ABSTRACT
Since the seventeenth century, when local people distrusted court influence, many inhabitants had remained deeply suspicious of government. Their interest intertwined with those of many local traders forming what can be regarded as a community of interest. The strength of community culture was enhanced by the relative isolation of one naval town from another. Naval establishments were most common in the south and east of England, but common interests extended wherever opportunities for government employment offered. Self-improvement often depended on geographical movement. Local values were cherished in response to external pressures. Shipbuilding and repairing artificers were a national resource vital to Britain's survival as a sea power. The regular reiteration of orders would suggest a belief that dockyard employees and their relations were predisposed to steal whenever the opportunity presented itself. The amount of theft increased in war time. Because theft could neither be detected nor deterred, attention focused on the receivers of stolen stores.
