2 research outputs found
The trade of Chester and the state of the Dee navigation, 1600-1800
The thesis aims to describe the trade of the port of
Chester and the state of the navigation of the River Dee
from 1600 to 1800, and to put forward reasons for the
decline in the City's trade.
The thesis embodies facts and conclusions drawn from
examination of unpublished documents in the City Archives
and the Public Record Office, and contemporary printed books
and newspapers. For the account of the City and its merchants
considerable use has been made of the material in the City
Archives, and the descriptions of the trade are largely based
on a detailed study of the Port Books in the Public Record
Office. Critical comments and reservations are made about
the use of the Port Books as source material.
Part One of the thesis describes the City, the navigation
of the River Doe and the hinterland. Part Two describes
firstly, Chester's role in the organisation of the customs,
and the Port Books as source material; secondly, the trade
with foreign countries, Ireland and other ports of England
and Wales; and thirdly, the assessment of the various elements
contributing to the decline of the port.
Although considerable efforts were made to improve the
state of the navigation, the City failed to maintain its
importance as a port. This resulted from a variety of causes
including the difficulties of the river. There was
insufficient driving force to overcome these physical
difficulties. This was partly due to conditions in the
City where the guilds, persisting until the eighteenth
century, were a restraining influence on commerce, and
partly to the small size and nature of the hinterland with
which Chester had imperfect communications. The mid-
Cheshire salt trade was lost to Liverpool and the coal and
load trade of Flintshire was largely remote from the City.
Saltney Marsh was an important barrier separating the City
from the mineral tract. The difficulties of the estuary
were added to by the nature of the trade; bulky exports far
exceeded the imports so many ships arrived in ballast which
was jettisoned in the river.
In this way, the thesis presents a broad, geographical
survey of the inter-relationship of the City, the River Dee
and the adjoining hinterland area of Cheshire and North Wales
from 1600 to 1800