The Quota System (also known as ''The Quod''), introduced by Prime Minister

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...

in 1795, required each British county to provide a quota of men for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, based on its population and the number of its seaports:

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, for example, had to provide 5,704 quotamen while

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

had to provide 1,081. The counties found it difficult to meet the quotas. Some offered high cash bounties to inexperienced volunteers (mostly inexperienced landsmen) and created resentment among the regular seamen, who, despite their experience, had received only a small fraction of that

bounty Bounty or bounties commonly refers to: * Bounty (reward), an amount of money or other reward offered by an organization for a specific task done with a person or thing Bounty or bounties may also refer to: Geography * Bounty, Saskatchewan, a g ...

on their own volunteering (and none if they were pressed). Sometimes, the counties resorted to sending convicted criminals in lieu of punishment, further creating ill feeling among ships' companies and sometimes introducing

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

(otherwise known as ''gaol fever''). Britain ended using the quota system, along with

impressment Impressment, colloquially "the press" or the "press gang", is the taking of men into a military or naval force by compulsion, with or without notice. European navies of several nations used forced recruitment by various means. The large size of ...

, in 1815, at the close of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, when much of the fleet was decommissioned, and the supply of unemployed seamen was more than adequate to man the remaining ships.

External links

Nelson's Navy: The Impress Service
18th-century history of the Royal Navy 19th-century history of the Royal Navy Conscription in the United Kingdom 1795 establishments in Great Britain 1815 disestablishments in the United Kingdom 1795 in military history Quotas {{UK-navy-stub