APPENDIX B
Extracts from the Bristol Port Books
This appendix gives all the data obtained from the Bristol Port Books on which the statistical analysis contained in Chapter 6 has been based. The following table lists the Port Books for the period 1662 to 1726, gives details of their survival (and condition where appropriate) and, where the Books have been studied, their Public Record Office reference and the type of record.
| Years | PRO Reference (E190) | Type | Comment |
| 1662 | 1240/6 | Searcher | |
| 1663-1667 | Missing | ||
| 1668 | 1137/1 | Searcher | |
| 1669-1671 | Missing | ||
| 1672 | 1138/1 | Controller | |
| 1673-1677 | Missing | ||
| 1678 | 1139/2 | Collector | |
| 1679 | 1140/2 | Collector | |
| 1680 | 1141/2 | Collector | |
| 1681 | 1142/2 | Collector | |
| 1682 | 1143/1 | Collector | |
| 1683 | 1146/1 | Collector | |
| 1684 | Incomplete | ||
| 1685 | 1147/2 | Collector | |
| 1686 | Missing | ||
| 1687 | 1148/2 | Collector | |
| 1688 | 1149/1 | Collector | |
| 1689-1694 | Missing | ||
| 1695 | 1151/1 | Collector | Latter part illegible |
| 1696 | 1152/3 | Collector | |
| 1697-1699 | Not studied | ||
| 1700 | 1158/1 | Collector | |
| 1701 | Not studied | ||
| 1702-1705 | Missing | ||
| 1706 | 1160/5 | Searcher | Incomplete |
| 1707 | 1162/1 | Collector | |
| 1708-1709 | Not studied | ||
| 1710 | 1166/3 | Controller | |
| 1711-1714 | Not studied | ||
| 1715 | 1177/1 | Collector | |
| 1716-1720 | Not studied | ||
| 1721 | 1190/2 | Controller | |
| 1722-1725 | Not studied | ||
| 1726 | 1198/1 | Collector |
The notes below provide explanations concerning the nature of the information contained within the lists of exports:
Date
Although each Port Book covers a one year period, they run from 25 December to 24 December the following year. Thus the Port Book for 1662 runs from 25 December 1661 to 24 December 1662.
The date given by each entry is the day followed by the month (for example, 10/1 is 10 January). The date is that on which the duty was paid, not the date of loading the cargo. As duty could be paid against separate parts of a cargo over a number of days, several dates can appear against the same vessel.
Vessel
The original spellings of the vessels’ names are given.
Potter as Exporter
For the name of a potter to appear under this heading he or she must have been listed as exporting a shipment of earthenware only under their own name. In the Port Books studied the first entry of this kind occurs in January 1685 when Edward Ward shipped 300 pieces of English earthenware to Jamaica.
Cargo
Every individual reference to the shipment of a quantity of earthenware is quoted and there may be a number of entries for each ship/destination depending on when the duty was paid on each portion of the cargo.
The following abbreviations have been used:
p = pieces
pls = parcels
ew = earthenware
Eew = English earthenware
cwt = hundredweight
For example, an entry reading ‘320 pieces of English earthenware’ has therefore been abbreviated to ‘320 p Eew’.
Destination
The modern spelling of the destination has been given where the destination can be deduced from the phonetic spelling used by the customs official. Where no certain identification of the intended destination can be made the name and spelling contained in the Port Book is given in inverted commas, for example, ‘Odierne’.
NOTE
In order to avoid duplication of information, the Port Book entries used to complete the statistical analysis in Chapter 6, are not reproduced here (as in the original dissertation), but may be studied under the ‘Exports’ section of the Bristol Potters and Potteries website.