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Coastal traffic from Portsmouth 1634

Source E 190/823/9 PRO Chancery Lane, London.

Foreign traffic inward and outward 1636 and 1637 inc wines.

Source E190/824/4 P.R.O. Chancery Lane, London.

Vessels with foreign cargoes arriving in Portsmouth 1637 and 1638.

Source E 190/824/6 P.R.O. Chancery Lane, London.

Map of Portsmouth Harbour by Norden, 1610

Many people see Portsmouth in the past as purely a naval port with the fortunes of Gosport waxing and waning with its bigger neighbour across the harbour. Gosport grew from Leland's "little fishing village" in the 1570s to a town larger than the nearby market town of Titchfield by the mid 1650s. Most of this growth occurred with the expansion of the navy during Cromwell's Commonwealth. Before this spurt of growth the Port Books show a steady flow of trading vessels moving in and out of Portsmouth.

French chart dated 1764. Portsmouth and the Eastern Solent. (large image)

The coastal trade of Portsmouth shows vessels voyaging around the coast as far as Swansea to the west and Newcastle to the north east. Outward cargoes included timber, malt and other agricultural products together with the odd cannon, brown paper and red iron. Inward cargoes included butter and coal. In 1634 1730 quarters of malt and more than 3750 dozen barrel hoops were shipped out of Portsmouth.

Map of Portsmouth Harbour by Blaeu, 1645

On the 16 February 1633 the 40 tonne "Katherine and Jane" of Ryde set sail for Plymouth. Her Master was John Smythe and she carried the following cargo owned by John Woods.

4000	feet one inch board	7	loads hoops
10	dozen oares	2	loads of quarters

On 19 September 1634 Henry Sparling was the Master of the "Sara" registered in London. This 20 tonne vessel was carrying cargo for Clement Browne and was bound for London. Her cargo included:

1000	barrel boards	5	loads of bark
6	tons of iron	7	loads of timber
9	loads of plank	2000	trenails

Inward bound vessels included the "Peter and Joane" and "Delight" of Gosport and the "Elizabeth", "Thomas" and "John" all registered in Portsmouth. All of these vessels arrived carrying cargoes of coal which were mainly for the account of the Master. The coal was usually loaded either in Wales or on the north east coast of England and was carried in fairly small quantities. Typical was the "Elizabeth" who arrived from Sunderland carrying 14 chaldrons of coal. The Port book for 1635 is signed by one of the Customs officials, Richard Lardner. During the year he has noted two vessels arriving coastwise with coal as only part of the cargo. Is it possible that other vessels also arrived so loaded but did not need recording?

Coal arriving in Portsmouth in 1635.

Ship's Name	Port of Registry	Master's Name	Loading Port	Quantity
Elizabeth	Portsmouth	John Baily	Sunderland	14 chaldrons
Peter and Joane	Gosport	William Sayt	Swansea	8 wayes
Remembrance	Portsmouth	Daniell Bradley	South Barry	-
Speedwell	Sandwich	Richard Collins	London	35 chaldrons
Thomas	Portsmouth	John Carter	Sunderland	9 chaldrons
Peter and Joane	Portsmouth	William Sayt	Swansea	8 wayes
Anne	Chichester	Richard Woollen	Newcastle	18 chaldrons
Sarah	London	Henry Sparlins	Sunderland	12 chaldrons
Thomas	Portsmouth	John Cartar	Sunderland	9 chaldrons
Elizabeth	Portsmouth	John Baily	Swansea	13 wayes
John	Portsmouth	John George	Newcastle	12 chaldrons
Mary	Yarmouth	William Sacey(?)	London	25 chaldrons
William and Catherine	Lynn	William Cornish	Lynn	12 chaldrons
Delight	Gosport	Edward Capewell	London	20 chaldrons
Robert	Portsmouth	Robert Frampton	London	6 chaldrons

The two examples of ships arriving from other ports in England with cargo other than coal were the Robert of Portsmouth and the Speedwell of Sandwich. The Master of the Robert was Robert Frampton and arrived from London on 20th November 1635 with the following cargo for Josias Fletcher:

6	chaldrons sea coal	1	last of hemp
18	barrels of tar	8	cwt of cable yarn
1	tun of vinegar	2	tuns of red iron

Richard Collins, Master of the Speedwell, arrived on the 4th June 1635 and brought the following cargo from London for George Winstone.

35	chaldrons of coals	3	baskets of potts
½	tun of ---cers wares	2	barrells of cut glass

Records were also made of vessels arriving from foreign ports. Although fewer in number than the coastal vessels they were usually larger and most anchored outside the port and discharged their cargoes into smaller boats to be brought ashore. Where this happened the Master of the small boat is often recorded and not necessarily the Master of the arriving ship. The value of the cargo is always recorded together with the subsidy that was payable. Imported wine was recorded separately.

Vessels were recorded in 1636 and 1637 coming from as far afield as Barbary (North Africa) and Newfoundland although the majority were from France.

An extract from the list of vessels arriving from foreign ports.

Ship's name	Home Port	Master	From	Cargo		Value
John	Portsmouth	John Knight	Nantes
Blessing	London	Stephen Lock	Duarney	3	small balls con(?)
				4	ells Normandy canvas	16	00	00
Dainty	London	Augustus Bright	Cambries	20	cwt white sugar	66	13	04
Saul	Portsmouth	Thomas Stroud	Newfoundland	7	tonnes trayne oil	42	00	00
				-	wet and dry fish	-	-	-
Sarah	Portsmouth	Thomas Stoppard	Newfoundland	10	tonnes trayne oyle	60	00	00
				-	wet and dry fish	-	-	-
Jonas	Poole	Richard James	Duarney	3½	wayte French salt	3	10	00
William	London	John Brook	Barbary	50	cow hides	6	05	00
Elizabeth	Portsmouth	John Baily	Dublin	20	cwt Irish tallow	16	13	04
small boat		Robert Sturt	Br-	103½	qtrs yew wood	3	15	00
small boat	Gosport	Nicholas Podd		14	cwt tallow	11	13	04
small boat		Francis Wardner		2½	cwts white sugar	8	6	8
small boat		John Triggs		42	galls Sallet Oyle	3	10

Only two vessels are shown sailing to foreign ports. Both are exporting the cargo landed from the Saul in October 1637.

Ship's name	Home port	Master	Destination	Cargo
Margery	Heith*		Caen	2	tonnes trayne oyle
Edward	Gosport	Richard Hodges	Caen	5	tonnes Newfoundland trayne oyle
				6000	wet Newland fish

* probably modern Hythe, near Southampton

Wine imports.

Ship's name	Home port	Master	Load port	Cargo		Merchant	Dues
John	North Yarmouth	John Knott	Nantes	30	tonnes wine	Richard James	£60
Richmond	London	William -	Malliga	20	pcs Regsana	Richard James	30s
Francis	Tremlade	James Mercier	Tramlade	2½	tonnes wine	own account	£ 7
small boat		John Pickford		4	butts sack	Benjamin Woolnor	£ 4
small boat		Robert Sturt		1	butt sack	John Triggs	£ 1
small boat		Arthur Windest		1	butt sack	Benjamin Woolnor	£ 1
-	-	-	Rochelle	3	h'heads wine
-	-	-	Bourdiny	1	tonne wine
-	-	-	Dunkirk	3	h'head wine

Portsmouth Harbour Wrecks, a recent survey of the modern shoreline.

Sources:

Port Books of Portsmouth

E190/824/4 PRO, London

E190/824/6 PRO, London

E190/823/9 PRO, London