Harwich

“ But such contrasts as the foregoing do not compare in violence with the contrasts offered by the River Stour, a few miles farther north on the map of England. Harwich is on the Stour, at its mouth, where, in confluence with the River Orwell (which truly is in East Anglia) it forms a goodish small harbor. And Harwich, though a tiny town, is a fairly important naval port, and also “a gate of the empire,” where steamers go forth for Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Germany, and Sweden. ”

“ In 1320 a grant occurs of a Tuesday market, but no fair is mentioned. James I. granted a Friday market, and two fairs, at the feast of St Philip and St James, and on St Luke’s day. The fair has died out, but markets are still held on Tuesday and Friday. Harwich has always had a considerable trade; in the 14th century merchants came even from Spain, and there was much trade in wheat and wool with Flanders. But the passenger traffic appears to have been as important at Harwich in the 14th century as it is now. Shipbuilding was a considerable industry at Harwich in the 17th century. ”

“ Harwich is in the county of Essex, and lies on the south side of the estuary formed by the confluence of the Stour and the Orwell, about sixty-two miles to the north-eastward of London. The view in the engraving is taken from the southward, and comprises three of the most conspicuous objects in the town—the church, which is of modern erection, and the upper and the lower light-houses. In the distance, to the right, is perceived Landguard Fort, which lies on the Suffolk shore, on the opposite side of the channel. ”

“ This town was erected into a marquisate in honour of the truly glorious family of Schomberg, the eldest son of Duke Schomberg, who landed with King William, being styled Marquis of Harwich; but that family (in England, at least) being extinct the title dies also.
Harwich is a town of hurry and business, not much of gaiety and pleasure; yet the inhabitants seem warm in their nests, and some of them are very wealthy. There are not many (if any) gentlemen or families of note either in the town or very near it. They send two members to Parliament ”

“ When Ipswich has climbed up its surrounding hills, and taken up all the building sites at present in the market, it will be a goodly and gallant town, almost fitted to invite the temporary residence of holiday-making Londoners who are fond of the water. At all times it is a pretty sail to Harwich and thence to Felixstowe, that quiet watering-place, a seaside residence that has still a pleasant flavour of rusticity about it, with a fine crisp sea-sand floor for a promenade. ”

“ Brawny porters carrying heavy packages on their backs pushed along unceremoniously, saying from time to time in a mechanical sort of way, "By your leave, sir!" but pushing on and shouldering passersby into the gutter without the smallest compunction. The narrowness and dinginess of the streets greatly surprised and disappointed the boys, who found that in these respects even Harwich compared favourably with the region they were traversing. Presently, however, after passing through several lanes and alleys, they emerged into a much broader street, alive with shops. ”

“ The wind still easterly. We therefore made several tacks, and ran into Harwich; a miserably poor little fort stands on the east point of the bay, yet you must strike your flag as you sail by it. The bay is large and suitable to harbor a great number of ships. The town is on the west side, passing which, a small river runs up into the land. We anchored about ten o'clock in the morning. We went ashore and dined, and I then, in company with some others, walked out of town; but my comrade returned, having concluded to cross over in the packet boat, and went to inquire about it. ”

“ Ruth said, "and of course the whole scenic effect is miniature in proportion. We'll begin to see the sea on both sides of us presently."
"What amuses me is the way the townships are cut up; a township of fifteen hundred people is cut into almost what you might call house lots. North, South, East, West Harwich, Harwich Port, Harwich Centre, and it doesn't take ten minutes to run through any one of these little villages, and get into the next."
"They are all very attractive," Elizabeth said, defensively, but not very loudly. ”

“ Harwich is a small town, with narrow streets, not paved: there are some pleasant walks in the environs. The harbour is a good one, with sufficient depth of water for a frigate. The place is well fortified towards the sea, and has a small naval arsenal. A guard-ship is generally stationed at this port, during war.
May 21st.—In the morning, His Majesty’s ship Unicorn passed us, under an immense press of sail, with a Royal standard flying at her mast-head, which we saluted with twenty-one guns. ”

“ There was much to amuse and interest them in Bergen op Zoom. It reminded them to some extent of Harwich, with its narrow streets and quaint houses; but the fortifications were far stronger, and the number of churches struck them as prodigious. The population differed in no very large degree in dress from that of England, but the people struck them as being slower and more deliberate in their motion. ”

“ Harwich is known for being the port where the packet boats, between England and Holland, go out and come in. The inhabitants are far from being famed for good usage to strangers, but, on the contrary, are blamed for being extravagant in their reckonings in the public-houses, which has not a little encouraged the setting up of sloops, which they now call passage boats, to Holland, to go directly from the River Thames ”

“ Six miles up Harwich water stands Ipswich; which is a gallant town and rich. This Town is such a place for the Busses, as in all England and Holland I know no place so convenient. First, it is the best place in all England for the building of Busses; both for the plenty of timber and plank, and excellent workmen for making of ships. There are more there, than there are in six of the best towns in all England. Secondly, it is a principal place for good housewives for spinning of yarn, for the making of pouldavice [canvas] ; for there is the best that is made. ”

“ So I to my office, and there all the afternoon. This day comes news from Harwich that the Dutch fleete are all in sight, near 100 sail great and small, they think, coming towards them; where, they think, they shall be able to oppose them; but do cry out of the falling back of the seamen, few standing by them, and those with much faintness. ”

“ The fishery, which formerly contributed to the prosperity of the place, has greatly diminished since the commencement of the present century. Harwich is the only harbour between Yarmouth Roads and the mouth of the Thames that is capable of affording refuge, in gales of wind from the eastward, to vessels navigating the eastern coast. During the prevalence of strong north-east winds, sometimes from 200 to 300 light colliers, and other vessels proceeding northward, are to be seen anchored in the harbour. ”

“ The country round Ipswich, as if qualified on purpose to accommodate the town for building of ships, is an inexhaustible store-house of timber, of which, now their trade of building ships is abated, they send very great quantities to the king’s building-yards at Chatham, which by water is so little a way that they often run to it from the mouth of the river at Harwich in one tide. ”

“ There is a good picture of the blessed virgin in one of the parlors, seeming to be of Holbein, or some good master. Then we saw the Haven, seven miles from Harwich. The tide runs out every day, but the bedding being soft mud, it is safe for shipping and a station. The trade of Ipswich is for the most part Newcastle coals, with which they supply London ”

“ On the map of the road between London and Harwich, given in Ogilby’s Itinerarium Angliæ, published in 1675, “Ye Bull Inn”—evidently a house of some importance—is shown about midway between Ingatestone and Widford. ”

“ John Witte his great Tawny Gilloflower; the Striped Tawny; the Marbled Tawny; Master Tuggie his Princess; the Feathered Tawny; and Master Tuggie his Rose Gilloflower. The Tuggies had a superb garden at Westminster in which they made a specialty of Carnations, Gilliflowers, and Pinks. The flower upon which Parkinson spends his most loving description is the Great Harwich. The enthusiasm of this old flower-fancier, who writes so delightfully, makes us feel [Pg 185] that the Great Harwich is an English institution, just as important as the Roast Beef of Old England or the English Plum Pudding. ”

“ The united estuaries of the rivers Stour and Orwell, forming Harwich harbour to the north, and the trend of the bay to the south, isolate the little borough and its watering-place on three sides; and Dovercourt, being seated on a small elevation, produce to it a combination of sea, inland waters, shipping, wood, and human habitations, which is certainly very beautiful. At a bathing-place the first object of visitors is health ”

“ Bostock, cousin Joseph, and son Christopher, and all our provisions, and came on board the Henrietta pinnace at Gillingham, where Captain Cooke attended us ready to set sail; from whence with a prosperous gale, the wind at south-west and very fair weather, we came to anchor before Harwich about six of the clock. All our company went on shore to Harwich, where we lodged that night, and the next day [154] from thence took our journey to Woodbridge, where we were joyfully received and entertained by Mistress Cole [558] and her friends. ”

“ I must, 'tis his Majesty's pleasure, begone to-morrow night for Harwich, and must be at Harwich by or before 3 in the afternoon, as the packet sails (unless the wind is directly contrary) Saturday evening.
No. 5.
ZELL, Feb. 19, 1775.
Indeed, my dearest father, neither you nor I had any idea of the tremendous roads through which I have passed, the continued and wondrous chain of dangers, amid which I have as yet escaped unhurt. Imagination cannot paint anything more horrid than the roads of Westphalia, of Holland (beyond Utrecht) , of Hanover, to the gates of Zell. ”

“ The principal imports are grain, timber, and tobacco, and the principal exports cement and fish. Shipbuilding has declined since the discontinuance of the Government dockyards. The prosperity of the town depends now largely on its shrimp and lobster fisheries, but there are also Roman cement works, breweries, and manufactories for artificial manure and for sails and tackle. It is much frequented for sea bathing, and its suburb of Dovercourt possesses a chalybeate spring, the spa-house of which contains a library and museum. Harwich in all probability occupies the site of a Roman station. ”

“ The next to Colchester, is Harwich Water. A royal harbour and a proper town, fit for the use of Busses (no place in all [Pg 337] Holland comparable to it, for there is both land and strand and dry beach enough for four hundred Sail) ; but the chiefest trade of the inhabitants of this place is with Caravels for Newcastle coals: but they have three or four ships yearly that they do send to Iceland for Cod and Ling from March until September; and some years they get, and some years they lose. ”

“ There are also several of the Martello towers of the Napoleonic era. At Landguard Fort there are important defence works with heavy modern guns commanding the main channel. This has been a point of coast defence since the time of James I. Between the Parkeston Quay and Town railway stations is that of Dovercourt, an adjoining parish and popular watering-place. Harwich is under a mayor, 4 aldermen and 12 councillors. Area, 1541 acres.
Harwich (Herewica, Herewyck) cannot be shown to have been inhabited very early, although in the 18th century remains of a camp, possibly Roman, existed there. ”

“ I have not yet visited in the Velsa any Continental port that did not abound in motor-barges, but in all the East Anglian estuaries together I have so far seen only one motor-barge, and that was at Harwich. English bargemen no doubt find it more dignified to lie in wait for a wind than to go puffing to and fro regardless of wind. Assuredly a Thames barge—said to be the largest craft in the world sailed by a man and a boy—in full course on the Blackwater is a noble vision full of beauty, but it does not utter the final word of enterprise in transport. ”

“ Elsewhere, the principal port is Harwich, at the mouth of the Stour, one of the chief ports of England for European passenger traffic. Other towns ranking as lesser estuarine ports are: Brightlingsea and Wivenhoe on the Colne, forming a member of the Cinque Port of Sandwich; Colchester, Maldon on the Blackwater, and Burnham-on-Crouch. The Stour, Chelmer, and Lea and Stort are the principal navigable inland waterways.
Population and Administration.—The area of the ancient county is 986,975 acres, with a population in 1891 of 785,445 and in 1901 of 1,085,771. ”

“ In November 1854 he retired from the army as major on full pay, and resided at Henley House, Frant, Sussex. On 28 March 1857 he was elected by a large majority as an independent liberal member for the borough of Harwich in Essex. ”

“ The journey to Harwich was unmarked by any particular incident, save that everywhere along the route the feeling of curiosity to see the remains of Caroline pass to their last resting-place was accompanied by manifest evidences of respect. Off Harwich were awaiting the Glasgow frigate, two sloops of war, three brigs, and the Pioneer schooner. The coffin was conveyed to the latter, after being unceremoniously swung into a barge, and from the schooner it was transferred to the Glasgow. The little group of mourners followed. They consisted of Lord and414 Lady Hood, Lady Anne Hamilton, Mr. ”