Press gangs on the Tyne
Impressment, "the press" or the"press gang", is a type of conscription of people into a military force, especially a naval force, via intimidation and physical coercion. The large size of the British Royal Navy in the Age of Sail meant impressment was most commonly associated with Great Britain and Ireland. It was used by the Royal Navy in wartime, beginning in 1664 and during the 18th and early 19th centuries as a means of crewing warships, although legal sanction for the practice can be traced back to the time of Edward I (1239-1307). The Royal Navy impressed many merchant sailors, as well as some sailors from other nations, mostly European and American. People liable to impressment were "eligible men of seafaring habits between the ages of 15 and 55 years". Non-seamen were sometimes impressed as well, tales abound of men being dragged from their marriage beds
Seamen were not covered by Magna Carta and "failure to allow oneself to be pressed" was punishable by hanging, although the punishment became less severe over time.The Magna Carta of 1215, while a foundational document for liberty, had little direct impact on the practice of press gangs. While the principles of Magna Carta eventually influenced legal protections against arbitrary seizure and imprisonment, the impact on press gangs was limited. The practice started as far back as the 13th Century and was encouraged in Elizabethan times as a way to clear the streets of ever-rising numbers of unemployed.
In 1553 Queen Elizabeth I passed "an Act touching politick considerations for the maintenance of the Navy" which defined more clearly the liability of sailors who may be forced to serve in the Navy and with the introduction of the Vagabonds Act of 1597 men of disrepute (vagrants) found themselves drafted into service. In 1703, an act of Parliament passed limiting the impressment of boys under 18 years to those who were not apprenticed.
The Act of 1705 was part of a larger series of acts that aimed to address the issue of manning the Royal Navy during times of conflict. A further act of Parliament in 1740 raised the maximum age to 55 and no foreigners could be forced into the Navy. However, these restrictions were withdrawn by an act in 1779. From 1740, landsmen were legally exempt from impressment, but this was on occasion ignored in wartime unless the person seized was an apprentice or a "gentleman".
British courts heard cases and considered the legality of impressment at the end of the 18th Century but ruled that it was legal if done in a regulated way, overseen by an officer holding a king’s commission and with a warrant of impressment from the British Admiralty. A warrant of the time read:
“We do hereby impower and direct you to impress, or cause to be impressed, so many seamen, seafaring men and persons whose occupation and calling are to work in vessels and boats upon rivers, as shall be necessary to man His Majesty’s Ships under your command or any other of His Majesty’s Ships, giving unto each man so impressed One Shilling for Prest money.”
(‘Press’ is a corruption of ‘prest’, meaning a loan or advance, when the victim was deemed to have signed a contract by the act of taking the King’s Shilling).
The last law was passed in 1835 reaffirmed the power of the Press but limited the length of service of a pressed man to five years, and added the provision that a man could not be pressed twice.
Press gangs on the Tyne were a real concern, particularly in North Shields, due to its large seafaring population. These groups would forcibly recruit men into the Royal Navy, and Tyneside, with its strong seafaring tradition, was a target for their raids. In Newcastle, Captain Bover, the Regulating Officer of the Port, was the most feared man in town. Only keelmen who did a vital job transporting coal down river were excepted. Captain John Bover R.N. (1714–1782) was the Regulating Captain of the Impress Service on Tyneside for 24 years during three wartime emergencies between 1758–1782 and the press gangs he managed were responsible for the recruitment of thousands of regional seamen. Despite the widespread opposition, litigation and violence impressment provoked, Bover was widely admired in civil society for his efficiency and humanity. He was known for overseeing this barbaric task with tact and discretion, eventually being honoured with a public funeral and interment in St. Nicholas’ Cathedral, Newcastle. Captain Bover is commemorated by a plaque in the Cathedral. The fine words praising him were, however, penned by his son George. By contrast he was a figure of fear in the eyes of regional seamen and his activities denounced for their cruelty and injustice. The song ‘Captain Bover’ can be found in John Stokoe’s book Songs and Ballads of Northern England, Walter Scott Ltd, London and Newcastle upon Tyne, 1893. Stokoe noted ‘’This beautiful fragment was picked up by Mr Thomas Doubleday from a woman singing it in the streets. All attempts to recover more of it have been fruitless’’.
Whaur hae ye been, my canny hinny?
Whaur hae ye been, my winsome man?
Whaur hae ye been, my canny hinny?
Whaur hae ye been, my winsome man?
I’ve been tae the nor’ard, cruisin’ back and for’ard,
I’ve been tae the nor’ard, cruisin’ sair and lang.
I’ve been tae the nor’ard, cruisin’ back and for’ard,
But I daur not gang ashore for fear of Bover and his gang.
Merchant seamen ashore from their ships (and usually conspicuous by their clothing, rolling stride, tattoos and generally weathered appearance) were however another matter. Anyone with seafaring experience encountered in the street would first be asked to volunteer for service. If the potential recruit refused he was often plied with alcohol or simply seized.
The press gang came to Willie,
While he was all alone;
He bravely fought for liberty,
But there was three to one.
The blood it flowed in torrents,
He said "O pray kill me,
I'd rather die for Mary's sake
Than I'd put out to sea."
North and South Shields were regular victims of Press Gang raids, which were once a
common occurrence on the North East coast. Tyneside suffered badly from the Press Gangs
because of its large community of seamen and its reputation for experienced mariners
engaged in the region’s coal and whaling trades.
North Shields was particularly prone to Press Gang raids and in 1796, 250 mechanics and
seamen were pressed into service here during a single raid in which the town was cordoned
off by troops turned out from the barracks at Tynemouth. One of the naval vessels involved
in Press Gang raids such as this was ‘The Peggy’ remembered in the name of Peggy’s Hole
near the North Shields Fish Quay.
The Tyneside folk song ‘Here’s the Tender Coming’ recalls the inherent fear of press gang raids:
Here’s the Tender comin’,
Pressing all the men;
Oh dear hinny, what shall we dee then:
Here’s the tender comin’,
Off at Shields Bar
Here’s the tender comin’,
Full of men o’ war.
They will ship yer foreign,
that is what it means
Here’s the tender comin’,
full of Red Marines.
So hide me canny Geordie,
hide yorsel’ away,
Wait until the frigate makes for Druridge Bay,
If they tyek yer Geordie,
whe’s te’ win wor breed ?
Me and little Jacky
would better off be deed.
Families used their local knowledge and resourcefulness to hide men from the press gangs, such as hiding them in peat stacks or using pre-arranged signs to alert them to the presence of a press gang. Men pursued by the press gang employed cunning and skill to evade capture, sometimes feigning injury to avoid being taken. Local communities often rallied to protect their men, sometimes resorting to violence to resist the press gang. In one instance, sailors in Shields, armed with weapons, attempted to seize a tender to rescue pressed men, though they were ultimately unsuccessful. Another incident involved sailors beating up a press gang officer.
Accounts in the ‘Newcastle Courant from 1793 give a vivid picture of such incidents:"Monday the sailors at Shields, to the amount of 500, assembled in a riotous manner, armed with swords, pistols, and other weapons, and made an attempt to seize the Eleanor tender, in order to rescue the pressed men on board which was resisted successfully by the efforts of the officers at this port. The seamen, next day, tried to come to Newcastle, but hearing that a strong military force was ready to resist them, they wisely abandoned their rash determination and went home, after having beaten up George Forster, one of the press-gang, with the utmost cruelty, at Howden pans."
"On Tuesday last, the sailors of this port chased the press -gang from North Shields, with the highest marks of contempt; - with their jackets reversed. They were escorted by a numerous mob to Chirton-Bar, and who, on parting, gave them three cheers, but vowing that, should they ever attempt to enter Shields, they should be torn limb from limb. The next day their favourite, Captain Rothe, met and addressed them, and from his assurance and the manner in which it was received, we have great reason to hope that all disquietude with the gallant tars will be removed."
Midshipman George Vernon Jackson (aged 16, who was in charge of the press gang) said: "I think we captured 70 fine young fellows. When the ship was on the point of leaving, it was a sad sight; for boat-loads of women – wives, mothers, sisters, came alongside to say goodbye to their captured relatives. I have often felt ashamed."
O the lousy cutter they’ve ta’en my laddie frae me They pressed him far away foreign wi’ Nelson ayont the salt sea They always come in the night they never come in the day They always come in the night and steal the laddies away
The Northumbrian Minstrelsy - Bruce & Stokoe(1882)
In April 1755 a group of keelmen took a pleasure trip up river to Blaydon. Having spent some
time in the Winlaton hostelries they decided on a way to earn themselves some money. They
would impersonate the Press Gang and capture a few likely looking lads – not for the navy
but to hold to ransom for money!
Having detained a few people they then proceeded to ask for ransom money which alerted
the locals to ask for their authority, but the keelmen had overlooked the fact that the men of
Winlaton, all being blacksmiths, were strong and not afraid of a fight. The keelmen were
soon overpowered and taken as prisoners to Newcastle where they were handed over and
kept overnight at Newcastle Keep. The next day they were all sent aboard the ‘Peggy’ a
Sloop-of-War and thus found that they had involuntarily joined the King’s Navy themselves,
leaving the Winlaton blacksmiths to enjoy a pint at home while they relayed the tale.
The “recruiters” preyed to a great extent upon men from the lower classes who were, more often than not, vagabonds or even prisoners. Sources of supply were waterfront boarding houses, brothels, and taverns whose owners victimized their own clientele. In the early 19th century the Royal Navy would halt U.S. vessels to search for British deserters and in the process would not infrequently impress naturalized American citizens who were on board. This practice was among the grievances that helped bring about the War of 1812. About 10,000 Americans found themselves impressed into service during the Napoleonic Wars. An American song from the time to the tune ‘Yankee Doodle’ was:
To Press our Men they claim the right
But blast their Imposition
We'll let the rascals know, we'll fight
In Preference to submission
A statue to commemorate the memory of Dolly Peel (1783-1857) overlooks the River Tyne.
She was known as a fish wife, but was also a smuggler, poet and storyteller and served in
the Napoleonic wars. She lived in Shadwell Street in South Shields and on numerous
occasions hid her husband from press gangs (often under her skirts). Dolly Peel, who’s
name at birth was Dorothy Appleby, was born on the riverside of South Shields.
In 1803, Dolly met a man named Cuthbert Peel and got married. Cuthbert was a fisherman
and as a fishwife she supported her husband’s career by selling his fish. This of course was
not a lucrative way to live so soon Dolly was soon forced to turn to “other” means to survive -
that is the bustling smuggling industry! Dolly soon began obtaining and illicitly selling a whole
range of smuggled goods, including brandy, cigars, tobacco and lace.She was known to
trade from Cullercoats to Marsden Grotto and beyond.
As a woman, she was not to be underestimated, known for her strong stature and being
fearless. Later, however, her husband advanced his career and joined the Merchant Navy.
The turn of the 19th century saw a new crisis emerge which required sailors to be recruited
into the Royal Navy, that is the Napoleonic Wars. Cuthbert was consequentially conscripted
to serve on the HMS Amelia. Worse still, their son was also recruited. Fearing for her
husband and son, and not wanting to be apart from them, Dolly decided to “smuggle herself”
upon the HMS Amelia. However, on being discovered by the crew, she was assigned to work
as a nurse for injured sailors, a job she embraced and she was given a legitimate right to
stay and pardoned for “naval interference.” Peel’s unexpected and extraordinary service in
the Navy gave her legendary status.
In her later years, Dolly continued to live with her husband on the banks of the River Tyne on
Lookham Stairs, where she died aged 76 in 1857. Her legacy in the town has continued to
live on, with a statue being created to honor her in 1987, as well as a pub in her own name,
The Dolly Peel.
In the 1700s there were no less than seven major wars the Navy had to mobilize for,
culminating in Great Britain’s climactic showdown with Napoleon’s naval forces at the Battle
of Trafalgar in 1805, when the Royal Navy had about 115,000 personnel. The solution was
impressment and It only ended after Napoleon’s fall in 1815 when as much as 75% of the
Navy were impressed men.
Of course many of these never saw their wives and families again.
Have you seen ought of my bonny lad?
Are you sure he’s well-o?
He’s gone o’er lang wi’ a stick in his hand,
He’s gone to row the keel-o.
Yes I hae seen your bonny lad,
’Twas on the sea I spied him.
His grave is green but not wi’ grass
And you’ll never lie beside him.
A very rare song, collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1904 was ‘All things are quite silent’. The haunting first verse tells how the press-gang breaks in on a scene of idyllic peace and tranquillity and unceremoniously snatches a man from his marriage bed.
All things are quite silent, each mortal at rest,
As me and my true love was snug in one nest.
A bold set of ruffians they entered into our cave,
And forced my dear jewel to plough the salt wave.
I begged for my sailor as I’d begged for my life.
But they’d not listen to me although a fond wife,
Saying, “The king must have sailors, to the seas he must go.”
And they left me lamenting in sorrow and woe.
Through green fields and meadows we oft times did walk,
And with sweet conversations of love we did talk,
While the birds in the woodland so sweetly did sing,
And the young thrushes’ voices made the valleys to ring.
Though my love has left me I’ll not be cast down.
Who knows but some day my love might return?
And will make me amends for my sorrow and strife,
And me and my true love will be happy for life.
Although Britain abandoned the practice of impressment in 1815, press gangs remained legal until the early 1900s and the various laws authorising impressment of men into the Navy have never been repealed.
Jim Mageean, Cullercoats UK, 2025