The Deposition Books of Bristol Volume II, 1650-1654

246 Pages·2015·40.67 MB·English

BRISTOL RECORD SOCIETY’S
PUBLICATIONS
VOL. XIII
T H E
D E P O S I T I O N BOOKS
OF B R I S T O L
Vol. II. 1650— 1654
BRISTOL RECORD SOCIETY’S
PUBLICATIONS
General Editor: Professor David Douglas, M.A.
Assistant General Editor: Miss Elizabeth Ralph
Vol. XIII
T H E D E P O S I T I O N B O O K S
OF B R I S T O L
1650— 1654
T H E D E P O S I T I O N
BOOKS OF
B R IST O L
VOL. II
1650—1654
EDITED BY
H. E. NOTT
AND
ELIZABETH RALPH
Printed for the
BRISTOL RECORD SOCIETY
MADE AND PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY
j. W. ARROWSMITH LTD., QUAY STREET AND SMALL STREET, BRISTOL
ABBREVIATIONS
B.G.A.S. Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire
Archaeological Society.
B. RB.Sr.istol Record Society.
C. C.P. Common Council Proceedings.
C.S.P. Calendar of State Papers.
C.T.D. City Treasurer’s Department, Bristol.
C.R.L. Central Reference Library, Bristol.
T.C.D. Town Clerk’s Department, Bristol.
PREFACE
As it was impossible, owing to the length of the volume,
to print the whole of the transcription, we have
calendared some of the entries.
In making the transcription, we have followed the
rules set out in the previous volume of Depositions.
Our thanks are due to Professor Douglas for his
valuable guidance and advice: and to the staff of the
Archives Department for their willing assistance.
Council House, H. E. Nott.
Bristol. Elizabeth Ralph,
February, 1948.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Abbreviations................................................... V
Preface .............................................................. vii
In tro d u ctio n .................................................... i
Te x t ........................................................................ n
Appendix: Biographical Notes . 201
Index ........................................................................ 213
INTRODUCTION
A detailed account of the reasons for taking depositions and
their relation to local court records will be found in the Introduction
to the first volume.1
Tnis second volume of Depositions covers the years 1650-
1654, leaving a gap of three years, for which no volume is extant,
between it and the first. It contains a blank page, followed by
a page with words and erasures, then 430 pages of writing, followed
by twenty-six blank ones, and ends with three pages of certificates
or “ letters of health ” to ships. At the end is a loose page with
two or more certificates and some scribbling. It is bound in
rough brown calf, which is obviously not the original binding as
the end-papers carry a watermark “ Wells & Warren 1828.”
The handwriting changes several times and the spelling is very
variable, particularly that of place-names and surnames. The
forms of the depositions are similar to those in the earlier volume.
The statements are roughly in chronological order, and it is
interesting to note that by far the largest number (201) were
made in the last twelve months of the period, that is, from
September, 1653, to September, 1654. There are ninety-two
entries from September, 1650, to September, 1651 ; ninety-four
in the next twelve months, and only sixty between September,
1652, and September, 1653.
As one would expect the depositions reflect much of the
unsettled spirit of the times, a period when Royalist partisans
were still active and Parliament was struggling to establish the
supremacy it had won. Many of the statements contain refer­
ences to the Civil War, and at least forty-five have a direct
relationship to it. There are over 100 depositions which deal
with business transactions of all kinds, but the largest number,
some 200, are about shipping. The remaining few are miscellan­
eous, covering such varying subjects as the administration of
estates, the sale of property, accusations of witchcraft and
bribery, false claims of marriage, and many deeds of violence.
That there should be so many depositions dealing with shipping
serves to emphasize Bristol’s position as a trading centre. Vessels
sailed regularly to France, Spain, Portugal and the Mediterranean,
1 B.R.S., vol. vi.
and to many places across the Atlantic, such as Newfoundland,
West Indies, Barbadoes and Virginia. There was also a flourish­
ing coastal trade, and, in spite of the uncertainty of the political
situation, a constant interchange of goods with Ireland.
Most of the entries deal with such matters as bad voyages and
loss of vessels; faulty stowage of cargo and disappearance of
goods; disputes over ownership and payments; and, last but
by no means least, piracy and violence on the high seas. The list
of valuables entered in one statement as having been taken from
the passengers and crew of a captured Dutch vessel makes interest­
ing reading. Such items as silver cups, spoons, jugs and kettles
are listed, as well as a large quantity of money and jewellery. If
this is typical of what might be found on such vessels then they
were rich prizes indeed.1
Trading must have been seriously disorganized by the out­
breaks of plague which were frequent during this period. In
November, 1652, an edict was made by Council that all goods
coming to the city must be “ aired ” for a time at Hollow Backs,
near the mouth of the Avon, before being brought into the city.1 2
Two of the depositions provide evidence of the delays and diffi­
culties caused by such “ airings.”3 Further delays must have been
caused by vessels having to wait for certificates or “ letters of
health ” to be issued to them, before they could proceed on their
voyages. Copies of a number of these certificates appear at the
end of the volume and give details of tonnage, destinations,
masters and cargoes.4
Amongst several references to the slave trade is a statement
by Robert Yeamans, one of the most prominent Bristol merchants
of the time, concerning the treatment of two negroes that he had
bought for £30. He denies any ill-treatment or use of force, and
states that he spent £20 in fitting them out, and then, at their
own request, indentured them for several years to serve him in
Spain, where he, like many other Bristolians, had estates.5
Another deposition records the confiscation by the Governor of
Virginia of a number of “ servants ” from a vessel which was held
up at Jamestown on account of disputed ownership. He made no
1 pp. 169-172.
2 C.C.P., 04264(8), fo. 41.
3 pp. 30 and 32.
4 p. 480 et seq.
5 p. 81.
payment for them on the grounds that no one had been able to
prove ownership satisfactorily.1
That Bristolians were not above selling their own countrymen
into slavery is shown by one series of depositions, which supply
an almost complete story of a Bristol youth of eighteen who
boarded a ship in the Avon, and persuaded the crew to take him
to Barbadoes. Once there, two of the crew calmly traded the
youth for tobacco, in spite of his protests that he was a “ gentle­
man’s sonn.” Later, a Bristol doctor deposes that at the request
of the boy’s widowed mother he himself had made enquiries when
in Barbadoes, and discovered the youth in a very bad physical
state, showing obvious signs of beating and ill-treatment. He was
unable to free him from his master, however, because of “ the
laws of the Island.” A case was brought by the mother in Bristol
for the release of the boy, but we do not learn the result.1 2
Many of the depositions about the Civil War are simply state­
ments of the loyalty of certain Bristolians to Parliament, supported
in many cases by a recital of what the man had actually done to
help by furnishing arms, money or horses. It is interesting to
notice that, by 1650, Thomas Colston, formerly an ardent Royalist
and colonel of the trained bands, who later saved himself by very
prompt conformity to Parliament, was sufficiently well re-estab­
lished to make a public statement admitting his own Royalist
activities, while defending another man against such an accusa­
tion.3
There are numerous claims for money lent to Parliament, most
of it in pursuance of an Order issued in 1642. References are
made to a total of £3,000 advanced by citizens, of which only
£1,000 had been repaid ten years later.4 * Most of the claims are
for small amounts, and are made by the ordinary people, to whom
no doubt a speedy repayment was an urgent matter. An out­
standing claim which was allowed was that of The Company of
Innholders for nearly £1,000 for the quartering of soldiers.6
There is frequent mention of the disturbed condition of Ireland
and the warring of Royalist and anti-British factions. An interest­
ing reference is made in one deposition to the Irish “ Tories,” the
1 9
P- -
2 373
P- . PP- 392-393. and p. 422
3 p. 18.
4 3 3 325
PP- I - -
6 p. 293.