The Maritime History of the
British Isles p.
B.23
by Alan Robertson
The Harwich
Packets
“Harwich is best known for
being the port where the Pacquet Boats between England and Holland go out and
come in.”
In importance, this station was
surpassed only by Falmouth, when the British Post Office Mail packet services
were second to none in the world.
From 1600-1815, England was at war during a total of
60 years, at such times, information brought from the continent by the Harwich packets provided the main sources of political and military
intelligence.
The large island of Voorm forms
the southern flank of the estuary of the river Maas, on which Rotterdam lies,
some 15 miles from the sea. Brielle (Brill)
is on the north side of the island.
Helvoetsluis is
six miles distant on the south shore, and became the regular terminal.
Both ports were used by the
Harwich packets during the 17th century.
1661 Agreement
between Henry Bishop PMG and Syman
van Horne, the Dutch Ambassador, on behalf of the city of Amsterdam, a service of regular packet boats was established for the carriage of ‘Common
Mayle’ between Harwich and Hellevoetsluis.
1665-1667 War with Holland. Harwich packet service suspended.
1668 London
Gazette gave notice of “the
restoration of service, with convenient pacquet boats of 60 tons, leaving
(Harwich) on Wednesdays and Saturdays.”
1671 Agreement between
Rocloff Meulnaer and Wigbolt Muglman of Amsterdam,
and Andrew Carr of Harwich,
for Thomas Langley of Harwich “to
equip fully and victual 3 galliot hoys, for £76 per month, to convey the ordinary mails from Harwich to
Holland twice a week” (presumably
to Hellevoetsluis, because in 1676…
1676 Silas
Taylor, storekeeper at the Harwich Naval Yard wrote, “the
pacquet boats on every Wednesday and Saturday, carry over the publick mails,
and passengers, and return from Briel which
heretobefore has been from Helvoetsluis.”
1686 New Post Office packet contract opened from Harwich to Brill.
The contractor to receive £900 a year for 3
boats, 2 hoys of 60 tons, 1 of 40 tons.
1689 Outbreak of war with France [Falmouth – Corunna service started in January 1689]
Three small hoys replaced
by four boats “of force” armed, and each carrying 50 men.
The conveyance of mail
tended to become a secondary consideration, when commanders of these larger
armed vessels were tempted to give chase to a possible ‘prize’ enemy vessel.
1694 The Post Office, assisted
by EDMUND DUMMER
(Surveyor of the Navy) built four small packet boats
“of no force, but remarkable for speed” which
apparently ran additionally to the four larger “boats of force.”
1697 Treaty of Ryswyk ended the first stage of
the war with France.
The four smaller boats (huys) maintained the Harwich service, now running to Helvoetsluis.
(The Dover packets
resumed peacetime service to Calais.)
1702 Renewal of war with France - Dover packets withdrawn
Harwich - Helvoetsluis once more the sole continental mail route.
To speed up news from
Europe, “Wartime” packets, in addition to the four Post Office packets, put on
at Harwich.
1710 Post Office packets increased to five,
in addition to the “wartime packets”
1712 End of hostilities
1713 Treaty of Utrecht. Packets at peacetime strength of 5 Post
Office packets.
1748 Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle 8
years of peace
1763 Treaty of Paris 15
years of peace
1793 War with France
Dover packet station closed and packet boats moved to
Harwich
1794 Some
Harwich packets continued to run to Helvoetsluis during the French advance into
the Low Countries. Concurrently packet communications were established between
Harwich and ports further up the continental coastline. Cuxhaven (Hamburg), Husum (Schleswig Holstein) and Gothenburg (Sweden)
1795 Yarmouth
(Norfolk) became a naval and military embarkation base for the continental
campaign.
The Harwich station was CLOSED,
and most of the Dover and Harwich packets were transferred to Yarmouth, to
sail mainly to Cuxhaven.
1801 The Battle of Copenhagen
and the end to Napoleon’s bid to capture the whole of the North Sea continental
coastline.
1802 Peace of Amiens - temporary end of the
war with France.
The Harwich
station was re-opened. The
main mail connection continued to Cuxhaven, with much reduced services to Gothenburg and Husum.
1803 Renewal of war with France.
The British blockade of
Brest, and her superior naval forces gave protection to the Harwich services which continued to
run from there to Cuxhaven,
supplemented soon afterwards by a limited service to
Helvoetsluis. (for Rotterdam)
1805 The Battle of Trafalgar,
destroyed the threat of French invasion. Royal Navy, unopposed controlled the
North Sea. The war was still
unconcluded and Dover-Calais mail route
remained closed.
The next 10 years were the most important in the
history of the Harwich Packet Station.
The main bulk
of the mail for the continent was carried via Harwich.
The fleet of Post Office Packets are increased to
TEN, the largest number ever on the establishment of the Harwich
Station. Main
services were to Helvoetsluis and Cuxhaven.
1815 Napoleon’s death at Waterloo.
End of Hostilities,
Dover-Calais and Dover-Ostend packet services back in operation, to carry
the mails
(and many passengers, able
once more to make the ‘grand tour’ of the
Continent).
This was the beginning of the decline of Harwich as a Packet Station. ( Dover
flourished, due to shorter Channel crossing time, better roads
and passenger revenues.)
1824 Steam Post Office Packets were operating on
the Irish Sea and Straits of Dover
More costly steam vessels were never employed
from Harwich.
1834 General Steam Navigation
Company won the Post Office contract, to carry the mail by paddle-steamers from
the Thames to Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburg and other ports.
This was the end of the Post Office
Packet Station at Harwich.