British communities ashore and Dutch service afloat
IN THEE STAITS SERVIS
137
cal for the later Interregnum regimes: after a year as a private shipbuilder, the dis
contented Raven emigrated to Holland in 1662, advising on the massive Dutch
warship construction programme. He later had doubts, and in 1665 very naively
asked to return to Britain if he could be allowed liberty of conscience. At sea with
the Dutch fleet in 1666 - with De Ruyter aboard De Zeven Provinciën off the Kent
coast that summer - he urged attacks on Chatham and Harwich, but was mortal
ly wounded in action and died as he was carried ashore.96
Even without biographical evidence of ideological commitment, the actions of
some British seamen in Dutch service clearly demonstrate their devotion to the
Dutch cause. In a hopeless position at the battle of Solebay in May 1672, Sir John
Chicheley's flagship Royal Katherine (84) had surrendered after being cut off from
the rest of the Allied (British and French) fleet and surrounded by Dutch fireships.
She was boarded by the Dutch and taken, the British officers and some of the men
were taken off; the rest of the crew were shut up below decks. She remained in
Dutch possession for some hours. The British prisoners later burst up through the
hatches and retook her. According to a colourful account given by the Governor
of Sheerness, a Scots prisoner taken had been more than willing to give his life
spectacularly: soon after the British regained control of the ship a Scots member
of the Dutch prize crew was taken prisoner in the magazine - he had tried to blow
up Royal Katherine single-handed and was caught 'match in his hand'.97
Unfortunately we do not yet know his name or fate.
British emigrant communities in the Republic were long-established - facilitated
by geographical proximity and sea communications, stimulated by the opportuni
ties for trade at the world economic core, the settling of English and Scots troops
in Dutch service during the Revolt against Spain, and those seeking the advantages
of Dutch religious tolerance. English churches could be found at The Hague,
Amsterdam, Middelburg - long the seat of the Merchant Adventurers - and
Flushing. Scots kirks were established at Rotterdam and the Scottish staple port of
Veere. In the case of the Rotterdam Scots, D. Catterall has already conclusively
demonstrated the assimilation of these British communities into Dutch society
whilst simultaneously retaining their own identity. Catterall details numerous
examples of these Scots serving across the Dutch maritime sector. Catterall has
also shown that the levels of poor relief administered by the Rotterdam city coun
cil to the families of Scots seamen were dependent on whether they had served in
the fleet at that time.98 This extra 'incentive' was firmly backed by the specific tar
geting of the English and Scottish quarters in Rotterdam by Dutch naval
recruiters.99 The Dutch were certainly eager to 'obtain assistance' from all the
English and Scots communities in the Republic, this was noted by Downing from
The Hague from the early stages of the second war in the winter of 1664/5.100 The
English community at Flushing appeared totally committed to the Dutch cause:
the congregation of the English Church intensively prayed, fasted, and sang
psalms for Dutch victory (usually in company with the Dutch congregations)
throughout all three of the Anglo-Dutch wars.101 Admittedly, the Flushing English
