Press Gangs: Royal Navy Press Gangs and the Law

This is the extraordinary story of Royal Navy Press Gangs, Impressment. Men were violently taken from pubs to serve at sea, they were 'Shanghaied'. Some were paid in advance, the King's Shilling, but Pressing was presumed by many to be unlawful, and definitely very unpopular. So this book searches for the legal authority if any. Impressment wasn't just for sailors - tradesmen and even children were pressed into the King's service, building castles for example. Impressment evolved into National Service during World War 1 and World War 2. Even more recently, ships and their crew were 'taken up' to assist in the 1982 Falklands campaign. The 'Sea Fencibles', a coastal defence force, is also mentioned since this provided an opportunity to avoid impressment into the navy proper. Impressment was so unpopular that America declared war on the English, the War of 1812.

The picture featured on the book's back cover, drawn by Charlotte Claxton-Sasse, is of a young boy, Thomas Clifton who was abducted on his way to school in 1600. Queen Elizabeth I demanded that he join the choir of the Chapel Royal and further more he was threatened with a beating if he did not learn his lines. So children were impressed, but no evidence of the impressment of women until today - in the form of Mandatory Work Activity required of the long term unemployed.

Publisher: London Press

Published: United States, 1 September 2014

Format: Paperback, 308 pages

Age Range: 0+

Other Information: Illustrated

Dimensions: 21 x 14.8 x 1.7 centimeters (0.37 kg)

Writer: Williams, Michael W.