At a meeting of the Corporation held in 1618 the Mayor and Mr. Liffe were nominated to travel with Mr. Nicholas Eversfield to the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports to procure his aid towards obtaining fresh letters patent for re-building the Pier (or arm of the Haven or Harbour) which had fallen into a state of decay. (How history repeats itself !) An attempt was made in 1635 under the advice of an eminent Dutch engineer (apparently there was no Englishmen equal to the task) to make a fresh haven (or harbour) at the Priory Stream (just east of the present Queen's Hotel). His estimate including the cost of the pier was £220,000 (there seems to be something not quite unfamiliar with those figures), and needless to say the project fell through.
In 1615 a return was made to the Lord Warden of the "musters" in the town, which consisted of a trained band and general band with officers ; conceivably the forerunner of the Hastings Branch of the V.T.C. In this return we find the names of Melchior Rainolds (town) clerk and Thomas Rainolds (town) clerk. (The office was apparently then held jointly). Also the following (modern, spelling is given in several instances) : (John) Ball, Barham, Burt, Coussens, Dighton (so spelt in the original), Dyer, Gallop, Grover, Hayles, Mannington, (John) Meadows, Mills, Mitchell, Pelham, Randall, Shoesmith, Stace, Venables, Winter, (Thomas) Wood, and Young. There were two men named Thomas Wood, one a brewer and one a sailor. Part of the establishment consisted of 5 teams, one of which was furnished by Edward Sheather.
As a matter of finance it is recorded that in 1685 the Corporation decided in view of the debts of the town and of the heavy expenses to be incurred in attending the forthcoming Coronation to borrow £40 on the Town's Bond for 12 months with interest at 6 per cent. (Perhaps some reader may be able to say what that sum would represent in the present day). It is not recorded that the Finance Committee prepared an estimate of the expenditure, or that any economist either protested or moved an amendment. For some of the foregoing information I am indebted to the valuable paper (a print of which is in the Reference Library) contributed by the late William Durrant Cooper and Thomas Ross to the Sussex Archaeological Collection (Vol. XIV.) on "Hastings and its Municipal Institutions." When I first began to assist my father in the work of the Town Clerk's department in 1874, Mr. Ross was an Alderman (having previously served as Mayor on 5 occasions), and was actively engaged in securing what has proved to be such a boon for the town -- the Alexandra Park.
There is a note to the paper before referred to (evidently made by Mr. Ross), which was published in 1862, to the effect that the ancient method of convening an assembly of the inhabitants was by horn, and that it was put into use a few years previously when -
