DA 690 P78 M28. Held by CNS.
Keywords: Poole, England, Newfoundland, Commerce.
Abstract
During this period Poole provides an interesting example of one of the smaller English outports specializing in overseas commerce in addition to coastal trade and cross-Channel connections. The port, with its deep-water channels and situated not far from the open sea, rose to prominence as Wareham, at the head of the estuary, declined in importance.
From an early period Poole participated in trade with the Island of Newfoundland and by the second half of the eighteenth century it had secured a place of pre-eminence in it. Fundamentally Poole's trade with Newfoundland consisted in supplying its inhabitants with all their requirements and the catching, curing and exporting of cod-fish, which was sold mainly in Mediterranean, North American and West Indian markets. Cod and seal oil and seal skins were also important articles of commerce and were sold mainly in England. The labour force for Poole's Newfoundland shipping was drawn from an extensive hinterland.
An examination of smuggling in the Poole area makes it clear that it was a well-organised trade with wide ramifications.
The period 1756-1815 was one much concerned with war. This affected the trade of the port in varying ways at different periods. During the Seven Years' War Poole's overseas trade suffered considerably, during the War of American Independence it suffered less and during the later stages of the war with Napoleon it was actually improved by war-time conditions.
The large profits of the Poole merchants, mainly derived from the Newfoundland trade, were invested in various ways. These included the establishment of local banks, the lending of money on mortgage and the purchasing of country estates.
October 3, 2007
