Life on the Tyne: Water Trades on the Lower River Tyne in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, a Reappraisal

218 Pages·2014·1.709 MB·English

by  Peter D. Wright

Life on the tyne
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Life on the tyne
Water trades on the Lower River tyne in the Seventeenth
and eighteenth Centuries, a Reappraisal
PeteR D. WRight
Newcastle University, UK
© Peter D. Wright 2014
All rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Peter D. Wright has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988,
to be identified as the author of this work.
Published by
Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company
Wey Court east 110 Cherry Street
Union Road Suite 3-1
farnham Burlington, Vt 05401-3818
Surrey, gU9 7Pt USA
england
www.ashgate.com
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Wright, Peter D., 1960–
Life on the tyne : water trades on the lower River tyne in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries, a reappraisal / by Peter D. Wright.
pages cm
includes bibliographical references and index.
iSBn 978-1-4724-2633-8 (hardcover : alk. paper) – iSBn 978-1-4724-2634-5 (ebook) –
iSBn 978-1-4724-2635-2 (epub) 1. Shipping–england–tyne River–history. 2. inland water
transportation–england–history. 3. tyne River (england)–history. i. title.
he664.Z7t969 2014
386’.35409428709033--dc23
2014008230
iSBn 9781472426338 (hbk)
iSBn 9781472426345 (ebk – PDf)
iSBn 9781472426352 (ebk – ePUB)
V
Printed in the United Kingdom by henry Ling Limited,
at the Dorset Press, Dorchester, Dt1 1hD
Contents
List of Figures vii
List of Tables ix
Glossary xi
Preface xvii
Introduction 1
1 Newcastle upon Tyne, the Coal Trade and the Local Economy 7
2 The River Tyne, its Navigability and the Problem of Ballast 23
3 The Water Trades Community of Tyneside 43
4 All Saints: The Growth of a Riverside Parish 63
5 Who Were the Owners? Networks of Working Boat and Ship
Ownership 81
6 The Shipping Trade on the River Tyne 107
7 Ralph Jackson on Tyneside, 1749–1756: A Contemporary
Perspective 133
8 Conclusions 161
Appendix: Ships ‘Fixed’ by Newcastle Hostman Jefferson between
March and December 1756 as described in the Ralph Jackson
Diaries 173
Bibliography 177
Index 193
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List of Figures
2.1 Map of the River Tyne, 1650. 1650. By permission Tyne and
Wear Archives and Museums 25
2.2 Captain Greenvile Collins’s Chart of Tyne and Approaches,
1693. By permission Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums 29
2.3 Chart of the Tyne, 1700–1750. By permission Tyne and Wear
Archives and Museums 31
2.4 Buck Brothers’ engraving of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1745.
© National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London 34
2.5 Map of Newcastle upon Tyne by Corbridge, in Rev. Henry
Bourne, The History of Newcastle Upon Tyne (1736).
By permission Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums 35
3.1 The bond used by hostman Anthony Hood to bind his
keelmen. By permission Newcastle City Libraries 52
3.2 Handbill listing keelmen employed by hostmen in 1750.
By permission Newcastle City Libraries 59
4.1 Anglican parishes around the lower River Tyne, 1600–1800 64
5.1 Boat ownership on the River Tyne by decade 85
5.2 Types of working boat on the River Tyne, 1600–1750 86
5.3 Keels off Newcastle Quay. Detail from Buck Brothers’ engraving
of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1745. © National Maritime Museum,
Greenwich, London 88
5.4 Ship ownership on the River Tyne by decade 93
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List of Tables
1.1 Urban population in England (in thousands) 8
1.2 Total coal shipments from Newcastle upon Tyne 1600–1800
(five year averages) 13
2.1 Ballast shores listed in Newcastle Chamberlains’ Accounts 42
3.1 Population of Newcastle between 1560 and 1831 44
3.2 Estimated populations of Newcastle keels and keelmen from
coal exports 57
4.1 Water tradesmens’ occupations from parish burial register 67
4.2 Marriages from All Saints parish registers, 1600–1800 70
5.1 Distribution of probate inventories showing boat or ship
ownership among parishes surrounding the lower River Tyne 84
5.2 Estimated ship valuations from probate inventories, by decade 93
5.3 Henry Maddison’s probate inventory, ships and boats 1634 102
6.1 Shipments in 1702–03 coastal outwards port book 116
6.2 Number of shipments of commodities other than coal or salt
carried coastal outwards, 1702–03 118
6.3 Newcastle outward coastal destination ports used other than
London, 1702–03 119
6.4 Newcastle inward coastal shipments, 1702–03 119
6.5 Ports of origin of inward coastal shipments to Newcastle,
1702–03 120
6.6 Imports listed from London into Newcastle, 1702–03 120
6.7 Shipments in 1702–03 coastal and 1698–99 overseas outward
port books 122
6.8 Newcastle overseas outwards foreign destinations, 1698–99 123
6.9 Most common cargoes overseas outwards, 1698–99 123