Tower Division
The Tower Division was a liberty in the ancient county of Middlesex, England. It was also known as the Tower Hamlets, and took its name from the military obligations owed to the Constable of the Tower of London. The term 'Hamlets' probably referred to territorial sub-divisions of the parish of Stepney – and its daughter parishes – rather than to the usual meaning of a small village.
In contemporary terms, the Liberty covered inner East London, the area now administered by the eponymous modern London Borough of Tower Hamlets together with most of the modern London Borough of Hackney. The Liberty was seen as synonymous with East London until East London extended further, east of the Lea and into Essex.
The Tower Division was formed sometime in the 17th century but the much older administrative units comprising the area were united in shared military obligations long before this time. The Liberty had judicial and some local government responsibilities, and its military function was unique.
County within a county
The growth of population around the City of London led to the Ossulstone Hundred being divided into four divisions, with each division taking on the role of the hundred. The other three divisions of the hundred were named Finsbury, Holborn and Kensington.The Tower Division was different from the other divisions in that, as well as taking on hundred responsibilities, it also took on the responsibilities – judicial, civil and military – normally exercised at county level, making the Tower Hamlets a "county within a county", comparable to the Ridings of Yorkshire.
The area had its own justices of the peace, appointed by the Constable of the Tower, who administered both judicial and civil functions, mainly through their quarter sessions. The usual civic functions of JPs in England included:
- Repair of roads and bridges
- Highway diversions
- Construction and maintenance of county buildings
- Administration of county prisons.
- Supervision of public and private lunatic asylums
- Supervision of petty sessions
- Licensing of public houses
- Supervision of the English Poor Laws
- Some responsibilities around the militia
- The police
- Setting county rates
Unlike the other divisions, the Tower Division was outside the jurisdiction of the Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex, with the Constable of the Tower exercising lieutenancy powers, usually with the ex-officio title of Lord Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets. This began when the right of the Constable to exact guard duty was extended in 1605 to the raising of a militia, the Tower Hamlets Militia. Counties were the principal way in which military forces were raised and the creation of the liberty and exemption from county based obligations saw East London made a distinct military unit.
The Metropolitan Board of Works was established in 1855 in order to lead on the provision of infrastructure in the capital, and this is likely to have led to a reduced responsibilities for the Tower Hamlets JPs. The area's special status ceased in 1889 with the creation of the County of London, and the creation of a Lord Lieutenant for the new county. The Tower division appears to have persisted as a magistracy area well into the 20th century.
Military function
The Tower of London was normally garrisoned by a small force of Yeoman Warders, but these were supplemented by sometimes large numbers of local Hamlets men, known as Hamleteers. The area also provided the Tower Hamlets Militia, which could be deployed in the field in the event of invasion or rebellion.There was no peacetime standing army in England until the interregnum, and when regular units were formed they were typically raised from wider geographical districts than the Tower Hamlets; however, the area has provided some examples of regular forces.
Origins
The earliest surviving reference to the inhabitants of the Tower Hamlets having a duty to provide a guard for the Tower of London dates from 1554, during the reign of Mary I. Sir Richard Southwell and Sir Arthur Darcye were ordered by the Privy Council in that year to muster the men of the Hamlets "whiche owe their service to the Towre, and to give commaundement that they may be in aredynes for the defence of the same. This was long before the creation of the Liberty, and as the Hamlets are described as "owing" service there must have been a customary duty long before that date.Some believe the relationship goes back to the time of the Conqueror, but others suggest it came later in the medieval period when the Hamlets had a higher population. It is thought that duty had its origin in the rights and obligations of the Manor of Stepney which once covered most or all of the Hamlets area, with the Constable of the Tower also having responsibility for the upkeep of the local part of the Thames and Lea.
Tower Hamlets units are recorded as being present at the Tilbury muster in August 1588, when Elizabeth I reviewed the English troops available to face the expected Spanish invasion. It was there that the Queen delivered her famous Tilbury address.
Size of garrison contribution
The size of the Hamleteer contribution to the Tower's garrison seems to have varied greatly. Records from 1610 show a modest 9 men per night on duty, but in 1641, a tight of great tension, 552 Hamleteers were recorded as guarding the Tower on a nine-night rota. The size of the contribution varied according to which area's men were on duty: on one evening Whitechapel provided 45 men, while on another Hackney, Bow, Bromley-by-Bow and Old Ford together provided 85.English Civil War
Build-up to war
In the lead-up to the war, London and the eastern counties were broadly in sympathy with Parliament and against the King, with the Tower Hamlets being notably ardent in its parliamentary sympathies. This wasn't always a militant radicalism though, as evidenced when the war-weary poor of Stepney, seeking compromise with the King, partially demolished a parliamentarian strongpoint in the Lines of Communication, a ring of parliamentary fortifications around London. Despite this the support for Parliament remained generally robust throughout the coming war.The strategic importance of the Tower, together with its money and munitions meant Charles I was careful to install a Constable of the Tower, John Byron, who was loyal to him. In late December 1641 and early January 1642 Byron brought in stores of artillery and other armaments, parliament responded by putting a guard, a limited siege, using the City of London Trained Bands under the popular Philip Skippon from 12 January.
Around 20 January, the Constable answered a summons and appeared before a House of Lords committee in Westminster to answer for his build-up of armaments. That night, with the Constable away, Skippon led a force of 500 men of the London Trained Bands under the cover of darkness, to the narrow streets of St Katharines district, by the riverside, just east of the Tower. Skippon and his men approached the Iron Gate, a small now lost feature, outside the moat which protected a postern which opened out from the Develin Tower. The Tower was protected by a force of Hamleteers, but Skippon knew the areas political loyalties were with Parliament. Skippon believed he could seize the fortress in a coup de main by persuading the Hamleteers to let his force into the Tower, hold it and thereby transform the strategic and political situation in the capital.
Skippon called on the Sergeant on the Iron Gate to let his men through so that the Tower would fall into Parliament's hands. The Serjeant would not let them in, and the force waited for some time in the hope that he could be talked round. The Sergeant refused a second attempt to persuade him and Skippon's force dispersed when the Constable returned from parliament just before 10pm. It seemed that the historic local bonds proved more powerful than the highly charged political affiliations of the day. Under normal circumstances Skippon would have been put on trial and executed for his actions, but Parliament swiftly exonerated him.
Before the outbreak of the first English Civil War, parliament had managed to use political pressure to get the King to install a Constable, Sir John Conyers, sympathetic to their cause. Knowing his position in London was weak, the King fled the capital before war broke out in the summer. The Tower proved an extremely valuable asset to Parliament throughout the war.
Hostilities
In the early years of the English Civil War both Parliament and the King relied on local Militias such as that of the Tower Hamlets. Generally speaking these forces were county based and very reluctant to leave their home areas. A notable few organised "Trained Bands" of more highly motivated and reliable men willing to spend more time training – Tower Hamlets had a large Trained Band ready to serve outside the Liberty and this would later be organised into two regiments.By early 1643, the Tower Hamlets forces, together with those of Westminster and Southwark joined those of the City under the command of Sir Philip Skippon, who had previously tried to get the Tower Hamlets troops to betray the Tower to him before the start of the war. By 1644 The regiment of the Tower Hamlets is estimated to have 2-3000 men, while the strength of the reserve Yellow regiment of the Auxiliaries of the Tower Hamlets is not known.
Under Skippon's leadership, the Tower Hamlets Trained Bands saw action at Basing House, Cropredy Bridge, Newbridge and on their own territory, when the Yellow regiment fought at Bow Bridge in 1648.
Regimental Flag designs varied but some versions featured the Tower of London's White Tower with the Traitors' Gate watergate in the foreground. The troops wore buff sleeveless jackets to mark them out as a Trained Band, soldiers with higher status and value than ordinary Militia.