New Collection Release from British Online Archives: British Mercantile Trade Statistics, 1662–1809
Containing over 47,000 images sourced from The National Archives (UK), British Mercantile Trade Statistics, 1662–1809 charts nearly 150 years of British trade and shipping in remarkable detail. Throughout this period, Britain’s increasing naval capabilities and expanding trade networks fuelled economic growth. Frequently built upon exploitation and enslaved labour, the establishment of British trading outposts and plantations laid the foundations for a worldwide empire and secured access to key commodities, such as sugar, tobacco, and textiles.
This collection includes trade ledgers, registers, and indexes that catalogue the receipt and shipment of goods at ports across Britain.
The collection also contains the registers of "Mediterranean passes". These documents protected British ships from Barbary privateers. The registers supply detailed information on vessels, such as their destinations and defences.
British Mercantile Trade Statistics, 1662–1809 is an invaluable resource for the study of British colonial, economic, and maritime history.