travel in England in the Seventeenth Century (Oxford, 1925), p. 226.
68. Williams, 'The Master of the Royal Tents', pp. 166-8.
69. Nichols, Progresses, Processions and Magnificent Festivities 1, p. xiii.
70. Nichols, Progresses, Processions and Magnificent Festivities 1, pp. x-xi.
71. Hibbert, The Virgin Queen, pp. 138-9.
72. PRO, PC 2/32, f. 126.
73. Warrants were issued to ushers of the king's chamber to travel along the projected route to make arrangements and to check for plague one month before the progress was scheduled to commence: Nichols, Progresses, Processions and Magnificent Festivities 3, p. 11.
74. Parkes, Travel in England, p. 228.
75. PRO, PC 2/27, f. 43. For the 1613 progress, for example, the instruction to Lord Stanhope, Master and Comptoller General of the King's Posts, was received on 15 July. The extraordinary posts engaged to serve during the 'progress time' began operating on 22 August, or slightly more than five weeks later.
76. PRO, AO1 1953/25.
77. Placard issued to the Post of the Court, 17 July 1618: Lyle, Acts of the Privy Council.
78. The accounts of the Master and Comptroller General of the Royal Posts survive in draft form among the Audit Office papers (PRO, AO1 1951-53) and, once approved by the Auditors of the Imprest, they were engrossed on parchment and can be found in the documents of the Exchequer Pipe Office: PRO, Exchequer: 352/2742-57.
79. Whyte therefore received funds to meet his expenses a week before the king and his retinue set out.
80. The temporary stages were arranged by the Post of the Court well in advance of the start of the progress.
81. Nichols, Progresses, Processions and Magnificent Festivities 2, pp. 451-62.
82. Nichols, Progresses, Processions and Magnificent Festivities 2, p. 460.
83. The post rooms at Olney, Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby, Great Weldon and Bulwick operated while the king was beyond the range of established post rooms on the London-Holyhead and the London-Berwick roads. At the time the usual range of foot posts was seven to eight miles (giving a round trip of fourteen to sixteen miles). Reforms introduced in 1635 led to letters being delivered by foot posts within a ten-mile radius of post-stage towns. See Robinson, The. British Post Office, pp. 29, 31.
84. R. Carew, The Survey of Cornwall (first published 1602; new edition Penzance, 1769), p. 69.
85. PRO, SP 14/4, f. 10.
86. PRO AO1 1952/17, Wages of the Extraordinary Posts in the time of the King's Progresses in Summer, 1612.