British Navy - James II (1633-1701), King of England, Scotland and Ireland Document signed (as Duke a warrant to Horatio, Lord Townshend, Vice Admiral of Norfolk, for the apprehending of imprested seamen who 'have neglected or refused to goe into His Ma[jes]ties service as they were by you directed', St. James's, 19 July 1666, 1 1/2 pages, folio, papered seal, blank integral leaf, contemporary endorsement Footnote: Note: A document reflecting the urgency of strengthening the fleet for the Dutch war: James orders the arrest of masters and seafaring men who have evaded impressment, with orders that they be sent to the Admiralty High Court in London for sentencing and punishment. Pepys records in his diary at this time the lack of men in the streets, 'men being so afeared of the press' (6 July 1666) Provenance: Sotheby's sale, 22 June, 1976, lot 110; Sotheby's New York sale, 13 December 1983, lot 954; Christie's, 2 June 2008, the Spiro Collection, lot 357.