Ship Money - Opposition

Opposition

Charles I's demand for ship money aroused serious opposition when his requests to sheriffs were rejected by the overburdened inland populations. Sheriffs refused to assist in collecting the money, and Charles withdrew the writs. It will be seen, then, that the statement of Henry Hallam that in 1634 William Noy, the Attorney-General, unearthed in the Tower of London old records of ship money as a tax disused and forgotten for centuries has no real foundation. It is true that it was the suggestion of Noy that a further resort should be had to this expedient for raising money when, in 1634, Charles made a secret treaty with Philip IV of Spain to assist him against the Dutch; and Noy set himself to investigate such ancient legal learning as was in existence in support of the demand.

The King having obtained an opinion in favour of the legality of the writ from Lord Keeper Coventry and the Earl of Manchester, the writ was issued in October 1634 and directed to the justices of London and other seaports, requiring them to provide a certain number of ships of war of a prescribed tonnage and equipment, or their equivalent in money, and empowering them to assess the inhabitants for payment of the tax according to their substance.