Researching Jersey’s Maritime History Within Context of the Canadian Cod-Fisheries and the Transatlantic Carrying Trade.
What was the involvement of Jersey mariners in the Canadian cod-fisheries and the Transatlantic carrying trade?
By the beginning of the 16th-century Basque fishermen were travelling to the region to fish and, by 1580, around 10,000 European fishermen were making the transatlantic voyage to the area each year to fish for cod.
It was easy to fish in the open sea for cod at any time of year, but fishing inshore was far more difficult. It was here that the Channel Island fishermen made their biggest catches.
It was cod fishing in North American waters that became the dominant industry in Jersey. As this activity began to become viable so this attracted interest from Jersey. It is possible that initially the interest was from people from Jersey crewing French boats operating from St Malo, but it was not long before some of the more entrepreneurial Jersey merchants, based in St Aubin, began fishing in North American waters in their own right.
Which ports did Jersey ships sail to and trade with?
As the land was heavily wooded, the easiest way to travel was on water; and because we know that the neolithic farmers settled Jersey when it had once more become an island, it is safe to assume that they had the skill to make some form of boat. In addition to this we know that they were also able to sail and navigate between the island and Armorica and over what is now the English Channel to the mainland.
Two neolithic passage graves in Brittany, Petit Mont and Mane-Lud in Morbihan, have what may be carvings representing ships on them.
What type of goods did Jersey merchants exchange for cod-fish?
Jersey cod-merchants also exported cod-fish to British colonies in the West Indies, Caribbean and later Brazil too in exchange for plantation goods, such as:
- Sugar
- Molasses
- Rum
- Cotton
- Coffee
- Tobacco
which it brought to markets in America, Europe and the UK (inc. Jersey). Within that context Jersey benefitted from the profits made in the British Empire build on a capitalist model of a slave-based economy.
To what extend, has the island of Jersey benefitted from its constitutional relationship with Britain and the legacies of colonialism based on a slave plantation economy during the first Industrial Revolution (1760-1840)?
Jersey ships were allowed to go to any ports to trade, without paying any dues, they benefitted from this more than other British colonies. This took place from 1204, the freedom to decide on our own laws, and lower taxes, which improves finances. This was due to an agreement with the UK.
With this trade connection, some of the most common Jersey structures to end up involved with the slave trade were boats.
One boat mentioned in the report is the Speedwell, commandeered by Sir George Carteret’s son, James Carteret (who also owned a plantation in California).
The Speedwell left London 1663, and picked up 302 enslaved people at Offra, Benin. By March 1664 it had sold 155 men, 105 women and 22 boys to plantations in Barbados and St Kitts.
Another ship was the Defiance, owned by Peter (Pierre) and Thomas Mallet of Jersey and Parry.
The Defiance sailed under Captain John Kimber, a man who earlier had been tried and acquitted by William Wilberforce having been accused of causing the death of an enslaved girl by inflicting injuries because she refused to dance naked.
In 1797 it sailed from the Gold Coast with 409 enslaved people and arrived in Barbados with 408.
