The port of Bristol in the second half of the eighteenth century: An examination of the organisational structure of the port pertaining to the management and operation of its shipping with special reference to ships trading with the West Indies and America. Volume 1 of 2. Submitted by John Gilbert MacMillan to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in August 2015. This thesis is available for library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other university. Signature………………………………… 1 Abstract. In comparison to the amount of research that has been carried out on Royal Navy affairs and its ports and dockyards, few studies have been done on the day to day operations of merchant shipping and civilian ports, especially in the eighteenth century. This thesis attempts to partly redress this by examining at depth the workings of the Port of Bristol and its shipping in this period, using contemporary records where they have survived and a system of cross-referencing where they have not. The physical structure and amenities of the port were subject to close examination, not only to establish whether they were suitable for their purpose, but to observe the effectiveness of the systems that were in place regarding their use. Similarly, the deposition of shipping in the port was scrutinised to establish whether or not it contributed to the recognised problem of congestion at the port. The reality was that the facilities and systems put in place by the managers of the port, the Society of Merchant Venturers, were mainly effective but they could not overcome the adverse conditions set by the port having one of the highest ranges of tide in the world. However, there was another factor and that was the perspectives of the users of the port, the shipowners and merchants of the city. It was established that Bristol shipowners still adhered to the traditional system of owning ships as an element of a merchant’s business interests rather than in their own right, and this meant that there was little flexibility in both ways of working and the areas ships traded to, with the result that the facilities of the port were subjected to seasonal inundations contributing to congestion. The management of the ships involved in the most important trade of the port, the West Indian, was examined and they and their crews were far from being used to their full potential. In effect the conservative attitude to trade of the Bristol merchant was exacerbating the fundamental environmental problem of the port, its unmanageable tides. 2 Volume 1. Table of Contents. Introduction. 11. An inequality affecting maritime history. 11. Justification for writing the thesis. 12. Questions to be answered in this thesis. 13. The material used to answer the questions posed above. 14. The port’s facilities and management systems. 14. Shipping. 16. Method of research. 18. The layout of the thesis and the development of the argument. 20. Introductory Chapter. Improvements at other British ports to meet increased shipping at the end of the eighteenth century. 26. Introduction. 26. London. 26. Liverpool. 29. Hull. 33. Glasgow. 35. Newcastle. 37. Conclusions. 39. Chapter 1. The structure and facilities of the port of Bristol. 41. Section 1. The amenities of the river. 41. Introduction. 41. The environment of the Severn Estuary and River Avon. 43. The Haven Master. 46. The Port of Hungroad. 47. The moorings at Hungroad. 48. Shipping in and through the port. 53. The Haven Master and his difficulties with the men of Pill. 55. 3 Other facilities at Hungroad. 63. The Haven Master and the River Avon. 67. The nuisances on the River. 68. Natural and man-made obstacles to navigation on the river. 72. The Severn Estuary. 80. Conclusions. 81. Section 2. The harbour between Rownham Meads and the city quays. 83 Introduction. 83. The Merchants’ Dock complex. 85. Regulations covering Merchants’ Dock. 90. Problems encountered at the Floating Dock. 91. Conclusions. 96. Section 3. The facilities available to shipping at the quays. 97. Introduction. 97. The formation of the city quays. 97. The allocation of berths to shipping. 100. Porters on the quays. 107. The Crane Office. 111. Ancillary services. 120. Conclusions. 126. Chapter 2. Shipowning and crewing at the port of Bristol. 127. Section 1. The rationale behind shipowning at the port. 127. Introduction. 127. Maritime operations in the Bristol trading areas. 132. Analysis of the operations of the major shipowners of Bristol. 135. Analysis of shipping companies trading outside of the West Indies and the slave trade. 139. The slave trade. 143. Analysis of the operations of the minor shipowners of Bristol. 147. 4 Conclusions. 147. Section 2. Crewing. 148. General introduction. 148. Section 2a. The crewing of foreign ships. 151. Introduction. 151. The structure of ships’ crews. 151. The allegiance of crewmen to one ship or company. 155. The difficulties of retaining crews in the West Indies. 160. Payment of crews. 162. Crew wages. 170. The effect of war on the wage bills of the shipowners. 174. Conclusions. 176. Section 2b. The crewing of coastal and short haul ships. 177. Introduction. 177. Vessels trading with London. 178. Vessels trading with Liverpool. 182. The general coasting trade. 183. Trade with Ireland. 186. Conclusions. 189. Chapter 3. The management of shipping operating from the port of Bristol. 191. General Introduction. 191 Section 1. The transit of a vessel between arrival and departure at the port. 192. Introduction. 192. Incoming procedures for an incoming vessel and the accumulated costs. 192. Process and costs of incoming pilotage. 196. The discharge and lading of ships. 201. 5 The process and costs of outgoing pilotage. 203. Conclusions. 204. Section 2. Clerical and administrative interactions between the merchant shipowner and the harbour agencies. 206. Introduction. 206. An examination of the procedures affecting incoming vessels. 207. An examination of the procedures affecting outgoing vessels. 214. Conclusions. 217. Section 3. The strategy employed by the managing owner to pass his ship through the port. 219. Introduction. 219. The arrival of a shipowner’s vessel. 220. Clearing through Customs. 221. Factors concerning the owner when considering his ship’s further progress. 225. Conclusions. 228. Section 4. The logistics and economics involved in a West Indian voyage. 229. Introduction. 229. The role of the master of a West Indiaman. 229. A ship’s income from freight. 233. Outward and inward goods shipped on behalf of the owners. 237. Shipping goods on behalf of other merchants. 241. Provision of insurance. 243. Homeward passage. 248. Conclusions. 254. Chapter 4. Congestion. 256. Section 1. Overcrowding and cargo handling at the quays. 256. Introduction. 256. 6 The extent and effect of congestion at the quays. 258. The West Indian ships and congestion. 260. The American trade’s contribution to congestion. 264. The direct African trade. 266. The slave trade and its effect on overcrowding. 266. Statistical analysis of slave trading ships with regard to congestion. 270. The contribution of Merchants’ Dock to cargo handling and congestion at Bristol. 271. Guppy, Armstrong and Co. 276. Conclusions. 281. Section 2. The effect of tide on the movement of shipping at the harbour. 282. Introduction. 282. Congestion and tides affecting foreign-going shipping. 282. Congestion and tides affecting other shipping. 287. The use of slips on Broad Quay. 291. The Backs. 292. Conclusions. 299. Section 3. The floatation of the harbour in pragmatic perception. 302. Introduction. 302. The political analysis. 302. The obstacles associated with floataing in practical terms. 303. The situation at Bristol compared to other ports. 310. Conclusions. 312. Chapter 5. Conclusions. 314. 7 8 Abbreviations. Bristol Record Office. BRO Bristol Record Society. BRS Bristol Reference Library. BRL Felix Farley’s Bristol Journal FFBJ Mariner’s Mirror. MM National Maritime Museum NMM Society of Merchant Venturers. SMV 9 Acknowledgements. The motivating force behind my study of maritime history was fifteen years spent in the merchant navy and living in Bristol, a city with an ancient port which has been in existence since at least the thirteenth century. What began as an interest led to fascination and then academic study, and after realising that there was a paucity of research at operational levels this thesis was produced to examine the last years of Bristol’s most productive century. The Bristol Record Office was the main centre of research and the staff there were always ready to discuss my requests for information and assiduous in supplying me with the necessary documentation. I am particularly grateful to Mrs Patricia Denny who as custodian of the archive of the Society of Merchant Venturers when it was kept at Merchants’ Hall, provided me with documentation I would never have found otherwise and who assisted with the excellent cataloguing of the archive when it was transferred to the record office. I am also grateful to the staff at the Bristol Reference Library who again were patient and always willing to oblige. I am particularly grateful to my tutors at Exeter. Professor Jonathan Barry not only imparted his wide knowledge regarding the history of the City of Bristol to me, but also had the patience to advise me on layout and the correct academic procedures. He also astounded me with an almost instant response by email to any query or indeed voluminous work sent to him. Dr.