Note 197 — Chapter V
Reading edition
In 1701-1702 there were 3281 vessels measuring, or rather estimated at 261,222 tons, carrying 27,196 men, and 5660 guns, belonging respectively to the following ports:—
Ships. Tons. Men.
London 560 84,882 10,065
Bristol 165 17,338 2,357
Yarmouth 143 9,914 668
Exeter 121 7,107 978
Hull 115 7,564 187
Whitby 110 8,292 571
Liverpool 102 8,619 1,101
Scarborough 102 6,860 506
No other ports of the kingdom possessed, at the time the return was made, one hundred vessels; but though Newcastle-on-Tyne owned then only thirty-nine vessels, they measured 11,170 tons, giving an average of two hundred and seventy-one tons to each. In reply to the circular from the Commissioners of Customs calling for this return, Hull accounted for her small number of seamen by stating that as it was winter (most of her vessels, no doubt, being employed in the Baltic and north of Europe trade, or in whaling) eighty vessels were laid up, and had consequently no crews on board. It is curious to note that no farther back than the commencement of the last century, such places as Yarmouth and Exeter owned more ships than Liverpool, which now owns a larger amount of tonnage than London; while there are now numerous ports in the kingdom of infinitely greater maritime importance than either Scarborough or Whitby, of which no mention whatever is made (Chambers’s Estimates, p. 68; ibid. pp. 89, 90).