Hythe

Hythe had a comparatively prosperous fishing industry and was still trying to keep its harbour free of shingle, but was none the less found by Leland to be greatly decayed. At the time of the Domesday survey it was a borough appurtenant to the archbishop of Canterbury’s manor of Saltwood and remained under archiepiscopal lordship until April 1540 when Archbishop Cranmer exchanged Salt-wood and the bailiwick of Hythe with the crown. It was governed by a bailiff appointed by the lord, 12 jurats chosen by the commonalty and a common assembly probably composed of the freemen: the archbishop seems to have made his appointments annually but tended to choose the same man in successive years, whereas after 1540 immediate reappointment became comparatively rare. In 1542 Hythe and New Romney, which was also under the archbishop’s lordship until the exchange of 1540, were asked to justify the appearance of their non-elected bailiffs at the Brotherhood of the Cinque Ports. During the reign of Edward VI the manor of Saltwood and the bailiwick of Hythe were first granted to John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, then sold back to the crown, later bestowed upon the 9th Lord Clinton, again sold back to the crown and then in June 1553 re-granted to Clinton. It appears, however, that the crown continued to appoint the bailiff. In 1575 Hythe was incorporated as the mayor, jurats and commonalty.14Leland, Itin. ed. Smith, iv. 64-65; K. M. E. Murray, Const. Hist. Cinque Ports , 208-9; Hasted, Kent (2nd ed.), viii. 232-3, 236-7; LP Hen. VIII , xv, g. 613(32); Cinque Ports White and Black Bks. (Kent Arch. Soc. recs. br. xix), 230; CPR , 1547-8, p. 171; 1549-51, p. 2; 1550-3, p. 203; 1553, p. 285; 1572-5, p. 493.

Little is known about the parliamentary elections of the period but they presumably took place in the assembly. Until 1547 all the known Members were jurats, as required by an ordinance of the Brotherhood, but the senior Member returned to Edward VI’s first Parliament, William Brooke, eldest son of the 9th Lord Cobham and a client of Sir William Paget, was a stranger. Four later intruders were connected with and evidently nominated by the lord warden, Sir Thomas Cheyne: William Oxenden and Richard Daper were his servants and Thomas Keys and John Fowler were his friends or clients. Keys’s name was inserted in the Cinque Ports return. Seven of the ten jurats who sat also served at some time as bailiff and one, William Dalmyngton, became mayor; John Knight was the common clerk or recorder. None of the Members is known to have received wages but the surviving records show that regular payments were made later in the century.15C219/18B/145, 23/184, 24/224; Cinque Ports White and black Bks. 28.