Clovelly Entries in Cardiff Coastal Port Books (1630-1711)

Extracted from the National Archive E 190 Records

In an effort to supplement the limited amount of documentary material about 16th - 18th Century Clovelly (many of whose village records, other than the parish registers, were lost in a fire in 1789) I have systematically searched the Port Books (now held by the National Archives) relating to Port of Cardiff and its subsidiary ports, such as Swansea, Neath, Burry Port, Newton, and Aberthaw, looking for entries relating to Clovelly-based ships involved in coastal trading. Quoting from C.T. & M.J. Watts' book My Ancestor was a Merchant Seaman: How can I find out more about him (Society of Genealogists, 1991):

"Since the time of Edward I (1272) central government has exerted a measure of control over shipping for tax purposes. The records that resulted from this include Receipts of duty paid on import and export, Information on the examination of cargoes in the coasting trade and the Issuing of bonds for unloading in ports of the realm. These documents normally mention the Merchants involved and the name of the Master of the ship. Typically the information they will contain will be Name of ship, and its Master, Description of goods, Duty paid (if import or export) and Places to/from which shipment is made."

Further information is available in the National Archives' leaflet on the subject.

The earliest surviving port book for Cardiff is dated 1575, and the earliest coastal book 1595, but the early books are very dificult to decipher. Details of the Clovelly entries I have found in all the extant coastal books from 1630 onwards are listed below, in what is better regarded as a detailed index to this information, rather than a transcription, although I have attempted to record names (of masters, ports and of ships) exactly as given. Entries are listed in the order of their appearance, though some books were evidently filled in by copying lists of entries that had been compiled separately at the various sub-ports. In many cases it is not at all easy to distinguish and identify such separate lists, though it would appear that the majority of the Clovelly vessels' voyages were to Neath. For convenience I have used upper case for ships' names.

Port books varied with regard to the provision of dates during the period covered here - some provided one date per entry, others had a second date, associated with what I take to be an identification of the port from which the vessel had come, though in neither case is the exact significance of the date evident. The date given in the index below is where possible this latter date.

Most of the voyages listed in these1630-1711 port books concerned the trade in coal and culm (anthracite). This is the case with all the Clovelly vessels' voyages listed here. (No attempt has been made to transcribe the amounts given of coal and culm carried.)