Mathew Baker
Encyclopedia
Mathew Baker was one of the most renowned Tudor
shipwrights, and the first to put the practice of shipbuilding
down on paper.
The first list of 'Master Shipwrights' appointed 'by Patent' by Henry VIII of England
included 'John Smyth, Robert Holborn
, Richard Bull and James Baker,' in 1537. James Baker was responsible for many of the designs and the construction of King Henry's fleet. James designed the means of mounting cannon in a ship's lower levels, rather than on the top deck, an idea credited to King Henry.
Having been apprenticed to his father James, and having grown up in the surroundings of the dockyard, Mathew was appointed 'Master Shipwright' in 1572. As John Hawkins
's reformed naval administration began to bring discipline to the craft of shipbuilding, Mathew Baker became perhaps the greatest architect of Tudor times, known to have built, among other ships, the Dreadnought
, the Vanguard
, the Merhonour and the Repulse
.
, Mathew Baker competed to become the chief engineer of Elizabeth I
's navy. His success was achieved when he became the first known shipwright to develop the practice of 'laying down the lines' for a ship, not, as was traditional, at the site of construction, but on paper. Thus, scale models were no longer the only means of understanding the secret lore of the shipwright and it became possible to discuss and modify the plans with the patron.
Few shipbuilding treatises survive from the fifteenth century, and all these are Italian. Mathew Baker authored the earliest detailed English treatise on ship design.
Peter Pett I and Mathew Baker were both at Deptford
when a new design of oceanic type of warship was launched in 1575. Revenge
represented a departure from anything designed before. This was the origin of the 'Sailing Ship of the Line', the design that heralded the future British mastery of the seas. Revenge, while not a giant at 500 tons, was fast and dangerous. Heavily armed, its chief advantage was that it could remain at sea for long periods and was easily manoeuvrable against an aggressor.
, and his son, Peter, both endured the ill will of those in the boat building fraternity who, spurred by jealousy, wished to see the Pett shipwright dynasty fall. Mathew Baker and Phineas Pett quarreled and, according to Pett, over the next ten to twelve years, Baker lost no opportunity of 'doing him a bad turn'. This seems to be borne out by Baker's own comments.
Phineas Pett, a free radical among the established Master Shipwrights, took the bold initiative of sweeping aside Mathew Baker's grand principles of 'Shipwrightry'. The other shipwrights saw him as a dangerous upstart and made unsuccessful several attempts to thwart his advancement. However, Phineas Pett eventually became the subject of an enquiry in 1621 so serious that King James
was forced to intervene. Stern criticism had been leveled against Pett by members of the Navy Commission, led by Burrell. At the behest of Mathew Baker, a party of 'diverse Master Shipwrights' of the Thames complained that Pett, amongst other outrages, was found employing the practice of 'furring
' to broaden the width of the Prince Royal. They alleged he had misjudged the calculated width under Baker's system. He had, in fact, introduced modifications into the methods of Baker and the older shipwrights, such as his adjustments of the width of the floor and the shape of the bows.
Perrin, in his introduction to Pett's autobiography, explains that "this indictment cannot be lightly set aside. Mathew Baker was the most prominent shipbuilder of that day, Bright and Richard Meryett (or Meritt) were Government Shipbuilders of long experience, while Nicholas Clay, John Greaves and Edward Stevens were private builders of considerable standing in their profession." These men sided with Baker on who was competent to undertake the refit of the Prince Royal built under Pett. Pett's own reference to this matter in his autobiography is "touching the cross-grained timber, his Majesty protested very earnestly the cross grain was in the men and not in the timber!".
Thus, having "maliciously certified the ship unserviceable and not fit to be continued [by] the 24th of February succeeding, by special command from His Majesty, who well understood their malicious proceedings, the selfsame surveyors were again sent to Chatham and under their hands certified that the ship might be made serviceable for a voyage into Spain with the charge of £300/~ to be bestowed upon her hull and the perfecting her masts, which certificate was returned under their hands and delivered to His Majesty." The Prince Royal was brought to the docks at Chatham on March 8, 1623 and re-launched a fortnight later.
Tudor dynasty
The Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor was a European royal house of Welsh origin that ruled the Kingdom of England and its realms, including the Lordship of Ireland, later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1485 until 1603. Its first monarch was Henry Tudor, a descendant through his mother of a legitimised...
shipwrights, and the first to put the practice of shipbuilding
Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
down on paper.
The first list of 'Master Shipwrights' appointed 'by Patent' by Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
included 'John Smyth, Robert Holborn
Robert Holborn
The family of Robert Holborne of Harwich have, with a few exceptions, been involved in shipbulding for centuries, continuing up until the 1930s. The earliest chronological reference found for any shipwright bearing the name ‘Holbrn’ is that of Robert Holborn who was granted Letters Patent in 1543,...
, Richard Bull and James Baker,' in 1537. James Baker was responsible for many of the designs and the construction of King Henry's fleet. James designed the means of mounting cannon in a ship's lower levels, rather than on the top deck, an idea credited to King Henry.
Having been apprenticed to his father James, and having grown up in the surroundings of the dockyard, Mathew was appointed 'Master Shipwright' in 1572. As John Hawkins
John Hawkins
Admiral Sir John Hawkins was an English shipbuilder, naval administrator and commander, merchant, navigator, and slave trader. As treasurer and controller of the Royal Navy, he rebuilt older ships and helped design the faster ships that withstood the Spanish Armada in 1588...
's reformed naval administration began to bring discipline to the craft of shipbuilding, Mathew Baker became perhaps the greatest architect of Tudor times, known to have built, among other ships, the Dreadnought
HMS Dreadnought (1573)
DreadnoughtThe 'HMS' prefix was not used until the middle of the 18th century, but is sometimes applied retrospectively was a 41-gun galleon of the English Navy Royal, built by Mathew Baker and launched in 1573. Like HMS Dreadnought of 1906, she was a radical innovation over contemporary ships...
, the Vanguard
HMS Vanguard (1586)
VanguardThe 'HMS' prefix was not used until the middle of the 18th century, but is sometimes applied retrospectively was a 32-gun galleon of the English Royal Navy, launched in 1586 from Woolwich, and was the first ship of the navy to bear the name....
, the Merhonour and the Repulse
HMS Repulse (1596)
Repulse,The 'HMS' prefix was not used until the middle of the 18th century, but is sometimes applied retrospectively sometimes written as Due Repulse, was a 40/48-gun ship of the English Navy Royal, launched in 1596....
.
Advances in ship design
Known to dislike his rival Phineas PettPhineas Pett
Phineas Pett was a shipwright and a member of the Pett dynasty.-Family background:Born at "Deptford Strond", he was the second son of Peter Pett of Deptford, his elder brother being named Joseph....
, Mathew Baker competed to become the chief engineer of Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
's navy. His success was achieved when he became the first known shipwright to develop the practice of 'laying down the lines' for a ship, not, as was traditional, at the site of construction, but on paper. Thus, scale models were no longer the only means of understanding the secret lore of the shipwright and it became possible to discuss and modify the plans with the patron.
Few shipbuilding treatises survive from the fifteenth century, and all these are Italian. Mathew Baker authored the earliest detailed English treatise on ship design.
Peter Pett I and Mathew Baker were both at Deptford
Deptford
Deptford is a district of south London, England, located on the south bank of the River Thames. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne, and from the mid 16th century to the late 19th was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Navy Dockyards.Deptford and the docks are...
when a new design of oceanic type of warship was launched in 1575. Revenge
HMS Revenge (1577)
Revenge was an English race-built galleon of 46 guns, built in 1577 and captured by the Spanish in 1591, sinking soon afterwards. She was the first of thirteen English and Royal Navy ships to bear the name.Since she was built and served prior to the English Restoration of 1660, she did not carry...
represented a departure from anything designed before. This was the origin of the 'Sailing Ship of the Line', the design that heralded the future British mastery of the seas. Revenge, while not a giant at 500 tons, was fast and dangerous. Heavily armed, its chief advantage was that it could remain at sea for long periods and was easily manoeuvrable against an aggressor.
Rivalry with the Pett dynasty
There is reason to believe that Mathew Baker may have been raised in the household of Peter Pett, who was associated from 1570 with the shipworks at Dover. The son of Peter Pett, PhineasPhineas Pett
Phineas Pett was a shipwright and a member of the Pett dynasty.-Family background:Born at "Deptford Strond", he was the second son of Peter Pett of Deptford, his elder brother being named Joseph....
, and his son, Peter, both endured the ill will of those in the boat building fraternity who, spurred by jealousy, wished to see the Pett shipwright dynasty fall. Mathew Baker and Phineas Pett quarreled and, according to Pett, over the next ten to twelve years, Baker lost no opportunity of 'doing him a bad turn'. This seems to be borne out by Baker's own comments.
Phineas Pett, a free radical among the established Master Shipwrights, took the bold initiative of sweeping aside Mathew Baker's grand principles of 'Shipwrightry'. The other shipwrights saw him as a dangerous upstart and made unsuccessful several attempts to thwart his advancement. However, Phineas Pett eventually became the subject of an enquiry in 1621 so serious that King James
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
was forced to intervene. Stern criticism had been leveled against Pett by members of the Navy Commission, led by Burrell. At the behest of Mathew Baker, a party of 'diverse Master Shipwrights' of the Thames complained that Pett, amongst other outrages, was found employing the practice of 'furring
Furring
In light-frame construction, furring strips are long thin strips of wood or metal used to make backing surfaces to support the finished surfaces in a room. Furring refers to the backing surface, the process of installing it, and may also refer to the strips themselves. "Firring" is a U.K...
' to broaden the width of the Prince Royal. They alleged he had misjudged the calculated width under Baker's system. He had, in fact, introduced modifications into the methods of Baker and the older shipwrights, such as his adjustments of the width of the floor and the shape of the bows.
Perrin, in his introduction to Pett's autobiography, explains that "this indictment cannot be lightly set aside. Mathew Baker was the most prominent shipbuilder of that day, Bright and Richard Meryett (or Meritt) were Government Shipbuilders of long experience, while Nicholas Clay, John Greaves and Edward Stevens were private builders of considerable standing in their profession." These men sided with Baker on who was competent to undertake the refit of the Prince Royal built under Pett. Pett's own reference to this matter in his autobiography is "touching the cross-grained timber, his Majesty protested very earnestly the cross grain was in the men and not in the timber!".
Thus, having "maliciously certified the ship unserviceable and not fit to be continued [by] the 24th of February succeeding, by special command from His Majesty, who well understood their malicious proceedings, the selfsame surveyors were again sent to Chatham and under their hands certified that the ship might be made serviceable for a voyage into Spain with the charge of £300/~ to be bestowed upon her hull and the perfecting her masts, which certificate was returned under their hands and delivered to His Majesty." The Prince Royal was brought to the docks at Chatham on March 8, 1623 and re-launched a fortnight later.