Treasurers and Their Main Proposals

Dorset
1. Great Farm
2. Crown sold the right to collect impositions to businessmen in return for annual payments of £112,000
3. Payment steadily increased to £200,000 by 1629 with inflation and rising profits
4. Government was too inefficient to collect, but it was a good idea
Salisbury
1. Great Contract
  1. Book of Rates
  2. Selling crown lands
2. Reduced debt to £500,000 by his death in 1912
3. Tried but failed because James was unwilling to limit his expenditure and was uninterested in reform
4. Was battling against the vested interests of other powerful members of court and parliament
Suffolk
1. Sales of titles
2. Cockayne Project
3. Stagnation; continued corruption and extravagence
4. 1614 parliament called for financial aid but MPs were more interested in discussing impositions
  1. Dissolved and not called again until 1621
5. Useless and removed for corrpution
6. £900,000 debt by 1620
Cranfield
1. Pruning administration
2. Tight budget control
3. Increased revenues from wardships by a quarter
4. Increased customs farm rent
5. Treasury to approve all gifts
6. Tried, but failed
7. Illustrates three key points about reforming finance in James' reign
  1. Progress undermined by the lack of interest from the King
  2. Impeached by parliament and fell from power due to having made many enemies
  3. Those who tried to reform the system were guilty of abusing it
    1. Trial showed he had been corrupt and made a huge fortune by taking a huge cut of the savings he made

Resource summary

	Created by Katie Difford about 11 years ago