Bristol Shipping Records: Imports and Exports, 1770-1917 - Key Data

Containing over 28,000 images, Bristol Shipping Records: Imports and Exports, 1770–1917 documents nearly 150 years of imports and exports to and from the port city of Bristol. The prosperity of the city during this period was built on its maritime success as one of England’s major ports. Bristol was heavily involved in various imperial trade networks, including tobacco, sugar, indigo, rice, rum, and cotton. Many of the goods traded in Bristol were derived from the labour of enslaved people. Indeed, Bristol and its merchants were major players in the transatlantic slave trade, and much of the city’s wealth and development relied on enslavement and the triangular trade.

This collection contains Bristol Presentments, bills of entry derived from the reports and manifests of ships that docked in Bristol. These documents offer unique insights into British maritime history and the goods traded in Bristol from 1770 to 1917. This collection, therefore, provides students and researchers with an overview of global trade networks and their interaction with the city of Bristol, including the city’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade. This collection also details how Bristol’s shipping was affected by The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, passed in 1807, which prohibited the trade of enslaved people throughout the British empire.