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A WELSH SALT-MAKING VENTURE OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY Few are the people of Britain who would feel grateful for a legacy which con- sisted only of small periodic portions of salt, yet such bequests were made and greatly appreciated in the time of Queen Elizabeth I. Our ancestors lived on salted provisions for five or six months of every year, and home-produced salt was far from sufficient to supply their needs.1 In the sixteenth century, England and Wales were largely dependent on France for their supply of this commodity, and as these countries were almost continually at war from 1542 to 1564, this country had considerable difficulty in obtaining sufficient salt. During this period, the price of bay and white salt rose from 5d. and 8d. a bushel respectively, to is. and is. 6d., an increase which can only partly be explained by Henry VIII's debase- ment of the coinage.2 Also, trade with France was condemned as being 'hurtful to the realm', 'itenricheth France whose power England ought not [to] increase'.3 Some consideration was thus given to the possibility of increasing home production and, probably acting on Mr. Secretary Cecil's advice, one of the first patents granted by Queen Elizabeth was to a German, Casper Seelar, to make salt in 1564. According to his patent, Seelar was to be allowed to set up works wherever he wished, subject to the Queen's permission. For this privilege the Sovereign claimed a tenth of the salt produced and, by right of pre-emption, the sole right to sell the remainder throughout her domains at a substantial profit. Seelar may have refused these terms and offered either the tenth or the monopoly of sale, for it was the latter that was adopted, Seelar engaging to sell the finished product at 7d. a bushel to Her Majesty who planned to sell it at is. 6d. The Queen also reserved the right to take over the industry at any time during the twenty-year life of the licence for a payment to the licensee of £ 25,000. For this enterprise, Seelar had the support of Francis Bartie, a financier of Antwerp, and a Florentian saltmaker, Thomas Baroncelli. Within a year, salt pans were shipped to England but for some unknown reason, and before a start had been made, the patent rights were transferred to Bartie. The large gains promised by this new venture attracted the attention of some of the leading courtiers and towards the end of 1565, they succeeded in capturing the patent from Bartie. The following year an Act of Parliament confirmed the transfer of the licence to the Earls of Leicester and Pembroke, Lord Cobham, Cecil, Knollis, and others, and they became known as the 'Lords of the Salt Privilege'. They were assisted by two well-known London financiers, William Wightman and, more important, Peter Osborne, former Keeper of the Privy Purse, an authority on commercial matters and Deputy Governor of the Corporation of Mineral and Battery Works.4 1 Darby ed. Historical Geography of England to 1800, p. 225. 2 Unless stated otherwise, this introductory section is based on E. Hughes: Studies in Administration and Finance, pp. 31-36 and The English Monopoly of Salt 1563-1571, E. H. R., XL, pp. 334-350. 3 Lipson, E.: Economic History of England, Vol. III, p. 99. 4 D.N.B., Vol. XLII, p. 292.