Printed and Published at the Dover Express Works. 1916.

TO BE FORMATTED

ANNALS OF DOVER.
SECTION SEVEN.
OFFICERS OF THE CORPORATION.
IV. TOWN CLERKS.

There is no record as to when a Town Clerk, or Common
Clerk (as he was originally called) was first appointed for
Dover; but the Office is older than the Dover Customal,
which was compiled in 1356. The Customal says, : — " When
a Mayor retires from office the Common Clerk retires also,
and the new Mayor, with the Jurats and Commonalty, choose
a Clerk, whose duty it is to keep a record of the acts and
decrees of the Common Assemblies 3 and to prepare the
charters for the transfer of town lands, as well as to keep a
register of the tenants, sales and actions of distress." The
Clerk's salary, in the Reign of Richard II., was forty shillings
a year, with livery, and, in addition, he had fees, he being
paid sixpence for a town land transfer. When the Common
Council came into regular work, in late Tudor times, the
Clerk's duties were increased, and the salary also, but it was
never large. The Town Clerks, while recording other things,
were modest as regards mentioning themselves, but the
following is as complete a list of them as can be gleaned
from the Dover Corporation books of entry : —

1. Henry atte Wood was the Town Clerk from 1499
to the end of the Reign of Henry VII.

2. Henry S'^iPvvoRrH was Common Clerk in Septem-
ber, 1509, and held the office about twenty years.

3. John Elys appears in the records of the Mayor and
Jurats as Common Clerk on the 22nd May, 1535. It is
believed that he held the office a few years earlier and some
time later.

4. Lawrence Elvinden, as Common Clerk, was in
office about 1538. His name appears as such in a deposition
taken before the Mayor as having been present on Christmas
Day, 1539, at dinner with the Mayor, Mr. John Bowles,
and he swore that one of the guests, who was the Arch-Priest
of St. Martin-le-Grand, made a certain declaration as to
some of his property situated at Appledore, and that the
Arch-Priest threw some claret wine over his right shoulder,
a ceremony which indicated that what he then solemnly
asserted he would abide by.



338 ANNALS OF DOVER

5. Joseph Beverley was Common Clerk in 1541, and
continued in the office until 1546. He was the compiler of
manuscript, now in the British Museum, called "A Boke of
the Acts and Decrees of the Common Assemblies passed
during the Mayoralties of Thomas Collye for promoting good
rule in Dover." This Town Clerk was subsequently a Jurat,
and in the year 1558 he was chosen as a Burgess to represent
the Corporation in Parliament.

6. Roger Wood (otherwise Roger-atte-Wood) appears
to have held the office of Town Clerk from 1546. In the
year following his election as Town Clerk he had an exciting
adventure which is recorded in a deposition made before the
Mayor and Jurats on the 13th July, 1547. It appears that
the Town Clerk and his wife, together with his brother,
John Wood, a surgeon, and Captain John Cave, in command
of one of the King's ships at Dover, went for an evening
walk to Hougham to drink the health of Thomas Young,
late of Calais, who had that day been married. When coming
back to Dover the same evening, John Young, brother of
the bridegroom, followed them with a drawn sword and
desired to fight Roger W^ood, the Town Clerk. Mrs. Wood,
who was carrying the Town Clerk's sword, handed it to her
husband to defend himself, whereupon John Young, having
suddenly struck at Roger Wood, Roger, as soon as he could
get hold of his sword, struck back in self-defence. Both were
hurt, but the Town Clerk had the best luck, for the surgeon
and Captain Cave had to carry John Young on their backs
to Dover, where, after lying six weeks, he died. The Mayor
held an inquest, when the evidence was that the Town Clerk
only fought in self-defence, so the matter ended. Roger
Wood was more than a Common Clerk, for, being Clerk to
the Bench of Jurats, he signed himself " Town Clerk and
Recorder of Dover." After holding the office fifteen years
he ended badly. During the first year of the Reign of Queen
Elizabeth he was imprisoned " for interlining the account
of the butchers' tallow." This seems to have been a serious
offence, and Roger Wood broke prison and flew from justice.
There is, however, an entry in the Corporation minutes, 12th
August, 1559, which indicated that the Corporation did not
wish to be harsh towards bim, for they resolved " That Roger
Wood, for his nauglity behaviour against the Mayor and
Jurats, and for breaking prison, shall not only forfeit his
freedom, but also shall pay a fine of jQio, and, furthermore,



OFFICERS OF THE CORPORATION 339

it is agreed if the said Roger Wood do not come in and purge
himself with sufficient witnesses by the i8th day of August
next, concerning the interUning of the record of the butchers'
tallow, that the said Roger shall be discharged from his office
without further delay." Roger Wood did not come in and
purge himself, so his place was filled by another.

7. Thomas Foxley, who took the office of Town Clerk
in 1559, when Roger Wood absconded, was a Jurat, and he
only acted as Town Clerk to the end of the current year.

8. William Chermainton was a member j'of the
Common Council, who was appointed Town Clerk near the
end of December, 1559, and he held the office a little more
than two years.

9. Thomas Dawkes, appointed Town Clerk in 1562,
held the office one year. His writing in the records during
that time is the finest sample of penmanship in the Dover
minute books. Thomas Dawkes was described as a yeoman.
He built himself a house in King Street, which was afterwards
known as the " Flying Horse Tavern."

10. William Knight held the office of Town Clerk
from 1563 to 1573. He was also Clerk to the Bench of
Jurats, describing himself as " Town Clerk and Recorder of
Dover." His writing is difficult to read.

11. Thomas Knoit held the office of Common Clerk
in 1573, for only one year.

12. Edward ^.InctiELL, chosen Town Clerk in 1574,
was an influential man in the Corporation, and was the leader
of a party in the Comm .n Council who opposed the employ-
ment of Romney Marsh men in the making of the Great
Pent. This gave offence to the Privy Council, and, after
holding the office of Town Clerk for eight years, he was
removed from office in 1582 by the influence of the Crown.

13. William Vantwylder was appointed Town Clerk
in 1582 by the wish of the Privy Council, but he was so
opposed by the party who supported the late Town Clerk,
Mr. Mitchell, that within the next year the Common Council
were induced to dismiss Vantwylder from his office.

14. John Goodwin was appointed Town Clerk by the
Common Council in 1583. He was one of the " Mitchell
party," and was very obnoxious to Sir Richard Barry, the
Lieutenant of the Castle, and Sir Thomas Scott, who were



340 ANNALS OF DOVER

then engaged, with a body of i,ooo men and 500 carts,
buildmg the walls of the Great Pent. Owing to the way the
workers were discouraged by the opposing party, John
Goodwin, the Town Clerk, and Thomas Andrews, the Mayor,
were removed from ofifice by the Privy Council.

15. William Vantwylder, by the written mandate of
the Privy Council, was again chosen Town Clerk in the latter
part of the year 1583, and he continued to hold the office
until Queen Elizabeth's Harbour Works were completed, he
retiring in September, 1597.

16. Thomas Harrison, who was appointed Town
Clerk in 1597 by the same influence as William Vantwylder
had been, retired in less than a year to make room for the
next Town Clerk, who was a Castle official.

17. George Fane, who was a member of a family
who held sway at the Castle in the Reigns of Queen EHzabeth
and James I., took the office of Town Clerk of Dover at the
beginning of 1598, and held it until 1603. He was knighted
at the Coronation of James I., was named in the Charter of
Dover Harbour as one of the Lord Warden's As.sistants,
and, a few years later, he was elected one of the Members of
Parliament for Dover.

18. Francis Raworth was appointed Town Clerk in
the year 1603. The Raworths were lawyers in Dover from
the time of Queen Elizabeth until after the Restoration.
There were two Town Clerks of this family, who bore the
same names. The name of Francis Raworth (the first)
appears in the minutes of the proceedings in connection with
the local proclamation of James L, and of the election of
the first Mayor of Dover in that reign. The oldest Freemen's
Roll, now in the possession of the Corporation, was compiled
by this Town Clerk.

19. Francis Rav.orth (the second) was the son of the
former Town Clerk of the same name. He was also Registrar
of the Cinque Ports Courts of Admiralty and Chancery. His
father and he held the Town Clerkship fifty-five years. Being
advanced in years, he resigned three years before the Restora-
tion, but he, being still a Jurat of the Corporation, in 1660,
financed the fund for pro\iding the handsomely bound Bible
which was presented to Charles H. by the Corporation on
his landing at Dover. The Corporation, who were
impoverished at that tiir.e, ordered that the money advanced



OFFICERS OF THE CORPORATION 34I

by Mr. Raworth should be repaid as speedily as possible,
but he died before the account was settled.

20. WiLLLiAM Stratfold, who succeeded Mr. Raworth
as Town Clerk, in 1657, was a Puritan, and when the Cor-
porations Regulation Act was put in force, in 1661, he
decHned to make and sign the declaration against the Solemn
League and Covenant, therefore he was removed from the
Town Clerkship in August, 1661.

21. John Pepper, one of the Common Councillors at
the Restoration, signed the declaration in July, 1661, and
was appointed Town Clerk in the room of WilUam Stratfold
on the 4th August, 1661. This Town Clerk seems to have
been remarkable for force of character, which was manifested
in the wider field of the Cinque Ports. The Court of
Brotherhood appointed him their Solicitor to obtain the
renewal of the Cinque Ports Charter from Charles II., and he
was employed as the Ports' solicitor in several other matters
of litigation that required a strong hand. In the early part
of the year 1683 John Pepper died, just at a crisis when
the Dover Corporation were fighting to retain their Charter,
which the Privy Council desired them to surrender. The
Corporation could not keep up the fight, so the Charter had
to go. During this crisis Philip Yorke, a rising Dover lawyer,
gave the Corporation some legal assistance, and on that
account it has been supposed that he at that time was Town
Clerk of Dover, but that was not so. Local feeling at that
juncture would have favoured Philip Yorke as Town Clerk, he
being stroligly opposed to the surrendering of the old Charter,
but when it was surrendered and the new one granted, the
power of electing a Town Clerk was transferred by that new
Charter to the Privy Council, therefore Philip Yorke's friends
had no power to elect him. Moreover , Philip Yorke was a
very independent person. He had resigned his seat on the
Common Council, and ever afterwards refused to have any-
thing to do with the Corporation.

22. Thomas Russell entered on the office of Town
Clerk in 1683, his name as Town Clerk being written in the
new Charter of that year when it was granted by the Crown,
so the Corporation had no voice in the matter. Thomas
Russell held the office until his death in 1688.

23. Paul Pepper was the next Town Clerk. On the
19th Januaiy, 1688, he presented a letter to the Mayor from



342 ANNALS OF DOVER

James II., which stated that the Duke of Albermarle, by virtue
of the Charter of Charles II., was, by one of the Clauses
of that Charter, empowered to appoint the Town Clerk, but
the Duke of Albermarle being beyond the seas, in his
absence, the King in Council having heard a good character
of Paul Pepper, had appointed him Town Clerk of Dover.
Paul Pepper was unqualified for the ofhce, not being a
member of the Common Council, but the Common Council
immediately elected him and admitted him as Town Clerk.
This Town Clerk only held the office nine months. On the
25th October, 16S8, the Charter of Charles 11., under which
he was appointed, was abrogated by proclamation on the
Accession of William III., and a new Town Clerk was then
elected by the Corporation in accordance with the ancient
usage.

24. Thomas Bedingfield was, on the 29th October,
1688, elected Town Clerk in the room of Paul Pepper. He
held the office sixteen years, resigning at the close of the
year 1704.

25. John Wellard was elected in the room of Thomas
Bedingfield on the 9th January, 1705. He was of an old
Dover family, a grandson of William Wellard, of the Cock
Brewery, Strond Street. He held the Town Clerkship until
the year 1718.

26. Robert Wellard, a son of John Wellard, the
previous Town Clerk, succeeded his father, and held the
Town Clerkship twenty-six years. He was a Jurat, and in
1 741 was chosen Mayor, holding the two offices of Mayor
and Town Clerk at the same time. He continued to be
Town Clerk for three years after his Mayoralty.

27. Alexander Wellard, son of Robert Wellard, the
previous Town Clerk, held the ofiice nineteen years. He,
too, was a Jurat, and was elected to the office of Mayor,
in 1757, holding the two offices at the same time.

28. Robert Westfield, cho.sen Town Clerk in 1764,
held the office twenty-seven years. During his time the
Dover Paving Commission was formed, and he was the first
Clerk to the Commissioners. He lived ten years after his
retirement, dying in 1801.

29. John Shipdem, cho.sen Town Clerk in 1791, held
the office thirty-five years. Part of that time he was the



OFFICERS OF THE CORPORATION 343

Register of Dover Harbour, which office he also held thirty-
five years.

30. George William Ledger was elected Town Clerk
in 1826, as the successor of his father-in-law, Mr. Shipdem.
Mr. Ledger was the son of George Ledger, printer and pub-
lisher of Dover. He held the office nine years under the old
Corporation and twelve years under the Town Council. He
was appointed Clerk of the Peace in 1836, and he held the
office until 1879. He also received compensation for loss of
office as Clerk to the Magistrates under the old Corporation,
of which office he was deprived by the Municipal Corpora-
tions Act.

31. Joseph Walker, who was elected Town Clerk on
the resignation of Mr. Ledger, was merely a stop-gap, and
only held office for seven days. As soon as Mr. Baker Bass
had resigned his seat as a member of the Town Council,
Mr. Walker, who was the proprietor of the Dover Oil Mills,
resigned the Town Clerkship, the majority of the Council
having decided to elect Mr. Bass to that post.

32. Thomas Baker Bass having resigned his seat as
a Councillor for the Castle Ward, was elected Town Clerk
on the 7th December, 1847, and he held the office until his
death in i860. He compiled, on the authority of the Public
Llealth Act and the Dover Paving Acts, a useful series of
Dover bye-laws, which were in force for many years, but are
now almost entirely out of date. During his term of office
the Chamberlains' accounts, from the time of Henry VHI.
to 1784, were collected and bound in seven volumes.

;^;^. Edward Knocker, as Town Clerk, succeeded Mr.
Bass in i860. He was the son of Mr. William Knocker, who
was Mayor four times between 1797 and 1832. Mr. Edward
Knocker had been Clerk to the Paving Commission. He held
the Town Clerkship six years, and afterwards was an Alder-
man and Mayor. Subsequently he interested himself in
arranging the Borough Records, and held the office of
Honorar>- Librarian to the Corporation until his death in
1884.

34. Sir Wollaston Knocker was a Town Clerk from
the beginning to the end of his Municipal career. He held
no other off-ce in connection with the Corporation, with the
exception of succeeding his father as the Hon. Librarian of



344 ANNALS OF DOVER

the Corporation. His election as Town Clerk, as the suc-
cessor of his father, which took place on the 5th May, 1868,
was unanimous, and he filled his place with credit and dis-
tinction until his death, on the 22nd September, 1907, he
having held the office forty years. He not only held the
office for the longest period on record, but he received the
honour of knighthood, the first Town Clerk of Dover so
honoured smce the Reign of James I.

35. Reginald E. Knocker, the present Town Clerk,
is the son of Sir Wollaston Knocker, and grandson of Mr.
Edward Knocker, the two previous Town Clerks. Mr.
Reginald Knocker was unanimously elected to succeed his
father on the 9th October, 1907, he having previously had
experience in the duties by acting as his father's deputy.



OFFICERS OF THE CORPORATION 345