Transcribed from the [1899] edition , email

Lowestoft In Olden Times.

p.iPREFACE.

The following pages containlectures read before the members of St. Margaret’sInstitute, at Lowestoft, with additions introduced to render thestory somewhat more complete.

Lowestoft of the present day, with its harbour, itsmagnificent fishing fleet, and its fine marine terraces, is theproduct of the nineteenth century.  But the Present islinked with the Past by the retention of the old Town on theCliff as the nucleus of the greatly enlarged modern town.

The rise of Lowestoft was so much connected with the fortunesof Yarmouth that it would be impossible to tell the story of oldLowestoft without introducing a good deal that belongs to thehistory of old Yarmouth.  Indeed, were it not for therecords which have been preserved of the contests between the twotowns about the Herring Trade, the materials for a history ofLowestoft would be almost nil.  The history of Yarmouth isonly introduced into this sketch so far as it is incidental tothat of Lowestoft.  But I feel that apologies are due to thelarger and more ancient town for the partial manner in which itshistory is dealt with.

The materials from which these lectures have been compiled arefurnished by Domesday Book, the Lay Subsidy Rolls, the ParishRegister, and the ancient documents contained in Swinden’sHistory of Yarmouth, and Gillingwater’s History ofLowestoft.  Other historical details of interest have beentaken from those valuable old works, and from Nall’sHistory of Yarmouth and Suckling’s History of Suffolk.

p.iiCONTENTS.