The Smugglers' City
Department of History, University of Bristol

Bristol-Ireland Trade EXCEL Database 1516/17

Irish Trade EXCEL database 1516/17 (1091K)

The above link will download an EXCEL2000 database that records trade between Bristol and Ireland in the accounting year 1516/17. The information in this database comes from the national customs account for Bristol (National Archives, PRO E122 21/2). The accounting year ran from Michaelmas (29 September) 1516 to Michaelmas 1517. The original document is written in medieval Latin.

The database was created by Susan Flavin, while working on her dissertation for the MA in Medieval and Early Modern History at Bristol University, 2003/4.

Her disseration can be dowloaded from: Susan Flavin, 'The Development of Anglo-Irish trade in the sixteenth century' (MA Dissertation, Bristol, 2004)

The EXCEL workbook contains three worksheets:

1. Bristol-Ireland Trade records the raw data extracted from the customs account. The database only records information about ships that are listed as sailing to or from 'Hibn' (Ireland). The database records the entry order of each item (as they appear in the account), the ship's name, its port of registration, its country of origin (as surmised from the port), the ship's master, the ship's destination and the date the ship entered / exited Bristol. The database then goes on to record each individual commodity listed in the customs account and its nominal value. The last column converts this value into a 'modern' decimal figure, so as to facilitate calculations.
   Note 1: Although the customs accounts also list the names of the owners of each item and the quantity of each item laded, this information is not included in the database.
   Note 2: The value of goods recorded in the account are nominal customs values, rather than market ones. Inflation had meant that, in most cases, the market value of goods was higher (typically 50-100%) than that recorded in the customs accounts. Since the value of wine and cloth paying custom are not explicitly recorded in the accounts, they have values assigned to them for the purpose of this database. Each cloth of assize is valued at £2, each tun of wine is valued at £4. Such values are roughly in line with the other customs valuations.
2. Key to Ports records all the individual port names of ships recorded as trading between Bristol and Ireland in 1516/17. The worksheet records the names as they appear in the customs accounts and then gives the modern English spelling of the port. The county and country where this port is located is also given.
3. Key to Commodities records all the individual forms of merchandise that were traded between Bristol and Ireland in 1516/17. The key gives the English translation and the word as it appears in the (medieval Latin) customs account. Additional notes are sometimes provided.