Abstract
The prospect of an indigenous supply of silver at Clonmines, co. Wexford, would have excited Henry VIII given the parlous state of his finances. Initial results were mildly encouraging. Henry died before any serious action was undertaken, although the necessary legal instruments to do so were set in place. The financial inheritance of Edward VI made the option more attractive, even moreso given the reportedly favourable results of an assay of a sample of ore from the mine. A force of German miners was recruited and sent to Clonmines to start extraction operations on a serious scale in mid 1552. Robert Recorde was commissioned to oversee the operation. He met with continual interference from Garret Harman who had spearheaded the project from its inception and had provided the favourable assay results. After 5 months work, Recorde found that the operation was financially unsound, primarily because the initial assay provided was wildly optimistic. The project was abandoned at major cost to the Crown. Recorde’s accounts were passed for payment but his personal financial debt was not honoured by the Crown. This bankrupted him. The debt was acknowledged and discharged to the benefit of Recorde’s nephew in 1571.
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- 1.
Clarke FM (1926) New light on Roberte Recorde. Isis, vii, pp 50–70
Greenwood JW (1981) The closure of the Tudor mint at Bristol. Brit Numismatic J 51(24):107–111, 109
- 2.
The spelling of the surname ‘Gundelfinger’ caused problems for English clerks and hence is to be found also as the variants Goldenfynger, Kindelfinger, Goldingfinger, Gwyndelfinger. Similar difficulties arose with Harman’s Christian name which commonly was Garret but is also found as Gerhardt, Gerhardo, Garfrido and Gerardus.
- 3.
Whilst not the most recent discussion of the topic, the concluding chapters of Henry VIII(Penguin Biographies 1972) by J.J. Scarisbrick gives a good feel for the complexities and hectic European diplomatic activities of the time. The frenetic nature of these years domestically have been examined more recently by Robert Hutchinson in The Last Days of Henry VIII ; Conspiracies, Treason and Heresies at the Court of the Dying Tyrant, (Weidenfeld & Nicholson 2005).
- 4.
LP, 1539 I, no. 1286
- 5.
LP, 1540, no. 642
- 6.
Ibid., 1540–1541, no. 835, 941
- 7.
LP, 1542, no. 701
- 8.
This was Sir Thomas Seymour, who was to become Catherine Parr’s husband. The letter was written in Italian and contained a wide range of political intelligence.
- 9.
LP, 1542, no. 1246
- 10.
Ibid., no. 1247
- 11.
LP, 1545 I, no. 946. Steven Vaughan had been the service of Thomas Cromwell since 1524. He was a mercer who spent a great deal of his time in the Low Countries and gathered political intelligence there for Cromwell. At the end of 1539 he had become resident ambassador in Brussels as well as governor of the Company of Merchant Venturers there. Following the fall of Cromwell he remained in Brussels as a Royal agent mainly concerned with commercial matters. He retired as the Crown’s chief financial agent there in 1546 having successfully established a firm position for the English currency in the Antwerp market. One of his rewards in 1544 was to be made under-treasurer of the London mint.
- 12.
Letters Patent II, no. 282. [LP]
- 13.
Acts of the Privy Council 1542–1547, no. 229. [APC]
- 14.
A prest was an advance of money by the Crown in lieu of services to be undertaken.
- 15.
APC, 1542–1547, no. 231
- 16.
Ibid., no. 501
- 17.
LP. II, 1546–1547, no. 156
- 18.
Ibid., no. 402
- 19.
APC, 1547–1550, no. 38
- 20.
LP, 1546, no. 402
- 21.
APC, 1547–1550, p 426
- 22.
APC, 1547–1550, p 327
- 23.
Calendar of State Papers Foreign [CSPF], 1547–1553, no. 245, pp 57–58. This document was attached to a letter from Gundelfinger to the Council dated Antwerp 18 October 1550. The attachment was presumably intended to justify Gundelfingers request for help from the Council.
- 24.
APC, 1547–1550, p 419
- 25.
APC, 1550–1553, pp 8–9
- 26.
CSPF, 1547–1553, no. 245
- 27.
APC, 1550–1552, pp 181, 233
- 28.
CSPF, 1547–1553, pp 57–58
- 29.
By August 1550, Sir Thomas Chamberlayne was in Antwerp as ambassador to the Queen Regent Margaret, Arch Duchess of Savoy and ruler of the Low Countries in her own right.
- 30.
CSPF, 1547–1553, pp 66–67
- 31.
By this time Cecil was Secretary to the Privy Council.
- 32.
APC, 1550–1502, p 274
- 33.
Calendar of State Papers. Ireland [CSPI] 1509–1573, p 114
- 34.
CSPI, 1503–1578?, p 144
- 35.
APC, 1550–1552, pp 275–276
- 36.
Clarke FM (1926) New light on Robert Recorde. Isis viii: 50–70, 64
- 37.
Ibid., pp 58–63
- 38.
CSPI, 1509–1573, p 128
- 39.
APC, 1551–1552, p 261
- 40.
Ibid., p 264
- 41.
CSPI, 1551, p 119
- 42.
APC, 1551–1552, p 427
- 43.
CSPI, 1509–1573, p 121
- 44.
CSPI, ibid., p 123
- 45.
CSPI, ibid., p 124
- 46.
CSPI, ibid., p 122
- 47.
APC, 1551–1552, p 435
- 48.
APC, 1552–1554, pp 115,120, 167
- 49.
Ibid., p 215
- 50.
CSPI, 1552, 122
- 51.
CSPI. IV, p 122
- 52.
CSP Domestic, 1547–1553, pp 230–231. nos. 599, 601
- 53.
Ibid., p 235, no. 616
- 54.
CSPI, 1551, p 127
- 55.
Jordan WK (1966) The chronicle and political papers of King Edward VI. Allen and Unwin, London, pp 123, 130
- 56.
APC, 1552–1554, p 210
- 57.
CPSI, 1509–1573, p 130
- 58.
APC, 1552–1554, p 225
- 59.
Ibid., p 227
- 60.
CSPI, 1509–1573, p 130
- 61.
APC, 1552–1554, pp 233, 239
- 62.
Hore PH (1901) History of the town and county of Wexforde., II, pp 244–246;
PRO., Miscellania Q.R., 923/2, 1551–1553
- 63.
Donald MB (1961) Elizabethan monopolies. Oliver and Boyd, London, pp 11, 150
- 64.
Ibid., p 33
- 65.
Hamilton H (1926) The English brass and copper industries to 1800. Longmans, Green and Co. Ltd., London, Chap. I, pp 1–44
- 66.
CPR, 1569–1572, no. 2097, p 261
- 67.
Greenwood JW, loc. cit., 108–109
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Williams, J. (2011). The Affair at Clonmines. In: Robert Recorde. History of Computing. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-85729-862-1_4
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