Difference between revisions of "MRP: Warehousing"

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Warehousing

Editorial history

23/01/12, CSG: Created page

Overview

Draft wiki article

Warehouses were located throughout the City of London in the mid-seventeenth century. However, they were concentrated along the north and south shores of the River Thames, particularly in the parishes of XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX, and in the wards of XXXX, XXXX, XXXX.^[1]

John Strype's Survey of London provides some limited information on London warehousing and wharves in the later seventeenth century.^[2]

A map of the locations specified by the wills and posthumous inventories of wharfingers provides a more analytical complement to these descriptive data.

- It may also be worth examining the locations specified by London, Middlesex and Surrey carmen and porters in surviving wills and inventories

No warehouse buildings have physically survived from this period. However, inspection of eighteenth and nineteenth century engravings, and early twentieth century photographs, gives some sense of their appearance. For example, the London County Council Survey of London for Tower Street Ward contains interesting early photographs.^[3]

Some merchant inventories give information on storage and warehousing areas within combined residential and commercial properties in London. For example, XXXX.^[4]

The English East India Company had a number of specialised warehouses at different locations:

- The calico warehouse (1645)^[5]
- The Pepper warehouse (1677-79)^[6]
- The Blue warehouse (1656; 1677-79)^[7]
- The Exchange cellar (1645)^[8]
- The great warehouse at the Customhouse (1661)^[9]

- Warehouse-keeper of indigo and cinnamon, etc. (1645)
- Keeper of the exchange cellar (1645)

Suggested links

See Trade
See Research themes

To do

Mentions of warehouses in Wiki primary sources

Sir George Oxenden correspondence

See Pre-17th March 1665/66, Letter from Elizabeth Dalyson to Sir GO

all things you sent home are come safe & are now in y hands of M:r Sprigg in the Cust:house, being delivered in by the worthyness of the Captaines who I am XXX promised, you better things, but are all XXXX XXXXX....

See 24th March 1665/66, Letter from Sir Henry Oxinden to Sir GO, Corner (London)

your goodes are yett in the warehouse by reason of my Sister’s Sickness, but I shall have them suddainly out. ?Acion was y:e mann^[10] my Sister employed to the Comm:te & Custom house XXX I intend to make XX, of being acquainted w:th all my Sister’s affaires, and a good Accompant X honest, & well ??expressed, hee is M:is Hoddesden’s^[11] sonne

See 1st April 1666, Letter from Sir Henry Oxinden to Sir GO

the Commtee: at ye: East India house who sent for mee in, & there producing my Sisters will prxxxxxx [?proceeded] [?proved] , they wth: much respect to you and me, immediately made an oder to the Husband Mr Sprigg to deliver all your remaining goodes in their Warehouses to me

See October 1667, Letter from William Ryder to Sir GO

I have allredy advised yow of ye said fire wch hapned in ye City begann ye 2d September last, where most of yo ffreinds have become sufferers God give it to us some other way, amongst wth M:r ?Texlles^[12] goods w:ch yow sent, being delayned in ye Comp:a warehouse were consumed, soe yt shee & others must have patience

Inventories

Paul Docminique senior's warehouse in Wheeler Street

In the warehouse belonging to the
said deceds house at Wheeler streete

IMPRIMIS 8li and ½ of Bollognia
silke at 24s p ll
Item 33li of Moyhaire yarne
at 2s – 6d p ll
Item 35li of Bassan silke at 20s p ll
Item 29li of Slackthrown ?Lagee silke
at 17s p ll
Item 11li of course Ossoy silke at
18s p ll
Item 121li small, of ?Burmalagee silke
at 11:s the small ll
Item 22li of fine Lagee silke
at 18;s p ll
Item 15li of double ?tram silke at
13:s p ll
Item a bale of Naples 220li ?neat at
20s p ll
Item one bale of Orsoy wt. 220li neat,
at 20:s p ll
Item a Bale of Morea silke wt.
160:li neat, at 7:s the small ll
Item 97li neat, small ll of Bengala
at 12:s p ll
Item 164 small ll of slaq?ckxbasse Lagee
at 12s the small ll"^[13]

Sir George Smith warehouse, XXXX

Law suits

Wills

Roger Abdy senior, London, Merchant Tailor, 1595

See Roger Abdy senior will

"ITEM I will and devise that my brother in lawe John Rewe marchantaylor shall have the use and occupation of my Shoppe and warehouse which he now occupyes within the red lyon gate in London with all commodityes thereunto belonging, nowe, in his occupacon Having (CSG: could be ‘Leaving’) and except free ingresse egresse and regresse for my executor his servants and assignes throughe the same shoppe into my dwelling house insuch manner as nowe I have and enioye the same. To have hould and enioye the same shoppe and warehouse (except before excepted) to the sayed John Rene (CSG: or Rewe) for his owne use and occupation only without letting (?) or letting thereof or of any part thereof to any other for and during such terme ánd tyme as I have yet to me in my nowe Dwelling house adioyning therunto as Mary nowe wife of the sayed John Reve (?) shall so long live) without any Rent or other consideracon to be payed for the same."

Jeremy Blackman senior will, London, 1656

See Jeremy Blackman senior will

"ITEM I give and bequeath unto my said Sonne Maurice Blackman my Lease and Tearme of Yeares right and Title of and in my dwellinghouse Tenements Warehouses and Premisses with Thappurtenances in Saint Mary Acts (sic) in London valued att one Thousand pounds Sterling"

Richard Boylston will, London, clothworker, 1673

See Richard Boylston will

"ITEM I will and bequeath unto my sonn John Boylston and to his heires forever All that my dwelling house wherein I now lye with all the warehouses yards and appurtenances thereunto belonging"

Joseph Carew will, Aleppo, merchant, 1675

See Joseph Carew will

"To ?Usuph my warehouseman Lyon Dollers fiftie... And I doe appointe Master Henry Harrington Factor in Aleppo my Assigne for the disposall of my principall goods remaineing in my warehouses or consigned to mee desiring him to followe theire ord:es for makeing sale and retournes of said Goods whatsoever they be and drawing out all Accounts twixt mee and them that may be standing out and unfinished and likewise to followe the orders of my Executor before named in the sales and disposall of whatsoever goods belong unto mee from anie person or persons in this Countrie whatsoever and in makeing home of my Estate as he shall order"

Phillip Strode will, Aleppo, merchant, 1661

See Philip Strode will

"IMPRIMIS I give and bequeath to ?Naomn my warehouse man Twenty Ryals 8/8 and forgive him what he owes mee in accompt...

FIFTHLY I give and bequeath to Abdalla ?M:r Sprigneils warehouseman five Royalls 8/8 provided hee first payes what hee oweth mee on accompt...

EIGHTLY I order M:r Thomas Stanton my Assigne to pay Naomn my warehouseman for one yeares washings"

Notes

EEIC warehouses

EEIC, 1645-1649

"[July 35, 1645] Officers for the Company's service are chosen as follows : Jeremy Sambrooke to be book-keeper or general accountant ; Adam Bowen, writer and ' register of letters ' to foreign parts, and keeper of the calico warehouse ; Valentine Markham, auditor ; John Blount, warehouse-keeper of indigo and cinnamon, etc. ; James Acton, solicitor ; Thomas Rilston, husband ; John Young, purser-general ; William Hurt, paymaster of the mariners ; Samuel Sambrooke, assistant to Bowen ; John Spiller, beadle and porter ; Michael Dunkin, assistant to the Treasurer ; Richard Swinglehurst, secretary and keeper of the Exchange cellar"^[14]

EEIC, 1650-1654

"[May 7, 1650] There being a great quantity of pepper belonging to different men in the Company's warehouses, and if it is not taken away, no room will be found for the pepper now returned in the Endymion and Blessing, the Court orders notice to be issued that all goods are to be removed within fourteen days, or a warehouse will be hired for the same and the entire cost of removal, etc., charged to the owners of the said goods. Certain Committees are desired to give order for an inventory to be made of all things remaining at Blackwall ; others to see that an inventory is made of what remains in Blount's warehouses, in the custody of Bowen at Leadenhall, in the Exchange Cellar under the care of the Secretary, in the warehouses under the care of Rilston, and also of what there is * in this house '."^[15]

EEIC, 1655-1659

"[October 7, 1656] Captain Ryder's offer to take the Blue Warehouse off the hands of the Fourth Joint Stock for their whole term is reported. It is thought that the offer should be accepted and the said warehouse be delivered to him at 'Allhollandtide' next, provided that the middle warehouse and loft are left for the Company's use, for which payment shall be made in proportion to the whole rent, and that the Company may be accomodated any time (on payment) with such further room as occasion shall require."^[16]

EEIC, 1660-1663

"[December 23, 1661] As it would be a great expense and inconvenience to have the saltpetre received this year examined before it is taken over from Mr. Seaborne, and Francis Thomson having seen it all landed and also what was taken away, the Court gives direction for all the saltpetre brought home this year and still in the warehouses to be taken over as it is from the charge of Richard Seaborne, who is to deliver the key of the great warehouse at the Customhouse to Mr. Sprigg."^[17]

EEIC, 1664-1667

"[DATE? YEAR?] The warehouse in Mark Lane belonging to Edward Watts to be cleared and the King's goods removed from thence to the warehouse in Leadenhall, and 10l. to be charged to His majesty's ..."^[18]

EEIC, 1677-1679

"[1677-1679]...Aston, Keeper of the Pepper Warehouse, 80/. ; David Aston, assistant, 30/. ; Thomas Spriggs, Husband, 200/. ; Francis Thomson, assistant, 100/. ; George Papillon, Keeper of the Blue Warehouse, 160/. ; and for setting up the candle, 10/. ; Thomas Lewis, Paymaster of the Mariners, 30/. ; William Moses, Solicitor, 20/. ; Captain John Prowd, Surveyor, 80/. ; Robert Johnson, Doorkeeper, 40/. ; Michael Prescot, Surveyor of ..."^[19]

Sir John Morden, warehouses

"At the time of his marriage Sir John is stated to be of the parish of St. Martin Outwich, and he seems to have retained the same business premises during his lifetime. In the Little London Directory of 1677 (fn. 7) occurs the name of John Morden, merchant, Bishopsgate Street, and in his will Sir John Morden left £3 to the poor of the parish of St. Martin Outwich. (fn. 8) The actual position of the premises occupied by him has not yet been discovered, but those of Sir Samuel Barnardiston are shown on Ogilby and Morgan's well-known map of London, published in 1677. (fn. 9) Sir Samuel's house was in Bishopsgate Street Within, near Cornhill, and abutted, at the rear, upon Merchant Taylors' Hall, being reached by a passage between two of the houses or shops that occupied the street frontage. It is possible that Sir John at one time had his counting house in part of his friend's building; but he must subsequently have owned or taken on lease other premises which may have combined residence and business premises, for in his private account books for later years occur receipts of rent from Sir Thomas Rolt for "ye chamber" and from John Wynde for "ye warehouses.""^[20]

Possible primary sources

Possible secondary sources

1. ↑ This is the footnote text
2. ↑ This is the footnote text
3. ↑ This is the footnote text
4. ↑ This is the footnote text
5. ↑ 'A Court of Committees, July 35, 1645' (Court Book, vol. xix, p. 311), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A calendar of court minutes of the East India Company, 1644-1649 (Oxford, 1912), pp. 92-93
6. ↑ This is the footnote text
7. ↑ This is the footnote text
8. ↑ 'A Court of Committees, July 35, 1645' (Court Book, vol. xix, p. 311), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A calendar of court minutes of the East India Company, 1644-1649 (Oxford, 1912), pp. 92-93
9. ↑ 'A Court of Committees, December 23, 1661' (Court Book, vol. xxiv, p. 441), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury, A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1660-1663 (Oxford, 1922), p. 168
10. ↑ Elizabeth Dallison mentioned Mr. Sprigg at the London Custom House in a letter to Sir George Oxenden dated pre-March 1665/67, shortly before Elizabeth Dallison's death. See Pre-17th March 1665/66, Letter from Elizabeth Dalyson to Sir GO. Thomas Sprigg was the EEIC Husbandman at the Customshouse, appointed by the EEIC in 1661 to replace Richard Seaborne, whose practices had been investigated and found wanting
11. ↑ Elizabeth Dalyson's cousin Tobell Aylmer had a younger sister, Mary, who had married, as her second husband, Christopher Hoddesdon of Hornchurch, Essex. Their son, or another relative, may be the accountant Sir Henry Oxenden is referring to in the above letter. By 1661 Christopher Hoddesdon himself was deceased
12. ↑ Mr. ?Texlles was XXXX. See Missing faces
13. ↑ PROB 5/2521 Inventory of Paul Docminique sen., 1680/81, ff. 1-8
14. ↑ 'A Court of Committees, July 35, 1645' (Court Book, vol. xix, p. 311), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A calendar of court minutes of the East India Company, 1644-1649 (Oxford, 1912), pp. 92-93
15. ↑ 'A Court of Committees for the Fourth Joint Stock, May 7, 1650' (Court Book, vol. xx, p. 53a, in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1650-1654 (Oxford, 1913), p. 40
16. ↑ 'A Court of Committees for the United Joint Stock, October 7, 1656 (XXXX, p. 542), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1655-1659 (Oxford, 1916), p. 115
17. ↑ 'A Court of Committees, December 23, 1661' (Court Book, vol. xxiv, p. 441), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury, A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1660-1663 (Oxford, 1922), p. 168
18. ↑ Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A calendar of the court minutes, etc., of the East India Company: 1664-1667 (Oxford, 1923), p. 330
19. ↑ Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1677-1679 (Oxford, 1938), p. 177
20. ↑ T. Frank Green, Survey of London Monograph 10: Morden College, Blackheath (London, 1916), p. 27