Writs issued in February by Charles I of England mandate that every county in England (not just seaport towns) pay ship tax by this date.

Charles I was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649.

Ship money was a tax of medieval origin levied intermittently in the Kingdom of England until the middle of the 17th century. Assessed typically on the inhabitants of coastal areas of England, it was one of several taxes that English monarchs could levy by prerogative without the approval of Parliament. Queen Elizabeth I levied this tax to pay for a navy. The attempt of King Charles I from 1634 onwards to levy ship money during peacetime and extend it to the inland counties of England without parliamentary approval provoked fierce resistance, and was one of the grievances of the English propertied class in the lead-up to the English Civil War.