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Abstract
Recent histories have focused on the investors who outfited and funded the cruising voyage of Woodes Rogers to the Pacific from 1708 to 1711. However, relatively little has been published on the roles these investors played within Bristol society outside of the major contributors. This article identifies the social and business activities of all of the syndicate of investors, including the more ancillary members, both before and after the voyage. This more thorough study adds new light to the biographies written on Rogers by showing that even minor stakeholders had much to gain from the voyage and contributed further to Bristol society after the voyage's conclusion. The investors took advantages of opportunities in commerce, philanthropy and privateering. The high return on their investment enabled them to gain influence and prestige.
Notes
1 For further details see Abbey, ‘Raiding and Trading Along the Spanish Lake’.
2 Rogers, ‘Woodes Rogers's Privateering Voyage’, 196–211; Beattie, ‘Adventuring Your Estate’, 143–55.
3 Corry and Evans, The History of Bristol, vol. 2, 10.
4 Morgan, Bristol and the Atlantic Trade, 2.
5 Ibid., 3.
6 Games, Migration and the Origins of the English Atlantic World, 36.
7 Corry and Evans, The History of Bristol, vol. 2, 10.
8 Cooke, A Voyage to the South Sea, vol. 1, introduction; Brosses, Terra Australis Incognita, vol. 3, 232.
9 The National Archives, Kew (hereafter, TNA), Prerogative Court of Canterbury 11/691/95, Will of John Hawkins of Bristol, Gloucestershire.
10 Woodard, The Republic of Pirates, 65.
11 Richardson (ed.), Bristol, Africa and the Eighteenth-century Slave Trade, vol. 1, 17–18, 30, 37, 46.
12 Port Cities Bristol, ‘Spain’, http://www.discoveringbristol.org.uk/slavery/routes/places-involved/europe/spain/ (accessed 18 Aug. 2018).
13 TNA, High Court of Admiralty 26/3/141, For Letters of Marque and Reprisals.
14 TNA, HCA 25/14–25, For Letters of Marque and Reprisals as listed in Starkey, British Privateering Enterprise, 88–9.
15 Ibid.
16 Richardson (ed.), Bristol, Africa and the Eighteenth-century Slave Trade, vol. 1, 8.
17 TNA, HCA 26/13/57, For Letters of Marque and Reprisals.
18 TNA, HCA 26/13/93; HCA 26/14/172; HCA 26/15/4; HCA 26/15/94; HCA 26/15/126; HCA 26/15/172.
19 Bristol Record Office (hereafter BRO) 13325/52/a, Articles of co-partnership between Christopher Shuter, grocer.
20 Fissell, Patients, Power, and the Poor, 7.
21 Butcher (ed.), Bristol Corporation of the Poor, 179–80.
22 Ibid., 171–4.
23 Beaven, Bristol Lists, 115–16, 119, 391.
24 Dover, The Ancient Physician's Legacy, 236.
25 Gorsky, Patterns of Philanthropy, 116.
26 Beaven, Bristol Lists, 160–1.
27 Cranidge, A Mirror for the Burgesses, 99.
28 Corry and Evans, The History of Bristol, vol. 2, 12.
29 Beaven, Bristol Lists, 225
30 Ibid., 207–10.
31 Ibid., 190–4.
32 There was also a brief-nine month disruption in 1688 caused by the Glorious Revolution. Evans, A Chronological Outline of the History of Bristol, 54.
33 Beaven, Bristol Lists, 252
34 Latimer, The Annals of Bristol in the Eighteenth Century, 54.
35 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, Reign of William and Mary, 235; The City and County of Bristol Lieutenancy, https://www.lordltbristol.org.uk/ (accessed 23 May 2017).
36 The Society of Merchant Venturers, ‘Education’, http://merchantventurers.com/charitable-activities/education/ (accessed 17 Apr. 2017).
37 Latimer, The History of the Society of Merchant Venturers, 179.
38 Latimer, The Annals of Bristol in the Eighteenth Century, 83–4.
39 The Society of Merchant Venturers, ‘Trusts and Charitable Grants’, http://merchantventurers.com/charitable-activities/trusts-and-charitable-grants/ accessed 16 Apr. 2017).
40 Latimer, The History of the Society of Merchant Venturers, 78.
41 Latimer, The Annals of Bristol in the Eighteenth Century, 44.
42 Ibid.
43 Latimer, The History of the Society of Merchant Venturers, 328.
44 Ibid.
45 Ibid., 69–72.
46 BRO, 30999, Stokes Croft Educational Foundation and Almshouses.
47 Mortimer (ed.), Minute Book of the Men's Meeting of the Society of Friends, 9, 228.
48 Fissell, Patients, Power, and the Poor, 7.
49 Latimer, The Annals of Bristol in the Seventeenth Century, 431.
50 Betham, The Baronetage of England, vol. 2, 14.
51 Ibid.
52 TNA, PROB 11/761/370, Will of Thomas Palmer, Merchant Tailor of London.
53 The Society of Merchant Venturers, ‘About the Company’, https://www.merchant-taylors.co.uk/home/about-the-company/ (accessed 9 Aug. 2018).
54 TNA, C 104/36, Allotments Book, unfoliated.
55 Beattie provides a more detailed analysis of the numbers in ‘Adventuring Your Estate’.
56 Beaven, Bristol Lists, 116, 188.
57 Williams, The Parliamentary History of the County of Gloucester, 124.
58 Latimer, The Annals of Bristol, Vol. 2, 537.
59 Latimer, The History of the Society of Merchant Venturers, 329.
60 Beaven, Bristol Lists, 116, 119.
61 Latimer, The Annals of Bristol in the Eighteenth Century, 92.
62 BRO, 30999, Stokes Croft Educational Foundation and Almshouses.
63 Richardson (ed.), Bristol, Africa and the Eighteenth-century Slave Trade, vol. 1, 75.
64 TNA, Chancery 11/1136/4, Becher v. Barry, 1724.
65 Richardson (ed.), Bristol, Africa and the Eighteenth-century Slave Trade, vol. 1, 124.
66 Ibid., 75.
67 TNA, PROB 11/581/129, Will of Thomas Hackett, Grocer of Bristol, Gloucestershire.
68 TNA, PROB 11/579/173, Will of John Romsey.
69 TNA, PROB 11/524/492, Will of John Bacheler, Merchant of Bristol, Gloucestershire.
70 TNA, PROB 11/637/109, Will of Christopher Shuter, Merchant of Bristol, Gloucestershire.
71 TNA, PROB 11/563/120, Will of Stephen Courtney, Gentleman of Clifton, Gloucestershire.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Ian Abbey
Ian Abbey is a PhD graduate from Texas A&M University. He is currently a history instructor with Tyler Junior College, Chapel Hill High School, and Texas A&M University, Galveston. His research interests include maritime history and Atlantic history. He has been published in The Encyclopedia of U.S. Military Interventions in Latin America and Philosophers of War and is publishing his dissertation on the voyage of Woodes Rogers as a book.