The Smugglers' City
Department of History, University of Bristol


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Sources

These pages contain a variety of sources and research projects that the co-ordinator has put on the site for the use of students taking the unit and other interested researchers. This includes links to items that have been published through the Bristol Repository of Scholarly Eprints (ROSE). To download sixteenth-century Bristol customs accounts and associated working papers, go to the project website for:
Ireland-Bristol Trade in the Sixteenth Century.

Copyright and Transcription Information

Childe of Bristow, c.1350-1500

Act to establish a 'Fellowship of Merchants', 1467

Salazar's account of Bristol's discovery of the Island of Brasil (pre 1476)

Robert Ricart's Chronicle of Bristol, 1480-1508

Will of John Foster, merchant of Bristol, 6 August 1492 (ROSE)

John Cabot in Seville, 1494

First Letters Patent granted by Henry VII to John Cabot , 5 March 1496

'Cabot Roll', 1496-99

Lorenzo Pasqualigo to his brothers at Venice, 23 August 1497

News sent from London to the Duke of Milan, 24 August 1497

Soncino letter to Duke of Milan, 18 December 1497

The grant of a pension of £20 per year to John Cabot, 13 December 1497 (ROSE)

Warrant for the payment of John Cabot’s pension, 22 February 1498 (ROSE)

John Day letter to the Lord Grand Admiral, Winter 1497/8

Pedro de Ayala to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, 25 July, 1498

London Chronicles of John Cabot's voyage of 1498

Henry VII’s letter to John Morton concerning William Weston’s voyage to the new found land (ROSE)

John Esterfeld vs. William Weston of Bristol: Chancery petition transcript, c.1499

Act to establish a 'Company of Merchants', 1500

Extracts from the Patent granted by the Spanish Sovereigns to Alonso de Ojeda, 8 June 1501

Customs Account: The Matthew of Bristol, 1503/4

Prisage & Butlerage Account for Bristol, 1511

Survey of Bristol Ships, 16 January 1513

Will of Hugh Say, mercer of London, 10 December 1517 (ROSE)

A Dispute between a Merchant of Bordeaux and some Bristol Men, 1517

Robert Thorne the elder's Will, proved 6 July 1519

Petition from the Town of Bristol, c.1530

Act for preserving navigation of the River Avon, 1543

Petition against Candlemas Fair, c.1543

John Wynter's Will, 1545

Letters Patent of the Merchant Venturers, 1552

Tyndall smuggling case, 1558

Will of William Tyndall, merchant of Bristol, 13 September 1558 (ROSE)

William Tyndall Probate Inventory, 1559

Bristol Merchants Evading Customs at Chepstow, 8 August 1561

Licence for vessels to lade and unlade goods at Bristol between 4am and 8pm, 12 April 1563 (ROSE)

Bristol Merchants Landing Wine at Chepstow, 1564

Letter: Anthony Standbank, mayor of Bristol to Winchester, the Lord Treasurer,15 February 1565

Bridgwater Port Survey, 14 May 1565

Survey of smuggling in Bristol, 15 May 1565 (ROSE)

Survey of the Port of Bristol, 1565 (ROSE)

The Fust MS. / Maurice Toby's Chronicle of Bristol, 1565

Conformation of the Letters Patent of the Merchant Venturers, 1566

Act of Parliament: The Merchant Venturers, 1566

Exchequer Decree to turn the Port of Cardiff into a member port of Bristol, 18 June 1567 (ROSE)

Complaint of the Tuckers, 1568

Parliamentary debate: The Merchant Venturers, 1571

Act of Parliament: The Merchant Venturers, 1571

A Book of Articles to prevent or detect frauds in the Customs, 1572 (ROSE)

Report on smuggling in the West Country, 1577

Complaints of the Customer and Controller at Bristol, 1580

Establishment of the Port of Gloucester, 4 Oct 1580

Bristol’s petition against the establishment of the Port of Gloucester, 1582 (ROSE)

Letter: Burghley to Fanshawe, re. Port of Gloucester, 11 June 1582

Bristol Petition that Gloucester cease to be an Independent Port, 25 May, 1584

A Letter from Burghley Forbidding the Export of Wheat, 1584

A Petition from the Waiters in the Port of Bristol, c.1584

Exchequer depositions concerning Smuggling, 1585

That no Ordnance should be Exported except through certain Named Ports, c.1587

Prohibited Goods Exported to Spain from Bristol, 1587

Customs frauds in Kingroad and the River Severn, 1588

Petition from the Waiters of the Port of Bristol, c. 1590

Nicholas Thorne the younger's Will, proved 17 September 1591

The suit to obtain the position of customer inwards at Bristol for John Dowle, May 1593 (ROSE)

Hopkins v. Taylor, More Irregularities in the Customs, 1594

The suit to obtain the position of customer of Bridgwater for William Benger, 1596 (ROSE)

William Walton’s suit for the searchership of Bristol, July 1597(ROSE)

Petition from Bristol to Lord Burghley, 1597

Mural Decorations / Grisaille's from the Dormitory of the Old Deanery, Bristol Cathedral, later 16th Century (c. 1MB)

Research Projects

Joseph Beveridge, 'An assessment of the political stance of Bristol merchants during the constitutional struggles of the late-1620s' (BA Dissertation, University of Bristol, 2011). Published by the Department as a joint-winner of the award for Best Undergraduate Dissertations, 2011.

I. S. W., Blanchard, S. J. Newman, C. R. G. Rees, G. M. Stacey ‘Report: Survey of Sources’ (Social Science Research Council, Project 8205-1. The Anglo-Netherlands Bill Market and English Export Finance 1440-1740, unpublished report, University of Edinburgh, 1982-3)

Charlotte Britton, 'Entertaining the Queen: Queen Anne's royal progress to Bristol in 1613' (pdf). (BA Dissertation, University of Bristol, 2011). Published by the Department as a joint-winner of the award for Best Undergraduate Dissertations, 2011.

Robert Davies, ‘How successful was the common informer system and how were they perceived in Tudor and Stuart England? (Special Field Project, University of Bristol, 2017)

Jocelyn Davis, ‘What light do the Mayor's Audit Books throw on the nature and evolution of the St James Fair during the sixteenth century?’ (SIS / Special Field essay, University of Bristol, 2015)

Jocelyn Davis, ‘Liquid assets: an analysis of the supply and control of water in Bristol in the sixteenth century, based on entries in the Mayor’s Audit Books, 1532-1574’ (MA Dissertation, University of Bristol, 2015)

Oliver Dunn, 'The Petitions of Thomas Watkins against Customer John Dowle 1598 - 1600' (BA Thesis, University of Bristol, 2006)

Susan Flavin, 'The Development of Anglo-Irish trade in the sixteenth century' (MA Dissertation, University of Bristol, 2004)

Susan Flavin, 'Consumption and Material Culture in Sixteenth-Century Ireland' (PhD Thesis, University of Bristol, 2011)

Charlie Gent, 'The case of currants: The Levant Company monopoly as a stimulus for Bristol’s illicit trade 1590-1666' (Special Field Project, Bristol, 2009)

John Godwin, ‘The origins of Bristol’s mayoralty’, Transactions of the Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, 133 (2015), 141–150 [Based on a MA dissertation]

John Godwin, ‘The Restoration and its impact on Bristol’ (University of Bristol, draft PhD chapter, 2017)

Sophie Harcourt, ‘How did merchants seek to circumvent Southampton’s monopoly on malmsey and the high custom duties on sweet wines in the sixteenth century?’ (Special Field Project, University of Bristol, 2017)

Alex Higgins, 'The Society of Merchant Venturers’ attempts to obtain a share in the licence to export Welsh butter in the early seventeenth century' (Special Field Project, University of Bristol, 2009)

Alexander Higgins, 'The 1636-7 Royal Commission investigating alleged smuggling offences committed by the Merchants of Bristol' (BA dissertation, University of Bristol, 2011)

Alexander Higgins, ‘The Establishment of the Head Port of Gloucester, 1565-1584 (Mphil Thesis, University of Bristol, 2012)

Joe Inwood, 'How Did Anthony Standbank rise to prominence and become one of the leaders of Bristol’s community?' (BA Essay, University of Bristol, 2005)

Joe Inwood, 'The Chesters of Bristol: A Tudor Merchant Dynasty' (BA Thesis, University of Bristol, 2006)

William Jessop, 'Privateering in Elizabethan Bristol, A Case Study on John Hopkins' (MA Dissertation, University of Bristol, 2004)

Evan Jones, 'Bristol Shipping Industry in 16th Century' (PhD thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1998)

George Mallet, 'The economics of the illicit wine trade in Elizabethan England' (Special Field Project, University of Bristol, 2008)

George Mallet, 'Early seventeenth century piracy and Bristol' (BA Dissertation, University of Bristol, 2009)

Yoshihiko Okabe, 'Probate Inventories of Bristol: Selected Examples from Ecclesiastical Cause Papers, 1694-1783' (University of Bristol / Kobe Gakuin University, 2013)

Annabel Peacock, 'The Men of Bristol and the Atlantic Discovery Voyages of the Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries (MA Dissertation, University of Bristol, 2007)

Catherine Pitt, 'The Wine Trade in Bristol in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries (MA Dissertation, University of Bristol, 2006)

Martin Rorke, 'Scottish Overseas Trade, 1275/86-1597' (PhD, University of Edinburgh, 2001)

Richard Stone, 'How were the Tyndall brothers able to establish their fortunes?' (Special Field Project, University of Bristol, 2006)

Duncan Taylor, 'The Overseas Trade of Mid-Sixteenth Century Bridgwater' (MA Dissertation, University of Bristol, 2006)

Duncan Taylor, ‘The Maritime Trade of the Smaller Bristol Channel Ports in the Sixteenth Century’ (unpublished PhD, University of Bristol, 2009)

Eleanor Tyler, ‘“The Entertainementte of the Righte”: An analysis of noble visits to Bristol in the Sixteenth Century’ (Special Field Project, University of Bristol, 2015)

Franky Wardell, ' Queen Elizabeth I’s Progress to Bristol – an examination of expenses' (Special Field Project, University of Bristol, 2009)


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