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The composition of the freeman body, Colchester's governing class, became a matter of increasing concern to the borough officers in the 16th and 17th centuries. The medieval practice whereby all men born in the borough were entitled to enter the freedom without fee survived until c. 1550 when that right was apparently restricted to the sons of freemen. (fn. 46)

In 1565 all those claiming the freedom by birth were ordered to be sworn in the borough court at the age of 20, paying no more than 2d. to the clerk and 4d. to the serjeants. Non-resident freemen were ordered to come to elections. (fn. 47) An order of 1523, repeated c. 1550 and in 1583, allowed the admission of a freeman's former apprentice for a fine of 3s. 4d., provided that the apprenticeship of seven or more years had been registered at its start, and the order for such registration was repeated in 1660. (fn. 48)
In 1637 the fine for the admission of 'foreigners' was raised to £10, and they were required to be approved by representatives of their craft; in 1654 the consent of the borough assembly was required. (fn. 49) The number of active freemen fluctuated, but seems to have increased overall in the earlier 17th century, from perhaps c. 450 in 1619 to c. 900 in 1646. Numbers seem to have fallen in the later 17th century, but rose rapidly at its end, perhaps reaching c. 1,100 in 1704. (fn. 50) In the early 18th century freedoms were sold to raise money, and the system was also blatantly manipulated for political purposes: 234 men were admitted by birth or apprenticeship in 1700-1, and 39 bought their freedom from Ralph Creffield, mayor 1702-3. In 1705 the practice of admitting large numbers of men either by purchase or on dubious grounds was said to be 'an invasion of the rights and privileges of the honest free burgesses', but the sale of freedoms was complained of again in 1711 and 1713. (fn. 51)

From: 'Tudor and Stuart Colchester: Borough government', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 9: The Borough of Colchester (1994), pp. 110-121. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=21979. Date accessed: 10 September 2008.