Customs Port Books 1672

Port of: Appledore, Barnstaple and Bideford

Book for: Overseas trade

Type of book: Controller

Transcribed by David Carter 2019

Taken from Port Books in National Archives ref: E 190/955/6

Note: In many places 955/6 was illegible, so additional information was taken from the Searcher’s Book ref: E 190/955/7 to fill gaps

Transcriber’s notes:
Port Books survive for the ports of Appledore, Bideford and Barnstaple from 1565 to 1745.
There are some gaps due to non-survival of records, and other gaps due to damaged documents.

Typically these books record:
• Date of entry
• Name of ship
• Tonnage of vessel
• Port where vessel is registered
• Port where vessel is going to, or coming from
• Name of the Captain or Master of the vessel
• Name of the merchant responsible for the goods
• Whether the merchant is English or foreign
• Description of the cargo, including the method of storage (barrels, casks, bags), the weight (hundredweights, pounds) and the value for the purposes of assessing tax to be paid.

The following officials were responsible for checking the cargoes and recording the tax due:
• Collector or ‘Customer’ – made a return of all goods exported or imported and all moneys received, for which he issued a cocket (receipt).
• Controller – made a similar return but did not receive the payments.
• Searcher – appointed to prevent fraud, who had to make examine the goods and return a warrant to show he had done so.
• Surveyor - appointed to check the work of the Searcher.

The book for 1672 contains 53 pages, mostly written in English, but with some Latin.

Details of the cargoes have only been transcribed in brief. Further information may be available on each one from the original document.
Values of the commodities were recorded in the document, plus the amount of tax due, but these figures have not been transcribed here.

Some commodities may not be obvious, so here are some definitions:
• Acquavita – Distilled wine, eg: Brandy
• Baise – A coarse woollen cloth
• Coney skins – Rabbit skins.
• Devon dozens – A coarse lightweight cloth usually 12 yards long - hence the name ‘dozens’.
• Dowlas – A plain cloth chiefly for used aprons, pocketing, soldiers' gaiters, linings and overalls.
• Frieze – A coarse woollen, plain weave cloth with a nap on one side.
• Hides in the hair – Animal skin that has not been tanned or dressed.
• Muscavadoes - Unrefined brown sugar.
• Poledavy – A course canvas sailcloth from the town of Pouldavid in Brittany.
• Raisins solis – Sun dried grapes (raisins).
• Staves - Shaped wood used for constructing barrels and hogsheads.
• Sack – Fortified wine imported from mainland Spain or the Canary Islands.
• Serge – A type of twill fabric with diagonal ridges on both sides. French serge was softer and finer than English serge.
• Shumack – Dried berries of the Sumac plant, used in dying and tanning.
• Train [oil] – Drained fish oil, usually from cod.
• Trunnell (or treenail) – a wooden peg or dowel used to fasten pieces of wood together in boat building.
• Vittery canvas – A light sail-cloth canvas, originally from Vitré in Brittany.

Similarly, some destinations may not be spelt as we expect today:
• Coalingford = Carlingford, Ireland
• Crest [unknown]
• Drugheda = Drogheda, Ireland
• Hantz = [unknown] Nantes?
• Olleron = Oleron, France
• Poledavie = Pouldavid, Brittany
• Pulgin = Le Pouliguen, France
• Rochell = La Rochelle, France
• Ross = New Ross, Ireland
• San Sebastian = On north coast of Spain
• St Luca = Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain

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