I ran across this ship just this morning while reading a
biography: John Hancock, Merchant King
and American Patriot. So far, it’s truly outstanding. The author, Harlow
Giles Unger, has the ability to describe events so that you almost feel as if
you were there. I’ll try to post more on this after I finish the book.
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| The Loss of the Romney Man of War Artist: Richard Corbould |
Anyway, in June 1767, the British Parliament passed the
Townshend Acts. For those of you, like me, who might need a little refresher on
history, the Townshend Acts were first proposed by Charles Townshend, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer in Britain. England was suffering huge debts due to
the Seven Years War and the French and Indian War. (For the most part, these
were the same war and fought mainly against the French. They just had different
names in Europe and in America.)
Originally, the British passed the Stamp Act, which required
a stamp to be affixed, at a cost, to every piece of paper in the colonies. This
included everything from playing cards to wills to official documents. Without
going into too much detail, Americans rebelled and commerce between the
Colonies and England slowed to the point where merchants on both sides of the
pond were demanding the Act be repealed.
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| Charles Townshend 1725 - 1767 Artist: Sir Joshua Reynolds |
This left Townshend in a bit of a snit – and I’m sure he wasn’t the only one. He proposed the Townshend Acts, which seem to me to be as much about punishing the Americans as about replenishing the British coffers. These Acts raised import duties on glass, lead, paper, paint and tea. They also allowed customs officials to board American ships without provocation and seize suspect cargo. Incidentally, Charkes Townshend died in Sept 1767 less than a month after news of the Acts' passing reached America. He was only 42 at the time, but since he safely ensconced in England and died of a fever we can probably rule out foul play. (at least by the Americans anyway)
These Acts served
as the catalyst that brought John Hancock and other Boston Merchants into the
fray, prompting them to urge colonists to boycott all British goods. One of the ways the British retaliated was by siccing the
HMS Romney on Boston. The Captain of the Romney sent swarms of British sailors
ashore to terrorize the citizens of the town and impress any able-bodied men
they could find. (If you’re not familiar with the term in a naval sense, impressment
essentially means capturing a poor fellow and forcing him to serve aboard ship
whether he has any desire to or not! It was a common means of expanding the
ranks of the world’s most powerful naval force at the time.)
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| Caricature of British Press Gang, circa 1780 |
I would love to know for whom the Romney was named, but I
sincerely doubt there are any ties to Mitt Romney. (Sorry, lovers of political
conspiracy theories!) I just think it’s ironic that Massachusetts elected a
Governor with the same name as one of the ships that had terrorized the town of Boston
little more than two hundred years before.
Please be sure to comment if you know more about this little irony or if you have a favorite historical irony of your own.
MJ
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