Pepys and Chips: Dockyards, Naval Administration and Warfare in the Seventeenth Century (The Naval Dockyards Society Conference, 2010)

The seventeenth century saw the development of the royal dockyards into larger, more sophisticated and permanent entities. New dry docks, storehouses and other facilities were built, shipbuilding took place more often and on a larger scale, and the workforce expanded, transforming the dockyards into the largest industrial enterprise in the country.

Dockyards were centres of political discontent during the civil wars and became targets during the Anglo-Dutch wars, notably in the Medway attack of 1667. Their administration took up a large part of the working life of Samuel Pepys, whose famous diary commenced 350 years ago.

This conference also commemorates the 350th anniversary of the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660. This brought to the throne Charles II and later his brother James, probably the two British monarchs most interested in, and knowledgeable about, naval matters. 

Original papers are invited on any of the themes suggested above.

We do not pay a fee, but you will have free registration and lunch and UK travel expenses paid. Your paper will be published in our Transactions (making your paper available for publication is a condition of acceptance) and you will receive free copies.

Send a synopsis (1 side of A4/300 words) by 31 December 2009 to: Dr Ann Coats, Secretary, Naval Dockyards Society, 44, Lindley Avenue, Southsea, PO4 9NU, England, 023 9286 3799, email ann.coats@port.ac.uk.