Thomas Milles (bailiff)
Encyclopedia
Thomas Milles was an English customs official, known for his economic writings, in which he defended the staple system.
, by his first wife Joan, daughter of Thomas Glover of Ashford, and sister of Robert Glover
, he was born in Kent about 1550. Educated at a free school, he entered public service about 1570, and during the next sixteen years was frequently employed in France, Flanders, and Scotland. He is said to have received a 'chapeau winged' as an augmentation to his armorial bearings for his celerity on a mission to Henry IV of France
.
In 1579 he was appointed bailiff of Sandwich, Kent
. He was employed by Francis Walsingham
as an agent between England and Scotland in 1585, and in the following year he accompanied Thomas Randolph
to Edinburgh
, during the negotiations on the treaty of Berwick
. He then obtained the lucrative post of customer of Sandwich. This position gave him opportunities for the interception of foreign agents and correspondence, and the government employed him in unravelling the plots of the period. In 1591 he was recommended to be sent to Brittany
to view and report on the forces there, and after the expedition to Cadiz
(1596) he was appointed a prize commissioner at Plymouth. In 1598 he acted as secretary to Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham
, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
, and in the same year (15 June) he obtained, in reversion after Sir Ralph Bourchier, the keepership of Rochester Castle
. On the death of George Gilpin
in 1602 he applied, without success, for the post of councillor to the council of estate in the Low Countries. He devoted the rest of his life to the defence of the staple system. On his resignation in 1623 of the post of bailiff of Sandwich, he was succeeded (10 July) by John Philipot. His will was proved in 1627.
Milles married, about 1614, Anne, daughter of John Polhill of Otford
, Kent, and widow of William Nutt of Canterbury
, counsellor-at-law, by whom he had two daughters: Anne, born in 1615; and a daughter born in 1618, who died young. His wife died in 1624 at Davington Hall, and was buried by the side of her younger daughter in St. George's Church, Canterbury, where a monument was erected to her memory. His daughter Anne inherited Norton, purchased by him in the reign of Elizabeth, and Davington, purchased early in the reign of James I, and married in 1627 John Milles, afterwards knighted.
, it was favourable to freedom of enterprise and the development of commerce, he denounced the usurious practices of the new school, and argued that the monopoly of the Merchant Adventurers led to the growth of London at the expense of the outports, deprived merchants of free traffic, and diminished the revenue. Two years' experience as customer of Sandwich convinced him of the desirability of reviving the staple system, and after consultation with Thomas Fanshawe
, remembrancer of the exchequer, he prepared a statement of his views, which was brought to the notice of Lord Burghley. Failing in this attempt to influence the government, he published The Custumers Apology: that is to say, A generall Answere to Informers of all Sortes, c. [London, 1601]. Only fifty copies of this work were printed, and they were circulated among the members of the privy council.
To meet the attacks made upon the 'Apology' by John Wheeler
, secretary to the Merchant Adventurers' Company, Milles published a reply. With the exception of the epistle dedicatory, the preface, and the conclusion, this work consists of A Treatise of Exchange in Merchandise and Merchandising Exchange, written about the time of the conference at Bruges (1564–65), by a merchant adventurer. Of two other of Milles's books, 'A Caution against Extreamity by Farmers,' c. [1606], and 'The True Vse of Port-Bandes ' [1606], there is apparently no copy in existence. The 'Caution' was directed against the practice of farming out the customs, and Milles was reprimanded by the lords of the Privy Council for it. About 1608 Milles prepared an 'Answere' to the critics of the 'True Use of Port-Bandes,' but its publication was stopped by the Exchequer. Later publications on cognate topics were
Life
Son of Richard Milles of AshfordAshford, Kent
Ashford is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. In 2005 it was voted the fourth best place to live in the United Kingdom. It lies on the Great Stour river, the M20 motorway, and the South Eastern Main Line and High Speed 1 railways. Its agricultural market is one of the most...
, by his first wife Joan, daughter of Thomas Glover of Ashford, and sister of Robert Glover
Robert Glover (officer of arms)
Robert Glover was an English Officer of Arms, genealogist and antiquarian in the reign of Elizabeth I. In the College of Arms, he rose to the rank of Somerset Herald of Arms, serving in that capacity from 1571 until his death in 1588...
, he was born in Kent about 1550. Educated at a free school, he entered public service about 1570, and during the next sixteen years was frequently employed in France, Flanders, and Scotland. He is said to have received a 'chapeau winged' as an augmentation to his armorial bearings for his celerity on a mission to Henry IV of France
Henry IV of France
Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....
.
In 1579 he was appointed bailiff of Sandwich, Kent
Sandwich, Kent
Sandwich is a historic town and civil parish on the River Stour in the Non-metropolitan district of Dover, within the ceremonial county of Kent, south-east England. It has a population of 6,800....
. He was employed by Francis Walsingham
Francis Walsingham
Sir Francis Walsingham was Principal Secretary to Elizabeth I of England from 1573 until 1590, and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Walsingham is frequently cited as one of the earliest practitioners of modern intelligence methods both for espionage and for domestic security...
as an agent between England and Scotland in 1585, and in the following year he accompanied Thomas Randolph
Thomas Randolph (diplomat)
Thomas Randolph was an English ambassador serving Elizabeth I of England. Most of his professional life he spent in Scotland at the courts of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her son James VI. While in Scotland, he was embroiled in marriage projects and several upheavals...
to Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, during the negotiations on the treaty of Berwick
Treaty of Berwick (1586)
The Treaty of Berwick was a 'league of amity' or peace agreement made on July 6, 1586 between Queen Elizabeth I of England and King James VI of Scotland....
. He then obtained the lucrative post of customer of Sandwich. This position gave him opportunities for the interception of foreign agents and correspondence, and the government employed him in unravelling the plots of the period. In 1591 he was recommended to be sent to Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
to view and report on the forces there, and after the expedition to Cadiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
(1596) he was appointed a prize commissioner at Plymouth. In 1598 he acted as secretary to Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham
Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham
Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham was an English peer who was implicated in the Main Plot against the rule of James I of England.- Life :...
, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is a ceremonial official in the United Kingdom. The post dates from at least the 12th century but may be older. The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports was originally in charge of the Cinque Ports, a group of five port towns on the southeast coast of England...
, and in the same year (15 June) he obtained, in reversion after Sir Ralph Bourchier, the keepership of Rochester Castle
Rochester Castle
Rochester Castle stands on the east bank of the River Medway in Rochester, Kent, England. The 12th-century keep or stone tower, which is the castle's most prominent feature, is one of the best preserved in England or France. Located along the River Medway and Watling Street, Rochester was a...
. On the death of George Gilpin
George Gilpin
-Life:George Gilpin is sometimes called the Elder, to distinguish him from the eldest son of his elder brother. He was was the second son of Edwin Gilpin of Kentmere, Westmoreland, by Margaret, daughter of Thomas Layton of Dalemain, Cumberland, and elder brother of Bernard Gilpin.In 1553 George...
in 1602 he applied, without success, for the post of councillor to the council of estate in the Low Countries. He devoted the rest of his life to the defence of the staple system. On his resignation in 1623 of the post of bailiff of Sandwich, he was succeeded (10 July) by John Philipot. His will was proved in 1627.
Milles married, about 1614, Anne, daughter of John Polhill of Otford
Otford
Otford is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent known for its classically British countryside. The village is located on the River Darent, flowing north down its valley from its source on the North Downs...
, Kent, and widow of William Nutt of Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
, counsellor-at-law, by whom he had two daughters: Anne, born in 1615; and a daughter born in 1618, who died young. His wife died in 1624 at Davington Hall, and was buried by the side of her younger daughter in St. George's Church, Canterbury, where a monument was erected to her memory. His daughter Anne inherited Norton, purchased by him in the reign of Elizabeth, and Davington, purchased early in the reign of James I, and married in 1627 John Milles, afterwards knighted.
Works on economics
Milles's economical works show the relation of the doctrines of the mercantilist writers to those of the later canonists. An advocate of the staple system on the ground that, while it made possible exchange without usuryUsury
Usury Originally, when the charging of interest was still banned by Christian churches, usury simply meant the charging of interest at any rate . In countries where the charging of interest became acceptable, the term came to be used for interest above the rate allowed by law...
, it was favourable to freedom of enterprise and the development of commerce, he denounced the usurious practices of the new school, and argued that the monopoly of the Merchant Adventurers led to the growth of London at the expense of the outports, deprived merchants of free traffic, and diminished the revenue. Two years' experience as customer of Sandwich convinced him of the desirability of reviving the staple system, and after consultation with Thomas Fanshawe
Thomas Fanshawe
Sir Thomas Fanshawe of Jenkins and Barking Manor was an English politician and government official....
, remembrancer of the exchequer, he prepared a statement of his views, which was brought to the notice of Lord Burghley. Failing in this attempt to influence the government, he published The Custumers Apology: that is to say, A generall Answere to Informers of all Sortes, c. [London, 1601]. Only fifty copies of this work were printed, and they were circulated among the members of the privy council.
To meet the attacks made upon the 'Apology' by John Wheeler
John Wheeler (commerce)
John Wheeler was an English businessman under the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. Between 1601 and 1608 he was secretary of the Merchants Adventurers of England, an international trading company...
, secretary to the Merchant Adventurers' Company, Milles published a reply. With the exception of the epistle dedicatory, the preface, and the conclusion, this work consists of A Treatise of Exchange in Merchandise and Merchandising Exchange, written about the time of the conference at Bruges (1564–65), by a merchant adventurer. Of two other of Milles's books, 'A Caution against Extreamity by Farmers,' c. [1606], and 'The True Vse of Port-Bandes ' [1606], there is apparently no copy in existence. The 'Caution' was directed against the practice of farming out the customs, and Milles was reprimanded by the lords of the Privy Council for it. About 1608 Milles prepared an 'Answere' to the critics of the 'True Use of Port-Bandes,' but its publication was stopped by the Exchequer. Later publications on cognate topics were
- 'The Customers Alphabet and Primer. Conteining theire Creede . . . theire Ten Commandements . . . and Forme of Prayers . . .,' &c. [London], 1608.
- 'Acroamata [for Bullion and Staples]: that is to say, Private Lessons speld out of a Customers late Alphabet and Primer' [London, 1608]. fol.
- 'The Mistery of Iniquity. Discovered in these Acroamaticall Lessons, shewing, by way of Antitheses, the ascention or discention of Summum Bonum and Summa Miseria '[London, 1609], fol. This work came through the king's order by Sir Alexander Hay, on his reading the preface to the 'Acroamata'. In it Christian "exchange" is contrasted with Jewish "usury". ,
- 'An out-Port-Customers Accompt . . . wherein he plainely sets downe, as well the motives and occasions, as the Method and Style of all his former writings,' &c. [London, 1610.]
Other works
Milles also published:- 'Nobilitas 'Politica et Civilis,' &c. (edited from the manuscripts of Robert Glover, with notes and additions by Milles), London, 1608.
- 'The Catalogue of Honor, or Treasury of True Nobility, Peculiar and Proper to the Isle of Great Britaine, c. . . . Translated out of Latyne,' &c., London, 1610. This work was begun by Glover and left with Milles, who was assisted in its preparation by Lord William HowardLord William HowardLord William Howard was an English nobleman and antiquary, sometimes known as "Belted or Bauld Will".-Life:...
, Sir Robert CottonSir Robert CottonSir Robert Cotton may refer to:*Robert Bruce Cotton, 1st Baronet, of Connington, , English antiquary*Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet, of Combermere , MP for Cheshire*Robert Cotton , English politician...
, William CamdenWilliam CamdenWilliam Camden was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and officer of arms. He wrote the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England.- Early years :Camden was born in London...
, Nicholas Charles, and others. - 'The Treasurie of Auncient and Moderne Times. Conteining . . . Collections . . . Readings . . . and . . . Observations . . . translated out of ... P. Mexia, . . . F. Sansovino, . . . A. du Verdier,' &c., London, 1613–19, 2 vols. fol.