ert Blake, afterwards the famous
admiral, Poole held out to the end. Clarendon, the Royalist historian of
the Great Rebellion, makes a slighting reference to the two towns. "In
Dorsetshire", he says, "the enemy had only two little fisher towns,
Poole and Lyme." The "little fisher towns", however, proved a thorn in
the sides of the Royalists, some thousands of whom lost their lives in
the fierce fighting that took place at Poole, and particularly around
Lyme Regis.

The merchants of Poole became wealthy by their trade with Newfoundland,
a commerce that commenced in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and lasted
until well on in the reign of Queen Victoria. The trade is said to have
been conducted on the truck system, and the merchants grew rich by
buying both their exports and imports wholesale while disposing of them
at retail prices.

Not far from the quay is an almshouse, built in 1816 by George Garland,
a wealthy merchant of the town, who, on the occasion of a great feast in
1814, presented "one honest plum-pudding of one hundredweight" towards
the entertainment. Farther on is a house built in 1746 by Sir Peter
Thompson. It is a good specimen of Georgian architecture, and still
bears the heraldic arms of the merchant who built it. Sir Peter's house
is now Lady Wimborne's "Cornelia Hospital". Most of the other old houses
of the town's merchants have been modernized and sadly disfigured. The
oldest almshouses--and the number of ancient almshouses in a town is a
sure guide to its old-time prosperity--were built originally in the
reign of the fifth Henry, and for many years belonged to the Guild of
St. George. In 1547, at the Reformation, they passed to the Crown, with
all the other property of the Guild, and in 1550 they were purchased by
the Corporation. Needless perhaps to say, they have been rebuilt more
than once, although they have continuously provided for the poor for
more than five hundred years.

An interesting antiquarian find was made in a ditch near Poole a few
years ago of the seal of John, Duke of Bedford, under whose rule as
Regent of France Joan of Arc was burned. The occurrence of the seal on
this spot was due, without doubt, to this noble having been Lord of
Canford and Poole.

Near the church, a modern building on the site of an older one, is a
small gateway which may possibly have been a water gate, as traces of
sea-weed were found clinging to it when the adjacent soil was excavated.

Older than any