In the Roll for 1525 we find Lowestoft occupying an entirely different position with respect to her agricultural neighbours. Instead of appearing as a poor village of less taxable capacity than Somerleyton and Blundeston we find her contributing a larger amount to the subsidy for this year than all the rest of the Lothingland parishes together, even including Gorleston and Southtown. _The contribution from Lowestoft is £29_, _just 20 times what it was in 1327_. This sum was collected from 140 of her inhabitants; but there is abundant evidence from other returns that the number of persons entered as contributories in these rolls did not represent the whole number of taxable people in the town and parish upon which the subsidy was charged. The sum claimed by the Sheriff had to be collected and paid in by the parish constables, who were themselves among the larger contributors, but it was left to them, with the concurrence of the people themselves, to arrange by whom and in what proportions each person should contribute to each subsidy. Taken year by year, the burden of these subsidies was probably fairly distributed. The richer inhabitants probably contributed to every subsidy, but the power of excusal could be freely exercised by the constables in the case of the poorer townspeople. This subsidy roll not only gives us the names and payments of each contributor, but the assessment of his property on which he was charged. The total assessment amounted to about £760, of which £710 was on “movabyll goods,” and £50 on “wages and profits.” Among the higher assessments are:—John Hodden £100, Robert Bach £50, John Goddard £48, J. Jettor, jun. £48, Thomas Woods £40, William French £40, Robert Chevyr (one of the parish constables) £20. The other assessment range from £1 to £19. Sir John Browne—the Vicar—was assessed at £7. There is no assessment under £1. The number assessed at the lowest rate is 59:—23 are assessed at £2.
The name at the head of the list is John Jettor, jun. He had evidently been previously assessed at £100 or more. _He was only assessed on £48 for this subsidy_, “_the consideration for his decay being that he had lost a ship on the sea_, _pryce_ £50.” As these assessments purported to represent the value of the “movabyll goods” _i.e._ all the personal property possessed by the contributors, and as the ship which John Jettor, junior, lost was valued at £50, _a larger sum than the rest of his_ “_movabyll goods_” _were valued at_, we can form some idea of the amount of personal property possessed by the _richest merchants_ of the town at this period.